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It's been so frickin' hot that my 'mater plants just refuse to produce any fruit. I've got flowers out the wazoo on a half dozen plants, and exactly ONE scrawny green mater amongst the bunch. Same problem with cantaloupe. Anybody got any suggestions?
Got a bumper crop of cukes, though. Fridge dill pickles in progress!
Sounds like you started too late on the maters.
Make some REAL pickles (no vinegar).
Got a good recipe?Quote:
Originally Posted by kc7jty
Putting shade cloth over your tomatoes might help. That's how growers down in Mexico do it.
Mebbe the bugs aren't pollinating. Try a soft tooth brush on 10 mins worth of flowers from different plants.
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/05/arthur-schwartz-1/
The best pickles are barrel or crock cured (not canned or sealed) and use clean, clear creek water from a known safe source. It's the bacteria that produce the fermentation and acid just like sauerkraut.
Never heat or cook the recipe.
Be sure the water is lukewarm at hottest (or cooler) before you put the cukes in it.
Never sugar, and for God's sake no coloring!
Good article here:
http://nourishedkitchen.com/real-pickles/
Couple of good suggestions there, I'll have to give both a try and see wut happens.
Good luck finding a safe crick around here. The 'safest' one turned out to have a dangerous amout of ecoli.Quote:
Originally Posted by kc7jty
Trying spraying the blossoms with tomato-set spray.
During the heat wave, I went out in the garden every evening close to dusk and soaked all the vegetables. That gave them overnight to absorb water, which would otherwise evaporate and dry out the ground during the day.
Don't know if that will help you, but I'm going to have a ton of tomatoes and peppers. The broccoli has been good. Corn & Eggplant looks good as well.
It also doesn't hurt that the next door neighbors shot or trapped the groundhogs that lived under their garden shed (which no longer stands), so I don't have any critters chewing on the plants!
My maters are coming out good (The fruit), but the leaves look wilted for some reason... Do they just start doing that after they've fruited? Or, not enough/wrong watering time (Watered in the early morning)?
I've noticed the same thing, but had attributed it to non-stop 100+ temps.Quote:
Originally Posted by KC2UGV
Maybe it is the heat... I was thinking it might be too much sun as well (It gets sun for the better part of the day)...Quote:
Originally Posted by W5GA
I know too much water is bad for matoes. The soil should be a bit sandy and able to drain the water down.
I think the sign for too much water though is the leaves turning beige (dead) on the tips and edges.