blueshoes
Senior Member
Posts: 609
Likes: 700
Location: Regional Dan-istan
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Post by blueshoes on Aug 30, 2020 16:23:25 GMT 10
One more reason to be good with heirloom varieties, and not wait until you're desperate to try out growing seeds...
Spoiler: this isn't about heavy metals or soil contaminants, it's about plant/seed lines which produce veggies with high levels of "cucurbitacins" (i'd never heard of them)
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Beno
Senior Member
Posts: 1,310 
Likes: 1,433
Location: Northern Rivers
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Post by Beno on Aug 30, 2020 18:41:08 GMT 10
We keep hearing how bad it is to grow and eat our own or hunt (worms or diseases) and fish (mercury or parisites). Last month it was home eggs was making people sick. Home butchery is a bit of a no no, unpasteurised milk is doom blah blah blah. instead it is best to eat repeatedly sprayed, increasingly genetically modified, packed into sheds or feedlots, reduced genetically diverse and tasteless shit from woollies or coles.
I agree blueshoes, stock up on heirlooms you can’t go wrong.
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Post by spinifex on Aug 31, 2020 7:14:54 GMT 10
When it comes to growing vegies it is worth bearing in minds to do as much as possible to prevent them being attacked by insects and fungal pathogens. These are the things that trigger plants to produce higher levels of defensive chemicals that can have effects on human health and the taste of the end product.
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shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
Likes: 3,578
Email: shiny@ausprep.org
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Post by shinester on Aug 31, 2020 8:49:41 GMT 10
When it comes to growing vegies it is worth bearing in minds to do as much as possible to prevent them being attacked by insects and fungal pathogens. These are the things that trigger plants to produce higher levels of defensive chemicals that can have effects on human health and the taste of the end product. Have you got Austere suggestions for this? |
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Post by spinifex on Sept 1, 2020 7:58:09 GMT 10
Management for fungal diseases is based on variety selection and canopy management. The later being plant spacings, row alignment, strong wind protection, humidity control, covering soil to avoid soil splash, crop residue management to avoid carry-over of high spore loads etc.
Variety selection is two pronged. Selecting varieties with resistance to the fungal pathogens likely to be problematic in the location where you are and balancing that against varieties that most suit the growing conditions of the location.
Insect (and bird damage) control in austere settings involves good soil and plant waste management, oil traps, hide traps, encouraging predator insects and birds, physical protection with netting and sprays made from natural insecticides such as nicotine rich native species.
Having a 20kg bag of wettable sulfur on hand is a very wise idea for the prepatational inclined gardener. It's immensely versatile and keeps for eternity. Same for copper sulfate.
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kelabar
Senior Member
Posts: 399
Likes: 469
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Post by kelabar on Sept 1, 2020 10:38:20 GMT 10
Looking after your plants makes a big difference too. A plant that is well fertilised and well watered will grow quickly and be healthy. It has more energy available to fight diseases.
An example is tomatoes. I have had wet years when the older leaves have been killed off by fungus but because the plants were putting out new leaves continuously they still produced. But sometimes the plants will die regardless of whatever you do. There are no guarantees.
Also root crops like turnips and parsnips become bitter and tough if not grown quickly.
It isn't always possible but the more care you give your plants the better the results will be.
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Post by SA Hunter on Sept 1, 2020 16:38:18 GMT 10
Lucky I don't like zucchini.
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