Squash Vine Borer Control Tomato Hornworm Control Pest management is complex, if you want to learn, a good place to start is here: Integrated Pest Management This lecture is presented in two parts. Each part is 90-minutes in length. Recorded in Sacramento County in California's Sacramento Valley, this lecture is by Mary Louise Flint, Ph.D., Director, IPM Education and Publications, UC Statewide IPM Project and Extension Entomologist & Cooperative Extension Specialist. Education: B.S. Plant Science, University of California, Davis Ph.D. Entomology, University of California, Berkeley Appointment: 100% Cooperative Extension Research Interests: Integrated pest management of landscape, agricultural and garden pests; biological control of arthropod pests; alternatives to pesticides; adoption of alternative practices by practitioners; innovative delivery of pest management information. Topics discussed in the Integrated Pest Management Lecture: * IPM references and resources * Preventing pest problems * Natural common enemies * Making less toxic pesticide choices * Controlling aphids, scales, caterpillars, coddling moths, tree borers, snails and slugs, and lawn insects. You can watch the programs now online: Just make sure you have Real Player installed or download it free. Integrated Pest Management Part1 90 minutes Integrated Pest Management Part 2 90 minutes You'll want to bookmark the following link to Professor Flint's Lab Research on: Controlling Pests in Gardens and Landscapes: Vegetables and Melons I promise you'll learn one or two things to put in your gardening bag of pest management arsenals. ;)

I would definitely keep the Kiwano, it has long storage life. The taste and texture is unique and good as well. I usually grow things that are hard to find in the store, productive, taste good, or save money. I found watermelons not worth it, for the space consumed, and the price per lb at the store. For the pumpkins, I would only grow them if they has excellent taste for pies, soups, etc. Or unique uses like hulless seed pumpkins (for edible seeds, or high quality pressed oil). Some people like the special pumpkins for decoration, however I am finding more selection at the farmers markets and stores for this. I find peppers easy to grow and very useful. Its also hard to find some of the more unique peppers. Can't go wrong with peppers, because of the wide culinary uses. Drying the peppers, insures most of the peppers are used through out the year. I would also skip on the corn, unless you have a lot of space. However blue corn and some of the harder to find special use varieties, are nice to grow. Pumpkin on a Stick, would get rid of this. They sell them at the stores and farmers markets now.

Here's one paper that reported fruit formation but no viable seeds: Euphytica 128(3): 371-374 (January 2002) Incompatibility in diploid and tetraploid crosses of Cucumis sativus and Cucumis metuliferus S. Alan Walters1 and Todd C. Wehner2 (1) Department of Plant, Soil, and General Agriculture, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901-4415, U.S.A (2) Department of Horticultural Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695-7609, U.S.A Abstract  The African horned cucumber (Cucumis metuliferus Naud.; 2x = 2n = 24) contains genes that can confer resistance to many important cucumber (C. sativus L.; 2x = 2n = 14) pests [e.g., root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid & White) Chitwood]. Cucumber is highly susceptible to this root-knot nematode species, and a recent screening of C. sativus accessions in the U.S. National Plant Germplasm collection did not identify sources of resistance. Thus, autotetraploids of Cucumis sativus and C. metuliferus were created to recover fertile resistant interspecific progeny. Autotetraploids were obtained at the highest rate when seeds were immersed in 0.5% colchicine for a period of 6 to 8 hrs. Treatment durations less than 6 hrs produced few tetraploids, and durations of 10 hrs or more were lethal to seeds or developing seedlings. Crosses between C. sativus and C.metuliferus were made using diploid and tetraploid lines in all possible combinations, including reciprocals. Fruit development occurred in crosses when diploid and tetraploid C. sativus were used as the female parent. However, seeds developed only in fruit of C. sativus (4n) ÃC. metuliferus (2n) crossings. Seeds from these crosses, however, were flat and not viable. No fruit development occurred in crosses where C. metuliferus was used as the female parent. Success was achieved (apparently -- I haven't read the article) by making somatic hybrids -- fusing cells from two species. Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report No. 14, July 1991 Selective methods for the recovery of somatic hybrids of Cucumis melo x C. metuliferus and C. sativus x C. metuliferus M. Dabauza, L.A. Roig and V. Moreno (Spain) Karl

Hi, You can save seeds from your Kiwano( In case anyone else is wondering what it is, it is Cucumis metuliferous. It also goes by the nicknames- Horn Melon, African Horned Cucumber, Jelly Melon, and probably a few others I don't know, lol.) It does need to be fermented like a tomato. There is an outer casing that comes off the actual seed with fermentation. About Red Currants, I'm not postive. I do know I get seedlings from my Jostaberry(currant-gooseberry cross) popping up in the spring. So I'm betting they need a cold period to germinate. Remy