I only discovered by looking at a picture i took yesterday that i had Aphids,..the first appearance in my garden this year,..so in my case i use Liquid Soap and Neem Oil,..especially on my roses though everything else gets sprayed as well and works very well every summer. 1 Table Spoon Of Neem Oil. 1 Table Spoon Of Liquid Soap. 1 Pint Of Water ( Tepid ) to disperse the Oil and Soap. Neem Oil itself will not harm Bees or Butterflies,..only anything that will eat leaf or blooms,..makes then ill and they die off quick enough,..one bottle of Neem Oil does me for the entire summer,..Pharmacies sell it. You can see the Aphids on the green of the plant below.
I'll have to try neem oil the next time around! My mixture has pretty killed all my plants....my fault for thinking I could substitute something. This is what the plant looks like after trimming off all the dead leaves....is it save to assume it's no longe going to produce fruit? Should I just cut it all down and let the new roots from the bottom start over? I'm so new to this I have no idea anymore. The fruit that had set are growing little black spots on them and one rotted this morning. Is it sick?
Britty,.. there is always hope with a plant unless its dead for sure,..once there is a tiny bit of life in a plant it will fight to survive and produce seeds in some form as that is its main task,..don't give up on it,..the fruits produced so far with black spots is a goner,..best to remove it,..will it produce another fruit or more?,..fingers crossed. Hey being new to this is something we all went through,..i remember when Tomato Plant Granules came out i threw a handful under a Rose Bush,..aaggggh,..it burned it.
Thank you! I'm wondering if it's okay to leave the vines barren and leafless? If these fruit don't set in going to cut the whole thing off and let the new vines that are growing from the bottom set....what do you think?? And I'll be more careful with my sprays. I guess it was too much to hope for for instant success, though my strawberries came out excellent!!
Sitting here thinking hard on this,..treating this as if it were my own plant,..i would cut off the vine as its leafless and let the new vines have more energy with their growth,..otherwise producing new leaves on the bare vine may not happen,..check very well before you cut off the leafless vine to see is there any sign of new growth like a wee bud,..if there is nothing,..then depend on the new vine to replenish the damage,..best of luck and let us know how the plant manages.
We've got little buds!!!! I'm so excited! The aphid situation seems to be under control and new buds are forming, I'm concerned about the fruit...even when the new fruit flowers and I pollinate it (by hand) it just seems to yellow and die. Now I'm concerned there may be some sore of disease?
Congrats Britty on seeing the new buds and that the Aphids seem to be under control. You got me stumped with the present problem,..this is a deeper problem beyond my knowledge,..i hope someone else spots this and will come to your aid,..Carolyn would be my best bet if she spots this.
If you have had the aphids for a while it may be that the plant is still stressed and is causing it not to set fruit. Or could be since you are on the third floor there is no insect activity. Try hand pollinating with a very soft artist brush. Some plants also have male and female flowers. The male flowers come first and the female flowers are later. Could be why the first ones are not setting fruit,, they may be the male flowers. Many of my melons drop the early blooms but set fruit later. Just give it time!
Thanks Philip... Brittyboo, I have grown no hydroponics much less indoor fruits or vegetables... so I think Mart is correct... give it time. Can you spot the difference between male and female flowers? female have a enlarged "stem" at the base of the flower and males have a thin stem at the base of the flower. Humidity may play a huge role in pollination and fruit set also. good luck.
I had already had pollinated fruit on one of my vines, one of my melons made it to about 2 inches in diameter. I have been hand pollinated all of my melons because I know I don't get bees on this floor. The issue is that fruit that had set, and started growing, suddenly blackened, and rotted. As well as new fruit after being pollinated would turn yellow and black. This is literally every fruit on any of my vines. I thought it could be an issue of two many fruit on the vine, but seeing as literally every fruit has died at this point I'm thinking its a bigger issue. I've currently cutdown all of my vines as they are browning and not setting and I'm hoping the new sprouts at the bottom will be re-trained up my trellis. My issue currently is that I believe the fruit to be diseased and I need to know how to determine that
I actually don't know because it's all in Japanese and I can't get an accurate translation The plant has died though. I'm pretty sure it got sick. I'm going to buy new seedlings and try again.
