Q: Last summer I planted seven kinds of tomatoes and all but 'Green Grape' were tasteless or bitter, even though they ripened on the vine.
Would weather, lack of water or something else cause this problem? I had lots of trouble with my drip system and the tomatoes were not watered regularly. I was so disappointed!
A: No doubt, but now you know one of the main reasons tomatoes are grown commercially in places such as Sacramento and not South San Francisco.
Tomatoes need sun and heat to produce properly, so if you live in the land of bummer summers, even if you plant them in full sun -- no heat, no flavor. Some heat, some flavor.
And the larger the tomato fruit the more heat it needs to ripen, so forget about 'Beefsteak' types unless you move to Modesto.
Or use the time and effort you previously expended cultivating those tasteless orbs (which are readily available in any supermarket) to escape the city and experience farmer's markets and roadside produce stands.
As Dr. Hort's sainted Italian grandmother always said, "One door closes and another one opens."
Q: I am curious about your experience/advice about starting seeds in egg cartons. I started some basil that way last year and it turned out fine.
Egg cartons seem easy because they are free and the right size for seedlings. Is there any chemical in the cardboard I ought to worry about?
ADr. Hort last planted lima beans in egg cartons in prehistoric times when he was a kindergartner. It was fun and a great success, although he still loathes lima beans.
By all means use those egg cartons to start your seeds. If you're concerned about toxins in the cardboard, just use cartons from organic egg producers.
Q: I was recently given five very different orchid plants, none of them blooming or labeled. I've managed to identify two of the plants, but all of the orchid care books I've found have pictures of just the blooms.
Since none of my plants are flowering, and are not likely to do so unless I figure out how to keep them alive, can you recommend an orchid care book (for the beginner) that contains lots of pictures of entire plants so I can identify mine?
A'Fraid not. There are 796 genera of orchids, 17,500 species of orchids, and hundreds of thousands of orchid hybrids, with hundreds more created every year.
For these reasons alone, even multivolume reference books of Orchidaceae only contain photographs of a tiny fraction of the entire family. Instead, trot those plants to the next meeting of your local orchid society, an orchid show or the orchid person at the nearest botanic garden to identify the genus of your orchids. You will then know how to care for them.
When your orchids bloom, return to your resource person to try and pinpoint the particular species or hybrid.
Or just rename them yourself -- yours is not a commercial venture, so who cares? Blooming plants of 'Screaming Mimi,' 'Bum Trip' or 'Bride of Bigfoot' on your coffee table are bound to cause comment.