Why do my Tomato plants turn purple?

A tray of our Funky Fresh Kitchen Tomato pots, College Challenger I think.  Getting a little "hard" i know.

We walk a fine line at this time of year, we lost the first two batches of Basil before even sending them out. The demand is so crazy that we have to try to have them available but it doesn't take much to put them off.

I've also had inquiries this week about Tomatoes losing colour. Perhaps more accurately taking on the hue of a three day old bruise, purple and yellow. This colouring is a symptom of the plants being hungry. Especially for nitrogen and phosphorus.  Tomatoes are a great crop, we have significant demand and they are relatively easy to grow except for the fuss of staking them. There are two issues that we have to watch for: stretching and black spots (haven't seen any yet this year!). To protect the plants from the winter and early spring elements we hold the plants in a poly house. This ensures the plants can grow without stress but encourages them to grow very tall and skinny and if the foliage is too soft the black spot bacteria can infect the plants easily. We try to control this culturally by deliberately under watering them and by supplying only just enough fertilizer to keep them green but not enough to grow like crazy. Another trick is to use what is often called a 'native plant' fertilizer that is very low in phosphorus, this encourages strong cells and inhibits 'stretchy' growth.

When the plants get too hungry they start to change colour: yellow foliage indicates plants need more nitrogen and the purpling is a sign that a little phosphorus is needed. In fact in the nursery this colouring is quite a good sign because we know we can generally turn these plants around very quickly with a little extra liquid feed. But here's the down side, when we are managing plants so closely they can start to look very hungry very soon after leaving our loving care. Now that the weather is warming we can take a calculated risk and move plants outside sooner, this hardens them up naturally and allows us to start applying a little extra fertilizer. In the garden centre a weekly application of complete, liquid fertilizer should help maintain colour and shelf life but I understand that this is not always possible.

For gardeners, a little yellow and purpling is not at all a bad thing.  Once plants hit freshly prepared soil or quality potting mix they jump away, I'd suggest much more reliably than plants that go into the garden too soft. Just make sure it's purple shading, not small dark spots.

Hope this helps, please don't hesitate to call if I have only raised more questions.

My Passion for Passionfruit

As a Melbournian I love our weather.  The variability is essential to the magic. As a Melbournian I can rail against our changeable weather too, that's my right.  Any uppity Sydneysider dares to criticize Melbourne weather, watch out!

It's the same with seasons. We have wonderful distinct seasons. I have been bemoaning (winging if you like) that our retail industry is so keen to move on to new season stock that we ignore the peak of our Pansy and Viola season. The past couple of weeks has heightened my frustration as I have carried absolutely stunning Pansy pots around on my customer visits only to have them ignored or worse... "it's a bit boring isn't it"! Well seasons change quickly, this week we have all sort sort of fresh new products on offer. See, when it suits me I can change with the wind.

Among the fresh offerings is the Passionfruit pictured above. Look closely and you can see the little plastic grafting clips where the desirable "Norfolk Island" black passionfruit scion has been grafted to the vigorous but frankly weedy and less tasty Banana Passionfruit rootstock. These are very neat and strong grafts, nice and close to the soil level to minimize the number of dastardly rootstock buds that can escape and overtake the less vigorous Black Passionfruit.  Make sure you rub off or slice away any shoots developing below the graft.

You might also notice in the pic above that these plants are growing happily out side. Not quite full sun, we have hail net over them. There would be nothing worse than hail pitting all that beautiful foliage at this stage. Tough plants ready for garden planting.


By the way, this is our new Grafted Passionfruit label. Please look out for them.

How do I grow Peas?

  

Sometimes the enquiry is fairly simple and to the point.  What's this?

The plant is Snow Pea Bikini... No, I was told that much. Peas of all kinds: podded, snow and snap are terrific vegies to grow in the Melbourne winter. In fact they can should thrive pretty much year round except for the real heat of January and February. Planting one punnet every three weeks should keep a family of 4 happily fed on Peas as often as they want. For what it's worth my personal favourite are Snap Peas, the pod is fat, juicy, sweet and very edible. Gardeners apparently think differently, we sell 3 punnets of Snow Pea Bikini (sorry, I promise I didn't create that name) for every 2 of Snap Pea Honey Pod and only one punnet of the podded Green Pea, Massey Gem. Snow Peas along with Carrots are always popular with kids when we do potting demonstrations.

There is a valid argument that frozen shelled peas are sweeter and fresher than fresh ones from the grocer. Valid yes because I'm sure the best, smallest and sweetest ones are sent off for freezing and because Peas are frozen promptly unlike peas that travel to your fridge via the cool store and the market. Nothing is fresher or sweeter than peas you have just picked yourself. Green Peas, Snap Peas or Snow Peas, please pick them very young and you will never go back to a bought Pea. It's also worth noting that as the plant gets older and loses vigour even the young Peas start to lose that vitality and can become 'mealy'. 

Back to the picture. The ugly spots look like Botrytis (Grey mold). It is essentially the mold that grows on vegies and bread when they get old. In this instance it is a sure sign of plant stress, the issue is I have no idea what is causing the stress but here are some common causes:

All vegies need plenty of sunshine and air flow. Peas climbing Tee Pees or trellis need protection from howling gales but a gentle breeze fluttering their leaves really puts fungal diseases off.

