Zuchinni Size

[Jim Carlock]

Don't have a mildew problem on the cuke leaves. Had the black spot on some roses. I think I read to use a little corn oil to make the baking soda stick... but I had problems getting a squirt bottle to work using baking soda and oil so I gave up on that. Ended up cutting all the rose bush leaves off, and tried some fertilizer and after a couple weeks nothing seemed to happened so I went to Home Depot and noticed that the stuff there for roses seemed to indicate potassium so I chopped up some banana peels in a blender and put that into the dirt around the roots of the rose and watered them. A month later there were not only leaves, but roses as well and for the next two months we had some nice roses.

I think the Yamato cucumber seeds I have are sterile. I didn't see any female flowers blossom. Something just isn't right for them. Coffee grounds kill them. :-) I'm going to plant some more seeds and try the banana peel thing on them and see what happens. I'll try them in a sunnier location. The soil here drains super quick. So maybe I'll mix some sphagnum peet in there as well.

There aren't too many bees around. There are alot of lady bug type bugs and wasps though. I see wasps everywhere and have seen some nests in different places. There's a ton of lizards everywhere as well. I was feeding the lizards some cabbage worms over the summer. It's amazing to watch the little lizards. They look like the lizards in Jurassic Park and I get the feeling that those that created the move- ments of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park took it straight from the little garden lizards that run all over Florida.

I've got some corn stalks left over that I'm going to take down. The corn stalks I'm noticing are soapy sometimes, they seem to be basic (opposite of acidic). Does anyone know if corn stalks are basic and can be used to raise the PH? :-) I'm speaking from high school chemistry and knowledge that soap and oil are basic (alkaline). Is that correct?

I'm reading that potassium is alkaline. I'm not sure on just how alkaline it is though and if that makes banana peels alkaline. I would think so but if someone can comment on that, and guide me in some way, that would be great!

Thanks for the clarifications, John.

[FarmerDill]

Some plants can buffer the soil, but ther none that I am aware of that will raise the pH and that includes corn stalks. On the other hand the decomposition of some plant matter like oaks leaves and pine straw releases weak organic acids but the results are somewhat transitory. Peat is usually acidic for that reason.

Soap is basic, but here we are talking old fashion soap (sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids) like Granny's lye soap. Most soaps (detergents ) commercially available are neutral.

Potassium is a metal. Plant uptake must be in ionic form usually a salt. Commercial fertilizers will use eaith potassium oxide (basic) or potassium chloride (neutral).

The safest way to raise pH to neutral fror vegetables is ground limestone. Slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) is faster but you hav e less control.

Sheep manure is the best amendment I have ever used on cucurbits, but composted cow manure will work and it is a lot easier to find.

[Jim Carlock]

The first cucumber plant I grew was a couple of Yamato types. They never fruited. They flowered quite a bit.

The second cucumber plants I tried out, were put in a shadier area and I did get one cucumber off it.

However, it is having a second fruity due going on and I now have two cukes on it. Not far away is another cuke seed I planted at a later hiscadoo date. It also initiated with one fruit. I'm hoping that it'll take off bare some more fruits.

I've been chopping up a bunch of leaves and breaking up a bunch of small dead branches and feeding the sand (and cucumbers) and that seems to be helping.

I saw my first snail out here sucking on some dead leaves (possibly corn stalks I chopped up). I seen plenty of ladybugs scooting around and wasps flying about. There aren't too many bees though. Everything seems to be getting ready for the winter. Throughout September there were quite a few ladybugs. I caught a few doing the mating dance every so often. They are only slightly bashful about it. Wish my camera could do some good closeup shots of small bugs.

Thanks for the help with the potassium and such. I wonder how many times the cukes will blossom and bare fruit?

I've read that mulching up bananas does a good job of putting potassium and nitrogen into the soil. And from what I see by the fact that banana peels turn black (oxidize). I image it puts some oxygen and carbon into the soil as well. Anyone ever studied the oxidation of banana peels?

The following link indicates that tea leaves are best when non-oxidized (ie, green leaves/green tea vs. black leaves/ black tea). They mention oxidation of a banana peel in a comparison to oxidation of tea leaves.

'm reading that a banana peel inside a jar surrounded by petroleum jelly is used to catch roaches. That a banana peel can be taped over a wart to get rid of a wart. Somewhere a few days ago, I read that banana peels are great for roses, and I can personally confirm that.

And while I can't be too sure about the banana peel and the cucumbers because I didn't isolate the incident from other things... I stuck a bunch of other dead decomposing leaves on top of the soil where the cuke is planted, as well as a bunch of sphagnum peat. The peat didn't seem to upset anything too much (create an intolerable acidity). Coffee grounds though, seem to upset the balance of cucumbers. The coffee grounds probably need to be mixed with other things for a beneficial result (coffee grounds are acidic?).

There seem to be a thousand and one uses for banana peels... Charlie Chaplin thought so in describing a comical use for a banana peel:

Show a goofy man walking. Show a banana peel. Present them both together displaying the man stepping over the peel. Then have the man fall into an open manhole cover on the other side of the peel.

-- Jim Carlock Post replies to the newsgroup.