Gardening Guides
Be a gardening legend with step-by-step instructions on how to grow a wide range of plants, what to plant when, how to combat pests and diseases, plus extra tips and tricks to get your garden flourishing.
Be a gardening legend with step-by-step instructions on how to grow a wide range of plants, what to plant when, how to combat pests and diseases, plus extra tips and tricks to get your garden flourishing.
Like potatoes, kūmara would have to be one of those vegetables that is a pretty regular feature in my pantry. They’re versatile (there’s a long list of dishes I can add kūmara to) and they taste great!
I’ve enjoyed growing kūmara in my garden for some time but we’ve never sold it at the nursery. So I’m pretty excited to announce that you can now purchase kūmara seedlings from our stockists or from our online shop.
Our regular-sized bundles have four seedlings and our bulk bundles contain 10 seedlings. Not sure how many you’ll need? Well, this is how I work out how many to plant. If all goes well with my kūmara growing I expect each plant to produce around a bucket of tubers. So, a regular-sized bundle should produce around three to four buckets of kūmara.
Once you’ve worked out how many seedlings you need, the next job is to find the right spot to plant them. Each seedling needs to be planted around 50cm to 1m from the next, so you do need a bit of space to have a kūmara crop.
Kūmara like a pH of 6.0 to 6.5. If you’re not sure what pH your soil is, you can buy a simple to use pH kit from your local garden centre. If the pH isn’t high enough add a bit of lime to sweeten the soil. Don’t add too much, or any if you don’t need it, because too much lime will mean you end up with small kūmara.
Now, it’s important that you raise a mound of soft soil for the kūmara to spread out in. Cultivate your soil with a rake and then mound it up in to a hill around 40cm high.
Next make a small trench approximately 5cm deep and lay the seedling so that the root is lying in the trench parallel to the top of the soil, rather than pushing the root down like you might with another vegetable. But make sure you bend the seedling so the leaves are sticking out of the top of the soil ( a J shape). This will ensure the plant’s roots (via the leaves) get plenty of warmth from the sun.
Water gently around the plant – it’s important not to water forcefully as this might make the mound flatten out or the plant roll off the mound. Do this for the first few days and then ensure they get some water weekly. Depending on what summer is like this year you may not need to do any extra watering at all. But if it’s hot and dry keep an eye on things and water at least weekly.
Generally, try to lift the runners so they don’t put roots into the ground. The runners are the shoots that run along the ground off the main plant – much like strawberries. Lifting them off the ground will stop them from putting roots down and wasting energy that could go into forming tubers.
However, if you want to increase the size of your plot you could let a couple of runners put roots down and then cut them off and replant them.
Kūmara need at least four months of sunshine before they are ready to harvest. So, around February, March or April is when you can expect to start digging into your crop. It’s important you harvest before the first frost. Around this time the leaves may start to yellow, which is a sign they’re ready. But if you live up north this probably won’t happen. So, around four months after you’ve planted put your hand in the ground and gently see if the kūmara feels ready – this is called tickling!
When you know they’re ready, harvest very gently. Broken kūmara won’t store. You may have to really follow the plant around with your hands under the soil to ensure they come out without breaking.
If you want to store them for a long time it’s important they are cured properly. This is when the starch is converted to sugar and a second skin is created that allows them to last longer in storage. If they’re cured well they can last for up to a year in storage. The professionals use temperature and humidity controlled storage sheds to do this but you can try and replicate this in a few ways.
Once they’re out of the ground keep them at a temperature of around 25-30 degrees Celsius with high humidity (around 90%) for at least seven days – including at night. If you need to increase the humidity, try putting them in a box and covering with a blanket or plastic with some holes in it. While you want it humid and hot, you want air circulating so they don’t go mouldy. When they’re cured the skin should be harder and any bruises or cuts should be dry and clean looking.
Then store them in a dark place around 14 degrees Celsius. You can also wrap each kūmara in newspaper or brown paper bags – this will help provide air circulation and prevent them from rotting. Keep an eye on them and remove them gently when you want to use them.
