Have some veggie garden questions?

Question

This is my first garden so I'm 100% clueless to some things. Recently, some big storms rolled through my neck of the woods. The storms sort of made the pepper plants appear wind blown and are looking like they willl eventually just fall over. I just started to get some veggies on the plants so the weight of that probably is also contributing to the lean of the plant. What is a good splint for these plants as well as what could I use to hold them to the splint that wouldn't hurt the plant from growing? Also, my cucumber plants have blown up in growth, more so then I had expected and are starting to find themselves attaching to other plants. Would I be able to throw some type of fencing in between the cucumbers and the rest of the garden so that the cucumbers would attach themselves there and just work there way up?

Thank you for any advice anyone could provide me !

Answer 1

I would get some fertilizer that is specific for gardens.  This will help build up the plants so they can carry the veggie/food better. It's more important to give them a good start, than to get instant food for you.

I have cut out the center of plastic containers -- like the ones the plants came in -- so the plants peek out of the top of them.  You can also support them by tying them to sticks/branches (using wire like the kind that hold your bread pkg. closed or glad-bags) .  Tomato plants have cone shaped metal things that you can buy at the store, but they grow really big and i dont think you have that problem right now; and pepper plants aren't as delicate as tomato.

Cukes do have those curly ends that like to grab on, huh !? Yes, separate them. I usually put them on the edge of the garden, so they can grow off on their own, even on to the grass a bit.  

If they are already too big to move and are in the middle of your garden, then you will have to manually keep them separate -- you can get some very short wood fencing (about 6-8" tall and connected with wire).  Then just keep putting them back on their side of the fence.  Some people let them grow up a bit on some railing, but that's not natural & you wont get as good a harvest.

I hope you gave them a big area.  They, like pumpkins and water melons need a lot of space.  Always read the pkg. for size of gardening area (and believe it!)

Answer 2

They sell a roll of a wire with paper over it in the garden center in 300 foot rolls for 1.99...It has a built in cutter  on it..they are the exact thing as the ties on bread sacks , but not just plastic..I drive simple 1x2 stakes in the ground and twist these ties around the plant and the stick for my peppers..And yes any kind of trellis or  fence wire for your cukes would be fine..You can put some sort of trellis up and just use 1x2 stakes driven in to hold it up...You can pull the cucmber vines away from the other plants gently and weave each vine in and out the trellis wire to get them started climbing..You will break a couple of them doing it..but it wont harm the plant..I buy them six foot panels at Home depot that have 4 inch mesh for around 7.00 for a 4x6..You can use any old chicken wire though or regular fence wire..Heres a few pictures..Just put the twist ties around the main stalk of the pepper plant with just maybe an 1/8 inch slack and they will be fine....

Heres my english cukes ..4 inch mesh and just a couple stakes..It doesn't have to be a 4 inch mesh though any will do.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28022122@N0...

Heres my peppers simply on steaks driven in the ground..I used plastic "zip" ties..but the roll wire is cheaper..look close you can see they have just a little slack in them

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28022122@N0...

Answer 3

Simply drive two by two inch stakes into the ground next to the pepper plants and loosely tie the plants to the stakes with strips of cloth.  The length of the stakes will depend on the height of the plant.  You can temporarily place a section of woven wire fencing or wooden lattice against a couple of posts for the cucumbers to climb.  If they are a large variety you may want to support the fruit with a sling of cloth or a piece of old panty hose.  Keeping them off the ground will also help prevent rot.

Answer 4

The only problem with letting your cukes attach is a walking room problem for you. Cone shaped three wire cages are good untill the plant gets too big-- I hope they get too big, I wish you that good luck--- any stake you use should not go in the ground too close to the main stem, stalk. Spacing of plants is always a big problem, they are so tiny when they go in. My tomatoes are three feet apart, you would think that's plenty of room. it is not--- they are five feet tall and wrapped around each other. Standard bell peppers don't usually need bracing (except for storm damage) but if you do brace them--two poles, sticks driven on opposite sides of pepper, several inches away. tie the pepper loosely, you don't want to strangle it. Unless it is the main stem, stalk don't waste time with splinting, if you do splint then a popsicle stick is good.  Let me know how you do. I am new gardener for many years and I still remember new gardener worries.