GARDEN NOTES IDENTIFICATION OF LEAF DISEASES AIDS CONTROL

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27801, 28 October 1955, Page 8

GARDEN NOTES IDENTIFICATION OF LEAF DISEASES AIDS CONTROL

[By

[Specially Written for "The Press”!

T. D. LENNIE.

a.h.r.ih., n.z.l

Friday, October 28, 1955. < Recognition of a leaf disease helps in its control. Failure to classify the strength of our enemy makes control measures much more difficult. i Garden pests of all kinds go through a life cycle which, if not broken, will result in victory for the pest. This life cycle may be said to begin with spring warmth. Most of them will have been’ dormant over winter, and come to life, with the warmth of spring. Take fruit tree pests as a ’major example, and our way is made plain. l ' Trees are sprayed in winter at lull : strength to break the cycle, but it happens that spores are wrapped up inside the termina' ■ growth buds, and : thus escape. As soon as the buds open in response to general heat, these spores also awaken and contaminate.' the opening leaves. Thus we get an in-, fection of leaf curl on peach, nectarine! and plum, and mildew on apple, roses, : and grape vine. These infections may be only light L or casual, but spraying with lime! sulphur or bordeaux must be done ; again to assert control. P Where the infection is light, as it* should be where the winter spray wasp efficient, another practical control can I: be suggested. That is to pick off the Ileaves showing red crinkly patches onl: stone fruits or thin white shoots onl, the apple. Do this and follow with J' the right spray, and your trees will • be on the way to normal health. Grub pests follow much the same ; pattern, but are later in movement • and thus afford time to apply the correct spray, such as arsenate of lead . for codlin moth or butterfly grub. FLOWER GARDEN The future of the summer display will largely depend on present plant- ; ing of bedding plants to supplement : the border perennials. These latter are ; now making good growth, the dif- ; furence from week to week of i perennial phlox, and poppies, peonies, j delphiniums, and lupins being very « noticeable.

November growth is essential, therefore push on with any bedding schemes. These may contain antirrhinums, bedding geraniums, paristree daisies, geums, hollyhock, or scabious. Or they may have beds or borders of bonfire salvia, chaubard carnations, Iceland poppy, nemesia, asters, beauty stocks or verbenas. Combinations of all these can be very happy edged with lobelid, the lovely viscaria or petunia in pink and blue, or dwarf French marigolds or tagates. A combination of these will take care of this season, and it is timely to think some months ahead, and get ample stocks of young plants at small cost. By sowing now, plenty of good perennials for next season will accrue for planting out in the autumn. Pansy, viola, polyanthus, prianula, cineraria, hollyhock, lupins, delphinium, carnation. aquilegia, dianthus, and Iceland poppy, can all be easily raised now cutdoors. are now due for planting. Most people like to add a few new things to their collection each year. The same can be said for gladiolus, where the charm of new colour is often irresistable. These lovely bulbs can be had in flower from January to April by spaced planting. Do not delay breaking up old stools of dahlias. This will improve the; flowering quality. Perpetual carnations are now shooting out. Stir the soil around them, removing old yellow spotted leaves.' An inch mulch of good fine compost i around the plants will send them along. Laying down of lawns should follow a good preparation of levels and soil. Weed control is helped by taking a potato crop from the ground and making the sowing an autumn job. The robustness or otherwise of your tulips at present will be indicative of their health. If there are sizeable blooms on 20-inch stems, then not much is wrong with them. But if the foliage is marbled grey and the blooms small on six-inch to 10-inch stems, the, bulbs have fire disease, for which little can be done. The trouble is most likely in much too hot a soil and position. The tulips should be shifted to a colder site. Tulips resent having the bulbs baked in summer. Green-fly and other aphis are now appearing on roses and other garden plants, and a spray should be used early, either of nicotine-sulphate or other insecticide. Prune spring flowering shrubs when, blossoms have fallen. This applies h forsythia, prunus. almond, jasmine and early apple and cherry. The nrun ing should only aim at improving th shape or reducing top branches gettii? too nigh. It is not needed for floWerin • A reminder can be given on th' care of house or greenhouse plants, r is wise to repot most of these plants each spring. Cyclamen going out of flower should be stood down to dry off. Fuchsias and geraniums should be cut down to make stocky plants. The cut-off tops make excellent cuttings and will soon root when prepared and potted up thickly in a sandy soil in shade. Dipping the cut ends in a hormone powder makes rooted plants certain. VEGETABLE GARDEN There will be general satisfaction at the forward condition of the garden, permitting routine work and crop growth at its best. With seedling rows so promising, hand weeding is important. The hoe can be used between the rows, but weeds grow so rapidly that, if they are allowed to root freely, harm can be done by pulling them up. Continue sowings of all roots crops as _ n e e d e d» especially carrot, parsnip, and beet. In the latter, either globe ®. r , Nutting’s select long red are reliable, while in carrots the choice is more open. Manchester table. Chan-

