Down to earth: dr satish narula

The common complaint from the gardeners is about cucurbit crops getting spoiled after fruition. The reason is its direct contact with water.

The common complaint from the gardeners is about cucurbit crops getting spoiled after fruition. The reason is its direct contact with water. Also when the vines spread on ground,the twigs overlap causing shade and humidity within due to which the fruit get spoiled. It is better to train such vines on some structures. This will open up the vines giving better yield of good quality fruit. You can either erect such permanent structures with iron or temporary structures with bamboo or sturdy stems. This way you will prolong the plant life too besides conservation of water.

When does an adenium come into seeding? How are its seeds collected?
Veer Singh,Chandigarh
Nowadays,the adenium is in flowering. After the flowering is over,you will find two big pods coming out opposite to each other. Keep a watch as one day these pods will burst open and the seeds with wings will come out. If you do not collect them at the right time,they will fly away.

Do we have to plant various plants species (vegetables included) as per the instructions or according to weather?
Anil Malik,Kishangarh
The planting is done depending upon the season for which the plant is made. There could be variation of a few days,depending upon day to day weather conditions. The variation could be only for a week or so at the most and the weather comes back to the prevailing season. Sow the seeds accordingly.

Could you suggest something new in summer annuals other than the routine zinnia,kochia,portulaca.
Raj Kumar,Panchkula
May be you have not kept yourself abreast with the latest in nurseries or on seed shops. You can get a wide variety even within one species that are even more attractive.

What should I do to make my pot plants grow faster?
Savita Singh,Chandigarh
During the coming monsoon,put some of these in soil in beds and let them grow there for some time. For this you can also dig a foot-deep long trenches and put the plants side by side filling the trench with rich manure medium. The plants will have excellent growth within a few days.

ASK DR GREEN at satishnarula@pau.edu

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plants