Can you bury pepper stems like tomatoes?

[tjg911]

broccoli can still fall over, all you need is strong winds and they can lay over. they take a 90 degree turn and grow up but then they are closer to the others causing trouble picking and with air circulation. i plant 4 plants in a 10' X 10' square inside a pvc pipe cage covered with bird netting so when this happens, and it ALWAYS does, it is a major pita.

tom

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by tjg911

broccoli can still fall over, all you need is strong winds and they can lay over. they take a 90 degree turn and grow up but then they are closer to the others causing trouble picking and with air circulation....

They can indeed be a pain and unlike peppers putting them closer together doesn't work too well. Setting them deeper seems to help me though I am fortunate in that my garden area has some shelter from the wind.

Do you think a temporary stake to get them started inside those smallest cone shaped plant cages might help?

[tjg911]

definitely, it'd keep them from being pushed over. i think the problem would be when they are strong enough to stand up to strong winds they'd be so grown into the cage you couldn't remove it. it might be a major pain to try to get them to have all those branches/leaves stick out of the cage. a stake would be better, tie them up and then remove it come say early july. but any strong thunderstorms would have the ability to push them over and once 2-2 1/2' tall they'd be less likely to grow straight up like they do when smaller. so maybe just leave the stake in place? i have plenty of 1" X 1" x 5 or 6' wood stakes i could cut down to say 2', never thought of this until now! hummmm?

tom

[RebelRidin]

We are still talking broccoli right? Definately could lea\ve a stake. Why not leave the small cage until you rip it out?

[tjg911]

yep broccoli, sorry for thread hijack! my broccoli plants get HUGE, 4 in a 10' X 10' area barely fit by aug/sept. calabrese green sprouting is the variety.

tom

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by tjg911

yep broccoli, sorry for thread hijack! my broccoli plants get HUGE, 4 in a 10' X 10' area barely fit by aug/sept. calabrese green sprouting is the variety.

tom

LOL.... I don't have that problem. Brocolli is strictly a spring and/or fall crop here. Just not feasible to get them through the heat and humidity of our summers.

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by RebelRidin

LOL.... I don't have that problem. Brocolli is strictly a spring and/or fall crop here. Just not feasible to get them through the heat and humidity of our summers.

i don't agree with that. it's hot here and VERY humid. frankly summer sucks 90% of the time, make that 95%.

one summer it was wicked hot, upper 90's may have hit 100 a day or 2. i had the best broccoli that summer! why? i watered. period.

heat does not seem to hurt calebrese green spouting (cgs) so i assume this is true for all broccoli but there may be varieties that are effected by 85+ degrees. 85 here is a not so hot day and 82 is pleasant.

i gave the plants a good watering every day. this was late july early august and the leaves were huge and shaded the ground well. those plants cranked out 2-3" side shoots in the heat. now cgs is noted for large side shoots but these were mini heads and in that heat!

so i now think broccoli does fine all summer with adequate watering. i have grown broccoli all summer from may plantings for over a decade. some years it did poorly in summer heat but i may have failed to water it enough. look at what the israeli's do in a desert with water!

tom

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by tjg911

...

one summer it was wicked hot, upper 90's may have hit 100 a day or 2...

One summer? I am jealous. We see several week stretches of high 90's every year. If we are lucky, some not overly destructive thunderstorms roll through in the evening/night to break it up.

Maryland ranks 19th among states for the average high temp for June, July and August, and that includes the mountain areas of the western shore. Connecticut ranks 31. There is a four degree average daily temperature difference during the summer between the two states. That four degrees plus the humidity = bolting and rotting brassica. That's one reason my brocolli have been out for three weeks now, and that has nothing to do with an early spring. It is what you need to do here if you want nice spring brocolli.

Oh it could likely be done. If I kept a mister running on them much of the day every day during July and August. Of course that would have nothing to do with a need for water, it would simply be an attempt to regulate the temperature and create an appropriate microclimate. Instead I start a second batch of plants and hot swap them after the bush beans for a nice fall crop, often better than the spring crop.

If I had a cooler climate I might keep them going too.

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by RebelRidin

LOL.... I don't have that problem. Brocolli is strictly a spring and/or fall crop here. Just not feasible to get them through the heat and humidity of our summers.

I was just trying to imagine growing broccoli in July/August here in AZ. It would have to be stir-fried broccoli for sure! It's a winter veggie, wouldn't have a chance in our July and August!
Last year, we had two 2week stretches of over 115 degree weather. That was the worst summer on record but we usually see at least one stretche like that.
Bush beans are a spring crop, they can't survive past May. Only long beans and southern peas will brave summer heat. That, okra and amaranth. Some squashes and melons.

[tjg911]

115? i'd say that's impossible to keep anything alive!

last summer or the one before we had 37 or 39 90+ days, we broke an all time ever state record high when it hit 103 one day, a few were 100-102. ct seldom sees days above 97 and 100 is very rare. my broccoli did fine, produced side shoots and grew. i don't know where that ct is 31st comes from. maybe you should come here in late june to late august because people from south flordia have said to me "how do you stand the heat and humidity here in the summer?"! if you are near long island sound it is cooler but inland it is wicked.

trust me, in july and august it's pleasant when it is only 85 with a dew point of 63 or 64!

tom

[RebelRidin]

http://www.currentresults.com/Weathe...-in-summer.php


The temperatures are based on data collected by weather stations throughout each state during the years 1971 to 2000 and made available by the NOAA National Climatic Data Center of the United States.

Like I said ... I am jealous.

[RebelRidin]

http://www.currentresults.com/Weathe...-in-summer.php


The Morning humidity values for a state are recorded between 4 and 6 am local standard time, when usually temperatures are coolest and humidity highest. Afternoon humidity percentages are readings taken between 3 and 5 pm local standard time, when normally the day's temperature peaks and relative humidity reaches its lowest point.
Since so few weather stations measure humidity, meaningful state-wide averages aren't available. Instead the tables list a place for each state that represents the state's typical humidity levels.
All of the numbers are averages of several decades of weather measurements. The summer averages are based on data for the months of June, July and August.

[neoguy]

Here are a few pics, first is Jimmy Nardello, second is Pablano L and the third is Sweet Chocolate

Originally Posted by feldon30

This is the first time I've ever heard that buried pepper stems will grow roots. Anyone tested this, or have any articles on the subject?

[livinonfaith]

Yep, those are roots forming along the stems! Wonder what prompts that in some plants and not in others.