Garden hacks, Vegetables

Red Plastic Mulch

Been reading about using red plastic mulch being good for tomatoes. I did this and the results are very noticeable! The tomato plants growing on red plastic are showing twice the growth versus the plants without the plastic. I had some plastic leftovers and tried it on peppers. I have twice the growth of those also. It has to do with reflecting the red light wavelength back to the plant increases the production of chlorophyll especially plants in the tomato family and strawberries. The plastic also holds soil moisture and controls weeds. Do not use the cheap pink plastic, like I did last year. After two weeks the pink faded to clear and acted like a greenhouse for the weeds under the plastic.

Red plastic mulch under tomatoes


There are studies now stating to use silver mulch for vine crops. They show bugs like aphids, cucumber beetles, and squash bugs get confused and travel somewhere else. Next year’s test!

Flowers (annual and perennial)

Amaranthus

Amaranthus plant has been grown for thousands of years as a food crop in Mexico from the Aztec. When Spain’s Cortez arrived, he burnt the fields as punishment. Mexico is reviving the crop as a staple food source. Also called summer Poinsettia because of some variety’s colorful foliage. The plant is related to the weed: pigweed. The Hopi use the dye from the red seeded plants for their clothing and bread.

Green Headed Amaranthus
Green Headed Amaranthus

The moral of the story is you can smash old relics of civilizations, but the history of plants can not be done away with.

These plants come in heights from 1 to 8 feet with different colored foliage and seed heads. While rarely found in greenhouses, the seeds are in many catalogs. Easy to start from seeds 8 weeks before transplanting them to the flower bed. Amaranthus does not flinch at heat or drought. After that, seedlings will come back in the following years.

Golden Amaranthus & Red Foliage Amaranthus
Golden Amaranthus & Red Foliage Amaranthus

This plant grows slowly in the cool spring, however, will shoot up unbelievably when summer comes. The colorful seed heads can be cut and dried for dried flower arrangements.

In the Caribbean, they steam the leaves on most plants as a spinach substitute. Mostly they are used as grains.

Garden Pests, Vegetables

Tomato Leaf Curl

People are having issues with tomato leaf curl. There are no easy answers without looking at the leaf itself and doing some detective work.

  1. If the leaves are distorted with brown spots and the leaves are turning yellow. Answer: foliar disease, most likely fungus, Septoria leaf spot or early blight.
  2. Leaves are curling upward looking like a green cigar. Answer: Do not worry. The plant foliage is growing faster than the roots, so the plant naturally curls its leaves upward to reduce solar exposure. The plant will grow out of this, mulch and consistent watering helps.
  3. Newer leaves are curling and growing in distorted shapes. Answer: Herbicide injury due to drift or mulch that was sprayed. Water movement with Roundup has been a problem. You will see the same effect in peppers and other garden plants.
  4. Leaves wilt downward. Answer: Maybe a virus, however, with newer tomato varieties, this is not as common as it once was.
  5. Plants are stunted growing in part shade. Answer: Most tomatoes need 8 hours of sunlight. Do not plant close to a Black Walnut for the tree roots will kill or stunt most tomatoes.
  6. Leaves are limp and yellow with green veins. Answer: Iron deficiency.
  7. Leaves curl on the edges with a burn pattern: Answer: Too high of a dose on Malathion or sprayed above 85 degrees.
Tomato Leaf Curl
Natural Tomato Leaf Curl