Fruits | Vegetables | More Commonly Asked Questions



A | B |F |G | L |M | P | R | S | More Commonly Asked Questions
Apple Tree
We're going to plant some apple trees in the spring and my husband's father is insisting that we train them by pruning and tying. What is he talking about?
It sounds like your father-in-law has some experience with apple orchards. Training of newly planted apple trees is done to open up the crown and keep it open to the sun and as well as to train branches to grow one way by tying and pruning off poorly developed branches to force new shoots. This is done until the crown has attained its final size and shape. Excess shoots are removed to encourage fruit-bearing branches to develop. After all of this there are the rejuvenating cuts and thinning cuts necessary to keep the tree in shape in later years.

All shoots need as much sunlight as possible to keep them growing properly (that is, up) and by tying the tips to the main trunk it forces horizontal growth. This will make the tree bear fruit earlier than one that was left to grow on its own. Any shoots that grow on the bottoms of these branches are pruned off. Branches that have been severely pruned form strong fruit- bearing shoots.

After four years or so, fruit-bearing wood, which wants to point downward, is cut off at a point that makes a new shoot. This new shoot will soon bear fruit and hang downward like the one that was severed. This is a continuous process but the yields of apples are high and these trees tend to have few problems with disease.
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I was told that the holes at the bottom of my apples trees are made by the apple tree borer. How can I get rid of them?
There are two apple tree borers: the roundheaded Saperda candida and the flatheaded Chrysobothris femorata. The larvae of these species have slightly different life cycles but both can damage a tree severely by boring into the sapwood and the heartwood. One thing you can do: using a flexible wire, poke into the boring holes and stab the larvae. As a deterrent, you can paint the bottom two or three feet of the tree, including an inch or so below the soil line, with white latex paint that has been diluted with an equal amount of water. Scrape away the soil carefully before painting and then replace it. The latex hinders the female beetle from laying her eggs in the bark crevices. You can also wrap the tree with burlap, or even paper, to prevent attacks. If the tree was attacked, prune away any badly damaged limbs. Attacks by the borers weaken the tree and make it susceptible to other insects or disease problems. Chemical controls are not very affective against borers.
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Blueberry
Our neighbor has blueberries that are beginning to ripen, and inside each berry there is a small, fat white worm. What is it?
It is the blueberry maggot, which is the larva of the blueberry fruit fly. From late June into August fruit fly lay eggs under the skin of blueberry fruit. The eggs hatch and white maggots feed on the berry for about three weeks, then fall to the ground. Once on the soil, they pupate for up to two years.

These pests are a problem after a very cold winter and when it rains during picking time. If the bushes are kept picked, regardless of the weather, this isn’t such a headache. Maggots will also attack unripe berries and often ruin the crop entirely. Tell your neighbor to destroy infested berries by placing them into a bag that can be sealed. Do not throw them on the ground. At the end of the season, strip all berries from the bushes and clean beneath them too. It may be necessary to spray the bushes next year. If so, check with URI Cooperative Extension for the best control chemicals.

I have some overgrown high bush blueberries. They haven’t been pruned in a few years because I don’t know how. Are there any special techniques involved?
If they haven’t produced well, cut out all of the old wood, leaving just a few young shoots to reestablish. Otherwise, cut all dead wood and trim back any winter killed shoots to the first outward facing bud. After this is accomplished, look for damaged stems, stems rubbing against each other, and shoots growing inwards. These need to be pruned back or removed. The object – as with any shrub or tree – is to keep the bush open to air and sunlight. Do this pruning very early in the spring. Remember, fruit appears on older wood that is two to three years old so if you don’t have to, don’t cut these stems out.
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Is there something to feed blueberry bushes to make the berries sweeter?
Actually, sweetness has to do with the variety as well as regular irrigation. Fertilizing a couple of times a season helps as well. Use an all-purpose fertilizer like 10-10-10.
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Fruit Trees Without Fruit
I have two fruit trees (one apple, one pear) that no longer bear fruit, can you recommend something?
Your fruit trees are having difficulty bearing because they need friends! If you could put in at least another one of each, that will help for the future.
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Grapes
When is the best time and what is the best way to plant grapes?
Grapes are planted bare rooted, in the spring, in our Zone 6 - that usually means during April or early May. Grapes prefer a well-drained, slightly acidic soil, perhaps a pH of 5 to 6. If there is a lot of rain or any other reason planting should be delayed, place moistened packing material around the roots, put them in a plastic bag, and store it in a cool place.
Prior to planting, soak the roots in water for a few hours while you dig holes about six or eight feet apart; some grapes require more room, such as the Concord variety. Don't set the plants any lower in the soil than the soil line on the stem (this is generally indicated by a change of color and some gardeners mark this area as soon as they receive the plants). Fill in soil around the roots, firm it well, and water to force air pockets out of the soil. Construct a small berm around each plant to hold water and make sure the plants get at least an inch of water a week. After this is done, prune the strongest cane back to two or three strong buds. Remove all other canes and have a trellis or tall stake available for the new vines to climb. A system of support should be put into place prior to planting.

About a week after planting, scratch about a cupful of 10-10-10 fertilizer or organic equivalent into the soil around each plant, being very careful not to touch the wood. Keep all weeds away from the plants and be very careful when cultivating as the roots are somewhat shallow.

This spring our wild grape leaves had a small orange worm on them and then there were jellylike things attached to the leaves. Is there a connection between the two things?
There surely is! Those orange worms were maggots (larvae) of the grape tumid gallmaker fly (Janetiella brevicauda). The “jellylike thing” is a gall in which the larvae develop. There are a couple of generations each year, but the one in spring does most of the damage as galls can be produces on petioles and flower buds as well as on leaves. In the Northeast, the grape tumid gallmaker fly shows up on both wild and cultivated varieties of grapes. Chances are you didn’t notice any galls when you spotted the maggots, but they were there.
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Lemon Tree
I have a lemon tree that spends the summer outside. When I brought it into my greenhouse this fall, the larger leaves turned very pale and there are light brown hard spots on them. I’ve dealt with scale and these spots are not scale. I don’t want to lose this plant, can you help?
Those light brown spots are edema. These corklike lesions appear on the outer edge of older leaves when there has been too much water and high humidity. At times, these growths turn darker and fall out of the leaf, leaving a hole.

Your other problem is lack of nutrients, especially nitrogen. If you look carefully at your lemon tree, there are some nice dark new leaves beneath the large pale ones. The plant sacrifices older leaves in order to insure that new growth survives. So, remove those pale leaves and don’t overwater the plant. Also, you may need to lower the humidity somewhat until the soil has dried a bit.
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Mango
How do you plant a mango seed?
The plantable part of a mango seed is inside the husk that we call the seed. After the flesh has been removed, carefully wash this husk and pry it open along the split side. This is the sharp thin section. If you are lucky, the split was large and the seed just popped out. After carefully removing the actual seed from the husk, place it in a damp, soilless medium on edge, with the hump side up and leave one quarter of the seed exposed.  Place everything in a plastic bag and keep it warm – a temperature of 80 degrees F is ideal; remember, this is a tropical plant. Usually the moisture inside the bag will keep the medium damp enough but check periodically. The seeds should sprout in a week or two. After you have a plant, keep it in a brightly lit area away from drafts. 
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Pears
We have a very productive pear tree but the fruits are mushy with hard spots when we pick them. Can you tell me what the problem is?
The fruit was left on the tree too long. Pears should be picked just as they reach maturity and start losing the green color. If they turn yellow before being picked, they taste mealy or gritty and have hard spots, called stone cells, in them. When the pears come off the stems with little pressure, they are ready for harvesting. Pears can be safely stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator at this time for a couple of weeks and sometimes more. To ripen for eating, place on a counter at room temperature for a week.

