I am curious what is growing best and what is growing not so well so far this season for everyone. Any surprises in garden performances this year? I want to take notes for next year as well. My bell pepper plant is doing better than I thought it would . He's still young with 6 peppers growing fast! But the zuchs and cukes which were supposed to be easy have given me just ONE fruit so far! One zuch started to grow well and then just fizzled out on me. No bees to pollinate and males and females opening at different times so I can't even hand pollinate much. Blueberries did not disappoint either! I may do all self fruitful fruits and veggies next year... Happy harvesting! ( photo / image / picture from mshelenlu's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from mshelenlu's Garden )
Actually, Your zucchini has a bad case of powdery mildew. That is why it has fizzled out. Unfortunately they are very prone to getting the mildew so we spray a fungicide on ours to keep it at bay. Pull that on out and start a few new plants to replace that one. Then keep an eye on the leaves for little white spots. That is the beginning of the disease. You can buy organic or synthetic, you can even use home made stuff such as baking soda (1 t. in 1 quart of water) in water or milk diluted in water (1c to 1 gal) and spray it on. I haven't used the milk, but want to try it. We do so much growing that I have a hard time getting a test plot going to try it and I can't afford to lose a crop so I keep going back to the tried and true for us.
Carolyn, how could you tell from that photo? There is a zucchini growing really well off that plant. Is it ok to eat? What did I do to cause the powdery mildew? Too late to spray and keep zuch plant? It's getting quite big. Thanks!
The leaves that I can see in the photo are "white" instead of a dark green like zucchini should be, they are cupped downwards and the edges are raggedy looking. can you see that white haze on the leaves? that is what P. Mildew looks like. It won't wipe off or fall off. It is embedded in the leaf structure, now. The "roots" of the fungus have destroyed the cell structure of the leaf. You didn't do anything to cause it. As the spores float through the air they land everywhere. Zucchini is just a very susceptible plant...maybe due to the fact that the leaf is so broad and many spores can land on it at a time.... Your weather is the biggest contributor to the problem. you can eat that last zucchini. It won't make you sick. I wish I had a few of my one variety left, I would send them to you. I ordered one called "First Pick" this year. It is a variety that takes about 30 days to bear fruit. They aren't huge, but they are bearing. My advice is to start new seeds. I don't think trying to save this one will work, it will be more work than it is worth and by the time you see any results nursing this one the seeds would have already grown bigger and be producing... You can try the sprays, but I would recommend a store bought spray, but most of them are not going to "cure" the plant, anything that will eliminate the mildew on a sick plant probably isn't available to the general public to buy. It is probable only available to someone with a commercial spray license and is a restricted use spray. Now, When/if you start new plants start spraying (something of your choice for a fungicide) before or a s soon as you see any little white spots on the leaves. I am not sure if there are any varieties available a "powdery mildew resistant", you can look for that and see if any of the seed envelopes are labeled as such.
But back to your original question. WEEDS have been the best producers so far. Thankfully I chose to use ground cover in all my rows this year or we would be in trouble. We have had at least an inch of rain every 3 or 4 days for all of June. So, there is no getting in the garden when it is that wet out there. But Zucchinis are looking great, I have picked maybe a bushel of them so far. I picked about 70 pounds of peas, 35 pounds of snow peas, beets are beautiful...I keep pulling them twice a week for my markets and I sell about 10 bunches each market.
Best producer? It's hard to say--the Coosa squash are rampant, as are the Striato d'Italia. The Celebrity tomatoes are coming on almost faster than I can keep up with--canning, freezing, and making tomato-basil butter. The worst--easy to answer--peas. I planted two long rows of English peas and two of edible pod peas, and didn't get germination. I don't know what happened, but this year's weather has been strange for Texas. However all y'all join in for the gardener's mantra: There's always next season!
Don`t give up on that zuchini plant. Mine get that too with all the moisture we have had. Just let it make what it will and plant some seed for later eating. Only thing I had that didn`t do well was beets. But I only use the tops for salad greens anyway. I still have cabbage the size of basketballs.
I have not had anything yet but my Cucumbers were the best last year... .and onions worst this year it is a mix between cucumbers and broccoli. We will see when it comes time for harvesting! As for worst this year, my cilantro and turnips didn't do well *i'm not having good luck with underground growing *
Shawchert, I feel the same. The garlic is small, onions refusing to grow. Beets are a wait n see. Potatoes? I'm hopeful, but I see some unknown stuff on a few leaves. Tempts me to dig them out now.
mshelenlu, our zucchini looks quite a bit like your's. I sprayed the affected leaves with the baking soda / water mixture yesterday. I hope it works as we caught it early, although one tiny zuc has turned soft. The yellow squash looks very healthy except for a few leaves which are turning brown around the edges. Would Epsom salt be good for squash? It's good for cucumbers.
All my cool weather crops bolted before I got much of anything. I had beautiful plants but it turned hot to quick. Made some good compost. Beets are doing well. Canned 14 pints so far. Cucumbers are doing great. Going to have lots of pickles or compost.
Mart and growing pains- thank you for letting me know we have zuchs in the same boat... Or same bed I should say... I think I will keep my zuch and spray as advised. I am very curious how the baking soda spray worked- pray tell! Carolyn- I wouldn't even know about the powdery mildew for probably how many years from now if it weren't for you. Thanks! As for your garden, something to aspire to- I dream big huh? Donna S- I have cucumber envy! *blush* the one thing I wanted to yield cause we eat them lots and I got nada! zip! zilch yet. Is there a self fertile kind? I hear sweet success is a type that needs no males to pollinate and is all female?
as a matter of fact...there is. They are called parthenocarpic cucumbers. Mostly they are marketed for growing in greenhouses or high tunnels where there are few pollinators available.
