|
|
|
Summer garden questions and answersBy Tara McKnight Texas AgriLife Extension Service agent, horticulture, Wichita County Here are a few more questions that have come up around the office about vegetable garden problems. Q. About the time my tomatoes ripen and turn red, I lose at least half my crop to bird damage. What can prevent this? A. Bird damage is common in all areas. One control method which works quite well is to take old nylon stockings and cut them into pieces 10 to 12 inches long. Tie a knot in one end of the stocking and slip the open end over the entire cluster of tomatoes. Secure the end above the tomato cluster with a rubber band or twist-tie. Birds will not be able to peck through the nylon. Slip the stocking off the cluster and harvest the ripe fruit and replace it to protect later-ripening fruit. Also, birds damage fully mature fruit more readily than green or pink fruit. Harvest the fruit a little early. Gardeners have tried many ways to reduce bird damage. Scarecrows, aluminum strips, tin foil plates and noisemakers will work until the local birds become accustomed to seeing or hearing them. Fabric covering materials such as Grow-Web and Reemay can also be used as a barrier mechanism. Q. If tomatoes are picked green or before they are fully mature, how should they be handled to insure proper ripening and full flavor? A. Never refrigerate tomatoes picked immature. Place them in a single layer at room temperature and allow them to develop full color. When they are fully ripe, place them in the refrigerator several hours before eating. Those handled in this manner will be of high quality and full flavor. Q. Why do my pepper plants often bloom but fail to set fruit? A. Peppers, like tomatoes, are sensitive to temperature. Most peppers will drop their blooms when daytime temperatures get much above 90 degrees F. in combination with night temperatures above 75 degrees F. They will also drop their blooms in the early spring if temperatures remain cool for extended periods. Hot peppers, such as jalapenos, withstand hot weather fairly well and can often produce fruit through the summer in most areas. Optimum temperatures fall between 70 degrees and 80 degrees F. for bell-type peppers and between 70 degrees and 85 degrees F. for hot varieties. Q. I have ants all over my okra. Do they hurt the plants? A. It was once thought that ants did not hurt okra production and were mainly visiting okra plants to get honey-dew produced by sharpshooters, aphids or other sucking insects. However, that was before the imported fire ant. Fire ants feed on the base of developing blooms before the bloom buds open, causing them to abort. This will cause okra to stop producing. Locate fire ant mounds and kill the mounds or use baits around the outside of the garden area to kill the inconspicuous mounds. Q. What causes my bean plants to bloom but not set pods? A. Excessive fertility often causes beans to bloom profusely but fail to set any pods. High temperature combined with low humidity can also cause beans not to set. Planted at the right time and without excessive fertility, most recommended varieties will produce a crop of high-quality beans. A light fertilizing after the first harvest will greatly increase subsequent yields and improve quality of later harvested beans. Beans must receive 8 to 10 hours of direct sunlight to produce maximum yields. Q. I have large translucent areas on my tomato fruit. What's going on? A. This is an environmental problem. The translucent areas are sun scalds. Heat from direct intense sunlight destroys the color pigments of the tomato. This damage does not make the tomato inedible. We will cover more questions regarding vegetable gardens next week. Your garden and landscape questions are always welcome. You may either contact me at our county Extension office, 716-8610, or by e-mail, tcmcknight@ag.tamu.edu. You are always encouraged to visit the Wichita County Master Gardner website at www.overthegardengate.org. Another great website to visit for very useful garden hints and answers is http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/. This article, along with every article, will also be featured on www.joetomwhite.com 24 hours a day under county agents. 7/7/08 Date: 6/30/08 Advertisement
Copyright/Privacy
Copyright 1995-2009. High Plains Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com |
Market Snapshot Inside Futures |
