Happy happy Monday!
Sheaffer and I got back from LA yesterday afternoon and I spent the rest of the day outside with my family. It’s always good to be home :).
Speaking of outside, it’s been a while since I’ve called on my gardener friends…but today’s the day. I have some questions mid-way through summer about my veggie garden. (And if you missed my gardening Q&A post, you should read it here. My gardening friends have the BEST suggestions and ideas!!)
Okay…for the most part, my garden is doing really well. I can’t keep up with the herbs, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, banana peppers and bell peppers…but my cucumber, squash and zucchini will not produce veggies. Any ideas why???
We pick several tomatoes every day…lots and lots of tomatoes!
Jalapenos are doing great!
Basil for days.
Look how tall and healthy my zucchini looks…yet, no produce. Same with the cucumber and squash. They look very tall, lush and happy…but notta. Also, my strawberries produced one time but after that, they haven’t produced. We picked the first batch and then nothing.
So…this Monday, I was hoping some of you gardening experts might have an idea or two about my garden. We have had an unseasonably cool and very wet summer here…so I don’t think it’s weather related (unless perhaps we’ve had too much rain????). In other words…help, please ;).
Love,
Your trying really hard to grow a garden friend Shay
And if you have any tips about transitioning this to a fall gardening here at the end of summer, I’d love those too! Based on the comments last time, you guys know what you’re talking about!!
And since it’s Monday…
…Meal Planning Monday is here! (PS: My green onions are doing great in my garden too! They would be delish on this recipe here!)
And don’t forget, if you’re praying with me this month, the prayer request post can be found here.
Christi says
As far as strawberries – they aren't known for producing much the first year. And beyond that, it's just too late in the season for them. They should be great next year! Mulch them heavily for Fall & Winter.
I don't know about the rest… they have blooms so they should be fruiting. Interested to hear what others say!
Christy Ramey says
Hi Shay! The only one I'm sure about is Strawberries. They have to be planted for a year before they will produce. Next season they will be so many, you won't be able to keep up with picking them. Enjoy!
Sheaffer {Pinterest Told Me To} says
I love that you already have two answers about the strawberries! Next year, strawberry shortcake for everybody!!!!! And you know, you can ALWAYS throw a tomato my way. Just sayin'. 🙂
Dear Addilyn says
Cucumbers, squash, and zucchini should be spread out when planted. That worked for us.
thebusybrunette says
Hi, Shay!
Congrats on your gardening. I definitely DO NOT have a green thumb, so I'm no help, but I do enjoy a good garden tomato. I hope you have a great week!
BB
http://thebusybrunette.blogspot.com
Erika Slaughter says
I have no clue about anything garden related-except I like to eat stuff that comes from one. You let me know when you need some help eating some of that goodness and I'll be right over. 🙂
t-lu says
Cucumbers like to grow up. If you don't already have this (can't tell from the pictures), add a piece of lattice near the plant (chicken wire between two posts works well, good!). The plant will really spread and hopefully give you more blooms!
Happy Gardening!
rrmaddoux says
Your garden looks great! I'm down in Katy outside of Houston and all of the rain really hit my garden hard.
The squash and zucchini need to be spread out quite a bit in order to grow properly and produce. Also, if you plant both breeds too close together you will have squash shaped zucchini that are very bitter! With a garden your size, I normally choose to plant one type or the other (and make sure you have at least 2 plants so they can cross pollinate). Squash/zucchini/cucumbers are very sensitive to lots of heat, so I generally plant them around mid-March so I can pick their bounty before the heat cranks up in mid-July with long dry spells (like what we are having now).
Good luck!
Narci says
What a fun family activity. I can't wait to see pictures of those strawberry plants next year! They sound like they are going to be lovely!! 🙂
Jessica Hill says
Cucumbers, Squash and Zucchini have to be pollinated. Bees usually do this, you can hand pollinate (there are videos on youtube). I have had this this happen many times. My squash and zucchini did ok once I started hand pollinating, my cucumbers are starting to grow now on there own! I see one bee doing all the work everyday. Hope this helps!
Gucci Girl says
Amazingly enough, squash, zucchini and cucumbers have male and female flowers and need to be cross-pollinated when they bloom. You may not have enough bees!?! Maybe the rain is keeping them away? No idea. If you google the issue, you can figure out how to identify which flower is which and pollinate them manually. Sounds like a lot of work which is why last year our garden only produced flowers:) For some reason, that was the only year we had that issue, so maybe it will be a one-time thing for you, too. Good luck:)
Hannah G. says
Our little family are by no means garden experts. We put a few squash,zucchini, cucumber, basil, and tomato plants out this year. We planted our squash/zucchini pretty close to each other in raised beds. Their leaves were HUGE before they ever started producing veggies. We were wondering the same thing, but within the past few days they started producing like crazy. Give them a little more time!
