Amateur Gardening – 24 August 2019

36 AMATEUR GARDENING24 AUGUST 2019

Ask John Negus

Johnhasbeenanswering

reader queries for 49 years

Q

Myfuchsiasaresufferingfrom

whatI thinkis gallmite.Can I save

themordotheyhavetogo?

Simon Turnbull, Doncaster, S. Yorks

A

Unfortunately,theadviceof the

RHSis todestroyaffectedplantsas

thereis littleornochanceof controlling

thispest.However,I’mallforhavinga go

if it meanskeepingplantsthatyouhave

beengrowingforseveralyears.

Thefirstthingtodois tocutoffall

theaffectedshootsanddestroythem,

ideallybyburning. Don’tcompostor

putintoanygreenwastecollection.

Thiswillgetridof a lotof mites,butit

is unlikelytoremovethemall,although

wearecomingtotheendof theiractive

season,whichmayslowthemdown.

Mites overwinter on plants, so cutting

How do I solve this gallingproblem?

‘Rooster’booster

Q

Pleasecouldyoutellmewhatis

a reliablemaincroppotato?

Peter Matthews, via email

A

’Rooster’is excellent,producing

pink-skinned,yellow-fleshed

tubers.It hasshowedstrongresistance

topotatoviruses,andstoreswellover

winter.Anothergoodoneis ‘Picasso’,

whichproduceshighyieldsof large,oval

tubers,growswellin mostsoils, and is

pest and disease-resistant.

‘Rooster’is anattractiveand

reliable maincrop potato

allthestemsdowntogroundlevelonce

plantshaveentereddormancyshould

removea greatnumbermore,butagain

therearelikelytobesurvivors.

Therearewinterwashsprays

designedtokilloverwinteringpests.

Theycanscorchgreenleavesandsoft

materialsoarespecificallymarketed

asbeingforfruittrees,butit mightbe

worthconsideringsprayingthepruned

fuchsiaswithit, if youcandosowithout

riskingothernearbyplantmaterial.

LookforVitaxWinter Tree Wash or

somethingsimilar.

Propagatingnewplantsis obviously

a potentialwayof dealingwiththe

problem,butonlyif youcanbecertain

thatthecuttingsmaterialis freefrom

themiteandcanbekeptfree from it –

neither of which is easy.

All photography TI Media unless otherwise credited

Q

Whathashappenedtomytomato

plant?It looksrotten.

lison Little, Oxfordshire

A

Iwouldsayyourtomatoeshave

blightdiseaseorverticilliumwilt.

adly,allyoucandois removeall

ealthyfruitsandripenthemontraysina

shadyspotindoors,andthenbinor burn

infectedplants,includingroots.

Blightspreadsquicklyandthesooner

youharvesthealthyfruitsthebetter.If

theproblemis verticilliumwilt,a soil-

bornefungus,it’svitaltoreplacethesoil

withfresh.If yourplantsare in growing

bags, bin the compost.

A tomato tragedy

WhenwillI getblooms?

Q

Myyounglilyof thevalleyplantshave

leaves,buthaven’t flowered yet.

Is thatnormal?

Janey Crisp, via email

A

Lilyof thevalleycomesintogrowthin

spring,producingitslovelywhite

flowersin AprilandMay.Theleavesstay

greenwellintoautumnbeforetheplantsdie

downtotheirrhizomesforthewintermonths.

I amsupposing,giventhesparseappearanceof yourlilyof thevalley,

thatit is a relativelynewplant– in whichcase,thelackof flowersis quite

understandable.Butdon’tworryastheyshouldappearnextyear!

Theleaveslookveryhealthyandtheundergroundrhizomeshaveobviously

grownastheleavesarequitewelldistributedaroundthepot,soI wouldsay

thereis nothingto worry about that can’t be sorted by giving your plants

time to grow.

Blightandwiltwillboth

attack tomato plants

Wikimedia

Fuchsia gall mites are an incredibly diffi cult pest to control

Lilyofthevalleywillflower

once plants are mature