Vegies also like their roots to be kept moist but not constantly wet. That's why drainage is so important at this time of year.  The other thing that will stress plants is a lack of food.  This can be as simple as digging manure into soil before planting, of course there is a whole science dedicated to soil nutrition so let's just work on the basics: Apply organic fertiliser and check that the pH is in the 5.5-7 range to ensure that the food you have supplied is actually available to the plants. As a rule of thumb avoid fertiliser with very high Nitrogen content, eg. Chicken Manure, Citrus and Lawn fertilisers they are Junk Food for plants.

What to do with the Botrytis infected plants? Here's a good site with Natural disease control practices. I have done a quick web search for chemical controls for Botrytis and can't find anything which prompts a reminder to ensure that the problem you are trying to solve is listed on the label of any pesticide you purchase. This is particularly true for Botrytis and Powdery Mildew which both need quite specific controls not provided by the general purpose consumer fungicides generally on offer in nurseries.

Having said all that I still think Peas are easy to grow and very satisfying. However I think the ones in the photo need to be dug into the soil (good source of Nitrogen). It is recommended that Peas are grown on rotation in different beds or containers and they don't like growing alongside Onions, Garlic and their family.

Why does my Spinach bolt to seed?

I was talking to Deb at Frankston recently and she said "that Peter Cundall doesn't like seedlings does he!".  Um. errr. I don't know. Deb is a dead keen, practical gardener and she was looking for advice on vegie growing, including Spinach. Old Pete has a regular column with the Weekly Times and he knows what he is talking about having practiced the fine arts of gardening for a lot longer than I've been breathing.

Here's a great, simple recipe for preparing fresh spinach.

Anyway, Pete has published an article on growing Spinach full of practical information. Timely of course because Spinach is one of my favourite vegetables at it loves cold weather. The flavour and texture are much more subtle than Silverbeet which I find can taste like dirt. (How do I know what dirt tastes like? I'll let you decide). Spinach also has that wonderful feature: continuous cropping. But here's the thing! "By the way spinach seedlings, even tiny ones, can rarely be successfully transplanted. They may look lovely and healthy but cannot stand even the slightest transplant shock. They don't just die, merely bolt to seed even after a few weeks so are a waste of space".  WHAT!!!

One might say that Mr Cundall is a bit of a zealot, at least a purist. Yes Spinach will bolt to seed at the slightest shock, that's why it is so difficult to grow outside of the cold months (Spinach likes hot weather as much as I do... not at all). But have you ever tried to germinate the stuff?  Spinach seed is as temperamental as Spinach seedlings. It can 'come up like hair on a cat's back' as Uncle Robert would say or it can easily go dormant. Chilling for a few weeks is the standard dormancy breaker but I find it is far from fool proof. As with Carrots I think a novice gardener is more likely to be successful with young seedlings than with seed, we just have to make sure they understand the basics of minimizing transplant shock and how to avoid stressing their plants. I think next week I'll have to type out my garden club talk about minimizing transplant shock.

So keep planting Spinach at least until the end of July for tasty vegies that will flourish through 'til the end of September. Try sowing your own seed it really is very rewarding but growing your vegies from seedlings is nearly as fulfilling and just a little more reliable (if you handle them with care).

How do I prepare soil for my raised garden bed?

The Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show is over for another year.  I had to step back from our commitment to The Great Victorian Hanging Basket Competition (follow this link for a list of all the winners) this year, it is just getting too big. I have to say that letting go and getting a broader range of input was the best thing I could do.  Congratulations to Don & Jennifer Rickerby and their hard working RHSV team, especially Rod & Kevin. Thanks also to James Wall, Gardenworld and Andrew Jones, Poynton's of Essendon for the work they put into a spectacular display.

Although we reduced our commitment, the Hanging Basket Competition was still the focus of our own representation at the show. We supplied 6 Magic Square Gardens to dress the display along with 3 other gardens for the Tree and Shrub Growers of Victoria's "Kitchen Garden".  The response at the show and since has been enormous! Lots of enquiry and web hits. Plus a few questions that came up consistently, especially "What soil should I use in my raised garden bed?".

My immediate response is "this is a big pot so the ideal growing medium is potting mix". Quality potting mix is carefully formulated to manage water and air availability for your plants. We offer potting mix filled Magic Square Gardens but for many people working on a budget this is prohibitively expensive. I have seen top soil from garden supplies used quite regularly, but I have also been disappointed with the plant growth. Garden supplies spruik their favourite top soil but I worry that it is hungry and prone to holding too much water for vegie growing. So what is the best answer?

No Dig Gardening! Mix the top soil up with layers of straw and animal manure to create and ideal vegetable growing media in a box. So what do you need? One Magic Square Garden holds 1m3 of soil  so here's a suggested recipe for filling your bed on a budget and still getting a great result.

Quality Top Soil.               2/3 - 3/4m3
Sugar Cane mulch           1 Bale
Horse Poo                        1 Bag
Composted garden clippings and worm castings... if you have these available, use them liberally.
 I have chosen Sugar Cane mulch because it is available everywhere in convenient bales, lucerne hay is apparently the pick of mulching materials.  I chose horse poo because there is plenty of agistment arond here and bags of cheap poop available. Dynamic Lifter is very good and available everywhere. 



