- Author: Alison Collin
In parts of the world where the growing season is short or there is a general lack of sunlight, tomatoes are often grown as cordons, which enables more of the available light to reach the fruit. In spite of being advised not to use this technique in the hotter parts of California, due to the risk of sunscald damage to the fruits, I thought that I would try it in the Owens Valley to see if I could increase my tomato plants' performance. Last year, I harvested only two red Brandywine tomatoes and was left with a huge crop of very green tomatoes at the end of the season.
This year I chose Pineapple, a large, yellow, low-acid, heirloom variety to see if there was a discernible difference between growing it as a cordon or the more traditional way.
Two closely matched 6” high plants were planted directly into the soil on April 22. Growing conditions could not be matched exactly, since the shrubby one was slightly more shaded than the cordon specimen; otherwise, cultural conditions such as soil and irrigation were the same. No covers or “walls of water” were used, liquid fertilizer was applied twice during the season, and the plants were not mulched, as they were grown adjacent to squash plants, and I wanted to minimize hiding places for squash bugs.
Method: Cordon tomatoes are grown by choosing an indeterminate variety, which is then tied to a tall, sturdy stake and trained as a single stem by removing all shoots from the leave axils as soon as they appear. Flower clusters develop from the main stem between the leaves, and the general advice is to allow the plant to produce about 6 trusses before pinching out the leading shoot to prevent further vertical growth. The stake was placed on the west side of the plant in order to protect the main stem from the most intense afternoon sun. The plant grew extremely well, and I had to be vigilant keeping it tied to the stake (using a soft tie which would not damage the delicate stem) and in removing the shoots which appeared and grew rapidly. If left for more than a few days, their removal caused a large wound which could potentially result in the entry of disease. Even with very little fertilizer, this plant soon reached 6ft and the lower clusters began to flower early, with about 5 flowers on each truss. On July 19, I picked my first fully ripe 10.5 oz tomato from this vine.
For the other plant, I staked and allowed it to sprawl over a 4-foot tomato cage made from field wire. No pruning was performed, and it soon made a thicket of healthy stems and foliage. I picked the first fruit from this plant on August 9, but had 3.5lbs of green tomatoes remaining in early October.
|
Cordon |
Unpruned |
First Fruit |
July 19 |
August 9 |
Last ripe fruit |
Sept. 19 |
Oct. 1 |
Fruit size |
Large |
Medium |
Total crop |
6 lbs |
15 lbs |
As can be seen from the above table, the cordon certainly produced ripe fruit much earlier than the unpruned plant, and the individual fruits were considerably bigger - often in the 13 oz range, while those from the unpruned plant averaged around 6oz. However, the cordon produced a much lower overall yield, stopped producing more noticeably during the very hot weather, and set far fewer individual fruit. Some of these issues could have been avoided by using better horticultural practices, such as mulch and regular fertilizer!
Although fruits on both plants suffered from some cracking, none was affected by sunscald in spite of having some very clear, hot days.
If space is limited and one wants to have a variety of different cultivars of tomatoes without having an enormous crop, then growing them as cordons might well be a useful method to try.
- Author: Alison Collin
This year appears to have produced a bumper population of Black Widow (Latrodectus) spiders. Having had too many close calls with these arachnids, I decided to eliminate as many as possible before I became a victim. I have no problems with other spiders and welcome them in the garden, appreciating their effect on the insect population and delighting in the beauty of a perfectly formed Orb spider's web. However, this summer it seemed that almost everything I touched had a Black Widow lurking underneath; when I filled my watering can one came out of the top as the water level rose, when I harvested my squash there was a large one under one of the fruits, the children's tree house had them in the corners, and as I was fitting a child's car seat into my car one emerged from under the seat as I tightened the final strap. Enough! I had to take action.
The first thing was to find out as much as possible about the habits and life cycles of the Black Widow, and the IPM website http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74149.html was invaluable for this. It shows photographs of not only adult female Widows with their shiny, black round bodies with the red hourglass markings on their lower abdomen, but also the male and immature forms, both of which look very different. Fortunately, these spiders are shy and tend to retreat to a hole or crevice if disturbed. This very habit means that the unwary may accidently disturb them and induce a bite – often by putting shoes on that have been left outside or by picking up such things as logs or pots that have one underneath. Their bite contains a neurotoxin which induces symptoms such as a localized rash, severe muscle cramps, possible paralysis of the diaphragm, nausea, vomiting, and changes in vision. Anyone bitten should use an ice-pack on the bitten area and then seek immediate medical help, if possible taking the culprit with them to confirm identification.
