Blossom End Rot, Cat Facing, & Blossom Drop! OH MY!

Oh, my precious tomato plants are having their fits-and-starts growing pains right now!

It's been unseasonably hot and uncommonly windy for this windy state! It's been damp with loads of rain, too, demonstrating that with climate change, Oklahoma is the new Louisiana (would that we had the same lovely cuisine!). Last night it rained about 2 ½” and since March 1, it’s rained 24 inches - TWO FLIPPIN' FEET!!! Outside it’s green and humid and smells like growing things. And it’s been raining since midnight last night which means over twelve hours!

It also means trouble for my tomatoes…I’ve found blossom end rot on a couple of Green Zebra tomatoes and the Opalkas are having trouble with blossom drop. Several of the Paul Robesons are showing cat-facing. The first two problems have to do with weather. The second is likely caused by some jack-ass spraying herbicide. Did you know that herbicide can drift up to 5 blocks (did I mention it’s been windy?)??? It’s probably damage from 2-4 D. Now my tomatoes are paying the price for some yay-hoo who wanted to get rid of weeds or grass in the cracks of his driveway. Thank you for your consideration, yay-hoo! Next time, bend down and pull them out yourself. It’ll help with the beer gut. (Rant ends here.)

Meow!

(Picture from Purdue Plant & Pest Diagnostic Library)

This post is more about the other two problems, though. I found out quite a bit about blossom end rot. I knew it was caused by calcium imbalances and that it could be triggered by fluctuations in soil moisture (this was the extent of the info offered in my old stand-by edition of Rodale’s. I was kinda disappointed!). Beyond that brief bit of trivia, I was a babe in the woods.

To start off, blossom end rot is a physiological problem rather than a disorder. It can be caused by a number of different factors and can be made extra-nasty by a combination of these factors. These include: low calcium in soil (uncommon), too much nitrogen spurring excessive early growth (common), soil temps too low when tomatoes are set out, repeated soil drying, sudden interruption of moisture, or way too much moisture (as in our case currently, in OK). A sudden lack of water is the usual suspect but too much water early on can effectively drown the plant, smothering the root hairs and leading to BER during sudden hot weather. One source mentioned that it might be more serious on the windward side (it’s drier) than on the leeward side of your plants. That’s exactly where it hit mine – on the poor fellah who’s acting as a windbreak!

Sciency stuff: Normal cell development requires fairly large concentrations of calcium. Soluble calcium moves through the vascular system from the roots to the leaves. With moisture distress it moves quickly to the leaves where it is transpired (sweated) out into the air. Tomatoes (and peppers and eggplants and melons) don’t transpire as much as the leaves do – their cellular structure is different. When a tomato lacks access to calcium, the tissue breaks down, leaving the ugly patch at the blossom end (opposite the stem end, where you can sometimes find the little dried bits of the original flower).

(Picture from: The Ohio State University Extension Office)

So in effect, calcium can be present in the soil and present in the plant, but might not be making it down to the precious blossoms/nascent fruit. One site called this a localized calcium deficiency. Even a brief amount of water stress can cause it since the fruit are last on the receiving end of the calcium train.

Interesting tidbit: “Ninety percent of the calcium that the mature fruit will contain is in the fruit by the time the waxy suberin layer (the waxy layer on the final skin of the fruit) has formed, when the fruit is about thumbnail size. When this calcium deficiency occurs in the end of the fruit, an area of rapid growth, it causes cells to collapse producing the sunken lesion symptom of blossom-end rot.”

It was mentioned in several places that blossom end rot usually hits your first tomatoes (the ones you lust after) and then clears up. A logical fallacy made by many, as pointed out by Dr. Carolyn J. Male, is that adding eggshells or using a calcium spray after the first sign of blossom end rot takes care of it. Rather, she says that adding calcium doesn’t work and that plants largely take care of it themselves. (And we thought we were so crafty and had such green thumbs!) From this perspective, BER is caused by rapid plant growth coupled with water stress and inadequate root development to support the plant and take up the necessary calcium. When the roots develop adequately, they’ll take care of the job, thereby clearing up the BER. It’s not the eggshells! (They are good soil conditioners, though, and may help deter slimy bugs.)

