The Master Gardener, by Jerry Vitalis

Posted 8/15/01

The Master Gardener, by Jerry Vitalis

A Year of Records

This past year has been a good year for keeping records. We are still reeling from last Augustís drought and cold wet winter. If you donít believe that, just look at trees and lawns that are still stressed. Then we had a cold, wet and late spring. If you donít believe that, just look at some of the garden problems we have seen. As I write this article, they just announced that this is the 18th day this summer with 90 degree plus temperatures and more to come. The hot and humid nights are causing strange things to happen in our gardens. There are lots of items to add to our garden logs. Included are a couple of things from my garden log.

I have noticed more corn smut then in past years on the sweet corn. It is especially at the end, next to the alfalfa field where the deer have been nibbling on the hay as well as the sweet corn. I know the hot and humid weather is what corn smut loves, but I donít know if the deer have contributed to the problem by stressing the corn.

Corn smut is a wind-borne fungus that affects developing ears of corn and appears at first as small white growths among the kernels. Within a few days, these growths swell into blue-gray galls that completely disfigure the ear. Smut galls can grow up to three-quarters of an inch long and when they are mature, they release clouds of sooty, black spores into the air. These spores infect other plants and the soil, starting the cycle over again. The smut on the ear looks very unappealing, but in some countries of South America, it is a gourmet item. Farmers get a premium price for the infected corn. One can even order it in some restaurants in the U.S.; sorry I'll pass.

My record shows that I havenít raised zucchini since I became a Master Gardener, until this year, and guess what? There is a fungus that attacks the zucchini blossoms and fruit. I guess the mark of a true gardener is that when anything goes wrong in our garden, we take it personally.
There are two main rots that affect cucurbits (in the gourd family). One is Rhizopus rot, which is the weaker of the rots. Symptoms begin with water soaked lesions that enlarge quickly. The fruit collapses as it becomes colonized. The solution is to harvest the fruit promptly and avoid injury to the fruit.

Choanephora fruit rot is the more aggressive of the two rots. This disease often destroys both the blossom and the fruit. The flowers turn mushy and brown and drop off the plant. I have some of the choanephora fruit rot and the rot continued from the blossom onto the fruit. The only practical way to deal with the problem is to pick the infected fruit, discard it, and hope for less humid weather.

I have written before on the difference between table onions and what I call keeper or storage onions. However, I think Iíve learned something about onions since I wrote the article. I still don't know why some onions go to seed, but I think I know why they don't keep. One should let the onion tops fall over on their own. Iím going to wait until the stalks are brown and dried up before I pull them. I also know that you should let them lay in the sun a few days after pulling them. Then they should be put in a dry, well-ventilated location. Having done all of that, I still had problems with some of them getting soft. Some varieties, like Walla-Walla, may not keep long because they are an early onion. I was having trouble with late onions also.

I plant my onions at least six inches apart so they can grow. Also, it makes it easier to weed between them. Still, there are weeds that come up right along side the onions. In my quest to get every weed, I think I am damaging that outer skin. This is the skin that protects the onion and becomes fully dried and papery when stored. This is what I'm recording in my log. If that isnít the problem; well, back to the drawing board.

Master Gardeners have a table at the farmers market in Lindstrom every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, while the farmers market is open. It is located in the parking lot at St. Bridgets Catholic Church, just off of Main Street. Peggy Boike, Volunteer Master Gardener, coordinates this service, which is another vehicle for answering gardening questions.

A reminder that the Master Gardeners are in the Extension Office on Monday evenings to answer questions from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. If you have a problem that canít wait until the Master Gardeners are in the office, you can contact Jerry Vitalis, volunteer Master Gardener, by calling the Extension Office at (651) 674-4417. Another service we provide is a message line that you can leave your name and phone number, so that a Master Gardener can call you back. That phone number is (612) 626-0000.