Your Vegetable Garden Questions Answered! (2024)
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- Опубліковано 21 вер 2024
- #gardening #vegetablegarden Join vegetable garden expert Susan Mulvihill for this question-and-answer session. Here is the order of the types of questions she will be answering and their corresponding time stamps within the video:
1:55 General information on when to plant vegetables
3:54 Questions on specific vegetables
16:10 Which veggies tolerate some shade
17:02 Vegetable disease issues
18:30 Vegetable insect problems
24:12 Plant disorders
25:30 Misc. questions
28:43 Plant a fall garden
30:08 Fertilizers
Here are the links to the two videos Susan referred to during the video:
Fertilizer Basics: • Fertilizer Basics with...
Blossom-end Rot: • Blossom End Rot: Every...
And here's a link to "Seed-Starting: When to Plant Vegetables - for All Zones" on Susan's website: www.susansinth....
Susan gardens in Spokane, Wash. where the hardiness zone ranges from 5b to 6a.
You can order signed copies of Susan's book, The Vegetable Garden Problem Solver Handbook, by sending her an email at Susan@SusansintheGarden.com. Her other book is The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook, which is all about insects and how to deal with the damaging ones organically.
Here are her affiliate links to the books on Amazon:
1. Vegetable Garden Problem Solver Handbook: amzn.to/3uIMA0A.
2. Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook: amzn.to/3Jh6aXS.
Susan has much more than this UA-cam channel! Follow her on:
Blog: susansinthegar...
Facebook: / susansinthegarden
Instagram: / susansinthegarden
Email me: Susan@SusansintheGarden.com
What a wonderful video Susan! This is perhaps one of my favorite yet. I really enjoyed the format, and while I did not have many of these issues thankfully, I learned a lot by watching and listening to what you were sharing. Hopefully, that will help me if I experience them in the future. Thank you so much for your generosity and all the knowledge you share..
Good morning! Thank you for your kind comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Excellent show, which was very helpful in so many ways. Thank you.
Thank you, Joyce.
This was a fantastic vid Susan! Great info!
Yes, this weather is tripping up even us longtime gardeners. Just spoke with a gal today that said all her plants were attacked by J. Beetles and weird enough I’ve only had about 5 total! Which is a record low. We used Milky Spore many years ago and since included the garden. Also every year we use the bag traps and would need to empty them several times. If we didn’t do these things we couldn’t go outside as they were everywhere. The neighbors on either side do nothing with wooded property and I’m still dumbfounded as to why only 5 beetles!
We have had way too much rain Z5a, WI as we are 11” above avg and more to come next week. I never have problems with tomatoes and this year they were short and spindly. I normally have 7’ tall cherry tomatoes by now and they are about 3’😩. The slicers, paste all short. I will say I have some huge Super Sauce paste going and now wish I had more. However, many already had early blight started over a week ago. It never arrives until first week of August and it was 3weeks early. I’ve been trimming them and sprayed copper once, but with rain so frequent I’m not sure if it helps. Just hope to get enough to store up.
The rust was hideous on hollyhocks and will try copper early next year, but that can be a chore so I may just leave them grow one more year to see the new varieties I added this year then start all over with resistant varieties.
The worst next thing here that has me bumming is the mosquitoes!!😡. Never had them SO bad ever! Im constantly chasing them down inside the house. I’m stuck inside many days either from rain or the thought of dressing head to toe in coverings including head net. It’s Very hot and uncomfortable, but totally necessary. We dump all the water and cover tanks. There is no standing water nearby and I think because of the humidity they are hatching in midair. It has definitely ruined my stress relieving hobby and winter not far off where I’m stuck inside with nothing to do outside.
Potatoes are early also here. They are yellowing, but I’ve read to leave them in the ground till dried so the skins cure and store better. I will check a hill and see as I would like to replant fall crops there. It’s just so warm right now that I don’t have a cool place for them. Yes, the weather. It has everything advanced by at least two weeks and others stunted.
The wildlife has gone mad and the rabbits for the first time ever are digging under the fence as the ground is soft.