It was also noted that infected tomatoes should be pulled off. They won’t be any good and the nasty patch can play host to other infections and fungi that can seriously foul up your plant. So pluck them off, say adieu, and wait for the next crop, which should be okay (longer growing time, better root system!).

I particularly liked this excerpt, again from Dr. Male:

“Many books and magazine articles tell you that by adding Ca++ in the form of lime or eggshells, for instance, that you can prevent BER. That does NOT appear to be true. University field trial experiments have so far failed to show that BER can be prevented by addition of Ca++…Some data strongly suggests that foliar spraying with Ca++ is of no use because not enough gets to the fruits to do any good. And it's known that the sprays for fruits that are sold are useless. No molecules can get across the fruit epidermis…So, BER is a physiological condition, cannot be cured, and current literature data suggests it cannot be prevented. It occurs on some, but not all varieties of tomatoes, is usually seen early in the season and then stops, for most folks. It would be nice to say that you could even out your watering, prevent droughts and heavy rainfalls, ensure even and not rapid growth of plants and not disturb the roots by shallow cultivating. But on a practical basis, I think we all know that's almost impossible. So, BER has never bothered me, I just ignore it, and it goes away with time.”

Now that’s a sensible woman!

Here is a catch-all of the recommendations I found to address BER:

· Don’t force you tomatoes to grow up to soon! Let them have a nice, easy-breezy childhood. Too much nitrogen can stimulate too much early growth and cause BER.

· Don’t be too hardcore with your hardening off when you move your transplants outside. Be gentle.

· Hot, drying winds can contribute – try to plant in protected areas or provide a windbreak.

· Definitely use mulch! For multiple reasons, but in this case, to even out water moisture and prevent BER. Avoid plastic sheeting in hot, wet environments.

· Don’t plant too early when the soil is still cold.

· Remove affected tomatoes to prevent secondary pathogens.

· Select cultivars that are appropriate for your region or be prepared for some headache.

· Prepare deep soil to aid with root development.

· Be careful when you’re cultivating or pulling weeds near the tomatoes. Watch the roots!

· Too much pruning can apparently lead to BER.

· Tomatoes need 1 to 1 ½” water per week. Aim for that!

· The addition of Epsom salts to acidic soil can aid in the uptake of calcium.

And now just for a short little bit on blossom drop…Helpfully, it can be caused by temperatures that are too low or too high, too little or too much nitrogen, too little or too much humidity, lack of water, lack of pollination, insect or disease stress, or too many tomatoes already set. Not much doesn’t contribute to blossom drop, it seems. I’m chalking mine up to the winds and the heat. Given that it’s just the Opalkas, they might have a sensitivity in this area (any other Okie gardeners have experience with Opalkas in the past?)

Specifically, blossom drop can be caused by high day temps (above 85ºF/29ºC), high night temps (below 70ºF/21ºC), or low night temps (below 55ºF/13ºC).

Some recommendations:

• Gently shake the plant to help with pollination (no need here, did I mention the wind??).
  
  
• Set out at the appropriate time – don’t try to rush it and don’t wait until it’s so late that it’s too hot for fruit to set.
  
  
• Watch the fertilizer (leads to leaf growth and not flowers).
  
  
• Hose the plants if humidity is low (but watch out for overhead watering during full sun which can cause sunburn…water droplets act like magnifying glasses). Probably don’t want to do this if there are a lot of diseases in your area which can be transferred through wet foliage.
  
  
• Plant varieties that like your weather.

Sources:

http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1059/ANR-1059.pdf

http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/Factsheets/blossomrot/blossomrot.htm

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/plantdiseasefs/450-703/450-703.html

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/3117.html

http://extension.usu.edu/htm/faq/faq_q=427

http://www.victoryseeds.com/information/carolyn_ber.html

http://gardening.about.com/b/2006/06/13/tomato-blossom-drop.htm

http://www.kdcomm.net/~tomato/Tomato/blossom.htm

Onion Harvest!

