Tomatoes Improve With a Little Neglect
QUESTION: My tomato vines are growing like crazy, but there are no tomatoes and hardly any blossoms. What can I do to get tomatoes?
ANSWER: The problem, believe it or not, is too much tender, loving care! Although tomato plants often benefit from the application of a relatively high-phosphorus fertilizer and plentiful watering for the first month or two after planting, too much nitrogen fertilizer and ample water make the plants so very happy that they grow just for the fun of it and never get down to serious business.
The remedy, surprisingly, is neglect. Once tomato plants start to grow well in the garden, stop watering them until they begin to wilt; then water sparingly until blooms form. When flowers appear, it helps to gently “tickle” them with a finger; that shakes the pollen loose and causes the fruit to set.
It’s fascinating that often, when tomato plants get lazy and then sense a threat to their cozy lifestyle, they’ll finally go to work and start reproducing like crazy . . . and you’ll have a fine crop after all!
So, stop watering those lush, overgrown tomato plants. They’ll soon get the idea that you mean business, and they’ll produce.
The Dirt on How to Make Good Compost
Q: How do I make good compost?
A: Successful composting is a rewarding experience, primarily because you earn it through personal effort over a period of time. Composting consists of piling up grass clippings, leaves, garden refuse, coffee grounds, vegetable waste, fruit waste, etc., so it will decompose into a rich humus. Optimal results are obtained when you do it this way:
1--Materials for composting must be smaller than the size of a walnut. Do not use diseased ingredients.
2--Stack the debris 4 to 6 feet high inside a bin with slatted sides to allow for air circulation.
3--Add a handful or two of high-nitrogen fertilizer (such as ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulfate) with every load of raw material--this helps speed decomposition and adds nutritional value to the finished product.
4--Sprinkle the mass from time to time with water. It should always be about as damp as a squeezed sponge.
5--Turn and mix the heap at least weekly with a spading fork. This is a must if you want good compost; it aerates the mix and keeps the bacteria active. It also minimizes fly problems.
6--In three to six months (depending on temperature and humidity), your compost is ready to be screened or sifted; a 1-inch screen will yield humus appropriate for general garden use. Return the coarser material to the compost pile for further decomposition.
What Type of Lilacs Grow Well Locally?
Q: Can you tell me how to grow lilacs in our area?
A: Our wonderfully mild winters, unfortunately, prevent us from growing several very desirable types of plants that require considerable cold weather to thrive. Most lilacs are in this category.
However, “Lavendar Lady,” a fine lilac developed especially for our area years ago by Descanso Gardens, does well in almost all local conditions (except right on the coast) and is fairly readily available in many garden centers.
Plant “Lavendar Lady” in full sun. It is perfectly adapted to our soils and requires only “average” watering, even tolerating some drought when established. Shape newly planted bushes for a year or two by breaking the tips out of new shoots. Spring feeding with a balanced plant food is beneficial, but no other special care is necessary.
Lavendar Lady lilac is an easy-to-grow, often-overlooked prize in our gardens.
There’s a Reason They Call Them ‘Annuals’
Q: I received a beautiful potted Exacum and followed the instructions precisely (which is unusual for me), but it still withered away. What happened?
A: Exacums are sold as lovely house plants full of luxuriant emerald foliage and beautiful bluish flowers. Two major precautions commonly apply to the growing of all house plants: (1) never use “soft” water on house plants; it is quickly lethal to them. And (2) always let the soil mix dry out between waterings; the most common killer of house plants is over-watering.
Now, having said that, the problem with your Exacum may not be related to water at all. These plants are “annuals”; that is, they thrive for one blooming season then automatically die, no matter how much proper care you give them. It’s in their genes.
