8/24/11

Squash and Cukes!

By August, I had some great looking squash and cucumbers growing.

Cucumbers (left) and Squash (right) on 8/16/2011
The squash grew very vigorously and produced lots of buds this summer. Unfortunately, the three squash plants kept producing all same sex flowers at one time. As a result, there weren't many flowers of the opposite sex to pollinate them. I got all my squah from the brief periods when the two sexes overlapped (at the end of one cycle and beginning of another). Next year I'll stagger the squash planting to increase the likelihood of both sexes of flowers existing at the same time.

8/2/11

Outdoor Season Update

This summer's growing has been progressing steadily. I've harvested the basil a few times, and the cucumbers and squash now have fruit beginning. The cukes and squash have had flowers for at least three weeks, but until recently all the flowers were male - that means no fruit. I thought the lettuce might grow well under the shade of other plants, but so far they've just stayed small and dormant. Bell peppers have produced a few fruits but few new flowers. Nitrate levels in the water have remained very high (~80ppm) and I've put some Maxicrop plus Iron in as well. I started up the tank with pure ammonia, so I think there was a lack of some trace nutrients, including iron..

Grow beds on 7-26-2011
Squash (foreground), Lettuce, & JalapeƱos (background)
Cucumbers (foreground), Peppers (mid), & Lettuce (background)
Basil (R) with Small Hot Peppers (L)