I planted the melons and squash, set up a pretty wicked trellis for them, and everything was looking super good!
And then things started to go downhill....
Let's start with the rhubarb.
1. Pretty sure this is some sort of fungal disease. I'm going to leave it alone and hope it goes away because I'm not sure what else to do.
2. Definitely not the ideal colour for rhubarb leaves... crap. My guess it nitrogen deficiency, or Google also tells me I may have over watered it (which maybe could have caused the fungal issue too? I don't know, I made that up). So I've stopped watering it and I'll see if anything resolves...
Next up, the peppers. Most of these are doing pretty well (and I should hope so, because I planted 16 of them!) but some are having a few issues. Like this one, that has been pretty much decimated by what I'm guessing are slugs - although I've decided that image is too disgusting - so instead I will pretend that cute little bunnies stopped by for a midnight snack.
There also seem to be a couple that are having odd nutrient deficiency issues (and again, more bunny nibbles). I gave these guys some fertilizer tonight, we'll see if that does anything for them...
Now remember those lovely melons and squash from the beginning of the post? Some unwelcome visitors arrived the other day...
SQAUSH BUGS. Can you see them? There are 2 clearly visible at the bottom where the stem branches, and then another one just below them. There are also 2 more (although out of focus) a little higher up on the right branch. That makes 5 disgusting bugs on one tiny plant. These things wreak havoc. Notice the dead leaf and stem in the foreground and how yellow and unhealthy the rest of the plant looks? Thanks for visiting squash bugs, but you've outstayed your welcome.
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| This photo is gross and way too large, I apologize. |
Turns out these bugs are slow and dumb and don't seem to know how to use their wings, so I picked them off with a stick, threw them in a bucket of water to drown them, and then just to be safe, squished each one until I heard them crunch. It was deeply satisfying.
This isn't the only thing wrong with the melons though, something extra strange has happened to my watermelon and I really don't know what has caused this. It seems to be turning black??
The cucamelons are also having some issues, but I forgot to take pictures of them. They have their own lovely pest problem at the moment, cucumber beetles. Here's a picture from Google for you, so you have the proper visual:
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| Oops I did it again, sorry. |
This post is getting really depressing, one more sob story to tell before I move on to the 'good things' part of this post (luckily there are a few!). The tomatoes seem to be turning kind of yellow. Again, I'm thinking nitrogen deficiency, so tonight I gave them a good sprinkle of blood meal and watered them with some fish emulsion. Hopefully that'll do the trick.
Now, let's put these troubles behind us and move onto the good things!
The pea tepees are still intact and the peas have sprouted! They're small, but they're growing...
The over-wintered sweet pickle pepper has loads of blooms:
And the over-wintered jalapeno is already putting out its first pepper! YAY! And can you spot the ladybug? I welcome lady bugs with open arms as they eat other bad bugs, like aphids, and don't destroy your plants (I'm looking at you squash bugs and cucumber beetles).
The onions from my kitchen are also doing exceptionally well, despite having been planted in essentially 100% pure clay:
And last but not least, a few more morning glories have sprouted to replace the ones that were killed off in the cold weather a few weeks ago.
And there you have it folks, the good, the bad, and the ugly bugs. Overall, things are moving along. If I end up losing the melons and cucamelons, maybe I'll get some nice perennial flowers and encourage the bees to visit my tomatoes and peppers,
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