Wood Ashes Can Be Used as Liming Material
QUESTION: I saved a good batch of wood ashes and want to use them on the vegetable and flower garden. Are they safe?
ANSWER: No reason why you can’t use wood ashes on your lawn and in the flower and vegetable garden, if not overdone. Wood ashes have some nutritional value, but it’s better to think of them as a liming material rather than a fertilizer.
Wood ashes have a “neutralizing equivalent” of about 50% of that of limestone, the kind used by farmers and gardeners. All that means is that it will take about twice the weight of wood ashes as lime to cause the same change in soil acidity.
Example: If you need 5 pounds of limestone per 100 square feet of garden to change the soil acidity from pH 6 to 6.5 (make it less acid), you need about 10 pounds of wood ashes. Most flowers and vegetables do best in soils slightly acid.
Fungus Gnats Can Lay Eggs in Houseplant Soil
Q: We have tiny black flies that buzz slowly around our houseplants and bug us even while we read. What are they? Are they harmful?
A: Tiny black flies that congregate around houseplants are fungus gnats. They usually feed on fungi and organic matter in soil. However, in large numbers, they may lay eggs in soil which hatch into tiny larvae that feed on plant roots.
Larvae can be killed by drenching soil with a sudsy solution of Naptha soap. Or you can drench soil with a solution made by soaking tobacco in water until it becomes the color of strong tea. Warning: This solution is very toxic. Make sure no one drinks it by mistake.
Homemade Spray for Getting Rid of Aphids
Q: I heard there is a homemade formula for a spray that will kill aphids. Our pepper plants are loaded with them.
A: A homemade tobacco spray is very effective on aphids. However it should not be used on peppers because they are in the tobacco family, as are tomatoes. Because there might be some chance of spreading tobacco mosaic, which would affect any plant in the tobacco family (including eggplants), it is best not to use it.
Another good homemade spray is: 1 teaspoon of liquid hand dish-washing detergent to one quart of water, plus 1 cup of rubbing alcohol (70%).
Fickle Flirt Changes Flower Markings
Q: We have an African violet called Fickle Flirt. When flowers come out they are breathtaking but they change their markings. Why?
A: Fickle Flirt is an unusual beauty when it first flowers, but it has a tendency to change its markings. It is a “recessive” type, and like so many of the fantasy varieties, this trait comes out in the change in its markings. It’s outstanding in spite of its recessive trait.
