<p>The results of my new endeavor into container gardening have been dissapointing so far. The pea plants produced less than a dozen pods before they “expired.” Now the summer squash and the cucumber plants seem off-color. The leaves on both are light lime green in color, which something tells not the way it’s 'spozed to be. The plants were grown from seed, are about 60 days old and now stand about than 12 inches high. What’s the problem? Not enough water? Not enough fertilizer in the store bought garden soil? Is there a chance these things will ever bear fruit?</p>
<p>Alternatively, the tomato seedlings which I have nursed since mid-May are bearing fruit that has just begun to turn a gorgeous shade of red. These are ‘Better Boy’ hybrids and they’ve done well so far, unlike the squash and cucumbers, which were given the exact same care as the tomatoes. I know it’s not a problem with the seeds because I planted seeds from the same packages at a relative’s backyard garden, and those plants are performing fabulously in a short time. What can I do? Just stick to tomatoes and forget about other vegetables from a container garden?</p>
<p>I’d guess the problem is with the store-bought garden soil. There may not have been enough composted matter in it or it might not have been quite the right stuff. Are you feeding anything…Miracle-grow type plant food? Also, are the plants getting enough light?</p>
<p>Squash and cucumbers need room to stretch their roots. Are your containers big enough and deep enough for them? They also suck up the nitrogen, so might require more fertilizer than the tomato plants. Have you tried compost tea? (For the plants, not for you. :D)</p>
<p>I’d add some fertilizer, it sounds like they need it.</p>
<p>My container tomato is not doing well. The tomatoes are very crinkly and small. The plant is kind of bare, which is odd. I ended up planting it in the garden, the other tomatoes are doing very, very well. Maybe this one wants to be sort of pot bound…
Good luck, I hope your plants improve!</p>
<p>The gardening forums at Gardenweb.com are amazing. They even have a board specifically geared to container gardening. I’d imagine you’d be able to get good advice there.</p>
<p>Mom2M – You shouldgoogle ‘early blight’ and look at the photos. If it is this (crinkly and small pretty much describes what happens) you’ll need to destroy that plant immediately before it spreads to your other plants and other places. This is the same disease that destroyed the potato crop in 1840’s Ireland. It’s bad news and there’s been outbreaks of it this year all over the place, esp. from plants bought live from ‘big box’ stores.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the suggestions. I’m going to add more fertilizer, since more than one gardener’s web site agrees with you that the suckers absorb nitrogen from the soil like a sailor drains a whiskey bottle. I had been adding fertilizer (water based) about once a month). Apparently they need it more than that.</p>
<p>Novelisto
THANKS so much for the information, I am off to goggle…and I think I will remove the plant just in case, no sense in taking a chance with my healthy plants.</p>
<p>I also had the yellowing of new developing leaves on the cucumbers (long type). Yellowing lasted about 10 days until the leaves grew bigger. I added slightly more miracle grow to the water. Cucumbers taste OK. </p>
<p>Our container patio tomatoes are look weak, large distance between leaf nodes and few leaves. We have grown patio tomatoes in these containers for years without problems. Tomatoes are just developing.</p>