This post is really three in one... watermelon drama, wilt drama and grub drama.
So the rabbits were getting into our watermelons so the kids and I made up some cages to protect them. Lou thought he was a pretty funny guy with a protected head. The rabbits couldn't get him now!
A few of these guys and our problems should be over.
No rabbits, no problem.
The next morning, I found this same watermelon at the edge of the garden.
We didn't count on the raccoons. They ate the watermelon. Every drop. They ate the corn too, but as you may recall, we only had one stalk that was tall and ready.
The tomatoes though seemed to be fine. Lots of nice tall healthy plants.
Tomatoes on every plant.
Then two started getting wilty. Yellow, droopy leaves.
The base of the stem had some debris sort of around it.
I pulled up the two plants and brought in the green tomatoes on them. I think it's wilt, which is a soil virus. Maybe. Hopefully it won't spread to the others.
That seems to have taken care of the tomato issue.
Then one of the cucumbers started getting yellow. What's next?
What? And both zucchinis fell over....
Thank goodness for google. A quick search about yellow debris around the base of squash family pants and I had my answer. Vine boarers.
To confirm it, I sliced open a vine. Sure enough a grub! The moths land on the base of vine plants during a particular time in the season and lay their eggs. The eggs hatch into grubs and then tunnel through the vine killing it. There doesn't seem to be anything you can do at this point. I sliced open the vines and removed as many grubs as I could find, but it's probably too late.
Hopefully the pumpkins aren't going to get effected too.
And my good producer yellow squash plants. Nest year, I'm going to consider chemicals. Poison. Lots of poison in my garden. Being organic doesn't do me any good if we can't eat much of it.
There was a little to pick tonight. These are the tomatoes for daddy. The kids and I ate our two each in the garden. The big tomatoes look awesome, but just aren't ready yet.
shared on: Life as a schoolhouse
Ewwww yuck, I had those squash borers last year and I was SOOOOOOOO mad. So far, fingers crossed, they haven't been around yet. I also had my corn destroyed last year, I suspect by squirrels but it might have been racoons. You'll have to go read that post because i. was. devastated. But I'm growing corn again this year. I'm dumb when it comes to the garden! And when it comes to putting fences around anything, you can't just set it on the ground. The fencing has to go like 3-6 inches below the ground too, or they will just dig under. Animals are pretty slick. Your pepper look great and so does the squash! I have a million yellow squash plants but they just aren't producing!
ReplyDeleteI can't garden, because growing up I saw all the hard work my dad put in, and then all of this drama would happen, and he'd be so upset. So I happily eat from other gardens!
ReplyDeleteit can be frustrating! those vine borers are my nemesis, there really isn't much you can do. The tomatoes may just need some nitrogen? Don't fear, the longer you use that plot in an organic way the better it will get! Spray may kill one thing, but it may bring another back stronger--but, i understand why you'd want to use it...it sometimes feels good to kill those little devils!!
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