Calling Tucson/Southern Arizona Gardeners

[Marymcp]

Yes, I'm pretty sure it's the milkweed bug. I'll sprinkle some DE as suggested above and see if that helps. I hate losing my hard earned harvest to bugs!!! grrrrr

[Tracydr]

But, milkweed bugs aren't supposed to damage crops according to that article! Blister beetles, they do big damage.

[Marymcp]

What article? If you mean this one, posted recently above:

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/category...d-bugs/page/3/

If so it says this: This is a Small Milkweed Bug, Lygaeus kalmii. It is a True Bug and not a Beetle. Beetles have chewing mouthparts and they actually take bites out of things. True Bugs have piercing and sucking mouthparts and as your email indicates, they suck juices.

If there is different information elsewhere I'd be happy to read it. Thanks Tracy!

[Tracydr]

Here's somebody talking about blister beetles in the garden. Don't worry that the picture isn't identical. Remeber, there are a lot do different blister beetles, one which looks nearly identical to your bug.
http://inmykitchengarden.blogspot.co...-on-71706.html

[Tracydr]

Oh, I said Gary O'Sena was doing well but I meant Goose Creek. Just checked and it actually has quite a few fruits! Some of my Spud Purples have set a lot, too.
Just gave everyone a big handful of ironite, since I noticed the stems and lower leaves were a bit pale. Could just be the spider mites, though.
Spider mites seem lessened. I've been washing daily, although that took away from the toothbrush detail. Probably didn't matter, lots of blossom drop with the heat.
I'm thinking about getting extra shade tarps and wrapping the sides today. The south and west really bake in the afternoons. Even the east get pretty hot.
Lost most of my sweet potatoes slips to the heat. Unless they are still alive way, deep down which I don't have much hope for.

[Sun City Linda]

Is that tomato plant always so purple?

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by Sun City Linda

Is that tomato plant always so purple?

Which plant are you referring to?

[Tracydr]

Okay, just saw one of these bugs on my eggplant, too!

[Sun City Linda]

Purple tomato plant in post 233.

[desertlzbn]

Does anyone in tucson know where we can buy bulk seeds and beans here? I grew up in MO, and every hardware suite in town had barrels full of beans, corn, seed potatoes, tons of stuff, now you can't find seed except at HD Lowes and walmart. Blech (although I did pick up some Seeds Of Change seeds for two dollars yesterday.

[desertlzbn]

Hot, hot, hot, how are your gardens growing Arizonans?

[tuk50]

Squash still going strong, onions, armenian cukes, ... it turned so hot so quick that the greenbeans are blooming but very few beans... tomatoes gave a few green ones, but the worst production in years so far... the eggplants are blooming and setting and the okra has just got large enough to start blooming... this is also the worst year for sweetpotatoes ... this heat hasn't let them grow at all even with a lot of mulch. Picking blackberries now and peaches and the grapevines are loaded with clusters this year. Praying for a good monsoon this year ...

[desertlzbn]

I just picked about a dozen peaches, they were tiny though.
Tomato plants are looking ok way better than last year, just not a lot of ripe fruit yet. Getting squash, but no female flowers on my pumpkins at all :confused:. Just waiting on monsoon rains to start planting our the rest of my fall stuff.

[tuk50]

I don't know why, but my pumpkins are the same way with a long period of male flowers only then they start and do well... maybe it is the way the plant can support fruit after it is large enough.
Here are a couple pictures of the dwarf tomatoes I tried this year. Lots of blooms, but few tomatoes. My rows run north and south and you can see the sun damage on the first picture which is on the west side of the plant. Some varieties have this damage more than others.
this is a couple of yukon quest

from left to right... sleeping lady , tasmanian chocolate, rosella purple.

[flyingbrass]

My bigger remaining tomato plants, infected earlier by TYLCV, are ripening the fruit that set before the virus got to them. The plants haven't grown and haven't produced more blossoms. The tomatoes that had set seem to be turning out ok. A couple days ago I picked a 14.5 oz Cherokee Purple that tasted great. Today I picked another 5-6 CP's. I don't have many bigger/indeterminate tomatoes left to harvest. I haven't been weighing, but just guessing I'll probably end up with 15 lbs. total at most compared to roughly 145 lbs. harvested from plants in the same area last year.

My 4 little Sophie's Choice plants in a separate bed have outdone themselves. So far, I've harvested a little over 20 lbs. of tomatoes from them, and more are yet to be picked. The largest was a whopping 8.6 oz. Average fruit size as of several days ago was running right at 5 oz. All the Sophie's show horrible leaf roll and look awful, as I'm finding this variety is prone to, but with some netting to cut down on the sun they are still chugging along. A couple of plants have some smaller tomatoes still growing. Sophie is a real trooper.

My 2 zucchini plants are about 3' tall and as usual are providing more than we need or can give away. I haven't seen any squash bugs yet, but it's just a matter of time.

My 2 Charantais melon plants growing up a CRW trellis have 5 cantaloupes actively growing. The first one set (around the beginning of May) is nearing ready for harvest. This is my first time growing them.

I planted regular muskmelon cantaloupe seeds in the cages when I pulled the diseased tomato plants. They are just now starting to kick into growing gear. They are beginning to climb the cages. It will be interesting to see how such a late planting works out.

Peppers are below average. My two poblano plants look particularly bad, with mottled leaves. Maybe some sort of virus, perhaps even TYLCV? Peppers right next to and between them look ok.

The store bought blackeye peas planted in the 4x8 bed on May 5 are growing well. I used a lot of seed thinking germination may be poor. I'm guessing it was around 80%. I pulled one up the other day after watering and didn't see any nodules on the roots. I don't know how long nodules take to develop, but I suspect some inoculant is needed.

This is my first year trying sweet potatoes. I started them from an old store bought potato on March 5. I suspended it in a mason jar with water, let it sprout, then plucked those off and allowed to grow roots. IIRC, those are called slips. I planted them in the ground April 15. They are growing fairly well, but not as quickly as I would have guessed. Aren't sweet potatoes supposed to like heat? Any idea when I should expect to harvest them? I've read they need 3-4 months of growing time, but as desert dwellers know, most gardening info isn't geared toward us.