Gardening Tips for Beginners

Starting a vegetable garden? 

Here are some fundamental points to help cultivate success:

·        Gardeners need only as large a garden as they can easily maintain. Novices often give up gardening because they plant too much and find themselves overwhelmed with many of the garden chores: planting, weeding, pest control, soil preparation. 

·        For some people, it’s a good idea to plan the garden on paper before tilling the earth. 

·        For those with minimal space, grow crops that produce the maximum amount of food for the area.  Radishes, onions, lettuce, bok choy and tomatoes usually produce abundantly in a small space. On the other hand, plants like pineapple, watermelon and pumpkin squash require more room.

·        Gardeners need to choose recommended varieties for their area. The University of Hawaii CTAHR seed program,  http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/seed/, develops and sells vegetable seeds suitable for the Hawaiian Islands; in Hawaii, begin with these varieties. For other areas in the United States, the local University Extension Service will have recommended varieties.

·        The best garden sites should receive at least 8 hours of full sun each day; in other words, vegetables will not grow as well if shaded by trees, walls or fences. Nearby trees and shrubs, with roots reaching into the vegetable patch will also compete for water and nutrients.

·        Level ground is easier to manage, but if the land is sloping, the rows need to be planted across the slope, not up and down.  This will help keep the soil from washing away during heavy rains.

·         A garden that is located within easy walking distance to the house is convenient for carrying tools and eventually returning with baskets of produce. 

·        For those with smaller gardens, growing crops vertically will take less space than those grown horizontally. Vining crops such as tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and pole beans can be trellised or staked to maximize space and increase garden productivity. Wooden structures, stakes, twine, wire cages or nearby wire fences are useful supports.

·        Perennial vegetables such as rhubarb and asparagus need to be planted to one side of the garden so they are not disturbed as the ground is prepared for subsequent annual crop. 

·        Tall crops such as corn should be planted on the north side so they don’t shade low growing vegetables.

·        And finally, succession planting is a good gardener’s method to assure continual harvest. A crop like tomatoes can be harvested over a long period of time. Therefore one planting will last for many months. However, with other crops like corn, beets, lettuce and turnips, the entire crop will mature at approximately the same time. With a crop like corn, staggering the plantings at one to two week intervals will enable harvesting ears over a longer period of time.

An additional note: because corn is wind pollinated, it should be densely planted in order to achieve good pollination.  Planting just a few corn plants will likely result in ears that lack a full complement of kernels which is a sign of a lack of pollination.  Plantings of a minimum of 3-4 short rows will be pollinated more successfully than 1 or 2 long rows. It is best to plant 3-4 rows, about 8 feet long.

Medicinal Teas of Hawaii: Mamaki and Ko’oko’olau

Mamaki (Pipturus albidus)  is a Hawaiian endemic plant occurring on all the main Hawaiian Islands except Ni'ihau and Kaho'olawe. It grows in moist to wet forests at elevations ranging from close to sea level to 6,000 feet. Mamaki ranges in height from 6 to 20 feet tall.

Dried or fresh mamaki leaves are used to make a tea often drunk by those feeling lethargic. The tea is also used to help with many internal disorders for the stomach, colon, bladder, liver, and bowels.  The fruit is eaten as a laxative or for stomach, colon and digestive problems. Infused leaves can be used in treatment for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver problems, and bladder problems.  In some people mamaki can cause mild agitation or insomnia.

Mamaki is the primary food source for caterpillars of the native Kamehameha butterfly. Planting this shrub in the garden will provide food for the butterfly as well as a healthy, invigorating tea for the gardener.

Mamaki is a highly variable plant. The leaves are dark-green on the top and white to gray underneath. Some varieties have reddish veins.  It is generally not suited for hot, dry coastal settings, but will grow well in urban landscapes with some shading. It will also do well planted in containers in part shade. The red-veined varieties appear to tolerate full sun better than green-leaved varieties. The mature plant recovers after pruning if no more than one-third is removed.

Mamake plants are usually propagated from seed. The fruit can be ripened in a plastic bag to soften the pulp. Seeds are then removed from the pulp by rubbing the fruit in a strainer under running water. The viable seeds will sink and the fruit pulp and other debris can be poured off. Seeds then need to be dried on a paper towel and stored. Once planted, seedlings will thrive in a well-drained soil in a semi-shaded to shaded location.  The plants can also be propagated from cuttings.   

Ko’oko’olau Bidens menziesii is in the sunflower or aster family.  It can be an annual or perennial shrub, ranging from 3 to 12 feet in height, growing in a wide range of habitats. The plant is found on Molokai and West Maui and on the leeward slopes of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on the Big Island.  It is easy to grow, preferring full sun and light to moderate watering. It grows well as a potted patio plant.

Ko’oko’olau was widely used by Hawaiians prior to European arrival. Its leaves were used as a revitalizing tea. Flowers were used to stimulate appetite. Today the tea is still sold; however, Bidens pilosa is often the species incorrectly labeled and sold as the traditional Hawaiian tea. 

