veg garden questions

[mummabare]

Can someone please explain to me why my brochili never head properly? Do they need lots of water?

Its very frustrating.

And while Im at it, does anyone have any veg garden advice type websites they visit?

I want to give my garden a bit of an overhaul since the natives have grown loads :wub so Im rearranging my space.

[mama_bel]

Broccoli does like nice rich, friable soil. It also likes a decent long, cool winter. Cold is fine too. :) Mine only had small heads this year. You just cut the head off with a knife and it makes more heads and more heads. I think mine go for about 6 harvests then they go to the chooks (the stalk and leaves). By then it's warm here. So yeh - manure/compost and water for your broccoli to look like the shop stuff!

I think the gardenate.com (http://www.gardenate.com/) site is good for advice on what to plant when. I'm not sure about other advice...

[Sam]

I was going to suggest gardenate.com as well. I receive a fortnightly email from them for what to plant in my climate zone. The site also has info about best growing conditions for all types of veges and herbs

[Rinelle]

My broccoli heads never get as big as the ones in the shops, but they do taste good.

What exactly do you mean about not heading properly? Just the size, or are they not forming heads at all?

[Karena]

Thanks for that site. It looks great, have bookmarked it.

MB fwiw, my broccoli didn't grow, it was a mild winter here so I think it just never got cold enough.

[Rinelle]

I think broccoli will actually grow all year round? I have some in now that are still growing quite well. (No heads yet though.) The reason for growing them in the colder months is that there are fewer cabbage moths around then.

[mama_bel]

Yeh, mine keeps growing once it's warm, but the moths and grasshoppers just move in. And the heads form fast and turn to flower in no time, and are small. In winter they grow slower, are fuller and firmer etc. Right now my broccoli heads are most like broccolini. I got the first one off, and these are side shoots.

[Savannah]

It's been a late wet season this year, maybe give them another few weeks?

[Natenimiri]

I just posted under the other thread about what people have growing... have you got any general advice on how to set up your garden? We are in the process so it's like an artist's blank canvas except i am standing there with no idea what to paint!
:-)

[Phoenix]

Oh, what a great idea for a thread, I had missed it before because I didn't have a garden. Nothing like a one stop advice shop!

So my issue (or one of them LOL)..
My tomatoes are getting eaten, I have only gotten 3 tomatoes and I have picked them with the vine to ripen inside. I am happy to have some eaten but am getting frustrated that I have a beautiful fruitful plant yet can't actually eat any of them. I have cut around the yucky bits but it still leaves very little left over.
I picked a great big fat caterpillar off the other day but there are still hollows happening. I have planted marigolds parsley and chives on the companion planting side of things, I know it isn't always 100% at keeping the bugs away but we aren't even at 80% is that what usually happens?

Other one is do you know what melon grows as a round small green spotty type fruit but is furry like the vine?

Thanks. :)

[michelle_j_r]

the melon might be rockmelon? mine started out furry and then got the splotchy skin as they got closer to maturity.

[Rinelle]

I agree with Michelle, the melon sounds like rockmelon. They'll spring up anywhere I swear.

With the tomatoes, do they have little black spots on them? If so, you might have fruit fly, and I think the only (organic) way to really prevent them is to put a white paper bag or something over the fruit while it's still small.

[jodiemiller]

Where there is one caterpillar, there are a hundred more, hiding and laughing at you. :2lol Evil critters!

[Phoenix]

Nope not black spots, I do have something eating the leaves but my main problem is the holes in the tomato from something eating it. They are rather large holes too. I only found the one caterpillar though.

Oh Rockmelon, how exciting! I thought it could have been honeydew or rockmelon, was hoping more for honeydew as it is my favourite!

[Phoenix]

:2lol Jodie! So now how do I keep them out of my tomatoes?

[jodiemiller]

I bet you only caught the oldest cousin hatchling of several hundred or thousand eggs in your patch. Put a little kerosene into the botton of a tin can and put in every millimetre-sized baby that can find on the underside of leaves and possibly on other plants in the same bed. They will have hatched since you found the cousin. Do it every day for a couple of weeks if you can and you may just save your toms. I am never that diligent, so just compost the ruined stuff so long as there is enough for me.

If the tomatoes got to a ripe-enough stage you can save the seed for next year - so the damaged fruit doesn't go totally to waste.

Possoms leave teeth marks - they're really obvious.

[lucylu]

I normally am able to find enough of the caterpillars to ensure we get enough to eat. You can also squish the eggs on the underside of the leaves. They are kind of white/pale green colour and pretty tiny. Our chooks love the caterpillars.

OK, so my question is:

Does anyone have experience with helping pollinate avocado flowers using a paint brush? How do you do it? When do you do it? Our tree has masses of flowers each year, but they just never seem to set. Last year we did get 1 fruit but sadly it dropped off after a dry spell.

