2011 - How does your garden grow?

[mommas2moody]

It has been a weird season. I have found that it has taken quite a long time for the tomatoes to even ripen...getting quite anxious...and irritated.

The same thing is happening here.
I was just about to google the tomato growth cycle to see how long it should take. i have had green tomatoes for weeks now.... when they were small they grew really fast then they got around the size of a racket ball and slowed down.

Not sure what is going on with my garden.... the plants are beautiful yet not producing. My pepper plants won't hold the peppers. With the exception of on j.pepper plant that seems to be a dwarf (it's not suppose to be) plant and produces one pepper at a time.

However, I do have some black-eyes peas that are doing great! My green beans failed so I pulled them up and planted BE peas in their place and I now have pods.

[CW&M Mom]

The reason, at least here in Kansas, that the tomatoes are not ripening, is that there is too much rain. They actually need way less water to ripen. If it would stop raining for a good 10 days or so...they would all start turning yellow..and I could pull mine.

Go figure we don't flipping get a drop of rain all summer which kills just about everything..and now that we finally have rain the one thing that survived can't ripen because of it.

[abond0017]

Everything I have pulled out of my garden has been tiny. Not sure if it's just an effect of having a container garden or what.

My tomatoes are anywhere from about Roma size down to a golf ball size. Nothing bigger and most on the smaller size. But they are ripening. The first round took forever to ripen (and were bigger too come to think of it), but I switched to a bigger pot and then they started ripening, and the next batches ripened well too...but they got smaller overall. Hmmmmm wonder what that means.

[mommas2moody]

The reason, at least here in Kansas, that the tomatoes are not ripening, is that there is too much rain. They actually need way less water to ripen. If it would stop raining for a good 10 days or so...they would all start turning yellow..and I could pull mine.

Go figure we don't flipping get a drop of rain all summer which kills just about everything..and now that we finally have rain the one thing that survived can't ripen because of it.

I don't know that! Newbie Gardener here.
I reck'on I'll stop watering mine for a bit. We haven't gotten much rain lately so I have only been watering about ever 3 days. (I have a raised garden bed that will hold moisture)

[mommas2moody]

I got my first orange colored tomato!
I am hoping some of the others will follow suit soon.

[thickbluebug]

Tomato Hornworms! Those ugly things got 20 pepper plants and my eggplants in a day! Had red orange yellow green and brown belle peppers, had sweet banana peppers and hot peppers too.
I didn't think they were suppose to bother hot stuff.

Hate them - they got me last year so I did the companion planting of dill and onions. Plus sprayed religiously with neem up until a few weeks ago.

Dang it. Wonder if the peppers have time to recover?

Oh well I am gonna neem everything real good. Already pulled them off and will hunt more tonight.

So sick of them!!!!!

[Kim1013]

I've got greenbeans coming out my ears!!!!! I guess that's not a bad problem to have ;) Last night it took me 1 1/2 hours to pick 3 12' rows of greenbeans. I filled up a plastic grocery bag to the top...that has to be at least 5 pounds! Now comes the not so fun part...getting them processed and frozen.

[WillaD]

something is eating the leaves off of my tomato plants,i had 2 plants and something cut the top
out of both of them,so monday i planted 5 more plants,this morning i looked out the window at
them and most of the leaves are gone,what pest would do this

[irishsaver]

I got 3 strawberry plants this year first ever yeah!! and yes strawberries are planted in one of those upside down things I saw on clearance at my Aldi... I am sorry now I didnt get more strawberry or fruit plants as they are really doing good. I had a patch in the garden dug up by DH last year to have DD plant a patch of vegetable but it hasnt been touched by her yet and I am not starting in on it ... So much to do with it fence around it etc as we get Deer, turkey and rabbits yes all of them roam on occasion at the end of my back yard..

I do love planting plants and flowers and got some of my garden planted. 5 years but its beginning to look good finally our garden is beginning to look cosy..

[thickbluebug]

Sounds like tomatos hornworms. They are the color of the vines and hard to find. By the time you see one they have ate the whole freakin plant. They eat grape and blackberry leaves too. Some say they don't but I have pulled em off my plants. Anyway I hate those suckers. I hate pulling them off cause they squish in my hands. ACK

You can google Garrett juice and make it. The garlic water and soap will work too.
Fill a 2 liter bottle with water and 2 cloves of garlic and let is sit overnight. Strain out the garlic and add 1 tsp of sunlight or generation dish soap. I just pour my water mix into a sprayer.
It works for most things like aphids, hornworms, japanese beetles, black spots and mold. Some say they rinse it off - but at 1 tsp of soap I don't. I have also added in a little alcohol, molasses and neem.

IMO the key to any of the spray things is to do it every week and sometimes 2x a week. Got to break the hatching cycle.

something is eating the leaves off of my tomato plants,i had 2 plants and something cut the top
out of both of them,so monday i planted 5 more plants,this morning i looked out the window at
them and most of the leaves are gone,what pest would do this