We have a pear tree that produces heavily but we don’t eat the pears, so they fall to the ground, rot, and attract bees and flies. Is there something we can use to spray the trees and get rid of the pears each year?
There was a chemical method of thinning in use for apples but this didn’t eliminate all the apples. This method is for only for commercial orchards anyhow. Either you have to stop the pollination process by covering the tree when it blooms (the task is next to impossible), pick off each pear as it forms, or plant a bradford pear which doesn’t produce fruit. Why not offer the fruit to friends and neighbors or, better yet, the Rhode Island Food Bank! I’m sure someone would be very happy to pick those pears. 
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Raspberry
Our raspberry canes have been dying and now there is a small fat white worm coming out as we remove them. What has happened?
You have raspberry root borer or crown borer. It feeds on the roots and the base of the canes, weakening and killing them. In late summer, an adult moth lays about one hundred eggs on the undersides of leaves. The eggs hatch in early fall and drop to the soil near the crown where they spend the winter. As spring arrives they tunnel into the plant and begin boring in the crown which causes the canes to swell and die. The larvae keep feeding troughout the year, then winter inside the canes to feed again the following spring. In late summer, the borers emerge as adults. Both stages, adults and larvae, can be active at the same time. Cut out and destroy the damaged canes as you prune and douse the crowns with the insecticide Permethrin.

Red Currant Pruning
What is the proper way to prune red currant bushes?
If it was newly planted in fall cut back all stems by half to an outer facing bud. Cut all leaders and outward facing side shoots by half; on any shoots that face inwards leave only about one inch of growth or one bud. Also, remove any growth that is forming on the stem below main branches. You need to create a short trunk from which everything else will grow.

Next winter cut back the new wood of leaders by half and all side shoots to one or two buds. You can also trim side shoots in summer to about four inches to allow light to reach inside the bush for the fruit. After the first two or three years, trim leaders to keep plants in shape. 

Red Raspberries
How do you prune red raspberries that were only planted the prior spring?
Do nothing until next spring, that is, one year after they were planted. At that time, cut out any canes that have been damaged over the winter or that are dead. If you have summer-bearing raspberries, they will fruit only once—around late June into July— and they only bear fruit on two-year-old canes. You need to thin out the canes, removing the thinner ones, so that there is a cane every 8 inches. Remove the tops when these canes reach a height of 4 ½ to 5 feet. After they have produced, cut all canes that had fruit to the ground. The non fruiting canes will become next year's crop.

If you have fall-blooming raspberries they will bear fruit in the fall of the first year and the summer of the second year. For this type, cut off the top of each cane after it has fruited. After these canes have fruited a second time—the following summer, cut them to the ground. The new canes that are emerging will fruit in the fall and you repeat the pruning process over again. Hint: it's easier to maintain raspberries if they are planted and grown between double rows of wire. This keeps them upright without tying them like you have to do with a single wire.
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Seedless Grapes
We just finished pruning our grape vines and wondered why our seedless grapes are so tiny each year. Do we need to add something to the soil?
You don’t need to add anything except maybe compost as mulch. Seedless grapes grown in your own garden will never be as big as those grown commercially…commercial growers spray them to increase their size. But, you will find that homegrown seedless grapes often taste much better and last longer on the vines. Also, grape size can depend on the type of grape and the method of pruning cane versus spur. The best seedless varieties for our Zone 6 are Himrod and Interlaken or other varieties that are bred for the Northeast.  

Strawberries
Is it hard to grow strawberries?
Not really, but they are a high-maintenance fruit plant, and as one bed is producing you need to be thinking about a second one. The most common strawberries grown in home gardens are the June-bearing types; there are many varieties to choose from.

First, select a sunny location where the soil contains lots of organic matter. It needs good drainage and should be slightly acidic, between 5.7 and 6.5 pH. Start by raking the soil into a slightly raised bed about 24 inches wide and then add some well balanced fertilizer, about an ounce for every 100 square feet. Rows need to be about 3 feet apart.

In the early spring, place the plants along the row every foot or so, being careful to keep the crown tops free of soil. Then, make a little mound for each plant and let the roots drop over the sides, as vertical as possible, and fill in with soil. Many of us place a light layer of straw on the beds as soon as it is planted to keep the weeds under control. We use straw again after a hard freeze for winter protection as well.

The first year your strawberries grow, pick off all the flowers and any runners as this gets the plants strongly established for a higher production of fruit the following year. Also, scratch in a band of fertilizer down the row but take being care not to let it touch the plants in mid-summer. The next year, those runners, called daughter plants, will spread and root while you enjoy the fruit from the mother plants. These new plants can be used to establish a new bed for picking in a couple of years as strawberries kind of run their course every three or four years.
Hint: If space is a problem, plant in a pyramid of tiers, each one smaller than the one below. A lot of strawberries can be grown this way and they are easier to pick.

My strawberries are turning a fuzzy gray and shriveling up. What is causing this?
Your problem is Botrytis blight, caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea. It ruins both flowers and berries. Botrytis is most active during cool but humid weather and is spread by water or handling infected fruit: that fuzzy gray mold on the berries is actually millions of microscopic spores, and the disease is spread if it comes in contact with another fruit. Overcrowding in strawberry patches, overhead watering, and lots of rain kick this disease into high gear.
Destroy infected berries. Keep plants off the ground by using a thick straw or pine needle mulch and spread them apart for good air circulation. Planting strawberries on small mounds helps them dry faster after rainstorms or watering. To avoid this problem next season, remove and destroy plant debris in the fall.

Our strawberries were affected by something called red stele last year and we were told to destroy the entire bed and start over in another location. Is it possible to spray the soil with something and replant in the same spot?
No, it isn’t. Red stele is a fungus that attacks in cool, wet, and slow-draining soils. It spreads rapidly and is almost impossible to get rid of. It infects the tips of feeder roots then spreads up the plant to other parts. The spores swim from infected roots and through soil water to new roots. Some spores rest inside infected roots (even when they die) and stay viable for ten years, or more. The best way to avoid red stele other than certified resistant stock is to plant in a raised bed with well-drained soil. You can amend the spot where they were growing so it will drain better but don’t plant strawberries there for at least ten years.
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A | B | C | E | F | G | H | J | L | M | O | P | R | S | T |More Commonly Asked Questions

Artichokes
My aunt just moved here from Italy and wants to grow artichokes. I don't think we can but said I'd ask.
Tell your aunt that she can have her carciofo (i.e., artichokes) in our northern climate with a little extra care. The artichoke (Cynara scolymus) is a tender plant. They need at least a 100 frost-free days, rich soil, and lots of water. The best bed for them is one with lots of compost and/or manure added and, since they like a slightly acidic soil, keep the pH around 6.0. Start the seeds indoors about 6 to 8 weeks before the last expected frost. Hint: Chilling the seed for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator will help them to break dormancy.

When the plants go outside, keep an eye on the weather and use protective measures if there is a late frost predicted. Once established outside, keep them watered and side dress the plants with a high nitrogen fertilizer. Fish emulsion is also good for artichokes - it aides in good growth. When the days get hot, the plants might wilt so just keep the water coming and use a very thick layer of mulch. Artichokes really do better when the weather is on the cool side, so once the heat of summer is past they will probably take off. The first buds should develop in early September and buds will continue to form until frost returns.

Asparagus
Can you give me information on growing asparagus?
Growing asparagus takes planning and lots of patience—but it's worth every spear! First, plan where you want to plant your asparagus a year in advance, remembering that the crop will be in this location for many years. As for the type to plant, do some research. The all-male varieties now available produce heavy yields.

The soil for asparagus must drain well but not too fast. A good sandy loam enriched with manure or compost is ideal. As you prepare the bed, add about 5 lbs of 10-10-10 fertilizer for every 100 square feet (asparagus is a heavy feeder) and make sure the pH is close to 6.5 or 7.

The following spring, after purchasing your dormant roots, open up a trench in the prepared bed that is about 10 inches deep by 12 inches wide, and possibly larger in spots to accommodate some longer roots. Every 18 inches, make a mound of soil about 8 inches high, place the crown on top, and spread the roots around evenly. Cover this with about 3 inches of soil. As the asparagus grows, keep adding soil until the trench is level. Don't do anything to the plants the first year.