I'm doing the lyric transposition thing again, this time with Kool and the Gang. Try this: Onion Harvest! To the tune of "Jungle Boogie." I can't explain why this happens in my head, but it's completely without any control or contrivance on my part. It just pops into my head: "Onion harvest! Do-de-lee-doo. Do-de-lee-doo. Onion harvest! With the get down! Onion harvest! Do-de-lee-doo. Do-de-lee-doo. Onion harvest! Chah! (awesome brass solo)..."

So yes, today it was an onion harvest day. Most of my onions have either plopped over or flowered, as you may remember (unusually popular google term, that). A few days ago I pulled them up a bit to break some of the roots and slow their growth. It's been so freakin' wet around here that I was afraid they might start to rot in situ, so today I pulled all the onions that had given up their growing ghost. Now they are lying on my deck, drying in the sun:


That is approximately 50 onions and a few peas drying. As you can see the yellows did really well. The reds did okay, but never really got up to size. The whites did poorly. Almost exclusively they were the ones that flowered so early, although a few reds flowered, too. None of the yellows did. Curiouser, and curiouser!

There are probably still 15 or so in the ground that are still growing strong. Another 15 are in my fridge - I saved out the tiny ones that keeled over to make pickled spring onions. We've been pulling and eating scallions for weeks now, so I have no real idea how many I got altogether. I know that I planted three standard size clumps of sets.

I also let a few continue to flower in the garden for possible (long shot) seed and/or volunteers:


You can see them from afar here as the leaning towers of pom-pom:


Some of the stalks winded up in the compost (you know, I use "wind up" or "winded up" a lot in my common parlance, but written it sure looks like something to do with weather. Anyway...).


Part of me wishes I'd planted more onions, because frankly, Mr. Shankley, I just can't get enough of them. It seems like any meal that I make calls for at least ONE onion. And some, like luscious French Onion soup, calls for at least, at least, 3 pounds of onions. I make a wicked concoction that is an oxtail soup and French Onion soup hybrid. It is the stuff of the gods... And yet, I digress, again!

Next time I plant onions, I'll plant more and I plan to order sets from a reliable source. As I discussed here, my sets from Lowe's were not necessarily trustworthy.

The rest of the garden is getting ready to explode with fruit flavor...make that vegetable flavor. Notice how much the sunflower has grown in three weeks!



Here she is from atop (she's a volunteer, remember, or I would have been more thoughtful with her placement):


Beautiful okra:


New Zealand spinach sprouts in the shadows of the lettuce they will replace:


Arugula + culprits:


Lamb's Quarters...To us it tastes like a cross between asparagus and artichokes. Fantastically delectable with butter and garlic:


And finally some Provider bush beans, which I specifically ordered due to Pinetree's description of them as "beanier":


The onions are loaded with little green fellas and the peppers are starting to carry some baby fruit, too. I'll try to take some pictures of the bean teepee and the tomatoes soon for that update. I've been busy trying to assemble a sun oven, because Hausfrau has me so jealous. And also today we said goodbye to our sweet adopted stray kitty, Rigby, (Eleanor is another one of the strays who frequents our block). My cousin's friend kindly offered to adopt her and she and her 9-year-old son came to pick up The Riggs today. It was a bit emotional for me, which sort of caught me by surprise.

Goodbye, Rigby! I didn't realize how attached I'd become to you as my backyard buddy, my chaser of birds, my friendly garden pal who liked to lounge on the straw and occasionally smush my tomato seedlings. I hope it works out for you at your new home. I hope you enjoy (finally!) getting to go inside like you always wanted to here. I hope you love them and they love you. We loved you well.


