Nematodes on Plants: Friend or Foe?

 PLANT DOCTOR

Nematodes part 1: the backstory

Did you know that there are 1,000,000 species of nematodes that have been identified? 

Galling from root knot nematode on tomato plant

Nematodes live in our environment and although microscopic, unsurprisingly, are related to earthworms 

• The majority of nematodes aren't plant or crop destructors.

However, the few that attack the cell walls of plants can cause serious damage from which the plant/crop usually doesn't recover.

• Then there's the problem of identifying what's going on with plants that are affected by nematodes.
• Have you ever had plants that seem to wilt despite you watering them religiously? 

What they look like

Nematodes are a round worm but because they are unable to be seen by the naked eye, I would describe them as thread like with a large head and mouth.

Arm yourself with a hand held magnifying glass and have a look at the roots of plants that you suspect have been attacked by nematodes. You should be able to see them then.

Coffee tree nematode

 
If nematodes are on your plants the symptoms range from perhaps they’re just stunted and don’t seem to grow much, r like the coffee tree pictured, continually looks like it's wilting despite the watering it receives. Another symptom is yellowing of foliage.

Once the plant has been dug up, nodules on roots will be evident. However, other factors create nodules on roots as in nitrogen fixing plants such as plants in the Fabaceae family.

What could be the problem? Wilting symptoms can be attributed to a range of other factors.

So let’s find out by listening to the podcast


Your host  of Real World Gardener, Marianne is talking with Steve McGrane, agriculturist and horticulturist.

Part 2 is when  we tackle the many, many ways you have to control the bad nematode, namely root knot nematodes.

If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Nematodes pt 2

Root Knot Nematodes:Control

So if you have correctly identified that your plants are affected by root knot nematodes, what can be done about it? Remember, they look different to nitrogen fixing nodules on roots of plants.

tomato nematode

Controlling nematodes

1.Cultural Control by

• rotating your plants-nematodes only survive 1 year in the soil.

2.Growing plants that help reduce nematode numbers

• Asparagus, peanut plants, Corn, Garlic, marigolds.

3.Biofumigants such as green manure crops, especially

•     Mustard plants release isothyocyanates.

4. Neem Oil drench

5. BeneficialNematodes

• EcoGrow supply beneficial nematodes.  

6. Chytosan found in the shells of insects or animals like prawns.

•  Steve recommends crushing some prawn shells into your compost: will also control other fungal problems.

Listen to the podcast to find out more.

Your host  of Real World Gardener, Marianne is talking with Steve McGrane, agriculturist and horticulturist.

If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Success with Germinating Native Seeds

 PLANT DOCTOR    

Germinating Native Seed

Australian plants have evolved over thousands of years to respond to a variety of climatic extremes, from fires, to droughts to floods as well as being grazed by native animals.

Wattle seeds need boiling water treatment

Such a long, long time  for plants to evolve as well as being isolated from the rest of the world has meant that a high diversity of flora abounds, so that it would be unusual to think that everything grows the same way.

Australian plants have developed various  adaptations so that the seeds of which can grow in the most suitable environment for that species of plant to survive. 

A suitable environment often means seeds don't germinate until a bushfire removes competing plants giving the seeds more access to sunlight and nutrients.

Then they only have a short window to germinate. 

The hard seed coat is therefore a protective layer that allows the seed to stay dormant for great lengths of time, even years before germination.

So how do plants keep germinating and what tricks have native seeds to keep them alive until conditions are right?

There are specific requirements for some seeds and in fact a wide range of native seeds require you, the gardener to break their dormancy before they germinate. Some are more difficult than others.

So what are some of the treatments to break native seed dormancy?

Boiling water or hot water treatment is recommended for hard-coated seeds such as Acacia (wattle)and Hardenbergia  species .

This involves boiling some water and waiting for a minute so it's just off the boil,  then soaking the seeds for a few to eight hours. The time varies depending on the seed.

Smoke chemical treatment or smoke treatment to break the dormancy of native seeds.

Wildflower seed starter granules or similar, are vermiculite or another bio material that contains the smoke chemicals from the burning of bush materials.

The way you use it is to sprinkle some on top of the potting mix after sowing the seeds, and on the first watering, the smoke chemicals are released over the seeds.

You can also put some of these seed starter granules in the soaking water of the seeds in the hot water treatment method.

• 

  Flannel flowers

  Not all seeds need smoke chemical treatment, but there's a few that benefit from using it, in fact are difficult to germinate without it. 
• Sturt Desert peas comes to mind, also Dianella, Philotheca, Xanthorrhoea, Actinotus, Callistemon and Banksia.

As a general rule, sowing and smoking should be done when you would expect the seeds to germinate in nature.

Both these methods basically speeds up what often takes months or even years in nature to get seeds to germinate.