Early in the second spring, remove the dead stalks and add a good 3 inches of compost and more of the 10-10-10fertilizer. About July 1, add a couple of pounds of nitrogen fertilizer per 100 linear feet of row. Again, let the asparagus grow.

In the spring of the third year, add some more nitrogen fertilizer, about 3 pounds per 100 linear feet of row, and when the spears are 6 to 8 inches tall, slice them off just below the soil line. Only pick for a month and increase the harvest time each year—say an extra two weeks. Keep the beds free of weeds and watered at all times.
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In the URI fact sheet for fertilizing asparagus in the second year, it says to use 10-10-10 in March and then a "Nitrogen fertilizer" in June. What do they mean by a "Nitrogen fertilizer"? Isn't 10-10-10 adequate or should one with only nitrogen be used?
Actually, 10-10-10 is perfectly adequate. If you simply wanted to add a nitrogen only fertilizer, use dried blood or cottonseed meal, according to package directions.
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Last year my asparagus came up like a fern does, it curled out of the ground instead of growing straight up. What caused this?
That is an indication of crown damage. What happens is either an insect injures the crown or pieces of soil become imbedded into the young shoots. This forces the injured area to grow slower than the rest of the spear causing the stem to curve. The spears can still be eaten even though they look strange. Keep an eye out for asparagus beetles or other insects and control them. If your plants are in an area that gets lots of wind, erect a windbreak.
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Bean Rust
The leaves on my pole beans are covered with brown and yellow spots that are ruining them. What is happening? I’ve grown these beans along the fence for years and never have experienced this.
Sounds like bean rust. This is a fungus (Uromyces phaseoli) that overwinters in debris and spreads rapidly by wind, tools, clothes, and other sources. It spreads so rapidly that a new generation of spores is created every ten days. High humidity and a lot of rain are just the conditions it wants.
Pole beans vines grow close together, creating shade and preventing air circulation, thereby further aiding the fungus. You mentioned growing along a fence “for years.” You need to move them to a different location each planting, avoid overhead watering, and plant the seeds far enough apart to avoid entanglement. Also, you could look for resistant varieties. As for now, destroy the diseased plants and clean up any debris to prevent further spreading.
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Beans
I always thought beans were easy to grow but mine were terrible. Only half came up, flowers fell off, and the beans that did grow were tough.
Okay, for starters, how is your soil and what is the pH? Hard soils and low pH are not to a bean seeds liking. Did you plant them too early? If the soil is cold they don't germinate very well. Were they planted too shallow? The surface soil dries out robbing the seed of needed moisture, so plant them about an inch down into the soil.

Flowers will drop if the weather suddenly becomes hot, dry, and windy. Did you plant varieties that fit into our growing season? Beans can mature in anywhere from 60 to over 120 days, depending on the variety; a long season bean doesn't produce well if planted late.

Tough beans usually mean they were picked too late. Beans must be picked continually to keep them from maturing and smaller beans are much tastier than those about ready to become seed. Did you water your beans on a regular basis? An even soil moisture is very important for growing any vegetable. Then there's always the problem that your seed was not the freshest when planted.
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Our bean plants turned yellow and dropped all their leaves. Now they are shriveling up and dying. Is this caused by unusually high temperatures?
In a sense, yes. When bean plants exhibit the symptoms you describe, it is usually an indication of root rot. This disease is caused by a number of fungi that live in the soil, including Fusarium, Pythium, and Rhizoctonia solani. Any of these fungi can enter a plant through the roots and portion of stem below the soil surface. Ideal growing conditions for these fungi are when soil temperatures reach the 70s and higher. Sometimes, bean plants grow side roots to replace dying ones but these plants won’t yield much. Remove all diseased plants and plant elsewhere for the next crop.
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I have some seeds from the beans we planted this summer. Can I save them and if so, how?
Yes, you can save them if they are a hybrid variety, you won’t get the same beans next year. Store them in a sealed jar inside your refrigerator. You may want to add a commercial desiccant or even some powdered milk (a teaspoon should be enough) to avoid moisture problems. Bean seeds will normally stay viable for three years. However, like all seeds, it is when they were harvested and how they were treated that are the determining factors.
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We always save the seeds from our old variety of beans, checking them throughout the winter for damage. Yesterday I noticed some white powdery stuff on them. As we use these for seeding only is there something we can use to spray them to control the problem?
Spraying isn’t going to help. Use a magnifying glass and see if there are tiny holes in your seeds. If there are, you have is Acanthoscelides obtectus, commonly known as bean weevil, and the larvae are feeding inside the seeds. The powdery stuff is excrement. The best thing to do is get new seed this season and when you finally pick the dried beans for storage next fall, freeze them first for 48 hours or heat them at 135 degrees F for a half hour. This won’t hurt germination next spring but it will kill the weevils.
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Beans without Fruit
My beans look so good but the blossoms are dropping off or rotting on the stems. Why?
When beans or other crops fail to set fruit a couple of things may have happened, but most commonly it is weather related. High temperature is one problem. Beans don’t like temperatures in the mid 80s and at this point the flowers often drop off. Another problem is when extreme moisture in the soil blocks the oxygen and weakens plants, causing blossoms to stop forming.
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Beets
Can beet seeds be separated?
No. Beets seeds are a fruit containing clusters of seeds. Just plant the cluster and thin the beets out as they develop. Use the thinned greens in a salad.

Beets like a slightly acidic, well drained, organically-enriched soil with lots of sun. They make ideal candidates for a raised bed, but they do want cooler weather so plant in early spring.
They originated in the Mediterranean region as a leaf crop, not a root crop as we know it today. Cultivars can be obtained that are all red, have red and white rings, or are golden yellow or white. Keep the weeds away and thin the plants to about four inches apart. The roots are harvested when they develop to a globe about three-inches in size. Plant a second crop in mid summer for fall harvesting.
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Cabbage Maggots
Our cabbages were diagnosed with cabbage maggots. Will we have problems again next year?
Pupae overwinter in soil and emerge as adults beginning in March, then the cycle begins again. You could actually have more than one generation per year. Try planting radishes in the bed early in the season and hold your cabbages until later on. In this way you miss the first generation of adult flies. Row covers or screen cages are a better method as this prevents any egg laying. An old remedy is to lay squares of tarpaper around the stem so the fly can’t lay eggs. After you harvest the cabbage, pull out and destroy all roots. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, turnips, and radishes are all host for the cabbage maggot.
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Cardoons
Can cardoons be planted here? Are they just a ornamental plant or can they be eaten?
Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) is an edible thistle that resembles an artichoke. Some folks grow cardoons just for the foliage - large, fernlike leaves with a nice green color. The name comes from the Latin carduus and/or the French chardon, which mean thistle.
The edible portions of this plant are the silver-gray stalk and the midribs of the prickly leaves. It grows in bunches like celery but the stalks are flattened, longer, and wider than celery with slightly notched sides and a lightly fuzzy surface.

Native to the Mediterranean, cardoons are very popular in France, Spain and Italy but they are a weed in Austrailia. You may wish to start them a few weeks ahead of the last frost and then transplant them out when they are hardened off.
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Carrot Rust Fly
I just harvested my carrots and they are full of holes filled with a reddish sawdust-like material. Is this a disease and should I treat the soil with something?     
The “reddish sawdust-like material” is excrement from larvae of the carrot rust fly (Psila rosae). The larvae will overwinter in the soil but you don’t want to treat the soil, just plant your carrots in a new location next spring. As the adults emerge in spring they will be looking for carrots, so as your crop comes up cover it with row covers or any material flies can’t get through. You can also leave any Queen Anne’s lace, or wild carrot, plants around for the flies to pick on. It also helps to pull all carrots before the end of September.

Carrots
We just pulled our carrots up and some were green on the top, are they okay to eat? Also, why do some have double bottoms?
The green top is called just that, 'Green Top', and it happens when the sun gets to the exposed crowns. That's why it is important to keep the tops of carrots covered with soil during the growing season. Just slice off the top and enjoy the rest.