PS: We would have totally kept The Riggs except that we've already got two indoor cats: Miso, who has feline leukemia, and Tavi, who doesn't. (Thank god for the vaccine!) Plus, I'm allergic. One more kitty in the house would've damned near killed me. But believe me, it was a tough decision, nonetheless.

Tree-of-Heaven, my arse!

So another mystery solved, dear readers! The annoying yet endearingly tenacious bugger I wrote about previously is Ailanthus altissima. Ailanthus, meet worldwideweb readers; worldwideweb reads meet Ailanthus. You should meet formally, after all, given that if you're in one another's proximity you're bound to become intimate "friends."

Hi!

Ailanthus altissima also bears the ironic moniker Tree-of-Heaven (which is also, incidentally, a Korean drama!)


Some research reveals that the Tree-of-Heaven was initially imported and PURPOSEFULLY planted by well-meaning, no doubt, but ignorant horticultural enthusiasts in the 1700s. Then they realized it's invasive as hell and, oh yeah, it stinks! It has a significant place in Chinese herbal medicine, according to Wikipedia, being used for its astringent properties in curing mental illness (by way of chopping the root and mixing with young boys' urine and fermented black beans, naturally) as well as baldness and many other things.

Remember what I said about the bag worms really digging this stinky nuisance? Well, in China it's used as a host crop for silk worms! That's probably it's best use, right there. Another awesome thing about Ailanthus is that it synthesizes its very own herbicide which kills off competing plants in the germination phase. Fantastic! The USDA National Agricultural Library categorizes Ailanthus as an "exotic weed" and in some places is listed as a "noxious weed." Given it's "long and rich history" in China, how's that for a downgrade? Ouch!

To be fair the bark of this tree/weed is still used in Chinese medicine and may actually help with asthma and arrhythmias if taken in small quantities. And it is extremely fast growing, which is currently a bane but may eventually prove useful as it makes great firewood (file this in the back of your minds, peak oilers!).


Here are some tidbits from what I read:

"This tree, often incorrectly referred to as stinking sumac, grows along highways, in disturbed areas, in the rocky outcroppings of fields and anywhere else its prolific seeds seem to land.

Tree of Heaven was originally introduced from China as an ornamental tree. You might know it from 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.'...Often there will be one or two larger trees surrounded by a legion of these straight and erect seedlings. If you happen to see this tree on your property, do not cut it down. When this tree is cut down, it goes into self-protection mode, sending out dozens of shoots that can sprout up quite a distance away, it seems as far as 50 feet. It will also resprout form the stump." (http://www.emmitsburg.net/gardens/articles/frederick/2004/non-native_plants.htm)

From Wikipedia:

"...enthusiasm soon waned after gardeners became familiar with its suckering habits and its foul smelling odour. Despite this, it was used extensively as a street tree during much of the 19th century."

And so there you go. Next mystery - why are caterpillars impervious to diatomaceous earth? Other suggestions?

Woo-hoo!

I just joined the Oklahoma Food Co-op! I've been wanting to do this for years but funds were so low as a grad student that even just $50 to sign up was out of my budget! I used some of our wedding bling to sign up and now I'm trying to figure out what our first order will be! Yippee!

Seriously, I interviewed Bob Waldrop, the founder and President twice for my research on activism - once for the thesis and once for the dissertation. He is a phenomenal guy, just a powerhouse, and such an inspiration. He's up there with Carrie Dickerson (who I also interviewed twice, brag, brag) in terms of Okie activists! I have such incredible, exuberant respect and awe for that man. And last night I saw him featured on OETA's Stateline. Cool!

Yippee! Local food! Yippee! Farm fresh goodness! Yippee! Smaller carbon footprint!

To train or trail, that is the question...

I'm currently engaged in an experiment. I love experiments, particularly if they provide worthwhile information.

This year's experiment involves a whole helluva lot of tomatoes.

