I have a plant that I grew from a cutting a friend gave me. It produces a beautiful flower that looks like a large, slightly hairy starfish. Unfortunately, the flower smells like rotten meat and attracts flies. I still love it. Can you tell me what it is? — Robin
The plant you have is an interesting succulent called starfish flower (Stapelia gigantea), which is native to southern Africa. Easy to grow in a sunny window or outside during the warm season in part sun, the only real concern is to avoid over-watering.
Allow the soil to dry between waterings to prevent stem rot. With good care, stapelias are reliable bloomers, and what a flower. Unlike many garden flowers that are pollinated by bees and butterflies, the stapelias are pollinated by flies.
While bees and butterflies may be lured in with bright petals and sweet fragrances, flies have different tastes all together. The stapelia flower is designed to look and smell like rotten meat, promising everything a fly would love. Not only is the fetid smell effective, but the color of the flowers always includes some variation on the theme of dark red, brown and purple usually in marbled patterns and sometimes streaked with cream to resemble fatty meat.
It’s a great plant and a real conversation piece when in bloom.
Do you know why our tomato plants are pretty much all plant with very few tomatoes? The plants are 5 feet tall. Thanks much. — Randy
You may have planted them too late. In south Louisiana, you should plant tomatoes around mid- to late-March through mid-April. Our main tomato crop is set primarily from flowers produced in April and May when weather conditions are mild and favorable for fruit set.
Harvest usually begins around mid- to late-May, and June is generally when the major crop comes in. So, your tomatoes should be finishing up at this time, not sitting there with just a few fruit on them. Many people are already pulling up their tomato plants as they have finished producing.
The right time to harvest cucumbers depends on the variety you’re growing.
STAFF PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK
I have an ongoing discussion with my wife regarding fresh-grown cucumbers and store-bought cucumbers. I think it’s better to pick homegrown cucumbers when they are about pickle-sized. My wife thinks it’s better to let them grow to the size that produce departments grow them (twice the size of a pickle). Can you tell us the facts regarding the harvesting of cucumbers? — Charles
Knowing the proper time to harvest homegrown vegetables is one of the most important parts of home vegetable gardening. When it comes to harvesting cucumbers, how large the cucumber should be when you harvest it depends entirely on the type and variety of cucumber you are growing.
Cucumber varieties that are grown for gherkins are harvested at about 2 inches long. Pickling cucumber varieties are generally harvested about 4 inches long. (Think of whole dill pickles in a jar.)
Slicing cucumbers we use in salads may be harvested anywhere from 6 to 12 inches, depending on variety. So, the size when you harvest your cucumbers is guided by the variety and use. The variety description will tell you the size at which they should be harvested.
That said, we harvest cucumbers in the immature stage, not when they are ripe. When they are ripe, they turn yellow, bitter and the seeds are developed. Big, fat, yellowing cucumbers mean you left them on the vine too long.
On the other hand, you really cannot harvest a cucumber too young. Young, small cucumbers of any variety are delicious. So, if someone wants to harvest cucumbers smaller than recommended for a variety, that is the gardener’s prerogative. But you sacrifice pounds of harvest by harvesting cucumbers small.
Harvesting at the recommended size, based on the variety, maintains quality while maximizing pounds produced.
Garden tips
SUPPORT GROUP: Some of the taller gingers, such as hedychium, alpinia and costus, may get top-heavy when they bloom and lean or fall over. A little graceful leaning is generally not an issue, but you should consider supporting the shoots if they fall over too much or lay over onto nearby plants. Also, each shoot only blooms once. After a shoot blooms, cut it back down to the ground.
BLACKBERRY TLC: Blackberry canes that produced fruit this year should be pruned back to the ground. The vigorous new canes that grow this summer will produce next year’s crop. They should not be heavily pruned, although they may be tip pruned to control their length.
A LONG DRINK: Water deeply and thoroughly as needed during long, late-summer dry spells. Soaker hoses are an excellent way to water flowerbeds and vegetable gardens. Keeping the foliage dry helps keep fungal diseases from attacking.
SEARCHING THE WEB: Fine, silvery webbing appearing on the bark of area trees and large shrubs is completely harmless. The webbing is produced by tiny scavenging insects called bark lice or psocids. There is no need to apply insecticides. If the webbing bothers you, sweep it off with a broom or remove it with a strong spray of water.
SLIME TIME: With rainier weather, slime molds will begin to show up on lawns. Look for bluish gray to black patches a few inches to a foot or more in diameter growing on the grass blades. Although they look alarming, they are completely harmless and will not hurt the grass.