Plant Care & Gardening Tips@ HortChat.com©

I am having a problem with the simplest of plants : Strawberries. I have been able to grow them from seeds and then transplant them to my garden. However, I can not grow them from dry root plants. I first tried planting them outside, they died. I then tried soaking them for a little while and then planting them in posts, they are dying. They do very well for about a week and then they wilt, the leaves curl in and they die.

There could be a number of problems with planting your strawberries: When buying plants, make sure they are certified virus-free. Protect plant roots from drying out until you can get them into the ground 1. wrap them in plastic and refrigerate or 2. “Heal” them in the soil - dig a furrow deep enough to cover the roots with soil and water. This will work for a few days.

Strawberries need well-drained soil and at least 6 hours of sunlight. When planting make sure they are set in the correct depth and fan out the roots before covering them. Crowns planted too deep will smother and die. Crowns set too high above the soil will dry out. Plant in the spring on a cloudy day or late afternoon, in rich composted soil that holds moisture. The shallow roots get all their moisture and nutrients in the top few inches of the soil. Water after planting - do not let the soil dry out, spread mulch, straw or shredded leaves to keep the soil moist and control weeds. Do not plant strawberries in low-lying frost areas or in wet soil or where solanaceous crops suc as tomatoes and peppers have been grown for the last 5 years. This is a source for verticilium wilt which is a deadly disease for strawberries.

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Pumpkins
A sure sign that autumn is arriving is when you see piles of pumpkins in the stores. Large mounds of pumpkins arranged by size at the pumpkin farm allow children to pick the shape and size they want for Halloween. Today, this is probably the most popular use of Cucurbita pepo, Howden and Jack o Lantern, Connecticut field-type pumpkins.
This year 2007 the Guiness World Record pumpkin(Atlantic Giant seeds) is 1689 lbs. and took 87 days to grow.

Derived from the Greek word pepon meaning large melon, the word pumpkin went thru several changes. The French nasalized pepon into pompon, the English in turn pronounced it as pumpion and the American colonist (rebels that they were) changed it to pumpkin. Its long history dates back many centuries but originated in Central America.

There are many benefits to this Native American fruit (yes, it is considered a fruit). Pumpkins were used not only for food but medicine and other items. According to my HERBS book, the seeds were thought to expel worms and prevent prostate problems. The Native American used to roast seeds and strips of pumpkins on an open fire and eat them. They would also dry flattened strips and make mats out of them. Pumpkins were used for removing freckles and healing snake bites. The first pumpkins pie happened when Colonist cut the top off, removed the seeds, poured milk, spices and honey inside, then baked it in hot ashes. The pumpkin was then the crust, not the filling. Today, Pumpkins are still used as a vegetable, in soups, breads and pies. The flowers are edible and the seeds are still roasted and enjoyed as a delightful snack..

Pumpkins have come a long way; they vary in size, shape and color adding new avenues to creative decorations as well as culinary delights. Stemming from a large gene pool, some have been hybridized for unique shapes and coloration while others for their seeds, texture and flavor. Heirloom pumpkins seeds maintain the genetic bio-diversity that is important to future crops. Each unique variety that has been passed down for generations has developed some resistance to disease or pests which can be used to breed into modern varieties. The Seed Savers Exchange works diligently to preserve and save the genetic history of many crops from extinction. If you have some heirloom seeds to share, contact the Seed Exchange (seedsavers.org).

Happy Thanksgiving! Bake a pumpkin pie!
check out the Tale of Jack-O-Lantern

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Tips for growing tomato plants in a container

Three problems you should avoid: 1. Too small of a pot 2. overheated soil 3. fluctuating moisture

Choose the largest container available (eg. whiskey barrel) to allow plenty of room for root development. Make sure you use good, well-drained potting soil. The soil mix should retain some water but allow excess water to drain freely (don’t use garden soil). If your container does not have a drainage hole, add coarse gravel to the bottom of the pot. This also helps to weight down the pot so it doesn’t get knocked over on a windy day. Container plants will dry out faster and will require more frequent watering on hot days. Water mature plants when the top inch of soil is dry and then water until it drains from the bottom. Some afternoon shade from the hot sun will help keep the soil from getting too hot. Overheated soil will stress the plant causing poor growth of leaves and fruit production. Fluctuating moisture(too much, then to little) can cause problems such as blossom-end rot.
For optimim success grow special varieties that are designed for container gardening such as a Patio Hybrid, Totem Hybrid (70 days). Both have compact vines that produce medium sized tomatoes. Tomatoes need at least 6-8 hrs of sun. They are heavy feeders and frequent watering will leach the nutrients down the drain hole. Therefore, fertilize regularily (10-14 days) with a 10-10-10. You can also add a time-release fertilizer to the soil as a suppplemental fertilizer.

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Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. There are a number of varieties ranging from green slicers, small picklers, light green, yellow and white, not to mention the “burpless” cultivars and novelty dwarf bush plants.

