Your tomatillo question has the most encouraging answer. Empty husks are formed first. Then the fruit develops inside. When the fruit fills the husk they are ready to harvest. It may seem like it will never happen, but it will. I predict you will have a good crop.

The corn is infested with ear worms. They can be prevented by putting several drops of mineral oil in the silk end of the ear, but it is probably too late for this year.

I can't answer the others. Sorry.

Jim

Oops. I overlooked that you apparently have only one tomatillo plant. Supposedly, more than one is needed to produce fruit. However, it is encouraging that you are getting husks, so I'm not so sure of the outcome unless and until you detect a fruit growing in one of the husks.

Jim

with that much going on my first thought was a soil problem I could be wrong because I am very new to veg gardening .

You do need a minimum of two tomatillo plants for adequate fertlization.

Issue #4...did the stalks turn yellow, and then die off? Do you have blight?

The crane melon is a crenshaw that does not slip. Crenshaws turn yellow or tanish when ripe.

Never have grown Crane, but Lily and Burpees Early Crenshaws do slip.
Omars Lebanese is susceptible to lot of diseases. I can't grow it here. Late onset of yellowing sounds like Fusarium.

You may have to spray the pepper flowers with something like neem, then hand-pollinate because you've chased the pollinators away as well as the pest.

My guess on the tomatoes is that you've had inconsistent watering and no pest is involved. that's just a guess.

White butterfly sounds like the cabbage moth (see pics). The best control is bT, but oil is a good preventative as well.

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I can't help you, but I surely can commiserate. I start the planting season full of optimism, even though I know that LESSONS will be my greatest harvest at the other end.

I saw the cabbage moth around a lot this year, in the zucchini, mostly, but I only lost one plant to the SVB. (Is the SVB an offspring of the cabbage moth?)

Anyway, I planted mustard and radishes nearby as trap plants and they worked well --for everything but the ground squirrel.

I fought the tomato hornworms face to face and won, I think. Peppers, on the other hand, offer a whole different learning experience. Out of numerous attempts from seed and from transplant. I have two successful plants that I am determined to winter those over somehow!

The biggest lesson I learned this year is that even for just two people, I need to plant more of everything!

Jan

Hi Jan,

Squash vine borers are actually the offspring of a red and black looking moth. I've included a link to an image of one below.

Jill

Here is a link that might be useful: Squash Vine Borer Moth

I've always just planted one tomatillo plant and have always had lots of tomatillos.....and I'm the only garden on the block. You do have to give them some time. One day it seems like you have a lot of empty husks....then you turn around and you have more than you can handle ready to pick. Although you should have had at least a few to pick already.