We're going to produce a layer cake in a box. Start with the mulch, put about 1/3 of the bale in the bottom of your box and add 5-6 hand fulls of manure. Fill the box to about half way with top soil then add another layer of mulch (1/3 of the bale) & manure, it's a good idea to water the layers at this stage to help settle them in. Use the rest of the soil which should leave about 10cm to the top of the box from the soil surface.  Plant your vegies in this soil and dress around them carefully with the remaining mulch.  Don't use any more fertilizer in this last layer, too much manure too close to the plants can cause burning problems. Osmosis and root systems will draw the goodness up so the plants can use it. You can side dress with maure once the plants have matured and they are looking for additional food while they put energy into flowering and fruiting.

Let me know how your garden grows so I can update this information.



Thanks also to Rosie Appleton and the Berwick Viewfinders Camera Club for the great pics from the Flower & Garden Show.

Ornamental and Culinary Chillis

May, June & July are always a little frustrating, even angst ridden.  No matter how I try I have never been able to finish our planning for spring on time... like back in May.  Well it's the same this year, I'm still fussing over the final details of a plan that should serve us for the next 12 months.  Really I should be well into organizing seed and label orders, all of which need to be done in advance.

Of course all of that makes this the most stimulating time of year as we look at what we have done and what new things we want to try.  This year we are looking at expanding the range of Chillis and Capsicums we grow.  Now I know it's a little early to start talking about plants that you don't expect to start planting until September at the earliest but we have been sowing various Chillis for 3-4 weeks now, so I'm on a roll.
     


We are offering more Chillis because of the intense interest they have generated over the past 2 years, particularly the question we continually answer: "Can we eat ornamental Chillis?"  We have decided that our habit of identifying Chillis as Ornamental or Edible creates the confusion so from now on we will use the terms Ornamental and Culinary.  Genius! Yes, now everyone will understand!  Perhaps not, but the idea is (to my knowledge) there are no poisonous Capsicums, but there are plenty that taste terrible.  Our rep Di who is a real foodie has tested this theory and supports it fully.  Of course, just because a Chilli tastes terrible doesn't mean it isn't hot.  Chilli heat is a quite separate thing to taste and I should point out that not all ornamental Chillis are hot.

Now, I have said that to my knowledge there are no poisonous Chillis but I do need to remind you that Capsicums and Chillis are from the Solanaceae family that includes Tomatoes, Potatoes and Deadly Nightshade.  The leaves of these plants are poisonous to greater and lesser degrees so I don't recommend eating the foliage.

Just to add to the complexity of this group of plants we produce them for sales in two distinct seasons.  The first is the culinary Chilli and Capsicum Season.  We start selling traditional varieties like Capsicum Californian Wonder and Chilli Red Hot Cayenne in August for enthusiasts with green houses to protect their crops.  Although I generally regard the Capsicums as hardier than Tomatoes, at least they tend to suffer fewer growing problems they are less vigorous than their pomodori cousins in cold weather. Both will Capsicums and Tomatoes turn quite black at the slightest hint of frost.   These are the young seedlings we offer in punnets and the more advanced plants in single 100mm pots.

The second season is for the ornamentals.  Of course this is really just the fruit of our earlier labour.  We hope to produce brightly coloured fruit by Christmas from the plants we first started sowing back in May, generally though we expect our Chillis will produce their best colour in January and February next year.  The development of the fruit is fascinating to watch as the small green berries fatten into more recognizable Capsicum fruit and the colours come, then go, then finally take on their mature colours which range through yellow, orange, fire engine red to purples and black.  Eventually the fruit dries and shrivels on the plant, it will usually hold its colour to this stage.  When the skin has dried like this the seed is ready to collect and should be quite viable to produce a new crop although I can't vouch the new plants will be true to form if you have been growing a selection of different Capsicums in one area.  Keep in mind that Capsicums as a group are actually short lived perennial plants that can be over wintered in Victoria and will produce successfully in the second and possibly third season if they are re-potted or at least given a cut back and a good feed. 


So why do we identify some Chillis as ornamental?  They have been bred to be used purely as ornamental plants, generally the plant will be more compact and carry a lot of fruit in bunches that are particularly striking.  Flavour is ignored altogether. We have done a little research this year  and have found a few culinary varieties that produce attractive, compact plants so we'll see how they go come December and January.  The pic above is Capsicum Courtyard a great tasting Pimento (heart shaped) Capsicum with the added benefit of growing on a very attractive plant.

World's Biggest Display of Hanging Baskets?

Saturday 19th June is the Royal Horticultural Society of Victoria's annual conference day.  Rob Pelletier will give the key note presentation on Sustainable gardening, worth the price of admission alone. Actually I think it's free and Rob is worth more, he's a 'horticultural thinker', not afraid to challenge and always entertaining. The Royal's afternoon tea is worth the trip too.  Starts at 1.00pm, follow the link for more details.   Prizes for the Great Victorian Hanging Basket competition will be distributed at the Royal's conference, you can find the official list of winners here.

If you're really keen follow this link to see the You Tube video of the Hanging basket competition.


 My association with the Royal goes back 10 years.  We met through the International Flower and Garden Show. Scotsburn wanted to display hanging baskets and the Royal wanted better representation of amateur horticulture at Australia's premier garden show. 10 years! and this year we think we have set the record for for the largest display of hanging baskets in the world!  Guinness Book of World Records!

