FOR TOMATOES
PREPARE SOIL WELL AHEAD. It is advisable to select the site and prepare the ground for the reception of tomatoes a full month before planting time. The site should be in the sunniest and most sheltered part of the garden, for the tomato is a tropical plant. If you can give it protection, whether of a wall, building, or wooden fence, it will be all the better. The soil should be well prepared for it, and dug to the full depth of two feet, and a dressing of farmyard manure be worked into the second spit, not so much for its manorial properties as for its mechanical effect. It will be too deep down to feed the plants until late in the season, but it can and will act as a reservoir for holding moisture. The top spit should be dressed with bonedust, together with ashes from the heap where old garden refuse has been burnt. These will provide the phosphates and potash. Having well broken up the soil and incorporated these ingredients as directed, leave it all as loose and open as possible for the weather to play upon and sweeten it. Before planting time comes it will have settled down, and it is advisable then to dig over the surface again and tread it once over, for, in common with most fruit-bearing plants, the tomato bears best in a firm soil. You will find that your plants will do a lot better in a bed thus prepared, thoroughly and at leisure, than they will do in one hastily got ready and lacking that sweetness and fitness which can only be imparted by the weather. SPINACH MUST HAVE RICH SOIL. Spinach to be profitable must have a rich moist soil. Given this, it is one of the most profitable vegetables one can grow. Leaves should be taken for use as long as there are plenty, but as soon as the plant throws up a flower stem it should be cut off and the plant dug in for manure. Overcrowding should be avoided, each plant should be allowed six inches as a minimum, and, where possible, twelve inches will be more advantageous. REQUIRE ATTENTION LATE GROWN VEGETABLES. Late-sown vegetable should not be neglected during the present month or the results may be disappointg. Young lettuce should be planted out in suitable spots; they can be fairly close together to allow for pulling in a young state. Dust with soot if slugs are troublesome. Complete the thinning of winter spinach and turnips. Autumn-sown onions need to be kept free of weeds. The hoe must be used between crops whenever the soil is dry enough. VIOLETS GIVE THEM ATTENTION. Violets always deteriorate if they are left alone for more than one year. A network of runners is formed and. soon, short-stemmed flowers and small leaves will result. It is therefore advisable to take up the plants and divide them directly they have passed out of flower. Dig the plants with a fork and shake all the soil from the roots. It will then be an easy matter to pull them apart into suitable portions for replanting. The single varieties usually form distinct runners attached to the main plant by underground stems. Those should be removed with as many roots as possible and after planting, more roots will form along the length of white stem. In the case of the doubles, young crows will be found round the edge of the plants, with roots attached. Burn the old woody portions, together with any other plants that seem unhealthy and propagate only from the best.' Make a hole of good depth with a trowel so that the roots can be spread cut. firm the soil well and give a watering to settle the plants in. Do not bury the “crown" under the soil, or the plant may go “blind" and will neveiflcwer. Plenty of organic manure can be incorporated into the soil to hold moisture and a dressing of hydrated lime can be given at the rate of four ounces per square yard, applied to the surface and lightly raked in.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAITA19401023.2.93.2
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 October 1940, Page 9
Word count
Tapeke kupu
689FOR TOMATOES Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 October 1940, Page 9
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Wairarapa Times-Age. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.