Dear Helen: Last month, when my tomato and other young plants were ready to set out into the garden, I recalled reading something about “hardening off” before transplanting. I took that to mean putting them outside, which I did. They collapsed and died, with distressing alacrity. Do you manage to “harden off” your plants without killing them?
D.C.
Hardening off is a term for the process of gradually acclimatizing transplants from protected indoor environments to outdoor conditions. The timing for the process depends upon the plants involved, that is mainly how cold tolerant they are, and current conditions out in the open garden.
The process usually begins by setting the plants outdoors, in a sheltered place protected from direct sun, at a “Goldilocks” time — neither too hot nor too cold for the plants involved — for a few hours each day, ending with an overnight outdoors, before the transplanting.
For most varieties of tomatoes, the process begins in May, a month that is usually gently warming and ideal for successful transplanting. Not this year. Early May brought unseasonally high heat and intense sun that fried many newly set out transplants.
I had to hold many of my transplants in coolish, shaded areas until the weather moderated a little. Transplants that had recently been set out needed to be shaded from the suddenly intense sun and heat.
The key feature of “hardening off” is a gradual move into full exposure to the outdoor environment, at an appropriate time for the plants if weather conditions are favourable.
Dear Helen: I’ve attached photos illustrating a new problem with our peach fruit this year. Gummy drops of a sap-like substance have appeared on the young fruits. I suspect it is caused by stinkbugs feeding on the new fruit. I have seen the odd one on the peach trees. I think we will lose all of this year’s crop.
L.D.
After a bout of perplexing research, I contacted Linda Gilkeson, a well-known entomologist, speaker and writer on Salt Spring Island, for a definitive answer. With her usual generosity, she answered promptly.
“Gummosis on fruit can be from stink bug feeding causing the pin prick holes that allow the sap to ooze out — though any insects, including lygus bugs, that pierce the skin could make the injuries.
For the last month, I have been getting a lot of questions from people noticing high numbers of several species of stinkbugs on their trees and bushes: red-backed stink bug (also called Banasa stink bug), green stink bug, and the recently introduced brown marmorated stink bug, which is a notorious fruit pest—so I would be inclined to guess that stinkbugs are indeed the most likely culprits.
Usually the gummy bits can be brushed off and the fruit continues to develop normally with a bit of a scar or corky spot where the injury was, which can be easily cut out at harvest time.”
Stink bugs are shield-shaped insects that release a nasty smell when disturbed. I’ve noticed more of them than I usually encounter in the garden this spring.
On the Victoria Day long weekend, I was putting fresh straw around the strawberry plants when I felt a slight bite on my upper chest.
I hit the area to stop the culprit and was immediately enveloped in the familiar, foul-smelling odour of stinkbug. They are not known for biting, but somehow a stinkbug was present when I made my crushing move.
To respect the sensitivities of my son, who was visiting at the time, I took his malodorous mommy into the shower.
GARDEN EVENTS
Fruit tree pruning. The Compost Education Centre, 1216 North Park St. in Victoria, is offering a workshop on Summer Fruit Tree Pruning on Saturday, June 24, from 1 to 3 p.m. Learn about the many advantages of summer pruning. For details and registration, call 250-386-9676, email [email protected], or go online at compost.bc.ca/publicworkshops.
Nanaimo garden tour. Alltrusa Nanaimo is hosting a garden tour on Sunday, June 25, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The seven gardens on the tour include woodland and rose gardens, and one focussed on food production. Money raised provides scholarships for students needing funding and for women re-entering the work force. Tickets at $25 are available at most nurseries and KC’s Boutique in Nanaimo and Buckerfield’s in Parksville. districttwelve.altrusa.org/nanaimo.
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