Q.
    Is it safe to use mothballs in my vegetable garden to prevent rabbits from eating my plants? I was told to do this in my flowerbeds as well.
Anne Marie

A.
    If your plants are well established mothballs should do little harm. There are many branded products on the market to deter rabbits if the mothballs don't work.

Q.
    Hi: How do I account for large, healthy zucchini plants not producing any mature fruit? One plant is five feet wide, with a dozen fruit on it, and they never get any bigger than a few inches, and rot at the ends. Five hills, and no zucchini so far. I thought they were prolific!
David, Churchville, VA (Shenandoah Valley)

A.
    The insects are not pollinating the flowers. Try pollinating by hand, transferring the pollen from the male to the female flowers with a soft feather. The female flowers are the ones with the small fruit at the base.

Q.
    Why do our carrots look great when we are ready to dig them, but many of the carrots have three or four small finger carrots rather then one nice long carrot?
Thanks

A.
    Carrots need a deep dug, alkaline, soil with plenty of organic matter mixed into the soil. Heavy clay or stony soil will produce carrots with forked roots, as will heavily compacted soil. Do not feed with artificial fertiliser until the seedlings are well established, Fertiliser must be low nitrogen, high potash, high phosphates, say 10. 20. 20. Add lime to the soil while preparing the plot.

Q.
    Hi, Thanks for taking my question:
For the past three years my vegetable garden has been yielding less and less vegetables. More foliage but less fruit and the fruit that's there most times shrivel up and drop off. This happens mostly with zucchini and pumpkins. Can you suggest a remedy?
Thank You Warren

A.
    This sounds as if your soil is too acid and lacking in organic content, apply a generous amount of garden lime to make the soil more alkaline, also dig in some humus into the soil. Garden compost, farmyard manure, or horse manure would be ideal.

Question.
    Please can you advise me why I seem to have tomatoes growing on the stems of my container grown potatoes.

Answer.
    The tomatoes on your potato plants are actually the seedpods of the potato plant. Tomatoes and potatoes are related plants, that is why they are similar. Do not eat them they are not edible.

Question.
    I have some pumpkins, which seem to be dying where the main stems contact with ground...see photo. The remainder of the vine looks okay for now, any ideas? Kathy

Answer.
    This could be a mosaic virus (very dry conditions) or powdery mildew (Humid conditions) both can be sprayed against with a systemic spray, ask at your local garden outlet. This could also be pumpkin fly, which lays its eggs in the stem at ground level and the maggots eat the centre of the stem.



Question.
    Hi I have been growing runner beans for years and share the plants that I have grown with my mother. For the last 2 years she has had lovely flowers on the beans and beautiful beans however mine get to the bud stage and fall off? What is causing this?

I didn't think anything attacks the flowers or could it be birds?
Thanks Carol

Answer.
    Your most likely culprit is lack of water. Runner Beans need plenty of water, water every day at flowering time. Also to help the flowers set and not drop off it is advisable to spray the plants in the late evening with a fine mist spray.

You may be short of insects to pollinate the flowers, next year plant a couple of multi head sunflowers nearby to attract the bees, etc. You should prepare the land in the winter digging in some farmyard manure or horse manure if available. Also, at the same time, apply a generous amount of garden lime to make the soil more fertile.

Q.
    I have some tomatoes and they are growing good, I wont to know if I can keep them for more then one year through the winter and if so the cheapest way, or for free.

A.
    I am sorry but tomatoes are for one year only.

Q.
    Hi there,
I am new in gardening. What ever I lack in experience I make up for with enthusiasm!!!
1) I am getting incredible number of ants either on or next to my plants, e.g., potato vine, honey suckle, etc. Are ants bad for my plants? If yes, how do I get rid of them?
2) I have a container and planted (end of May this year) broccoli, Brussels sprouts, basil, and melon. The only thing I have been able to get out it has been basil (what a great feeling to mix them with tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and olive oil). The other 3 have just been giving me very long stems and no vegetable/fruit. When would the broccoli come out and from which end? How about melon? Or Brussels sprouts?
I really appreciate your help. Guilty

A.
    Ants are not usually a problem to plants, if you don't like them around there are various products on the market, some organic, designed to make them go away. But do not attempt to kill them. Brussels sprouts and broccoli are open ground plants not for containers. Melons can be grown in containers, but must be grown alone to give them space to develop. The melon fruit is just behind the flower on the same stem. Brussels sprouts grow all the way up the stem. Broccoli comes from the centre of the plant.

QUESTION
I have planted cherry tomatoes for the first time. I planted them in my flower bed-I do not have a vegetable garden. I also have Monks Hood in this flowerbed and have recently learned they are poisonous. But, I do not know to what extent, i.e. if you eat it, if in the soil which will effect my tomatoes, etc.