PlantingSow seeds directly into the ground when soil and air temperatures are around 60 degrees F. Warm soil is necessary for good germination. Plant seeds either in a hill or row. To plant a hill, mound up soil to make a 12′ circle plant 4-6 seeds 1/2-1″ deep. The hills should be 2-3 feet apart in each direction. Thin seedlings to 3 plants per hill. For row planting, thin seedlings to one per foot. Add compost to soil to help retain moisture and provide nutrients. You can have a second planting 5 weeks after the first for a fall harvest. Cucumbers should produce 50-60 days after seed planting.

Care
Cucumbers are shallow-rooted and require uniform moisture throughout the growing season. Water deeply. Hot, dry conditions will produce bitter and poorly shaped fruit. When seedlings are 1 ft. tall and begin to vine, side-dress with compost or a nitrogen fertilizer and mulch to maintain even moisture. Provide a sturdy support such as an A-frame trellis or plant next to a fence for cucumbers to climb on. It will make the cucumbers easier to find and is a more efficient use of space.
Harvest cucumbers every other day. Pick when they are uniformly green, firm and crisp. If left on the vine too long the fruit will become fat, yellow and bitter and will slow down new production. The more you pick the more you get. Do not handle plants when wet.

Pests:
Cucumber beetle is a yellow or greenish yellow beetle with black spots or stripes that feed on the leaves and blossoms. The beetle infects the plant with bacterial wilt which causes the plant to wilt and die when half grown. The beetles are attracted to stressed plants. Preventative: Cover the seedlings with floating row cover until flowers emerge and when the beetle is present spray with Rotenone , Carbaryl or Pyrethrins.

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Cascading tomatoes

Here’s an innovative way to grow tomato plants. You need a hanging basket 10″ or larger. Make a hole in the middle at the bottom of the basket just large enough to insert a tomato plant . Once you have made this hole, insert your tomato plant thru the hole planting it upside down. The root ball is now inside the basket and the plant hangs out from the bottom. Fill your basket with potting soil and a time release fertilizer and hang it in a sunny spot. I’m going to hang mine on a shepherd’s hook in my flower bed, where there is lots of sun and perhaps another on my deck so that I can have easy access to tomatoes when I need them. I’m sure we can all get creative as to where to hang these baskets. I haven’t tried this method yet but imagine that a smaller variety of tomato such as “Patio Princess” would work better than your large beefsteak varieties due to the weight of the tomatoes.

So dig out your empty hanging basket from last year and plant a tomato upside down. If you don’t have an empty hanging basket there are specially designed containers available on the internet.
If you do try this method, please write back and let us know your success story.

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Late season Tomato tips

As the summer season comes to an end, thoughts of the cold weather and eminent frost
comes to mind. Your tomato plants look great, loaded with all those green tomatoes and now it becomes a race against time to ripen them. Good grief!! what do I do with all these green unripe tomatoes?

Here are some suggestions to help your tomatoes ripen faster.
One trick is to root prune the plant. Dig a spade or garden fork into the soil 6-8″ deep and cut around a circle 12″ from the stem. Rock the spade back and forth to “shake” things up a bit. Careful not to dig up the plant. This pruning will stress the plant and signal it to ripen the fruit faster.

Another tip to hasten ripening is to pinch off any flowers and fruit that is too small and will not mature in time. Trim back any new shoots so that the plant will use its energy to ripen the fruit instead of producing new growth. Start doing this about a month before an expected frost date.

What to do with all those green tomatoes?.
If Mother Nature throws you an unexpected frost and you still have lots of green tomatoes, there is still hope. Harvest all your green tomatoes. Check for blemishes, bruises or spots and discard the bad ones. The best tomatoes for ripening will be ones with a slight yellow-pinkish color at the blossom end. Clean the tomatoes in a 1 percent bleach solution. (1 tablespoon of Clorox to 1 gal. water) dry and place in a shallow tray lined with newspaper. Do not let them touch each other. Keep them in a dark room at 60-70 degrees. They need warmth not light to ripen. Check often for any spots, leaking or rotting and discard bad tomatoes immediately as they can affect the others. Ripening can take 3-4 weeks. Some varieties, such as Long Keeper that store better than others.
You can also fry or pickle the green tomatoes.

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Growing Peppers
Growing Peppers

Peppers are considered a warm season vegetable. There are many varieties of peppers ranging from sweet to hot. One of the oldest and popular garden varieties is the sweet, thick-walled bell pepper ‘California Wonder’ introduced by C.C. Morse in 1928. Peppers are warm-weather plants that take 70-90 days to mature. In the colder climates, peppers should be started from seeds two months before planting in the garden.

