THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 13, 1995 TAG: 9508130123
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING REMINDERS
SOURCE: Robert Stiffler
LENGTH: Long : 111 lines
A MENTION OF tomato blight a few weeks back brought an avalanch of letters. Seems everyone has the problem. Spraying with Daconil is the best solution, but when August arrives and tomatoes have blight, there's not a lot you can do to stop it.
Don't give up, because some varieties, especially Better Boy, will come back in the fall and give you ripe tomatoes into October. You may have problems with birds eating them, because blighted leaves expose green and ripe tomatoes. The best solution is Agritape, a Mylar tape that is red on one side and silver on the other. Tie strips over your tomatoes, and it will keep the birds away. It available in garden centers and works great on fruit trees too. STARTING PANSIES FROM SEED
Virginia Tech's Diane Relf says that now is a good time to start pansies if you want to grow them from seed. Use a cold frame or prepare a seed bed in a partially shaded area. If rabbits are a problem, use hanging baskets, with a mix of garden soil and commercial planting mix. Make sure the surface is pulverized because pansy seed is light and fine.
One or two packets of seed will give you all the plants you need. Cover seed only one-eighth inch deep and water with a misty spray. Keep soil moist until seedlings appear in two weeks. Moisture is crucial. If the soil dries out even for a short period, the plants may die. Keep them out of the sun and away from drying winds.
When fall comes, set the plants out. Take a generous ball of soil with each plant and set them 6 inches apart, watering thoroughly. GIVE PLANTS TIME TO ADJUST
Never give up on a plant. In mid-winter, I transplanted two crape myrtles seedlings. Neither put out leaves this spring, and I pulled one up and threw it away. I never got around to pulling up the second one, and in mid-July, it started to leaf out.
Moving plants is a much greater shock to them than most of us comprehend. Have faith and give every plant - new or moved - 12 months to revive. If they still show no signs of life, remove them. There's nothing that spoils a landscape more than a dead shrub or tree. MONET'S WATER LILIES
The Chrysler Museum is having a showing of Claude Monet's Water Lilies painting through Sept. 3. French impressionist painter Monet is famous for his flower gardens and lily ponds and his paintings of them. There are lectures every Wednesday and Sunday this month, plus flower lectures and workshops. No fee, but a voluntary contribution is requested. Call 664-6200. KEEP CRAPE MYRTLES PRUNED
A gardener called from her car phone the other day and asked, ``Why can't Norfolk prune their crape myrtles to be pretty like Virginia Beach does? I'm driving down the Boulevard, and they're all pruned to bloom like fountains - and all the shoots are cut away from their base. In Norfolk, they look like overgrown weeds, with shoots coming up all around their roots.''
I've not observed many of Norfolk's city flowers recently, but all crape myrtles should be kept pruned at their bases. If not, they'll start to look like weedy shrubs. If yours need that kind of pruning, do it now.
As to their shape, experts debate the proper way to prune crape myrtle. To achieve the fountain shape, which I prefer, they need to be cut way back between Dec. 1 and March 1. Then they'll throw out new growth, with blooms on the ends of the new growth. Blooms start around July 1 and last up to 100 days. SET TRAPS FOR SLUGS
Dry weather is bad for slugs, because they like to lurk in cool, wet places.
The Green Thumb EXTRA says: ``Most of us have heard about trapping slugs with beer, but why waste good brew on the wily slug? It's not the alcohol that attracts them, but the fermented yeast. The non-alcoholic Kingsbury Malt Beverage seems to be the most attractive in luring slugs into traps. Place the beverage in empty yogurt containers, tuna cans or baby food jars as traps. Dig holes throughout the garden the size of the containers and sink the traps into the soil with the top rims flush with ground level. If you want to make a homemade bait, use 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon yeast dissolved in 1 cup of warm water.'' To subscribe to this garden newsletter, send $15 for one year (five issues) to P.O. Box 17614, Denver, Colo. 80217-0614. DISEASE ATTACKING BASIL
Readers are reporting problems with a fusarium wilt of basil that started in Russia and has spread to the United States through contaminated seed. The first sign is wilting leaves, followed by defoliation, streaks on the stem and death of the plant. Lemon basil and some purple cultivars have some resistance.
It's a soil-problem. Fungicides, fumigation, crop rotation and resistant cultivars are the recommended ways to control the problem. The disease can stay in the soil for four years, so plant your basil in a different spot every year. BE CAREFUL ABOUT BEES
With hot weather come bees and butterflies. Bumblebees do not instinctively hate you. They'll leave you alone if you do likewise. But when cutting flowers, be careful, because they consider that an invasion of their territory. They often hide under the bloom. I recently got stung while cutting zinnias. If you get stung, a rub with a piece of aloe plant can soothe the sting. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
If you want to grow pansies from seed, now is the time to start
them.
by CNB