South Carolina ETV

Making It Grow! News Articles

Back to News Articles Home

Vegetable gardens have finally been planted all across the palmetto state. With an unusually cool spring, planting was delayed. Now, with warmer temperatures and much better growing conditions our favorite vegetables should be showing their vigor very soon. Unfortunately, we have pests in South Carolina that are as anxious for the vegetables to produce fruit as we are. It is important for us to control these pests right now, so we can enjoy the "fruits" of our labor.

Question: I have been having trouble with my straight neck squash wilting and dieing each year. This does not affect all of the plants.

Is this a trait of straight neck squash or should I plant the crooked neck variety? Your problem is not the variety of squash you are planting, but rather a very troublesome insect. Squash vine borers thrive in South Carolina every year. They drill a hole inside the stem which causes the plant to wilt and die. Once inside there is nothing that can save the plant. To help reduce infestations you may want to pull back any mulch that you may have put close to the squash plant.

The squash vine borer moth lays her eggs close to the plant so that the young will not have far to go for food. Preventive sprays at first bloom with a recommended insecticide, such as Thiodan, are successful.

The problem here is killing bees. You should not spray any insecticide in the garden when bees are present. Squash have both male and female blooms on each plant. It is imperative that bees move the pollen from the male flower to the female bloom. Without bees you will not have to worry about harvesting very much squash. Cucumbers and watermelons are in the same family as squash and have both male and female blooms on the same plant. They will also require bees for pollination. Bees are our best friends in agriculture and nothing should be done to reduce their numbers.

Question: I have heard a great deal lately about kitchen gardens. What exactly are they and what vegetables are planted? Not trying to be funny but a kitchen garden is simply a garden planted close to the kitchen. This concept is certainly not new and started probably when man started cultivating plants for food. It would only be natural to grow the plants close to the area where they would be prepared and served. Many gardeners focus on heirloom and specialty vegetables.

Herbs are also used. You basically plant the vegetables which you like to cook. Some also plant for color and scents. One of the best known kitchen gardens in the Carolinas is at the Biltmore Estate near Asheville. They grow over 100 varieties of vegetables, herbs, and fruits for their restaurants. Roger Doiron, founder of Kitchen Gardens International, has established an international non-profit group for the promotion of kitchen gardens.

You should visit their website for more information.