Weekly Gardening Outlook

This will be a continuing series. Each Monday we will look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

     Wilting spaghetti squash vine


The heat and lack of rain continue to be the big story.  Cooler nights arrive this week.  With this drop in overnight temperatures will come increased garden production and harvest.  Be ready to eat or put up the produce.  Until then, keep things well-watered and think about learning to do a proper rain dance.

Spaghetti Squash / Squash Vine Borer Update:

We stopped by to check on the spaghetti squash vines and the pest insects have found them.  When we say found, we mean savaged.  Squash vine borer?  Check.  Squash bugs?  Check.  Bacterial wilt carrying cucumber beetles?  Striped AND Spotted.  Check.  Aphids?  Check.  We went on a squash bug, cucumber beetle, aphid, squash vine borer killing spree.  Our shorts, hands, arms, and even cheeks were splatted with insects guts.  We must have killed over 150 squash bugs alone and our thumbs and forefingers are still stained yellow from their innards.  It was bad.  So bad that we are stepping up to pyrethrin spray.  Pyrethrin is a natural compound extracted from chrysanthemums and is approved for use in organic gardens.  Beware that pyrethrum and permethrin are not approved for organic gardens.  We will be mixing neem oil and pyrethrin into one spray.  The pyrethrin provides immediate kill and the neem provides some residual protection.  This can be bought as a premix under the trade name NeemII.  We will keep you updated.

Things to be on the lookout for:

     Adult squash vine borer (SVB) moth

Apparently these are still active.  This picture was taken late last week and the spaghetti squash vines are showing signs of SVB activity.  Sigh...

     Squash bug nymphs on spaghetti squash vine

     Frass (aka bug poop) on a watermelon

This is a sure sign of insect activity.  If found, take a closer look.  Hint:  Look above the deposits.  See the leaffooted bugs?

     Leaffooted bug nymph on a pepper plant

     Spotted cucumber beetle on a spaghetti squash vine

     Two striped cucumber beetles breeding

     Aphids and ants on a spaghetti squash vine

If your plants are inexplicably covered in ants, take a closer look.  Some ants, such as these odoriferous house ants (aka sugar ants), will "farm" aphids.  Aphids suck juices from your plants and produce a sugary substance called honeydew from their anuses.  The ants eat this and in exchange, protect the aphids.  Aphids are not very mobile and a sharp stream of water will blast them off of the plants and out of your hair.

Weather outlook:
-Mid 80s to low 90s all week, with a very slight chance of rain
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Peppers

-Chard 

-Tomatoes
-Cucumbers
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs

-Apples

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are a very space efficient crop, growing readily on a trellis and giving large numbers of fruits per plant.  Vines can reach 12-14' long. Four plants of a standard straight eight type cucumber will easily yield a fruit a day and even more in optimal conditions. 


Planting:

Sow seeds in a sunny location after all danger of frost has passed (early May in Northwest Arkansas).  In square foot gardening , we've found that one plant per square foot provides plenty of production and avoids overcrowding.  Seeds don't germinate 100% of the time.  To increase the odds of a seedling in each spot, sow two seeds in each hole.  Keep well watered until they come up (about a week).  Using scissors, thin the seedlings to one plant per hole by cutting the smallest plant off at its base.

Tips and Tricks:

• Save some money and buy cucumber seed rather than seedlings.  Save unused seeds in a ziptop bag and keep them in a cool, dark place until next year.
• If the soil in your garden is clay based and clumpy, create a pocket of finished compost or peat in which to plant the seeds.  This will hold moisture around the seed and give it a loose medium to push through as it emerges. 
• To reduce fungal disease and maximize space efficiency, provide the cucumbers with a trellis to grow on.  Half of a cattle panel cost $8.00 and gives a solid 8' tall trellis.  
• At the first sign of powdery mildew or downy mildew, treat with Serenade.
• The only other serious problem that we've run into is bacterial wilt.  Once a vine has this disease, there is no treatment.  It is transmitted by cucumber beetles.  Inspect the vines often and if these beetles are found, treat with neem oil.  
• It is normal for cucumbers to have small spines on them.  Run your hand up and down them under cold running water to remove.

Putting Up the Harvest:

• We prefer to eat these fresh.  They store best at room temperature.  We've found that they dehydrate somewhat after several days in the refrigerator.
• They can obviously be pickled.  We haven't yet made pickles, but we suggest following direct instructions from a good pickling book in your first attempt.  You will want to grow a variety of cucumber that is bred to have a size and texture especially for pickling.  An example is Snow's Fancy Pickling.
• Another option is chutney, which can be canned.  As always, we suggest following canning instructions from the ball blue book.

Weekly Gardening Outlook

This will be a continuing series. Each Monday we will look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

    Newly planted spaghetti squash vine emerging


Our spaghetti squash have been slaughtered by the squash vine borer (1 vine left).  Ever the optimists, we have replanted.  We should have just enough time to get a crop in before the first frost of the year.  It's our thought that this planting will be too late in the season for the squash vine borers to invade.  We'll keep you updated.  

Things to be on the lookout for:

    Adult cucumber beetle

If you have cucumbers, melons, or squash, be on the lookout for these small yellow beetles.  They can be spotted as shown above or striped as seen here.  The adults can damage leaves and fruits, while the larvae can damage the plant's roots.  These aren't really a huge problem except in very young plants or if you let the adult population get very high.  The real problem with these beetles is that they transmit a disease called bacterial wilt.  We have had every cucumber vine (8 in total) wiped out at a customer's garden this year due to this disease.  We just replanted.    

     Newly planted cucumbers emerging

So what can be done about it?  Once infected with the bacteria, nothing can be done for the vine.  The best strategy is so reduce the cucumber beetle population.  A regular coating of diatomaceous earth on the young seedlings will keep the beetles at bay.  Once the seedlings get up a little, our old standby neem oil will discourage feeding and reduce the population of cucumber beetles.  It has the added benefit of reducing any problems with mildew.

Weather outlook:
-Mid 80's early in the week; warming to low 90's late in the week
-Chance of rain today and tomorrow
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Green beans

-Peppers

-Watermelons

-Chard and kale

-Onions
-Tomatoes
-Cucumbers (MANY cucumbers!)
-Kohlrabi (almost all gone)
-Squash and zucchini
-Squash blossoms
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs