Question:
I have two tomato plants growing in large pots. They’re doing real well, in fact you can almost watch them grow. But, I’m a bit concerned because they are so very bushy. Should I strip some of the growth off or just let them continue on?
Answer:
It is important for tomatoes to be bushy with lots of leaves. The foliage protects the ripening tomatoes from sunburn so the leaves act as a type of sunblock. Sunburn is a tan/beige spot that forms on the South and southwest side of the fruits. But, you can have too much of a good thing, so I’d be thinning the growth throughout the season. They‘ll become very crowded and dense as the plant(s) mature especially when you’re using a tomato cage. Thinning lets in more light and increases the air circulation throughout the plant keeping the inside foliage from turning brown. Also, the dense foliage is a prefect hiding plant for the Tomato Hornworm. Hornworms on tomatoes are a problem June through September. The Hornworm is the larva stage of a moth. The adult moth lays its eggs near the center of the plant. It’s only purpose is to eat which is does twenty/four seven until they get very large and drops to the soil where go through another stage of the metamorphosis and emerge as an adult moth. Signs of the Hornworms are holes in the leaves and black droppings on the ground. You control them with BT or Captain Jack Dead Bug brew. Both of these insecticides are safe to use on edibles
Question:
I have a Van cherry tree that is just loaded with black Aphids. I’m ready to cut the thing down because it just gets worse each year. What can I do to get rid of these things?
Answer:
It’s very predictable that Aphids will attack cherry trees as well as many other plants each spring. Aphids come in many different colors and reproduce without mating. The chemical in the new growth stimulates the rapid increase in the population. Hence they go from a few to lots in just a few days. The only true way to rid yourself of Aphids is not to have any of the host plants growing in your yard; however, this is not very practical. Aphids very easy to control with a little do diligent. It’s to late now to due much this year. Next March as the new leaves are emerging, is the time to be on the look out for Aphids. Every five to seven days you need to check for the leaf curl. Once you see the first curly leaves you spray the tree with Insecticidal Soap, pick off the curly and make a follow-up application a weeks later. You should be very successful in solving this problem. This will prevent the tree from looking as bad as it does now. It’s a simple solution so I wouldn’t be incline to cut the tree down.
