Practical Gardening by Diamthus

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 43, 20 February 1926, Page 24

Practical Gardening by Diamthus

Correspondents will greatly oblige by observing the following rale* Iβ eendinf questions for publication in these columns:— ... I—Letters should be in not later *.han Tuesday to be answered the same week— addressed to Garden Editor. " Star " Office. Auckland. D jjrrWrite on one side of the paper, and make "all communications as concise at DflpttT F « ,owers l etc,, sent for naming must be sent separately, and, If possible, iwJ? £ n J *xJ in or wooden boxes are very liable to be t-roken Iβ trannit and the contents damaged. Dlumr^- h ? n *« U i name and address of the sender must always be cent, but a norn d« piume/ or imtSal may be given for publication.

TO CORR£SPUfIDENTS. •BREEZE (New L>ynn) writes: I have purchased some Lilium seed and would like to know: (1) When and how to sow? (2) Treatment- efteT germination? (,3) l)o the seed_ usually come true to type?—(l) Sow the seed as soon as possible. Your best method- will be. to procure some Sin or 6in pots. Well drain them and. fill with some good eand soil, but do not use any leaf mould or man-are. Press the compost firmly into the pots and fill to within -an inch of the rim of fine pot. Sow the seed thinly, in fact place each : down singly. Cover the seed with about half an inch' of pure sand, end then cover #he top of the pot with a piece, of ■glass.-. -Keep -the. pot in a shady, warm position until the seeds germtinnfce, wihen the glass must be removed. (2) L.et the seedlings grow in the seed pots, do not disturb or transplant them. They will not make many 'leaves -t'Jae first season, but keep them nicely moist and ■ growing until they show signs or drying off, when water must be gradually withheld. Wihen tihe leaves have died off the small bulbs can be taken out, and either planted to the open ground "or put Into other pots. Once having made a small bulb, treat as other ■Mums, only be careful you do not . lost the tiny bulbs. (3) Seed of Liliums •can be relied upon to come true. W. GOODL/EY (Morningskle) writes.: 1 have an African Daisy, which 'has grown into a plant, two feet square. la it possible to take cuttings ,off. It has flowered well, tout 1 am of opinion it is too large, .and I wondered if I coujd get cuttings off the same, as is done »vith chrysantihe■mums?—l have never seen it propagated from out tings a>nd I do not think it would be advisable to try, as #he character of the plant does not promise success. You can lift the ptomt and divide it. The best method is to lift the plant, and wash all the soil from the roots. Then, with a Sharp knife, cut .the plants into portions; each part must have a crown of leaves and some roots attached. Tihe best time to do it Is. now, and it should be done as soon as possible. The |' Gerbera is a South African plant, ami delights in warm, fairly dry conditions, and if lifted and divided during winter losses aTe frequent. When planting keep tone crowns slightly - above the ground level. . A.B. (Xew Lynn) writes re Borer in Tomato plants: As.l noticed one of mine withered, I culled it up. The root was crawling with, a kind of caterpillar not much thicker than a thread and of a creamy colour. On spaittrug the. stem I found the borer in the centre. —Tihe small "caterpillars" seen were minute "AliUepedes," and are often found on rotting vegetable matter and -manure. They car» not be considered harmful to living plants, as the- da-mage done, if any, is more than counterbalanced by the good done by baefeeni-ng bh-e destruction of decaying matter. Re the borer- • in Tomato stem, see answer to "Another Digsw, Takapuna" in this issue. AXOTHEH DIGGER (Takapuna) writes: He Borer in Tomato plants. Some three years ago I purchased some plants and planted themv ■ Wihen they were about two feet hig-h I noticed a couple sick, and they eventually died. Other plants here and there Tsept going in the earne way until I pulled the lot up and thoroughly examined them. I .found • channels up the inside of -the stem, ami a small grub present. The grub or footer "was -about ttxree-elgilttflis of an - Irioh -long and had a shiny black 'head. 1 found, the entrance hole at the ground

