In this week’s update, I go over a very helpful comment I received about how to fix a tomato problem we were having. I also highlight some of the incredible progress we’re seeing in the garden, including zucchinis that are close to being ready for harvest.
Tomato Issues
Last week, I wrote about a problem we were having with a single tomato plant in our garden. This plant was clearly dying even though all the surrounding plants were healthy. A wonderful reader commented on the post to say that it was likely a fungus that was the result of the tomato’s leaves touching wet grass. I knew this and addressed it last year but had forgotten to take care of it prior to receiving the comment. On Saturday, I went out and addressed the tomatoes by trimming some of the branches that weren’t producing fruit and were low enough to touch the grass. I then staked the tomatoes to hold them upright and removed the grass growing below them. They immediately looked more maintained and healthier; however, unfortunately, it may have been too late, or there’s a larger issue at hand.
It rained a lot on July 4th and 5th. Our rain gauge, which I had emptied on the morning of July 5th, showed 3.25 inches on July 6th. I know that rain gauges aren’t always the most accurate, but it’s safe to say that we received a ton of rain. Yesterday, the majority of the plants I trimmed looked stressed. The leaves were drooping, and the stems appeared to have no strength to hold themselves upright. What’s really weird is that another tomato plant in the same bed looks fine. Also, the rogue plants that are growing in another bed are looking healthy. It’s weird because if there was a fungal issue, I think it would affect all plants in the same bed. I’m also now questioning the need to rotate vegetables if our tomatoes were successful last year in another bed even though the same grass issues were present. I don’t have a lot of hope that the tomato plants are going to survive, but this morning, they did look healthier than they did last night, so it could be that the soil needs to drain and that they were simply overwatered. It would be amazing if that were the case.
So Many Blossoms
We have so many blossoms on our plants, and it feels like it happened all at once. Like one evening they weren’t there, and the next morning they were. It’s happening on our squash, cucumber, bean, melon, and tomato plants. We’ve had cucumber blossoms and baby cucumbers for a few days now, and the Costata Romanesca zucchini plants have had blossoms for a bit. But the other zucchinis, beans, tomatoes, and melons are all more recent.
This time of the year is amazing for gardening. It feels like things are changing all the time and that there’s something new to look at every time you go into the garden. One of my favorite things is noticing the difference between the varieties of a vegetable. For example, our Montreal Market melon blossoms are different from the Pride of Wisconsin blossoms. I’m taking pictures of the different varieties to share in an upcoming post.
Zucchini
The most exciting garden development has been the appearance and growth of two Costata Romanesca zucchinis. Late last week, we noticed that one of the plants was putting fruit on, with two of them reaching finger length. When we looked last night, one zucchini was roughly six inches long, and the other was four inches long.
Unlike other zucchinis, though, this variety shouldn’t be picked until it reaches 12 inches. We may be able to pick the first one at the end of this week, which is so exciting. Take a look at how beautiful these zucchinis are.
Up Next
I think the biggest thing we’ll be monitoring this week is the health of our tomatoes. Will they survive or die? We’re also looking forward to harvesting the first vegetables this week. Lastly, we’re still seeing evidence that deer are getting into the garden bed where our corn is growing. I have a rough idea of how to get the fence higher, but we’ll see if it works. Happy gardening!
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