Got back from Europe to discover that my broccoli heads were demolished. They looked like they had been shot with a shotgun. The second time I went out, I saw the culprits. Birds. At first I thought it had probably been insects (or maybe the birds were eating the insects?) but it appeared as if the birds were feasting on the broccoli. Thus ends my experimentation with spring broccoli. From now on, it is a winter crop for me.
The carrots are still coming on great. In pulling them from the ground, the tops kept snapping off, leaving the carrot in the ground. I decided I better water the soil first and soften it up a bit, otherwise I am going to have to dig the carrots up.
Tomatoes have really exploded, although no fruit yet. Yellow squash and zucchini continue the pattern of rotting after the blooms drop. Although it looks like I now have a couple of zucchini that are going to develop.
Finally, jalapenos and okra are both about to bloom. Looking forward to that, although I don't have enough of either planted. Actually, I planted quite a few of each (from seed) but only had 1 jalapeno and 2 okra plants survive.
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Hello Robert. I am an organic vegetable farmer in France, and I have had this problem of courgettes/zuccini rotting after the flowers drop off: in my experience it is only usually the first few which do this, due to lack of heat. Once the air and soil warm up, they take off and if you pick regularly when small you can harvest them for months. As regards other veg, I am always amazed how much water plants can take up - they don't seem to be able to get enough. With a good compost and plenty of water you end up with strong healthy plants which can often resist most pests, as these latter often attack weak plants/seedlings. In any case good luck: gardening is the only thing in life which has taught me patience!
ReplyDeleteHi Susan,
ReplyDeleteThe problem looks to have stopped as the weather got warmer, so you may be right about that. I now have more zucchini than I can possibly eat.
Cheers, Robert
I think that might be what is commonly referred to as blossom end rot and might be the result of over watering / calcium deficiency in soil. Tomatoes get it quite a bit to from overwatering as well. The end result is often a bushy tomato with less tomatoes that come fairly late in the season and of course turn brown and rot on the end.
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