Wouldn’t you just know it - mere hours after I had submitted the article for my last Duchess of Dirt column, I was “shown up”. By a friend, no less!
I am referring to my skepticism about leaving your dandelion flowers for bees. Truthfully, neither John nor I were lying when I claimed we had never seen a bee gorging itself on a dandelion flower. And yet, when I signed into Facebook to send a celebratory birthday greeting to a family member, the first message that popped up was my friend’s photo of a bumblebee on a dandelion flower. Just figures, doesn’t it?! So, I admitted to egg on my face and we both had a delightful chuckle over her incriminating evidence.
Onwards and upwards: I am pleased with the growth of my tomato seedlings, considering I was a little later than normal with my seeding schedule this year. I am lucky I have a wonderful shelf unit that John built me many years ago. Outfitted with fluorescent lights, which are suspended on chains from hooks, makes it very easy to raise the lights as the seedlings grow.
But disaster struck! On a routine morning check, I discovered one of my newly emerged cucumber seedlings had been beheaded! What the heck? A search of all the seedling cells in the tray, unfortunately, did not reveal the culprit. Frustrating! So, it was with trepidation that I checked over my seedlings the next few days. Thankfully, no further casualties. Until a week later.
I discovered two of my broccoli seedlings damaged…one beyond any hope of recovery. And still no clue as to who the culprit is…other than the small-sized chew marks on the broccoli leaves, which were not completely devoured. Thinking about it, they are roughly on a par with the chew marks root weevils make. And leaf-cutter bees, come to think. However, I do not believe either one of these suspects is active right now in the garden. But if they are, how did they get into my house? A mystery to be solved.
Switching gears and because I mentioned tomatoes earlier, how many of you use epsom salt as a home remedy as a deterrent against blossom end rot? Or use it to make your tomatoes produce more fruit or make your horticultural plants bushier and covered in more flowers? You are likely creating more harm in your garden and for your plants than good.
For instance, some may not know that blossom end rot is caused by a deficiency of calcium in your soil. Surprise! Epsom salt does not contain any calcium at all. The predominant components are magnesium and sulphur. Granted, magnesium is necessary for plant health as it aids a plant’s ability to generate chlorophyll, much-needed in the photosynthesis process. (Yellow streaks between a plant’s leaves indicate the plant lacks magnesium.)
To treat blossom end rot, scratch some dolomite lime into the soil around the plants. Not only does the lime contain calcium, but it will also raise the soil acidity (pH) level. This is also a very important health factor because soil with a pH below 5.8 or above 7.0 effectively “locks up” calcium, making it inaccessible to the plants. (Most vegetables prefer a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.8.)
As for epsom salt producing healthier plants and higher yields, there are several published studies by university agricultural extensions which have proved there is no truth to this so-called fact.
Since it is May, I must mention May flowers: in particular the ones opening up all over my Rhododendron ‘Scintillation’. Aren’t they positively scintillating? So well named!
Leslie Cox co-owns Growing Concern Cottage Garden in Black Creek. Her website is
