NO-SPRAY LANDSCAPING
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Research Briefs
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Colored mulch boosts yields. Red mulch has
been found to increase tomato fruit size and number, and
white mulch aided pepper and potato production. Research in
this area is just beginning, but the future could hold
"designer gardens" with rainbowlike arrays of mulch.
Nix to early pruning. University of
Connecticut researchers report that, in a mild winter,
January pruning of apple trees caused excessive bark
splitting and death. February pruning was much less
harmful.
Two thousand mutant tomatoes. The Tomato Genetics Stock
Center (Dept. of Vegetable Crops, University of California,
Davis, CA 95616) is a seed repository for over 2,000 tomato
mutants, wild species and primitive varieties. This
collection is vital for breeding improved varieties; and
most of its stock comes from farmers and gardeners. So
please let the TGSC know about any "weird" tomatoes you've
been growing.
Keep bare roots moist. If you ordered any
bare-root nursery stock for next spring, be sure to keep it
moist until you can plant it. Researcn indicates that
adequate moisture is the most important factor for keeping
such stock alive and healthy.
Inert may hurt. Even the so-called inert
ingredients in pesticides may be harmful. The EPA has
evaluated about a quarter of the over 1,000 inert compounds
in commercial chemical sprays and found 100 of these either
potentially or significantly toxic.
Planting by the plants. Phenology is the
study of the timing of biological events in relation to
climate. The old farmer's advice to plant corn (or look for
morel mushrooms) when oak leaves reach the size of a
squirrel's ears is a down-to-earth example of a
phenological correlation. Dr. James Duke (Herbal Vineyard,
Fulton, MD 20708) thinks such biological indicators are
better at predicting the appropriate timing for planting
and harvesting than the current mathematical, degree-day
models. If you'd like to help him with his Independent
Phenology Research Project, send a long SASE to Dr. Duke
for a copy of his record-keeping chart.
