Home > Lawn & Garden > Home Gardening > Vegetables > Success with Summer Tomatoes Louisiana summers are a tough time for tomatoes to set and hold fruit. The heat causes irregular flower growth in most cultivars, and the result is poor fruit set, according to LSU AgCenter horticulturist Dr. Tom Koske. Louisiana Vegetable Planting Guide [Image: Louisiana Vegetable Planting Guide] Use this guide to plant a successful vegetable garden. The information has been developed after considerable research and practical experience. Time to Plant Greens, Says LSU AgCenter Horticulturist "Fall is a good time to plant greens in your home garden," says LSU AgCenter horticulturist Dr. Tom Koske. Crops include mustard, turnips, spinach, collards, kale and Swiss chard. All are cool-season crops with similar cultural requirements. Disease Management in Home Vegetable Gardens [Image: home vegetable gardnes] This publication is intended to introduce home vegetable gardeners to the various methods used to manage the many diseases that affect these crops.  more articles... Louisiana Plant Pathology: Downy Mildew on Cucurbits [Image: downy mildew on cucurbits] Downy mildew is a potentially devastating disease of all cucurbits. Disease symptoms, development, control measures and color photographs of symptoms on pumpkin, cucumber and watermelon are included. Root-knot Nematode In The Home Garden [Image: Okra galling] Gardeners are often unaware of a serious pest waiting for the spring vegetables to begin growing. These pests are small, microscopic animals called nematodes, and they attack the roots of many plants commonly grown in the garden. There are two major types of nematodes that cause the most problems for vegetables. Some Seeds Can Be Saved For Next Year Many summer-blooming annuals, perennials and vegetables are setting seeds now, and you can harvest the seeds, store them and then grow a new crop of plants for your garden next year. This can be fun, save a little money and allow you to share seeds with gardening friends. Get It Growing: Healthy Plants Start With Bed Preparation (For Release On Or After 10/05/07) Fall is a prime planting season in Louisiana. Cool-season flowering bedding plants and cool-season vegetables are planted from now through February, and November through February is the best time to plant hardy shrubs, ground covers and perennials in the landscape. How well you prepare the soil before planting has an enormous effect on the health and growth of your plants. Louisiana Home Gargens Are Valuable [Image: veggies] Fall and winter, the value of home gardens reaches $60.5 million. Organic Gardening [Image: Publication cover] Keys to Successful Organic Vegetable Gardening Sidedress Fall Vegetable Crops for Better Yields [Image: dress] Nitrogen (N) is a very important plant nutrient for all fall vegetable crops. A sufficient and continuous amount must be supplied to all plants to achieve good yields. It also is the nutrient most often lacking in soils. Very Basic Weed Control [Image: weeding] Controlling weeds in small areas may be pretty simplistic. Expected Vegetable Garden Yields [Image: yield] Expected yields from a good southern vegetable garden will vary, but estimates can help plan the planting scheme for the garden. September Last Chance for Diverse Veggie Garden September is Louisiana’s last chance to plant a relatively diversified vegetable garden before next spring. During this month we can detect the first signs of cooler weather that accompanies the fall, says LSU AgCenter horticulturist Dr. Tom Koske. More...