Cucumber Try #3

I was a little curious how the plants would react to having Dawn sprayed on them but after 24 hrs they looked fine and thankfully had less aphids.

This weekend, in addition to trying out the Dawn solution to kill the aphids, I purchased and planted two new cucumber plants as replacements for the plants I had to toss out due to the overwhelming amount of aphids.

I bought this spring's third attempt at cucumber plants at Colorfield Farms, the same nursery I purchased my cucumber plants from last year.  While at Colorfield I also bought a few ladybug attracting marigold plants. Ladybugs eat aphids and the marigolds make the garden look pretty.

I was especially excited about the cucumber plants I bought because one plant had two cucumbers about the size of the cucumber on the plant I tossed out.  If you look on the right hand side toward the lower middle of the plant you can sort of see one of them hanging off the plant.

I would love to have been able to show a better picture of it but when I got home from work today it was gone. There was just a stem. I blame the squirrels.  

Aphids meet Dawn

The Sevin I sprayed earlier this week didn't seem to slow down the aphid/ant problem in my garden.

So this week I asked other vegetable gardeners for advice on how to kill aphids.  The answer was always the same.  A mix of soap and water sprayed on both sides of the leaves.  I drenched the leaves, stems and blossoms with Dawn and water and have my fingers crossed.  

I even gave the transplants in the plant bed a spray.

Last spring, squash blossoms were as far as I was able to get the squash to grow.  I'm hopeful that this year I'll be able to keep them alive until they are fully grown. 

Aphids

It's still early spring and my garden has already gone from organic to locally grown.  The cucumbers were covered with ants and when I researched why I found out they like to be where the aphids are. 

What I thought for a few weeks was dirt was a major aphid infestation.

I pulled all the cucumber vines out of the garden.  Even the vine with a still growing, yet misshaped, cucumber.

I then sprayed the garden with the insecticide Sevin.  I probably should have tried an insecticidal soap first or a simple spray of Dawn and water but my peppers are still hanging in there

And my squash are starting to blossom and so I just didn’t want to take a chance.

The irony is after I sprayed I looked a the long list of pests Sevin fights and aphids weren’t on the list. I’m going to have to try an insecticidal soap anyhow.

2nd year in a row…

For the second year in a row something, and I blame the squirrels, have taken a bit out of my first green pepper. 

I suppose it has the shape of an acorn but I’m still annoyed.  Maybe the peppers on the other plant will have a better shot of surviving because they have a different shape.

Or maybe they will take a bite out of one of the jalapeños and leave my garden alone altogether.  Although with my squirrel luck that’s not likely.

I worked a lot of nights this week so this is the first evening I’ve had a chance to get a good look in my garden in a few days.  The squash plants had a growth spurt

And a big surprise to me is that my small grape tomato plant has a couple little tomatoes.

It might be time this weekend to add support for the tomato plants.

Tomatoes

I was pretty busy this week and weekend so I didn’t have lot of time for my garden.  Luckily the veggie plants are at the stage were they don’t need a lot of attention and do fine as long as I remember to water and fertilize them.

I did finally get a second tomato plant this week.  Its called a Better Bush and it supposedly stays somewhat contained and doesn’t grow too large. And it already has a few tomatoes.

I hadn’t planed to get a regular tomato plant this year.  I really wanted a second grape tomato plant but unfortunately I haven’t been able to find a larger one.  My small grape tomato plant has some yellow flowers but its probably going to be awhile until its large enough to produce any tomatoes.

There was a lesson for me the last 2-3 weeks while I hunted for the “right” tomato plant - flexibility.  

Pepper

It rained again this week which was great for my garden.  The pepper plants, while short on leaves, are full of blossoms.  Saturday through today the first pepper blossom transformed into a tiny pepper.

The jalapeño plant popped out some blossoms this week too.

The cucumber plant has adapted to the trellis after a few days of nudging, umm training.

And the green beans look like they will be ready for dinner this weekend which I'm totally excited about!

It’s not all perfect in my garden.  The parsley has had a tough time with all of the rain and wet soil. 

I’m going to try and transplant it into a pot with more drainage this weekend.

Training Cucumbers

This weekend we added a trellis for the cucumbers to the garden.

Cucumbers plants love to vine. The thin antenna like fingers curl and wrap around whatever they find.  They then help support the plant as it grows up the trellis.

Last year boyfriend used garden string to create a trellis.  This year I bought a premade trellis to make it a little easier.  We attached it to what I call Gasparilla fence posts.

I checked on the cucumbers a few hours after putting them on the trellis and again this morning.  So far only one plant seems to be interested in staying on the trellis.  Looks like training may take a few days. 

Also, for those of you unfamiliar with Gasparilla fences/posts they are temporary fences you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes.  

Tornado

While I was out of town for work this week tornados and thunder storms swept through town.  I think I was more worried about my veggies then my house!  Thankfully everything was fine. 

The cucumbers have tons of blooms.

There are lots of green beans.

And my two week old squash and zucchini plants loved all the rain.

Even the seedlings transplanted to the old plant bed next to the house did fine.

Now that almost everything is planted and growing well its time to start thinking about adding mulch.  All of the dirt that splashed on the plants during the storm was a good reminder.