level and in most cases they had travelled up the whole length-of the stem. i thought at *he time that it was purely local; in consequenice I aiave not planted , Tomatoes since.—This borer trouble, which appears 'to .be .much more 'prevalent; this seu'son than otfhers, is not. new; at 'the same time I do not Chink that it has any connection with the wood borer that attacks buildings. There is , a small griib or borer, of a dtaty grey.-colour, which attacks. many plants, bulbs of Begoniu.H, ■β-losinias, Onions, Potatoes, amongst other things, and I think you will nnd that this Is -the chap that lhas taken a ,liking to tine sternai of Tomatoes. To deal with such, when 'they get into the stem of a Tomato is a difficult tacK, and the only means of prevention is either to destroy' the fly which iays the . eggs, 'to make the stem distasteful so that the grub will not attack t!he stem, or to "get tfche grub as soon ac it attacks the stem, Tfoe latter is the surest way, anil can only be done by applying some poison, such as arsenate of "lead. Where the borer is in evidence one season, the precautions must toe 'taken early the following season, so as to make sure of being successful. Once the insect is in -the stem all the chances are gone until the plant dies. • ■ PASSIFLORA (Green liane) writes: I have some Passion vines bearing heavy crops, a large portion of which is buried in the foliage; Will you please tell mc if all the fruit will ripen, or would it be better to cut a way. some, of the foliage to expose the fruit? Would it be advisable to thin the fruit?— There is no need to expose the fruit. Thinning out the fruit woulu help to increase the size of the individual fruits, although, as a rule, Passion vines carry full crops and little advantage is gained by thinning. WORRIED (Kingsland) writes: Many of the blooms of my Tomato plants wither and fall off at tie joint just above the flower. Can you tell mc how to'prevent it?—lt appears to mc to be due to the flowers not being: fertilised. Of course, some ot the blooms are sure to -drop; no plant • carries a fruit to every flower. If yours have set a fair amount of fruit aud they have started swelling, some of the later flon-ers will fall. As a rule, in good weather, there is no difficulty In getting, Tomatoes to set. Excess of moisture aud . good soil Willi sometimes cause the blooms to fail to set:' Unless I know more of tne circumstances, however, I cannot definitely say what is the reason of your Tomatoes dropping their flowers. F..M. (Xorthcote) sends some Apples ana asks what is the matter with the fruit? They were the same last year.—The trouble is Apple scab. Spraying with Bordeaux or lime-sulphur solution is the method of control. All affectea fruit should be gathered and burnt. The spraying should commence as soon as the fruit is set. It Is too late to do much this season. -Spray the trees during winter with a strong solution, and next season apply the spray' as soon as the petals fall, and further sprayings at intervals or three weeks. ' D.P. (Devonport) asks if there Is anything that will kill the roots of. Cannas- after cutting dwn the stems, or is grubbing the only means of eradication?—-Grubbing them out is the only satisfactory inethoa. In-any, case, they are not Hard to kill once they are grubbed out. AVOX (Avondale) 'writes: (1) I have some Bluejrum stnmps that I want" to get rid of. They ore alive' at present. Is there any way except grubbing them out? '(2) There is a grub something like a borer which gets into the stems of my Tomato plants. Can you tell mc how to get rid of the pest?—(l) Apart from grabbing or blasting out the stumps, the only way Is

to bore holes from the outside towards •the centre- in a sloping direction, fill these holes with saltpetre and pnt In a few drops of water,- then plug the holes ana. leave until the saltpetre has quite per> meated the wood, when. If .lighted, It will smoulder away. A number of holes, from three to a dozen, will be necessary. t° each stump. A three-quarter inclj anger will do for boring the holes. The holes should be bored and the saltpetre put la whilst the stump is fereen'and there is sap to carry' the saltpetre through the wood. Saltpetre is -cheap, so put more than less. A month or two must elapse before the stump Is ready for firing. (-) The grub which bores into the ■ stem oi the Tomato appears, from complaints received, to be in force this season. It attacks other plants, but this season tt seems to have taken most heartily to tno Tomato. Nothing can be done once the insect gets in the stem. Spraying with arsenate of lead, taking care to wet the stems, would poison the insect before tt gets Into the stems. When using arsenate against caterpillar in the frun see that the stems are also covered. H.G.C. (Otorohanga) sends a number or Rose blooms for Identification.—Rose blooms sent for Identification should be the first that are opened in early summer. In any* case they must be in size ana colouring characteristic of the variety. There are so many varieties which diner only in minute characters that, unless the blooms submitted are perfect specimens, it is impossible to name,, them correctly. The blooms when opened were very wilted and some beyond recall. T-he following are as near as I can get to them: (1) Lemon Pillar, (5) Duke of Edinboro, (8) J. B. Clarjie, (9) Hiawatha, 0.0) L.Dickson. I A.R.C. (Rotorua) sends specimens of leaves of Peas and writes: I have planted several rows of Peas this season, ana although they come up well and strong, when they get two inches high the stems begin-to turn yellow and the. leaves develop brown spots, and the plants gradually dwindle and die. Can you suggest a remedj-7—The trouble is due to "leat spot." This disease occasionally appears v almost in the form of an epidemic. Dry. weather seems to favour Its development, but whether this is due to the dry weather checking the growth of the plants and making them more susceptible to the disease I cannot say for certain, but think there is a lot in favour of such a theory. Spraying with lime . sulphur solution or Bordeaux mixture is the best . means of prevention. Add a little ekim milk or about two ounces of flour paste to every two gallons of spraying mixture. This causes .the spray to adhere better. Spraying should commence as soon as the plants are through the soil, and continued every ten days or so until the plants,are in bloom. L.K.B. (Whakatane) writes: I planted a hedge of Hakea saligna last June, and they are now two to three feet high. (1) When should I prune the hedge so as to let it thicken more? (2) How much cutting would the hedge need?—(l) Prune the hedge now. (2) Cut the hedge back to about eighteen inches. CHRYSANTHEMUMS. Much may be done even now to improve unsatisfactory plants, if the cultivator will pay close attention to the work of watering, feeding and topdressing. It is a pity to neglect the plants at this stage after so much work has been expended on them. The plants are now approaching that stage of growth when fhey become more and more '• interesting. When the buds appear the cultivator-watches their progress with keen eyes. Not only is this so in the case .of.-the large flowering varieties, but also in that of the late flowering and other sorts grown especially for the production of cut flowers. The plants will require feeding every

