Maturing Crops Bring Much Work This Month

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30667, 5 February 1965, Page 6

Maturing Crops Bring Much Work This Month

Crops will be maturing at a steady rate in the vegetable garden this month, particularly where they have not been neglected and successions! sowings of most crops maintained. A successful harvest of good quality vegetables provides not only personal satisfaction, but justifiable pride and the incentive for next season.

Although harvesting has begun, the plants still require attention and some, auch as beans and cucurbits will continue to yield for considerably longer if picking ■nd cutting of the edible portions is done carefully. Too often roughness injures the plant so that it withers and dies. Careful harvesting and continued cultural attention, with adequate moisture, and perhaps even a light side dressing of fertiliser as a stimulus, are therefore still necessary.

Although tomatoes will be ripening steadily, side shooting will still be necessary on staked varieties as well as the removal of some of the lower leaves. As the weight of fruit Increases additional ties will be necessary to support the plants which should have their terminal shoots pinched out as soon as they have reached a height of about four feet.

This latter course is applicable only to plants grown

under good conditions, as many will fail to reach anywhere near this height, even by the end of the season. Dwarf tomatoes will require some form of cover placed between the foliage and soil to assist in keeping the crop clean.

Tomato caterpillar can be expected to increase this month and if left unchecked these pests will bore their way through many fruit, even those in a near-green state. Control can be achieved by spraying with D.D.T.

Correct harvesting of onions and shallots is important to preserve their keeping qualities. Those intended for long storage must be fielded or cured before being gathered up. Drooping tops from just above the bulb, whilst the leaves are still green, is indicative of approaching maturity. Winter greens can still be planted, but every day’s delay can lessen the end results, particularly if unfavourable weather comes before they are established.

Celery should be stimulated into unchecked and continuous growth and adequate water will be necessary, particularly if the warm, dry weather persists. Liquid manure can prove beneficial, but should not be overdone. If boron deficiency has been attendant to crops in the past the merest sprinkle of borax along the rows will counteract this lack. This is best applied in solution. Aphids and various caterpillars and bugs are still most active at this time of the year and should be checked immediately they are noticed. This is particularly so with brassica crops where damage to the heart can mean complete loss of the plant. The following seed can be sown this month: beetroot, cabbage (spring), lettuce, radish, spinach. Brown rot is a most troublesome disease of peaches and can cause loss among maturing fruit. It is possible to provide chemical protection up until the fruit is to be picked. Sprays such as captan being applied at two to three-weekly intervals to within one week before picking. Baspberries can be given a clean-up spray of bordeaux mixture and arsenate of lead can also be added as a protection against the grub of the bud moth. Where cropping has eased pruning can also be contemplated now. Blackcurrants will also benefit from spraying with Bordeaux mixture and the presence of aphids and red spider also require the use of an insecticide such as malathion or bethane, it spider mite only is present.

Budding of seedling root stocks can be carried out where suitable bud wood has been obtained. This should be selected from completely disease and pest-free, wellmatured, current season's wood. Apples, pears, plums, peaches can ail be worked in this way.

Strawberries will be close to I the end of their fruiting for

this season. Most home gardeners like to grow a few of their own runners to replace existing stock for next season. These should be spaced around the mother plant and pegged down. It is against the best advice to expect the strawberry plant to yield good fruit and satisfactory runners too, as the demands on it are too great. Aphids, which are responsible for yellow edge and crinkle on these plants, must be destroyed to avoid possible infection. Some of the apples to mature this month include Worcester pearmain and Cox’s orange pippin, and as they tend to lose their flavour if left too long on the tree they are best picked just before full maturity. Ornamental With the recent long, * 3fy spell many subjects, both large and small, have been showing the effects in various ways such as minimal growth in the last season. Strong, battering winds have also caused scorched leaves and damaged branches. Those who have mulched heavily will have benefited from their action. Even large trees and shrubs will benefit from a few gallons of water applied fairly regularly

The larger areas of lawn will need an almost continuous rotation of the sprinkler if they are to be kept green. Where growth has been made and moving has been required the clippings should be left as a mulch.

Areas to be sown down will be comparatively easy to prepare initially. However, the dry weather does not encourage germination of weed seed which always seems to appear after the new lawn has been sown. It is a good plan therefore to give the proposed lawn area a good weekly soaking to strike these weeds which can then readily be killed. Chrysanthemums and dahlias will require feeding and debudding all the time to obtain long-stemmed blooms. All except the terminal bud should be removed as soon as they are big enough to handle. This task requires systematic application if it is to be done properly and it is best to start from the top of the stem nearest the terminal bud and work down. Dead flowers and seed heads should be removed from all herbaceous, bedding and other plants as soon as possible to improve appearance and prolong display. Rambling roses can be pruned as soon as they have finished flowering. Completely remove the wood which carried the current season’s blooms. New growth, which will bear the next flowers, should be tied into place. Roses can be budded this month, too. Bulb planting can begin this month. As gladioli complete their flowering stage the flower stems should be cut out. The corms can be lifted before the foliage has died down. This is contrary to the general rule for bulbs and corms, but avoids pest and disease infestation, and corms set development. Cuttings talcen previously will require regular overhead moistening to avoid wilting in warm weather and cyclamen required for winter flowering will appreciate repotting with a mixture of good soil, compost and sand.