have your soil tested.

I'm guessing there is more than one cause for the problems.

Some of the crops, such as the zucchini, may simply not be ready yet. Did you plant in early, mid or late May? I harvested nearly nothing until this week due to planting slightly late. Now several crops (summer squash, okra, bell peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes) are starting to produce.

The seven foot tomatoes with no blossoms puzzles me. That is very unusual.

Jim

Hard to say for sure. While you are figuring things out, you can start your compost pile and planning for next year. If you are using raised beds with known good purchased soil, there isn't much need to have it tested. So much of gardening is regional that it's important to find a regional "source of truth". Here in the west we rely heavily on the "Sunset Western Garden Book".

I planted in early May. The zucchini plants are huge, and have had, I would guess hundreds of flowers, but not even a small zucchini. I have had a compose bin for several years that I add to the garden soil in raised beds.
One thought was that I built my garden in a lower corner of my property. In the spring, when the snow melts, that part of my property gets a lot of standing water. I try to dig some shallow trenches to let the water drain better from the area, and it seems to dry out fairly well by late spring. The garden is in a raised bed, so I'm not sure if that would be an issue. The soil seems to be draining well.

Here in CT I've had trouble this year too. Big healthy plants with low yield. I blame it on the crazy weather we've had. Things started picking up at the end of July when it got hot, but since then the squash vine borers killed my pumpkins and zucchini- got one of each!

Also, it sounds like maybe you're not getting pollination? Are you in a city or something? Maybe try putting in some marigolds or something else to attract good bugs and bees?

I'm going to have to disagee with Mrclint. Get your soil tested. You never know what the farmer you got the soil from has added to it. You seem to be haveing multiple problems, so something is not quite right. Check the soil and then you will know one way or another, whether it is bad or good. Relieve your mind of one thing then you will be able to check it off the list of possible reasons.

Thanks,
I think I will have the soil tested. I have planted marigolds in the garden (they are doing well). I also have a yellow jacket nest under the landscape timbers used for the raised beds, so I don't think it is a pollination problem.

The standard explanation for tall tomatoes with no fruit is too much nitrogen. Which MG did you use? There are different products with different formulations. Look on the package for the 3 numbers. [Nitrogen - phosphorus - potassium, also referred to as NPK -- those letters are the symbols for the chemical elements nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium; if you didn't study chemistry, they're in alphabetical order.]

The numbers refer to the weight of each nutrient in a 100 lb. bag of fertilizer. But the ratio of the numbers is also important.

"Nitrogen helps plants make the proteins they need to produce new tissues. In nature, nitrogen is often in short supply so plants have evolved to take up as much nitrogen as possible, even if it means not taking up other necessary elements. If too much nitrogen is available, the plant may grow abundant foliage but not produce fruit or flowers.

"Phosphorous stimulates root growth, helps the plant set buds and flowers, improves vitality and increases seed size. To absorb phosphorous, most plants require a soil pH of 6.5 to 6.8.

"Potassium improves overall vigor of the plant."

More here: http://www.gardeners.com/Fertilizer-Basics/5161,default,pg.html

So for fruit (tomatoes, melons, peppers, etc.), you do not want the first of the 3 numbers (nitrogen) to be too high compared with the others. Here are some of the different Miracle-Gro products:

All-Purpose Miracle-Gro: 24-8-16

Miracle-Gro Shake 'N Feed: 10-10-10

Miracle-Gro Bloom Booster: 15-30-15

Miracle-Gro for Tomatoes: 18-18-21

Espoma's Tomato-tone (everybody's favorite): 3-4-6.

Compare the two tomato fertilizers: slightly different ratios, yet both highest on potassium and lowest on nitrogen: different from the first three Miracle-Gro products. [The Espoma numbers are smaller because it contains a higher percentage of other ingredients.]

It's not only an issue of what ratio your fertilizer has. If you fertilize too often or use too much fertilizer, you can still overwhelm the plants with nitrogen. Keep in mind that there are other sources of nitrogen besides Miracle-gro; for instance, manure. You bought the soil from a farm: do they raise livestock of one type or another? Might the soil have contained a significant amount of manure?

===

You say you don't have a pollination problem, but you're using Sevin, which kills all types of insects: not only the bad ones, but the pollinators as well. (Maybe yellowjackets are tougher than pollinators.)

Some plants are wind-pollinated (for example, corn). Other are self-pollinated (tomatoes). Cucurbits need insect pollinators -- I read recently that it takes dozens of different insect visits to fertilize each flower. You can do the pollination yourself and be sure: remove a male flower and rub the pollen on the female flower. It's best to do this early in the day.

