2022 Garden Thread

[begreen]

Imagine what our trees are going through with an average of less than .2" of rain in the months of July and August for the past 5-6 years.

 

[JbTech]

Hi @JbTech That's a food amount of rain. It seems like the whole US is suffering. Also nice to "see a new face" in the Gardening Forum. Hope you stick around.

We had some rain last night and this morning. Supposed to get more this afternoon...maybe 1 inch in total. We haven't seen any significant rain here in well over a month other than an errant sprinkle. There are trees that are dropping leaves already without turning colors...just dead.

I've been following this thread all year. It's neat to see other folks contributions.

Knock on wood, we've had an above average rainfall type of year. Not sure where to find the records, but rough estimates of .25in every few days. I've even had to skip mowing several times to avoid the wet grass.
Not the norm for most of the country, for sure.

My garden is like most others. Odd year / cooler temps have Maters just beginning to ripen. Cherry Tomatoes are just about finished. Cucumbers have been doing well. On my second planting of those.

 

[Dan Freeman]

I've been following this thread all year. It's neat to see other folks contributions.

Good! Now, you are a contributor. 😊

 

[begreen]

My garden is like most others. Odd year / cooler temps have Maters just beginning to ripen. Cherry Tomatoes are just about finished. Cucumbers have been doing well. On my second planting of those.

I should have planted a second crop of cucumbers in July. The huge greenhouse cucumber plant is getting attacked by something that is stripping the surface of the stems and the skin of some of the cukes. It is having trouble staying hydrated because of this and wilting during the day. It's a sad sight, this has been a prolific bearer of dozens of grade A cukes. Inspection is not showing up the culprit.

Has anyone had this problem?

 

[Dan Freeman]

I should have planted a second crop of cucumbers in July. The huge greenhouse cucumber plant is getting attacked by something that is stripping the surface of the stems and the skin of some of the cukes. It is having trouble staying hydrated because of this and wilting during the day. It's a sad sight, this has been a prolific bearer of dozens of grade A cukes. Inspection is not showing up the culprit.

Has anyone had this problem?
View attachment 298174View attachment 298175

Sorry to hear this. Cukes are so vulnerable to so many pests and problems. Mine were a big disappointment this year.

 

[begreen]

They can be, but this is the first time that I don't know what I am up against. If I could just catch the buggers in action I would feel better.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I'd love some rain! We need it pretty badly.

 

[JbTech]

I'd love some rain! We need it pretty badly.

At least locally, we've had more than our share this year.
500 gallon storage totes off the gutters, and this is the 1st year I haven't had to supplement with paid water.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Went out to water the garden and some of the plants looked chewed. Huh. A woodchuck dug under my exclusion! Gonna have to bring a trap home.

 

[woodey]

I should have planted a second crop of cucumbers in July. The huge greenhouse cucumber plant is getting attacked by something that is stripping the surface of the stems and the skin of some of the cukes. It is having trouble staying hydrated because of this and wilting during the day. It's a sad sight, this has been a prolific bearer of dozens of grade A cukes. Inspection is not showing up the culprit.

Has anyone had this problem?
View attachment 298174View attachment 298175

My cuke stems look very much like yours. Very frustrating to have plenty of blossoms and see the plant die off early. My winter squash plants also suffer from grubs that burrow into the stem at ground level and feast on the inside slowly killing the plant. Last year while pulling the plants I cut into the stem and found the culprit, white grubs.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

My cuke stems look very much like yours. Very frustrating to have plenty of blossoms and see the plant die off early. My winter squash plants also suffer from grubs that burrow into the stem at ground level and feast on the inside slowly killing the plant. Last year while pulling the plants I cut into the stem and found the culprit, white grubs.

Squash Vine Borers. Ugh. They have killed every single one of my zucchini plants this year so far, except the one that I’ve been growing inside until recently and just transplanted into the garden.

I have a Seminole Pumpkin vine growing, and I can see where they’ve gotten into it, but so far it’s surviving. The Moschata species (butternut squash and Seminole Pumpkin and others) are supposed to be a little more resistant because they have solid stems instead of hollow, but I have so much SVB pressure down here in Texas, that nothing stands for long.