What I have learned is to get resistant everything and choose short maturity dates. I had the best cauliflower (Fujiyama) I ever had. I was reading the packet and we had to run out to harvest as I didn’t realize they were 45 days😂😂.
Yes, corn can be tricky. We grew Silver Queen and planted like dad always di with 3 seeds to a hole. It’s at least 9’ tall, tasseled and ears showing up a week later. It’s our first real success here in our sandy soil.
Celery I put in grow bags in a tray to keep them watered as they are bog plants, but this year water isn’t an issue.
I had difficulty watching the peppers turn lime green early June and decided to get granular fertilizer and the first couple of dry days I hit them with high phosphorus tomato liquid and that helped.
Great info and thank you. Even if I knew about something you show it helps as a refresher and I always pick up on tips as well. Things are changing on how to garden and it can be a bit of work with various covers and timing now days.
So very helpful. ❤ Thanks for sharing your knowledge about gardening with us 👩🌾. Have a wonderful day everyone 💕
Thank you so much!
This was so helpful, thank you.
I'm so glad to hear it.
This has been my favorite video to date! Thank you!!
That's so nice to hear! Thanks for letting me know.
Great questions and interesting answers, Susan. I couldn't think of any when you posted about it on Facebook but like you said when others pose their questions I wondered those same things too. I'm having many of the same struggles this year thanks to the weird weather. So far my best 'crops' seems to be Field Bindweed and earwigs, haha. Hopefully our cooler weather will encourage my bean and tomatoes to set fruit. The pollinators are enjoying the borage, spent radish flowers, calendula and zinnias in the garden. My scarlet runner beans are flowering like crazy but I haven't spied any hummingbirds in them yet. Fingers crossed. Really looking forward to next week's video. Hoping to be successful growing a fall crop of peas this year but when to plant (?) because we are usually so darned hot in August and early September here in Spokane.
Hi, Molly. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I know what you mean about field bindweed and earwigs! Both are so persistent. I did do a short video on how to control earwigs when they get out of hand. Here's a link to it: ua-cam.com/users/shortsCOJqt6BX6Fs. As I mention, they ordinarily aren't troublesome insects but sometimes their population just skyrockets, and then they wreak all sorts of havoc in the garden. "See" you next week!
I’ve learned so much from you over the past year. This video is one of the best overviews of addressing varying issues.
Can you let us know what facts you need to help troubleshoot? Example: zone, transplant time, seed variety..
All the very best to you!!
Hi, Marissa. That is a great question. Yes, hardiness zone and general location are important, along with when the seeds or seedlings were planted in the garden. Also, if it's about a problem, how long ago it happened and any signs/symptoms would be great. And photos are great if a person wants to email them to me (Susan@SusansintheGarden.com). Sending my best wishes right back to you!
loved this video! I have been lucky this year. My garden is growing very well. Even through the high 80’s and 90’s which is very hot for my PNW area. My tomatoes are fruiting like crazy but my friends tomatoes aren’t doing anything but blooming. No tomatoes. Odd. Your garden looks fantastic! Especially the broccoli. 🥦
Hi, Trish. Thank you for your nice comments. I'm so glad your garden is growing well. Ours was really struggling but seems to be getting back on track. Take care.
This is great information. Thank you Susan!
Thanks, Cindy. It's a looong video but there were so many great questions!
Thanks Susan. Yes, it's been a crazy growing year. Everyone I know who is gardening, no matter which area of the country, have said they've had more than usual failures or disappointments. Glad to see your garden is holding up! Heard a long time pumpkin grower say that he had a couple of tips, that you should not prune the leaves off since they need as many robust leaves as possible because they are needed to keep the pumpkin going and help it store it's sugars. He said if you want to choose one on the vine as you said that that you want as your biggest pumpkin, it's Ok to remove other smaller pumpkins but do not nip off the end of the vines. He also said he likes to put some slack in the vines so that the vines won't tighten around the pumpkins and cause a scar.
Thanks for passing along those tips, Joyce.
HELLO ,SUSAN VERY GOOD VIDEO ,ABOUT YOUR GARDEN THIS YEAR ,I 'M LEARNING WHIT YOU ,FROM HERE !! GOOD LUCKY ,!!!
