New vegetable gardener here in North Texas... I really struggled to get anything to take...I have planter boxes I just built this year. I finally figured out my soil PH was too alkaline. I got that fixed and now everything is off and running albeit late. I’d say I’m a month behind where I should be due to stunted growth and no nutrition in the soil. tomato plants are strong, have a few green ones and tons of flowers. corn looks good, beans look good, peppers are good except for habanero’s they don’t like the 100 degree heat we’ve been having. squash blossoms keep falling off so I don’t know if they don’t like the heat either or what their deal is. I’m getting the hang of this and hope to have more to eat soon besides peppers.
“squash blossoms keep falling off so I don’t know if they don’t like the heat either or what their deal is.”
Squash plants produce both male and female blossoms. Each year the first blooms are male. Later the plants produce a mix of male and female flowers. However, most squash plants don’t like Texas summer heat. Your problem could be some combination of these factors.
Exactly true !
Excellent advice !
Try to provide plants some mid-day shade (shade cloth, cedar shingles, row covers, anything to prevent sun from 11AM-2:30 PM etc.),
or even closer to the house (use the house to shade the plants),
or consider relocating future plantings to where they will get some high-afternoon shading from trees.
Regardless, have a water supply handy for anywhere in Texas for this summer (per: Joe Bastardi @weatherbell.com).
I live in north central Texas. For spring I plant zucchini and yellow crookneck. I usually put out a dozen of each and of course have more than I can give away. I do can and freeze all excess.
This year is an exceptional weather year for you to have started your first gardening adventure due to the odd weather. We dont usually have all those freezes in April nor near 100 deg temps so much in May. Don’t give up!
Squash does make a better fall crop lots of years. If you can plant seed in early September our first freezes are often late enough to be worth the planting.
I rotate crops but in spring always plant my squash where it will get protected from late afternoon sun. This year it is in a bed east of the garage, shaded and still doing well despite the temp spike. Yesterday and today I set a couple of cheap misters out around 2pm.
If I’ve rotated to another area I find putting okra west of the squash also helps keep them shaded late in the day. I bought 3 of those misters at Ace Hardware for about $10/each 8-9 years ago. They’re lightweight and I just move them around where needed. Depending on your set-up, those might be practical.
Good for you - got it all lined out now. I eat a red or green bell peppers with almost every meal when I have them fresh from the garden. They are a good source of Vitamin C, and don’t take up nearly as much space as my lemon tree.