Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 20, 1994 TAG: 9403210192
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: John Arbogast
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sow spinach seeds in well-drained garden soil, high in organic matter, no more than half an inch deep about 2-4 inches apart in the row. Leaves should be ready to harvest 40-70 days later. Spinach is a medium-heavy feeder, so before seeding, scatter three cups of 10-10-10 fertilizer per 25-foot row and mix in thoroughly.
Two recommended spinach varieties are Melody, which is known to tolerate some heat, and Vienna. Other spinach varieties may be grown as well. However, be sure to select a "spring variety" rather than one listed as developed for fall gardening, because spring spinach varieties tend to be slower to bolt than fall ones.
Q: I need your advice on this question: What is required to encourage amaryllis bulbs to bloom? Ihave a number of bulbs with healthy foliage during the normal growing season (January - February) but which do not bloom. They experience normal die-back in the summer, being left unwatered until approximately six weeks prior to January, when they are watered weekly. Green, live foliage is not being clipped off. J.R.H., Salem
A major requirement for amaryllis bulbs to rebloom is that they have a very long cycle of leaf growth, with regular fertilizing, following a given bloom. Your mention of a "normal growing season of January and February" is not very long at all.
Here's the suggested procedure for an amaryllis. After flowers have faded and the flower stalk has been cut off or when new leaves form without blooming, keep the bulb growing in bright light with a night temperature in the upper 60s. Fertilize with liquid-balanced preparations every two weeks.
If the "green cycle" started during the winter, put the potted bulb outside when temperatures stay above 65 degrees F. The leaves like almost full sun, but move them into the sun gradually. Keep the roots lightly moist.
Follow these suggestions to keep the foliage growing all summer long until you gradually withhold water to bring the plant into its resting period in September or October. An amaryllis bulb may "rest" in any out-of-the-way dark location for two or three months during which time the bulb should be given only enough water to prevent soil shrinking. The bulb will produce new leaf tips or flower buds at the top of the bulb to indicate the end of the rest.
I am assuming that you have your amaryllis bulbs properly potted with a maximum space between bulb and side of pot of 2 inches, and that you have only half of the bulb covered with potting medium.
Send short questions about your lawn, garden, plants, or insects to Dear John, c/o the Roanoke Times & World-News, P. O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491. We need your mail, but this column can't reply to all letters. Those of wide appeal will be answered each week. Personal replies cannot be given. Please don't send stamps, stamped envelopes, samples or pictures.\ Gardeners' checklist
(Jobs to be done in mid to late March)
The end of March is a good time to plant radishes and leaf lettuce in Roanoke area vegetable gardens. Both vegetables do well in the cool part of the growing season and may develop poor flavor if grown when the weather is not. Leaf lettuce is much easier to grow than head lettuce. Plan to have a summer vegetable such as bush beans follow these spring vegetables in their location.
Non-flowering hedges can receive their first 1994 shaping now. As you clip or prune, be sure to leave the base of the plants wider than the top in order to allow sunlight to reach those branches too.
Resist the urge to give a regular application of turf fertilizer to your bluegrass or fescue lawn until the period of spring greening and usual rapid spring growth.
Do not dig in, spade, or rototil the garden when the soil is wet. Doing so will create chunks or clods of soil which may be present all summer.
John Arbogast is the agricultural extension agent for Roanoke.
by CNB