A hectic time preparing Successful germination for the months ahead

Press, 24 September 1980, Page 17

A hectic time preparing Successful germination for the months ahead

For most gardeners spring is a hectic time in the garden, with seed sowing, planting, spraying and fertilising. A word of warning however — do plant up the whole vegetable garden at once. Many gardeners make this mistake and find that their whole vegetable garden harvest is ready at Christmas time, just when they go on holiday. The good gardener will carefully plan a rotation of crops, so that he has a succession of supply right through the year.

To do this, it is necessary to work to a plan prepared beforehand, or to at least work to a diary, keeping notes of sowing and planting dates. This allows for improvement in future years to achieve the succession of the vegetables you want. The beginning of the gardening year is a good time to reconsider the important basic requirements for plant growth. Plants require sunshine, water and nutrients.

New Zealand is blessed with a satisfactory amount of sunshine but we have no control over this. We do have some conover the nutrients and water. The important aspect here, however, is that the nutrients must be in solution in water, in a growing medium which allows the plants to absorb them with a minimum of effort.

In other words, the soil must be an open, loose, free-draining soil. It must be rich in organic matter, such as compost or peat, to give it a spongy affect and able to hold water in an easily available form. Light sandy soils tend to be quite good for early gardens while there is plenty of rainfall but they dry out quickly in the summer.

The addition of large quantities of compost or peat will give this type of soil much more body and improve its moisture holding capacity.

Heavy clay type soils are very tightly packed, with poor drainage qualities. The tight packing of the soil makes it difficult for plants to absorb moisture.. and nutrients from them.

Again, the addition of large •, quantities of compost or. peat will open this tightly packed soil improving the drainage and, at the same time, allowing the .easier uptake of moisture and nutrients. Volcanic soils also benefit from the addition of compost or peat.

, Having improved the soil with peat or compost so that it has an open spongy nature, it is then necessary to add the nutrients required by plants. The major elements required for plant growth are nitrogen, phosphate and potash (N.P.K.). • If any one of these is

cieticient, large quantities of the others will not improve the situation. It is wise therefore, to always use a balanced N.P.K. fertiliser.

A general garden mix of 5:5:7 is ideal for most soils and crops as a base dressing. 250 gms per square metre should be worked into the soil before planting. Leaf vegetables would benefit from a side-dress-ing of sulphate of ammonia when they are half grown. Minor elements and trace elements required for plant growth can occasionally be deficient. As minute quantities are required, it is not practical to apply these individually.

Some brands of /N.P.K. fertilisers contain these minor and trace elements in the mix. It is wise, therefore, to choose an N.P.K. - mix. which has trace elements included.

Magnesium and boron are two of thekmore common trace elements deficient in New Zealand home gardens.

It should also be noted that composts and animal manures very often contain very . little nutrient and large quantities are necessary to supply the plant’s requirements of nutrients.

These materials, however, do have a very beneficial effect for soil conditioning. The small amount of nutrient they supply is a bonus. Having improved the soil condition .by adding peat and? compost and applied the necessary fertiliser, the only other . basic requirement for plant growth is water. Should the weather get dry in the summer, watering is absolutely essential to maintain good growth. Water can be conserved in the soil by applying a mulch of peat or compost to the surface of the soil. VEGETABLE GARDEN: Things which can be sown or planted out during September include beet, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, lettuce, onions, peas, Sugar Snap peas, radishes and silver beet. Vegetables which require warm conditions and should not be sown until October are beans, celery, com, cucumber, egg plant, marrows, courgettes, melons, pepper, squash and tomatoes.

FLOWER GARDEN: For maximum colour with minimum' effort nothing surpasses, a bed of annuals. Annuals suitable for planting' out now include aster, calendula, carnation, celoSia, cornflower, dianthus, everlasting daisy,

hollyhock, ’ kochia,. larkspur, Livingstone daisy, marigolds, nasturtium, nemesia, pansy, phlox, poppy,.. snapdragon, strawflower and wallflowers.

Others .which require wanner conditions and > should not be planted out until October or November include calliopsis, dahlia, gallardia, godetia, petunia, portulaca, salvia and zinnia.

THE HOME ORCHARD: Early spring is a very important time in the home orchard. It is a critical time for spraying to combat leaf curl and brown rot As buds start to swell on pip and stone fruits, copper oxychloride sprays should be applied. Repeat the copper oxychloride sprays as the buds burst. During flowering and again at petal fall, Saprol should 1 be applied for brown rot control. Saprol plus an insecticide as required should then be applied every three weeks throughout the growing season. The timing of sprays particularly at the beginning of the season is very important.

LAWNS: September is an ideal time to topdress lawns using a 4:1 sulphate of ammonia/super mixture. This is normally available as a lawn fertiliser. This treatment should be carried out every eight weeks through the growing season.

September is also an ideal time to spray for broadleaf weeds in lawns, using a weedkiller based on M.C.P.A. plus M.C.P.P. Spraying at this time of the year will give excellent control of the prickly Opehunga weed, as well as all other broadleaf weeds.

If spraying is missed during September, a new weedkiller called Faneron will give excellent results against the prickly Onehunga weed later in the spring when it is too late for the M.C.P.A. and M.C.P.P. weedkillers.

When planting a garden it • is infuriating if carefully seeds fail, to emerge as planned. There are many reasons why seeds fail to germinate. Some of the more common reasons are poor drainage, too wet, soil fungus diseases, sowing too deep, 'too dry, too cold, and slugs and snails.

A seed is like a newborn baby and needs care. Seeds need warmth, sunlight and moisture to grow.

Exact requirements will vary with individual species. Some need very warm temperatures, such as melons, tomatoes, beans, petunias and zinnias, while others, such as peas, broad beans and cinerarias, will germinate in cool conditions.

Experience is perhaps the greatest teacher of the finer points of seed raising but here are some useful seed raising hints. Where possible, sow seeds in a god seed raising mix in .Trays. The seeds should be sown to a depth of not more than twice their size.

In other words, most seeds should be just covered. Lettuce seeds and some fine flower seeds, such as petunia and begonias, are often best just pressed into the surface.

Cover the tray with paper and glass or similar material. This keeps the moisture in, stopping the surface from drying out.

As soon as the seed has germinated, remove the paper and lift one end of the glass to allow ventilation. About seven days later the glass can be removed providing there is no danger of frost.

When seed is sown in a tray in this manner, it is best to place the box in a warm place for early spring germination but in a shady place for summer germination. It is important that the seed raising mix be damp but not wet. Always use fresh seed. Some species may well last several years, but others such' as lettuce, parsnip and onions have amuch shorter life unless kept 'n unbroken foil sachets.'

When sowing seed

direct into the garden, avoid sowing in wet, cold conditions. If the soil is a wet, poorly drained clay it must he improved by adding peat or compost and raising such areas above the surrounding soil level. Sowing seeds in a band of seed raising mix also helps

Do not sow summer growing plants too early. It is a common occurrence to have failures with the first spring sowings of such.- things as beans, tomatoes, sweet, corn, pumpkins, melons, petunias and zinnias.

It is important to wait until soil temperatures are

plants — usually from October onwards.

During later autumn, winter and spring, slugs and snails destroy seedlings as soon as they germinate. Lightly bait areas .with Blitzem soon after sowing . and before seedlings appear. . ? , Old gardens or poorly drained soil oftep have a high incidence, of soil fungus disease. This attacks and rots germinating seed. If repeated seed failures occur this is often the cause. . . k .

Improve drainage and plan a rotation of crops, leaf to root to legume. Sterilise the soil with Basamid granules.