I've harvest from my romane through out the summer and now they are growing like seed things at the top does anyone know what's happening or what I should do. I got a little frustrated so I planted some new fall lettuce last week friday and some straight eight cucumbers along with some turnip greens and they are all ready germinating.
I also have a picture of my packman broccoli that I also could not figure out what it was doing. Can anyone help me please!
Thanks,
Londa
It is also going to seed (bolting). Nothing you can do about at this point. Spring planted lettuce is prone to bolting as the weather warms up. It hold better in the fall. You could have slowed it down some by harvesting the leaves earlier.
I did recently plant some more romane on last Friday and they are already germinating! Yeah! and I also planted some straight eight cucumbers and turnip greens and everything is germinating so I'm happy about that, but what's the methos of keeping the seeds or can they be used for next year if so how?
Londa,
Your Packman broccoli should develop a large green central head that looks like what you see in the grocery. After you cut that head off with a 3 or 4" stalk, the plant will produce side shoots from where the leaves join the main stalk, and these shoots will look like mini-heads of broccoli. They are delicious, and the plant will produce them for quite a while, although the little heads get smaller with time.
Your romaine is going to seed, and will not be edible much longer. You can save the seed, but if it is a hybrid (Parris Island perhaps?) it will not come true to type. Hybrids are a mix of two or more kinds of vegetable/flower, and if the seeds are not sterile, they usually revert to one parent or another.
Your choice of Straight Eight cucumber is good--a reliable and tasty cuke!
Methods of gathering and cleaning seeds varies so much according to the plant involved that I hesitate to even venture an opinion. I buy my seed fresh from a reliable source each year, and since we have two complete growing seasons here in Texas, I store my second season seed in an airtight plastic bag in the refrigerator.
There are a lot of good books out there about vegetable gardening. Your local library may have one or two. I won't suggest any titles because all my books are for Southern gardening, and I don't think you want to grow okra!
Don't get frustrated--you are doing fine. We gardeners learn from our mistakes, and eat our successes!
Thank You Soooooo much for this information, it's very both helpfull and informative. because I do have some small mini shuts that have produced so i'll go pluck them right now so that I can see if I get more.
As far as the romaine how do I know when it's not edible anymore? The name of them was butter nut romane and I purchased them as plants, however I did plant some more romaine seeds along with the cukes and they are all germinating well. If my memory serves me correctly I should be able to harvest from the cukes soon all the way into the fall season?!
My canteloupe are doing ok I guess they have flower buds on them but haven't seen any fruit yet! My strawberries are producing but the squriels keep eating them up so I sprayed with some cyanne pepper and hot sauce today some one told me to use that to keep them away I hope it works because everytime I get two or three on the plant they come eat them off!
Thank You again,
Londa
Londa,
You'll know when your romaine is no longer edible when you taste a leaf--bitter!
If the squirrels are still stealing strawberries, try dog fur balls. Stuff the toe of a nylon stocking with dog fur, available from your dog, a friend's dog, or a grooming establishment (poodles have hair, and poodle hair doesn't work). Tie the fur ball to a stake near the plant you want to protect. The smell of predator (dog) will deter the toothy little rats. These balls need to be renewed after a rain or about 6 weeks, whichever comes first (here in Texas, it's six weeks).
Lettuce and Broccoli are cold weather crops. They will be very bitter if you try to grow them in June-August.
Your lettuce will last longer into fall than your cukes.
In your zone, a late sowing of cukes doesn't have a lot of time to deliver before the weather gets cold, but lettuce will thrive until a hard frost.
