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In last week's article, Chisago County Master Gardener Jerry Vitalis wrote about several issues going on in his garden. And he's not alone. I've been hearing from concerned gardeners about a bushel basket of disappointments, and sad to say, I am experiencing many of the same problems. Which is even more disappointing given the wonderful spring we had that held so much hope for our vegetable and ornamental gardens. For the first time in decades, I actually planted my veggies the week before the Memorial weekend since the ground temperatures were perfect for planting. Oh, I had such high hopes and envisioned buckets of fresh picked tomatoes, peppers, and squash. Such will not be the case and I was determined to find some kind of scientific answer that I could pass along to help answer the question "What's going on in my garden ?"

Through several sources I was able to compile some information that though not as scientific as I'd would have liked, does seem to explain what's going on. Let's start with tomatoes. I purchased nice healthy tomato plants at a local garden center and planted some in the ground and some in a raised bed garden. Everything was going just super until about 6 weeks ago. The growth slowed down and the plants were putting out very few blossoms. A few tomatoes formed, but only about 4-6 per plant.

My green peppers, though slow to grow as usual, were dropping their blossoms. Each plant has two huge peppers on it, but the plant itself is very, very small. And my acorn squash, which was planted from seed and germinated in only six days, has just now started vining and I finally see a couple of squash forming.

I am hearing though, that this is like the best year ever for sweet corn and really good crops of green beans (the deer ate mine) and peas. A recent article in the Mpls. Star Tribune (Wednesday August 4, 2010) came closest to helping me figure things out so here it is......Too hot, too much humidity, lots of moisture and all for not days, but weeks at a time. It's just too hot and steamy out there and it's putting stress on our plants. Except the corn. Seems corn and other crops take lots of moisture out of the soil and emit it as vapor. Meteorologists sometimes call them "corn dew points." This, combined with the warm Gulf of Mexico air means sauna like conditions. Good for some things and not so good for others.

So, is this the conclusive answer for those of us having veggie garden troubles this year ? I can't say for sure but a lot of it does make sense. Keep in mind that if your tomatoes are having foliar issues with leaves turning yellow and getting black or brown spots, this is a common and yearly occurrence despite the weather conditions. There are soil borne diseases that are naturally in the soil and if there is no barrier between the soil and the plant, the splash up from watering or rain will transfer those funguses onto the plant. Remember to mulch around your tomatoes at the time of planting to create a barrier. And to those whose gardens are doing great this year, consider yourself lucky, have a great harvest and think about sharing with those of us not so lucky.

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