Gerda van der Peet  First Prize Members

Now let's get a few things straight. This is a new record for the greatest number of baskets being displayed in the one location at the same time.  All the entries are from members or affiliates of the Royal Horticultural Society so they were attempting this record as a team. To ensure consistency for the competition judges, every participant was supplied with a Gardman Hanging Basket and a bag of Debco's Terra Cotta and Tub potting mix.  The competition rules state that there must be at least one living plant in the basket for it to be judged, I'm pleased to say every basket I saw had several although I did also find the odd dead 'un.  How many baskets?  Two hundred and twenty one!  It took about 4 goes to count them, it was remarkably easy to get lost in the maze of paths and boxes and baskets.  I eventually had to use the site plan and tick each position off, then re-check!  

Why am I telling you all of this?  Well I have been asked to witness the the display actually achieved what it claimed to and I'm very pleased to say that it did.

  Bentleigh Garden Club  First Prize Affiliate Clubs    
Quantity and quality!

Unfortunately I can't make the conference this year, Ben is playing possibly his last game of netball in a Grand Final.  At 14 he's too old to play juniors after this season and possibly a little young to be playing open mixed with the 20 year olds.  Wish him luck.  

Broadly Speaking

My Grandfather used to bring a brown paper bag of broad beans to the nursery when I first started working here.  "Uncle Dave" had long since retired from active nursery work but he came in weekly, as long as he wasn't warming himself at Broadbeach and tidied around the office.  This included a little mowing and gardening.  I never quite understood his passion for his 'Beefsteaks' but I have come to realize that broad beans are a real marker of genuine vegie gardeners.

My Grandfather "Uncle Dave" Wood with my daughter Emma.  Emma is in year 11 now, she won't thank me for using this pic.

And while I still can't get excited over a plate of boiled beans (and let's not even think about baked beans from a can) I have learned that broad beans are an extraordinarily versatile vegetable.  Kerry mushes them up with Mediterranean spices to make magnificent falafels and I once had a fava bean paste as a butter substitute at a fancy restaurant, I can't remember how they made it but I guess it wasn't much more than beans, olive oil and seasoning.... to die for!  I think the name fava bean is more common in the US than broad bean (Hannibal Lecter liked then with liver, but we won't go there), broad bean is seriously uninspiring as names go but at least it's better than horse bean.  All of these are the same thing.


From a gardeners perspective the great thing about broad beans is you can plant them now!  Timing is ideal, the plants will develop through the winter and set their fruit (the pod is the fruit, the bean is a seed) while they do all that manic growing in spring.  This is important if you want to produce tender beans in that odd period where we are busy planting but not much else is ready to harvest.


The other great thing about broad beans is that they are very quick and easy to grow.  There is very little that Melbourne weather can do to upset them unless it gets very wet and miserable which can encourage fungal diseases.  The recommendation is to space them at least 15cm apart and a good 40cm between rows to allow air to circulate and prevent the disease getting established.  Watch our for Aphids in spring they just love succulent growing tips.  Of course soil needs to be thoroughly prepared or they can be grown in large containers with premium potting mix.  We grow a variety called Cole's Dwarf which grows to about 1m tall making it easy to harvest and great for containers.

Harvesting?  Beans should be ready in about 10 weeks from planting.  Picked very young (little finger sized or smaller) they can be cooked and eaten pod and all. More commonly they are shelled and eaten fresh or they can be dried.  A good tip is to pick your beans while the membrane attaching them to the pod is still green, once it starts to change colour the beans will be too mature and they start to get hard and chalky.

Either way, it's time for planting.

A nasty stain

Hi Peter

I have some more problems in my vegie garden my beetroot is all leaves there is nothing growing or developing below the ground.

I have sooty mould on my bean leaves & little white insects as well, it is also starting to effect our basil.

I hope you can help

Regards

Maureen

 

My mum has a passion for Beetroot.  She actively tried to pass it on but only partially successfully.  I like Beetroot but I don't get that excited.  As usual though, home grown or at least home prepared is extra special.  Tinned beetroot is perfectly flavoursome but Beetroot is such a fantastic raw material for pickling, flavouring and cooking it is really worth having a go. Besides that, Beetroot is generally pest free and easy to grow.

These are beetroot we harvested this week from the Magic Square Display Garden we prepared for the flower and garden show. No additional fertilizer added, that's the value of a large volume of potting media for containerized vegies.

So what could prevent Maureen's Beetroot from developing a nice fat root? Generally the explanation is too much nitrogen encourages leaf development at the expense of root growth.  Of course this is one of my favourite topics, ensure your plants get abalanced diet.  Many commercial preparations over emphasize nitrogen because it makes plants look shiny and healthy easily but really it is junk food.  Chicken manure and chook pellets are also heavily weighted towards a quick shot of nitrogen.

My other mantra is "prepare soil thoroughly and if you are growing in containers use a premium potting mix".  The structure of the growing medium (soil or potting mix) is really important when growing root  crops such as beetroot because the root needs to expand and grow into the medium.  Poorly drained, soggy soil and hard compacted old dirt just don't cut it with root vegies.