The Players:

In the front bed (the study avoidance bed) we have 11 tomatoes growing in 10+ hours of sun. They're growing East-West so the sun moves over the row fairly evenly. On one side is a 5' privacy hedge which acts as a sort of windbreak. All of these tomatoes are staked or caged. They're growing in a foot of loosened soil, which includes some Okie red clay, as well as plenty of manure, homemade compost, mushroom compost, old leaves, and pine needles for acidity - the soil here is pretty alkaline. Three of the 11 are from transplants. The rest are from seed.

In the back (the original bed) we have 17 tomatoes that are currently growing sans stakes! Stake-free, baby! I imagine this is like a tomato going bra-less, which has got to be much better! This bed gets only around 6 hours of sun and on the corners it gets less than that. It's growing in the same soil mix with the addition of 5 pounds of raw coffee to the entire row (25' x 5') for extra acidity. One of the tomatoes is a volunteer, so she's a lovely surprise. The rest were all grown from seeds except for three cherry tomatoes.

I may still buy a few cages for these tomatoes, but I really want to see what will happen. My old Rodale's says that unstaked tomatoes can grow up to 20 FEET LONG and produce like monsters, too, although they're more prone to disease. The folks over at Tomato Casual seem to think it's a foregone conclusion that tomatoes must be kept off the ground. I used to think that too, until a happy accident at my parents' place. They had some Cherokee Purples (which is a fabulous, truly wonderful tomato, especially when combined with orange habanero to make a beautiful salsa...but I digress)...anyway, these Purples decided no silly cage was going to hold them in - DON'T FENCE ME IN, MAN! - so they threw their cages down on the ground and went hog wild. Three plants grew to an enormous size and made my parents all sorts of tomatoes, buckets and buckets and buckets. Plus there were plenty of volunteers, too, because I guess there's no way to get all the tomatoes and some rotted in place.

