The Home Garden

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 60, Issue 1, 15 January 1940, Page 61

The Home Garden

: Small Fruits 'and- Flowers

Vegetables

Care of Tomato Plants

BY the middle of January outdoor tomatoes should be coming to maturity. Birds'may attack the fruit, but damage is reduced to a minimum if all fruit is picked as it matures. Care must be exercised in defoliating the plants. This can be overdone, to the detriment of the crop. All that is necessary is to thin out the leaves should they be very, dense, as they are likely to be on over-rich ground, and to remove those leaves which show signs of yellowing through old age.

By removing these older leaves, only useful leaves are left on the plant. Light . may then penetrate to the fruit, and useless foliage does not check air from circulating freely. After being removed the leaves should be burnt. The tying up of the plants and nipping out the tops when they reach the height of about sft or reach the tops of the supports should be attended to.

Tomato Glasshouses By the middle of January the harvesting of ; tomatoes in the unheated glasshouse will be drawing to a close, and the house should be cleaned up in preparation for further cropping. On a’ still night close the house and burn sulphur in it at the rate of 21b. per 1000 cubic feet of glasshouses space. Next morning the house may be opened and allowed to air. < The vines should be cut several inches from the ground and left suspended for several days to dry, so that they will burn readily and generate sufficient heat to dry and burn the roots, which are removed from the house at the same time as the vines and supporting twine. After these operations have been completed the house should be thoroughly cleaned of cobwebs and dust, and the woodwork and concrete whitewashed or painted. This time of the year oilers a very good opportunity of effecting any repairs that may be required. } The soil, if it is not to be removed and renewed, should be dug over and prepared for the sowing of a cover crop. Random Notes Artificial Liquid Manure MANY gardeners have difficulty in obtaining fresh animal manure, and this is a handicap in making liquid manure, which is so beneficial to so many crops. A substitute can

be made out of. ordinary commercial fertilisers, using nitrate of soda, superphosphate. and one of the forms - of potash (the sulphate, the chloride, the 30 per cent, salts, or kainit). These can be mixed in the proportion of 1 part of nitrate of soda, 4 parts superphosphate, and 1 part potash. The . mixture should be stored in a dry place in airtight tins or jars. If exposed to a moist atmosphere, it is inclined to set. Its effectiveness, however, does not deteriorate, and, as it is used in solution, it is not important that it be in a granular . condition. The mixture does not dissolve completely, but forms a milky suspension.

A level tablespoonful of this mixture to a gallon of water is the strength at which it may be used, and it may be applied at weekly intervals, if desired.

When Marrows Fail to Set

B FREQUENTLY, bush marrows bloom FEQUENTLY. bush marrows bloom A but do not develop; the flowers merely wither and drop off. The plants carry both male (pollen-bearing), and female- (fruit-forming) flowers. These are not difficult to distinguish, the female flowers . showing an enlargement behind the petals which develops into the marrow. The . male flower shows- no such enlargement. If the male flower-is removed from the plant and the petals torn from it, leaving only the. centre portion' holding the pollen, this 1 may be inserted into the female flower, ■■ and ' there should be no further difficulty in getting the marrows to set.

The Flower Garden

Genera! Work DURING the hot season there is not a great amount of work to be done in the way, of planting, out. Bulbs which have been lifted and which it is intended to replant, however, should be replanted immediately or stored in a cool, dry, airy place and planted not later than the end of March. ■' i Sowings may be made of hardy- annuals and biennials in boxes or beds for transplanting in the autumn. The soil' should .be protected from thedirect rays of the sun until the plantsappear above ground. ‘a

Strict attention should be paid to the control of weeds to. prevent seeding. The dry weather offers an excellent opportunity to eradicate twitch grass and difficult perennial weeds.; All spent blooms should be removed regularly, and, as suggested in these notes last month, the flower stalks cut back to buds, which. should produce strong growth for later blooming. When watering; the soil should be thoroughly wetted in the evening and

the surface loosened next day to reduce evaporation of the water. It is almost useless to spray the plants and the surface of the soil for short periods at frequent intervals. It encourages a root development near the surface of the ground and not in lower levels.

