Category: Garden

Posts about gardening and related topics, such as canning and maybe other aspects of food preservation.

Post #G21-044: Stealth mildew and a farewell to squash

Squash vine borer, and an observation.

Source:  U Wisconsin Vegetable Entomology.

As was the case last year, the squash vine borer season has been slowly tapering off.  My last sighting of a squash vine borer was a lone female about six days ago, or circa 7/23/2021.

I’m calling that the end of the season, unless I see another one. Continue reading Post #G21-044: Stealth mildew and a farewell to squash

Post #G21-043: A model of a rain barrel system based on historical weather data

 

If you use rain barrels to water your garden, you will eventually realize that you don’t have enough of them. 

This post tells you that you never will.  But that’s OK.  Most of the benefit you will get from using rain barrels, you will get with the first few you install.

This post isn’t nearly as folksy as the introduction implies.  To write this, I first created as reasonably sophisticated model of rain barrels and gardens using four decades of daily weather data for Sterling, VA.  While the results of that model really only apply to my local climate, I think the more general lessons about rain barrels apply broadly to well-watered temperate climates such as the climate of Virginia.

Continue reading Post #G21-043: A model of a rain barrel system based on historical weather data

Post #G21-041, Lack of male squash blossoms solved, squash vine borer gone?

No male squash blossoms

I seem to have solved my problem of having no male squash blossoms (Post #G21-040).  I’m going to write that up because, as far as I can tell, there’s no useful advice on internet on how to deal with the problem.

By way of background, I’m pretty sure that my mature male squash flower buds are being eaten by birds.  Mostly they are being eaten whole, leaving just the stalk, but sometimes I find one that’s just had a large, clean bite taken out of it.

Regardless of the true culprit, putting physical protection around the immature blossoms has protected them so far, from whatever-it-is that was eating them.  The ones that I’ve caged/bagged are surviving.  Those left to fend for themselves continue to be decapitated or torn to bits. Continue reading Post #G21-041, Lack of male squash blossoms solved, squash vine borer gone?

Post #G21-037: Where are the Japanese beetles?

Edit:  Perhaps Nature has a sense of irony.  I went out to look at my garden just after noon today, only to find both Japanese beetles and a squash vine borer.  So, as it turns out, I was just half-a-day early with this.  And the stated range of dates for first emergence of Japanese beetles in Virginia is too narrow.  Today, here, the Japanese beetles showed up on June 26.

Original post follows.  I’m off to the hardware store for some beetle trap lures.

Sometimes problems are notable by their absence.  Today’s question is, where are the Japanese beetles this year? Continue reading Post #G21-037: Where are the Japanese beetles?

Post #G21-036: Name that disease!

It’s rare to find a plant disease to your garden that can’t be identified with diligent internet search.  This year, however, I have managed to achieve that.

The disease currently killing my summer squash started off as a dark-brown smear on some of the older leaves.  That’s the center of the picture, below.  It also produces a mottled brown discoloration of the leaves.

Whatever it is, once established, it seems to respect the leaf veins to some extent.  To the left, it appears to be staying away from the major leaf veins.  To the right, it actually outlines the minor leaf veins in brown. Continue reading Post #G21-036: Name that disease!