7ft. pepper plants and no blooms in CT...

It's not heat. It's most likely way too N-rich soil.

You really only need to fertilize non-container summer plants twice a season, tops...if at all...in most cases. I give my plants a dose after they've established a good root system after transplant. I rarely hit them up again unless we've had weeks/months of extreme leeching downpours until very late summer or early fall, and then it's not as strong of an application as the early spring dosage.

It's a bit early for harvestable cauliflower in your area. It's a good time to start growing it, but not harvest-time.

There are several things that you're doing that I wouldn't do, though I don't see why those things should cause complete failure - they're all things that plenty of other gardeners do. This has been a very, very strange year for many gardeners; some of the issues may not be anything that you're doing.

Random thoughts:

How many daily hours of sunlight do you get? Your problems seem to have a theme of vegetative growth without fruit or, in some cases, flowers; that can be a result of not enough sun. Or, as others have said, too much nitrogen - I admit that those seven-foot tomatoes do suggest that you have enough sun.

Were you seeing extreme insect damage? If not, I would recommend against using any insecticide - I'd skip the Sevin dust or the anti-slug product next year (and for the rest of this year). As others have mentioned, the Sevin will harm pollinators, and lack of pollinators can cause the nonproductive pepper, eggplant, zucchini, and melon. (Though they don't explain the tomatoes.) You could read up on hand-pollination and give it a try. Meanwhile, fried zucchini blossoms are delicious.

Peat moss wouldn't be my soil amendment of choice - while it will help with moisture retention, it will make your soil more acid and it contains no nutrients. I'd go with some sort of organic compost or manure instead. (I see in your later post that you also added homemade compost.)

I don't use Miracle Grow; I prefer some form of organic fertilizer, or a nutritious soil amendment. I'd stop feeding it to the plants for now.

Cauliflower is difficult to grow; one of my books says that _any_ stress is likely to cause failure. You might want to try easier cole crops.

If you don't feel that you've gotten adequate answers before you start next year's garden, you could try shifting to crops that are less "all or nothing". Leaf crops like lettuce, kale, or chard don't need as much sun as fruiting crops, and even if they grow scrawny, every leaf is edible. Broccoli is less demanding than cauliflower. Peas and beans are self-pollinating (in case the issue is pollinators) and somewhat shade tolerant (in case it's sun) and not too greedy for nutrients (in case it's fertility). Onion sets may produce decent scallions on limited sun and nutrients, though they won't produce full-size onions. The smaller radishes are quick, so if they do fail you should have enough time to try something else.

Some of the above might be worth trying as this season ends.

Yellow jackets are poor pollinators. They use very little nectar or pollen in their brood feeding. They take lots of other bugs, green flies, caterpillars, larvae, etc.
I agree with other posters, too much Nitrogen makes for bushy green growth, but little fruit of any sort.
Standing water will lead to wet roots which can cause brown rot or Phytophthora, which leads to all sorts of problems.

Me three on the too much N. And cauliflower is not grown in the summer. Pepper sounds like too much water and nutrients. I don't know why you would use Sevin just to use it, maybe it killed some pollinators that would pollinate the zuke/'loupe. Plant some more flowers to attract pollinators. Get a soil test. I suspect the extra N from the manure in the soil will be gone next year. First year soil often not the best.

Dan

Sevin is one of the most deadly of chemicals for our pollinating insects. And me four on the N.

I'd bet on sunlight. How many hours a day of direct, unfiltered sun do you get?

Thanks for all the responses. I'm guessing it could be all of these things. I used the sevin because in the past years, I've had problems with insects. I will definitely get the soil tested, but with so many of you saying too much nitrogen, I guess I'll cut back on the MG also. I suppose it is also the sunlight. I get (I think) about 6 or 7 hours. My garden is against a stone wall that runs along a road. There is nothing blocking the sun on that side, but on the other side, I have several large beech trees that don't let much light through. The tomatoes are tall, but not very bushy. Any suggestions for vegetables that don't need a full day of sun?

6 hours of direct sunlight is considered "full sun." Your veggies might be happier with more, but they should all grow and fruit well with 6 or 7 hours.

For 8 years, I grew veggies in a 5 or 6' deep bed right up against the east side of my parents' house. Morning sun only. The tomatoes and cukes grew up a trellis a few inches from the laundry room wall. From noon or so, the tomatoes and cukes were shaded by the house (the veggies that grew a few feet from the house had a bit more sun). We always had a good harvest.