get plenty of light and keep them cool, arid\ they will soon grow.away freely. After they have made half-a-dozen joints pinch" out the. tops, and when they are growing freely the plants can be placed in larger pots "for flowering , in the greenhouse or planted out in the open ground. If required for indoor flowering, repot into 6in size, using a stronger compoit ■ —three parts loam to one each of le»fmould and sand, with some mortar rubble If sown in February they should be ready to bloom in July. If wanted for outdoor flowering the plants should be treated quite as well as Border Carnations. Well drained and rich ground should be given. The seedlings can be planted out ! as soon as large enough. They should be stopped once or twice if they show signs of running up with an unbranched stem so as to keep the plants bushy and dwarf. Seedlings, however, often break well naturally and require no stopping. A good dressing of lime should be given to the soil before the plants are put out. To assist in drainage it is a good plan to raise the beds above the ordinary level. CUTTINGS OF PINKS. Where { cuttings of Pinks have not ' been taken no time should be lost to enable the young plants to get rooted, ready for-planting out in April or May.

TAKE CUTTINGS OF PINKS. Make up a compost of soil, leaf mould and sand in a cold frame. Keep the cuttings within six or eight inches of the glass. Shading until the cuttings are rooted is essential. , CABBAGES. . Sow Cabbages for the principal supply during next spring and summer. It is best to sow in .lines, to enable a free use of ths hoe to be made to keep down weeds.. The seedlings, as soon as they

\ y " >-• - : - - SOW CABBAGE. - appear, should be sprayed to keep off "Fly." It is not much of a job trying to spray seedlings, and the best method is to use a powder rather than a liquid. The use of skim milk in the spraying mixture makes the spray stick much, better. ' . " ;

"TAKING" CHRYSANTHEMUM BUDS, day, with the exception of three days a fortnight, when clear water only will be applied, so that they may be strong and in good condition generally when the flower buds appear and are ready for "taking." "Taking" the buds means the retention of the bud and the gradual removal (a'few. at a time) of the young shoots growing round and .below it, in the case of crown buds, and the retention of' the large, flat-shaped, central bud and the removal (a iew at a time) of- the 'smaller buds growing, round and below it, in the case of terminal buds. If the crown bud is removed for any reason, probably because it is too early, the shoots which grow afterwards will bear terminal buds. If the plant bears a flower ibud too early, and that bud is "taken," it will become very hard, and the flower petals will not develop freely;' they will be coarse and short. If a plant bears a flower bud at a very late date the petals will be long and broad, also highly coloured, but- they will be. few in number and the . bloom will resemble a semi-double.flower; the central seed florets will be exposed to view. The general result of extra cutting back or "topping" is t<, have a crop of flowers possessing a few petals only. These are some of the reasons why "bud-taking" at the right time is important. The first crowns show, and are generally in a suitable condition "taking" from February 5 to February 25. Second crowns are generally suitable for "taking" from February 20 to March 8. Terminals are mostly taken early in March. Some of the best flowers of the . singles are taken during the first Week in April. : ' MARGUERITE CARNATIONS. This is a section of flowers which is very useful, for by sowing seed early in the year flowers may be had, the following spring, and once they start they will keep going through the winter. Seed should be purchased. from a good source and then a large proportion of the plants will give double flowers. The colours are in various shades—yellow, pink, crimson, scarlet and white—and named varieties • are also to be had. Sowings may be made in February for flowering the. following spring. Sow in, pans of sandy soil and be careful that* the soil does not dry out.; Seeds will not be long in germinating, and the young plants when large enough, can be potted singly into 3in pots, in a compost of equal parts of lpam, leaf-mould and sand. Place them where they can