Bulb Planting BULBS > which are not benefited by , a long storage season, and those which produce winter and early spring blooms, should be planted as soon as possible. This applies in particular to. narcissi. The depth of planting depends largely on the condition of the soil, but as a general rule they are planted at such a depth that the top of - the bulb is twice the length of the bulb below the ground.The growth of the bulbs is improved if well-rotted farm manure or a cover crop is trenched into the ground. The cultivation should be deep, and this material should be as near to the bottom as possible. The soils most favoured are . well-drained loams overlying a porous subsoil. The artificial manures recommended are of the slowacting phosphate type. Finely-ground bonemeal or the coarser bonedust are both very suitable, and may be used at the rate of J ton to the acre (equivalent to 4oz to the square yard). Tulips require similar conditions, and for best results on light, welldrained soils may be planted as deeply as 9 inches. It is an advantage to plant these as soon as possible to avoid the spread by aphides of the virus causing striping. Tulips-will not bloom earlier with early planting. ! c /In warm districts anemones for winter flowering. should be planted as soon as supplies of the corms can be obtained. They should be grown in well-prepared soil, which should not be allowed to dry out ' and interrupt their growth.

Small Fruits

Cover Crop r T"’HE small fruit plantations from THE small fruit plantations from I which fruit has been picked should now receive some attention. After the necessary thinning out and pruning (as described last month) has been done, a dressing of farm manure and' artificial fertilisers should be applied and ploughed under. This ploughing should be shallow to avoid root injury in established plantations. For raspberries, red currants, and gooseberries sulphate of potash should be included in the dressing of artificial manures. Where farm manure is not available, a cover' crop may be sown after the land has been cleaned up and ploughed.

This crop will not compete seriously with, the bushes for soil moisture, as it will not have made much growth until the autumn rains come; nor will it compete seriously with the bushes for light. It will establish and will check the development of weeds and supply green material for ploughing into the ground about July. : A broadcast 1 dressing, of 2 cwt. of superphosphate at the time of sowing the cover crop is a great advantage both to the cover crop and. to the plantation of bush fruits.

Strawberries AREAS for autumn-planting of istrawberries should be prepared. For successful strawberry-growing it is essential that the soil should be free of perennial and twitchy weeds, and should ' not dry out in the summer months. In soils which dry out . there is the frequent possibility that the grass grub will destroy many of the plants, and on light soils of this , class it appears practically impossible to prevent this. 1 . ■

The preparation of the land after cleaning consists of ploughing under a liberal dressing of blood and bone, superphosphate and sulphate of potash, and harrowing down until the surface is moderately fine. Occasional light cultivation will destroy seedling weeds. The planting should be done as soon as the plants are ready, and even in the warmer districts should be completed by the end of . April. Preparing New Areas for Bush Fruits

WHERE plants of small fruits are to be purchased for planting

this season it is not too soon to order them now. The preparation of land for planting new areas, if,not already done, . should be undertaken as soon as its present crop has been harvested. When cleared, ' a green cover crop should be sown. A quick-growing cover crop will, be sufficiently . advanced to plough in and give good results by May or June, when the planting of permanent bush fruits can be. undertaken., ' • , i The following table of planting distances will be of assistance in determining the numbers of plants required:— . • i

Distance between ; Distance apart No.' Required rows (feet). in row (feet); ; Per' Acre. Currant (black) '.. .. 6 to 8 . 3 ' ' 1815 to 2420 Currant (red.) ' . . . . ‘ . .’ l 6 to 8 • . .4. i 1380 to 1815 Gooseberry . . . . ... 6 to 8 5 1089 to 1452 Raspberry . . .... 6 1 to l-l/3rd 5448 to 7260 Raspberry (vigorous varieties such as Lloyd George) . . . . > ; 6 ■. 3 2420 Loganberry . . . . . 6 ' < 6 1210 Boysenberry . . . . 6 8 to 10 726 to 907 ' Strawberry (warm districts, 1-yr. crop) 24 to 27 inches 9'to 12 inches 21,780 to 25,813 Strawberry (cool districts, 3-yr. crop) 30 to 36 inches 14 to 16 inches 12,500 to 13,068