As for the split bottoms, is your garden full of small rocks? Or, did you put down any manure or compost prior to planting? Sometimes, heavy soil will cause double roots. Next year, plant in soil that has not been enriched by additives. You could mix some sand to the soil or plant in a raised bed to avoid the stones if that was the problem.
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Carrot Foliage Disease
My carrot tops have black spots with yellow edges. Some plants are dying. I was told it is caused by the heat wave we had. Is this true?
Someone was on the right track. We just went through a spell of temperatures in the 90 – 100 degree range plus the humidity was up and there was a lot of rain. You may have either Alternaria leaf spot or Xanthomonas leaf spot. The two are so similar it takes a microscope to distinguish them.  One, Alternaria, is a fungus and the other, Xanthomonas, is a bacterium. These are seed- and soil-borne diseases; Alternaria is spread by wind, Xanthomonas is spread in splashing and running water. Alternaria infects leaves only when they are wet. Pull the carrots and if they are healthy harvest and destroy all the foliage and clean up the bed they were grown in. Plant carrots in a different location next season.
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Celery
My celery plants are spreading out like bushes. How do I keep them in a clump like I see them in the market?
As the celery plants grow place cardboard or paper around each one, leaving the leafy tops exposed, and pull soil around to keep this material in place. This is called blanching – it keeps the stalks from spreading out and becoming bitter and tough. Celery is a very heavy feeder so keep the compost or rotted manure along the soil line close to the plants. By wrapping the plants you are also keeping the moisture in the center of the plants.
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Celery Root
What is root celery?
Root celery (Apium graveolens) is a variety of regular celery that has been cultivated for its root. It is also known as celery root, knob celery, and turnip-rooted celery. Often neglected due to its rather hideous appearance, celery root tastes good as a salad or an appetizer because it has a scent that is reminiscent of parsley or celery.

Celery Root is easy to grow and seeds are available from many sources. It needs a well drained soil that is on the sandy side, just like turnips and carrots. It is a biennial and to get a crop before the summer heat start seeds inside or sow directly in the ground late in the season. When you look at this ugly, bulgy knot that can be as big as a head of lettuce, you may be turned off by the gnarly appearance. Let's face it, the root looks like it has been attacked by gnawing insects and has grown a bunch of wiggly rootlets in protest. It's just plain ugly.
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Corn
Can you tell me what all those letters mean that are used when describing corn varieties?
Some letters refer to the type of corn seed (lower case letters) while others represent the diseases that a particular seed is resistant to (capital letters). The designation (su) stands for Normal Sugary corn, the standard sweet corn that has been grown for years. This is the corn you want to cook as soon as you pick it because it loses sweetness rapidly after picking. Another type is Sugary Enhanced (se) which has a modified gene to make it hold sweetness much longer. Supersweet (sh) has a "shrunken gene" that describes the wrinkled corn seed but this type can also hold sugar a longer time, making it well suited for market shipping. The only problem with Supersweets is that when planted they must be isolated from other varieties to avoid cross-pollination.

Disease-resistant varieties include NCLB for northern corn leaf blight, SCLB for southern corn leaf blight, MDM for maize dwarf mosaic, St for common smut, Rt for common rust, and you might see SW for Stewart's bacterial wilt. Most seed catalogs have this explanation somewhere inside. If they don't, then call their tol- free number and ask.
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Our corn is not doing well. The leaves are tinted purple, and even though it isn’t very high the stalks are falling over. What disease is bothering the corn this year?
It isn’t a disease, it’s just a phosphorus deficiency. When this problem occurs, because corn has very shallow roots, it easily topples in a good breeze. When the soil is cool from an extended wet, cold spring it sort of subdues the availability of phosphorus to plants, causing them to produce a sugar that in turns forms the purple pigment you see in the leaves. Other vegetables may also have this problem.

Add some phosphorus to the soil, either in granular form (phosphate rock) or by spraying the corn with some fish or seaweed extract. Also make sure your soil is high in organic materials.
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What are those awful worms eating my corn?
It’s either the fall armyworm or the corn earworm. If it is about an inch long, green, brown, or pink with light stripes on the sides and back, and eating near the tip of the ear, then it’s the corn earworm. But if there is more than one worm eating the same ear, chances are it’s the army worm, which is also about an inch or so long but has light green and black stripes and a black head.

The armyworm comes on like an army, just as the name implies… and it eats while marching. With the armyworm, you can use B.t. (Bacillus thuringiensis), a product for controlling caterpillars. The corn earworm can often be locked out by applying mineral oil on the tips of the ears just as the corn silk begins to turn brown. Timing is critical because while you need pollination if you wait too long the worm has gotten in already. Keep the garden area around the corn free of weeds, especially grasses. Then, as soon as the corn is harvested, turn over the soil to expose these worms to birds, skunks, and toads.
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This year our corn either won’t come up or the few stalks that did fell over and died.  We have good soil with lots of manur, thanks to our cows, and we never had this problem before. Any ideas?
I believe you are having problems with the corn seed maggot which feeds on lots of vegetables in addition to corn and thrives in manure-rich soils that are cold and wet. The maggots tunnel into the seed so whatever seeds are able to sprout are to weak to survive. There are numerous generations each year but this first one is the problem because of the timing: the pupae that spent the winter in debris, soil, or manure become active just as the corn goes into the ground.
What you can do is plant a little later, after the soil temperature has reached at least 58 degrees F or start the seeds in flats and then plant the seedlings. Of course, this isn’t practical with large amounts. Also, planting a little shallower will speed up germination and then you can bring more soil around the base of the stalks to protect them as they grow.
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Cucumber
Last summer my cucumbers were covered with two different kinds of bugs, one had stripes while the other one was spotted. Most of the vines died. Were these bugs the reason?
Most likely. These beetles are the worst problem cucumbers can have besides powdery mildew. Cucumber beetles come with both spots and stripes, and they arrive about the same time you have either put transplants into the garden or your seeds have germinated and the young plants are rising up. The spotted beetle is greenish yellow with about a dozen dark spots on its back while the striped one is orange with three black stripes down its back. Both carry the organism that causes bacterial wilt which clogs the vessels of the plant with a sticky, gummy, oozing substance. They spread this disease as they feed. The leaves and stems shrivel up then the plant dies.

The best way to thwart them is by placing row covers over the vines—squash also—until pollination time. Make sure the edges of the covers are below the soil surface so you don't give them any means of entry. Or, you can plant a late crop, around July 1, after the beetles are gone.
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Cucumber Beetle
How can I protect against cucumber beetles?
Cucumber beetles are causing two problems with cucumbers. The larve as well as the adult feed on leaves. The feeding adult also injects a bacterium that causes a disease called bacterial wilt. To protect your plants, place a floating row cover over the young vines early in the season. This cover prevents adults from flying in and laying eggs.
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Eggplant
My eggplants have small sunken spots on them and some are falling off the plant. What is the matter?
It sounds like anthracnose fruit rot, a fungal disease. The fungus, Colletotrichum, overwinters in soil and when the plants receive moisture, either from overhead watering or from rain, it becomes active. This problem often occurs where tomatoes and eggplants have been planted in the same area a few years in a row. Try growing your eggplant in an area where they or tomatoes have not been planted for the last three years at least. Water the base of the plants around the roots instead of the entire plant and don’t let the soil dry out. Clean out and destroy all diseased plant material to keep the fungal spores from staying in the soil. So, with proper soil preparation, good fertility, and relocating the bed, you shouldn’t have any problem next year.
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Fall Vegetables
When the ground temperature reaches 50 degrees F in Zone 6, what vegetable seeds can be started in the ground?
Provided we don’t get drowning rains, turnips, peas, onions, radishes, spinach, celery, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots will all do nicely. The germination times will vary from a week for turnips to up to two weeks or more for the rest.
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Fennel
Is finnocchio the same thing as fennel?
Yes, fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is also known as finnocchio. Florence fennel, mistakenly called anise or sweet anise, is a biennial that forms a bulb in the first year and flowers the second year. There are three sub-species of fennel: F vulgare var. dulce, F. vulgare var. azoricum, and F. vulgare var. piperitum.

