My 1st year of SFG...

I'm really loving this gardening technique so far!

Looks great! I wish my warm weather plants were that far along. I don't even have my peppers in the ground yet! What kind of tomatoes are you growing?

Thanks for the warm welcome Boffer! I'm growing the heirloom varieties: Black Krim, Burpee's Supersteak, Big Rainbow, and Brandywine. I ordered 2 of each from Burpee and 2 of the plants were damaged in packaging. I rooted the broken stems and just planted last week. I'm afraid they probably won't have time to catch up before the heat starts getting us here. I just started seeing tomato blooms last week! The fruits of labor are coming . . . I hope so anyway!

Looks great...I sure envy your growing season. Things are coming up beautifully in your garden...cheers!

Thank you all for the comments.

I'm really dreading the day it hits 100 degrees because the plants won't look so happy then! Everything is really enjoying the occasional thunderstorm and temps in the 70's and 80's. The garden just blew up in the last 2 to 3 weeks.

Now I'm on a daily mission to kill bugs! Its driving me nuts already!!! I've already discovered aphids, spotted cucumber beetles, and flea beetles . . . oh, and what I think is cabbage worms! Arghhh!!!

Here's a cool pic I took this past week after a heavy storm. The bugs, good and bad, were out in numbers!



((I promise to keep the pics coming! I love seeing everyone's pictures too!))

-Amber

Thats a killer picture! But, I think it looks like a sqaush bug-if so-look out!!!!!

Hi Snibb!

I think you are the gardener that I learned to stake my squash from . . . at gardenweb?

And about the bug . . . I hope he isn't a squash bug! However I wouldn't be surprised: I've found little red eggs laid in singles all over my squash leaf tops and stems. I sprayed Spinosad yesterday . . . don't know much about it but I hope it curtails a takeover.

-Amber

Amber...thats me! Good memory...how many years has it been? Well, I am almost positive that is a squash bug. I would start scraping all those red eggs away and hope that you get them all. Look under all the leaves and get them all. If you dont, you will be over-run with the SVB and it will completely ruin you squash plot. Good luck..let us know how it all turns out...that really is an incredible picture though....Jim

Hi Jim! I actually just read about your squash stakes this spring when I knew there had to be a way for me to keep my yellow squash and still do the raised beds/SFG! I did a search, asked around, and someone directed me to the old thread. Are you still doing this yourself? I'm using strips of thick pantyhose and adding a strip as needed instead of the rope. Its getting a little crowded but I'm really liking the technique.

As far as the pic . . . thanks for the compliment! Are squash bugs known to eat caterpillars? This fella was sucking on that worm!

Regardless, I definitely am on the look out for those red eggs. I've probably found close to 20 now and I only have 3 plants!!! No new ones today . . .

I did stay up way late lastnight and went to the garden with my fishing headlight (I'm hoping no neighbors spotted me) and boy was there an army of flea beetles going to town on my radish leaves. I had just told someone not to bother companion planting them for bush beans; I'd like to retract that statement now! They can eat all the radishes they want as long as they leave my beans alone
I have more than a few of the spotted cucumber beatles in and around my cucs and squash. I just keep smashing everyone of them I can get at!

-Amber

Amber...it is the only way I grow squash. Why make it hard? It always works, and I dont even use any kind of support for the squash itself. It seems that mother nature seems to know that it needs to grow a bigger, stronger, thicker stem so that it can be grown vertically. I dont ever remember any squash falling after all these years, or, cantalope for that matter, but then again, I do grow cantalope on one of those tomato towers" I think is the term Mel gives them. My plants get to maybe 4 feet tall or so. I only use a jump-rope to hold the stem to the green metal fence stake, and thats it. I tie it up every 8 inches or so as you probably saw from the pictures. I hope you have seen the pictures because there are 3 that deal directly with tying up zucchini....anyway..hope that helps a little....Jim

Snibb,

I would like to know where I can information on your staking. I'm really to new all of this and would love more information if possible.

What information are you looking for? My vertical growing is all done on two things: 1) 1/2" electrical conduit that I have custom made for my likes, and 2) 8' green metal stake posts. I grow all tomatoes on either of thoese two systems, along with all my pole beans and different melons. For zucchini I use the fence posts-and my favorite is black beauty or 8-ball. I use nylon netting for the trellises and you just have to make sure that the netting is pulled tight. Otherwise, things will start to grow up on them and then all of a sudden they will start to droop.

Every few days I go out and just thread the plants through the netting to make sure everything is growing up straight. Its the best way to grow vertically because you dont have to deal with wood that cracks over time, or because you dont have a strong enough trellis system to hold 50+ pounds of fruit 7 feet in the air. I have seen some very elaborate-and expensive-trellis systems out of wood that have only cracked, split, or that were not strong enough in the end to support what you can grow on the trellis. PVC is nowhere near strong enough. The cost for this DIY project is about $15 per trellis. They will last forever, and you can custom make them. If you buy them through the foundation, they are at least $25. By the time you pound those things into the ground, they are 4' tall. That simply wasnt enough for me.....hope that gives you some ideas...Jim

Ohhh I think I see,

you used the condunit over top of the spikes. I am guessing with a standard pipe bender.

I looked at the one online here after reading your post, then I got it [img]https://2img.net/i/fa/i/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Thanks again.

where did you find 8 foot spikes?

I bought all my fence posts from the local IFA here in Utah, but I have seen them all over the place at Home Depot and Lowes. I also dont have a pipe bender. I just bought that curved piece that you see in the pictures. I just try to make things easy...hope that help...Jim