Powdery Mildew

My experience with zucchini and cucumber is they tend to be prone to powdery mildew.  Powdery mildew in the cucurbit family is is a fungal disease caused by Sphaerotheca fuliginea.  In severe cases it will destroy the entire plant as well as spreading to healthy plants.  As with any plant disease recognizing and treating the problem early can make a huge difference as to whether the crop is saved. 

In my previous garden that had more shade than it should have I expected problems so was not surprised at dealing with powdery mildew.  This garden however is in a sunnier location and with most of the tomatoes planted in containers set in the sunniest locations I was hoping to not have to deal with powdery mildew this year.  Unfortunately it did strike.  The plants most effected are the pickling cucumbers planted in containers.  The marketmore cucumber planted in one of the raised beds has a suspected leaf blight which is also fungal.

Powdery mildew shows up as light blueish grey fuzzy spots on the leaves.  The spots will get larger eventually covering the entire leaf that will then shrivel and die.  Fungus propagate via spores so the disease can spread rapidly.  It is very important to not work in the garden when the foliage is wet as that will hasen the spread of fungal diseases.
 

Controlling powdery mildew in the home garden can be easily achieved by spraying the leaves regularly with chamomile tea, a baking soda solution or a milk solution.  My experience has been the milk solution is the most effective with result seen within a couple of hours of spraying.  One of the reasons for this is milk acts as a foliar fertilizer that boosts the plant's immune system helping it fight off the disease via its germicide properties. 

A 10% (1 part milk to 9 parts water) solution sprayed weekly of milk is enough to control powdery mildew.  Too strong of a solution can cause odours and  an innoccuous to grow on the plants.  I use 3 tbsp spoons of skim milk powder in one litre of water for the first treatment then reduce the skim milk powder to 2 tbsp for each treatment there after.  I spray the milk solution on all of the leaves to curb any further outbreaks.  This effectively kills off the initial powdery mildew outbreak and any further outbreaks.  I also cut away any dead leaves that may harbour the fungal spores.  The milk treatment is effect, low cost and organic.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Chamomile

Chamomile

June 9, 2010

Chamomile is an annual daisy-like herb that gets its name deriving from the Greek from chamaimēlon meaning earth apple or the apple-like scent.  Chamomile is commonly made into a tea for it's calming effect to help relax before sleep.  In the home garden chamomile tea can be used to prevent dampening off in seedlings.  It can also be used as a dye to produce a green colour.

I love chamomile tea!  It is hard to find chamomile plants here most years I have to grow from seed.  However this year I got lucky and found a nice sized chamomile plant for the garden.  This was a nice surprise because I've had problems getting my chamomile to reach a good size for drying.  Drying chamomile is quite easy as you can pull up the entire plant, discard flowers, check for other infestations then simply break into stems and dry in a dark, cool, dry place on a drying screen for about 7 - 10 days.  Flowers must be removed because the yellow bits fall off as the herb dries.  Dry to the point that that the leaf crumbles.  Cut across the chamomile into 1" pieces then vacuum seal in glass jars for later use.   This year I'm hoping a couple of jars of home dried chamomile will grace my pantry for tea through the winter months.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Stump Removal

A Couple of Stumps

May 10, 2010

A couple of weeks ago we did a massive ripout which is rather on par for this property.  We have definitely been doing more ripping out than planting since the property was so over planted and poor planted with inappropriate plants.  This time we got smart and hired out the work.  The guys came in with a small backhoe.  Within 2 hours the two gardens being ripped out were no more.  All the stumps were gone!  Had we done this by hand it would have taken us several days.  We were left with a blank slate to replant as we want.  As soon as it dries enough they will delivering 8 cubic metres of top soil so things will really start happening then!  It's funny because I was concerned over the local predictions that we were going to have a dry spring but it hasn't turned out that way.  I'm anxious to get the new beds going along with landscaping.

Happy Gardening!  
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Automatic Watering Globe

A couple of days ago I was pondering the problem of container plants drying out and wanted an inexpensive solution to ensuring houseplants were adequately watered when we are away.  Houseplants are as problematic if we are gone for 2 or 3 days but outdoor container plants can easily become too dry in the period of a few hours.  I recently wrote about a gravity fed watering system that I am planning on setting up for this year's garden experiment.  While this system has a lot of potential for containers grouped together as in patio or balcony gardening it would be a bit more difficult to expand to using with containers spread a distance from each other and modifications would need to be made for indoor usage.  So I've been looking at other options while tweaking the gravity fed watering system design for indoor usage as well.