Maybe because I keep persisting in trying to grow squashes, I haven’t seen them get into my cucumbers. @begreen, the stem on your photo did remind me a bit of borer damage, but I didn’t see an actual hole into the stem. Usually one can find that and see sawdust-looking frass from their excavations that has been pushed out of the stem.

Did you say that this pest is actually stripping the skin off the cucumber fruits themselves? Do you have a photo of that? I don’t have any good ideas of what it might be; I’d just be interested in seeing what that damage looks like.

On a happier note, we got rain! About half an inch this afternoon/evening. There’s a lull now, but we have the possibility of more overnight. We also have chances for isolated or scattered storms tomorrow into Wednesday. This is huge for us. I’m so thankful.

 

[begreen]

I thought that the squash borer wasn't out west, but who knows. Does the squash borer chew up stems of the plant like this?


Here is the surface of a cucumber. It is an outdoor plant, but also seems afflicted.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

@begreen, I’m sorry. My Squash Vine Borer post was directed more at Woodey’s problem than at yours. I just looked up the range of SVB, and it does look at though the west coast is spared that particular pest.

Have you done anything to try to protect your greenhouse plant? Yellow sticky traps? A neem spray. I assume that you don’t have beneficials in there to worry about, but maybe that’s a bad assumption.

I did find a picture that caught my eye on a Clemson Fact Sheet. As soon as you open the page, it shows cucumber beetle damage on a watermelon. Obviously this is a South Carolina publication, but Washington does have its own cucumber beetles.

Cucumber, Squash, Melon & Other Cucurbit Insect Pests

Cucumber Beetles The spotted, striped, and banded cucumber beetles are very harmful to cucurbits (members of the gourd family, including cucumbers,...

hgic.clemson.edu

The next link is an Oregon publication, but I found the chart that compared the two beetles helpful. It says that the Striped Cucumber Beetle does feed on fruits of cucurbits. The article notes that populations can be quite high in August through October.

I also read that the beetles can transmit bacterial wilt. You mentioned the plant wilting. If it dies and you remove it, are you familiar with cutting the stem and checking for slime? That can help indicate the presence of bacterial wilt.

Cucumber Beetles (12S and SCB)

Cucumber beetles are major plant pests. As rootworms (larvae), they feed underground, which affects plant health and increases the risk for pathogens. Above-ground, the adult beetles consume foliag…

agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu

The thing I find most mysterious, though, is why you aren’t seeing any. I would think they’d be crawling on your plants and you’d be finding them. I’m sure that’s what has you so confused as well. I wonder just how sensitive a game camera would have to be to catch a picture of an insect? I’ve had them get butterflies before but not beetles as far as I know.

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the links. So far no sign of cucumber beetle. I thought about a game camera, but don't have one. So far I have not seen any insects on any of our squash family plants. I am going to do a super inspection tomorrow.

 

[woodey]

Does the squash borer chew up stems of the plant like this?

My stems look like yours, but only grubs I have seen were always near the base of the stem.

 

[woodey]

Squash Vine Borers. Ugh. They have killed every single one of my zucchini plants this year so far, except the one that I’ve been growing inside until recently and just transplanted into the garden.

I have a Seminole Pumpkin vine growing, and I can see where they’ve gotten into it, but so far it’s surviving. The Moschata species (butternut squash and Seminole Pumpkin and others) are supposed to be a little more resistant because they have solid stems instead of hollow, but I have so much SVB pressure down here in Texas, that nothing stands for long.

Maybe because I keep persisting in trying to grow squashes, I haven’t seen them get into my cucumbers. @begreen, the stem on your photo did remind me a bit of borer damage, but I didn’t see an actual hole into the stem. Usually one can find that and see sawdust-looking frass from their excavations that has been pushed out of the stem.

Did you say that this pest is actually stripping the skin off the cucumber fruits themselves? Do you have a photo of that? I don’t have any good ideas of what it might be; I’d just be interested in seeing what that damage looks like.

