I am in need of some advice from people who know gardening. I am staying at my sister's house, and while trying to move her soaker hose (which I later realized wasn't supposed to be moved) I unwittingly uprooted her squash and beheaded her peppers. As you can guess, she's VERY upset. She cried, and I feel like a big jerk...I was just trying to help water her garden. The squash roots were exposed to the air for a day...is there any way to save them? Special soil? Special treatment? And is there any way to save a severed pepper plant? I'm willing to put some time into this...and to buy the things I need, but I just don't know where to begin. Thanks for any tips.
I am not a vegie expert but replanting the squash and watering the roots well might be all that is needed to keep the plant alive. By beheading the peppers how much damage do you mean? Did you cut the plant off at ground level? If so, I don't think there is anything you can do for it except drive around to garden centers trying to find a replacement plant. If you just broke off some of the stems, the plant will use it's energy towards putting out peppers on the other stems so you might get lucky there. If neither of the plants is salvagable, replacing them might be an option...at the very least you might have to supply her with replacement produce from the local farmers market to make up for her loss. :-D
I wouldn't worry too much GR as we've all done things like this I can assure you. My husband, for instance, has a habit of pulling up my seedlings thinking they are weeds - even when I have labels sticking out of the ground beside them. I'm sure your sister won't mind if you either replant or replace the damage done as Toni suggests. Do let us know how you get on won't you? Maybe a nice bunch of flowers as a pressie wouldn't go amiss either just to let your sister see how sorry you are. WELCOME to our forums by the way and do stay around and let us get to know you better. :-D
Did some repair work Well, my sister and I tried to repair the garden today. We replanted things, layed mulch, and watered everything. The pepper plant was broken at the stems, but there is still a root to it, so maybe... The squash is a pretty sizeable plant, so we covered up the roots and we're hoping for the best. I also bought her a nice canteloupe plant to add to the garden. And I guess I'll be volunteering in her garden for a long time now. Thanks for the advice!
Re: Did some repair work Every gardener would love to have a lackey to do the sweaty 'grunt work' for them....looks like your sister has found hers :-D
