Problems with watermelon and cilantro et. al.

[NwMtGardener]

Hi strantor, welcome!! We'd all love to see your pictures, nobody minds if you post some silly comments here and there. I think half my comments are wisecracks and the other half are complementing other people's fabulous garden pictures! just teasing, a little!

I dont have much input on your texas garden, as my climate is REALLY different! But you're taking a good approach, starting small and expecting a few "character building" failures along the way. For a while we had a forum topic just for our spectacular gardening disasters, if you do a search for it you'll see even garden gurus have problems sometimes! Best of luck!

 

[strantor]

Hi strantor, welcome!! We'd all love to see your pictures, nobody minds if you post some silly comments here and there. I think half my comments are wisecracks and the other half are complementing other people's fabulous garden pictures! just teasing, a little!

I dont have much input on your texas garden, as my climate is REALLY different! But you're taking a good approach, starting small and expecting a few "character building" failures along the way. For a while we had a forum topic just for our spectacular gardening disasters, if you do a search for it you'll see even garden gurus have problems sometimes! Best of luck!

Oh good, well that's good to know. Other forums I'm a member of are mostly electronics/engineering forums, and they're a more rigid bunch. They discourage "off topic" posts in threads, some to the point where if you aren't spouting technical jargon then they direct you to the forum corner labeled "off topic."

Thanks!

 

[lesa]

You can always say "good job!" or what a nice green plant! We look forward to seeing your pics!

 

[The Mama Chicken]

Okay, you're up to 10 posts...bring on the pictures!

 

[strantor]

Okay, you're up to 10 posts...bring on the pictures!

yes, I reached 10 last night but didn't have time to post the pics. So, without further ado...

Here's the planter we made. it has holes in the bottom to allow water to drain. it, as well as my plastic planters, is full of potting soil only.

the above picture is from 5/27/12. all the seeds were planted that day. All pictures that follow were taken yesterday.

The cilantro, at the far end of the planter:

the bell pepper ,directly next to the cilantro

The beans comes next, after the bell pepper:

and at the opposite end of the planter, after the beans, we have the jalapenos:

Here's the tomatoes, I am going to cut down all but 1.

Here's the leaves of the watermelon plants. They were originally very green and healthy looking. now yellowish with spots

My largest watermelon:

my average sized watermelon. non of these melons have grown in 2 weeks.

I sprinkled some of this last week, after I noticed that my melons stopped growing. it didn't seem to help at all.

 

[The Mama Chicken]

Well, the tomatoes are very, very crowded. I think once you thin them out the plant you have left will take off. I would put the pot somewhere where it gets full morning sunlight and partial shade in the late afternoon. Also it's good to have the pots raised up a little (like on a couple of bricks or something similar) to make sure the drainage holes aren't blocked.
It looks to me like the bases of the watermelon plants are turning yellow, but the ends of the vines are still green, is that right? My squash looked similar when the squash bugs moved in, but it could be borers or disease. Maybe someone else can be more helpful.
The beans look good and healthy and the peppers look like they just need more time to get bigger and start producing. The cilantro? I would just make sure it got enough water and some shade in the afternoon and plant again in August or September to get a nice fall crop.
Yo're south of me by half a zone, but this planting guide might be helpful. It's what I use to know when to plant. You might need to adjust it ahead about 2 weeks to work for you.

ETA- I don't know how you feel about Monsanto, but the Miracle Grow corporation is deep in their pockets. I, personally, wouldn't take any of their products if they gave them away, much less actually BUY the stuff.

 

[strantor]

Well, the tomatoes are very, very crowded. I think once you thin them out the plant you have left will take off. I would put the pot somewhere where it gets full morning sunlight and partial shade in the late afternoon. Also it's good to have the pots raised up a little (like on a couple of bricks or something similar) to make sure the drainage holes aren't blocked.

Sounds good, will do.

It looks to me like the bases of the watermelon plants are turning yellow, but the ends of the vines are still green, is that right? My squash looked similar when the squash bugs moved in, but it could be borers or disease. Maybe someone else can be more helpful.

Yes that's right. Around the bases there used to be lots of lush green leaves so that you couldn't even see into the pot. Out around the ends though, the leaves still look healthy. I'l inspect real close and see if I can find any little bugs there.

The beans look good and healthy and the peppers look like they just need more time to get bigger and start producing. The cilantro? I would just make sure it got enough water and some shade in the afternoon and plant again in August or September to get a nice fall crop.
Yo're south of me by half a zone, but this planting guide might be helpful. It's what I use to know when to plant. You might need to adjust it ahead about 2 weeks to work for you.

Ok cool. Thank you for the tips. You've been more than helpful.

ETA- I don't know how you feel about Monsanto, but the Miracle Grow corporation is deep in their pockets. I, personally, wouldn't take any of their products if they gave them away, much less actually BUY the stuff.

Well this has the potential to inspire a 3 page prolix essay, but I'm sure you'll appreciate brevity. Let me just say that Monsato is one reason in a bucket of reasons I'm delving into gardening. Of my many reasons, Monsato is one that I've not sufficiently researched. I've gone through a series of miniature "awakenings" in the past year, as a result of turning an analytical eye on as many aspects of the world and society as I can handle at any given time. At the risk of sounding like a foil hat wearing doomsday fearmongerer, my main motivator is the comparison between the Great Depression and our current economic slump. I can't count how many times I've heard someone say "Well we made it through the first great depression, we can make it through another one" - Well I see that as a fallacy. Those were different Americans than we are. They were still heavily involved in agriculture; I believe some 50% of the population was directly tied to it. Last year, only 2% of Americans filed tax returns for agriculture. So 2% is feeding the other 98%, and I suspect that the majority of that 98% wouldn't have the first clue how to feed themselves if there were no food to be had at the grocery. I'm a member of that clueless 98%, and I'm trying to take myself out of it. My eventual goal is to be in a position to, should it ever be necessary, transfer as gracefully as possible from this current lifestyle to one that does not involve currency or all the niceties that it provides. I'm trying to teach myself and my family old skills.

In addition to this, is Monsato. I've seen a lot of very disturbing accusations against this organization. I have found much less proof than accusations, but I have decided to stop looking for it. It is not my life goal to find a base for every accusation against Monsato. I find enough of the accusations to be plausible enough to warrant steering very clear of that organization. I would never intentionally buy one of their products. I was not aware that Miracle Gro was related. I won't be using it any more. I plan to start a compost pile to feed my plants instead of canned "plant food." Thank you very much for the heads up.

 

[The Mama Chicken]

Oh yes, you and I will get along just fine. Most of me friends see me as a bit of a foil hat wearing doomsday fearmongerer myself. My favorite movie is Prophets of Doom with Michael Rupert.
Anyway, glad I could be of help. Happy gardening.

 

[strantor]

Oh yes, you and I will get along just fine. Most of me friends see me as a bit of a foil hat wearing doomsday fearmongerer myself. My favorite movie is Prophets of Doom with Michael Rupert.

Ok, I just sat down and started watching Prophets of Doom here . I get 5 minutes into it, and I must pause and come back here to show you something. It's a paper I wrote in High School, and I've uploaded it to another forum, here . Pretty much sums up the first 5 min of the movie.

ok, well back to my movie.

 

[The Mama Chicken]

I love top documentary films, one of my favorite websites ever. I can't see your paper though, since I'm not a member of the forum.
ETA- Okay I joined your computer forum (which is all kinds of ironic since technology absolutely hates me) just to read it and I have to say that the similarities are uncanny.
I got goose bumps.