A jack-o’-lantern and Indian corn from the garden make popular displays for Halloween. (Photo by Mark Claesgens) For Release On Or After 10/31/14
By Dan Gill
LSU AgCenter Horticulturist
The ghouls and goblins will be out tonight, and the candles in the jack-o'-lanterns will be burning brightly. The Halloween season has put me in mind to look at scary traditions and relate them to some common gardening ideas and misconceptions. So, here goes Halloween in the garden.
Drive a stake through its heart
An old recommendation was to drive nails into the trunk of a tree to provide iron. Another variation was to push nails into the soil around the base of a plant. Plants absorb iron as simple ions, and the iron in nails is not available to them. Iron deficiencies in plants generally don't occur because there is not enough iron in the soil but because the soil is too alkaline. That ties up the iron that is present, making it unavailable to the plant.
Acidifying the soil, not pushing nails into the ground, is the solution to this problem. And driving nails into the trunks of trees can lead to infection and decay.
Beware the full moon
Some gardeners still subscribe to the idea that the phase of the moon has a profound influence on the way plants grow, so to have success you have to plant seeds and plants based on the phase of the moon. Just pick up any farmer's almanac, and you’ll see the tables and charts to help with this.
This idea has been around for a long time, but research does not substantiate it. We all eat very well thanks to our abundant food supply, and the farmers who grow all that food do not plant by the phase of the moon or a sign of the zodiac. They plant according to weather conditions and the season. And you should, too.
The moon has an undeniable effect on the tides and living organisms, but planting in the wrong phase of the moon will not prevent a plant from growing and producing a crop. Focus more on providing the proper light, soil, water, fertilizer and pest management.
Expose it to the rays of the sun and it will burn up
How many vampire movies end this way? A curtain is ripped from a window, allowing the rays of the rising sun to strike the vampire and burn it up.
There is a common belief that watering plants when the sun is shining on them will burn them. I'm not sure how this one got started, but it certainly isn't true. Although it's best to water in the morning, you can water and wet the foliage of plants any time during the day without harming them.
Use garlic to keep yourself safe from evil
Gardeners often read that planting garlic in a garden will ward off evil insect pests. Unfortunately, garlic does not prevent insect damage to other plants when you plant it in your garden.
One use that may have some effect is to make a solution of garlic and spray it onto plants for protection. The smell of the garlic on the plant may confuse an insect that is trying to find the plant it likes to eat by its unique smell or taste. But you have to make applications repeatedly and frequently for continued protection.
Man-eating plants are lurking in the jungles
Well, there are carnivorous plants, but don't get carried away. Insectivorous would be a better word. Most of these plants are after insects, not you. Some larger carnivorous plants may catch very small animals, but mostly it’s bugs. Hey, any plant that eats bugs is okay with me. But don't worry about getting eaten by a plant the next time you're hacking your way through a rainforest.
I want to drink your blood
Along this same line, there aren't any plants that will drink your blood. Blood does, however, provide an excellent fertilizer for plants. Blood meal, a popular organic fertilizer rich in nitrogen, is made from dried blood. It's a byproduct of the meat industry. Actually, it might be fun to lure a friend out into the garden one Halloween night and mention casually, as the moon passes behind a cloud, that you like to feed your plants blood.
The dreaded mind transfer machine
Picture the laboratory of a mad scientist. On two tables lie two bodies connected to each other by a tangle of wires. A switch is thrown, and amid a shower of sparks the characteristics of one are transferred to the other.
There is actually a gardening misconception that is similar. Basically, the idea is that if you plant a plant with one color flower near a plant with flowers of a different color, that the color of one can be changed by the proximity of the other.
Planting plants with different colored flowers next to each other will not cause the flower color to change. Neither will planting a hot pepper plant next to a sweet pepper plant cause the sweet pepper plant to produce hot peppers.
So, to wrap things up like a mummy, let me say that a lot of gardening information out there ranges from questionable to just plain wrong. Generally, if something sounds odd to you, check it out with a reputable horticulturist or knowledgeable gardening friend first. Otherwise, you might get more trick than treat.
Rick Bogren