If this experiment doesn't result in Massive Tomato Funk then my main concern will probably be space. There are also about 20 peppers growing back there (including the volunteers), a volunteer squash, two volunteer sunflowers, and some okra. It's a full house but I think I'm going to let them duke it out. Or I might stake a few of the Opalkas (I really want lots of tomatoes for canning) and let the rest of them have a go at it... I'll keep ya posted.

~~~~~

And in other news, last night I cleaned up the broccoli and cabbage beds. I pulled up several to compost and make room for the cukes and zukes. I decided to dry most of the cabbage and broccoli leaves as recommended by Sharon to grind into powder (#2 under Summer). She said to add it to bread, but I'm thinking I'll probably add it to soups, stews, and casseroles. If I ever make bread again - which I really want to, but I feel like I suck at it, then I might add it. Green bread sounds cool. I usually use all of my eggshells, which she also recommended for additional calcium, in the garden.

Garden update!

I definitely have to post a description of the lovely garden wedding we just had, but I want to be able to post pictures, so it might be a few days. My parents' garden looked FABULOUS. They worked themselves near to death, I think (maybe to the pain).

So the garden is growing well but was set askew (slightly northeasterly) by the 60-mile-an-hour straight line winds that rocked Tulsa on Sunday (taking our power with them for 2 1/2 days!). Most things have managed to right themselves, but the peppers, backyard tomatoes, and the two volunteer sunflowers are still growing at a little bit of a keel. I should be able to get them trained back up soon.

The onions are pretty much done and drying. I have a British book that recommends forking them up part of the way so that about half of the roots break. This slows the growing process and starts them drying. So that's what I've been doing the past few days. Whenever one fell over I'd pull it up a little ways and then push the stem down the rest of the way.

The Viroflay spinach is mostly all gone to seed with a few lone survivors. It looks like I might get some seed barring more strong winds (but this is OK, so no promises!). The older seeding radishes are growing monster seed pods compared to the pictures I posted earlier. I ate one yesterday. It was slightly larger than a stubby golf pencil and quite tasty! I didn't take any pictures but if you google radish seed pod you'll see what I mean. I read that they can be pickled or eaten fresh at this stage and that some people would rather have these than radishes! Fascinating!

The Dragon carrots are JUST NOW getting to be on the smallish-size of worth pulling. They've been delicious but so slow growing. I pulled up a couple yesterday that were around six inches long (although most of that was the whisper of root that isn't really part of the eatin' carrot!). They are beautiful and tasty, though.

The Sylvetta arugula has also been really slow growing, but once established has been awesome. For the longest time nothing came up, nothing came up, and then there they were. Looked a lot like weeds - smaller than regular arugula and a stronger flavor - more of a bite. Once the plants were in I've been able to re-crop them three or four times, cutting off all the major leaves and leaving just a few to do the refoliation. Awesome in our salads!

The buttercrunch lettuce has been reliable and is still producing. The few that chose to overwinter themselves have gone to seed but the rest is trying to head up now. We've been using them as cut and come again (and so have the snails).

The kohlrabi is growing strong. I still have 10 or so that are in the process of bunching up. The beets are looking better but are still only 7 or so inches long at the leaves (not sure why!). The turnips have been good producers, especially the abundant and delicious greens! The turnips themselves have been good but hot, more like a radish. If anyone knows why, please enlighten me!

The broccoli was a spring-time bust! The plants are huge and would probably make me something if it weren't already 92-degrees outside. I've gotten one teeny floret but hey, it's my first go with broccoli. I'll bet I can overwinter it here with some floating row covers and/or portable greenhouse situation, particularly the Early Purple Sprouting which is supposed to be good for that. The cabbages are largely a wash, but there are a few tennis ball size heads we might stir-fry up.

I've already got Black Futsu, Chicago Warted Hubbard, and Jumbo Pink Banana squash already coming up in the midst of the fading spring crops. I plan to just cut the cabbages and broccoli off at the roots rather than pulling them up, so that the newbies can root down well. The transplanted zucchini and cucumbers are going strong.

All the tomatoes look like they took steroids! So far so good on that front. The peppers have tiny little guys on them now and the okra is about a foot tall. Plenty of lamb's quarters to keep us in summer time greens, and the New Zealand Spinach is up, too.

Tonight I have to stake more tomatoes and weed, weed, weed. Rock and roll!

Eco-bling!

Hello everyone! I am now freshly married. After a weather scare, the ceremony went off without a hitch. It was really hot, but beautiful. Maybe some pictures to follow...

The question on my mind is how to make the most of my friends' and family's generosity. With all the talk of peak oil, food shortages, a fragile economy, and climate change (our power is currently out, going on 36 hours, after high winds hit yesterday) I want to do what I can to be prepared. We aren't wealthy, though, and we just got married, and I am Sallie Mae's indentured servant (she's a harsh task-mistress). So how to prioritize what we should get/need to get on a budget?

Here is a list of the items I've been thinking about, and they're in no particular order:

• Water catchment system
• Two tanks, hose set-up, drip irrigation unit
• Solar Oven
• Might wait on this if the home-made version is up to snuff
  
• Grain Mill
• Preferably manual
  
• Pressure Canner
• Definitely will be bought this summer
  
• Clay oven
• Probably lower on the list
  
• Greenhouse
• Long been a dream, but I think home-ownership should come first...
  
• Food containers with gamma lids
• Also not fun to think about moving...
  

We're also definitely getting lovie a new bike and getting mine a tune-up. I think being better schooled on bicycle maintenance will be a good skill to have, also.

I guess I'm thinking more about skill acquisition as opposed to object acquisition as part of my preparedness plan. I want to learn more about first aid, re-learn CPR, etc. I'd love to do an herbalist course or even an EMT unit at some point (maybe...maybe not...). I also want to learn more about gardening in this climate, hone more reliable bread baking skills, get the basics on seed storage, try my hand at solar oven cooking, and perfect my skills at crocheting and knitting (pretty solid novice). I guess I feel much more competent at learning things as opposed to buying and using things. Maybe that's it?

But regardless, some purchases will be made soon. Definitely the pressure canner and the bike. Maybe a solar oven down the road. Definitely some more items for the garden...