GARDENING IN THE WAIMARINO

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 1, Issue 19, 11 October 1983, Page 10

GARDENING IN THE WAIMARINO

Chrysanthemums For those who tried their hand at raising chrysanthemums from cuttings, now is the time to prepare their growing position. First essentials are a good garden soil, open sunny aspect and good drainage. Dig over the area and cover the ground with a

good covering of animal manure or compost. If you have none of this, use blood and bone at the rate of 1 cupful to the square yard (metre) all lightly raked in. Flant spacing is 45cm (18 inches) between plants and rows. Cuttings set out between 1-10 September will be ready to plant out about 10-20 October. Stopping (pinching out growing tips) which determines when the plant will start flowering is usually done about three weeks after planting out. Flants should then start flowering in first week of February. However later articles will explain in more detail how to treat your chrysanthemums from November on. Daphne Ninety per cent of daphne bushes failed to flower in the Waimarino this year due to a combination of climatic factors. Do not despair, it does not happen too often. If you have Daphne Cneorum or the variegated Burkwood variety which flower later, you should have more luck. Gladioli Gladioli do well in this area. The Waimarino A & F Show 18 February has a good horticultural section and gladioli planted in the last two weeks of November would be ready then. As a rule of thumb allow 80 to 90 days from planting to flowering. Ground supplied with well-rotted animal manure or compost is best and plant corms in groups of 6 or 8 10cm (4") deep and 15cm (6") apart. Fut in stakes at

the same time so that there is no danger to corms. Fruit trees and shrubs Apple trees are in the green tip stage. Continue sprayings of Cuprox or a similar fungicide at 3 week intervals. Avoid using insecticides when fruit trees are in flower. This also applies to blackcurrant and gooseberries flowering now. Vegetables Early peas can be planted now, William Massey being a good variety to start with. Early cabbages, cauliflowers, broccoli and silverbeet can be planted now, say 3 or 4 at a time, so share a bundle or punnet of plants with a neighbour. Flant a short row of early carrots. Frobably the most devastating disease which can attack your vegetable garden is clubroot and this is fairly widespread in this area. It is a fungus disease which attacks the brassica family ' (cabbage, cauli, swede, turnip, broccoli etc.) The roots are affected and the first sign is unthrifty plants and wilting on fine hot days. Lift one of these plants and you will find the roots in thick white clubs .:. hence the name 'clubroot'. All you can do is burn the affected plants and do not replant brassica family plants in the same ground. Ways to avoid clubroot: buy plants from a reliable source; rotate your crops; raise your own plants in certified seed raising mix and use Coopers 'Clubsin' fungicide which is now available in local shops. Trevor Franeis Raetihi Garden Club