Answers to your gardening questions (by those in the know!)

Olga - you're heading for failure - Peter Cundall says to plant in autumn!

Well, would I ever argue with Peter?
Sacrilege.

Though no harm done in doing a trial run in spring, I guess?

There are nurseries and nurseries. I say this today as I'm typing up all my landscape architecture and gardening books re possible donation places.
I'm holding back a couple, like the one from 1912 with original photos of italian gardens. I just can't give it away yet. Anyway, among them are some super nurseries, though I've kept the catalogs to only a few.

I'll check a link, may post one.

I hope you do, osso!

I can't remember if I tossed the horrible one - early eighties, an owner's placing of his nubile daughters or friends in front of trees...
I kept that for a while as an artifact.

If your gonna plant in spring think VERRY early spring and make sure youve stored your garlic seed bulbs in a frig just above freezing for a few weeks. The CAlif growers who plant in spring go through some tricks to fool the bulbs into thinking they are being stratified. Remember a garlic is just another allium just like a daffodil. You cant force daffodils by just planting them in spring. They wont bloom (and may not bllom at all) until the NEXT year. Its because of their need for a stratification period(intense cold). And its better to plant the bulbs before the winter solstice. If, like Calif you plant after the solstice try to make it as early as possible.
When I lived in California, we would consider January the beginning of spring, so that would be like late June to you..

BTW hows yer soil? is it thick clayey or is it well drained? Use some bone meal turned into the soil for bulb formation .

Garlic grown at home is superior to any you could buy. You can pick the seed with the taste you want. (I go for the really spicy hot garlic and this is very popular from folks we give em to including this little cafe that uses em in their salads and sammich spreads).

Yeah well ... it's hardly early spring anymore here, farmer. Though theoretically my state is in the temperate zone .... getting hotter summers by the year, though.

So perhaps it is too late for a successful garlic planting. Though I may conduct an "experiment", anyway .... just to see what happens, while not holding my breath for terrific results.

My soil is definitely clayey. And alkaline, too, if that's important.


Yes, my parents grew the most fantastic garlic at home! I haven't found any bought varieties to come close to it for taste.

You know, I don't think I've ever come across hot, spicy garlic .... I'm going to have to do some serious investigating to see what's available here. Come autumn I may plant a variety of different types.

Then get you some big plastic pots and fill the bottom with stone and put in a small layer 4" maybe of your native soil. THEN cover the entire pot with a bag or two of potting soil. Grow yer garlic densely in the pot and keep it on your patio. You can still grow the hard stemmers for their scapes which are a treat themselves. You are becoming an experimental botanist .



I know. Our darkest time is the time between our Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then its a seasonal climb to spring again. Time shore does move fast when I turned 55

OK!
Will do!
I will report back in late autumn.

I already grow tomatoes in a couple of (humongous) pots .... not enough garden space left for them for starters & they drain all the goodness out of the soil. So I prefer to keep them separate.

BTW, last week I planted a supposedly "heritage Amish " tomato plant ... it's doing well. Though how authentically "Amish" it might be, who knows?

Advice, anyone?

It's about my mandarin tree (again).

Not too long ago I gave it a really major prune ... not much choice about that as it had grown far too big & wide for the space it lives in.
I figured that there wouldn't be much/any fruit next winter, but that's OK. The major prune was really necessary.

So now (spring) I've noticed that the (heaps of) new growth is covered in aphids. I've notice ants on the new growth as well.
PLUS quite a bit of leaf curl on the new leaves, which makes getting rid of the aphids almost impossible.

So OK, I did a bit of research online .... & the advice was not to use any treatment which involves spraying the leaves oil-based products (I usually make my own "white oil") during very hot weather because it will "cook" the leaves. (we've already had quite few really hot days this spring, followed by really heavy rain, followed by quite cold days, followed by really windy days, followed by very humid days ..... you get the picture. Extremely changeable weather.)

I tried hosing the leaves at high pressure, but the aphid infestation remains.
The leaf curl makes it too difficult to properly get rid of them, even if a hose regularly ...

THEN I read to simply remove all the affected new growth ... which means prune no#2, in a pretty short time.

So my question (finally! ) is what would you advise in the circumstances?
As I said before, I'm not too worried about missing out on next winter's crop. I'm more concerned about the health of the tree.

I was also wondering if aphids & ants could do any long-term damage to the health of the tree if left untreated.

Thanks in advance,
Olga
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Get some ladybugs from a local nursery or mail order catalog.

We have a similar problem in our garden, aphids and white flies, and I've already got an order in for ladybugs to be shipped in June next year.

A mild neem oil solution (available at most garden centers) will also help remedy the pests.

