Topical questions & answers
Bindweed in the vegetable plot
Field bindweed
Question ...
Do you have any suggestions for dealing with a bindweed- infested section of my vegetable patch? It is approximately 12ft x 15ft, and has been used for growing raspberries for a long time. Since moving here 3 years ago, I have dug every winter, to no avail, as every forkful of soil still looks like spaghetti in brown sauce.
I put a cardboard mulch over the outer sections - but the cardboard rotted, and the bindweed thrived. I have now started new raspberry rows elsewhere in clean soil, washing the roots before replanting. I really need to use this area this next year, can you help please?.
Answer ...
Although bindweed can appear to be uncontrollable, it is not too difficult to deal with. This is a plant that hates disturbance. It will grow where the soil is never cultivated. You find it in neglected areas, such as behind the shed, or under permanent plants, such as your raspberries.
Now you’ve moved the canes, you can really attack the area and clear out every scrap of root. You’ll miss some bits of course, but don’t worry. Each time you see a new sprout appearing, dig or pull it out, or hoe it off. Use the area for growing vegetables as usual. This will mean that regular cultivation will take place – just what bindweed hates. You’ll find that in a season or two there is nothing coming through. Just keep pulling it out and never let shoots grow. If bindweed is growing through grassy paths, these also need to be dug over.
Don’t waste the roots – they contain valuable nutrients. Place everything, top growth and roots - into a black plastic bin-bag. Leave in a sunny corner until only mush remains, add this to your compost heap. All the minerals, which had been absorbed by the bindweed, will be returned to the soil via the compost heap.
The Garden Organic book 'Weeds – How to Control them without Chemicals' by Jo Readman can be purchased via the Organic Gardening Catalogue.
Top of pageAnts in the Heap
Question ...
In my compost bins I have some fruit flies, and concluded that they are not a problem. However, I also get large quantities of ants. Are these harmful in compost? And, if they are is there a way to deal with them that won’t harm the beneficial insects. I also have woodlice, but assume that they are as harmless as they look.
Answer ...
As you quite rightly say fruit flies are harmless and are not causing any harm However, you can reduce their numbers by burying the fresh waste when you add it to your bin as well as covering the top of the compost with a damp newspaper or cardboard. This will help to reduce access to the fruit that they feed on. Ants have a beneficial role in the composting process, playing a part in the recycling of animal and plant remains. There is no need to get rid of them, or the woodlice. Both are important in helping to recycle waste material.
However, the presence of the ants may indicate that your compost is on the dry side. Try turning the compost and giving it a good soaking with water.
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Poor growth of apple trees
Question ...
I planted three apple trees in spring three years ago. I did let them fruit from the start, I’m afraid, and then I left them without extra watering except occasionally when the weather was very hot and dry. I did feed with compost and mulched around the base with composted bark, though now grass is growing around the trees. The trees are surrounded by shrubs and hedging in a clay soil. What can I do to improve their growth or is it too late?
Answer ...
If your apple trees are not growing well and the fruits are small, it often indicates a growing problem. Roots are the main source for the tree to absorb nutrients and water. Poor growing conditions will stunt the growth of the tree as a whole. We suspect that the trees are struggling for light, air and nutrients as they are in competition with the hedge and the grass surrounding the base of the tree.
There should be no competitive growth around the base of young trees. Carefully remove the grass from around the tree trunks, so that the trees stand in a circle of bare soil, 1 metre in diameter. Next spring when the soil has warmed up, apply a top dressing of garden compost (two spadefuls per square metre) keeping a clear area of roughly 15cm (6in) diameter round the tree trunks. Cover with a mulch of straw or hay up to 10cm (4 in) deep. The mulch should be removed every winter. The trees would also benefit from a soil conditioning, low-nutrient mulch like leafmould applied in the following winter.
Cucumber Mosaic Virus
Healthy courgette plant (top),
cucumber mosaic virus on courgette (bottom)
Question ...
I think my courgette plants have mosaic cucumber disease. Large healthy courgette plants gradually become shrivelled and yellowish. I have used the variety, ‘Defender’ which is a mosaic resistant type and have planted them in different areas each year. Any suggestions? This has happened three years running.
Answer ...
From your description of the problem with your courgettes, it does sound as though Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) is the culprit. The source of infection may not be as easy to track down as CMV, despite its name, is able to infect many different species of plant, not just vegetables and not limited to the Cucurbit family. Many ornamental and herbaceous plants can have the disease without showing the severe symptoms that you find on your courgette plants. CMV has been detected in more than 700 plant species in 86 families. Some examples below:
- Vegetables: Cucumbers and courgettes, tomatoes, peppers, spinach, celery and carrots
- Flowers: Gladioli, lilies, alstroemeria, begonia, carnation, crocus, cyclamen, dahlia, freesia, hyacinth, hydrangea, impatiens, narcissus, nerine, orchids, pelargonium, phlox, tulip and zantadeschia
- Weeds: Stellaria media, (chickweed), Senecio vulgaris (groundsel)
CMV is spread by sap feeding insects, aphids being the most common vector. Unfortunately, resistant varieties are not always foolproof and it may be necessary to take other precautions. Controlling aphids in the garden is one way that you can reduce the likelihood of infection getting to your plants. Grow flowers amongst your vegetables that will attract aphid predators such as ladybirds and hover flies.
Another way to prevent virus infection may actually be to isolate the courgette plants in a netted area to prevent aphids from feeding. Use a fine meshed netting, such as the enviromesh available from The Organic Gardening Catalogue. Use this when you plant out the young plants in early summer.
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Mildew problems
Cornflower
Question ...
My cornflowers appear to have some kind of mildew, even though the weather is cold and damp rather than warm and dry. Why is this and what should I do?
Answer ...
Powdery mildew is common at the end of the summer when high day-time temperatures and dry conditions combine with cooler night-time temperatures. Downy mildew is more common when conditions are cool and wet and I suspect this is what has infected your cornflowers. It affects a wide variety of plants including lettuces, roses, hebes, onions and peas. The two diseases are different, but look very similar to the naked eye. Remove any affected foliage and hope for better weather. In glasshouses or polytunnels, make sure they are well-ventilated and not overcrowded. Severe attacks may result in the death of your plants.
Can I eat blighted potatoes
Question ...
My potato plants have been afflicted with potato blight this summer, but I managed to harvest quite a reasonable weight of potatoes. Are they safe to eat?
Answer ...
Potato tubers that are blight infected may contain higher levels of alkaloids than healthy tubers. The standard advice is that pregnant women should avoid eating them. Tubers from plants where the leaves have been blighted are not necessarily themselves infected.
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