RESEARCH BRIEFS

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SEASONS OF THE GARDEN

By Greg and Pat Williams

Foam away frost? According to East German experiments, an eight-inch layer of nontoxic, biodegradable foam protects strawberry, tomato, bean and potato plants from several hours of subfreezing temperatures (even down into the teens). The product is not yet commercially available.

Stretchy tree paint.Tree-Max, a paint specially formulated to protect the trunks and lower branches of fruit trees from sun scald, contains an elastic material that allows it to stretch and grow with the tree. The permeable paint is available from Associated Technical Consultants, 352 Morris St., Toledo, OH 43602.

Freeze herb pests. Dr. A.D. Tucker of the Delaware State College Herbarium says that freezing harvested herbs for 48 hours at 0°F should kill all insect pests and egg clusters. Dried-on-the-vine raisins are now feasible, at least in fairly arid regions. For details, write to H.E. Studer (Dept. of Agricultural Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA 95616) for a copy of his paper, "Raisin Production by Natural On the-Vine Drying."

Death to multiflora rose . If you've ever struggled against that invasive briar, multiflora rose, you'll be glad to hear about rose rosette. This disease causes deformed stems, altered leaflet development and bright red spring shoots one year—and kills the entire plant the next!

Cool compost, please . According to research at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, soil mixes containing materials composted at moderate temperatures can help suppress damping off of seedlings. However, compost cooked at high 'temperatures (above 140°F) can actually pro mote such fungus diseases. Apparently, the beneficial microorganisms that attack damp ing off are killed by the higher temperatures.

Thank you, tropics. Most bean varieties are rather poor nitrogen fixers. But horticulturist Frederick Bliss at the University of Wisconsin has developed new kidney, pinto and white northern cultivars that can fix up to 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre (the equivalent of over 100 pounds of applied N per acre). Bliss crossed commercial cultivars with native beans obtained from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Cali, Colombia.

Sprouts need calcium, too. Canadian researchers have found that adding just about 1/4 teaspoon of calcium chloride (available at drugstores) to every gallon of water used to rinse mung bean sprouts can delay stem collapse and decay for up to a week after germination.

Urban garbage goodies. Seattle is promoting composting as the least expensive way to recycle household organic wastes. The program includes literature, demonstration sites, a master composter's program—even a composting hotline. For more information about community compost education programs, contact the Seattle Solid Waste Utility, 710 2nd Ave., Suite 750, Seattle, WA 98104.

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