SWEET PEA CULTIVATION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21906, 15 September 1934, Page 8 (Supplement)

SWEET PEA CULTIVATION

MISTAKES WITH MANURES Sweet peas are now moving rapidly, and the need for attention will increase daily, in conjunction with their growth. Exhibition plants will soon be ready to have the leading growths tied in and trained to the canes, and a start can be made by selecting the strongest of the basal growths and looping to their respective canes with a broad strand of raffia, The light twigs used to support the plants in the early, stages can be removed as soon as the shoots have mado Sin. or 4in. of growth on the canes, and all the superfluous growth should

Removing lateral* from »we«t peas. be removed without delay. The number of shoots to .be retained on each plant is a matter which must bo decided with each variety, the strongest growers invariably requiring two shoots to be trained from each plant. If only one is retained there is a danger of coarsening the blooms. Every endeavour should be made to keep the plants growing Bteadily at this stage. Some means of sheltering them from cold, drying winds is a great help. It is seldom advisable to start feeding the plants until the flowers begin to expand. After that solutions of natural manure, diluted with water to the colour of weak tea, can take the place of watering. Feeding in the form of small doses of concentrated solutions will tend to encourage surface, rooting and leave the plants a prey to dry conditions. The regular use of artificial fertilisers is not a sound plan, and much of the benefit to be derived from using such compounds as a special help before a show will be lost if the plants have already been accustomed to their use. Whatever stakes are to be used for plants grown purely for garden decoration should be erected well in advance of the plants attaining the size to require further support. They must never be allowed to blow about unsupported, as cracking or breaking of the shoots is inevitable. The least break in tho tissues of the outer skin of the plant will lead to an impediment to the How of the sap. Plants grown for garden decoration do not require the same painstaking attention as those grcwn on the cordon system, but they will repay a little consideration in the way of watering and feeding when the flowers begin to show colour. As seed pods quickly follow the flowers, keep them cut off as fast as they form. ROSE LEAF MINER DAMAGE BY CATERPILLAR The caterpillars of the roße leaf miner moth (Nepticula anomalella) tunnel in the leaves of roses. The tunnels are winding and pale green in colour, and there is a dark central line throughout the length of the track The winding lino is very thin at the commencing point, but gradually becomes wider as the caterpillar becomes larger. The moths are very small and the wings are a pale bronze in colour and both pairs of wings are furnished with an ample grey fringe The caterpillar is semi-transparent and yellow'ish-brown in colour, tho head is darker and a dark yellow line runs

Rose leaf miner: To destroy pinch tha thick end of the tunnel. along the back. When fully mature it bites its way out through the upper surface of the leaf and spins a small, orange-coloured cocoon at the base of the leaf stalk. The moths hatch in February, these laying eggs and giving rise to a second generation of caterpillars. The caterpillars of the second brood turn to pupae in cocoons spun on the steins or in the ground, and in this cstago the winter is passed. Unfortunately there is no satisfactory method of spraying against this pest. Affected leaves may- be collected and destroyed during December at which time it is possible to reduce the damage caused by the second generation.