Not since WWII with the national interest and necessity for Victory Gardens has the country become involved in vegetable gardens as it has this year. Whereas Victory Gardens were largely community efforts using vacant lots, high school football fields and other large areas of usable land, today’s vegetable gardens are primarily small back yard affairs, raised beds or even containers. Victory Gardens involved numerous gardeners whose collective knowledge seemed able to solve almost any of the problems which beset the gardens. Today’s backyard vegetable garden often has only one or two gardeners who may be trying to grow vegetables for the first time. We, at Wegman’s, help and advise as much as possible but as with any other new learning process, time and experience are the best teachers. Those who started this year will be more successful next year.
Following are a few of the blues-causing events which may beset the novice fruit and vegetable gardener.
Curly leaves on peach, nectarine, plum and cherry trees: On peach and nectarine trees it is probably peach leaf curl. Nothing can be done this year but next fall and winter spray the trees with copper. Meanwhile gather all of the diseased leaves and dispose of them. Do not compost. The curly leaves on plum and cherry trees are caused by aphids. Nothing can be done this year but predatory insects will soon clean them out. Next year spray the leaves with malathion when they are one-half to three-quarters of an inch long and before the blossoms open or; do nothing and let the predators take care of them.
Wormy apples: Nothing can be done except to cut out the wormy part of the apple and make applesauce. Next year spray the tree with Sevin as soon as all of the blossoms have dropped.
Squash plants produces small (finger size) squash which turn yellow and drop off: Squash have male and female flowers. If the female flowers are not pollinated, they behave as described. Often the female flowers develop before the male flowers and there is no pollen, thus the problem. If there are no bees to transfer the pollen from the male to the female flower, that is sometimes the problem but the home gardeners can do the job themselves.
Bush beans bear two or three crops and then none. That’s how bush beans work. They produce a crop quickly but not for a long time. After the first crop, plant more bean seeds to get more beans.
Tomato fruit has a black depressed area on the bottom of the fruit: This is "blossom end rot", caused by a Calcium deficiency in the soil and/or irregular watering. Fertilize the plants at planting and at one month intervals with Master Nursery Tomato and Vegetable Fertilizer or Dr. Earth Tomato and Vegetable & Herb Fertilizer The plants should be watered once or twice a week so that the water goes down 12 to 18 inches. Tomatoes will put down 4 to 5 foot roots even into clay soil if it is moist. Soil should not be allowed to dry out between watering.
Tomato has dry brown spot on side of fruit: This is sunburn and occurs when there are not enough leaves to cover the fruit.
Rather large spots on the leaves which late turn the leaves yellow before they fall off. This may be early or late blight. Spray at the very first symptoms with lime-sulfur. Pick off and dispose of the worst leaves. Do not compost.
Leaves and stems at base of plant turn yellow, then brown and die. This disorder moves up the plant until most or all of the plant is infected. The cause may be Verticillium wilt or Tomato Russet Mites. Verticillium wilt is a fungus disease in the soil for which there is no cure other than solarizing the soil. Tomato Russet Mites require a 20x lens in order to see them. They can be controlled with sulfur spray or dusting.
White flies are a common tomato pest and hard to get rid of. In the evening shake the tomato plant and then suck up as many flying white flies as possible using a "Dust Buster" vacuum. Set out yellow sticky traps and spray every 3 days with Safer Yard & Garden Insect Killer on the underside of leaves.
When day time temperatures exceed 85 degrees, all of the tomato blooms will fall off and that portion of the plant will be barren of fruit. These are but a few tomato disorders. The tomato is probably susceptible to more problems than any other vegetables.
Basil and Cilantro have an opposite problem. During the long, warm, sunny days of summer they often "bolt." That is, they will grow and fill out and then put up a tall flower stalk. When the flower stalk starts to grow, leaf growth stops. If you pinch off the flower stalk, the leaf growth resumes but a new flower stalk soon appears. Planting basil and cilantro in a shady part of the garden this will slow down the process. Planting late in summer so the plants grow into fall may often prevent bolting. These plants can also be planted on a staggered schedule so that when one group bots, the next group is coming along.
Then there are always questionable ideas to entice the novice gullible gardener. The same master marketing mavens who peddled the Pet Rock came up recently with the upside down tomato growth sock. You are to plant the tomato upside down and soon harvest a bountiful crop of large tomatoes. Hmmm! Follow Sunset Western Garden Book’s directions or our Tomato Care Guide and grow tomatoes the way the professional do for best results.
If mildew shows up on any of your vegetable leaves, the safest, non-toxic spray is sulfur. Spray twice, one week apart and then as needed.
Finally, don’t forget to fertilize! Normally, once a month after planting is enough. Use Master Nursery Tomato and Vegetable Fertilizer or Dr. Earth Tomato and Vegetable & Herb Fertilizer. Purple color on the back of tomato leaves indicates phosphorus deficiency. Pale green leaves indicate nitrogen or iron deficiency or too high pH. The Tomato and Vegetable Food should take care of all three problems.
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