Starting peppers
Peppers do best when started from seeds. They require temperatures of 78-80 degrees and can take 3 weeks to germinate.
Before setting plants in the garden they need to be “hardened off“. This is done by setting the plants outdoors in a protected area when daytime temperatures are in the 60’s and bringing them inside at night. Gradually increase exposure each day for a week or more. Avoid direct sun and too much wind. When nighttime temps reach 60 degrees and the danger of frost has passed, plant seedlings in full sun (8-10 hrs) spacing 18-24 inches apart. Transplants should be planted at the same depth as grown in their container- too deep can suffocate the roots. Don’t plant peppers where you previously grew tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant. They all belong in the same Solanaceous family and are susceptible to the same soil borne diseases.
If night temperatures drop below 55 degrees or lower, peppers will grow very slowly, foliage will turn yellow and the flowers (if any) will drop off.

Care
Peppers prefer a well-drained, rich loamy soil. Use a starter fertilizer such as Quick Start (4-12-4) when transplanting and provide 1 inch of water per week throughout the growing season. Uniform moisture is essential. Overhead watering is not recommended especially when the plants are in bloom as it will wash away the pollen and eliminate fruiting. Be careful not to apply too much fertilizer as adding too much nitrogen will give you a large leafy plant and no fruit. Once a crop of peppers is set, use an organic fertilizer with a low nitrogen ratio such as 1-3-3.

Hot, dry winds and dry soil prevent fruit set. So, if you live in a region with extremely hot temperatures look for peppers with” TAM” (Texas A&A) or Numex in their names. They were bred to set fruit in temperatures above 100 degrees.

Buy Super Heavyweight Sweet Peppers

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Would someone teach me how to sucessfully plant and grow sweet corn?

Depending on the cultivar, sweet corn needs 60-100 warm days to grow. I do not think that would be a problem in S. Florida. It also requires 8 to 10 hours of full sun, good drainage and lots of room. In warm soils, plant seeds 1-2 inches deep, in groups or hills with 3-4 seeds in them. Space the hills about one and a half feet apart. Seeds may also be sown in single rows of 9 inches apart, spacing 2 to 3 feet between rows, with a minimum of 4 rows to assure cross pollination. Corn is a heavy feeder and needs ample nutrients to produce, therefore, before planting apply 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of one and a 1/2 pounds per 100 square feet to the soil. When the corn gets about one and 1/2 feet tall, again side-dress with 10-10-10. Once the plants are tasseling and silking make sure it has at least one inch of water per week. Do not allow wilting at this time as it will affect pollination and kernel development.
Harvest when ears have filled in with milky juice and silks begin to turn brown. This occurs about 20 days after the first silk strands appear. Pick before the racoons and grackles find out that your corn is ready. They find it irresistible and so will you! The ears should be eaten as soon as possible, or refrigerated. Once picked, the sugars decrease rapidly and starch content increases. Sweet corn is well worth the effort once you taste the fresh picked ears.

Buy Sweet Corn

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Capsicums
The capsicum species has a wide range of members with hundreds of known varieties spanning from sweet to very hot. Originally known as chilies, they were mistakenly renamed by Columbus thinking he found a source of black pepper; instead he brought to the New World red pepper or chile.

The name Capsicums comes from the fiery ingredient in peppers known as capsaicin, which gives the pepper all its heat. This heat is measured by the Scoville Heat Index invented by pharmacist Wilbur Scoville. It indicates how much sugar-water is necessary to cancel the burn on the tongue. For example, if a pepper is rated at 3,000 Scoville units, it takes 3,000 times the volume in sugar-water to neutralize the burn of the capsaicin.

Did you know? Hot peppers are beneficial in protection against peptic ulcer and gastrointestinal injury from aspirin. Capsaicin has antibacterial and anesthetic properties. It is also used as active ingredient in arthritis treatments. Peppers also have great nutritional value. Rich in vitamin A and C, they contain age-defying and disease fighting antioxidants. I know someone who loves hot peppers and never seems to get sick.

One of the hottest peppers known is the Red Savina. Closely-related to the Habanero (Scotch bonnets), it is a few hundred thousand units hotter that the average habanero. It measures a flaming 577,000 on the Scoville scale, 15 times hotter than a jalapeno 3,500-7,000 units). The McIlhenny Co. known for their Tabasco hot sauce uses Red Savina as their main ingredient in their Habanero hot pepper sauce.

A new member to upstage the Red Savina is the thumb size chili pepper from northeast India called bhut jolokia the “ghost chili". It measures more than 1 million Scoville units! According to Guiness World Records, it is the hottest chili in the world. Wheew! that’s one spicy chili!

In general, the bigger the pepper the milder it will be, the smaller the hotter. Nutrients increase as the pepper ripens but decrease with cooking. The redder a sweet pepper is, the sweeter it will be. With hot peppers, the riper (redder) the hotter they will be. Most of the heat (capsaicin) is concentrated in the ribs and seeds.

Take care when handling hot peppers.
Wear rubber gloves. Don’t touch your eyes or sensitive areas. Wash cutting surface and utensils with hot soapy water.
If you have an unexpected encounter with ingesting a hot pepper, don’t go for the water. It will just distribute the heat. Capsaicin is soluble in fat and alcohol, not water. Drink beer or better milk or yogurt to ease the burn.

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