What to Plant Following Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) create tracking vines and a thickened root that is edible, although not a potato. Plants are perennials when developed in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 10 but have been increased in all zones as warm-season garden annuals. Sweet potatoes are easy to grow and tolerant of drought and heat; however, you should not grow sweet potatoes at precisely the same location in the backyard two years in a row.

Growing Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes have been grown by slips, which can be grown from tubers that were stored. You can plant slips in late spring when the soil has heated to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, placing slips so that only stem leaves and tips are vulnerable. Space slips 1 foot apart, leaving 3 feet between rows. Harvest sweet potato tubers prior to the first frost, stirring carefully to avoid bruising the roots. Don’t plant potatoes at precisely the same place the following year to prevent the buildup of disease.

Avoiding Disease with Crop Rotation

Sweet potatoes are prone to attacks by root rot nematodes. For this reason, don’t plant sweet potatoes or other yearly garden plants, like tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum), potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) or eggplants (Solanum melongena) that tend to root rot nematodes within an area of the backyard where sweet potatoes grew the previous season. Root rot nematodes are not possible to find with the naked eye, therefore look for other signs of the presence, like knotted roots and inadequate foliage and tuber development.

What You Can Plant

You can plant a green manure crop in an area where sweet potatoes have previously grown in the backyard. It is also possible to plant annual vegetables that aren’t prone to root rot nematodes, like lettuce (Lactuca sativa), spinach (Spinacia oleracea) and cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata). A green manure crop is grown and incorporated into the soil immediately after flowering or while still green. The green mulch is dug into the dirt and plants aside from those prone to root rot nematodes can be planted there for the next 3 seasons.

Sweet Potato Residue

Sweet potatoes release an allelopathic chemical during decomposition that can prevent seed germination in the soil surrounding them. Before planting any other seeds in an area where sweet potatoes have previously grown, make certain to eliminate all harvest residue left behind in the sweet potato mattress. Allelopathic chemicals can be present in leaves, fruits, flowers or stems of plants, therefore all sweet potato plant components have to be eliminated.

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Something Is Eating My Raspberries: What Is It?

Raspberries (Rubus spp.) Supply nutrients like vitamins C and A, antioxidants and several minerals in addition to luscious flavor and texture, but they are generally pricey in the market. So growing your own raspberries makes good sense. Various cultivars thrive in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 10. Raspberries come in an astonishing array of colors, including black, red, purple, gold and white. Some raspberry varieties only bear fruit for a month in the summertime, while everbearing varieties make strawberries summer through fall. Insect pest bother raspberries less than a number of different kinds of fruits, but a few only can’t resist.

Fruit Flies

A tiny vinegar or vegetable fly with red eyes, the spotted-wing drosophila, preys on undamaged, soft-fleshed fruit, like rasperries, strawberries and plums, unlike its relatives, which favor rotting or fermented fruit. Distinguishing marks on adult males of the species are black spots on the tip of each wing. Spawning as many as ten generations in one year, the short-lived flies become active between the temperature range of 68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Raspberries are prone to attack when they’ve reached their mature color and developed some sugar. UC IPM Online recommends a sugar and yeast water bait for your spotted-wing drosophila: Mix 1 1/2 cups of water using 1/4 oz baker’s yeast and 4 teaspoons of sugar. Let the solution sit for about a day so that it can ferment. Drill four 7/16-inch-diameter holes drilled into the lid of a jar. Then pour the solution into the jar. Hang each jar in a shady place near the strawberries. The flies will input, and most will drown. Assess each week and eliminate dead flies. The solution lasts “several weeks,” according to UC IPM. Good sanitation in the raspberry field will assist in preventing eggs and larvae of the vinegar flies from growing.