Hi, Maria. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Take care.
I enjoyed all of the information. Thank you.
I would be interested in knowing if your gutter peas work for a fall crop. Looking forward to the next video.
Hi, Kim. I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. I have never tried gutter peas for the fall but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Or you could even direct-sow the seeds into your garden. The challenge is avoiding the hot temperatures we've been experiencing so I'm trying to figure out the right timing. Most peas (shelling peas and sugar snap) take around 60 days to reach maturity, so you'll want to see if that will work for you. I think I'm going to give it a try, provided I can get organized!
Have you ever considered moving to a different hardiness zone so that you could garden year round or plant more tropical plants?
Thanks for everything!
In the middle of winter, yes it crosses my mind! But we love where we live!
Great information! Will your husband be able to harvest the onions that stopped growing?
Hi there. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Yes, we are planning to harvest the onions and see how they look inside. They were "intermediate day" onions (we typically plant long day onions) but should have grown longer and performed better. We shall see!
Great video Susan! There was lots of great info I was able to add to my gardening book!
I have a question for you or anyone that can answer. A few of my tomato’s plants are so tall I’m afraid they will snap on a windy day and I need a better growing system because I can’t support them at that height - if I cut the main stem tip off will the fruit on it be ok and ripen? I know it won’t produce anymore fruit but I don’t won’t to lose the ones on there now. I am happy with the amount that is in the plant now.
Hi, Kelley. If those tomatoes are at the "breaker stage," where they have started turning color, they will continue ripening for you. But if they're hard and green, it's very unlikely that they'll ripen. I hope this helps.
@@SusansInTheGarden ok thanks Susan!
Very good video and thanks for the links. I do have one question, for you. I live in South Spokane and really don't know if I should continue with biweekly light liquid fertilization with the extreme heat we have been having. I don't know if it would stress the plants to have fertilizer in extreme heat, or if it would stress them more by not fertilizing. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
Hi there. I don't think it's a good idea to fertilize when it's so hot.
Love this type of videos! Thank you Susan! ❤
I missed the FB post so sad! I wanted to ask you how do you prevent mosquito bites when gardening? Do you use any type of bug spray?
And do you have to deal with cucumber beetles and squash bugs on squash family plants constantly? I tried my best to remove them all season long but they’re still there. I’m wondering is this normal.
I certainly deal with those pests all season long 😩 and as far as mosquitos go, I’m interested to see what Susan says, but I’ll offer what I’ve heard by the way of Doug Tallamy and others… make a trap. Add water and garden clippings to a bucket, sit it out in the sun, as the plants break down the mosquitos will be attracted and lay eggs…use mosquito dunks (Bt) in the water. The larvae will be killed and the population will drop. Keep doing this. I’d get the exact details first but that’s the gist of what I’ve heard to be successful.
We do get mosquitoes here, but we have a dry climate so they're not as bad as in areas with lots of rain and high humidity. But I wear long-sleeved shirts or garden sleeves plus a hat, so that helps. Sometimes we also have problems with blackflies (which are awful!) and I do have netting to put over my head, if needed. If we go somewhere for a hike and the insects are bad, we have used Deet but it's not my preference. REI sells some citrus-based sprays that I'm hoping to try. We do use mosquito dunks in our ponds and I like the information about Doug Tallamy's methods that emkn1479 suggested.
Regarding cucumber beetles and squash bugs, we don't have them here (yet) so we're really very fortunate. Both of those pests tend to be problems throughout the growing season. Here are a few suggestions:
Cucumber beetles _ Always clean up garden debris at the end of the season so they don't have a place to overwinter in. Practice crop rotation if you can, so you're not growing Cucurbits (cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, etc.) in the same location every year. Start them indoors first to give them a head start, then plant them in the garden under floating row cover to protect the plants until they start bloom (that's when you need to remove the cover). Consider interplanting with aromatic plants such as marigolds to repel the beetles. Mulch heavily around the plants to make it difficult for the adults to lay eggs in the soil. Place developing cucurbits on boards so they aren't in direct contact with the soil. Consider making a sticky trap with clove oil as an attractant (you can find these on the web). You can also use organic products such as Neem oil or spinosad.