TIP: Be aware of the germination temperature that seeds need to germinate.

But what other tricks are there?

Steve talks about germinating Davidson plum seeds using the hot water treatment in the podcast.  

So let’s find out more.

PLAY: Germinating native seeds pt 2_20th May 2022

I'm talking with Steve McGrane, horticulturist and agriculturist.

I hope that’s given you some idea about perhaps why some of the native seeds are more difficult to germinate than regular seeds.

In fact not everything germinates the same way, and here lies the problem.

That’s why a bit of research into the seed type you’re trying to germinate goes a long way.

If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Pruning Native Plants with Success

PLANT DOCTOR

Pruning Native Plants

For some reason, many gardeners have been reluctant to prune their native plants, thinking that if they did, those plants might never recover or worse, just drop dead.

Then there’s the gardener that’s reluctant to prune something that they’ve just planted because after all, they paid good money for that plant, so why should I cut off the top third as soon as I plant it? 
Seems counter intuitive doesn’t it?

If we look back at when native gardens first started to be in vogue in the 70's, this might have been true of many of the cultivars that were grown back then.

Plus, there was the theory that native gardens should be somewhat wild and untamed, much like they are in the bush. 

Grevillea 'Lollipops' photo M Cannon

All this did was result in a messy looking 'wild' garden which fell out of favour rather quickly, although not quick enough for some.

Grevillea 'Superb' photo M Cannon

Fast forward to the 21st century, and by now, many native plants have been selectively bred or hybridised to produce much healthier, stronger native plants that not only can be pruned but should be pruned to look their best.

So how should we prune our native plants?

Steve and I are not saying that you need to clip everything into a ball to make it look like a formal garden.

Not at all, but you do need to clip plants to reign them in so you have some control over their growth.

General rule: Prune after flowering

A good tip for plants that have a specific flower time such as Golden Penda.

Plants that flower for most of the year like Grevillea 'Robyn Gordon' or 'Grevillea Ned Kelly,' or Peaches and Cream.  

In these cases, leave the flowers during the winter months when food is scarce for nectar feeders such as birds and possums. Prune off one-third of growth at the end of winter.

Steve's tip: As soon as you get your plant home, give it a light prune or even a tip prune depending on the size of the plants. Do this often, every 6 or so weeks to make the plant more bush.

Marianne's tip: Some plants respond to constant tip pruning and become more like a shrub than a tree with a straight bole of around 2 metres, for example, Ivory Curl tree or Buckinghamia celsissima.

It might seem risky, but if you only prune lightly, then you’ll be rewarded with a much better looking plant.

Some native plants respond to being pruned close to the ground such as Callistemon (although not too often), Melaleuca 'Claret Tops,' and Breynia cernua.

Look for varieties that suit hedging.

To find out more, listen to the podcast.
PLAY: Native pruning_22nd April 2022

I'm talking with Steve McGrane, Horticulturist and agriculturist.

If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Stone Fruit and Brown Rot Solutions

 PLANT DOCTOR

Brown Rot of Stone fruit

There’s plenty of cultivars of stone fruit trees that can fit into any size garden.

Trixie and Pixie dwarf nectarine and peach trees have been around for years.

“There’s even a nectarine tree classed as Super Dwarf called ‘ Peach Sunset” that is grafted onto super dwarfing rootstock to produce a more compact tree growing to around 1.5 m tall.
This Nectarine is self fertile so only one tree is needed.

• But before we get too carried away, what are the cons for growing stone fruit?

1. Is deciduous a con? Possibly, because stone fruit tree are deciduous so if you don't like the bare look in winter, stone fruit trees are not for you.
2. Do you need two trees for fruit set? Not always so do your homework.
3. Preventative spraying for peach leaf curl and  brown root of stone fruit may be needed.

Perhaps I'm preaching to the converted and you already grow stone fruit.

Also perhaps, like me, you've never had a delectable harvest stolen from under your nose due to a fungal disease.

Imagine this, ripe luscious fruit that you pick and place in your fruit bowl. A day later, the same fruit has inexplicably in part turned a mushy brown, soon to be consumed completely by the fungus.

Or you have bunches of fruit on your tree and some of the start dropping off or look like in the image, with a brown sunken fungal growth.

• The bad news is, it's too late to do something about it now.

If you don’t want a repeat of those nasty surprise in your stone fruit, you have to be pro-active with preventative spraying in winter when the tree is leafless and dormant.

Spraying with sulphur at that time is a good go to all round spray.

You may even have to open the centre of established trees a bit more than usual to increase air flow.

Still, the fruit I ate off my trees this year were super delicious and well worth growing your own stone fruit trees.

For more tips listen to the podcast.