At Scotsburn we have traditionally sold Beetroot seedlings year round in Melbourne although the text books generally recommend against sowing through the winter.  Experience says they will plant out quite happily, they just grow more slowly adding a few weeks to the standard 10-11.  There is an argument for direct seeding all root vegies as it prevents root damage during transplanting, of course from my perspective starting with seedlings takes away the problems of germinating seed.  Careful transplanting of seedlings also removes the need to thin out direct seeded plantings that have been over sown.  We sow Beetroot 'seed pods' directly into punnets and pots so each of these clusters can be thinned as you plant them.

OK so a little bigger than my recommendation, but they grew faster than we expected.  These were planted from advanced Funky Fresh Kitchen pots a couple of weeks prior to the Flower Show so that's about 9 weeks in the beds. Where did these beetroot go you ask?  So did I.  I believe Debra schanffled them.

Don't be afraid to pick small sweet leaves for salad mixes this should encourage more growth and ensure that the shoulder of the bulbous root is covered with soil as it matures to protect it from cracking when exposed to the weather.  And please pick your Beetroot before the bulbs reach cricket ball size.... taste sweet!

By the way.  Basil season is ending, getting too cold for Basil now.  Little white insects?  White fly.  White fly love beans and tomatoes.  They are sucking insects so treat them the same way as Aphids.  White fly doesn't generally create a lot of damage itself but it can carry viral diseases.

Who Powdered my Pansies?

We have the most beautiful batch of Violas in 200mm pots.  Three separate colours including white and  Deep Marina.

Oh, yes they are this beautiful.
Except for one thing.... the foliage is full of powdery mildew.  Our sales people have been driven mad with desire.  They can see these beautiful plants but the production team won't let them be touched.

Powdery Mildew is not a fungal disease that we deal with all that regularly.  We often get plenty delivered to us on hanging baskets that we are sending to the flower & Garden show.  The fungus just loves the Autumn weather; cool nights, high humidity and still days.  The other factor that has affected our Violas is they were returned from the Flower & Garden Show display and cut back to re-grow.  Under normal circumstances this wouldn't be an issue but cutting the plants back stressed them enough to allow the Powdery Mildew fungus to attack.


That's a really nasty infestation of Powdery in Zinnia.  From my experience Powdery can really destroy a plant but usually it just hangs around making the plant miserable and it is very contagious if the conditions are right.

What to do?  First and foremost prevent infestation! Remove any infected plants.  Ensure hight light levels, yes that's right if possible get your plants out from under the shade.  There are very few plants that will need or like shade cover between now and December.  The other thing we do in the green houses is turn the fans on.  Quite simple, we have fans that stir the air around to prevent that close humid environment developing that fungi like.  The other thing I have seen (but never used myself) greenhouse growers use is Sulfur Burners, sulphur is very effective in controlling the Powdery fungi. I'm sure these are available for enthusiasts from Sage Horticulture, but they are of no value out of doors.


OK so sometimes we still get infected.  Commercially there are some very specific fungicides for controlling Powdery mildew, BayletonTM  comes to mind but I'm not aware of it being available on consumer packages. A Lime Sulphur  spray should be available from most good garden centres.  I have made the mistake of spraying Powdery with a general fungicide assuming that if it was effective on Botrytis (Grey mould) it would be effective on Powdery... wrong! So don't do that. I have found two interesting organic sprays: baking soda and milk.  The baking soda idea matches one sent to me this week by Marina who suggested this basic recipe to control aphids and sooty mould.  Marina's spray didn't include baking soda and she replaced the water with dish water, I think that might just frighten the Aphids away. Thank's Marina.

Last resort?  Dilute Quarternary Ammonia, some household disinfectants contain ammonia in this (quarternary) form.  It works, but it needs care not to burn the plants and you must use the quarternary form.  If the foliage is especially dense (think our Viola crop) it is very difficult to get the ammonia solution in contact with the fungus so we might have to cut them back again.... Oh I'm getting dizzy.

A Mould for all Seasons

Thank for the news and advice!
I have a fairly large Kaffir Lime in a tub, never had a problem over many years, suddenly developed BLACK MOULD in/on/under the leaves. Also ants LOVE it and run all over it.
It looks very healthy apart from this.
What to do?
Many thanks, Lena

I love this one because I can talk about Aphid poo and snigger like a school boy.

I'm pretty sure that Lena's Lime has Sooty Mould.

That's a pretty disastrous infestation on oranges.  Click here to see the original and get some detailed information on the source of the mould, Mealy Bugs.

This mould is quite common on Citrus, Gardenias, Crepe Myrtle, Azaleas and I remember Oleander from childhood. Fortunately for me it is not a common problem with annual flower or vegetable seedlings.  The interesting thing is that the mould fungi does not actually grow on the plant but in the sugary Honeydew secreted by sap sucking insects: Aphids, Mealy Bugs, Scale, White Fly, etc.  Honeydew?  That's the polite term for bug poo, hence my juvenile merriment.

Of course it's unsightly and it is a clear sign that something will have to be done about the sap suckers.  I have written about sap suckers previously, just follow this link if you want all the details.

The short and honey sweet version is spray with Confidor if you are happy with chemicals.  Very effective and apparently safe Confidor is a 'systemic' insecticide so it gets into the plants system and is sucked up by the insect.
Not into chemicals? White oil is very effective and drowns the bugs on the plant's surface.  I have always been a fan of Clensel, a soap formulation that knocks down insects.  Keep an eye out for Neem preparations, I don't know any brand names but have a look at this link if you are interested.