Squash bugs _ Also plant cucurbits until row cover to get them off to a great start, remove when they start blooming. In this case, DON'T put mulch around the base of the plants because it provides hiding places for the adult bugs and their nymphs. Clean up debris at the end of the season. Monitor for the bugs and their daily and hand-pick/crush them. Again, use crop rotation. Look for resistant cultivars such as Butternut, Early Summer Crookneck, Improved Green Hubbard and Royal Acorn.
I hope this helps!
you can also wrap the stems of squash plants with tin foil
Yes, I didn't think to mention that since the person was asking if it was possible to kill the SVB larva within a stem. Thanks for adding that.
I deal with the onion root maggots and it’s so frustrating. Thank you for the information…it’s hard to get clear guidance. I’ve also been wondering if ornamental alliums or wild onion plants can harbor the pests, and if that matters, or if they’re site-specific. I’m not growing alliums next year for sure. Such a pain 😢 I’m going to look into using nematodes. Maybe they’ll help with other pests too.
PS I happened upon a bag of Down To Earth fertilizer and it seems to work. I see you use their amendments, but have you ever used their general formulas? My favorite thing about their products is that there’s no plastic involved. I just wish they were more readily available in stores.
Yes, onion maggots can be a problem for the entire allium family. Beneficial nematodes target the soil-dwelling stage of all sorts of insects. Re: fertilizers, I'm wondering if you are referring to Dr. Earth products? We've primarily bought their vegetable fertilizer and had good luck with it. I'm not sure about the plastic issue, though, because the bag of it that we have is definitely plastic. I'm all for eliminating plastic, though!
@@SusansInTheGarden it’s pictured in your image. The boxes. Down To Earth is the brand, as I mentioned. Or at least the branding looks identical. Their general mixes come in paper bags. Maybe it’s just large quantities. I have their general purpose fish mix.
Re: onion maggots, I guess what I’m asking is are they site specific, or will flies from ornamental onions across the property also find their way into the vegetable garden? If so, then it’s hopeless for me to ever grow garlic or onions in the future. And yes I knew that nematodes will kill many larval stages of pests, I’ve seen charts where their prey species overlap…I’m just hoping that one species can maybe take care of several of the issues I’m facing year after year. It’s worth a try. Gardening is very, very difficult here.
@@emkn1479 Oh, sorry! I never paid attention to the brand, to be honest. It was just what was available at our garden center. Yes, the products I have bought so far have worked well and they do come in a thin cardboard box. My apologies for the confusion.
Re: onion maggots, I think they're primarily found on onions, shallots, garlic and leeks. As far as choosing the right type of beneficial nematodes, you want Steinernema feltiae. I recommend going to arbico-organics.com. Hang in there!
@@SusansInTheGarden I’ll look that up, thanks. I doubt the pests distinguish between the pretty purple flowered ornamental alliums and those we cultivate for food, but maybe they do have a discriminating palate…pests do have their preferred plants.
I wish that brand of fertilizer was easily available in my area! I happened upon it at an auction place that sells returned items. I got a rather large paper bag full for a decent price. Didn’t potatoes also use to come in paper bags? I’m so sick of all the single use plastic at every turn … anyway, thanks again.
My chard and beets are covered tightly with insect netting but I still get aphids. What more can I do to prevent aphids.
Oh my! Well, that's not good. I'm using agricultural insect netting from gardenport.com and haven't had any aphids get through it. Perhaps it's a smaller mesh. Anyway, your other option would be to use floating row cover (here's an example: www.gardeners.com/buy/summer-weight-fabrics/8609573.html), which definitely will keep them out, provided you weigh down the outer perimeter with boards or bricks to prevent it from blowing off. It's interesting that they are bothering your chard and beets. I've never had aphids bother those crops but they are susceptible to leafminers, which destroy the leaves in nothing flat. The row cover would keep them away, too, in case that's a problem as well.