The fennel we want to grow is F. vulgare var. azoricum which forms a swollen bulb that can be eaten raw or cooked. It is easy to grow in any light soil but it needs lots of water. It contains anethole, a fragrant oil. Start the seeds indoors as they need warmth to germinate even though the plant prefers cool weather to grow. I've tried direct seeding in August for a late harvest but it wasn't satisfactory. Keep them watered as they grow and make sure to pull off any seed stalks as they form, just like you do for rhubarb!
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Giant Pumpkins
How do they grow those giant pumpkins?
With lots of TLC—and the right seed, like Atlantic Giant or Dill Giant. The seeds are started inside as early as possible because they need all the growing time they can get. Once hardened off, they are planted outside in good compost, with lots of room and plenty of water. After the first two blossoms appear, the rest are removed. Eventually, one is allowed to develop into a pumpkin and this one is pampered and protected as it grows. Usually a piece of plywood or other rigid material is placed beneath it before it becomes too large; this is for added protection and it also acts as an aid for moving the pumpkin. Since it needs so much growing time, a cover is generally placed over the pumpkin at night when the weather starts to cool. Some growers keep their plants under row covers once the pumpkin has started developing thus avoiding attacks from insects. With super good soil, nourishment, protection, and time, giant pumpkins are not that difficult to grow…only to move.
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Horseradish
I'm from England where horseradish is a well known condiment. What is available in the supermarkets here is a tasteless paste. Can it be grown in southern Rhode Island?
Sure can… and I grow it! Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) grows wild in many parts of the world and was used as a drug prior to becoming a condiment. All you need is a deep, humus-rich soil and some good crowns. The crowns can be ordered through vegetable seed catalogs or online; 'Maliner Kren' is the most offered variety. This is a Bohemian white-fleshed form with lots of kick.

Horseradish needs full sun, a spot by itself away from other vegetables or plants, (it can become invasive), and a neutral soil pH. Lots of moisture but good drainage is required as well. Pieces of root may also be used to start new plants but planting crowns shortens the waiting time to harvest. Crowns can be harvested the first season while root-started plants must be held two years before digging. In late fall when you dig the roots, save some for replanting. You can plant in the fall but cover with a good layer of mulch. Horseradish is a good candidate for a deep container that can be placed in a shed or unheated garage for the winter. This method of planting keeps it contained.
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Hot Peppers
How easy is it to grow hot peppers in this area and which variety is the hottest?
It is quite easy. In fact, hot peppers grow better for me than sweet green peppers. Hot peppers are ideal candidates for containers or to use for adding color to perennial and annual beds. One plant of any variety will yield a good supply. When planted in the vegetable garden they should be kept away from the sweet or bell pepper plants to prevent any cross-pollination—though I've done so without any problems.

As for hot, the smaller the pepper the hotter it is. Peppers are measured in Scoville Units which indicates the amount of heat produced. Scoville Units In the range 0 to 1000 is for sweet peppers; mild peppers range from 1000 to 3000, medium from 3000 to 6000, hot from 5000 to 100,000, and very hot from 80,000 to 300,000 Scoville Units. Jalapenos are considered medium hot, the habranero is very hot and cayenne, tabasco, and serrano peppers are hot. Some catalogs list a hot scale from 0 to 5, which is a big help in choosing a degree of heat.

Peppers like a soil pH around 6.0 and lots of sun. For the best results in this area, start with pepper plants and plant in the evening or on a cloudy, misty day as this gets them off to a good start. Keep the soil moist but not soaked. Mulching with straw or dried grass clippings is ideal and side dressing with a 5-10-10 helps when the fruit develops. Other than a daring woodchuck or curious deer (they will only try once if they bite a pepper), there are no serious pests that bother pepper plants. If you want to start your own plants, try a seed package of a hot pepper mix for variety.
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Hummingbird Moth (Tomato Hornworm)
Hummingbirds are supposed to eat red flowers so why did they eat my tomato blossoms?
Hummingbirds drink nectar from tubular flowers, not just red ones, but they didn't eat your tomato blossoms. What you had was a hummingbird moth, better known as the sphinx moth. This is a rather large moth (2 inches long) and when it hovers to feed its wings beat rapidly like those of the hummingbird (you will hear the sound). I don't believe it was eating the tomato flower but rather it was laying eggs on the leaves. The egg looks like a pearl attached to the leaf and many leaves will have a single egg on them. The caterpillar that emerges is the tomato hornworm!

This large green monster has a black horn on its rear end and white markings along the sides. It can do serious damage to your tomatoes. When first hatched, the caterpillar's horn is almost as big as its body but after four or five pupations within the first month, the hornworm larva develops into a large, plant-chomping creature. Some folks claim that they smell like green tomatoes, making them easy to find but you can also locate them by looking for dark droppings on and under the plants. When full grown the larva burrows into the soil and creates a cell in which to pupate. Now, if you see one of these caterpillars and it has white eggs attached to it, don't bother with it, it's going to be dead in short time. Those are the eggs of the parasitic braconid wasps and they will destroy the caterpillar.
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Jerusalem Artichoke
Can you fill me in on some history of Jerusalem artichokes?
Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) is also called sunchoke, but where the name came from has puzzled historians for centuries. In 1605 a Massachusetts gentleman named Champlain sampled this vegetable that the Indians cultivated and claimed it tasted like an artichoke. When they were introduced into Europe as Pommes de Canada, the name was soon changed to the Spanish and Italian for sunflower, which is girasol or girasole. This was in 1617 and the name girasole did not crop up again until the late 19th century. The word toinambour was used after a Brazilian tribe who arrived in France around the same time as the vegetable. In some early botanical texts, Jerusalem artichoke is considered to be a corruption of the Italian Girasole Articiocco.

As for "Jerusalem," there is no evidence to suggest any connection between the city and the vegetable. The American Indians called it a sun choke or sun root. Helianthus is from the Greek helios (sun) and anthos (flower), and tuberosus means root, making it very obvious that it is a sunflower with an edible root.

Today this American food is used both as a vegetable and an ornamental plant.
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Larks Tongue Kale
I’m looking for information about a cabbage called larks tongue.
It’s a German kale (Brassica oleracea) that is hardy to subzero temperatures and can be picked and cooked all year. This kale is still very popular in Germany, where it will grow to about four feet high with nice silver gray leaves, making it popular as an ornamental as well as a food crop. If allowed to go to flower, it becomes an attraction for butterflies. Here in southern Rhode Island it may not appreciate the humid summers, but if one can find the seeds it would be well worth trying as an ornamental plant.
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Leeks
Can we grow leeks here in Rhode Island?
You sure can. Leeks thrive in organically enriched soil with good drainage. Start the seeds indoors 10 to 12 weeks before planting out, or buy transplants. When you do plant them outside, make a trench about 6 inches deep and set the plants 4 to 6 inches apart, pushing soil around them, then water the trench to puddle the soil around the plant base. You may have to straighten plants up while doing this. As the leeks grow, put more soil into the trench and continue this even after the trench is filled. Blanching gives leeks a much better flavor. Leeks benefit from a feeding of compost tea and mulch to retain even soil moisture. Leek seedlings often get very tall and flop over, causing problems, but they can be snipped back to just above the leaf divisions to keep them under control. Hint: Leave them in the ground until after the first frost for the best taste although you can harvest them once they become the size of a scallion.
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Lettuce
I tried growing lettuce last summer but it was bitter. What am I doing wrong?
The problem is summer planting; lettuce need temperatures around 60 degrees, so plant lettuce in spring in a rich, friable soil that has a pH between 6.0 and 6.5. Lettuce also needs to grow fast and this can be accomplished by providing extra nitrogen in both quick and slow release forms (blood meal and compost are ideal sources). Provide even watering but don't let the soil get soggy. Most lettuce types will not do well when the temperature is 72 degrees or higher, so should a day be this warm, shade the plants.
Nutrient deficiencies in the soil can also effect lettuce so it's advisable to have the soil tested and amended prior to seeding. You can start lettuce again in August in a shaded location for transplanting to the garden as the temperatures cool down. Raised beds are ideal for lettuce crops.
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I planted lettuce and spinach a few weeks ago and it did poorly. Now it has suddenly gotten taller and has flowers. Is it still good to eat?
It bolted. That's the term used to describe the reaction of these cool-weather crops to longer days and heat: plants suddenly grow very rapidly to produce flowers and seed. When the weather goes from early spring temperatures to a heat wave in two days, bolting is a very common problem. The plants are still edible but will be very bitter. When you snap off the leaves you will notice a white sap oozing out, and this is what makes these crops very unpalatable. Replant these crops again in August for a fall crop as the weather cools down and the days become shorter. You want the crops to be ready for harvesting in mid- to late September, or even early October. You can use row covers to keep them shaded if the temperature spikes again.
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Our lettuce plants have turned white or light brown and are rotting. What is causing this and can we spray something to deal with this problem?
Spray something?  No, just stop the rain. When nature dumps water in huge amounts, a number of fungus diseases may take hold. The two big culprits are Sclerotinia drop and Botrytis gray mold. 