Unknown says
Strawberries have 2 seasons, spring and fall. We don't get any during the heat of summer. It does also depend on the type of strawberries you planted. I don't know on you squash and zucchini. Mine never produce until later in the summer so maybe keep waiting. With that said where I live (salt lake, ut) squash and zuchinni grow like nobody's business. I got around 400 one year. I grated the zuchinni and froze it to use all year!
Elizabeth says
Your cucumber is tall? Has it vined out??
As far as strawberries go…. My husbands aunt grows them and says that the first year they will not produce much. They will get better each year!
Dawn Dannenberg says
I didn't read through all the comments, but take a q-tip to the male flowers of your zucchini, squash, and cucumber plants and pollinate the female flowers. The bees and butterflies by you aren't doing their job!! Lol I can't remember how to tell which is the male flower and which is the female flower, but you can look it up on the Internet. I had to do that one year with my cucumbers.
Angie says
Squash looks to be too crowded. They need to be planted with lots of space in between so they can spread and grow. Also, you do need more than one plant for them to cross pollinate. They do look pretty though. 🙂
Hanna Berger says
Strawberries don't typically grow in the summer, they are more of a May fruit. Also, cucumbers and squash should start producing later in the Summer.
Caroline @ In Due Time says
When did you plant? I don't live too far from you (Plano). And got a TON of zucchini, but then rabbits got in and were eating them!
Thankful the Lord (just when I thought the zucchini was DEAD and there was no hope) brought me TWO large ones! Just as He would do! He brings life to dead things!!!! It was awesome!
We have so many tomatoes and basil for days as well 😉
Jackie says
We're in the same boat. In fact, we can't get our produce to flourish at the same time! In the same year. 😉 Last year our squash, zucchini, and cucumbers were insane, but we couldn't grow anything else. This year our okra, tomatoes, lettuce, kale, onions, peppers, etc are insane, but our zucchini produced 1 (yes, only 1), squash (0) and cucumbers (2). We don't know what we're doing, but we do (if that makes sense) and we think ours as to do with SOOOOOOO much rain. I don't know much about strawberries, but we did have some when we lived in Tennessee and they produced in May to early June. Yours look lush and gorgeous! That basil though! <3
Colleen says
Hooray for gardening!! Looks like you are getting great answers listed above already. And I agree with all of it. With squash plants, I usually don't get too much fruit until the 2nd round of flowers. With the exception of needing a bit more space, your squash plant looks really good. My zucchini plant usually takes up at least 3 ft in diameter. And my winter squash plants I have to trellis because they can vine out over 8 ft.
Amber says
You just have to be patient with your squash and zucchini and cucumbers. Each one of the flowers on the plant in your photo should turn into a vegetable. As long as your plants are flowering, you will start to see it produce. Some vegetable varieties take longer to produce because they have a longer growing span. We never get zucchini, squash and cucumber until closer to the end of the summer. Basil, peppers, and tomatoes are all early producers. Strawberries come in different varieties. There are June bearing (which is sounds like yours were), and there are also Everbearing varieties that will produce again later in the summer. June bearing plants only produce once each season. Also, strawberry plants do take time to establish and will produce more when they do produce after a few seasons of getting established. The crops are usually small the first few seasons. You're doing great for your first go at gardening! You are lucky that it has been a cooler, wetter summer. That helps growing tremendously, especially in Texas. When I lived in Texas, our garden always wanted to burn up. We had to cover it with shade sheets in the afternoons or everything would day from the extreme heat. Now that we live in Colorado, it's much easier to grow our gardens!
kelsey @ so much life to live says
Oh girl…..I wish I could offer advice, but I'm just soaking up everyone else's right now!
Sally Lockwood says
My cucumbers are shriveling up. Squash is not good either. My Gardner says none of his people's gardens are doing well because of the RAIN ? Your garden looks much better than mine for sure
Natalie Tucker says
No gardening tips here…I'm only growing basil in a pot. It's growing crazy. I did want to share that I tried making pesto last week with pistachios instead of pine nuts because that's what I had and it turned out awesome. It was a nice change of pace.
The Nelson Happenings says
I'd love to try a little garden ! There's nothing better than garden fresh veges !
Baylee says
my mother-in-law told me about squash bugs so we've been taking precaution since the beginning using this powder that repels them, but is still safe for the plants. It comes in a yellow tube and you just dust it on the center/heart of the plant after you water it and I have even been sprinkling it on the leaves of my peppers, tomatoes and cucumber to keep them out of all of that! The one thing we're having no luck with is our cantaloupe!