I know watering globes and clay watering spikes have been available for quite some time.  I didn't use them mainly because there wasn't a lot of need.  Usually the kids check our house and water plants when we are away.  I found watering globes at the dollar store for $2 each and decided they would be a good idea especially in the sunporch where plants tend to dry out quicker than those in the house.  I bought 2 of them to try.  The dollar store watering globes came in at just under half the price of those sold at Canadian tire.

A watering globe is made of hand-blown glass.  It provides a bit of a decorative element to potted plants while ensuring they do not dry out.  They are quite easy to use buy simply filling then inverting and inserting the stem into the soil where the water will be released into the soil via gravity and osmosis.  The size I bought will keep a plant watered for up to 2 weeks.  I think these watering globes will be wonderful for use indoors and in the sunporch.  I'm a bit concerned over direct sun exposure for outdoor potted plants where the water could heat in the reservoir to the point of being too hot for the plant.  Since the watering globe is made of glass it is a bit more fragile than other watering methods as well so this won't be an option I use much outdoors other than protected areas. 

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Neighbour Complaints Over Urban Gardening

Recently a Vancouver, Canada homeowner, Ken Dyck has done a fair amount of complaining about his neighbour Sara St. Vincent's urban garden.  He has filed complaints with the City of Vancouver because he feels Sara's garden is reducing his property value.  However, Sara and her housemates view their gardens as a way to live ecologically ethical lives.  The goal of their tiny bungalow named The Farmhouse is to feed their house of five and maybe others too if their crops are successful.  The city did issue work orders but Sara and her housmates complied so the work orders have been withdrawn with the restriction the property be kept neat and tidy.  The City of Vancouver is quite clear that it encourages these gardening initiatives and hopes the two neighbours work out their dispute

There are actually two problems going on with this urban garden but it pays to be aware of problems you can encounter with urban gardening and likely moreso if you turn your front yard into an edible garden.  A front yard urban garden can look out of place in a neighbourhood with  tidy, manicured lawns, many framed by a row of spring perennials.  It is imparitive thaat front yard gardens be kept neat and tidy at all times to prevent neighbour complaints.  This really only shows respect for your fellow neighbours something that goes a long way towards neighbour relations.

The second problem here is Mr. Dyke does not understand why urban gardening is so important or if he does he has an axe to grind with Sara and her housemates.  Urban gardens are here to stay and their popularity is growing as more people struggle with finding a low cost way of provinding organic fruits and vegetables for their table.  Neighbour disputes are never any fun and they can esculate so it's best to use prevention tactics first.  If you are wanting to turn both your front and backyards into edible gardens here are a few tips for you:

• talk to your neighbours -  Letting your neighbours know what you are planning is just a nice way of keeping good neighbour relations.  Sure you can go ahead and do what you want as long as it complies with municiple bylaws but that little bit of communication goes a long way toward preventing complaints later.  Educating your neighbours as to how edible gardening is considerably more eco-friendly than a well manicured green outdoor carpet is key to living harmoniously and a few freebies from your garden never hurts. 
• consider the aesthetics of your neighbourhood - It is amazing how much food you can grow in your front yard without it looking like a sore thumb in your neighbourhood.  Low growing herbs, vining vegetables (squashes, cucumbers, beans and peas) and container gardening can all be worked into your front yard without being an in your face thing.
• fencing -  Good fences make for good neighbours.  Install privacy fencing around the perimeter of the backyard.  That way any gardening eyesights neighbours don't want to look at will be shieled from them.  In Key West most of the homes have gorgeous front yard fencing and this is not an uncommon thing especially in older neighbourhoods.  Plant flower vines (eg. Trumpet, Clematis, Morning Glory, or climbing roses on the house side of front yard fences.  This creates a friendly growing barrier that looks lovely while hiding the bare basics of front yard gardening from street view.
• know your rights - Always work within the municiple bylaws.  Providing you are doing so other than creating a rukus there is nothing your neighbour can do as far as complaints go.  If your neighbour continues to be unreasonable or esculates as long as you are on the legal side of the law there are other options available to you.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010