Oh, and the ants that Lena noticed?  I think that's nature managing the aphid population.

Enough for now.  Di wants me to look at Powdery Mildew next week.  Timely of course.

Leeks on top of the heap!

I was talking to an ex customer recently.  Let's call him Michael.  Michael was a cut flower grower and cut flower growing just got too tough. Too many problems and not enough profit. You should have heard the problems he had with water supply! Michael gave away cut flower growing for growing vegetables??? who am I to argue?

I'm not really a pushy salesman but I don't let an opportunity pass by either so I asked if Michael wanted me to grow any Capsicum or Tomato seedlings for him.  "Thanks but no, I'm doing easy stuff like onions, carrots, silverbeet, spinach. Just sow the seed directly into the rows.  But I might get you to grow some leeks."  Leeks?  Don't you direct sow them just like onions?


Shows how much I know.  It turns out that to get that nice white and tender base to the stem the Leeks need the soil to be mounded up around the stem once the young direct sown seedlings have established.  This is a fiddly, time consuming job so it is more practical to purchase well established plants and plant them deeper.  Not the spindly little punnet sized plants that we have always assumed were suited to retail nurseries (young plants give better shelf life) but tough wizened old things; if the tops of the leaves go a bit brown, that's fine just cut them off.

A great planting suggestion is to use your rake handle and dibble holes about 15cm deep.  The idea then is not to firm the plants in as I usually recommend but to water them in and allow the water to gently wash back into the planting holes.  It all sounds quite mystical really.  We recommend planting 15-20cm apart as this allows good air flow between the individual plants which minimizes the chance of fungal infections which is one of the few pests to trouble Leeks.

Sticking with the theme of producing tender, white stems I will also change my regular fertilizer recommendation.  Chook poo is ideal for Leeks  because it provides lots of Nitrogen for rapid, soft growth.  I suggest you don't change the standard soil preparation especially for a crop of Leek, just apply the Chook poo as a side dressing.  Start doing this about 6 weeks after planting and repeat every three weeks.


Planting Leeks now (April) should produce a harvest in August which is just about ideal for the sort of comfort food that Leeks are best suited to. Don't wait for the leaves to start folding over like other onions, they'll be getting to old and woody by then (I think the ones in the photo are probably a little past ideal a 2cm stem is about perfect). That said Leeks are like Spring Onions and can be planted pretty much any time of year.  I also think that we have noticed a significant increase in their popularity which I link to all the modern cooking shows that use Leeks in new and interesting ways including "Barbecuing and Grilling" which significantly expands their usefulness and seasonality.

By the way, I was threatened with Brussels Sprouts for dinner through the week, I'm much happier with the idea of that pasta sauce with Pumpkin and Leek with a few pine nuts and some shaved Parmesan. Yum!

Don't forget Mother's Day is just around the corner, Sunday May 9th.  Have you considered a Living Gift? 

Brusseles Sprouts.... Do I have to?

Hi Peter

I really enjoyed reading the news letter.
I would like some advise on growing Brussels sprouts, every year I try as yet with no luck. They either look like a stem with leaves at the top or they don't close properly when they do grow up the stems.
I want to plant some soon so if you have any tips I would really like to hear them.
Regards
Maureen
Let's start with a confession. When it comes to Brussels Sprouts I'm a very naughty child. I have tried, but Sprout is a flavour I just can't stand. Kerry loves 'em, says I'd get over it if I just tried them cooked with a little sugar to take away the bitterness. I have been known to raise the subject of lipstick and pigs at this point, which of course just gets me into more trouble. I'm not a fan of honey with carrots either. So I hope you'll understand that my suggestions here are almost entirely theoretical, with very little practical experience. I'd love some feedback and tips if you have any Sprout growing experience.

I'm surprised how difficult it is to find a pic of a full sprout plant.

Many years ago I went hunting for the best home garden vegetable varieties and advice for seedling growing. My chief concerns were downy mildew and grubs, the answer to these problems turned out to be discipline and benches.  Amongst the people I asked however was a technician from Henderson Seeds in Templestowe.  Henderson Seeds was one of the few companies breeding and producing vegetable seeds here in Australia.  They are still located in Lower Templestowe but I think are now owned by a multinational company and I don't know if we still have a local breeding program.  Anyway I think you get the message that this was credible source of information.

What sticks in my mind from this 20 year old conversation is his horror that I wanted to sow Brussels Sprouts in the Autumn.  I wanted to talk about varieties and growing techniques, he just wanted to talk about seasons.  There was no problem with sowing other Brassica vegies (Cabbage, Cauli, Broccoli) in Autumn, just Sprouts.  Now this is where we loop back to my opening statement.  Sprouts weren't an important seller for us and I had hang ups about them anyway so I just went (and still do) with the flow and continued producing all our brassicas through the same season-Autumn/Winter.  To get the best results Brussels Sprouts should be planted January-March, No later.  I admit we continue to sell seedlings beyond this period because there is demand and there are growers who know just what they are doing in there particular environment. For the less experienced gardener this can be a trap because many retail nurserymen and many gardeners assume that if the plants are available they are appropriate to plant.  Usually this is the case but some local knowledge is very important which is why a quality retail nursery is invaluable.