[Phoenix]

Not possums. Thanks heaps for the tips, I will go on a hunting spree! *insert evil poacher laugh*

[Rinelle]

I expect bagging them would still protect the fruit? Not sure though, as I haven't had problems with caterpillars in my tomatoes. In the broccoli, yes, but not tomatoes yet. Good luck wtih defeating them!

[Karena]

My tomatoes are ok, but something is eating my newly planted basil. I've put child friendly snail bait down hoping this help. But the other strategy I've used is I've planted quite a few hoping at least a few will make it through. I suspect snails/slugs, and as Brocky loves snails he was quite interested in me "feeding" the snails. Will just have to wait and see what happens I guess

[lucylu]

Oh, you can get spray for the caterpillers. It's a bacteria that only affects caterpillars and is totally harmless to everyone else, hence is ok for certified organic. The bacteria is Bacillus thuringiensis the brand i have used is Dipel.

[Phoenix]

Awesome thanks for that Lu.

[jodiemiller]

To Lucy's avocado question: you generally need another tree to cross-pollinate with. Depends on what variety your tree is. It is likely the one fruit that dropped was a null fruit due to lack of pollination. Did it look more like a sausage than an avocado? So maybe gift a tree to your neighbour if you don't have room in your own garden for another huge avocado tree. They don't need to be right next to each other. Across the street or in the general vicinity is close enough so long as they'll flower around the same time.

[michelle_j_r]

Does anyone have experience with helping pollinate avocado flowers using a paint brush? How do you do it? When do you do it? Our tree has masses of flowers each year,
not sure how much luck you'd have trying to pollinate them yourself. Even when there are two trees around avocados can be tricky with pollination. Each flower only opens for two days and is only fertile for part of the first day that it opens, the second day it's not fertile at all. I'd plant another tree somewhere (even in a nature reserve at the end of the block!) and do something to encourage bees into your garden.

[lucylu]

Thanks for the info. The tree is actually adjacent to a bottlebrush and a wattle which are both in full bloom at the moment, so plenty of bees around. I actually wondered if that was the part of the problem - too much other food for the bees to be bothered with tiny avo flowers.

Jodie, thanks for the info, it's not going to be as easy as I'd hoped. It's a Hass, so theoretically self pollinating. Our block is 600m, so there's not really room for another one. Avo's don't grow as huge here, as they do in your parts. We're on the coast with quite sandy, alkaline soil and it gets windy, so it has quite a few things going against it to begin with. The fruit that fell off was avo sized, not sausage... I think it was a fertilized fruit as there were other non fertile 'fruits' that fell off. so I suppose that's encouraging.

It was a gift from my Gran when we bought the house. She loved Avo's and used to tease me asking when she was going to be able to share the bounty, so I'd really like to get fruit off it kind of 'for her'.

I could probably get a miniature and pop it in a pot though...thanks ladies :)

[jodiemiller]

Even self-pollinating trees will produce more reliably with another pollinator in their neighbourhood. Good luck. I've killed four avocado trees and counting. Not sure what got them in the end - think the site was just too wet for them - but locals tell me the rabbits ring bark them here and they need heaps of protection to get to a mature-enough size to start producing fruit. Just wanted to wail - POOR ME - I desperately want an avocado tree!

[Stardust]

Ohh...what would I give for an avocado tree. Yum!
Karena, which child friendly snail bait do you use? I didn't know there was such a thing, but the snails are eating all my spinach and some of my lettuce.

[jodiemiller]

If you're a coffee drinker and have spent ground coffee, or even if you have a children's sand pit, you can mix with table salt and sprinkle around your plants. Needs refreshing regularly though. Salt is the enemy of snails and slugs and the granulated surface created by the sand/ground coffee is supposed to deter them from crossing. I've never used this remedy but organic gardeners swear by it.

Geez, I do sound like a know-it-all, don't I?

[Stardust]

No, it's great to have someone to pester who knows the answers!
I hav tried the coffee grounds but have more success with eggshells sprinkled round the plants. Still eating the spinach though. Will have to try the salt.

[Karena]

Sorry A I cant remember the name of it but it was child and pet friendly.
Its working though I've only lost one bean plant and a couple of basil leaves. Heres hoping it keeps working.

[Phoenix]

Why would my celery be going yellow? I have googled but wasn't able to find anything.

[Rinelle]

I've never grown celery, but leaves going yellow is often a sign of a lack of nitrogen?

[Savannah]

Yeah Nitrgen. Also sunburn and if they're droopy as well, lack of water.

[jodiemiller]

Could be mineral or PH-related even more-so. You're gardening in sandy soils, aren't you? Here's the Gardening Australia fact sheet. I've never grown it.