With Sclerotinia, problems begin on the stem near the soil and the fungus spreads very, very fast to roots and upward through leaves. The leaves become a slimy mess and a white cottony mold develops on the rotted parts.

Botrytis is basically the same but a fuzzy gray mold develops on exposed surfaces.  Spores for both fungi are in the soil for many years and when conditions are right—such as lots of wet weather, the right plant, and ideal temperature, the fungus develops and becomes active.
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Liming a Vegetable Garden
I'm planning to add lime to my vegetable garden this spring. How much time do I need between the lime treatment and planting?
Timing isn't very important. Do it when you're ready. The only time liming treatments can cause problems is if they are applied with lawn chemicals like herbicides or insecticides. The other thing to remember about lime is it takes 3 or 4 months to go to work. By this fall, the lime will have raised the pH a bit.
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Mail-Order Plants
Is it advantageous to buy vegetable plants by mail rather than seeds?
It can be if you are looking for varieties that are not available locally or if you don't have a place to start the seeds yourself. I've done it with mixed results. The key to success is choose from suppliers that are in your growing zone and ship at the correct planting time in your area. The problem I encountered was improper labeling on the shipping boxes. If not marked "live plants", boxes can be overheated, chilled, or even overlooked in transit and when they are received the contents are beyond help. The best plants arrive quickly in well-labeled containers with stamped directions on the box to open immediately. Inside the box you should find more directions on handling and hardening off the plants.

There are many growers who will start annuals, perennials, and vegetables that you specify, then ship them at the time you request. Most growers have toll-free numbers; make inquiries before ordering.
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Onion Rot
My onions are big but the leaves are wilting and some are dying. There is also some white slimy stuff all over the bottom of the onion…actually the onions are soft and rotted. What is causing this problem?
This is fusarium basal rot and it is caused by a soil-inhabiting fungus that likes onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, and chives.  Something wounded the onion allowing this fungus to enter where it spreads through the plant, resulting in leaves turning yellow and dying. The problem is worse as the bulbs approach maturity. Often this infection doesn’t show up until after the onions are harvested and in storage. There is no chemical control for this problem. Dig out and destroy infected plants and bulbs and plant onions in an entirely different location next year. 
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Onions
My onions have purple flowers on top which to me indicates they are ready to pick. Well, I did, but the onions were very tiny. What happened?
The problem is heat. Onions are a cool weather crop and when high temperatures occur the plants go into dormancy. This forces seed stalks to form. Unfortunately, all the nutrients that are supposed to feed the bulb go to the seed stalks and the bulb just sits there. There is nothing you can do about it either. The onions can be eaten but don’t try to store them except to freeze them for winter use as chopped onions. When you plant next time, start with small bulbs early in the season. Select types that are proven for our climate, such as Early yellow globe or Empires.
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Peas
I would like to plant peas this spring. Are they hard to grow?
No, they aren't hard at all. Peas like to be grown in cool weather and will become hard and tasteless when the hot summer weather arrives, so plant your seeds just as soon as the soil can be worked. There are now many varieties to choose from, all reaching maturity at different times. From experience, Wando and Lincoln both yield heavy crops in our climate since they are slow to react to the heat.

If the seeds go into the ground in April, by June you should be enjoying the crop. Then, you can also plant a second crop in late August. Plant your peas in a wide row by scattering the seeds and then rearranging them to about 2 to 3 inches apart. This method will create a dense bushy crop that will support itself and shade out weeds. Some garden catalogs recommend inoculating the seed before planting but this isn't really necessary. Seed in contact with damp cool soil is going to sprout. Don't worry if a late snow covers them either, they don't mind a bit.

You can also plant sugar peas or snow peas but most of these will require something to climb on. Research the many types available through seed catalogs. Hint: There's an awful lot of pea shelling needed when all the pods mature at the same time so you may want to plant smaller amounts over a couple of weeks. Peas are also relatively pest free.
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Our peas are or were up about 6 to 8 inches high and then something cut down every one of them, like scissors were used, leaving about one inch of stem.  Will they still produce?
Once all the leaves are gone from the plants, they will stop growing. You probably have either a rabbit or a woodchuck, both are active in the spring, looking for fresh greens to munch on. They usually feed during early daylight hours. You need a fence to keep these critters away from your veggies. To keep woodchucks out, a fence should be buried into the ground at least one foot (woodchucks will tunnel from one location to another) and be about three feet above ground, with the last foot left slack to tumble climbing chucks. For two years I have had one tunnel from under my garden shed to the middle of my vegetable garden, a distance of 30 feet or more.
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Peanuts
We tried growing peanuts last year for a class experiment and they didn’t sprout. Is there a special method for growing them?
Yes, there is. After getting the peanuts for seed, shell them but don’t remove the thin brown skin because it holds two halves of the nut together, enabling germination. You can also geminate peanuts in the shell but thta takes much longer. Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) can be grown here in Rhode Island if started in individual pots at least six weeks before the last frost, but they do not take to transplanting very well—you have to be very careful to avoid disturbing the roots. It is best to start them in peat pots that can be placed right into the ground. About six weeks after germination yellow flowers begin to appear. When the flower is fertilized the ovary enlarges and extends into a stem that carries the new plant embryo below the soil surface where the tips of the shoots swell and develop into peanut pods which take between 110 and 125 days to mature. This is why they need a loose soil without any mulch.
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Peppers
My peppers looked okay but are full of white worms. Where did they come from—I can find no holes.
Those white worms are pepper maggots and they are very common in the northeast. What you didn’t see is a very small dimple on the pepper where the adult fly punctured the fruit flesh to lay her eggs inside. The larvae feed inside the fruit, causing the membranes to turn brown. This isn’t something that will occur every year even thought the larvae spend the winter as a pupa in the ground. However, rotation of crops and use of row covers will help if they do become a problem.
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My peppers have blooms all over them now that summer is over…we didn’t get any peppers at all this summer. What is going on?
We had such a hot spell during the time when peppers flower that the blossoms blasted, or ‘cooked’. As the weather cooled, the plants reacted normally; they must set seed for survival so they blossomed even though there isn’t enough time left this growing season for fruit to form. If we have any heat waves predicted next July, try and get some sort of shade covering to protect the plants but make it high enough so that air flow isn’t impeded. Usually a double thickness of cheese cloth or a row cover mounted on poles will do the trick.
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Potatoes
Can you supply me with a list of potatoes that are native to New England or the U.S.? We're trying to establish a special history garden at our school.
Well, lets start with the 'Russet Burbank' also called 'Netted Gem' or Idaho potato. This is an 1873 cultivar that serves us well today. 'Bison,' from North Dakota is an excellent baking type with red skin and pale yellow flesh. 'Cow Horn' from New Hampshire is an heirloom fingerling with purple skin and flesh. 'Early Rose,' from Vermont in 1857 is salmon pink with pink streaks in the flesh. 'All Blue' is also of American origin has deep blue skin and a lavender flesh. 'Early Ohio,' from pre-1885 has pinkish-tan skin and white flesh. 'Green Mountainm,' an old circa 1885 cultivar from Vermont, has light brown skin and white flesh. 'Chieftain,' bred in Iowa in 1968, has a smooth red skin with white flesh. An American heirloom is the hardy, highly productive 'Blue Victor.' This potato, which has few diseases or pest problems, has a lavender or lavender and white streaked skinned with white flesh. I also found an 1853 cultivar from New York called 'Garnet Chile' featuring garnet skin and white flesh. Of course, I'm sure there are some sweet potatoes as well, but this should be a good start.
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How do I grow potatoes in a trash can?
Actually, it's pretty easy. Start with a clean, preferably plastic, not too large trash can that has some holes punched into the bottom. Then, you will put about 8 to 10 inches of good soil in the can into which you place about four potato eyes. Cover the eyes; as they sprout and send up leaves, pour on more soil - another 6 to 8 inches. Repeat this one more time, or until the soil level is about 6 inches below the top of the barrel, then mulch and keep the plants watered. (Some gardeners prefer to use straw on the third level, claiming it confuses the Colorado beetle.) What happens is that potatoes develop sideways, away from the main stem at each level. When the very tops have turned brown and shriveled away, turn the barrel upside down and harvest your potatoes.
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There’s a green, somewhat spiky insect on my potatoes and it has a dark brown bug attacking it. Can you tell me what is going on?
The green insect is a tortoise beetle larva and that dark brown bug is actually fecal material. Specifically, it is probably the eggplant tortoise beetle (Gratiana pallidula), which likes potatoes, eggplants, and weeds in the nightshade family. The beetle overwinters as an adult then lays eggs in the spring on the underside of leaves. The larvae chew leaves and carry fecal material and other debris with it. Not that much damage is done to the leaves but the larvae are often considered repulsive to humans.
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We grew potatoes for the first time this year and just dug them up. The skin is all scabby. We didn’t add lime so what might have happened?
This will happen when summer is hot and dry, especially if your soil is light or has a sandy texture, or, like mine, is powdery because it is silt loam. Also, the soil pH might be a little higher than it should be for potatoes.

