Gardening hints

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32459, 20 November 1970, Page 7

Gardening hints

When planting out cabbages, cauliflowers and leeks in hot weather reduce the leaf. area by half with a sharp knife to reduce wilting. Do not transplant lettuces in the heat of the day as they mostly die unless carefully treated. Their leaf surface should not be reduced. * ♦ *

Newspapers provide a good banopy over the top of newly-planted staked tomatoes during the first few days after planting out in hot weather. Always apply ample water i when irrigating crops or [plants. Only thorough penetration of the soil is of any i benefit; light dowsing is of [little use. Water should be idone during the late afternoon and evening; slowly to -facilitate maximum penetrai tion and utilisation, thus i avoiding excessive run-off I and scouring. Give the plants a drink before they show signs of wilting or dicing. This is particularly mentioned in respect to lawns which are frequently seen to have been allowed to brown off in the summer when a green sward could easily have been maintained by regular and thorough watering. Great lengths of hose are easily unwound if coiled in a figure of eight instead of a single coiL

Many chemicals are less harmful to plants or more effective if not applied in very warm to hot and sunny conditions. White oil is a prime example. Before mixing or applying any material do not forget to read the label first to ensure that you are using the appropriate preparation. • * *

If you are using a sawdust mulch for the first time try to procure weathered material, failing which be sure to mix in a nitrogenous fertiliser with the fresh sawdust. Urea, sulphate of ammonia or blood and bone are all suitable. Make sure that the soil is really moist before applying the mulch. ♦ ♦ •

Polythene bags and peat pots are being widely used now and gradually replacing the more conventional containers of the past. The black polythene surrounding the root ball of a plant must be removed before planting and should not on any account be left on. Make sure that the soil surrounding the plant and the roots are thoroughly moist before removing the wrappings or container. If very dry soak in a bucket of water for at least 15 minutes. Subsequently tease out some of the roots from the root ball before planting. Success or failure with plants particularly at this time of the

year can depend largely on how the plant is treated before and at planting time.

Peat pots can be left on when planting but only providing they have been thoroughly saturated. Even so it is advisable to tear them down the sides. The reason for this warning is simply that, once dry, a peat pot can isolate a plant in the soil causing it to wilt and even die quite rapidly. Even if water is applied before death of the plant it requires a considerable amount of water to soak a dry peat pot. St * *

Damping off can prove a fatal disease of seedlings. There are actually two forms of attack by this fungus disease: pre-emergent damping off which destroys the germinating seed, and postemergent damping off which infects the seedlings when they appear above the ground. A suitable preventative known as Cheshunt compound can be made at home. It is made by mixing two ounces of finely ground copper sulphate (bluestone) with 14 ounces of ammonium carbonate. This mixture must be kept in an airtight jar until required when one ounce is added to every two gallons of water which is then sprayed on the seedlings, or used to treat the soil before planting.