Sap Beetles

At about 1/4-inch in length, sap beetles are bigger than fruit flies. Sap beetles are black with yellow-to-orange stains over the backs of the wings. Also referred to as picnic beetles, they bore into ripe or overripe berries to feed. As they are not effectively controlled with any chemical or biological applications, sanitation in the area is essential. Harvest the raspberries as soon as they ripen, so the sight and scent of ripe, rotting or fermenting fruit does not attract them. Clean up all debris after harvest

Additional Berry-Eating Bugs

Another insect pest not easily controlled, the tarnished plant bug feeds on young berries and blooms. Just about 1/4 inch long, the bug has a flattened, oval, copper-brown body.Tarnished plant bugs breed in corn and hay fields, so avoid planting close these plants near raspberry sites. The fruit worm, another raspberry enemy, eats the buds and strawberries. In smallish infestations, fruit worms can be picked off. Cultivate around the plants during late summer or early fall to expose that the worms to their predators and stop them from overwintering as pupae in the ground. Cornell University horticulturists crossed a purple and a red raspberry to create “Royalty,” a large, sweet variety for USDA zones 4 to 8 that is resistant to fruit worms.

Hungry Birds

Birds often present a problem when they rob your raspberry patch before it is possible to harvest your crop. Foil them by spreading plastic netting over the plants. Or, if this gets in the way when pruning plants or choosing grasses, erect a lightweight support to hold the netting up off the raspberry canes. Construct the frame of timber or metal, either in the shape of a box or slanted like an A-frame house.

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Infrared Heaters Vs. Pellet Stoves

Infrared heaters and pellet cookers play two different roles in maintaining your home comfortable. Infrared heaters mostly are utilised to heat small areas or work spaces. Pellet stoves may be used to heat your whole home. Their heat sources and varieties of heat also vary and affect the environment and air quality in your house in distinct ways.

Radiant vs. Circulated Heating

An infrared heater projects glowing heat, that means it heats objects in the area which then reflects the heat into the room. The atmosphere in the room isn’t heated. A pellet stove projects a certain amount of glowing heat close to the unit, but the majority of the heat is circulated throughout the room in the kind of warm air. This means that an infrared heater will make heat you may feel almost immediately, but the space cools quickly the moment the unit is shut off because the air is still cool. A pellet stove requires more time to create heat, but some of the heat remains after the unit stops running.

Consider the Fuel Source

Infrared heaters are usually electric, but versions are available which use natural gas, propane or oil as a fuel source. Pellet stoves burn specially made pellets, usually made from wood scraps, but occasionally from corn or other substances. Bags of pellets may be heavy and need a lot of storage space, but consist of waste which would otherwise don’t have any use.

Dimensions and Space

The heat made by infrared heaters doesn’t spread around flow or objects into other rooms. Generally, you must be in the line of sight of this heater to feel the heat. An infrared heater cannot be linked to central ducts to spread heat through several rooms at the same time. The heat it does produce, however, is usually dispersed evenly from floor to ceiling. Depending on its settings and size, a pellet stove can heat only a single space, several rooms, or your entire home if it is attached to central ducts. You do not need to be near the stove or in sight of it, since the warm air can be forced into other locations. The warm air in the pellet cooker tends to rise to the ceiling, leaving the atmosphere at the base of the space cold.

The Bottom Line: Energy Savings

Infrared heaters are usually used as personal or basin heaters. By heating only the area you are using, it is possible to turn the thermostat down on the central heating unit to save energy and money. Pellet stoves are usually used to heat a large region. They are more efficient than wood burning stoves and may be less costly to operate than natural gas, electric or propane furnaces, depending on the design, your climate and your home. Pellet stoves are occasionally used as zone heaters, to heat a frequently used part of the house and save on central heating costs.

Emissions and Air Quality

An infrared heater doesn’t create any direct emissions and doesn’t have an effect on air quality. It does not create any smoke, dust or allergens. An infrared heater doesn’t dry out the air just like a pellet stove or many types of heaters and doesn’t require an outside vent. The environmental effect of the unit comes from its fuel source, such as the use of coal to create electricity. A pellet stove produces fewer emissions than a wood stove but nonetheless releases carbon monoxide and other toxins that have to be vented outside the house. The pellets may even be stale, and air forced through the house might contain allergens.

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Recommended Depth for a Shower Chair

There is A shower chair supposed to make bathing a comfortable and secure experience for anybody who has difficulty standing for long. However, it will not function as intended When it’s the wrong dimensions.