Why is it so important to plant Brussels Sprouts so early?  They have a long, slow growing season, around 140 days.  Broccoli on the other hand can be grown and harvested in only 100 days depending on the season and variety,  that's nearly a month and a half difference.  Broccoli, Cabbage and Cauli also have cultivars that can be harvested pretty much year round but Brussels have their season and that's it.  Grow them in the warmth of Summer and harvest in the cool of late Autumn and Early Winter.  Sorry Maureen, I think you are too late.

I like this pic with the tiny sprouts just forming, it also shows very clearly the leaf axils.

All of that said, Sprouts are said to be the easiest brassicas to grow.  Many of the usual Vegie planting tips apply

• Plant them deep. We sow Brassica vegie seeds directly into punnets so thewre is usually a good inch (25mm) between the top of the root system and the first leaves. Bury the stem right up to that first leaf axil this will help anchor them particularly once they start getting tall. 
• Fertilize heavily. Brussels Sprouts like plenty of tucker. 
• Mulch well and try to keep watering consistent. 
• Some growers recommend lopping the 'top sprout' off the developing plants. This will encourage development of the sprouts on the stems by stopping the production of additional sprouts. Your choice. I think this is more of a commercial practice to encourage the plants produce a single crop, at home you are more likely to want to continue picking over an extended period. 

I've just read a suggestion that sprouts be stir fried with nuts, now even I might try them cooked like that!

Happy Christmas

Gardening at Wandong PS, August 2009.
I suppose we look back on every year and say “wasn’t that amazing? Where did it go?” but it has been amazing and I’ve no idea where it has all gone. As a nurseryman the whole year feels like it hinged on February. After a mild January we had that extraordinary burst of 3-4 days above 40C followed shortly afterwards by Black Saturday. The whole community appeared to be quite numbed by the experience.
At the nursery we certainly thought the world would end. No one wanted to buy plants and we really lost the incentive to keep producing. And here’s the thing I have learnt from the experience. We all got back up, dusted ourselves off and got back on with it. We are saddened by the loss, inspired by the bravery and heartened by the generosity.
The gardening community reflected this perfectly. The RHSV quickly set up a Disaster Relief Fund (Bravo Don, Jennifer and your committee) and gardeners quickly got back into their gardens. Unfortunately Scotsburn was left behind, having almost stopped producing we were not prepared when gardeners decided it was time to refresh their heat ravaged gardens.
Well, live and learn. While “traditional” punnet seedling sales continue to struggle gardeners are obviously adapting to changing conditions and growing a different range of plants. So remarkably enough after a challenging year I’m more confident heading into 2010 than I have been in many years and inspired at the thought of growing new and interesting plants.
Thank you for opening and reading my emails. The comments and replies that I get are a great motivation.
Best wishes for a safe and happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year to you and your loved ones.

Tomato tips from the professionals

Tomatoes again! I delivered a fresh batch of Tomato seedlings to Tony Lanza at Coldstream. Tony is a commercial grower that I have been supplying young plants to for about 3 years now. Interestingly he was a Scotsburn customer before I started here, that’s over 20 years ago. Shows how things have changed, Tony and his son Frank tell me that they were told back then that Scotsburn had decided not to grow for commercial growers any longer. These days we’re just happy for the business. I actually like growing contract orders it’s very demanding but instils excellent discipline.
This was the first time I had visited the Lanza’s farm. It was a beautiful morning and the view is stunning but I bet it gets cold in the winter.
I was struck by the staking. At first I thought there was one stake per plant but look closely, there are 3-4 plants between each stake. If your vision is good enough you will also see a blue string running each side of the stakes. The plants will grow up through this string support. I guess Tony will add strings as the plants grow taller.
The other thing I noticed was that now the plants in the photo have established, Tony allows the weeds between the rows to establish too. He just starts mowing them before they flower & set seed.
I also met Mrs. Lanza. I think I know who does most of the work. All this reminds me that Kerry’s Toms at home have started to struggle a bit. If you remember they are in 250-300mm pots and it is getting difficult to get enough water into them on hot days. I also imagine that they have gobbled most of the nutrient out of the potting mix, these plants are now taller than me. Kerry has top dressed with a small amount of fresh chicken manure and some worm wee. I’ll keep you posted.

The Classic Tomato problems

I worry that I spend too much time talking about Tomatoes, but I’ve received two classic Tomato questions this week.
Why do my Tomato plant flowers drop off and not set fruit?
Why have my Tomato fruit gone black at the base? Lisa brought the fruit pictured into work.
Well follow this link for the answers to both these questions. It turns out that I answered them both in February and it’s interesting to see how this newsletter has developed over that period.
The pic is new, Lisa brought this Tomato into work and photographed it for me.

Goin' up the country

Lisa and I travelled to Tylden (near Trentham) to deliver our $500.00 prize pack to Linda Wheeler who entered our Plants Australia Garden Centres ‘Lucky Draw”. Linda was thrilled, we felt great and Glenn & Sandy at Springhill Nursery were pretty pleased too.
My mum & dad visited Springhill earlier this year and immediately asked if I knew this beautiful garden centre. “Not well” was the honest reply and that was my mistake, this little nursery is a real gem. Glenn has long experience in the nursery trade, he loves it and it shows. This may be a nurseryman’s hang up but Glenn’s stock is kept perfectly. No old stuff hanging around that should have been moved on, this is one of those rare retail nurseries that will pot plants on when they get big or shaggy.
They also have award winning display gardens and they welcome bus tours, so if you’re looking for a garden club activity a visit to sunny Tylden is really worth it.

