Vegetable Plants

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Nutrient Deficiency

From the photo it appears there's a nutrient deficiency. If the plant is growing "in-ground" deficiencies are usually not due to lack of nutrients in the soil (unless you used primarly unfertilized soil amendments or organic matter that hasn't broken down yet), but often nutrient deficiency is caused by over or under-watering for the plants needs. Over-watering can cause the plant to produce vegetative growth rather than flowers, and underwatering is stressful for the plant and it may respond by not producing flowers. In water stressed situations, plant roots either begin to rot or dry out and therefore can't function sufficiently to absorb nutrients along with water and we often see yellow leaves. We recommend watering more deeply and less frequently rather than providing smaller amounts more frequently. If the water does not soak into the soil quickly and begins to runoff before you can provide a sufficient amount, you can apply water until it just begins to runoff, let that water soak in, apply more again until just before runoff, let that soak in, and repeat this several times during one irrigation (in the same day). We recommend keeping the soil evenly moist, and avoiding fluctuations between dry and flooded soils to keep the salts diluted in the moist soil.

By | 2016-01-15T13:36:09-08:00 January 15th, 2016|Vegetable Plants|0 Comments
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Tomato Nutrient Deficiency

This is symptoms of nutrient deficiency. These deficiencies could also be symptoms of too much water, or watering too frequently - we noticed its in a pot, so make sure water is draining from the pot every time you water - or not enough water. Tomatoes are heavy nutrient feeders at certain stages of growth, and nutrients can be difficult to provide if the plant is not growing in ideal conditions. Here is a link (from the University of CA) all about Tomatoes that will help, but in short Tomatoes need 6-8 hours of full sun each day, and prefer to be watered (at soil level not overhead). Since your plant is in a pot, you may eventually need to water more often as it continues to develop a bigger root system, do not over-water by watering too frequently as this makes for unhealthy roots that can't take up the nutrients from the soil. When your plant is well on it way with flowering and fruit you should fertilize it with an all purpose vegetable fertilizer - consider a slow release fertilizer so that the plant gets a continuous feed for this period of heavy use. Follow the label instructions when fertilizing. http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/tomato.html

By | 2017-09-11T15:49:27-07:00 January 14th, 2016|Vegetable Plants|0 Comments
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Squash

We don't know why the plant is twisting -- never heard of it happening before in 50 years of growing vegetables. However, we can help you with flowers and no fruit. It sounds like your female flowers aren't getting pollinated. I'm sure you have heard that there has been a 30% decline in honeybees worldwide. Without bees and other pollinators the female flowers don't get pollinated and produce fruit. If you were to carefully look at your plants you will see very large yellow flowers and a few smaller flowers. Look behind the smaller flowers and you will see a small fruit. Once the female flower gets pollinated the tiny fruit in back of the flower will swell and produce viable seeds and the fruit that surrounds the seeds. If the flower doesn't get pollinated the plant knows that there are no viable seeds inside and the small fruit drops off and the plant produces another female flower hoping to get pollinated. No bees -- no fruit.

You will need to start planting flowers that attract bees and the bees will visit both the planted flowers and your squash. Hyssop (Agastache), African Blue Basil, marigolds, are just a few to attract bees. Let us know how things work out.

By | 2017-09-11T15:49:27-07:00 January 14th, 2016|Vegetable Plants|0 Comments
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Tomato Troubles

Cracking that occurs in a circular pattern at the top of tomato fruits, ringing the stem end, is known as concentric cracking. When cracking of either type occurs in green tomatoes, fruits are likely to rot before they fully ripen if left on the vine.

Both radial growth cracks and concentric growth cracks (bursting) are caused when the internal growth is faster than skin growth.
This can be caused by:
1. Overfertilization
2. Extreme fluctuations in temperature
3. Extreme fluctuations in soil moisture
4. Not enough foliage to protect fruit
5. Some tomato varieties are more prone to cracking than others, particularly the beefsteak size and the large heirloom varieties.


With both radial and concentric cracking, your best option is to harvest fruits immediately, before they begin to rot. These fruits are edible and can be allowed to finish ripening indoors, though any fruit that develops a sour smell or begins to ooze should go straight to the compost pile. Fruits that ripen off the vine, as well as those that ripen on the vine during cloudy, rainy weather will be less flavorful than those that mature fully on the plant during sunny weather.

By | 2016-01-12T22:34:24-08:00 January 12th, 2016|Vegetable Plants|0 Comments
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Water And Fertilizer Issues

We typically see yellowing of leaves in response to over or under watering, and/or nutrient deficiencies. Water should be applied when needed (according to weather conditions and plant size) rather than on a fixed schedule. When applied, water deeply (fewer times per week as opposed to daily) and maintain even soil moisture (avoid fluctuations in very dry and very wet/flooding of soil). Insufficient water dries out roots, and too much water drowns roots; both situations result in a lack of nutrient uptake. We've included a link about Peppers so you can refer to this for appropriate fertilizer applications. If watering is done properly and leaves are still yellow you can use this rule of thumb: uniformly yellow lower/older leaves means a lack of Nitrogen. Yellow areas between the veins on newer leaves (at the top of the plant) results from a lack of Iron. We recommend you ask your local garden center professional for an appropriate fertilizer. (Also note that Peppers are heavy Phosphorous users). Here' the link:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/CULTURAL/vegefertilizing.html
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/peppers.html

By | 2016-01-10T01:19:11-08:00 January 10th, 2016|Vegetable Plants|0 Comments
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Nutrient Deficiency