These plants are right next to each other and in some cases touching. Should I be worried or should I just enjoy the fruits of my labour. I brought these plants back from a rain soaked spring and am very proud for my first try. Please help. Thank you, Wendy, St. Francis, Maine

ANSWER
Monks Hood
Monks hood are of most danger to horses, unlike a horse you would not eat enough of the plant to kill you, but just just touching the plant can absorb the poison, it could make you feel ill. Growers have found that the hotness of Jalapeno peppers can be affected by the presence of certain other plants, the pollen being transferred by insects. So it is possible that your toms could be affected by the monk's hood. I would advise erring on the side of caution.

QUESTION
My summer squash plants appear healthy but are dropping blossoms and not setting fruit. There are plenty of active bees. What is wrong and how do I cure it?

ANSWER
Your squash plants should have male and female flowers. The female flower has a small squash behind the flower, if this is dropping off with the flower you are short of water, water well early in the day. If the fruit goes rotten soon after the flower has fallen off it has not been fertilised. If this is the case lightly spray the plants just before dark, this encourages the flowers to open first thing in the morning when the insects are most active.

Q.
    I live in northeast Colorado and have a quick question. I have grown a small, 2 plants, pumpkin patch and a few days ago, my wonderful garden helpers, my 3-year-old twins, managed to pull off a mature orange pumpkin from its vine. How might I preserve it for the next 40 days so I may use it at Halloween time so that it doesn't get rotten or mushy? At this point, I put it in a dark room in the basement, covered. Thank you very much Tab

A.
    Your pumpkin needs to be stored in a dry well-ventilated area. Do not cover or mould will form and the pumpkin will rot.

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Question.
    I was in your website and thought I'd give you a few questions 1 I grow aubergines in my poly tunnel flowers are there but no aubergines seem to be growing? Also some flowers droop turn brown and fall off? 2 growing peppers do I cut off still green? If so how do I get red? Or do I leave on plant to turn red/ I have heaps of nice looking green but I find green hard to eat and digest
Any answers? This is all new to me as poly is new this year. Thanks, Jane

Answer.
    There are female and male flowers the male flowers drop off after a while. The female flowers have a small fruit at the base, if this is dropping off also you are short of water. Peppers will turn yellow, then red.

Question.
    I was wondering what kind of advice you could give me. A few days ago (Sep) my husband found caterpillars all over his hot pepper plants. They had eaten most of the leaves. Today we found another caterpillar on a different pepper plant that had also eaten most of the leaves.

We also found one on one of my tomato plants. It appeared to have eaten one of my green tomatos. These caterpillars are green and fat. Can you give me any suggestions as to how to keep them off our plants?
Thanks, Jaime

Answer.
    There are sprays available specifically for caterpillars. There is a knock down formula to kill any existing pests and a systemic formula, which is absorbed by the plant and kills the caterpillars as they chew at your plants.

Caterpillars keep hatching out so you have to be after them all the time. You can also wash them off with insecticidal soap or a weak mixture of household detergent and water sprayed on to the leaves, don't forget to look under the leaf. If you buy a commercial spray check that it suitable for hot peppers.

Question.
    I live in Houston, Tx and recently it was so hot that our garden fizzled out. My husband tilled it up to get ready for a fall garden. We noticed that some cucumbers and cantelope plants started to pop up. We have not watered them and it has been over 2 months. I have large cantaloupes and cucumbers covering the whole garden. Since I have never grown cantaloupes before, I have no idea when to pick them. I picked a few because they were pretty big compared to the ones at the store. A few of the ones I picked are a little yellow on one side. How do I ripen them?

Answer.
    You are probably rather late with your cantaloupes from a ripening point of view, it all takes time. Try to leave them on the plant as long as possible, frost and wet permitting. Then place the fruit in a dry well lit area and they will probably ripen successfully. Cucumbers are ready when they are ready.

Q.     I planted a jalapeno pepper over a month ago, and so far it is growing great. In fact, I believe it is starting to fruit. I'm so excited about it! Well, I was wondering if jalapeno is a perennial or annual plant and I'm crossing my fingers hoping it is a perennial. The plants look great in my sunny backyard. I used it as a borderline. I'm not worried about frost because I'm from Hawaii. It's so warm out here. If it turns out it is an annual, how long will it last? Thanks for you help.
Aloha, Ross G.

A.     Jalapeno peppers are annual I'm afraid and the plant starts to deteriorate after the fruit has ripened, but you can save your own seed. Please note saved seed will not be true to the parent if the plant is an F1 Hybrid. Most gardeners buy glasshouse-grown plants in early March, people in favoured areas, like yourself, can plant a second crop in August.
Aloha from Valecroft



Q.     My friend attempted to grow tomatoes in his basement last winter. He installed grow lights and got huge, healthy-looking plants but the fruit was only the size of peas. What went wrong?

