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Snails eating your garden? Are your transplants slow to get growing? How about your tomatoes? Don't worry, we're going to cover all these subjects this week.
Take snails, please! You may have already heard about copper barriers. It seems that snails and slugs receive an electric shock because of their watery nature and the conductivity of the copper when they try to clib across a copper barrier. Tests show there is 0-percent damage from snails when using such barriers. Copper strips are available in rools or packages from garden centers or mail-order companies. They can be buried an inch deep int he soila round plants or beds you wish to protect. Use small stakes to prop up the copper barrier. To economize, you might try cutting off the top three or four inches of plastic one-gallon cans and then wrapping the copper barrier only around the rim. The hard plastic makes it easy to form a free-standing barrier without the need of stakes. You're also saving on copper, wrapping it only around the rim. To Tangle or Not to Untange As for already-started bedding plants, vegetables and canned specimens, you'll get conflicting advice on whether or not to untange rootballs before transplanting. I know I've always planted with rootball instact, choosing not to disturb the roots. However, others advice breaking apart the rootball slightly first. Now we have proof from the National Gardening Association. Their tests show that transplants whose roots are left intact grow better than ones that were split open or untangled. It seems that newly transplanted flowers and vegetables will quickly generate new growing points all along the roots at the edge of the rootball, and will begin exploring new garden soil almost immediately -- so long as the soil is moist and in good contact with the rootbound mass. Give Tomatoes the Brush-off You probably already know that short, stocky tomato plants are the best type for transplanting. But when you're starting tomato plants from seed, it's often tough to keep plants short and stocky. Well, give them a hand. Researchers at the Georgia Experimental Station in Griffin, find that brushing tomato plants before there are any true leaves result in plants that are shorter, stronger and more resistant to wilting. Leaves develop closer together and are even a darker green. Researchers brushed plants with anything from a sheet of typing paper, a cardboard tube or wooden dowel -- something wet leaves won't stick to. Plants were brushed about 40 strokes in 90 seconds, and was done twice a day until plants were ready for transplant. Hey, if it works... Go To Page: 1
The copyright of the article Gardening Tips in California Gardening is owned by Keith Muraoka. Permission to republish Gardening Tips in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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