From the photo it appears that there may be a nutrient deficiency showing in the older leaves. If the plant is growing "in-ground" deficiencies are usually not due to lack of nutrients in the soil, but usually caused by over or under-watering for the plants needs. Watering can sometimes cause damage or yellowing to the foliage. Over-watering can cause the plant to produce vegetative growth rather than flowers, and underwatering is stressful for the plant and it may respond by not producing flowers. In water stressed situations, plant roots either begin to rot or dry out and therefore can't function sufficiently to absorb nutrients along with water. We recommend watering more deeply and less frequently rather than providing smaller amounts more frequently. If the water does not soak into the soil quickly and begins to runoff before you can provide a sufficient amount, you can apply water until it just begins to runoff, let that water soak in, apply more again until just before runoff, let that soak in, and repeat this several times during one irrigation (in the same day). We recommend keeping the soil evenly moist, and avoiding fluctuations between dry and flooded soils to keep the salts diluted in the moist soil.

By | 2016-01-08T06:29:49-08:00 January 8th, 2016|Vegetable Plants|0 Comments
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See Earlier Response

Sorry but we don't have anything new to tell you about this. This stem looks like it could be mealybug or woolly aphid (see the link below) but as we said previously the other photo with the organisms(?) lined up in rows does not. Its possible the other photo is of some kind of pupal stage (cacoons) of a beneficial fly or wasp, but they typically lay their eggs on the backs of caterpillars, not on plant parts. Again, we suggest you contact local professionals and either provide them with photos or live samples sealed in a bag. If you think these are pests causing plant damage, you could use horticultural oils or pesticidal soaps. If you think they're not damaging pests, then you can leave them alone and observe them, or put them in some kind of enclosed bug box, butterfly cage, etc. We would like to know what you find out. Sorry we can't be of more assistance, but there are millions of insect species, all with various life stages that take different forms and we just haven't come across these yet, if in fact they are insects.
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/INVERT/woolaphids.html

By | 2016-01-07T14:41:27-08:00 January 7th, 2016|Vegetable Plants|0 Comments
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Tomato Nutrient Deficiency

This appears to be a symptom of nutrient deficiency. These deficiencies could also be symptoms of too much water, or watering too frequently - we noticed its in a pot, so make sure water is draining from the pot every time you water, but only water when the upper 2" (or a bit more depending on plant size and root ball size) have dried out. Soil that are too wet cause roots to drown and not function. Sometimes not enough water can also cause root damage that results in insufficient uptake of water and nutrients.. Tomatoes are heavy nutrient feeders at certain stages of growth, and nutrients can be difficult to provide if the plant is not growing in ideal conditions. Here is a link (from the University of CA) all about Tomatoes that will help, but in short Tomatoes need 6-8 hours of full sun each day, and prefer not to be watered "overhead". Since your plant is in a pot, you may eventually need to water more often as it continues to develop a bigger root system, but don't "over-water". If your plant is well on its way with flowering and fruit set/development you should fertilize it with an all purpose vegetable fertilizer or something formulated for tomatoes - consider a slow release fertilizer so that the plant gets a continuous feed for this period of heavy use. Follow the label instructions when fertilizing. http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/tomato.html

By | 2017-09-11T15:49:28-07:00 January 6th, 2016|Vegetable Plants|0 Comments
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End Rot

This looks like end rot, a condition that can affect peppers and tomatoes. It used to be thought that this was due to low calcium levels in the soil, but recent research shows that this is likely not the case. The current thinking is that this is caused by stress to the plant from irregular or improper irrigation. Fluctuations in irrigation, going very dry and then being really soaked; shallow watering; or too much water can all lead to end rot. Root disturbance from tilling next to the plants can also be a factor.

The best thing to do is water deeply less often - don't hand water because people get bored long before the ground is soaked deeply. Using a sprinkler or soaker hose, leave the water on for as long as it takes to soak the ground down 12 to 18 inches. Dig down with a shovel or trowel to test how moist the soil is 18" down. Irrigate for as long as this soaking takes every 5 to 7 days depending on temperature. Don't splash foliage or peppers with water in between. If your garden is mulched you should be able to water deeply every 6 to 7 days and have that be enough. If you soak the soil deeply the roots will grow deep and can stand going that long with out irrigation. Read more about this here: http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.cfm?number=C938

By | 2016-01-05T12:29:05-08:00 January 5th, 2016|Vegetable Plants|0 Comments
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Garlic

Garlic grows slowly all winter and takes off in the spring. Our guess is that it's too early for it to show substantial growth in your area just yet, but soon it should start to shoot up. Here are the conditions garlic needs to do well, so if yours isn't growing soon it might be that it's lacking one of the following conditions:
1. Sun. Garlic grows best when it's getting at least 6 hours of dead-on sun including the noon hour.
2. Deep watering less often. Water garlic deeply (not hand watering - use a sprinkler or soaker hose) once a week if there hasn't been an inch of rain, measured by a rain gauge.
3. Fertile soil. Have you fertilized this area at all? An application of an organic fertilizer would be a good idea if you haven't recently done so. Ask for a recommendation at your local garden center.
4. Soil pH - garlic likes a pH of between 6 and 7. If you haven't had your pH measured recently it would be a good idea to do so since soil that's more acid or alkaline would stunt the growth of your plants. When the pH is off plants can't absorb the nutrients that are already there. Many home pH meters aren't all that accurate so if you could have your soil tested by a university soil testing lab or cooperative extension that would be better.

By | 2016-01-04T11:03:25-08:00 January 4th, 2016|Vegetable Plants|0 Comments
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