Has Anybody in this Class ever had a Zucchini Squash Failure?
You are Excused
Why Do We Vegetable Garden?
Save Money? Therapy? Bragging rights? Tastes better than what we can purchase in
the market Specific varieties
– When we want them
EARLY SEASON VEGETABLES
Onions Potatoes
Onions
Purchase early February
Plant Valentine Day Weekend– “Nothing says “Love” like Onions”
At this time also pick-up your potatoes
Onion Varieties
Classed by day length – Short, Intermediate, or Long Day– Short Day onions are best suited for here
Granex Onion– OSO Sweet– Vidalia– Maui– Sweet Imperial
Onions
Texas 1015 Y– Will be sweet where ever grown
Red Onions?
Onion Production
Onions have a very small root system– Drip Irrigation is very useful
Space plants far enough to apart to allow for maximum size
Fertilize with Nitrogen Fertilizer– 1 cup every 20 foot of row every 2-3 weeks
Onion Production
What part of the plant does nitrogen promote growth
Leaves Each leaf is a ring The more leafs, the more rings, the more
rings, the larger the onion
Onion Harvest
Do you need to step on the tops?
No, they will go over on their own– Bulbing is initiated by day length
Dig 7-10 days after tops go over– Store in shady area
Potatoes
You say Patato, I say Potato, let call the whole thing off.
Varieties– Yukon Gold– Red LaSoda– Norland
Both are poor eye producers– Purchase 2-3 weeks before planting
Potato Production
To Callous or not Callous, that is the questions
The Bill Geer potato famine of 1999
Potato Production
Till ground Just barely cover the potatoes with soil Put on thin layer of mulch to keep the soil
“mellow” Lay out drip hose
Potato Production
Do you scalp your lawn? Steal from the neighbors Cover the potato plants weekly Be sure to stockpile enough “Dry Grass”
clipping Plants will set potatoes in the clipping and
you will never have to “dig” potatoes again
Broccoli
Transplants are expensive– One head per plant
Start your own transplants Premium Crop is well adapted Green Goliath Avoid Green Comet A better Fall crop
Cabbage
$.15/Pound – ‘nuff said
Edible Pod Peas
Like Broccoli – better suited for the Fall Powdery Mildew Work well on Hog Panel
Asparagus
Mary Martha Washington – the old standard bearer
UC 157 F1 New varieties
– Jersey Giant– Jersey Knight
Why are they better ? Because the are ALL MALE
Cucumbers
Perform well on a 15 foot hog panel
Burpless slicers are well adapted Dasher II is an excellent choice
Cantaloupe
Ambrosia and Magnum .45 are well adapted Magnum .45 holds up to heat well Pick at full slip
Cottonseed mulch works well for vine crops
Peppers
Are all your Bell Peppers perfect w/4 lobes? Or do you have the “Okie 1 Lobe”? Poor pollination on Bell varieties Hot varieties are excellent performers
– Usually late season
Sweet Corn
You can buy corn for 8-10 ears for a dollar– why are you growing it?
In the past 30 years great changes have been made
“SuperSweet” varieties Warmer soil temperatures needed Only 1 variety can be grown at a time
– Or stagger plantings by 12 days
The Vegetable Garden
Insects Diseases Abiotic problem
– Not caused by insect or disease
TomatoesDiseases
Main Disease is fusarium wilt
Plants turn yellow to brown progresses up the plant
Not control Purchase varieties that are
resistant to fusarium race 1 & 2
Resistance not immunity
Curly Beet Top Virus
Over 80% of the varieties at Bixby
Been in the west for years
Leafhopper is the vector
Plants have severe leaf curl
Stop growing
CBTV
Purpling of the veins Late season less
apparent Outlook?
Tomato Insects Spider Mite
Goldening of the upper surface of the leaf
Hot weather lovers Soap and oil solutions
Tomato InsectsFruit and Horn Worm
Both can be controlled with B.T. products
Usually only on horn worm per plant– Can hand pick– Usually early in the
season
Tomato InsectsStink Bugs
Stink bugs are predatory
Lots of stink bugs due to large moth flights in spring
Stink bugs feed on the larvae
Stink Bug Damage
Unsightly– Reduces salability
Still edible Area damaged may not
be as tender
Abiotic ProblemsBlossom End Rot
Not enough calcium in the fruit
Plant is growing too fast and calcium is going into foliage and not the fruit
Get calcium to plant Fluctuations in
available water?
Abiotic ProblemsBlossom Drop
Tomatoes do not set fruit well when the night temperature is below about 60 degrees or above about 70 degrees
Or when the day temperature is about 92 degrees
Or if the grower has applied excess nitrogen Blossom set spray only help with low
temperature blossom drop
Abiotic ProblemsCatfacing
Incomplete pollination Usually do to low
temperature at pollination time
Abiotic ProblemsTomato Leaf Roll
Do not confuse with herbicide damage
A curling or rolling of the leaves
Occurs in hot weather– Or after cultivation– Or after severe pruning
Abiotic ProblemsHormonal Herbicide Damage
Vapor Drift Can travel great
distances Tomato is VERY!
Sensitive If early enough and
replacement plants are still available – replace them
Birds and Cracking
Pick tomatoes when they start to break color Ripen them indoors Will eliminate bird damage Better color and flavor Even watering will lessen cracking
Cucurbits
Squash Cucumbers Watermelons Cantaloupe
DiseasesMosaic Virus
Spread by aphids, squash bugs and cucumber beetle
Affects most all cucurbits
Symptoms appear on 2nd to 4th true leaf but no on older leaves
No control – a virus
DiseasesBacterial Wilt
Cucumber beetle is the vector
Rapid wilt and death of the plant
Gummy ooze from cut stem
InsectsSquash Bug and Cucumber Beetle
No they do not come with the seed
Both are vectors of many wilts and viruses
Control when they look like small gray ticks
Once Adults 2 bricks or thermo nuclear device
InsectsSquash Vine Borer
2 Generation per year Stagger or delay
plantings Mound dirt around base
of plants Promote adventitious
roots Remove larvae
Delayed Fruit Set
Very common in cucurbits
Most set only male flowers for the first several weeks
Female flowers have ovary at their base
Poor Pollination
Both male and female flowers present
Poorly shaped fruit Pollinate with water
color brush Pollinate early in the
morning
My Potato Gots Tomatoes
Under favorable conditions they will set fruit
Do not save for seed – will not breed true
Toxic – remove so children will not eat
Before We Leave The Garden
A large majority of questions will be on tomatoes and cucurbits
Be aware that mites and aphids can attack almost all warm season vegetable.
Other odds and ends bugs– Asparagus beetle– Cutworms– Loopers
Questions?