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.

See related

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.

See related

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.

See related

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.

See related

Roots of Style: Forms and Colonial Revivals Span Eras

Colonial revival architecture, in the context of the American house, first emerged in the previous two decades of the 1800s. It is considered among one of the very first diverse styles that proliferated through the first half of the 20th century. Its key origins are about the Georgian and Adam styles, which defined 18th-century home layout in the U.S.

Because this is an eclectic style, you will get a vast array of details and forms. The Dutch colonial, with its gambrel roof, is a favorite subtype. Most colonial revivals are symmetrical two-story homes, but you will also find asymmetrical and one-story colonials, in addition to a few with postmedieval influences.

Hansen Architects, P.C.

Another subtype of the style has a hipped roof and full-width porch on the main level, similar to this house. Compare it to the similar makeup of neoclassical designs, where the porch rises two floors. In addition, the hipped and based dormer, along with the centered triple upper-floor window, also helps to define this house as an eclectic colonial revival.

RWA Architects

At first glance you might consider this house Georgian, but have a closer look at the fenestration. Commonly on colonial revivals, the lower-level windows are grouped rather than spaced apart enjoy the upper-floor windows. The double-hung dividers have divided panes, or lighting, on the upper sash, but possess one pane of glass to the lower sash, a trait common to the revival but not used on authentic colonial houses.

Bearing in mind the eclectic nature of the resurrection, strange here would be the eave brackets, which can be reminiscent of the Italianate style. Also note the brick. Many ancient examples of the style needed wood siding, however, grand examples were full masonry construction. It was not till the early 1920s that the method of brick veneering developed, and it became the fashionable selection for many colonial revivals built later afterward, as illustrated here.

The architects have labeled this house for a foursquare, which describes its building type, rather than its style. Colonial resurrection foursquares are typical, as are Prairie-inspired foursquares. A foursquare is merely a strategy with two degrees, each two rooms wide and two rooms deep. The style is established in the particulars of windows, cornices, porches and entrances.

Jan Gleysteen Architects, Inc

This 1938 New England colonial revival confirms its classification with its date of construction. Since the popularity of this fashion persisted through the decades, tastes for much more densely correct designs resulted in many examples being almost indistinguishable to the Georgian and Adam houses that provided their inspiration. Set yourself back 80 decades and imagine comparing this house to one that has been 100 years old at that moment. The differences would be easy to see, because the more exact execution of machine-finished details on the newer house would be evident.

Notice the replicated Georgian entrance surround and its classically thorough entrance porch. Many variations and mixtures of these two elements alone help define the colonial revival style.

Morgante Wilson Architects

Notice the variety of window shapes and configurations in this side-gabled Chicago colonial resurrection. Dormers atop possess an arch; you will find just two sizes on the second degree; and tall, narrow French casements complete the motif on the main level. A small curved and classically detailed entrance porch shelters a modestly styled Georgian entrance surround.

The winged expansion to the left is another indication of colonial revival. Flat-roofed parts similar to this one can be enclosed or used as a porch, and were often added to original Georgian and Adam houses through the years.

Rock Spring Design Group LLC (David Verespy, ASLA)

A mixture of materials, windows and details makes for a unique composition here. Double-hung windows are characteristically grouped on the initial level but are capped with a wood lintel supporting the stone veneer. The balanced placement of oval windows and the classically comprehensive porch and entrance surround confirm its relation to Renaissance architecture, which affirmed the Georgian era. The mixture of colonial details and differently rustic appearance continue to be favored in neoeclectic variations of colonial revivals.

Dwellings

One-story versions tend to be called Cape Cods; they have origins in the first coastal New England settlements. Other variations of this form were reinterpreted in the Southeastern U.S., but were built mostly after ancient times. The setup, as in this instance, is still quite popular and appears in regional varieties around the nation. This contemporary house can be considered neoeclectic. Notice the wing to the left and the brick veneer quoins.

Steven Corley Randel, Architect

Although this 1941 California house is in need of some TLC, it marvelously demonstrates another subtype of their resurrection, known as the Garrison colonial. The inspiration goes all the way back to postmedieval New England houses. Several traits seen here are common to this type.

Postmedieval English houses often had a small overhang of the second degree, as does this house. Look carefully at the underside of the overhang and note the dangling pendants, another medieval trait and occasionally found in Garrisons. The overhang additionally provides a roof for its massive bay windows, which became remarkably popular in many styles through the 1950s.

As inside this altitude, Garrisons often had brick-veneer first levels and wood-clad second floors. This case goes somewhat farther with second-floor windows set into wall dormers with segmental arched contours and arched divided-light details.

Dennis Mayer – Photographer

Compare the previous house to this San Francisco–region Garrison interpretation. At right the second degree characteristically overhangs the very first. A similar prominent bay window comes forward under its gable. It is very likely that the wing to the left is a good addition to the original residence.

Dennison and Dampier Interior Design

A subtype using a casting centre gable is not as common. Notice the single-level porch here. Had the columns climbed to the second degree, this would closely follow Greek revival design. Pilasters at the corners and a Palladian window at the pediment supply more colonial revival individuality. This house also offers a flat-roof wing at left and 16- over 16-pane double-hung windows.

Wright Building Company

The colonial revival houses still being built are probably best defined as neoeclectic. The mix of rustic stone and classical details has become quite popular, as can be seen in the subsequent few examples.

While the centre body of this house follows the conventional configuration a wing at left and the protruding garage wing right bring this case securely into the 21st century. Classical proportions and particulars combine with a compound plan, setting a handsome and joyful appearance.

Peter Zimmerman Architects

Much more asymmetrical than the previous case, this house is extended at a similar compound formation. Several different secondary elements, like the dormers and chimneys, dance from 1 end to the other. Stone covers both centre kinds, helping to anchor its place and supplying contrast to the clapboard wings.

E. B. Mahoney Builders, Inc..

Note the subtle asymmetry with this house. As far back as the Queen Anne style, the classical detailing of the colonial revival would be implemented to less-formal front views.

The colonial revival has its deepest roots in Renaissance classical design. However, true to the eclectic designation, it borrows bridges and from other popular styles.

The colonial revival became overshadowed in the first two decades of the 20th century by Craftsman and Prairie styles, ancient forms of contemporary architecture. Nevertheless it trumped those two styles in the decades after World War I, as did American Tudor, Spanish and French eclectic, chateauesque and lots of different styles.

From the 1960s another wave of contemporary architecture, this time midcentury, suppressed the colonial resurrection as an influential and dominating taste across the United States. Nevertheless, the conventional type of the colonial revival is very likely to persist indefinitely, partly because it has so much historical importance and is such a classic and popular appearance.

See related