Interesting that you say that, Butrflynet.
I haven't seen ladybugs for years & there they were on my mandarin tree the other day!
I was really excited!
Aha, so they're there for a purpose?

I might make up another batch of my own oil for such purposes, but I was concerned about the online advice about using oil-based products during extreme heat ..... also, the leaf curl makes it rather hard to get at the aphids.

You aren't in extreme heat yet are you? Sounds like it is just an occasional warm Spring day. What they probably mean by "extreme heat" is sustained temps over 95 degrees.

Ah yes, Butrflynet, we've had some very hot days already (for spring).
Followed by all sorts of other unusual weather ... like a few days ago, parts of the state received a month's rainfall in one day.
A pretty weird November!

and now it's summer! Yay!

By golly, you're right, margo!
First day of summer.
How did it get here so quickly?

Advice from our tomato experts, please:

One of my tomato plants, which is growing in a huge pot, has developed lots of yellowing leaves (which started at the bottom, but the yellowing is now working its way up the plant) ... some of the leaves are dying at the extremities if the stems. Possibly/probably as a result of extreme weather conditions ... extremely hot for a couple of days, followed by moderate, even chilly weather (by summer standards), plus days of high winds, even hail, on a few occasions ....
However the plant is covered with a lot of fruit, at various stages of development and new fruit is continuing to develop at the top of the plant.. So it appears that only the leaves have been affected ... so far.

Any advice, please, about whether this is a major cause for concern (given that the fruit appears to be healthy) though none at the ripening stage yet. (Late fruiter).
Should I remove the yellowing leaves?
Should I increase the amount of food this plant is receiving?
Anything else I should be doing?
It has been a very healthy plant apart from this ... it's way over 6 ft tall (really ) & growing!

Thanks in advance,
Olga

sorry msolgs but that sounds a lot like the fusarium wilt. You should isolate that plant cause it can spread if you touch the affected plant and then the soil of the others.

Id dump the sick plant (there may be some good tomatoes on it they are of to eat). THEN, make sure you dump the soil WAAAAAAY away from your garden. Next crop, dont re-use any potting soil, dont overwater yer plants let em droop a bit to tell you they need water, and Sterilize or get rid of your present pot. If you use a mix of 3% clorox in water and let the clorox water just sit there in the pot for a few hours then dump the water and clorox mix and let the pot dry.
One of the reasons I dont like "aptio gardening" is just because of this. I will grow pots of herbs and one patio mini tomato but we always expect the patio tomato to crap out from some disease before september (our late summer).

SOils especially composts can develop funguseses, and other pathogens. Also, at least in big box stores, they often have these seed starting mills in some distant location where pathogens arent worried about.
Thats one of the reason I dont buy any starter plants from Wal MArt, Lowes, Home Depot, or K mart. They all use the same seed starter locales in Ga and Fla and what we get is a festering pile of diseased plants that develop late rot, leaf rot, wilts and all kinds of ****.

I only buy locally started seeds or I start my own.
ALSO, next time, buy tomatoes with resistance or immunity to the wilts and rots.
sorry maam

I'm thinking you might be right, farmer, but I'm hoping you're wrong.
I Googled fusarium wilt for more information.

Yes, some yellowing leaves like this:


But not nearly as bad as this:



OK, I used a (good quality, I thought) compost.


Ah. Bought it from Bunnings. Big chain outlet.
Though I've bought heaps of plants from them in the past (including tomatoes) with no problems till now.

You know, I've never heard of this fungal disease till now & I've been growing tomatoes each summer for quite a few years now. (About the past 6 years in big pots, due to lack of space & suitable spots in my current garden.

I think what I'll do is give the plant a few day's reprieve & see what eventuates. There is possibility that I've over-watered it during a few extremely hot & windy days ... says she, grasping at straws.

That pot is in full sun for most of the day ... the other one (cherry tomatoes) is in a slightly more sheltered spot. And it's doing really well.

Anyway, I'll see what happens.

Thanks very much for sharing your knowledge & passing on that advice, farmer.
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still, try moving your plants apart by severasl tens of feet (if you can). You can spread fusarium by just touching the infected plant and then touching another one.

Fusarium wilt hit us hard along with a "late blight" several years ago when we had record rains.
I was merciless in destroying plants that began showing symptoms That saved the bulk of my tomatoes .

Also, another hint is to cut away the bottom most leaves to create anairy opening at the plant bottom. Make this as large as 4 to 6 " . That lets the moisture get blown away and it gives the tomatoes a nice free flow of air along the bottoms. SOmetimes if the yelowing is merely iron deficiency (Which I dont think yours is from your description), The airy zone would revive a plant in a week or less.