Read full articleLeaf curl (Taphrina deformans) is a common fungal disease that affects peach, nectarine, peachcott, and peacherine etc trees. It causes the leaves (and sometimes the fruit) of the infected tree to become puckered, curled and much thicker than normal. If left untreated the problem will get worse year after year and reduce the tree’s ability to produce lots of fruit.
Fruit tree expert, Sarah Frater of Edible Garden Ltd, says overwinter the fungal spores take up residence in different parts of the tree, but mainly in the buds.
“When the cool wet weather of spring and summer arrives many leaf curl spores are produced and are then splashed or blown from tree to tree. Because this is also the time the trees are breaking bud and forming new leaves, the new growth is easily reinfected with leaf curl.”
Sarah says controlling leaf curl isn’t easy but she says good orchard hygiene habits, which should be repeated each year, will give you the best chance.
“First of all,” says Sarah, “plant your trees where they will get adequate air movement – this will help minimise fungal problems.”
Next, in spring apply a light dressing of a quick acting fertiliser such as sulphate of ammonia to encourage new leaf growth. At the same time, Sarah also recommends applying a seaweed fertiliser, such as Seasol and Comfrey spray, to help the plants’ immunity to leaf curl.
If you do get leaf curl, during spring is when you will notice it in your trees.
Sarah says that once you notice the symptoms of leaf curl in your leaves it is too late to control the disease in those leaves but there is lots you can to do try and stop the fungus from spreading.
“The first step is to remove and destroy as many infected leaves as practical. But don’t compost these as it will spread the infection,” says Sarah.
In autumn and early winter Sarah recommends cleaning up around the base of any peach, nectarine etc trees and removing as many leaves as possible.
“Because these types of trees are susceptible to leaf curl, I suggest doing this regardless of whether they’ve shown any signs of disease. And, again remember – don’t compost the leaves.”
Next, Sarah says you should spray your deciduous trees (the trees that lose their leaves every year) with lime sulphur.
“The lime sulphur acts by burning off the over wintering fungi and pests, including mites. It’s very important you do this for gooseberry bushes because they are prone to catching mites which can eat out the flower buds, meaning your bush ends up with no fruit. Luckily, the lime sulphur will get rid of those mites.
“But I don’t recommend applying it to your apricot trees because they can be sensitive to lime, so it’s best just to avoid it.”
In late winter/spring, Sarah recommends applying a copper-based fungicide to all your deciduous fruit trees – not just peach trees.
“A copper-based fungicide will help stop leaf curl on peach and nectarine trees but it will also treat fungal problems on other fruit trees – like black spot on apple trees.”
She also suggests mixing in the copper fungicide with a spreader/sticker, like RainGard, both of which you can get from your local garden centre.
“RainGard works a bit like soap. Combined with the fungicide, it will make the whole area you spray wet and then when it dries it sticks to the area so you get good coverage that sticks or stays on the tree for a long time.”
Sarah says the copper fungicide (and spreader/sticker) should be applied while the leaf and flower buds are still closed – right before the buds burst.
“Spray thoroughly as you need to create a surface barrier to protect against the fungus. Then follow this up with another spray 10-14 days later – particularly if you’ve had lots of wet weather. This will ensure the trees get the coverage they need.”
Sarah says once you have flower buds showing it’s really important not to spray copper, as it’s very toxic to bees when it’s wet – though fine once it’s dried. And it’s also past the point of the copper being effective as the idea of the copper is to add a protectant layer over the buds, before they burst.
And that’s it for the year. Now, you just have to go back to the beginning of the process and repeat all of the steps – except for applying copper fungicide.
Sarah says because copper is a heavy metal it can build up in the soil. It’s also very toxic to bees when wet so should only be used when necessary. She says if in the past year your trees showed no signs of disease just skip the copper step the following year.
“But, if they are newly planted trees; or were effected by fungus or disease; or you had a wet winter; or you didn’t spray with lime sulphur, then you should still apply copper fungicide,” Sarah finishes.
You can order peach, nectarine, peachcott, peacherine and other fruit and nut trees from specialised mail order nursey, Edible Garden Ltd.
Read full articleFor potatoes we thought we’d get some tips from the expert – Paul Hoek of NZ Bulbs.