C Zuck says
Did not read the other response's but hers my advice. The strawberries need to be in a few years before you get a good harvest they also will not produce all summer long, here in pa you can only pick them for about 3-4 weeks in June, so it may be possible that you got a few once time because they are newly transplants plant. Your zucchini needs more space for sure, our grows to be prolly 4ft wide, the male and female flowers will pollinate and you should get some produce, not sure if limited space would slow that down same with the cucumbers. Its could also be the abundance of rain you had earlier, and if you have not had a lot of rain lately, you should maybe water the plants every few days. It could also be your soil, I don't know what texas soil is like but it could be that to. Sorry not sure if I was helpful, it could be a number of things. Your garden does look really great tho for a first timer 🙂
The Boutelle Family says
Your basil looks incredible!! I love reading these comments. This is my first year gardening. I'm starting to harvest a few veggies & I love it!!
Jennifer Renda says
Up in NJ, our cucumber are taking their sweet time this year, but as long as we have blooms, the veggies will come.
Crazy Life Mama says
As far as your strawberries – if this is the first year you've had them in, you are supposed to pick the flowers for the first 2 months after planting so that the plant can put the energy into growing bigger/stronger plants rather than producing fruit. That means that if you planted June bearing variety, no strawberries this first year. If you planted an ever-bearing variety, you could get some berries later on. Strawberry plants are good for about 3 years and then need to be replaced, so you've got a good couple summers of berries coming on! =) I LOVE gardening, but just moved to AZ almost 2 years ago. We're learning how to garden desert-style now. =O
Wallups from Puyallup says
There are a lot of different varieties of strawberries. Some varieties only produce once a season. Others you will get few the first year but next will be plentiful; however everbearing strawberries produce all spring Summer and into the fall. Cukes grow better vertically. Squash (zucchini) needs lots of space between them. If sunlight can not get to the base the fruit can not grow. If your zuchini are not 6-8 feet apart cut them back so the middle of the plant can get sun.
allisonwest says
I haven't read all of the comments but here's what I think/have been told/have learned.
1. You might need to plant more flowers among your veggies next year so you have bees, butterflies and wasp to pollinate. Last year I had awesome huge pumpkin vines with tons of blooms and never a pumpkin. I planted marigold, daisies and zinnias with my squash and cucumbers and had success this year. Just started our pumpkins for this year and planted lantana with them.
2. Too much rain can cause "water trauma" which makes great foliage, but no fruit sets because of problems with calcium uptake. This same problem causes something called blossom end rot. They make a spray to mix up to treat that so maybe applying that would help?
3. Cucumbers and beans need to climb (unless you bought a special variety that will "bush"). Squash, zucchini, melons and pumpkin need to vine, or spread wide if the can't they won't do their thing.
4. Advice I have would be to get and keep pollinators all through the spring/summer/fall by planting colorful flowers and bushes in and around your garden or planting them in pots near your garden. This way they will be around and ready when you need them. Think about a butterfly bush nearby, rotating beds or portions of a bed as a cutting garden each year. Our nursery had tons of coneflower the other day which could help now if you still have blooming plants in the garden. Bees are crazy for coneflower.
Looks like you had a great first year–next year will be awesome! Read up on over-wintering those strawberries and they will thrive next year!
Suzie says
I hope you are making lots of pesto out of all of that basil!!!
LISA C. PARSONS says
Our Garden usually does not produce Squash and an abundance of chili peppers and bell peppers until towards the end of summer. My squash has a new big bloom everyday and is spreading big. I too, think all the rain we got here in Texas just soaked it. Tomatoes are growing like crazy!
Megan Kaisner says
Your garden is looking great!! One thing we read about zucchini (since ours is the exact same way) is that if there are no bees there is nothing to pollinate the zucchini. The blooms for this particular plant are male and female blooms rather than having both in one bloom. Definitely research how to pollinate zucchini since the bees are becoming sparse. 🙂 Hope this helps!!
Erin says
I didn't take the time to read the comments left but your vine veggies might be too wet and cold. 🙁 They are blooming which is great so just be patient – I bet they goodies come on sooner than later! Enjoy!
Denise Ross says
Wow your plants look fabulous. I'm doing container gardening but only got some celery and spring onions growing. I'm loving all the advice you'd getting ad soaking if up for myself.
Happy gardening 🙂
Australia
Sharon Kruschen says
I'm in SoCal and luckily my strawberries are doing well. However they need a lot of space. Not sure if it's too late to uproot them to another location.
Beau Dyer says
Hi! I am getting ready to start a garden! Just curious if you are still doing one and how it's going. What have you found that grows the best? Thanks!