Black Widow spiders like to live in undisturbed clutter around homes and seem equally at home underneath garbage cans, under the covers of irrigation set-ups, in wood piles, in natural stone facing of retaining walls and houses, or in seldom-used children's' plastic toys where they build webs in the wheels and under seats. They are common in the darker corners of garages and sheds and will occasionally be found in similar spots inside homes. Their webs are not what we think of as the classic spider's web but rather a disorganized collection of very strong threads, often with bits of leaves or dead grass hanging in them and frequently containing small and very tough egg sacs which may contain up to three hundred eggs. The female can produce up to 10 of these from one mating! On average, they live for about three years. The population of these spiders is only maintained if there is enough food for them. It is not likely that there will be a shortage, since they will eat any insect: beetles, crickets, cockroaches and even scorpions.
I wanted to gain some control without the use of chemical sprays. I identified various webs, but as soon as I approached, the spiders would take cover in some inaccessible spot. Then a neighbor suggested that I go out after dark with a flashlight so, armed with an old shoe, I chose a warm moonlit night to begin my “Widow Vendetta”. I could not believe just how many spiders there were! On a raised planter bed with concrete stone edges, there was a large adult female about every 18 inches around the whole circumference. They were sitting in their webs upside down with their red hourglass markings clearly visible and they did not scuttle away when I shone the light on them, making a quick dispatch an easy matter. I then concentrated around the house foundations where there were dozens of tiny spiderlings setting up home. The flashlight had the benefit of casting their shadow onto the concrete path which made their exact position easier to see, and I often killed 30 spiders in one night. (I am relieved that this eccentric behavior has so far not appeared in the local “Police Blotter”)! I followed this routine every couple of weeks throughout the summer and swept the walls with a flat broom afterwards, which made it easier to spot new webs as they appeared. I have pruned vegetation back from beside the house and have tried to limit storage of items near entrances. A pressure jet of water could be used to dislodge some from more difficult positions, although that would surely be an egregious use of such a precious commodity during a drought.
Praying Mantises are particularly fond of these spiders, and some wasps parasitize them, so I am hoping that due to our combined efforts, we will gain some control. Meanwhile, I have been wearing gloves when performing gardening tasks, and have been carefully checking and brushing logs and plant pots before bringing them into the house. Only time will tell whether my efforts will make a noticeable difference to the Black Widow population, or whether I have upset the natural balance enabling some other noxious species to take hold instead.
For more info on Black Widows, see: http://www.livescience.com/39919-black-widow-spiders.html
- Author: Dustin Blakey
Recently the Eastern Sierra had some hard freezes that damaged plants. It's not that unusual for it to happen, but no one likes to see zapped foliage.
Let's start with the important thing first: your trees and shrubs will be fine!
When plants are dormant, they are prepared to take cold weather, but as growth begins moisture conditions inside the cells return to normal, fully hydrated state. Late freezes then turn cells into tiny ice cubes, killing them. That damage is usually visible once temperatures get above freezing the next day. Shoot tips and/or leaves will look wilted and sometimes darkened. Sometimes thin bark can be affected.
Hardy perennials, things like landscape shrubs, shade trees, and fruits may be damaged. How much damage is a function of the species, temperature, and how long the cold lasts. Generally speaking, these will recover fully. Growth this year may be reduced and fruit buds may be killed, but the plants will live.
Seeing all that dead foliage can be depressing, but the best thing to do in the short-term is nothing. Sometimes branches that look like goners are only mostly dead. Later they will resume growth. I suggest waiting until late June to see what will happen. At that point feel free to remove any dead parts. If you cut prematurely, you may be pruning living branches for no reason in places that you really shouldn't be cutting if you don't have to.
Now, if you have plants that didn't survive the winter—in other words never greened up at all—that is a different issue. In the picture below callistemon was planted in Bishop where it is not cold hardy. Winter killed these plants, not a late freeze. If they were growing in a place like Santa Clarita and they experienced a late frost, they would probably be alive but damaged.
More challenging is deciding what to do with vegetables. Warm-season plants like tomatoes, squash, and peppers frozen to the ground should be immediately removed and tossed into the compost pile. If only a little bit of the plant is frozen (it sometimes happens) you can prune that part off. If the plant is small, you may be better off replanting than waiting for recovery. Most of highly sensitive vegetables haven't yet been planted.
Cool-season plants are usually okay, especially root crops. A little frost won't hurt them. Some freezes may be bad enough that you might want to harvest them. It's nearing harvest time for some of those already. It's really a judgment call with no exact answer. Feel free to email the Master Gardener helpline if you want advice. (immg@ucanr.edu)
Of course the best thing to do is avoid frosts altogether! Proper soil temperatures for planting usually occur during our long frost season. Using walls-of-water or row covers should be a normal practice. A good rule of thumb in Owens Valley is that if the daytime high doesn't reach 72°F expect a frost on a clear night. And watch the forecast for storms.