To start with, Paul says you need to purchase some seed potatoes. Seed potatoes look like regular potatoes but smaller. You can grab some from your local garden centre or, if you’re a fan of online shopping like we are, head to NZ Bulbs and get some delivered direct to your door.
NZ Bulbs has 12 different varieties of seed potatoes available including well known varieties like Jersey Benne, Agria and Rua. And gone are the days when you were obliged to purchase a 2kg bag of seed potatoes to get your own crop growing. At NZ Bulbs you can purchase them in quantities as small as 5 seed potatoes – perfect for a small family or those wanting to try growing a couple of different varieties.
Paul says the type of potato you choose to plant will depend largely on what you want to do with it and when you want to harvest.
“Potatoes vary in their make up. Some are called 'waxy' potatoes and these are lower in starch and hold together much better when cooking - they are more suitable for salads, boiling and casseroles. Others varieties are called 'floury' potatoes and these ones are higher in starch and ideal for wedges, chips, roasting and mashing. The earlier potatoes tend to be more the waxy types, and the later varieties more floury.”
If you're looking for a general purpose potato, Paul recommends trying Desiree or Rua varieties - these spuds are suitable for most uses. And if you want to ensure you’re serving home-grown spuds at Christmas, Paul suggests planting early potatoes such as Rocket, Swift, Jersey Benne and Cliff Kidney. These ones can be harvested after about 90 days so, if planted in September, will be ready for Christmas.
Once purchased, Paul says remove your seed potatoes from the bag or container and leave them in a light, dry place to sprout for a few weeks.
“A garage bench or garden shed is ideal.”
When the potato shoots are approximately 2cm long they're ready to plant. Before doing so, Paul recommends adding some compost to the soil and mixing well.
“A well composted garden will give you better results come harvest time as it makes the soil more friable and easier to work,” says Paul.
Next, dig a trench about 15cm deep in your garden and place the potatoes in the bottom of it - approximately 40cm apart.
“You don't need to fill the trench back up at this stage, just cover the planted potatoes with at least 5cm of soil. New spuds hate Jack Frost, so keep an eye on them and as the shoots start to push through, cover them a little more each week until you have turned your trench into a mound of 15-20cm in height.”
Paul says it’s important no light reaches the potatoes as this can affect how many potatoes the plant will produce.
“The more growing stem beneath the soil, the more opportunity for the plant to produce potatoes and the bigger your crop.”
Once a month mound the soil around the potato plant. Ensure 5cm of the plant's stem is left sticking out the top.
To keep diseases away, Paul says don't overhead water your potatoes excessively.
“Once planted the rain should be enough to keep them going until they're ready for harvesting.”
Paul also recommends covering your potato crop with some insect-proof netting which will keep out the potato-tomato psyllid, a small insect that can cause a lot of damage to tomato and potato crops.
“The netting is a perfect non-spray method to ensure your potatoes stay healthy and yield a great crop."
You can purchase some of this netting when you order your seed potatoes from NZ Bulbs. And the mesh sold by NZ Bulbs will last for many seasons as it is strong and UV resistant.
Because the plants can be attacked by the psyllid at any growth stage, Paul says to put the netting on the potatoes when you plant them and keep it on until you harvest.
"You can put the netting on loosely at the start or just loosen it as they get bigger. Just make sure the plants aren't pushing hard against it or being damaged and that it is tucked into the dirt securely on all edges.
In regards to when to harvest your potatoes, Paul says some gardeners believe you should harvest when the flowers on your potato plant begin to die off. However, some new spud varieties don't produce flowers so this method can be a little tricky.
“The best way to tell if your potatoes are ready is to dig a few up to check. Get out your fork and loosen the dirt around a few of your potato plants, put your hand in the soil and gently pull out a spud ensuring you don't break the shoot connecting it to the plant. If your potatoes are small, cover them up again with dirt and leave to mature further.”
Lastly, once you've harvested your potatoes, Paul recommends digging the plant back in to the ground.
“Potato plants produce nitrogen and digging them in increases your soil's nitrogen levels which is the most important element for good plant production and growth,” he says.
Read full articleSarah from Edible garden has shared her top tips for autumn fruit trees & vines with us. Mulching, plant ties, mowing under trees and frost protection – it’s all here.