lots of questions re plants in my garden...

[kerryp]

Hiya,

Hopefully no-one will mind me asking all these questions in one go rather than doing seperate threads for the different types of plant....

1) My courgette plants in the front garden (starting to look like trifids or however its spelt!) have started to get a white dusty substance on some of their leaves... it started off as a little bit & now some leaves are COVERED. does anyone know what it is? is it going to kill my plant/the courgettes?

2) should i pick off leaves off my moneymaker tom plants? ive done all the bits in the elbows... but the toms that are growing seem shaded alot by the other "branches" of just leaves (when they first started growing i didnt know to pick out the bits from the elbows & now theyre bit of a funny shape.

3) Im growing a marketmore cucumber, outside, should i pick off the male flowers?

4) Im trying to grow 2 types of aubergine, there anythng i can do to help them grow actual aubergines? the moneymaker larger plants have flowers on but have had flowers on before which then just fell off & left nothing... the others are ophelia & so called patio plants so think they only produce baby aubergines but should i help the flowers pollenate by using a brush?

any hints/tips for any of the above would be a great help.

Thanks
Kerry

[terrier]

Hi Kerryp, all courgette plants suffer from mildew on the leaves and it eventually kills the leaf, but it shouldn't affect the fruits, just leave them to it unless the leaf is obviously well on it's way out, then remove the dead bits.
The only time I trim leaves off tomato plants is to remove the lower leaves to make it easier to water them and if the leaves are looking poorly for any reason. Toms need warmth to ripen, not direct sunlight. Also keep a sharp eye open for early effects of blight and remove any suspect green matter right away.
Sorry, know nowt about cukes and I'm about the same stage as you with my aubergines.

[kerryp]

what does blight look like? is it easy to spot?

[rustylady]

Click on this link regarding tomato blight Royal Horticultural Society - Gardening Advice: Tomato Blight

[Two_Sheds]

1) My courgette plants in the front garden... have started to get a white dusty substance on some of their leaves...

the search button is your friend http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...tml#post257206

and http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ore_37879.html

[kerryp]

thanks for that. whenever i do a search i never find anything of use & have to go through loads of posts its found & then get bored! ha ha ha
any idea on what to do with the aubergine or you gona tell me to get searching?!

[Two_Sheds]

thanks for that. whenever i do a search i never find anything of use & have to go through loads of posts its found & then get bored! ha ha ha

You need to use Advanced Search. Narrow your search to your main criteria (I typed in "cucumber + male") and off you go. Just like using Google really.

[Two_Sheds]

any idea on what to do with the aubergine or you gona tell me to get searching?!

I googled this time, not having grown an eggplant before (yuk yuk yuk): Growing Aubergines (Egg Plant), National Vegetable Society