Plants don't age in the same way we think of people aging. Age in people is a described on a chronological basis, where plants age ontogenetically. This might be framed as, the parts that have taken the most cell divisions to produce are the plant's oldest parts; so strangely, the most recent part of the plant (say, a new branch high on the plant) to grow is the oldest part of the plant. The youngest part of the plant will be found in the root to shoot transition zone. This juvenile part of the plant is also nearly always the most vigorous part of the plant. Plants pass through life stages until they end up at the sexually mature stage. At that point they are capable of blooming/fruiting. Whether they DO or not is complicated and not entirely understood. Blooming and other environmental reactions of most healthy plants are primarily influenced by day length (technically it's night length), but more than a few plants are triggered by other factors, like moisture availability, temperature, predation. Some plants even seem to have an internal 'alarm clock' that acts as a trigger to bloom. There are species of bamboo that bloom as infrequently as every 130 years and when the bloom occurs, all plants of a given genetic origin bloom simultaneously, en masse (all at once), and this occurs regardless of environmental influences. Now, that a plant is capable of blooms/fruit doesn't mean it will produce same, no matter how much we hope. The factors that limit a plant's ability to bloom are as complicated as those that trigger blooming. The plant's internal chemical messengers that limit blooming is first influenced by the plants ontogenetic age, but then by health, stress, stored energy reserves, a significant number of environmental factors, and sometimes seemingly no more than a built-in piqued obstinacy that can be more irritating than Justin Bieber or the Kardashians, if that's even possible. How do I get it to bloom? Keep it healthy and let it do its thing. You can search online - there might be some simple ways to coax it to bloom exactly whenever it feels like it. How old does it have to be? The only age important to plants is what growth phase they're in. They have to be old enough chronologically to have reached sexual maturity. This is also complicated because the (ontogenetic) age of the parent plant from which the propagule (that is now your plant) was taken has to be a part of the equation. Example - a hawthorn tree from seed needs to survive around 20-25 growth cycles to bloom; whereas, a cutting from a blooming hawthorn tree can be counted on blooming within a few years if its state of vitality has been generally good. Al

I agree with moroseaz even though my location is in the east - the minute it got a lot cooler I started noticing a distinctive yellowing - I think it's when the veins are green but the leaf yellows. Sure enough, research on the Internet indicated that in heavy clay soils like mine roots can have a problem with iron uptake, and suggested adding iron chelate (of course it being the end of the season you can't find any in the stores). I used to add iron chelate each spring, guess I will have to go back to it. It doesn't seem to be lethal but for me tells me I need to do some amending of the soil - wasn't a problem when the temps were warmer, and it was only some of my plants - Abe Lincoln for one. I'm generally leery of diagnosing plants beyond the basics, but in this case my leaves were very distinctive.

Janice: According to Clemson I was within the planting window but towards the end ( I am in the central area). I planted April 15th (planting for my area is April 5-25). But you do have a good point about planting earlier. I usually like to plant at least some early (in March) under row covers to get earlier fruit. I do know that this year fruiting (and also my leaf yellowing problem that seems somehow linked to fruiting) is at least a few weeks later than normal. But I chalked that up to the high-nitrogen chicken manure which caused a lot of green leafy growth at the expense of fruit. Two years ago I grew peppers with great success, I've tried squash and cucumbers in these beds 2 or 3 years ago which both failed miserably. But I have added a lot of lime and fertilizer since then. My pH in these beds 2 years ago was 4.0 -5.5 so one would not expect squash to do well. Last two or three years these beds have had tomatoes and peppers, because I care the most about tomatoes and wanted to put them where there was the most sun. Thanks so much for your time. It's been very helpful. :)

What kind of pest? Why do you think that?