Oct 1st Update

The first day of October was a very pretty sunny day, with temps in the low 80s.  September ended with some stubborn heat, where we actually hit 100 again in the 3rd week of September, but then the last week we got a nice cool front and some good rain too.  As has been the past few years, but big thing going on in the garden ( and literally BIG) are the pumpkins and winter squash.  In the past posts I had mentioned the sugar pie pumpkins, jack-o-lantern pumpkins, and the jumbo pink banana squash plants I had going.

The sugar pie pumpkins have run into and gone through the banana squash, and both type of plants are not growing across into the area where the round zucchini squash are, and overtaking the remnants of the cherry tomatoes (which are still producing some tomatoes, but the vines look pretty sickly), and overtaking the basil bushes too.  I'm concerned about my peppers too, but have managed to keep the vines from covering them so far.

Pink banana squash in the middle, with pole beans in the background.

huge area of sugar pie pumpkin vines

The production so far has actually been a bit disappointing. I only have 2 sugar pie pumpkins growing. One is almost full size and just starting to get some orange coloring.  The other set about a week ago, and grew right outside the fence.  I have the fence to keep out the dogs from getting in there and trampling stuff.

Unfortunately I had many promising looking female blossoms a few weeks ago but they all shriveled and died, even though I had pollinated them.  This morning I had a fresh new batch of female blossoms:

I pollinated three this morning, and probably a couple more tomorrow morning should be opening.

I think tomorrow I'll have my first banana squash female blossom open up. Here is what it looked like today:

banana squash blossom almost opened

The jack-o-lanterns still have not had any fruit set. I've had a couple good looking blossoms that I pollinated, but they died.  The vines are still growing though, and there still might be enough time for some, but most probably its too late for Halloween, but still out to be nice fall decorations if we get any.  

jack-o-lantern vines, with bottle gourd in the background, as well as purple morning glory vines.

Squash Vine Borers

To give a report on SVB activity... They are still around, but its not much of them.  Towards the 2nd half of September the egg laying slowed down quite a bit. Sometimes days will go by without any eggs found, but then more appear. The past few days I've picked a few off the sugar pies, but have found none on the jack-o-lanterns or banana squash, although I have not been looking very thoroughly, mainly because the vines are so thick I can hardly get in there without damaging anything.  I am still trying to dig in and cover the main vine tips whenever possible.  

The older sections of the sugar pie vines are starting to yellow, and I have found a few damaged vines, with SVB frass, but those have been mainly secondary vines which I did not cover.

I did find some extensive SVB damage on my round zucchini plants though.  I ended up extracting some large larva, pulling out some helplessly damaged portions of the plant, and covering up the existing parts of the plant after the surgery I had to do.  Some portions are still alive, and are producing a couple squashes.

Aphid Status

The aphids have pretty much been defeated by the lady bugs and other natural predators. I still see a few around but they are held in check by lots of ladybugs and larva that are around,so its not really a concern.

Other Vegetables

Since the aphid infestation has been brought under control, the okra are really doing well now.  These 4 plants are now about 7 ft tall and producing more than we need.  And I get to enjoy their beautiful blooms!

Okra blossoms

 The pole beans are doing very well.  I saw my first flower open this past few days.  I just hope my makeshift trellis doesn't break apart as the plants keep growing.

pole beans

 I also have some other fall plants that I intend to grow in pots until some space clears out in the main garden area.  Below I have some cabbage, red mustard, and even a few ornamental cabbages for my front flower bed.  I also have a couple pots of sweet pea plants.  I also have some spinach seedlings too, as well as lettuce. Maybe as some of the pumpkin vines die off I'll be able to find somewhere to plant these guys.