Vegetable Gardening
November 5th, 2005· Cucumber beetles cause Bacterial Wilt, which causes a milky fluid to form within the cucumber plant. The leaves of the plant wilt and die and eventually, the entire plant dies out.
· If you are planting high growing crops such as corn, they should be planted on the north side of the garden. This allows the sun to reach all plants.
· Determinate tomato plants are extremely bushy. They do not have to be staked.
· Potatoes belong to the tomato family, as are peppers and eggplant.
· Most vegetables require a PH of 6 to 7. Corn and potatoes can grow with a PH balance of 5.5. Cabbage and cauliflower prefer a PH of 7.5. When grown commercially these crops are planted in different fields. How is it that in a vegetable garden they can all grow in the same soil?
· If you want to lower the PH in your garden soil, use peat moss and pine needles.
· If your plants have lush green foliage but bear no fruit, they have an overdose of nitrogen.
· Cabbage is affected by clubroot. If your soil has clubroot, it will have to be treated before cabbage will grow.
· Potatoes will not grow properly if there is too much organic matter in the soil. Organic matter causes scabbing on the potato skin.
by Mary M. Alward
November 5th, 2005 at 9:43 pm
If your plants have lush green foliage but bear no fruit, they have an overdose of nitrogen.
This is what happened to my tomato plants this year. Now I know it was probably a lack of nitrogen. Very interesting facts and things that gardeners need to know. Thanks
November 5th, 2005 at 11:34 pm
Whew! I haven’t been able to get over here for a couple of days. I really enjoyed these facts. I learned a lot from them. I didn’t know that you were supposed to plant tall crops like corn on the north side of a garden. Now that I think about it, my grandfather always did this in his garden.
November 6th, 2005 at 9:43 pm
Wow… this is very interesting. I have a vegetable garden every year, but didn’t know about any of these things. Thanks for the tips!
November 13th, 2005 at 12:21 am
I’ve never heard of cucumber beetles or Bacteria Wilt. We grew cucumbers when I was a kid. Mom picked them, sorted them, bagged them and sold them to the canners for extra household money.
Though I grew up on a farm, I never realized that organic matter could cause potatoes to have scabs. Interesting. I’d never really thought about growing the taller vegetables, such as corn, on the north side of the garden, but now that you mention it, Dad always planted it there.
Thanks for the memories.
November 15th, 2005 at 10:34 pm
There’s nothing like growing your own vegetables. Each year I plant a vegetable garden and it’s so nice to step into the back yard and pick a fresh tomato or green pepper for dinner.
November 24th, 2005 at 9:54 pm
I wish I had the space to grow a vegetable garden. Each year I grow a few veggies in pots on my balcony, but would love to have a full one like Grandma had when I was a kid. There’s nothing like the taste of fresh veggies and when you grow your own, you don’t have to worry about what pesticides have been sprayed on them.