On a happier note, we got rain! About half an inch this afternoon/evening. There’s a lull now, but we have the possibility of more overnight. We also have chances for isolated or scattered storms tomorrow into Wednesday. This is huge for us. I’m so thankful.

The cukes are actually doing better than I have had in a few years. No damage on the skins at all. In the past my plants have been near dead this time of the year, this is them today.

 

[begreen]

My stems look like yours, but only grubs I have seen were always near the base of the stem.

Do the grubs come out at night? Otherwise, how do they strip up the stems so high?

 

[DuaeGuttae]

My squash vine borer damage looks like this. It looks similar, but I don’t think it’s the same. The borers burrow into the vine and kill it from the inside out. They don’t strip skin off the outside. I really think @woodey ’s description of the grub is the Squash Vine Borer, and geographically those don’t seem to be your culprit, @begreen. Because I trellis vines, this damage is actually around my eye level. Borers do like to attack the stem right where it comes of of the ground, but they’ll attack other spots as well. The get my zucchini right at the base, though, so that it rots off right there.



I found an article (from Canada) that shows Striped cucumber beetle damage on a cucumber fruit, and if you look closely at the leading picture, you can see how the vine is stripped a bit, too. Your descriptions seem to fit that type of damage. In the second paragraph the describes the larvae “girdling” stems, which sound like they come from the outside. At the same time, I’ve read of them tunneling through the stem and killing them that way, so I’m not really sure of the mechanism.

Striped Cucumber Beetles Damage and Control

Striped Cucumber Beetle Adult – Acalymma vittatum (one of the antennas is missing). Does it look as though something has been chewing on the leaves of your cucumber, squash, me…

horticultureforhomegardeners.ca

@begreen, have you sent pictures to your local extension agent?

 

[Dan Freeman]

The plumber is here today. He is putting in the new well pump, well tank, doing all the piping, and putting in a frost-free spigot outside the well house. Next, we need to get the electrician back here to do the wiring from our shed to the well house. Then, we will be able to use this well to water the gardens and not tax our house well equipment.

I was able to collect at least a foot+ of rainwater at the bottom of the pond from yesterday's rain. I don't think it is deep enough yet to operate the solar pump since it will be sitting on a crate, so it does not pull sludge in over time. In any event, once the plumber leaves, I am going to set up the pump and the solar panels in a temporary location near the pond. Eventually I will locate the solar panels near the edge of the food forest fence. I also want to drain about 50 gallons from our small pond near the backyard deck to begin to inoculate the water with bacteria. I also plan to move some of the floating plants from the small pond to the large pond. I did order some Frogbit and hornwort online yesterday, but those plants will probably not arrive for a few more days. They are good oxygenating plants and help to absorb nutrients to cut down on algae. Everything I read though says I can expect green water to form and remain for up to a year before I get all the plants established and mature. Another adventure!

Added later:
Today, after the plumber left (with a check for over $2200 from what the neighbors stole!), I added some water lettuce to the new pond, hooked up the solar pump and temporarily placed the solar panels. I also added some more water from our main well since we didn't water yesterday or today. After about 20 minutes, the well pressure dropped to nothing. I couldn't even water the greenhouse today because of that. I am now waiting for a bit of water pressure so I can take a shower.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Dan,

I think you need at least 1 rubber duck for your pond!

 

[begreen]

My squash vine borer damage looks like this. It looks similar, but I don’t think it’s the same. The borers burrow into the vine and kill it from the inside out. They don’t strip skin off the outside. I really think @woodey ’s description of the grub is the Squash Vine Borer, and geographically those don’t seem to be your culprit, @begreen. Because I trellis vines, this damage is actually around my eye level. Borers do like to attack the stem right where it comes of of the ground, but they’ll attack other spots as well. The get my zucchini right at the base, though, so that it rots off right there.

View attachment 298201

I found an article (from Canada) that shows Striped cucumber beetle damage on a cucumber fruit, and if you look closely at the leading picture, you can see how the vine is stripped a bit, too. Your descriptions seem to fit that type of damage. In the second paragraph the describes the larvae “girdling” stems, which sound like they come from the outside. At the same time, I’ve read of them tunneling through the stem and killing them that way, so I’m not really sure of the mechanism.

