Garden Talk: Why are there so many male flowers on my cucumbers?

Jill and Rick Van Duyvendyk answer all your gardening questions in Garden Talk on 650 CKOM and 980 CJME every Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Here are some questions and answers from the Aug. 24 show:

Read more:

• Garden Talk: Common garden pests and problems and how to fix them
• Garden Talk: Can I grow potatoes from seeds harvested out of the pods?
• Garden Talk: What can I do about mushrooms in my lawn?

These questions and answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.

Q: My cucumbers mostly have male flowers. What can I do?

A: This has been an issue this year because the male flowers will come first and the female flowers afterwards.

With the late season that we’re having, we’re finding that some of the female flowers haven’t formed yet, especially if the cucumbers were planted a little bit later.

Be patient, and make sure you get some row covers so you can extend the season.

Q: Can I plant the cloves from garlic heads damaged when dug up?

A: Absolutely. If the garlic was out in the sun for a long long period drying it could be dry and crunchy inside and not be viable. But if it still has moisture in it, then then it should be fine.

Q: Have trees been shedding more, losing leaves and small branches this summer?

A: Some places in the province are still feelingeffects of the drought. Some areas finally got more rain but it was too late, some trees were already stressed out beyond where they could survive.

On top of that, with all the wind we’ve had this year, you will see a lot more branches falling down.

Make sure you deep-water your plants at least once a month and fertilize them, especially every spring, and you can keep trees healthy even through these types of stressful times.

Q: Why do my cherry, plum and pear trees bloom, but don’t ever produce any fruit?

A: Do a pH test of your soil. You can pick one up at pretty much any garden
centre and you will also need some distilled water. You want to get the pH around 7 by applying lime or you’re going to have to add or sulphur around each tree at least once per month.

Look at giving them some micronutrients, using the fruit and berry type of fertilizer. Don’t worry about adding nitrogen as much as phosphorus, potassium, and boron, magnesium, zinc, and all those other minor micronutrients.

Q: Will winter be an issue for a large pine that has lost 95 per cent of its needles but showing some new growth?

A: It will be fine. As you get towards Sept. 1 slow down on the watering, but don’t cut off completely. Around the third week in October give them one last good soak.

Q: When and how do I prune gooseberry bushes?

A: Cut them down to at least two feet off the ground after they’ve gone dormant in the fall, and then shape them into a ball. You’ll get some fruit next year, then the year after that then you’ll start your production back over again.

Q: Is it okay to put rhubarb leaves on the garden and let them compost into the soil? Do they get rid of ants?

A: It’s not going to hurt the soil at all. You can lay the leaves down in the rows and walk on them and they will keep the weeds down, too.

Rhubarb is not going to get rid of ants. A great companion plant that would help deter ants is mint.

Q: How do I make an indoor orchid cactus bloom?

A: Try to change its climate. Now we are getting cooler nights try putting it by an open window at night. You can also move it into a darker room for three or
four days and then move them back into the sunlight.

You can even put a box over the top for a couple days so that it’s almost like in complete darkness and then take the box off and then let it enjoy the light.

Let it get a bit drier than normal before watering it and you can try pinching the tips off.

Q: How and when do I wrap my trees?

A: If you are going to use stakes and then wrap the stakes around the tree , put the stakes in before the ground freezes.

We wrap a tree for a couple reasons. One is to protect the trunk from sunscald, which usually happens in February, March and the first week of April, so you don’t need to wrap them until until the snow starts in November.

You can also wrap trees for canker worms, and you want to do that by the last week in August. Put a band on and Tanglefoot and leave that on until the first week of June, when you have to reapply the Tanglefoot again.

Q: When do I harvest hollyhock seeds?

A: As you see the blooms wither a little bit, you can pull them off, or cut the stalk and let it dry.  Tie a little bag around the bloom so that collects the seed, too.

Q: How long does a Concord grape take to produce fruit after pruning?

A: Next year you’ll start getting grapes on it again. Only trim it in half this year, not right down to the ground.

Q: Why did my strawberries bloom but not fruit this year?

A: It might be a pollination issue. What you can even do is take one of the flowers off and rub it against some of the other flowers and that might help pollination.

Watch your watering is consistent, don’t keep them too wet or too dry and in the heat watch to make sure the flowers don’t get dried out and shrivel up.

Adding a little straw or mulch around the base of the plant helps keeps the roots cool, which strawberries like.

Q: What is the best way to get rid of dogwood?

A: Dig it out. Get all the roots out, and the stump part out and it’ll be gone. What
happens is that dogwoods put a branch low to the ground and then up and away from the plant and when it’s touching the ground the branch will root and it’ll just keep getting wider.

Q: Will putting dried weeds in a pail of vinegar kill them?

A: It won’t kill the seeds. Don’t let them sit in the yard when they’re brown, because w a lot of the seeds will go on to the ground. You want to get them when the seeds are producing and get them right out of the yard and then you won’t have that reproduction next year.

Q: Why am I seeing hundreds of green acorns coming down?

A: Probably squirrels dropping them to the ground so that they can store them for the winter. It’s a good thing if you’ve got a lot of acorns, because they put a lot of stress on the the tree.

If the tree is producing a ton of acorns, however, that means the tree is under stress. Next year you need to make sure you water and fertilize those them.

Q: Is there anything I can do to prevent spider mites from coming back next year?

A: Right now give the plants a good watering because what happens in the hot weather is the mites really start sucking and reproducing. Keep blasting cold water into the branches.

They start reproducing when it’s hot, so if you can keep the humidity up then they can’t reproduce.

Q: How do I plant caragana seeds I have collected?

A: When caragana seeds almost want to split open, that’s the time when you want to pick them. Spread them out in contact with the soil. Sometimes it takes up to two years for them to germinate.

In the last half of March you also take cuttings from a the caragana hedge about
the thickness of your index finger and about six inches long. Put them in the fridge and plant them out when the frost comes out of the ground. It’s quicker than growing it from seed.

Q: Can I eat raw zucchini?

A: Definitely. It sometimes can have a sharp or bitter taste when it’s raw and when you cook it, the sweetness comes out.

Q: Is it okay to reseed a lawn at this time of the year. What seed would you recommend?

A: If it’s a sunny location, use a Canada No. 1 mix. It’s perfect timing right now, we’re going to get some heat and it’ll still have lots of time to germinate. If it’s in a shady area, use more of a shade blend of grass seed.

Q: What animal causes mounds of dirt with no hole in them?

A: If it’s a bigger mound then its probably a mole. They tunnel in the ground. Use a black hole trap, but you have to dig down to the tunnel and then you put the black hole trap in.

Q: Can I start a chokecherry tree or Saskatoon berry bush from the berries?

A: Yes, but they won’t necessarily be the same variety. Chokecherries will stay pretty much the same variety because there’s so many around, but with Saskatoons, the cultivar changes because of cross-pollination.

Q: Can I transplant a cutting from a red current bush?

A: Yes, if you can get some with a piece of root on it use that, otherwise you can take a softwood cutting from them as well.

Read more:

• Garden Talk: Common garden pests and problems and how to fix them
• Garden Talk: Can I grow potatoes from seeds harvested out of the pods?
• Garden Talk: What can I do about mushrooms in my lawn?