Front to Back

The standard thickness, or measurement from the trunk to the front of the chair, is between 15 and 16 inches, which is also the thickness recommended by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The chair ought to be enough for the user to sit down comfortably, but not too profound that it blocks the entryway or that it is hard to rise from. Depth varies between seat types. By way of instance, an sleeper chair is more narrow than a standard one that is rectangular. Fold-down chairs with a diminished depth are readily available for shower enclosures. A number of these seats are only around 12 1/2 inches deep.

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How Much Does it Cost to Run a Space Heater?

Electric space heaters provide heat fast, and because they run on household power, you don’t ever have to buy fuel for them. You do not get this type of convenience for free, however, and you will observe a hefty hike on your monthly power bill if you use one regularly. The amount of money you spend to run a space heater depends on its size and frequency of use, and that amount may surprise you.

The Way Electric Space Heaters Work

Many devices which produce heat from power depend on electric resistance, or the fact that an electrical conductor heats up whenever you pass a current through it. Inexpensive heaters typically have one or two coils wrapped around a ceramic core and a reflector that radiates the heat made by the coils. Some more expensive heaters use a bulb which emits primarily infrared radiation. These heaters typically include a copper heat exchanger that receives the radiation and a fan which blows the heat created by the copper outside to the room. Manufacturers often claim that these models are far more environmentally friendly than traditional coil heaters.

Wattage

Whether your heater is one which heats by opposition or by emitting infrared radiation, calculating the cost of running it comes down to just how much power it consumes, in watts. You may discover the wattage rating for your heater on a label located near the point where the power cord connects to the machine. If your unit doesn’t have a variable power selector, it likely consumes 1,500 watts, whether it’s a coil or infrared heater. Multiplying this number by the number of hours you use the machine in a day gives you a daily value for the number of kilowatt-hours of power it consumes.

Cost

Electric companies charge consumers from the kilowatt-hour, and rates vary from company to company and will depend on how much power you use and also the season. As an example, the Pacific Gas & Electric Company base speed is from $0.08 to $0.13 for base usage and from $0.27 to $0.34 for heavy usage. Multiply your applicable rate by the number of kilowatt-hours the heater consumes to find out how much it costs to function. As an example, for a customer who pays the base speed in winter, PG&E; charges approximately three dollars for the power to run a 1500-watt heater for 24 hours. That is approximately $90 for a month of continuous use.

Economical Heater Utilize

Running a heater continuously when no one is in the room wastes energy, and you’ll be able to prevent that by running the heater on a timer. The room will remain warm for a while after the heater automatically shuts off, and if you need it again, then you can always turn the heater back on. Utilize a plug-in timer in the event the heater doesn’t have among its own. You can lessen the amount of time you have to run the heater by closing the doors and windows. One of the benefits of electric heat is the fact that it produces no harmful fumes.

Warnings

Space heaters need to be kept well away from any litter, draperies and upholstered or covered furniture.

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How to Ripen a Quince

The quince tree (Cydonia oblonga) fruits are a hard and astringent with a fragrant odor and taste. Too hard to eat raw, quince fruit soften cooking, which makes delicious jellies and preserves. Quince fruits ripen in mid to late fall. This relative to the pear and apple is ideal to Mediterranean climates and is hardy at U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 9.

Leave the quince fruit to the tree till the exterior of the fruit turns from light green to yellow. Harvest it as it reaches this color.

Choose quince carefully, so you don’t bruise, damage or drop the fruit. Put it in a box for transfer. Damaged quinces deteriorate quickly and will not store well.

Put quinces on trays so the fruits aren’t touching each other and set the trays in a dark, cool place for six to eight weeks before use. Shop quinces away from apples.

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What Do Yellow Flowers on a Zucchini Plant Mean?

Zucchinis (Curcubita pepo) are botanically related to cucumbers, squash and melons. All plants require male pollen added to female flowers to be able to keep fruit. Some plants have flowers with both sexes, while some, like zucchinis, have separate male and female blossoms. The striking yellow colour of zucchini flowers attracts bees that take the pollen from male to female parts. Zucchinis are warm season vegetables which mature in 35 to 55 days. They can be grown in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 through 10 and in cooler regions with a sufficiently long growing season.

