advice re my failures ths year....

[asgilbert]

I grew courgettes in planters this year....decent crop, but the plants died early with the leaves turning sort of powdery grey. Can anyone recommend a good reliable variety? Likewise spring onions. Tried them in planters and sections of rain guttering. They grew to only a tiny size, despite watering, rich soil, TLC etc. Red onions...planted them in sets and they just struggled and died. Again decent clay soil with plenty of nutrient. They were in a dappled shady piosition, do onions need full sun? Any advice, suggestion etc gratefully appreciated. Andrew

[Billy]

What happened to your courgettes is what happens to Cucurbitaceae when the weather cools and there leaves get damp. They will last longer if you can keep water off their leaves during the growing season. Even if the mold doesn't sprout right away, it establishes itself for when the plant is vulnerable.

Perhaps your onions didn't get enough drainage, and most garden plants can't get too much sun.

[David Hare-Scott]

Powdery mildew will strike all the cultivars that I have seen if the conditions suit the fungus, ie warm and wet.

David

[Owdboggy]

Thompson and Morgan sell a variety of Courgette which we have found to be resistent to Mildew. Not sure of the name off hand, but it is advertised as such. Onions adore sun. And do not omplain too much about Spring onions, in

40 odd years of growing veg I have never even managed to get the seeds to germinate, never mind grow to any size. And before you all jump in and tell me how to do it, I have tried every single method ever suggested without success.

[Dan L]

Another cause of powdery mildew is lack of air flow. If your plants are protected from the wind, mold will be a problem. Too many plants crowding each other will also prevent air flow. If plants are indoors a small fan will also help plants.

[Billy]

Indoor zukes?

There were problems this year with the north "Bay" grape harvest. A cool, damp summer gave way to a cool fall. Fearing mold, and mildew, vineyardists pruned back the vines foliage to allow better penetration of sun and air. That's when we got a week of heat that sunburned many of the grapes, creating points of infection for the molds and mildews. Then as quick as you could say "Bob's your uncle", we started getting light rains. The winery where I worked lost a third of its crop.

Agriculture isn't for the faint at heart.

[Bill who putters]

It is an art complex but worth the work. Next year promises to be exceptional Pan told me.

[Billy]

The plans are already in progress :O)

[Dan L]

Or the optimist :)

I was thinking perhaps greenhouses. They sometimes do not get good air circulation. Also this is the first post were someone grew Courgettes in pots that I know of. I also wonder what size of pots are used? They would need at least a five gallon container.

Another thought, you stated ZUKES, I was thinking squash not cucumbers. There are varieties of cucumbers called pickling cucumbers that will die if the cucumbers get large and go to seed. So if I am wrong and the OP was growing pickling cucumbers then that is the reason for the plants early demise. Is there a variety of squash that acts like pickling cucumbers?

[Billy]

zukes (sp?) zuchs (?)---> zucchini (aubergine in French) not cukes ---> cucumber

I'd have to look it up. Cucumbers also come under the heading of the family Cucurbitaceae (cucurbits).

[Steve Peek]

aubergine=eggplant not zukes

[Dan L]

Also, I need to learn to read or get more sleep.

[Billy]

Brain fart. Thought I fixed that. Aubergine is melanzane in Italian. Courgette isn't that interesting, zucchini in Italian.