• tenay, or Intermediate give both colour and quality, with fair sized roots. With peas, where the early rows are promising, best results will be got by .sowing a main-crop variety, such as 'Dwarf Defiance, Stratagem, Onward, or Greenfast. All these are varieties that later should be staked for best results. All the midseason vegetables should now be sown, limited only by the i space available. Vegetable marrow, •pumpkin, cucumber, sweet 'corn, i climbing and dwarf beans, perpetual spinach are some of the specialties of the home gardener. Salads are summer necessities and to ensure a good supply small lots of lettuce, radish, mustard, cress, parsley, and onion should be sown. For quick returns put out a few lettuce and early cabbage plants. I This is sowing time for winter greens which should, be planted out in January. Therefore sow now savoy, brussels sprouts, broccoli, celery, curled kale, drumhead cabbage, chou moellier, Kohl rabi, and also asparagus. | It is safe now to plant tomatoes. See that the position for them is well [manured, for the plants are not deep rooting, but have to survive a long hard season, for which a manured soil with regular watering will be necessary. Do not grow them under walnut or other tall trees, for the soil will be too hot and dry. Make your choice from Best of All, Kondine, Potentate, Sunrise, Market King, Tatura dwarf, Beefsteak, or Yellow Queen. It would be wise to select a site for the celery and leek trenches, and accumulate the manure or good compost to go into them. Main-crop potatoes can be planted a: Ift between sets and 2ift between rows. Good varieties are Sutton’s Supreme Arran Banner, Inverness Favourite, Sebago. Glen Ilam, and Chippewa, with Dakota where a strong growing sort is required, as in twitchy, cold soils. It is a worth-while crop for a new section on which it is intended to sow a lawn later.

The asparagus bed should now bq proving a valuable asset. To help to prolong and increase the crop, give a weekly watering with nitrate or soda at loz to a gallon of water to each square yard of bed.

FRUIT GARDEN The spraying of stone fruits to control leaf curl, brown rot and shot hole fungus should be done, now that the petals have fallen. Indications - show promise of an abundant crop of fruit, well worth saving by a routine course of spraying. Leaf curl will reveal itself as crinkled brownish leaves near the tips. This comes from affected bud cases not reached by the winter spraying. Should there be isolated patches of these infected leaves it will be wise to cut off the stem to prevent extension to other shoots. Bladder plum buds should be nipped off also, and the tree sprayed with lime sulphur at* two tablespoonfuls to th 6 gallon of water. This is a good time to study fruit trees for possible fatalities, particularly for dieback and silver leaf on stone fruits.

The latter will be clearly visible on apricot, peach, nectarine, and Japanese plum, especially, the silvering of the younger branches being evident now. It is an internal'trouble not curable by spraying and seldom even by removing the affected branch, as by then the mycelium of the disease—Stereum purpureum—has penetrated the sap stream. It is trade to lose an old, valued tree in this way. A close watch should be kept for the first symptom, and the whole of that branch cut off immediately. Dieback is not quite so deadly in effect, but where healthy young shoots suddenly languish and wilt it is wise to remove and burn them.

Silver blight spores enter the apple or pear tree through a wound or cut end, hence the necessity of painting these over with tar or tree salve to seal the cut. The early control of codlin moth i calls for a spraying now with arsenate of lead while the open calyse of the fruitlet is open to receive it.