[mumatopia]

Most likely nitrogen. They like well drained, fertile soil. Mine is going great after several attempts last year. Also make sure you're not planting it next to cauli's or anything else that is a heavy feeder. Mine is companion planted with tomatos, eggplant and pyrethrum daisies.

[lucylu]

Jodie, not sounding like a know it all at all! Hugs about the avo - I feel your pain!! Ours is absolutely covered in flowers, teasing us and DD keeps showing me and telling all about how many avo's we're going to get. Think I will get one in a pot for next year though - thanks for the info.

Rinelle, lack of magnesium can also make leaves go yellow, but this is coupled with green veins. Lack of magnesium can be associated with pH that's too high or low. Nitrogen can be taken in via the leaves, so a foliar application of something (green/compost/poo tea) can quickly green up leaves.

OK, I have another question. And now I've forgotten!! Oh, my poor brain :(

Oh, that's right. I bought two beautiful low chill blueberries about a month ago and they are going great guns - full of fruit for little plants... but... the fruit is taking ages to taste ripe, even though it looks ripe. Is this normal?? How do you know when it's ripe? We tasted one this morning which was a bit more ripe tasting, but it's still green on the inside. Is there a magic trick I don't know about?

[jodiemiller]

Aren't blueberries all about acid soil? Potash is supposed to acidify soil but I don't know much more than that. Don't like to mess with it.

[lucylu]

Blueberry problem solvered I think. Saw the breeder today and apparently they are not ripe until they fall off in your hands when you give them a gentle tickle. If you have to pull them off, they're not ripe. And the variety we have don't go purple inside, they stay green.

[Phoenix]

I found out that the 'melon' I had growing was actually a cross between a cucumber and a rockmelon. I have no idea how that happened in our compost!

[Rinelle]

How'd you find out Phoenix? I'm suspecting that my watermelon seeds I planted might be a cross with a pumpkin, but I'm not sure yet.

[Phoenix]

It kinda stopped getting big so I chopped it open and it was like a cucumber inside, plus the skin was rather green yet it had the squiggles of a rockmelon. It smelt like a cucumber too.

[Rinelle]

Cool. Did you try it?

[Phoenix]

No, oddly enough I had no want to even lick it!

[milkymumma]

I'm after some input as to where I should put my seedlings in.
Strawberries, tomatoes, and climbing beans are all going on the front porch in pots.

But I also have:
pumpkins
zucchinis
cucumbers
lettuces
bok choi
silverbeet
leeks
cabbages

I have two patches of Earth prepared, they are both approx 1.5m x 1.5m. Any ideas are much appreciated, I am very new to this!

[milkymumma]

Also, to plant potatoes... do I just plant potatoes? I know that sounds silly, but I don't know how else to say it!

[boy wrangler]

We've had good success with potatoes when we've bought seed potatoes, but DH just bought a couple of different varieties from the supermarket that are on the laundry shelf waiting to shoot a bit so we can plant them. Hopefully they'll be ready soon!

[jodiemiller]

You don't need much soil to plant potatoes. It's mostly about building up the mound with mulch once they start to leaf up and expand. So yeah, sow them like you would any seed (twice as deep as their size) and then keep burying them as they get lots of leaf and stem on them (just leaving enough green poking through for them to keep growing towards the light).

[milkymumma]

Ohk, thanks BW and Jodie!:grouphugg:

[Phoenix]

There is a potential risk of planting Zuchs and Pumpkins close together as they can cross pollinate. Savannah sent me a good chart for companion planting if you want it pass me your email addy or you can have a look here (http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/companion-planting.html) for other ideas.

[milkymumma]

Awesome link! Answered all my questions, thank you Phoenix.

[Phoenix]

Awesome!

[boy wrangler]

That link is great, thanks!

[Karena]

That link is great :)

[lucylu]

Has anyone grown Stevia? I have a little plant and I'm wondering whether to tip it? And when to harvest it? I think it's an annual... but not sure. It's yum - I know that!

[jodiemiller]

I've never grown it. It's a perennial in frost-free areas, tho'.

http://www.stevia.net/growingstevia.htm

[lucylu]

Thanks Jodie, great link.

[Phoenix]

I have some paw paws that have come up from the compost, I was wondering, would they be female??

[Savannah]

It's likely that you'll have at least one I would have thought.

[jodiemiller]

Was it from delicious fruit? My experience with paw paw is that they can be a bit hit and miss from seed BUT if you're prepared to transplant them and wait until you can sample the fruit, there's likely to be one or two good ones worth keeping.

[Phoenix]

Yep, fruit was yummy. Will give them some time and check it out. Thank you for your help J and S! :)