Saturday, July 16, 2011

Update on my Summer Project–A Container Garden

Here is a link to my last post if you want to compare the improvements and failures that have happened over the past two weeks.

We were able to enjoy the two squash that I showed in my last gardening post.  They were yummy, but something got to my squash plants.  I think it might have been bore worms. I was checking for eggs and didn’t see any.  My only thought is that they attached and did their dirty work while we were on vacation. 

Steve noticed the middle plant was dead at the base of the vine (the leaves were going from a vibrant green to a pale yellow) last Saturday when he was attaching the plants to stakes to get them to grow up and not out.  He pulled it out and we were hopeful that the rest of plants would survive.  We didn’t think it was bore worms at the time, we thought the base had rotted because it was being watered at the base in addition to several big rain storms that had come through that week.  I noticed during the rest of the week that the rest of my squash plants seem to have fallen prey to the same thing.  Here is a picture of my once beautiful squash bed.

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I have lost all of my yellow squash – the one thing I was most excited about.  I am not sure if the butternut squash are going to make it or not either.  I am keeping an eye on them, but I noticed that the leaves are starting to yellow when I was taking the pictures.

 

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My strawberries are producing well about every two to three weeks. It looks like this may be a good strawberry week coming up with all the green berries on the bushes. I am hopeful that we get some of the berries this time and not the critters.

 

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The zucchini plants that I thought were goners seem to still be holding on.  I still haven’t seen any blooms, but they are getting bigger and their color is improving. 

The pot next to this bed is a complete goner.  I didn’t even take a picture of it, I figure you know what a pot of dirt looks like.

 

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The cucumber vines are doing well. We have our first real cucumber growing on a vine. In case you can’t see it, our cucumber is against the stake behind the leaf.  (The baby one that I had in my last post never got any bigger.)

 

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My tomato plants and my pepper plants are both thriving.  The grape tomato plants are growing like crazy and we joke that we don’t just have tomato plants, we have tomato trees.  We have been picking about 20 grape tomatoes twice a week.

 

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We have our first tomatoes growing on our tomato plant.   (People who really know me will find it ironic that the one thing that is growing well in my garden is the tomatoes.  I don’t like tomatoes.)

 

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My pepper plants.  We have our first banana pepper growing.  It is hard to see in the picture, but trust me it is there.  I can’t wait to have these on hand in the freezer for chili this winter. 

Please keep checking back for my gardening progress (or defeats). I am also linking this post to Frugal Gardening 101 series hosted by Phoebe, Connie and Amy. Check out what other gardeners are accomplishing!

~Ann

2 comments:

  1. I don't think your squash croaked from the vine bore worm... every time I've seen a plant die from that, it's not a slow death and the leaves don't yellow first. The plant will go from looking fine to completely wilted and dead in 24 hours. My guess is either a fungus (if the leaves are yellowing in spots) or a lack of something in the soil (if the leaves are just yellowing and then dying). I'm glad your tomatoes are doing well! You have a nice little garden :) Oh, and why don't you cage your strawberry tub with some netting or wiring? That way the critters couldn't get in to get your strawberries.

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  2. Thanks for the advice Miriam. I was only guessing vine bore worm because the entire stem was yellow and spongy inside. Maybe it was a fungus, but I didn't have spots. My MIL says that they just die like that. I am just a little disappointed that I only got 2 little squash - it is one of my favorite things in the summer.

    I will look into the covering for the strawberries. I have read stories on-line of the critters getting caught in the netting. I don't know that I want to walk out and find that either. :)

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