I can't wait to hear how they do!

I planted Penny Rile and plan to plant Kentucky Red soon. Here, this is a good crop to deal with July's blast oven heat.

George
Tahlequah, OK

I planted Saturday and now 3 days later the plants are up 2 to 3 inches tall. That is what I like about optimum germination conditions. We have had a couple of good rains and the soil is very warm. This makes cowpeas germinate in 3 days and corn in 4.

DarJones

I planted Piggott, and hercules in May the plants are blooming now will have peans to pick in another week. I planted Steeles Black whipporwill 2 weeks ago hope to make a good seed crop for Southern Exposure seed of them. I also planted 4 other peas just 6 plants of each that I recieved from seed swaps I am at work and can't remember the names off hand but they too are blooming. Dar I lost my yellow ripper from Ken the seed was still too green and molded on me before we got home so I will have to gety a sample from you sometime if they make.I have another group I will plant in Mid July when some of the other things are done in the garden and the space is available. This year is by far the best looking garden I have had in years and it should be I hurt all over from the work. But once again the heat and drought are taking its toll on production. I have nearly 40 varieties of beans planted my goal is to get some pictures for everyone to see by next week. Rodger

Cowpeas are one of the few things still alive in my garden right now due to the severe drought we're in. Don't know if they're going to actually make a crop, but just still being green puts them way ahead a lot of other things in the garden (like any of my common beans, they're all gone).

We're on drought restrictions so I can only water once a week, and with temps over 100 every single day, that doesn't seem to be enough for a lot of things.

A question - does anyone else have problems with massive quantities of aphids and ants in their cowpeas? I am seriously thinking of ripping them out due to the incredible load of ants that are aggressively defending the ants in the cowpeas... They fight off the ladybugs that are trying to eat the aphids.

Cindy

Why would you rip out food plants for yourself and leave the anthills behind to move on to your other food plants? Why not eliminate the aphids and ants so your plants can produce cowpeas for you?

>>Posted by happyday WI4a (My Page) on Sun, Jun 26, 11 at 11:14

>> Why would you rip out food plants for yourself and leave
>> the anthills behind to move on to your other food
>> plants? Why not eliminate the aphids and ants so your
>> plants can produce cowpeas for you?

I can't seem to find anything that kills them without harming people or good bugs. AND they bite me when I work in the garden.

I have ant traps with borax and sugar water and the ants walk over them to climb the plants to milk the aphids... The only thing that helps briefly is Neem and that only kills the ones I spray. Doesn't seem to phase them for walking over the Neem. I regularly hose off the aphids. I have tried coffee grounds (worked for a few days and they are now back).

Any ideas on what I can use to kill aphids/ants without poisoning everything else?

TIA
Cindy

You could try Safer's soap, if nothing else it will do the aphids in. I don't know about the ants but it will definitely put a dent in their operation. If you don't have Safer's mix up some soapy water (using soap not detergent) in a watering can and douse your beans early morning or evening when the suns off them.

Annette

I spray with Sevin, but not everyone wants to do that.

Spraying with soap is a good idea. I use dishsoap. You could also mix borax, sugar, grease, soap and boiling water and slowly pour it into the anthills. They would have to ingest some of it. Use 20 mule team borax if you need a lot of it for not much money. You could pour rubbing alcohol down the hill and drop a match or touch a sheaf of burning newspaper. Don't use gasoline, it will explode in your face, though you can use kerosene if you don't mind it getting in the soil. Alcohol will evaporate, so will most of turpentine. You could start a fire of untreated dry wood and dig out the hill, carry shovels full to the fire and drop it in, killing the ants and larvae, then carry the coals back to the hole you dug and drop in to char the lower tunnels. Lots of things you could try before pulling plants.

Are they fire ants? It would be a good idea to eliminate biting ants.

Thanks Annette - I'll try some soapy water. I haven't tried that on this batch of ants (this is an ongoing battle in my garden - I think I live on some sort of ant metroplex).

HappyDay - the ants seem to have built their nests under the mulch in the garden, so any sort of fire would would kill the garden - the squash in particular (where the heaviest mulch is). I am using 20 Mule Team - I've set up traps at the base of several cowpeas. Even poured some around to lead them to the traps. This worked great on the eggplants that they were attacking, not so good on the huckleberries or the cowpeas. :(

I'm trying to avoid Sevin as it kills earthworms and this is a new garden bed I'm trying to get started - hoping to put a walkin hoop house here this fall, so hate the thought of contaminating the soil.

I don't think these are fire ants - they don't build mounds. They are small dark red ants - they live under mulch, between landscape timbers, in raised beds, and in pear and maple trees (yeah really). They are very aggressive if you mess with their beans/peas. Last year I finally conceded defeat when they were farming aphids on red noodle beans. Picking the red noodle beans became impossible so I finally ripped out the plants - hosed them off and picked the beans I could salvage. After the red noodles were gone - the ants moved away and it was normal ant populations again in that garden bed.

The thought of burning them makes me smile tho. I have a propane torch that I've used for killing them in my raised beds (remove a brick and torch 'em).

I haven't called the county agent - he's not really big on organic/low pesticide/herbicide use.

Thanks for your help!
Cindy

Hi Rodger, I got good germination on the Yellow Ripper so if I can keep the deer out of them, I should have seed.

I have the Steele's Black but decided not to plant them this year. Maybe next season I'll get to them.

DarJones