The fungus that causes scab can live in decaying material in the soil and will become a big problem given the right conditions. Get your soil tested to make sure the pH is low enough (about 5.0) and when the rains don’t come, water but don’t overdo it. Also, let the soil surface dry out between waterings. Of course, the scab won’t hurt you…just peel it away and enjoy the spuds!
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We just dug up some of our potatoes and the insides are hollow. What disease causes this?
It isn’t a disease. The problem is know as hollow heart. It happens when potatoes grow too fast and develop internal rips that form cavities. Often, these cavities become discolored. Another cause is spacing between plants: when planted with too much room, the roots system grows very large system and this also creates excessive growth. Excess water also forces potatoes to grow rapidly.
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Raised Beds
We want to raise some vegetables next spring but our yard is full of rocks.
A raised bed is the answer! If the rocks are small enough to move, use them to construct your garden beds. You can use just about anything except treated lumber and beware of cement blocks, which I use, as they can increase the pH of your soil over time. By utilizing raised beds, you can place your gardens anywhere as long as they get plenty of sunshine.

Make the beds about 8 to 12 inches deep and keep the length and width reasonable for ease of attending the bed. For best results, place landscape cloth or newspaper on the ground before pouring in the filler. Compost is the best growing medium, but a mixture of soil, peat, and sand creates a great medium, as well. Make sure to get the pH tested!

If burrowing rodents are a problem in your area, place rabbit wire on the bottom. Other advantages of raised beds are that they are easy to protect with fences, you can place row covers on them, and they even convert to a cold frame. Cover the bed with plastic in the spring to get a jumpstart! Once constructed, never walk on the soil because this hinders growth by causing 'soil' compaction. Don't rototill either, this creates a fine, powdery medium that resists water. Just turn the soil with a spading fork.
Raised beds are much easier to keep and yield much more per square foot than traditional high maintenance veggie gardens.
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Rhubarb
I want to grow rhubarb this year. Is it an easy crop to grow?
Rhubarb (Rheum x cultorum) is very easy to grow if you start if off right. It likes a cool spring and must have a winter where the ground freezes. As soon as you can get into the garden, prepare a hole about two feet deep and four or five feet wide. Either fill this in with compost or mix dried cow manure with the soil you have removed. Rhubarb thrives in compost, you never can give it enough! It requires a damp, but not soaked, soil and compost holds the moisture so well. When the hole is filled, place one crown into a depression in the middle, water it well and let the hole drain. Then cover it with another four inches or so of soil and push down gently. Water again and mulch. One small crown will fill that four or five foot section within a couple of years. Let the plant grow through the first year but remove any stalks that produce a flower because the plant needs the strength for the following year's stalks.

Don't pick the first year, limit yourself in the second and never pick more than half the stalks from any plant at any time. Each spring fertilize with a couple of shovels of compost, dried manure, or a cup of 5-10-5 fertilizer. After five or six years you will need to divide the plant. It will let you know by sending up skinny stalks. Do this in early spring just as the stalks are sticking their noses out of the ground. Divide plants into crowns that have a couple of good eyes. Remember that the leaves are poisonous and are not to be eaten.

Some of the best cultivars are 'Strawberry', 'Early Victoria', and 'Canada Red'. Hint: Plant rhubarb where it receives partial shade during the heat of July and August.
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Scab
My potatoes and beets had warts on them last year. What caused this?
A bacterium (Streptomyces scabies) that is strange in that it grows as a mycelium and develops spores, just as a fungus would. Scab is soil-borne and can live a long time in soil without a host to feed on. It is the causative agent on all the root crops with warts, scabs, or brown sunken depressions on the skin. The bacterium doesn't hurt the inside or change the flavor of the root crop but you shouldn't store root crops with scab because other organisms can enter through those scabby spots.

Don't use lime or wood ashes in soil where you plant root crops. Also, if you are using manure make sure that it is composted completely. Plant your root crop area with a legume companion for a couple of years in a row. Also, scab doesn't like soils with high pH. The best thing is to establish a raised bed area with good compost for the root crops and use the old beds for other vegetables
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Spinach
I planted lettuce and spinach a few weeks ago and it did poorly. Now it has suddenly gotten taller and has flowers. Is it still good to eat?
It bolted. That's the term used to describe the reaction of these cool-weather crops to longer days and heat: plants suddenly grow very rapidly to produce flowers and seed. When the weather goes from early spring temperatures to a heat wave in two days, bolting is a very common problem. The plants are still edible but will be very bitter. When you snap off the leaves you will notice a white sap oozing out, and this is what makes these crops very unpalatable. Replant these crops again in August for a fall crop as the weather cools down and the days become shorter. You want the crops to be ready for harvesting in mid- to late September, or even early October. You can use row covers to keep them shaded if the temperature spikes again.
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Swiss Chard
Is Swiss Chard hard to grow?
No, not at all. Swiss chard, a member of the beet family, but it provides lots of spinach type leafs when grown in a nutrient-rich soil. Also called sea kale and Indian spinach, chard and its relative leaf beet are utilized where spinach is difficult to grow.

Prepare the soil with lots of compost and additional greensand, or a 5-10-5 fertilizer, before planting. Thin the sprouts to about a foot apart, provide lots of water and you will have an abundant crop. Chard has few pests other than leaf miners and slugs. Grow it under row covers if these pests are a problem.