Squash Plants Produce Lots of Bloom But Little Fruit

 

 Squash, along with melons and cucumbers belong to the same plant family called cucurbits (cucurbitaceae). These vegetable plants bear two kinds of flowers on the same plant, male and female.  In order to produce fruit, the pollen from the male flower must be transferred to the female flower. Since the pollen of cucurbits is sticky, wind-blown pollination will not occur. Instead, insects do the major pollination work –honeybees being the main workers.  So, if bees aren’t frequenting your garden, for whatever reason, the fruit set on your squash, cucumbers and melons will be poor. 

Hand pollination, although a tedious chore, can be accomplished by transferring the pollen from the male flower to the female flower, often done with a small artist’s paintbrush.  Female flowers can easily be distinguished from the males by the presence of a miniature fruit at the base of the flower. 

Sometimes gardeners are concerned because none of the first blooms produce  fruit.  This is because the first flowers produced on the plants will be male. In time, female flowers are produced.  Also remember that cucumbers, melons and squash do not cross-pollinate; a cucumber will not cross with a melon; a squash will not cross with a cucumber, etc.  But within each species, cross pollination often occurs. A zucchini squash can pollinate a crookneck squash, and a Crenshaw melon can pollinate a Casaba melon.  Planting the seeds from these crosses will produce fruit that will be different from either parent.

Gold Dust Day Gecko

The Gold Dust Day Gecko, a native to Madagascar, sometimes referred to as the Madagascar Day Gecko, does well in a tropical climate. Unlike most geckos, it is a diurnal animal, active during the day. They are territorial animals; males are especially aggressive towards other males.

These geckos are very colorful, usually bright green or a yellowish green. Halfway down their backs, they have three red teardrop markings. A blue shade is present around the eyes with bright gold markings on the back and neck. They feed on various insects and other invertebrates and are capable of eating other smaller lizards. They also eat soft, sweet fruit as well as pollen and nectar from flowers.  But they don’t bite humans.

Although these geckos will come into the house, probably looking for food, they are an arboreal species, spending most of their time in trees. If exclusion is desired, treat them as you would mice, rats and cockroaches; make sure to screen all windows, doors, ventilation passages and any small openings into the house.

Another species of gecko is the House Gecko, residing with humans in homes rather than in the wilderness. Being aggressive, this pale brown gecko drives other species away from the house. They are primarily nocturnal.

There are over 900 species of geckos worldwide, but only seven or eight reside in Hawai`i. Geckos are the only lizards who are able to make sounds, other than hissing.  Feeding on cockroaches, mosquitoes, ants, termites and moths, geckos are beneficial to home owners.

It has been thought that geckos are able to run up and down walls and ceilings due to tiny suction cups on their toe pads. However, recently scientists found that geckos have a network of tiny hairs and pads on their feet. With millions of hairs on each foot, the combined attraction of the weak electrical forces allow the gecko to stick to virtually any surface, even polished glass.

Black Sooty Mold

What is the black, sticky substance that may be found covering the leaves of many plants?

The black substance on the leaves is called sooty mold.  It is a fungus which resembles soot. This particular fungus, however, is not harmful to the plant but is actually living on a sweet, sugary substance called honeydew.  The honeydew is being secreted by some insect that is infesting the plant. If you see sooty mold on a plant, it means that the plant has an insect infestation – most likely aphids, mealy bugs, soft scale or whitefly. 

As the insect feeds, a clear sugary liquid is secreted by the insect onto the leaf below.  It is on this secretion that the mold grows.  Heavy rains will wash off the sooty mold from the leaves, but the insect problem still needs attention. Often when large trees become heavily infested with certain insects, the honeydew can actually be seen raining down upon the ground.  Again, sooty mold indicates an insect problem; inspect the plant for bugs.  Below is a close up of the sooty mold.

Moss and Algae = Slippery Sidewalks

Living in the tropics, people are often plagued with unsightly and dangerous moss and algae growing on driveways and pathways around their homes.  When the rain stops, the green growth will dry but will regenerate again with the next rain. 

There are many different products on the market to help clean up the driveway.  Look at the active ingredients on the label; most products will contain bleach,  soap, or a form of copper. Be sure to follow the directions on the label.  Most products are applied and remain for a while and then washed off with a hose or scrapped with the help of a shovel.  At times the buildup is so great that a power washer is needed. Bleach is often recommended at one cup per gallon of water. 

When using copper and bleach, there is always the potential for these products damaging desired plants either from the direct spray or from the solution saturating the soil. Take caution when spraying near desirable plants. The damage is lessened in high rainfall areas through the leeching action of the rain.

Another option is to use one cup of vinegar per gallon of water; bleach is sometimes added to fortify the solution. An application of Roundup herbicide will kill the algae and moss, but the plant residue needs to be scrapped away.