Q. I have a few tomato plants I started from seed that have grown too tall in the house. Can I cut them back, or when I plant them outdoors can I lay the stem down even if some of the leaves get covered with soil?-Marlene Ames, Fargo
A. Too tall tomato plants are better planted deeply, rather than cut back. Tomato plants will develop roots along the buried stem, which makes them an even better plant with better roots.
Dig a trench and carefully lay the plant horizontally after first removing the leaves that would be under soil. The leaves snap off easily from the main stem. When laying the plant in the trench, gently curve the upper part of the plant so it's sticking out as you fill the trench with soil. Be careful not to kink or break the main stem by bending too sharply. The leafy part above ground will be a little slanted for a while, but it will begin growing upright. Remember which side of the tomato plant has the buried stem, so when you're weeding or hoeing you don't damage the part invisibly buried a little ways from the main plant.
Burying tomato plants horizontally up to their "ears" also helps prevent tall plants from being wind-whipped.
Q. The past two summers, our buttercup squash have been destroyed by squash borers. The plants start out nice and the squash get to about baseball size, then the vines start dying. We tilled the soil in the fall thinking that might help and we planted the squash in a different area of the garden, but they found the new area also. Any suggestions?-Ron and Jan Torkelson, Fargo
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A. Squash vine borer is a serious pest whose damage is most noticeable when plants begin to wilt in summer, eventually collapsing and dying. The insect overwinters in soil and emerges from the ground in late June or early July as a moth, about ½-inch long, with orange abdomen with black spots. Moths soon lay eggs at the base of squash vines. In about a week, the eggs hatch into cream-colored, 1-inch larvae. The larvae bore into stems near the base and crawl inside squash vine stems. Water flow is blocked, resulting in wilting of the plant.
Once larvae have entered the squash vines, they're difficult to control, so measures must be taken before. In late June, spray or dust the base of squash stems where they arise from the ground with Sevin insecticide. Repeat every seven to 10 days until late July.
You can monitor the presence of squash vine borer moths by placing yellow pails or yellow dishes filled with water in the squash patch in mid-June. The moths will be attracted and drop into the water. When you first notice adult moths, you'll know it's time to take action with insecticides before eggs hatch into larvae.
Q. Can I put old, dried-out pine needles into my compost mix to use in flower and vegetable gardens? Or does the acidity of the pine needles have the opposite affect of what is desired by adding compost to gardens?-Nick Gonderinger, Fargo
A. Pine needles can be added to compost in moderation. They're fine when blended with grass clippings, leaves and other materials. They're more acid, as you mentioned, but our soils can always use more acidity. But if too many are added to the compost pile at one time, the acidity inhibits the microorganisms that break down compost. Pine needles tend to break down more slowly than other materials because of the waxy coating. Adding them in moderation probably means adding about 10 percent pine needles to the compost mix.
If you have a gardening or lawn care question, email Don Kinzler at ForumGrowingTogether@hotmail.com . All questions will be answered, and those with broad appeal may be published, so please include your name, city and state for appropriate advice.