Female Zucchini Flowers

The female zucchini blossom has a brief stem and three components which are collectively called the pistil. If you look within a female blossom, you’ll see the carriage which receives the male pollen. The stigma sits atop the style connected to the ovary that resembles a mini zucchini. If you slice the fascia open with a knife, then you see its ovules which may develop into seeds. Since the ovary grows to your little zucchini on a fertilized female flower, the yellow blossom will stay in place for a while before dropping.

Male Zucchini Flowers

There are typically three male zucchini blossoms for each female flower. The male flowers are bigger than their female counterparts and also grow on more stems. The male blossom appears first. When you have a look within the male blossom, you’ll see the stamen that produces the yellow pollen. The stamen is composed of an anther, covered with the pollen, sitting atop a filament. When a browsing shallow bumps contrary to the anther, the pollen sticks to tiny hairs on its body. The bee transfers the pollen to your female stigma because it proceeds on its way.

Issues with Pollen

Zucchinis require a lot of bees to move the pollen from the male to female blossoms. If the female flowers don’t get sufficient pollen, they’ll grow zucchinis that are that shrivel, turn yellow and fall away. You can pollinate zucchinis by hand. Female zucchini flowers just remain open for a single day, and therefore you need to pollinate them early in the morning. You can dab a few pollen from the male anther using a paintbrush and carefully apply it to the female stigma or carefully remove the petals in the male flower and gently touch with the male anther to the female stigma.

Delicious Zucchini Blossoms

The squash isn’t the only edible part of a zucchini plant. You may also eat the male flowers or the female blossoms remaining about the ends of youthful zucchinis. Raw zucchini flowers are sweet and crisp and create a colorful addition to your salad. You can stuff them with cheese and then eat them raw or fried. You may just pile them onto a plate, drizzle them with olive oil and then sprinkle a little sea salt on top. Eating zucchini flowers is a treat for the home gardener. As they rapidly wilt and lose their appeal, you may sometimes find them at a roadside stand, but you won’t find them at a grocery store.

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The way to Measure for Purchasing Topsoil by Cubic Yard

Small gardens frequently require a relatively small sum of topsoil, thus a bag or two from a gardening center typically covers the need. For large spaces, buying bulk material is often the cheapest option. Since bulk topsoil is occasionally retailed by the Cape Town, you need to measure the particular area properly to get the total square footage. You will use that figure to calculate the volume, or complete cubic yardage of material to buy. 1 cubic yard can be expressed as 1 lawn cubed or 27 cubic feet. Should you ever doubted the value of high school geometry, now’s the time to give it a go.

Assess the length and width of any rectangular or square gardening place with a measuring tape. Multiply the length and width figures together to get the area’s total square footage. A place 20 feet long and 10 feet wide has a total of 200 square feet.

Split an L-shaped gardening place into two easy rectangles with a piece of string. Measure each corner and calculate its square footage. Add the separate calculations together for the total square footage of the gardening area.

Calculate a 90-degree, or correctly, triangle’s square footage by measuring its base and height. Multiply the height by the base. Divide that amount by 2 to determine the triangle’s total square footage.

Divide a scoop with a piece of string in case the shape is not a perfect triangle. Run the string in the contour’s highest point down to a point straight underneath on its base to bisect the area into two right triangles. Calculate the square footage of each right triangle separately. Add the two figures together for total square footage of the gardening area.

Measure a round garden in any spot on its outer edge, or margin, to the middle point of the circle to get the radius. Square this figure, or multiply it alone. Multiply that amount by 3.14, or pi, to receive the square footage of the circle.

Multiply the width of an oval area by its length. Multiply that product by .08 to find the oval’s square footage.

Multiply any garden’s total square footage by the amount of inches in thickness of topsoil you need — but remember to convert the inches to feet first. This provides you the place’s cubic footage, which you can utilize to discover cubic yardage. If your lawn measures 15 feet long and 5 feet wide and you would like 4 inches of topsoil, multiply the 3 numbers together with the thickness expressed as a decimal. In this instance, the decimal kind of 4 ins, converted to feet, is .333, therefore 15 times 5 times .333 provides you 24.975 cubic feet. Notice this by 27, which is the amount of cubic feet in 1 cubic yard. This offers you 0.925, or slightly less than 1 cubic yard of topsoil.

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