For several years I have tried to plant a garden of different vegetables in my backyard and have had no success. I do not know what I am doing wrong. The place where I have decided to plant the garden gets a lot of sun light during the day plus it does get shade. I have used many different fertilizers to get to grow but nothing seems to work. I want to grow cucumbers and pumpkins this summer. What do I need to do to get my garden to grow?
What happens to the plants? I am far far from an expert but if you've been fertilizing heavily you might have over-done it and poisoned everything you plant there. How is the drainage? Neither plant you name is difficult to grow as long as you aren't looking for record-breaking results. Is there any place you can have a soil analysis done so that you will know what your starting point is? There is always the fallback of adding organic matter to the soil and it never hurts and almost always helps.
lant a garden of different vegetables
Also, when did you plant? Did you check your USDA zone? Cukes are pretty quick but pumpkins need a long growing season. Also, were you planning on starting them from seed, or as seedlings from a garden store? I would avoid places like Wal Mart and Home Depot for seedlings- better to go to a garden store that's been around a while. If you are in the rural US you could give a call to your county agricultural extension agent, and if you're in an urban area, give the local botanic garden a ring.
What about watering? How much, and what time of day? Try to water before the sun is full on the plants, but not at night (that might encourage fungus growth).
Chris
Also, when did you plant? Did you check your USDA zone? Cukes are pretty quick but pumpkins need a long growing season. Also, were you planning on starting them from seed, or as seedlings from a garden store? I would avoid places like Wal Mart and Home Depot for seedlings- better to go to a garden store that's been around a while. If you are in the rural US you could give a call to your county agricultural extension agent, and if you're in an urban area, give the local botanic garden a ring.
What about watering? How much, and what time of day? Try to water before the sun is full on the plants, but not at night (that might encourage fungus growth).
Chris =======
Why water before the full sun is on the plants?
I think Chris addressed that with his comment about mold. It's best to water any outdoor plants during very early morning, wastes less water to evaporation as averse to watering during the heat of the day and when the sun does comes up it will dry the plant foliage quickly. The worst time to water is late afternoon... it's not even good for the top layer of soil to remain damp all night. I've seen lots of people who work all day, come home, eat dinner, and then drag a hose around all evening, then they wonder why their plants and especially their lawn becomes diseased. Sometimes we can't control watering times, during periods of rain, but other times it's best to water at a time that leaves adequate time for plants to dry. And with large low growing vining plants it's not reasonable to expect using a watering method that won't wet foliage. And pumpkins and cukes are very prone to mold and rot from excessive moisture, one of the main reasons they should be grown on mounds.
I was wondering if the "water droplets & sun will burn the leaves" nonsense was about to make another appearance.
We cannot say what you are doing wrong either without more information.
Where are you, what is the soil like, how many hours per day of sunlight do you get, what have you tried growing and what specifically went wrong?
To generalise, to grow cucurbits well you need warm soil to germinate and a warm to hot summer which is fairly long, rich soil and regular watering. Cucumbers would deal with less than perfect conditions better than pumpkins. Pumpkins need a lot of space compared to most veges, one good plant could cover 20 sq m.
David
Or straw bales..?
If there were something wrong with his soil, that might at least hopefully let him produce something until he finds out. (I tried it this year and I'm worried what I'll do with so many cukes from just one plant.)
BTW, I also thought that by the OP's wording he might be in the southern hemisphere.
snip...
Well, if he is just getting around to planting now I hope he is in the southern hemisphere or is at least equatorial. The X-Originating-IP shown suggests Bangalore but the timezone suggests UK but I don't place much confidence in either of these.
Based on two recent examples, it seems gardenbanter.co.uk attracts people who will NEVER find their way back to the discussions they initiate. Sort of like some google groups users. Best to ask these types a simple question, like "Where do you live?", or "What's your favorite color?", to be sure they're actually going to pay attention to their own discussions.
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