Gardening Notes

Hutt News, Volume XXII, Issue 2, 23 June 1948, Page 6

Gardening Notes

Seasonal

The Importance of a Seed Bed

There can be no doubt whatever that a garden without a seed-raising plot, however small, presents a difficulty, particularly in many local gardens where the soil is inclined to be heavy and sticky. Remembering that a seed bed is used mainly in the early spring, often when it is impossible to work the ordinary garden soil, it is well worth while to devote some space that will amply repay the preparation of such a plot.

Select the warmest and most sheltered site that your garden offers, preferably against a wall, fence, or in some spot where temporary shelter can be given by the use of hessian, scrim, or other suitable material. There is no necessity te make a wide border, three feet wide being ample because it will then be possible t.o weed and thin your seedlings without having to tread upon the border. The actual making of such a border means, first of all, digging the soil very thoroughly, but in this case taking extra care to keep the top soil at the top. It may be that the natural soil is not sufficiently porous to ensure a good tilth as soon as it dries, but it is here that , the gardener can do so much by adding a few things to the top soil.

Before doing this, however, it is wise to work it well with a fork or some Other implement that will keep it loose and cause it to break down. If, after such working, it is still sticky or too heavy, the addition of sand or grit, leaf mould, peat or old bulb fibre will do much to break down a heavy soil. Once the incorporation of the lightening material has taken place the surface should be open, and as soon as it settles there is nc reason why seed sowing should not 1 commence. All the same it shoulc be remembered that newly-dug soi may be somewhat loose, and thi could have a bad effect on seedlings,' so on the first dry day that the soil will bear your weight without sticking to your boots, tread the bed firmly without making it definitely hard. After treading, rake the surface lightly and your bed will be ready for the sowing of seeds.

Such a bed can be used for all sorts of things, but mainly those which will stand transplanting without being injured. Apart from the brassica tribe, particularly brussels sprouts and cauliflowers, there are quite a number jof other [ things which can be raised with greater safety than if they were sown directly where they are to mature. There is one great enemy that may be lurking around ready to do a great deal of damage, and that is the slug, so if there is the slightest suspicion that slugs are going to become a nuisance protective measures will have to be taken. A ridge of ashes or cinders around the border will • make quite a good barricade, or slug traps that I have previously mentioned will be quite effective. The principal function of the seed bed at this time of the year is to speed up the growth of plants, provide additional drainage and warmth which is so vital in the formation of good roots after germination. A bed of this nature is of untold value and should always be made if possible.

Sprouting Potatoes With seed potatoes now becoming available the wise gardener will be purchasing his supplies and preparing them for planting by setting the tubers out for sprouting. One big advantage of sprouting tubers is that if such bad soil conditions are experienced at planting time that a delay in planting is necessary, the gardener need have no fear that he will, be late with his crop as he has always a few weeks’ growth in hand due to his sprouted tubers. Experiments have shown that much heavier yields may be obtained from sprouted than from unsprouted seed potatoes. With early varieties, earlier lifting may be expected. With main crop varieties, the crop obtains a better start and matures earlier, usually permitting lifting before the land becomes very wet in the autumn. Another advantage gained by sprouting is that the first bud is preserved and the plant is therefore more vigorous throughout the season, whereas with unboxed seed the first bud, when it exists, is tender and usually gets broken off. The tubers should be placed with the end containing the most eyes uppermost in shallow boxes or trays. The boxes should be placed in full light but protected from frost and good sturdy shoots will develop. It is always good policy to allow only two or three good sprouts per tuber, and these in due course will give not only a heavier but a finer crop of tubers than would a plant grown from a tuber with many weak sprouts. Two good early varieties that do well in this district, Epicure and Jersey J3ennes are now available. It wvould be wise to obtain your requirements as early as possible. Epicure.: —Because of its good cropping and hardiness, Epicure is still the most important early potato grown in New Zealand. It can be grown on most medium to light soils, but its greatest use is for the

(By “HOItTI.”)

Grape Mildew

home garden, where it is grown for its earliness. Under good conditions this variety will mature in 10 weeks. The tuber is round, rather deep in the eye, and develops a faint pink tinge in the skin after being dug. When left to mature it sometimes develops brown fleck. It is subject to mosaic and sometimes leaf roll.

Jersey Beanes. The Jersey Bennes variety 1 has been grown in the southern part • of the South Island and to a less extent in northern districts. It resembles the King Edward in that it does best in a cool climate and sheltered situation. It is classed as a first early of excellent shape and good yield. It is subject to late blight and virus disease, mainly mosaic.

It seems strange to reier to a disease of growing grapes at this time of the year, but many gardeners who have a vine or two will know the loss that can be caused by mildew in spring and summer. Once mildew appears it has to be checked by good ventilation and spraying methods and much to prevent a recurrence of the trouble can be done at the present time. Precautions to Take Now.—Besides careful . removal of infected shoots, leaves, and berries in the growing season where there is a severe attack of mildew, it is wise to carry out other precautions on the vine when it is dormant. This is done with sulphur in the form of dust both on the vine itself and

on any brickwork that may be present. For the brickwork it is a good idea when whitewashing to put a handful or two of flowers of sulphur in with the whitewash. As to the vine the dormant rod 3hould first be roughly cleaned by rubbing off old bark with the hand, not scraping with an old knife, which is a common practice, but inly causes damage and is not really necessary. After cleaning the vine rod it should be painted with a mixture of flowers of sulphur, water and soft soap. The recipe is roughly equal parts of soft soap and flowers of sulphur mixed up together and made into portions about golf ball size. One of these in a two-pound jam jar mixed with some water and painted on the vine rod with a paint brush will give good coverage and leave a deposit of sulphur on the vine. This is a simple treatment and one worth while considering the disappointment there must be when the berries become covered with the whitish coating, the skins splitting, and the bunches being worthless owing to the presence of grape mildew.

Chrysanthemums Cuttings.—Cuttings should be taken any time from June. Start by taking the late flowering varieties first. The middle and early varieties need not be taken until the end of July. If a lot of growth forms on these varieties early it is wise to cut it off to be suse to get good cut- . tings later. Never pull cutting off but cut with . sharp knife. This allows other plants to form on part left. Cuttings should not be taken until they are £ to 4 inches long; shorten by cutting straight through with sharp knife directly below a joint. (If knife is blunt this injures the stem and it takes a long time to seal 1 and as they will not root until they are sealed the rooting is prolonged and cuttings often die.) Remove lower leaves and your cutting is ready for striking. A good quick-striking material is sharp sand, but as there is no food value in sand, as soon as they are rooted they must be potted on or shifted into bed. The most sure way is to get good loamy soil and sharp sand, 50 —50. Press firm and level off with sharp sand. (Fine coke dust will do instead of sharp sand.) To plant cutting get a dibble a little thicker than a pencil and make an impression about one to two inches deep and insert cutting, being sure to have end of cutting pressed hard on bottom; press firm with dibble around the lower part. Water well and shade till they start to take root, which can be detected by centre starting to grow (approx. 3 to 4 weeks).