A Cool Tomato
Tomato plants appear at nurseries this month, but you may wish to wait until April or May to plant, especially near the coast. For fruit set, temperatures must be higher than they are now--vines will do a lot of growing but not much fruiting. The exceptions are the early varieties, such as ‘Early Girl,’ that were bred to set fruit in cooler weather. These will bear in spring and greatly lengthen the harvest. Be sure to leave room to plant, later on, a regular variety, and you will have tomatoes spring through fall. Clivia seed formed last year are ripe and ready to plant after this year’s flowers bloom. Though they are expensive to buy (almost a dollar a seed), many of us can have them free from our gardens. Because the seeds have a short shelf life, the secret is to take them from the plant and start them before they dry out. Each colorful capsule contains one to four seeds. Open the capsule and wash the seeds. Place them on a damp paper towel, fold it over and put it in a plastic bag. In a few weeks the seeds will sprout and can then be placed in a potting mix to grow; in three years they will bloom.
If you like to do your own pollinating, you can do it now on this year’s flowers. The pollen is ready when it comes off on your finger. The whole anther can be picked and touched to as many pistils (in the center of the flower) as desired. Some very serious pollinators then cover the flower with a plastic bag so no more pollinating can be done by bees and insects. Clivias are fun to work with because the parts of the flower are well exposed and the seeds are large. Amazing also is the fact that we can take a part of a plant and from it create a whole new plant. Streptocarpus , sometimes called Cape primrose and a relative of the African violet, can be started from its long fuzzy leaves. At this time of year use the old, large green leaves that are cut off to give the center of the plant a fresh start. Snap the center rib and place the leaf in a growing medium up to the location of the snap. After about a month a tiny new plant will be started where the break meets the soil. I have had some success when cleaning up streptocarpus by simply putting the leaves upright in the garden. I now have a little patch of the variety ‘Constant Nymph’ that has been in the garden going on four years. (Incidentally, my luck with African violets is nil.) Another method of propagating plants is to cut off the growing tip and insert it in sand or porous soil after removing the lower leaves. This is easy to do with marguerites, jade plants, geraniums, chrysanthemums, begonias, ivy, philodendron and privet, to name a few. Besides being fun, a considerable amount of money can be saved by growing your own.