Striped Cucumber Beetles Damage and Control

Striped Cucumber Beetle Adult – Acalymma vittatum (one of the antennas is missing). Does it look as though something has been chewing on the leaves of your cucumber, squash, me…

horticultureforhomegardeners.ca

@begreen, have you sent pictures to your local extension agent?

Thanks. I will read up on these links. I sprayed the plants with neem oil and spinosad twice. Hope that helps.

 

[Dan Freeman]

I was able to get another 6-8 inches of water into the pond today before my well started to slow down. The water is beginning to creep up on the shelf at the lower side. I also moved the 2 solar panels from near the pond on the ground to the edge of the FF mounted on poles (but I forgot to take a picture of them).

 

[Dan Freeman]

I got another 6 inches of water into the pond (about 8-10 inches to go) before the well quit. We have to let the well "rest" for an hour or so, so we can both take showers after working. I decided not to water the gardens since they say we may get a thunderstorm later. If we don't, I'll water first thing tomorrow morning. We also got some more wood chips down in the FF. We've almost used up the 10 cubic yards we got last Friday. Time to order another 10 cubic yards.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I got another 6 inches of water into the pond (about 8-10 inches to go) before the well quit. We have to let the well "rest" for an hour or so, so we can both take showers after working. I decided not to water the gardens since they say we may get a thunderstorm later. If we don't, I'll water first thing tomorrow morning. We also got some more wood chips down in the FF. We've almost used up the 10 cubic yards we got last Friday. Time to order another 10 cubic yards.

That would worry me to be stressing the well to that extent. I’m sure you’ll be thrilled to get the second well up and running for irrigation.

Is it critical to get the pond filled relatively quickly once you’ve put the liner in? I hope you did get that thunderstorm to help out a little.

We got a storm yesterday afternoon while I was driving to a doctor’s appointment. I had checked the forecast and the radar because it was looking a bit gray, and I had seedlings out to begin a little hardening off. I didn’t want them to drown. The radar showed the rain missing us, which was disappointing, so I left the seedlings out. When I got home, their trays were full to the brim with water. I was delighted.

The sprouts on the top left are wildflowers, the ones on the bottom right a mixture of cooler season crops like beets and rhubarb and brassicas. The empty-looking ones are leek seeds which are being slow to germinate, but there are some signs of life in there.

We had a half inch of rain on Monday and got another nine tenths yesterday. That really helped the overall landscape, the gardens, and my rain barrels. Our 870 gallon tank is full again, and the 1150 probably has about 700 gallons. The 870 we’ll draw down first when we need to refill the garden tank (which has about 300 now but can hold 500). It was really nice not to have to water this morning. We are very thankful for the rain.

I’m not sure how well the picture captures it, but the luffa plants in my backyard bed have just exploded with growth from the rain. The new leaves are bigger, and the plants are spreading the way that I had hoped they would earlier in the summer. Better late than never.


I have two slicing cucumber vines. One has been hit hard by aphids. I did spray some neem last week, but I might just pull it depending on whether it improves or not. The other one is doing relatively well and gave us three nice cucumbers today. My ten year old sliced them up for me and helped put together a yummy cucumber salad for our dinner. I’m hoping the rain will lead to more female blossoms in the coming days.



The tomatoes are flowering more, and I have a fall crop of beans that seem to be growing nicely. They’re still young, but the weather is much more rational now, so I have hopes that they’ll be able to produce in time.

 

[Dan Freeman]

My electrician was supposed to come this week to run the electricity to the 2nd well, but he came down with Covid, so it's not going to happen until next week.

It's not critical to fill the pond once the liner is in, but once I started filling it, it becomes critical because I have to get the pump going and the plants in, so the water does not just sit stagnant and begin to grow algae.

No thunderstorm. We missed it. There is a chance of another one tomorrow. Still another 2 months before my rain tank will arrive.

Glad to hear you are getting rain again. You folks have really suffered this year. Those cucumbers look great!