DEL.ICIO.USWEEKEND GARDNER / WALTER REEVES
Practical answers to readers questions: PumpkinsPublished on: 09/28/06
Q: My kids and I are growing a few pumpkins in the backyard for a family competition. They have already started turning orange and look to weigh about 35 pounds. How do we preserve them until Thanksgiving for the official weigh-in?
LARRY BRUCE,
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A: Pumpkins should be harvested when they are uniformly orange and the rind is so hard that you can't easily press a thumbnail through it. Immature fruits may ripen during the curing process but not after the vines are killed by frost. Harvest a pumpkin by cutting it off the vine with a sharp knife, leaving 3 to 6 inches of the stem attached to the fruit. Do not lift the pumpkin by the stem. Wash with a solution of one part chlorine bleach to 10 parts water. Make sure the fruits are well-dried afterward before setting in a dry, warm place to "cure" for 10 days. During this process the skin hardens, wounds heal and immature fruit ripens. After curing, store the pumpkins in a cool, dry place. Don't place them on a concrete floor; they will absorb moisture from it and will rot. May the best pumpkin win!
Q: I have recently returned from a trip to Amsterdam, where I ordered tulips. Will they do well here?
BERNADETTE KELLY,
Cumming
A: I'm sure they will bloom well next spring as long as you keep the squirrels from digging them up. Unfortunately, they may not do so well over time. The main reason is that tulips are not adapted to our climate or our soils. Tulips are native to the mountains of central Asia. Tulip bulbs that spend the summer in moist Georgia soil tend to split apart and don't gather the energy to bloom again. Dutch growers subject their tulips to a series of heat and humidity treatments that replicate the tulip's native Himalayan habitat. The bulbs are shipped to us ready for fall planting and winter chilling, which is the last step in preparing a tulip to flower. You can increase the chances for two years of bloom by planting your tulips 8 inches deep in very sandy soil.
Q: My lawn is full of crab grass. Do I have to kill the crab grass before planting grass seed, or can I just aerate and plant through the crab grass and use a pre-emergent in the spring?
STEPHEN RIDDLE,
Raleigh
A: I like to kill everything first, because there may be some perennial weeds growing there that won't respond to a pre-emergent next spring. Glyphosate (Roundup, etc.) is the chemical of choice, because you can plant seed seven days after spraying it.
Q: What setting should I use on a rotary spreader to spread Kentucky 31 fescue seed? Or does it matter?
ANN KING,
DeKalb County
A: It does matter! You need to apply only 8 to 10 pounds per 1,000 square feet. If you put down more than that, you run the risk of your grass seedlings getting pythium blight, which kills them outright in spring.
First measure the area of your lawn. Say, for example, it's 5,000 square feet. That means you need to scatter 40 to 50 pounds of seed evenly over it. Set your spreader to the one-fourth open mark. Pour in a good amount of seed and go back and forth over the lawn as far as the seed lasts. How much seed is left? If there's a lot, you'll need to open the spreader setting a bit bigger to apply more seed as you travel. With a little experimentation you'll get an approximation of how to set the spreader next time. Be sure to note with a permanent marker on the side of your spreader the setting that you think works best.
Q: I have some property on the Georgia coast that I'm trying to market. It would look far better if it had some flowers growing on it. What can I plant now?
ESTELLE FORD-WILLIAMSON,
A: Roger Ditmer, director of horticulture at The Cloister on Sea Island, suggests marsh spider lily, Hymenocallis crassifolia; seashore mallow, Kosteletzkya virginica; swamp lily, Crinum americanum; canna, Canna spp.; salt marsh asters, Aster spp.; pickerelweed, Pontederia cordata; and Southern blue flag iris, Iris virginica. These should give you lots of color to attract buyers.
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