Light & Heat = Growth

We haven’t had the best week at Scotsburn. The burst of warm, humid weather last weekend produced a phenomenal growth spurt in all of our plants. Contradictory as it may sound, this is something we just don’t want. Our primary business is growing seedlings and we spend the majority of our effort slowing seedlings down so that they will last longer once we send them off to the garden centres. Anyone that has grown a hanging basket for our Great Victorian Hanging Basket competition will understand just how frustrating it is trying to speed up or slow growth when you are working to a deadline.
How do we manage growth? Primarily with water and food. Just restricting the water – allowing plants to wilt a little between irrigations is a great way to tone them up. The amount and type of fertilizer used is also essential to controlling growth.
A gardener or nurseryman must keep in mind that the water and fertilizer we apply don’t directly feed our plants; they fuel photosynthesis. Photosynthesis produces carbohydrate that actually drives plant growth and there are two essential elements to the process of photosynthesis that I haven’t mentioned yet… light and heat. Please note these are separate items. Fertilizer and water that were only adequate a week or so ago are suddenly more than enough when the photosynthesis process becomes more efficient with additional light and warmth. Boom! Plants are jumping out of their skins. When you want quick growth, it never happens. When you don’t, suddenly you can watch them grow!
Of course we are dealing with growing organisms and at least four variables so the answers are not always so directly obvious. Too much light and heat will shut down photosynthesis so don’t feed plants on hot days. Too little light and warmth – think mid winter - have the same effect, that’s why we have glass houses. Greenhouse owners though don’t necessarily have all the answers; without additional lighting, extra heat and fertilizer are a waste of time.
By the way, the other way to control plant growth is to use PGR’s (Plant Growth Regulators-plant hormones). Our policy is to avoid PGR’s where possible and never to use them on our vegetable crops. Is this entirely logical? Possibly not, but whenever I ask gardeners the response to PGR’s is nearly always strongly negative.
Does any of this affect a home gardener? Not much, just don’t feed your plants in the middle of winter or high summer for that matter. But you might be interested to know why your plants have suddenly gone into overdrive.
Why did I tell you this long, complicated story? Well the growth spurt in Kerry’s Tomatoes at home prompted another idea altogether and that idea needed some background. Then I got carried away, so I’ll talk about pruning Tomatoes later. In the meantime I’d welcome any thoughts or comments.

Black Spots on Tomato Leaves

Peter,
Could you help me out please. The tomatoes in Jack’s garden have black spots on the leaves. How do I fix?
Thanks,
Teemu

Err, that’s awkward. Black spots on Tomato leaves is a tricky problem. We were plagued by this disease for many years. Actually there are a number of diseases that can produce black spots, but let’s assume that the spots are caused by bacteria.
At Scotsburn, we almost completely eradicated the disease through good nursery hygiene and a ‘balanced’ feeding program. In the bad old days we were continually spraying copper solutions (like Bordeaux mixture) to prevent the bacterium infecting our Tomatoes but we found moving Tomato pots up onto benches much more effective. Moving to benches reduced the amount of water that was splashed around the plants – splashed water can pick up and transmit disease.
We also worked on the theory that our plants needed to be growing vigorously to prevent the disease attacking. This is a good theory but it turns out that the execution was a ‘bit out’. We were feeding our Tomatoes so much that they became lush, soft and very prone to minor physical damage which gave the bacterium access to our plants.
The solution came from Peter Wood who used to run Woodlyn Nursery and he happens to be my mum’s cousin. Peter suggested we cut back the Phosphorus (P out of the NPK ratio) in our fertilizer blend. I have previously related Phosphorus to fatty food. Great if you need it but seriously addictive. Tomatoes love it and it doesn’t take much to get your plants jumping out of their skins. So what did we do? We found a ‘balanced’ liquid fertilizer with equal quantities of Nitrogen and Potassium and almost no Phosphorus. Problem solved.
Can this be fixed at home? I think so. If you are planting in pots, use a quality potting mix. I recommend Debco’s Terra Cotta and Tub mix. If you choose to add additional fertilizer I suggest Phostrogen – Tomato Food (phew their analysis agrees with mine, takes the Potassium levels even higher). We are in the process of trialing Debco’s Organic potting mix but I don’t have any suggestions for organic fertilizers in pots yet.
I haven’t mentioned growing in soil. Soil is great, use organic fertilizer like manure. Well prepared soil protects your Tomatoes from many disease problems.
Image from University of Minnesota. Michelle Grabowski. Click on the image to see the original.

Moving Spring Vegetables Outside?

HI Peter,
I am growing a variety of vegetable seedlings indoors (tomatoes, capsicums, zucchini, pumpkins, corn etc) and am wondering when I can plant them outside?
Regards,
Miriam
Have you noticed the forecast for Saturday? 3deg in Scoresby and frost patches not to mention the hail we have had this week.
The question of when to take young plants out from under protective cover is always vexed and you have to take a bit of a risk. The slightest hint of frost will make a terrible mess of Tomatoes, especially if they have only recently been moved outside.
Having said that the rule of thumb is these plants should thrive in the garden from early October. As a gardener you will develop a sense of when the Spring weather really turns. My feeling is this is still a week away this year, much later that it has been for a number of Spring seasons.