Your gardening grandma probably taught you about the benefits of putting crushed eggshells around plants and planting tomatoes deeply, lengthwise in a trench. But, are those tips now myths or facts? The National Garden Bureau, a nonprofit educational group online at http://www.garden.org, says whether or not these tips still work.
Myth: Planting tomatoes in a trench or up to the first true leaves (usually second set of leaves) makes a sturdier plant.
Sometimes. Yes, it’s true for seed propagated heirlooms and hybrids. Deep planting increases the rooting area since roots form on any stem part that contacts with the soil. Grafted tomatoes are the exception because deep planting negates the benefits of the special rootstock.
Myth: To get sweeter tomatoes, add sugar to the planting hole.
Forget it! Tomato plants can’t absorb sugar in the soil; the sugar content of a variety is predetermined in the plant’s genetics.
Myth: Add chalk or eggshells to a planting hole.
Go for it! Yes, both help prevent blossom-end rot, which is a disorder of tomato, squash, pepper, because they provide calcium to the fruit. Blossom-end rot is a dry, sunken decay that develops on the blossom end, opposite the stem. Eggshells are slow to decompose so crush or grind the shells to make them dissolve faster.
Kathy’s tip: Plant a few tomatoes now so you have late fall harvests, including green tomatoes you can ripen indoors.
Myth: Spreading eggshell flakes around the bases of plants prevents slug damage.
Go for it! Yes, slugs do not crawl over the jagged surfaces of sharp eggshells, so a barrier of crushed, not ground, shells is a practical deterrent.
Myth: Place tuna fish cans around transplant stems to thwart cut worms.
Go for it! Yes, when both ends of the can are removed and placed around the plant, it acts as a barrier to keep these natural soil surface crawlers from reaching and eating the plant until the stem has thickened past the tender stage.
Myth: Beer traps for slugs.
Go for it! Yes, shallow containers of beer do attract and then drown slugs. Also, research shows slugs prefer light beers. If rain or irrigation mixes with the beer, refill the traps with fresh, undiluted beer because the critters dislike watered-down stuff.
Myth: Perennials don’t bloom the first year, especially bare-root plants.
Sometimes. Modern breeding and growing techniques makes this mostly not true. Plant bare root and potted perennials now and enjoy blooms the first year, providing you plant them before their natural bloom time. If you plant a potted perennial that needs to winter over, you will have to wait through the first cold season to get flowers.
Myth: Pinch off all flowers on annuals before planting them.
Not today! Today’s breeding means bedding plants are bred to be more compact and to produce continuous flowers, so you don’t need to pinch to maintain growth or to promote another flush of flowers.
Myth: Remove the tops of onions to make larger bulbs.
Hands off! In reality, the opposite is true because knocking off the tops early stops the bulb-growing process, giving you smaller bulbs.
Contact Kathy at kvanmullekom@aol.com.
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