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I agree 100%! Life is too short not to have fun. Besides, skoff if you want too but I know of many many silly "old wives tales" that not only work, but work better than today's pricey ideas and products.
I agree 100%! Life is too short not to have fun. Besides, skoff if you want too but I know of many many silly "old wives tales" that not only work, but work better than today's pricey ideas and products.
I agree! I think this thread was fun. You just have to skip over the negative comments that some people write. Some people just have to ruin things--don't let them.
Garden on people!
Does anyone remember 'old timers' sprinkling something on the tomato blooms to help them set and produce? I know that when conditions are too hot and dry, or too hot and humid, the pollen in the blooms won't 'pollenate' properly! A healthy plant requires enough water and sunlight, but the blooms still may not produce if conditions are not right! Each bloom contains both male and female pollen that must mix within each bloom! Insects such as bees may help with the process, by vibrating and disturbing the pollen! My grandparents use to talk about sprinkling some common product on the blooms to help, but I can't remember what it was...!!!
Just shake them! That can help them to self pollinate. If they're small enough put a bag over them and then shake them some. Remove the bag and give it time.
Does anyone remember 'old timers' sprinkling something on the tomato blooms to help them set and produce? I know that when conditions are too hot and dry, or too hot and humid, the pollen in the blooms won't 'pollenate' properly! A healthy plant requires enough water and sunlight, but the blooms still may not produce if conditions are not right! Each bloom contains both male and female pollen that must mix within each bloom! Insects such as bees may help with the process, by vibrating and disturbing the pollen! My grandparents use to talk about sprinkling some common product on the blooms to help, but I can't remember what it was...!!!
Sorry, there is no such thing as female pollen. All pollen is the same, and called male.
You can knock it if it doesn't make sense from a scientific standpoint, and sticking matches in the soil makes no sense whatsoever. I have a whole book of these garden tips someone gave me as a gift when I was a new gardener. An awful lot of them are complete nonsense.
Extension services will always tell you to water in the morning, avoid evening watering if possible. Evvening moisture plus darkness promotes the growth of fungi and mold, and yes, it could provide more harbor for insects.
I suggest if you are a rookie, you start off on a good footing and visit your local county Extension service, or find out which Extension serves your area and browse their website for research-based articles. If there are any infallible hort services out there, it's the Extension services.
speaking of nonsense, I always found the admonishment of watering in the evening way over the top. Considering that where I live, it often rains in the middle of the night! Does not seem to lead to fungi and mold despite my failure to dry all my plants off the next morning.
speaking of nonsense, I always found the admonishment of watering in the evening way over the top. Considering that where I live, it often rains in the middle of the night! Does not seem to lead to fungi and mold despite my failure to dry all my plants off the next morning.
plus the fact that many places get heavy dew nearly every night.
plus the fact that many places get heavy dew nearly every night.
Maybe it was a regional thing. Maybe from some place that was too damp to begin with.
The only thing I know about watering is that's it's usually a waste of time to water during the day when the sun will evaporate the water. And, water deeply if you are going to water. Don't just water the surface and make the roots come up to get water.
Would even scientists argue with The Old Farmer’s Almanac? I culled this advice from the Almanac's page about BELL PEPPERS (emphasis added):
Let . . . two pepper plants spend their entire lives together as one plant. The leaves of two plants help protect peppers against sunscald and the yield is often twice as good as two segregated plants.
. . . .
Put two or three match sticks in the hole with each plant, along with about a teaspoon of fertilizer. These give the plants a bit of sulfur, which they like.
. . . .
For larger fruit, spray the plants with a solution of one tablespoon of Epsom salts in a gallon of water, once when it begins to bloom, and once ten days later.
. . . . Too much nitrogen will reduce fruit from setting.
P.S. I wouldn't dare dismiss time-tested so-called old wives' tales, such as "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Search online for the innumerable references to D. C. Jarvis M.D.'s book Folk Medicine: A Vermont Doctor's Guide to Good Health. I read it decades ago and its publication is still going strong.
Here's a VERY old timer trick that most of us have probably heard:
When the early colonists came here the Native Americans taught them how to plant corn. They told them to put a dead fish in the hole when they planted the kernels. It really worked because fish are high in nitrogen and would decompose as the corn grew. Corn is a very heavy feeder. There are other forms of nitrogen, of course, but you use whatever you have!
My ex would always go fishing the day before we planted our garden. A piece or whole fish (depending on his luck when fishing) was put in the planting hole of our tomatoes. We always had bumper crops.
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Does not seem to lead to fungi and mold despite my failure to dry all my plants off the next morning.