A.     Three possible answers.

The growing lights need different light spectrum tubes for the different stages of growth, e.g. a light scenario for early spring growth is different to one for ripening. The plants used by your friend may have been one of the cherry tomato varieties, chosen by error. Tomatoes need a very high potash fertiliser when flowering and producing fruit.

Q.     I purchased 12 "earliglow" strawberry plants. There was a "tip" inside that the plants can be grown indoors in a strawberry pot. I do not have a strawberry pot. Is there an alternative pot I could use? Do you think I would have good results with a 28" long window "flower" box? What is a strawberry pot anyways? Thanks for your help

A.     A strawberry pot is a 1-meter high tubular pot with spouts sticking out of the sides at various heights. They are widely available or you can make one up from plastic sewer waste pipes from your builders yard. You will need plenty of light to succeed. Your window flower box should also give good results.

Q.     I'm not a gardener; however, I have an interest in herbs and have managed to successfully grow parsley, coriander, oregano and thyme in my huge and largely untended garden (disgusting I know, but I'll get round to it). What happens to herbs in winter, will they grow back?

Lesley, Aberdeenshire

A.     Your oregano and thyme should survive the winter, the others alas not. There are many herbs, which are perennial; a good seed catalogue usually lists annual and perennial herbs separately. Note perennials are plants, which live for more than one year.

Q.     Dear Sir, Madam, I have just picked the last of my runner beans, which are now tough and stringy. Can you tell me the best way to dry and store the seeds for re-use next year.

Thanks, Jim Isle of Sky

A.     Store the pods in a well-lit dry frost-free area until the pods have gone white. Then open and remove the bean seeds and place them in paper mail envelopes. Keep them dry through the winter.

Q.    
We have taken several 'runners' from our one-year-old strawberry plants and potted them, however how do we look after strawberry plants throughout the winter months? When we ordered some early this year they came in a pack looking dead and dry but recovered well when planted, please can you help? The plants we have are strong and healthy.

Thank you

A.    
The only problem you have with strawberry plants in pots is the frost freezing the roots through the side of the pots. The tops will stand the frost. Sink the pots in the soil to the rim of the pot, or if short of room in the garden use a wooden box filled with soil and sink the plants in that. Watch out for snails eating the centre of the plants.

Q.    
Could you please tell me what sort of veg I could plant to grow over the winter ready for spring please? Can I put onion sets in now?

A.    
Most onion sets are planted in early spring, however there are special varieties that can be planted at the end of this month. Ask at your garden outlet. You can sow broad beans and some forms of round seeded peas in November, again ask for the right variety, but for most other things you will have to wait until spring. You can sow spring cabbage in June for over wintering.

QUESTION
When removing my tomato plants I was covered with white flies. I had no idea I just knew my plant were duds this year. I have thrown out plants mulch and much of soil. I bought mothballs to dig into soil hoping that will help. The soil is filled with white specs deep into the ground.



ANSWER
White fly on your tomatoes; these flies accumulate under the leaf where they are out of sight; gently shaking the plant will disturb them in a cloud. You can spray them but the best method is to use yellow sticky traps, the white fly like the color and land on the traps.

Place one among the leaves of each plant. Yellow sticky traps are widely available at garden outlets. Don't place too near to the flowers or you may catch bees. You should always discard the soil after a tomato crop if you intend to plant tomatoes again next year.

QUESTION
Greetings.
Last spring I planted store-bought jalapeno seeds in a pot in our country garden and they flourished. We had a great crop of hot peppers with a smoky flavor.

When the plant stopped giving peppers, we took the seeds from the last few peppers and brought them back to the city with us, hoping to get them to germinate during the winter, so we can replant them come spring.

We took those seeds, wrapped them in damp paper towel, placed them in a Glad Bag and put them in the closet, hoping the dark, wet environment would get them started.

After a few weeks, we've noticed that nothing has happened except that the seeds are now brown.

Did we screw up? If so, what would have been the best way to preserve our seeds and get them to grow next year?

Thanks for your help. You've got a great site!

ANSWER
This sounds like a classic case of the seeds rotting.

Saved seed must be kept very dry, store in paper mail envelopes, never plastic, in a dry part of the house. A sachet of silica granules as used to keep cameras, electrical goods, etc.; dry, will also help.

Sow January onwards at 23-28°C cover seed lightly grow on at 20°C, keep the soil just moist, too much damp and the seeds will rot. Plant out April onwards; protection will be needed in colder areas. Harvest June onwards.

Sow March onwards without heat.

You can also grow them in conservatories and greenhouses, smaller varieties are also ideal in pots on the patio or decking. Can be sown well into May in hotter areas but the harvest will be much later in the season.

In very favoured areas it is possible to grow two crops in the year. Note: seeds saved from F. 1 Hybrids will not give the same plants as the parent.

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