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Helen Chesnut: Lack of sun could hurt tomatoes; grow impatiens from seed

Dear Helen: I have large, healthy tomato plants with lots of flowers — and no fruit. The plants are exposed to sun only in the afternoons. D.D. Dear D.D.: Tomatoes need full sun to grow and produce well.
chesnut aug 5.jpg
Wedgewood Mix in the Impreza series of impatiens (Stokes Seeds) gives a longlasting display of soft colours. Impatiens can easily be grown from seed.

Dear Helen: I have large, healthy tomato plants with lots of flowers — and no fruit. The plants are exposed to sun only in the afternoons.

D.D.

Dear D.D.: Tomatoes need full sun to grow and produce well. It could also be that, if the plants are shaded and cool all morning, then hit with fierce sun and heat in the afternoon, that sudden high heat could affect the pollen and the pollination process.

Tomato flowers don’t need insects for pollination because each bloom holds both male and female parts. A light breeze or a gentle shaking of the plants is enough to move the pollen to where it is needed.

An excess of nitrogen in the soil can inhibit fruit production, as can inadequate or excessive moisture in the soil.

 

Dear Helen: After gardening on Vancouver Island for 14 years, we’ve encountered a first-time problem with pumpkins, squash and cucumbers. They seem to have produced only male flowers, with the odd exception. One female bloom produced a spaghetti squash, and we do have a few cucumbers. We fed the plants with fish fertilizer after the seedlings emerged and again in early July. In spite of water restrictions we’ve managed to keep the soil relatively moist.

C.R.

Dear C.R.: In conditions of stress that limit the capacity of these plants to carry and sustain fruit, female flowers will drop off the plant while they are small, before they can open and receive pollen. The usual stresses involved are inadequate supplies of water or/and nutrients, and high heat. Your problem is fairly common this year.

I’m wondering, too, whether using a fertilizer that is mainly nitrogen may have helped to keep the plants in vegetative rather than productive mode.

Alternating applications of the fish with a fertilizer containing at least equal amounts of phosphorus and potassium could be helpful.

Another boost to the carrying capacity of squash, pumpkin and cucumber plants is to apply a generous layer of compost, watered in well, over the root areas just as the plants begin expanding. And in a hot, dry summer like this one, laying a loose, soil-cooling, moisture-retaining mulch like fluffed straw under and around the plants is beneficial.

 

Dear Helen: I used to grow containers of impatiens (the regular sort) with great success, but in recent years, I’ve not been able to find transplants. Is this flower difficult to grow from seed?

T.D.

Dear T.D.: In the past few years, growers have been hesitant to produce regular impatiens plants, and garden centres have been reluctant to order them in, because of a very destructive downy mildew of impatiens that rapidly devastates plantings, especially in moist conditions and with cool night temperatures.

It’s not been my habit to sow impatiens every year, but last year, realizing transplants might not be easily available, I chose a colour mixture from the Stokes Seeds catalogue. The seeds germinated well and the transplants developed nicely to produce a fine container display by my front door. This year’s impatiens seeding has been equally successful.

In fact, in my experience, regular impatiens is among the very easiest of plants to grow from seed. They bush out nicely without stretching and turning lanky. They transplant without a hint of setback, and though impatiens doesn’t begin flowering as early as petunias, plantings become more flower-filled and showy as summer progresses. My container impatiens displays are in bloom well into autumn.

Last year’s container display was Impreza Wedgewood Mix from Stokes. This year I’m pleased with the vibrant colours of Super Elfin Hot (Veseys Seeds).

Most impatiens varieties need light to germinate, but always check directions on seed packets. The seeds I’ve sown have germinated well with a very scant scattering of seeding mix pressed gently down over the seeds and with placing the seeded flat in bright indirect light, covered loosely with clear plastic.

 

Dear Helen: I’m overwhelmed with produce in my garden, including figs since mid-July. What is the best thing to do with the excess produce?

F.H.

 

Dear F.H.: I offer extra fruits and vegetables first to neighbours and friends who are physically limited, shut-in, without gardens, or struggling financially. Local food banks and community kitchens are usually glad of fresh produce. In the Greater Victoria area, LifeCycles runs a Fruit Tree Project with volunteers who harvest home garden fruit for sharing with the homeowner, volunteers, food banks and community organizations. For details, visit lifecyclesproject.ca.