Frank asks: Why are my cucumbers misshapen? Part of the cucumber is fat, then narrows down at the end.
Cucumbers require consistent water. If the soil dries out between waterings, fruit development will stop and the result is misshapen and bitter cucumbers.
Test your soil moisture between scheduled irrigations by digging down with your fingers or a large screwdriver. To be even more scientific, use a water meter. If you only water once a week, that's even more reason to check the soil moisture. Sandy soils require more frequent irrigation whereas clay soils need less because they retain water. Raised beds that drain well will require more frequent irrigation.
The rule of thumb for cucumbers is to apply at least 1 inch of water a week. As a guideline, one quart of water per square foot equals a half-inch of rainfall.
Paige writes: I recently saw unusual damage on the leaves of two of my favorite red roses, Altissimo and Europeana.
The leaves have brown blotches that are somewhat transparent and eventually end up as holes. There is no notching on the leaf borders. I have not seen any insects, but perhaps they're too tiny to see with the naked eye. The roses are healthy other than some rust and blackspot. I don’t use chemical sprays on my roses.
Will this kill the roses? What should I do, if anything, about the damaged leaves and controlling this condition in the future? What is causing this?
From your description, it seems you have bristly rose slug damage. Rose slugs are in the insect “chewing” category and often referred to as leaf miners. Many gardeners think of leaf miners as those larvae that chew and create tunneling patterns on leaves. I am sure you have seen this particular type of tunneling damage on different plant leaves other than roses.
The bristly rose slug feeds on the underside of leaves, leaving a skeletonized windowpane appearance. Later, larger holes are eaten in the leaves, causing further damage.
The larva is pale green with bristly hair, thus the name, and about ⅝ of an inch long when mature. They are easier to see through a magnifying glass. The insect has 5 to 6 generations a year.
Rose slugs are the larvae of black and yellow wasps called sawflies. Their eggs are laid and slugs appear in the spring; larvae chew and do their damage, pupate and emerge as sawflies to start the cycle all over again.
If the roses are severely infected they will produce fewer blooms.
Remove as many of the infected leaves as possible and continue throughout the oncoming months. Discard the collected leaves and do not add them to the compost pile. If you are able to see the larva (worms), remove them before more damage happens.
Ceci asks: How do I remove mold on the outside surfaces of clay pots without damaging the fuchsias growing inside? The clay pots are old and pretty shabby but the colorful fuchsias are a sight to behold. A friend suggested dunking the pots in a bleach solution to control the mold, but I am reluctant to follow her suggestion for fear of killing the plants.
It is safe to use bleach to control or prevent mold. But it is probably not the best advice to dunk the entire pot and plant in the bleach solution. Here are a few safe and easy suggestions:
• Buy a quart-size hand sprayer that will deliver a fine spray mist. Fill it with one part bleach to one part water. Cover the fuchsia with a large plastic or paper bag to protect the plant from any spray. The pot does not need to be dripping wet. Allow the bleach solution to air dry then gently rinse off the clay pot.
• Or hand brush the clay pot with the same bleach solution, air dry and rinse. The bleach will dry easily.
• Or you can try gently wiping the pot with rubbing alcohol. No need to saturate the clay pot. Rinse and air dry.
The bleach solution also works well on cleaning off mold on empty clay pots. For ease, use a large empty bucket filled with the solution and allow the empty pots to soak. Rinse and air dry. The soaking method is desirable for sterilizing both plastic and clay pots before reusing. Please use rubber gloves and protect your clothing; the task can be messy.
Dana Lozano and Gwen Kilchherr are garden consultants. Send your gardening questions to The Garden Doctors, at pdgardendoctor@gmail.com. The Garden Doctors can answer questions only through their column, which appears twice a month in the newspaper and online at pressdemocrat.com.
July 18, 2020 at 07:56AM
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Garden Docs: Tips for keeping cucumbers and roses healthy - Sonoma Index-Tribune
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