Some varieties of Swiss chard have smooth leaves while others have dark, thick, crinkled leaves. There is a red variety called 'Rhubarb Chard' that spices up any garden. 'Perpetual' is an old variety of leaf beet that is tough, drought tolerant, and seems to resist bolting during the heat of summer. Other types to try are 'Erbette', a tender-leaved form that keeps on producing, and 'Southern European', a light-colored chard with tender stalks. By the way, the stalks can be eaten as well as the leaves.
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Tomato Bacterial Canker
My green tomatoes have gotten spots that look like little bulls eyes – white circles with a darker raised center. Some of them are all brown. Now the leaves are drooping. What disease if attacking the tomatoes?
They have bacterial canker, also known as bacterial blight, which is caused by Corynebacterium michiganense.  It’s a widespread and destructive disease that is made worse by warm, wet weather. The bacterium that causes this disease is carried on and inside the seeds and it lives on infected debris, plant stakes, and tools; it can live in the soil for almost three years.
If you cut open a stem, a yellowish slime can be squeezed out. There might also be light streaks on the stem that will eventually develop into cankers. There is no chemical cure for this so expect to lose some plants. Plant your tomatoes in a new location next year and don’t repeat locations for at least three years, preferably more. Wash all the tools you have used around the tomatoes in a bleach-water solution. The infected plants you have now should be removed and destroyed. Don’t put them in a compost pile.
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Tomato Seeds
How can I save tomato seeds?
First, make sure that the tomato isn't a hybrid or the seeds you save will not give you the same fruit. If it's an old, heirloom variety, saving the seeds is very easy. Chose several of the same type of tomato and squeeze the seeds and some pulp into a jar. Let this ferment at room temperature for three to four days, but no longer than five. Be sure to stir this mixture up each day. On the fifth day, pour off the pulp and any seeds that are floating. Floating seeds are useless. Next, you can either wash and dry the seeds or let them dry along with the remaining pulp by placing on paper towels or newspaper. Hint: place several thicknesses of paper towels atop a rack then spread the seeds on this. After everything is completely dry—about a week—you can store the seeds. Scrape them off the drying paper or just roll up the top layer of paper with them inside. Store them in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. Be sure to label the container! Check on the seeds every so often and if any mold appears discard the moldy ones and redry the rest.
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I'm very confused about the letters used on tomato seed packages, and also, words like determinate. Can you explain all of this, please?
If you are ordering seeds from a catalog, the explanations are usually printed somewhere in the catalog, otherwise it can really be a puzzle. The letters stand for disease resistance: V for Verticillium wilt, F for Fusarium wilt, T for tobacco mosaic virus, A for Alternaria stem canker, St for Stemphylium gray leaf spot, and N for resistance to nematode worm attacks. These are on the hybrid seeds of tomatoes bred for resistance. However, just because the older (heirloom) varieties don't have these qualities doesn't mean they will succumb to disease. With fertile garden soil, proper care, and crop rotation, these problems can be avoided.

The words determinate and indeterminate will tell you just how tall those plants will get. Determinate tomatoes reach a certain height and stop growing. Often called bush tomatoes, they still benefit from staking to keep them off the soil and get good air circulation. Indeterminate tomatoes are those that grow and grow as if they never reach their goal. Called vine tomatoes, they need tall cages or stakes or should be grown along a tall fence where they can be anchored.
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Tomatoes
Last summer my tomatoes all had a black spot on the bottom. What was it?
Sounds like blossom-end rot. What happens is that a water-soaked area appears on the blossom end of the fruit, and as it develops it spreads and turns dark and leathery. Sometimes, this spot remains dry, but if fungi or bacteria enter the spot the tomato becomes mushy as secondary problems arise.

The cause is calcium deficiency. Calcium in the soil can only be taken up by the plant when the ground is evenly moist. Improper watering, hot dry spells, and poor soil are some of the reasons this doesn't happen. Plant your tomatoes in soil that has plenty of organic matter, water them deeply, and use mulch to help keep moisture in and weeds out. Cultivating for weed control can damage the roots, destroying the ability to absorb the proper minerals. Have the soil tested before planting to assure that the nutrient levels are good.
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My tomato plants had flowers on them last week and suddenly they are dropping off. What is going on?
As with many plant problems, it is the weather pattern. When the weather goes from chilly and rainy to extremely hot and windy, and then back to an overnight chill, and then sticky and wet the tomato plants react by dropping flowers. Another way to explain the weather is when day temperatures reach the 90s for a few days or the night temperatures drop below 60. Unless you water, there would not be enough rain during such a heat spell. Try shading your plants somehow and make sure they get much needed water. Water at the roots and mulch to retain the moisture.
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Our tomatoes have been diagnosed with mosaic virus. What is this and can we do something to stop it?
It’s either tobacco mosaic virus or cucumber mosaic virus. The leaves take on a dark and light mottled mosaic design and are curled or stringy. Even the tomatoes that do develop are mottled. These viruses sap the plants, resulting in poor quality or minimal quantity of fruits. Mosaic virus can come into the garden on infected plants or weeds and it is spread by insects or from the residue of tobacco smoking. There is no chemicals for this condition, so you must destroy the plants and control the insects. Also, if anyone who smokes goes into the garden, make sure they have washed their hands thoroughly.
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All the leaves on my tomato plants are curling up or rolling into a tube. There are no bugs or spots, just the rolling. What do I need to do?
Nothing. This is caused from excessive water in the soil, usually after heavy rains. Were you in an area that has received downpours from thunderstorms? But don’t worry, the plant will still produce a good crop of tomatoes. After the soil dries out for a few days the leaves will return to normal. Planting your tomatoes in well drained soil, raised beds, or pots helps to avoid this problem.
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My tomato plants are shriveling up but I don’t see any bugs. The entire plant is still green and looks healthy, it’s just shrinking. My neighbor said I have planted them to close to his walnut tree. Is this true?
If the walnut is a black walnut, the answer is yes. There are number of plants that are killed by the toxin (juglone) that is released by the roots of these trees. Toxin remains in the soil, even if the tree was removed, for at least three to five years. Being one of the more sensitive plants, your tomatoes are going to shrivel up and die. Cut open the main stem and see if the tissue is very dark. If so, black walnut toxin is definitely the cause.

So, in the future, plant at least fifty to sixty feet away from black walnut and butternut trees or rely on raised beds with soil from another source.
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Why are my tomatoes splitting as they ripen?
The tomatoes are growing faster than their skin. When there is a period of wet weather following a dry spell, or when there has been some wilting and you pour on lots of water, there is a growth spurt. It can also occur when there are hot days and cool nights.
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Tomato Late Blight
What causes late blight on tomatoes and can it harm them?
Late blight is caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans, which can also infect potato and eggplant. This fungus doesn't show up every year but when it does, it is devastating as it attacks all parts of the plant - fruit, stems, and leaves. Late blight is most virulent in wet weather where the nights are cool and the days warm.

The symptoms are dark blotches that look like water stain on the leave, stems, and fruit. When these spots occur on fruit, it looks greasy at first and then corklike, usually starting at the stem end of the tomato.

When the weather is really wet, a mold will grow on the under surface of leaves and they become blighted. Often the fruit will be covered and the plant has a very foul odor. Remove any diseased plants from your garden right away, including all dropped leaves, fruit, and the entire root system…and don't put them in your compost pile.
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Tomato Supports
I just read in a garden magazine about using plastic pipe to water and hold tomatoes. Is this practical?
I saw that also and am going to try it. My old bamboo poles are shot and anything that gets water directly to the roots is a plus. My only concern is keeping the plants from pulling the ties down the pipe but maybe if the ties were glued to it? Everyone has problems keeping tomatoes staked. Cages fall over under the weight of the plants, wooden stakes break or the plant slides down, fencing and netting fall over, etc. Bamboo worked well though I never thought about pouring water down the hollow stalks!

As for water, we all know that overhead systems create problems, either by encouraging disease or wasting water. Watering the base of each plant by using drip irrigation is great, but if your water supply is 'miles' from the garden, like mine is, hauling water is necessary. Using large soda bottles is good but I think the PVC pipe, which not only disburses water but holds the plants up, would be an asset. What diameter to use and if holes should be drilled for the part below ground, is still a question in my mind.
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