THE VINERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21136, 19 March 1932, Page 8 (Supplement)

THE VINERY.

COLOURING AND RIPENING. - ... * Although the season up to the present has been favourable for colouring and ripening of most varieties of grapes, the latest kinds will still need careful management to have them well coloured and ripened before colder and moist weather sets in. Failure in colouring, at any rate, can scarcely result from the want of high temperature, for almost, throughout the whole growing season the temperature, both during the day and at night, has been much above the average. Among late grapes, Gros Colman is one of the latest and most extensively grown, and is one of the most difficult to properly colour and ripen unless grown under the most favourable conditions, and with special treatment throughout* the growing season. Failing to colour may result from various causes, overburdening the vines with fruit, uncongenial soils and unhealthy root action, or neglect with the inside treatment. For the first-men-tioned course there is little excuse, and the grower deserves failure who persistently overtaxes the strength of the vines with too many bunches. The fact of its being one of the largest and heaviest grapes grown, as well as the latest, is not sufficiently considered by many grow ers, for, while the same number of bunches of many other varieties could be safely carried and ripened, the extra weight of fruit of such a large and heavy variety as the Colman is too much for the vines, unless they receive very liberal treatment and the most careful attention.

SPECIAL TREATMENT.

To grow and ripen late grapes successfully they should be grown in a house by themselves, where they can receive special treatment. If it is not convenient to have the whole of the house de- I voted to late varieties, a partition should j be made to divide the latest from the earlier kind. Vines that ripen early and aro stripped of their fruits cannot receive the treatment they require when growing in the same house, often side by side, with the latest varieties, for, while the matured vines require all tho ventilation possible to assist in ripening their wood, the latest grapes require a closey and higher temperature to enable thern to colour and ripen their fruit. Whatever the varieties grown, the outdoor treatment is in every case the same, the border treatment being conducted with the view of encouraging surface root growth, for when in this condition there is not the same difficulty in colouring the fruit, providing reasonable care is paid to the inside treatment. Well-coloured and ripened fruit will hang upon the vines and remain sound for a much longer period than inferior coloured fruit. But even with the best ripened grapes it is no easy matter as the season advances to prevent decay of berries without the aid of artificiiJ heat. It is the decreasing temperati&e and moist atmosphere that sets up decay, so that at the time as dry an atmosphere as possible should be maintained. SPLITTING OF THE BERRIES. Berries will sometimes split after heavy rains, more particularly if the borders have not been kept well supplied with moisture. In most instances, however, it is the badly-coloured, immature fruits that suffer most. Splitting of the berries is invariably the result premature setting of the skin of the fruit, caused through an insufficient supply of moisture at the roots during dry weather, followed by an extra flush of sap forcing its way through the vines, and thus causing the berries to burst. After the fruit has been ripened and gathered, one of the most important matters is to keep the foliage clean and free from pests and diseases until the natural decay of foliage takes place, as the next season's crop depends in a very great measure upon the condition of tho vines during the autumn and up to tho time of shedding their foliage. This, too, applies not only to vines upon which fruit is still hanging, but to those from which the fruit has already been cut. CARE OF POT PLANTS. PESTS AND REMEDIES. In the cultivation of pot plants, precautions must be taken and remedies applied to keep tho foliage free from the various pests that attack them. To keep these under control requires keen observation and applying remedies immediately any insects are seen. The most troublesome insects are aphides, or plant lice (which increase with great rapidity), caterpillars; mealy bug. red spiders—a species of mite that spins webs of very fino texture on the backs of the leaves—as well as some species of scale insoct that suck the sap from many plants and check their growth. To control this army of biting and suck ing insects is no easy matter, but with the application of timely remedies, and by keeping careful watch for any fresh appearance of the pests, tile plants may be kept almost free. Much can be done in controlling many of these pests by careful shading and maintaining a genial, moist temperature. Remedies consisting of approved insecticides are numerous. Such well-known insecticides as Gishurst's compound and nicotine solutions are extensively used, and are effective either for spraying or washing the plants. Fumigating compounds, when properly applied, aro safe and effective remedies for the destruction of most aphides that, attack plants. The fumigation, however,'should always be applied on a dull day or at evening. Palms or other plants affected with scale should be occasionally sprayed with Gishurst's compound.