GARDENING NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 26 November 1914, Page 47

GARDENING NOTES

(By Mr. J. Joyce, Landscape Gardener, Christchurch.)

* [ln our issue of November 12, in reference to the treatment of chrysanthemums" affected with mildew, the remedy suggested—to ‘ dust the flowers with sulphur’—should read :; s ' ‘dust the leaves with flour of sulphur.’] y.V v GROWING GRAPES UNDER GLASS. The first, and most important item is the making of a suitable border to plant the vines in. . Dig out a trench the length of a greenhouse and about nine feet wide and three feet deep, . throwing out all the soil. If inclined to be wet, drains should be r laid from the bottom, so that no stagnant water will lie there. In the bottom, of the; trench place about a foot or more of broken bricks, stones, or rough gravel. Then place over this material turf .from a grass paddock. This will prevent the soil from, intermixing with the drainage. Now fill in- the soil. The material should consist principally of good turfy loam from a paddock which has been‘laid down for several years.” If the soil has been laid aside for twelve months all the better, and it should be well mixed with charcoal, lime, rubbish, and a sufficient amount of good rotten manure, with a good sprinkling of coarse bone manure. This compost must be well blended and the trench filled up quite a foot or more above the. surface or ordinary* level of the ground, so as to allow for settling down. It should slope from the house to the'front of the border. The vines arc to be planted about fofir feet apart, holes being made low down 'in the house to allow ample room. The canes should be of. sufficient length to reach inside at the time of planting. When planting, the roots must not be buried tod deep in the soil. They should be carefully laid out and covered with some nice fine soil gently pressed-down wish the feet. Now the vines are ready to make a start when . the growing season comes on. The house should have a snouting to. take away the rain water and thereby avoid saturating the border, as the winter rains would cause the border to get cold and soddeq. The rain water will com© in very handy for watering the .house and syringing in the summer months. Three good strong wires must be solidly fixed inside the house for the canes to be trained to. These should be about a foot apart, the middle wire to take the cane to the top of the house and the two other wires to take the lateral or side shoots which produce the bunches of grapes. As they grow the main shoot must be carefully tied, and also the side shoots to the other f wires oh. each side. The wires should be one foot from the glass at the bottom and eighteen inches or two feet at the top. If the vines are trained too close to the glass the leaves will get scorched and burned from the hot sun in summer, which wilt do no good to the plants. As there is more heat at the top of the house, thd vines must be farther from the glass. It will take three wires for each plant. The house must be sufficiently high to allow a person to pass along the walk in the house without his hat touching the bunches of grapes. There must be no shelving or obstruction in the house to darken or interfere with the growth of the vines until they get well up to the wires. For instance, if .there is a shelf for growing plants along the front of the house, and the vines are trying to make their way up under it -in the dark or shade of this shelf, they will do nb good. They must have a fair run, and plenty of light is necessary for the successful growth of the young canes. • When they get. well up above that position a shelf for plants, if needed, may be erected. The first season they will get well up the wires, and when the pruning season comes on they must be cut back to where the wires start from," The second season they wi]l get right -to the top 'of the house. -In • the meantime-each- lateral must be tied to the side wires. They may be stopped to prevent a rambling growth' and to keep them in a uniform position. .. If two shoots' sptout from a joint the weaker, is to be tubbed off, and 'the stronger trained to the wire. But on'no account must the main shoot be stopped ; it must be left to grow on to the top. They must not be allowed to - bear fruit until they are i threes years old, blit -if the canes are strong one 'or 'two bunches may be allowed on. ■ i H

When pruning the second year , the cane should be cut to about half its length somewhere about the middle of the house. It is wise to prune well back, so, as to get a good strong cane to commence with, and all the side shoots must be cut back to the main cane, as there is usually a good strong eye at the base of each shoot to make wood for the following year.' Pruning must be done after the fall of the leaf ' and before they begin to grow in spring. If pruned too late they will bleed very badly. Now the third year grape-growing commences. When they begin to bud into leaf the house ought lo get a good syringing with soft water from a tub kept in the house for the purpose. Fresh cold water from an artesian well is too cold, but the water kept in the house will have a nice warm" temperature, corresponding with that of the house. The house should have • a warm damp atmosphere during, the growing period. When The side shoots ha\*e . made .sufficient growth they must be carefully tied on to the wires, taking care not to- break off the shoots when bending them on to their place. . They are very brittle at This stage and liable To snap. Rub off all but the one shoot— the strongest with a bunch of fruit on — and' stop the shoot two leaves • beyond ; the bunch by pinching it off with the finger and thumb. After a while these shoots will start once more into growth and they must be stopped again, leaving two more, leaves. Sometimes'tv?o bunches of grapes are produced on the same shoot. Only , one bunch is to be left on, the other being cut away, as two bunches would tend to overcrop the vine. ' But the • two bunches are better, left on until the grapes are set, as the pollen of the two helps to set the berries better. After they are set the stronger bunch is to be left and the other done away with. There is nothing to be done now but attend to careful ventilation ; tie up where needed, syringe, and tkeep in a moist atmosphere. Shut up the house early-in the afternoon, so as to keep in all the hea. possible during, the night, and do not open too early in the morning; wait until there is a nice heat pervading the house. The next part of the programme will be the thinning of the berries, and this must be taken in hand , when they are about the size of a grain of wheat. When thinnihg, the berries must not, .be handled. Scissors can be procured which are made for the, purpose with sharp'points, and by catching the stem of *the bunch with the left hand so as to steady it, the scissors may be manipulated without* touching a berry with the hand. The bunches must be thinned in such a manner that no, two berries will touch each other during their stages of growth. To grow large berries severe thinning is needed, and sometimes they • have to be thinned twice, as the first is not sufficient. The second-thinning should be done after they ha\ f e grown a month or so. Thinning grapes is a very weary job on a hot day, but after they are thinned the worst is over. Sometimes the berries are subject to mildew • through some causes, such’, as bad ventilation causing a draught through the .house, or being too dry at the roots for the want of sufficient nourishinent, or cold cloudy weather. These -causes are the means of bringing on mildew. It takes ‘ possession of the berries and leaves of the vine in the • form of a white powder, as though they were coated with flour. This is a very bad disease and must be closely guarded against. If .the least sign appears, flour of sulphur must be shaken over the bunches pretty freely, putting it on in a dry state. A miniature bellows can be had at the seedsman’s for this purpose. If the border should happen to be dry it will need a good watering occasionally. , In fact, it should never be left dry during the growing season, as the* grapes require a lot *of moisture to' keep them in a healthy state of growth. When the berries begin to color, syringing and watering in the house must be. discontinued,, and a nice warm atmosphere with top ventilation maintained, and the house should be kept free from draughts until the .grapes are ripe, when .the house can have all the air possible so as to prolong , the keeping capacity of- the berries as long as possible. The house must be kept thoroughly dry at this period. - After each winter pruning, the vines, ought to be painted well over with a mixture of soft-soap and sulphur, with a wineglass of kerosene to a quart of water, and. sufficient clay to form it into the:thickness of a paint. It helps to keep mildew from attacking them; the. next : season. ... - , .