Local wisdom of waiting until White Mountain Peak is clear of snow is not a reliable method to avoid frost.
- Author: Alison Collin
Although I'm familiar with bindweed from past experience, for some reason it had never put in an appearance in my West Bishop garden until three years ago. A year after removing a lawn and having some topsoil delivered I was upset to see a small, white, Morning Glory-like flower in a raised bed in the center of my new landscape!
How could I have missed its growth up to flowering point? I regularly inspect for all the other evil weeds such as spotted spurge, yellow oxalis, yellow clover and Russian thistle, so how had this specimen avoided detection? And where had it come from? It had grown up through a patch of gaura, winding itself around several stems and the flower that I saw was just the first of many waiting to bloom.
There are two types of bindweed. Field bindweed has smaller leaves and flowers which are pink or white while Hedge bindweed has larger white trumpet-shaped flowers more like ornamental Morning Glory.
Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) grows extremely fast. It has become a serious threat to agricultural crops in some areas of the country, and it is never good news in our gardens. It is a perennial weed with a very deep root system, able to penetrate as far as 16 feet below soil level! To make matters worse, the roots are soft and rather fragile. They merely break off if one tries to pull the plant up, leaving behind pieces that easily regrow. The leaves can vary from spade-shaped seed leaves to arrow-shaped on mature plants and the stems are from 1 to 4 feet in length, sprawling over flat surfaces but winding around any vertical stems or structures. The flowers produce copious amount of seed which has been known to stay viable for 50 years!
Realistically, is almost impossible to eradicate completely and the best one can hope for is to keep it under control. If seedlings are recognized and dug out before their roots have spread and before it has flowered one might eradicate it, but other methods of weed control seldom work. Covering a patch with plastic and solarizing will thwart it briefly, but will not kill deep roots, carefully hand digging out plants with as much root as possible will weaken it so long as this process is repeated whenever new growth appears. It is best to use a fork for removal because spades will inevitably cut through the roots making it difficult to get every last piece out. Likewise mechanical cultivators will chop up the roots and drag them to a new area, but for large agricultural areas there is little alternative, and so to address a heavy infestation this is done on a regular cycle as soon as any new growth emerges until the plants are weakened.
In my own garden I have removed any growth as soon as I see it. Nevertheless, shoots have appeared more than 10 feet away in two different directions from the original growth. The plant is established at the base of a young specimen maple tree, and the roots of the bindweed are beneath those of the tree, so consequently they are impossible to reach. I am sure that this is one gardening battle that I will never win, but currently I feel that I do have the upper hand.
Prevent spreading bindweed by inspecting any new plants brought in to the garden from other sources, and if you already have it don't be tempted to move plants around from one area to another, or share any garden plants with friends and spread it to their gardens! I saved a rather precious salvia by digging it up, washing and meticulously inspecting the roots for any scraps of bindweed, then planting it into a large pot where I kept it for several months before finally installing it in its new home.
For more detailed information regarding control of bindweed: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7462.html
- Author: Alison Collin
Blessed with good soil, I usually grow all of my vegetables in the ground, but this year I was tempted to create a raised bed for strawberries with space for some vegetables too. I went to town on the soil preparation and during the winter dug in my precious supply of leaf mold and some horse manure from the local stables and then before planting hoed in some commercial soil amendment too.
I sowed ornamental blue wheat, spinach and cilantro all of which germinated well and I planted the strawberries in late March. As I was planting them I noticed a lot of tiny wriggling worms in the holes. I looked at them with a hand lens and saw that they were segmented and legless, whitish and almost transparent. I mistakenly assumed that they were baby earthworms.
While searching for the culprit, I found that the soil was very wet, and teaming with the tiny wriggling worms which after visiting our Farm Advisor, I learned were white worms in the family Enchytraeidae.
It's likely the chard actually was being eaten by roly-polies* or earwigs as these little worms wouldn't be able to eat foliage. Roly-polies also like moist conditions with plenty of organic material to consume so this seems like a reasonable pest.
Enchytraeid worms are sometimes found in flower pots, hence their common name of "pot worms." These are basically beneficial since they live on fungus and decaying organic matter which releases nutrients for plants and aerates soil.
Like earthworms, they are true worms (Annelids). These are often found in moist conditions with high organic matter and a fair amount of acidity. That usually describes the mix in flower pots. Their presence when you're trying to raise worms for vermicomposting can mean there is a problem, but in the garden they are harmless.
These little critters were a good reminder of the importance of proper irrigation. They are present because of all the moisture. It is obvious that I need to alter the irrigation amounts in this highly enriched area of the garden.
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* Also called sowbugs or pillbugs. They're not really "bugs" but soil-dwelling crustaceans.