GARDEN NOTES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17909, 13 October 1932, Page 10

GARDEN NOTES

SWEET PEAS AND TOMATOES Perhaps, with the exception of roses, there is more literature on the subject of sweet peas and tomatoes than the whole of the rest of horticultural reading. „ Sweet, peas which were autumn sown are showing color in most gardens and should have a good feeding twice a week at the roots. A line spray jet may He set to play on the plants after the drying winds of the early part of the week. This may be done without fear to sweet peas as the fertilisation of the bloom takes place in the bud. Also it is not the rule to grow for seed, so no objection to feeding the plant in a manner as of rain can be quoted, Prom now on water and feed must be the rule. The blooms must also be gathered daily Learn to pull the. blooms. Take a Jinn hold with the left, hand below the joint of the bloom stalk; with the lingers of the free hand, grip tightly the lowest, inch of the flower stem and with a sharp tug upwards sever the joint of the bloom stalk from the plant. If you are unable to do this Avithout harm, to the plant, use only scissors and cut each bloom. Any other mode will ruin the plant before it has given its best. It is pleasing to pick one color at a time, and lay them aside, before going to another color. 'This heipt in making up the vase. Picking haphazardly means a heap of blooms from which each flower is lifted by the bloom, to the distress of the tossed about bunch on the table. The result, is many broken blooms, some perhaps being the best. While on the subject of sweet peas, one may quote the methods of trenching of various growers. It is mostly accepted that the root will go down to any depth in suitable soil. The prize winner of the Daily Mail sweet pea competition trenched 7ft. In Gisborne, 2ft. of soil is. good measure. So, to obtain the best blooms, it is necessary to. trench and take aw-ay the subsoil at least 2ft. below the blfick garden soil, j ‘Set the black soil on one, side, i.e,, away from the path, and then cast the subsoil on the path, to be wheeled away when •convenient. The trench, npw 4ft. deep, may receivo all the rubbish ot the garden, and, after a dressing of lime, lill in with tho top soil. Posts should be firmly fixed at each end Of the trench while it is empty, find a Avirc drawn at a height of. 7ft. Irom post to post. The plants, for Avhich seed should be sorvn at once, should be planted, Avith plenty of root, firmly, 12in. apart, in two rows 18in. apart; Bamboo sticks tied to the Avire, should be stuck into the soil near the plant; and the ,plant given a lead by a piece of tiegrass. Given this attention, the plant should not look, back, even in the hottest part of the summer. Its roots Avill seek for and find the buried food, and little top moisture Avill be needed. In , buying sweet pea seed there is only one kind, the best. It is a waste of time growing guess-work seed, even those given by your best friend. Choose the colors you like, note that the reds arc sun proof; some arc not. TOMATOES. If avc are to have fruit for Christmas these should be well ahead now. In the previous notes, advice has been giyeri in preparing trenches across the garden, north and south, filled in Avith green refuse, topped with Avood ash, and levelled elf with soil to receive the plants. Stakes Avcre advised to be firmly fixed 2tt. apart. These can be of light, bant hop tied to a length of. wire supported by two stout end posts. The wire, and stakes need only be 3ft. high., for after the plant has grown 3ft. there is little to worry over and the remainder of the growth may be tied to the overhead Avire. Tomatoes arc a tropical growth and nyust be grown under the best imitation of tropical conditions possible. The buried, decayed, green refuse should noAA r give such conditions linder the New Zealand sun and heavy dews. No food (chemical, of animal) must be given the groAving plants until the first flower is set. The rO.ws of plants, if these notes have been folloAved, are in soil that has nothing but what was left over from last year’s feeding. This will give a sturdy plant, which will give its first set of fruit at 18in., and should carry its full crop- at 3ft. high. Plain water until the first bloom must bo. observed; after, that, feed tAvicc a week, Av.orking the dry chemical food into the.roots with the fingers,, only a little at _ a time,,, and leavo the chemical to dissolve in the

night mists. At noon, or just after, each day, the hose or bucket should be put to work. With the sun past the worst heat of the day, but in full power, give the roots of the tomatoes at least a bucket of clear water per plant. Let the water run anywhere, but do not dash it about. If the hose is used, play it with a fine open jet through the row’s low’ down near the soil. Never allow the water to touch the blooms or fruit. Give the water to the soil in a manner to create a rising mist in the sun; an imitation of the tropical heat is what you. are after.

The pollen of the tomato is easiest described as floating to its self-fertil-isation. In a greenhouse, where the air is still, the gardener taps each plant with a pencil to loosen the pollen. This alone is snflicient to set free the pollen; therefore the outside grower must bo enrol'til not to turn oji tin* ho.se ami douch the phuits with cold water. Think wlmt must happen to this child of the tropics by the cold shower bath one often sees given to THE WEEK’S WORK.

With the warm weather now in view main sowings of all the more tender vegetables, such as pumpkins, marrows, melons and cucumbers may bb made. A succession of pens, carrots and lettuce and all salad plants should have attention. Sow’ the drumhead variety of cabbage. If kumnras are tried, give them a row between onions which have plenty of space. These plants are sometimes given the space of early cropping of intermediate row's of onions, and do well in such a position.

Ip tfib fewer, garden t PfirySahthehmms should receive slakes liernihnently fixed. . Book to your dahlias and hasten growth without making sappy wood. Heavily manure the ground where ziniiias arb to blOom. A few beads of born may be grbwn amid the border plants., ■,,