I'm talking with Steve Falcioni of www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au   
Let’s find out

If you have any questions you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Slime Mould in the Garden: Friend or Foe?

 PLANT DOCTOR

Slime Mould: What Is It? 

Part 1

What do the words slime mould conjure up in your imagination?
Is it that black stuff growing in the grout and on the tiles in your bathroom?
Or is it that green stuff on your paths on the south side of the house?
You may be surprised to find that it’s neither one of those so where is it lurking?
There are a lot of other moulds that live in the garden some of which are very useful.

Wolf Milk Slime mould

Slime moulds are in the kingdom:Protista.

Did you know that slime moulds have a life cycle, and when you are able to observe them, is only part of their lifecycle?

They're usually brightly coloured -reds, vivid greens, yellow and purple. 

They can grow on grass, logs and pretty much anywhere where the environment is conducive.

Slime moulds are not very well known in Australia, but Tasmania has around 100 species of slime moulds one of which is called 'dog vomit.' 

Slime moulds are highly useful in that they break down materials, 80% of which is made available to plants.

Let’s find out more by listening to the podcast.

I'm talking with Steve McGrane, horticulturist and agriculturist.

Slime Moulds part 2

The podcast continues with the topic of slime mould but particularly, about the slime mould called phytophthora. 

Did you prick up your ears?
Yep, that’s the root rot known as phytophthora which gardeners dread.

Gardeners are often told that phytophthera, in particular Phytophthera cinnamomi,  is a fungi but it's actually a water mould. You may have even heard it called 'root rot.'

• Phytophora is a particular slime mould that belongs to a group or Phyllum called Oomycota 
• This group are moulds that can only move in water columns.
  

Phytophthora cinnamomi lives in the soil and in plant tissues, 

During drought or prolonged dry periods , the organisms become dormant chlamydospores which is just a resting spore of Ascomycota. 

When environmental conditions are suitable, the chlamydospores germinate, producing mycelia (or hyphae) and sporangia. 

The sporangia ripen and release zoospores, which infect plant roots by entering the root behind the root tip. 

This organism is very resistant to most chemicals that gardeners can throw at it and doesn't die with soil disturbance..

Dieback of branches of whole shrubs or trees is often seen in the Australian bush.

Should you ever see branch dieback in your trees or shrubs or stem dieback in your tomatoes, it just may be due to a problem called root rot that is actually a slime mould. 

The best way Botanic gardens have dealt with it is by fencing off affected beds within the gardens so horticulturists and the public don't transfer the spores around the the gardens or indeed, back home to their own gardens.

Drainage was also improved in garden beds so that the organism wasn't able to stay 'live' or active.

Compost is then added to soil to improve the soil so the microorganisms can combat this slime mould.

Let’s find out more by listening to the podcast.

I'm talking with Steve McGrane, horticulturist and agriculturist.

PLAY: Slime mould pt2_10th November 2021


So know you know the facts and myths about Phytophthora and how to deal with it in your garden.

If you have any questions about slime mould or some feedback why not email us realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644

Fungus Gnats Begone

PLANT DOCTOR

FUNGUS GNATS

These tiny flying things can swarm around your indoor plants but other than annoyance, are they killing your plants?

Those tiny little flies that hang around your fruit bowl or indoor plants aren’t always that same thing. 
Sometimes they’re confused with fruit flies, or even ordinary house flies, but none of those two are correct. Inevitably they’re up to no good but how to tell them apart?

• There are fungus gnats and fermentation flies.
• they are attracted to different things.
• Fermentation or vinegar flies tend to hang around the fruit bowl, especially if you've got overripe fruit because vinegar flies are attracted to sugars.
• Fungus gnats are smaller, flitting around erratically: the adults of which are attracted to moisture.
• the adults are doing much if anything to your plants other than laying lots of eggs, although there is evidence that they can transmit plant diseases.
• The larvae can be the problem because the feed on the roots of your plants.

Fungus gnats -magnified heaps.

• Remember: Vinegar or fermentation flies are attracted to sugary treats, such as over-ripe fruits, whereas fungus gnats are attracted to moisture such as overly wet potting medium.
• Greenhouses can also have an outbreak of fungus gnats.

Where do they come from?

Came with the plants you bought or from potting mix.

How to stop them?

• Keep your soil medium a bit on the dry side.
• Drench the potting mix with neem oil which will control the juvenile stages.
• Make a sticky trap using vaseline to trap the adults.
• Use a type of mulch the prevents the adult fungus gnats burrowing into the soil to lay the eggs.
• Worst case, repot with fresh potting mix.
• Greenhouse control can be with predatory insects.

Let’s find out more by listening to the podcast.

I'm talking with Steve Falcioni from www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au

If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Plant Nutrition Unpacked: Plant Nutrients and Deficiencies

 PLANT NUTRITION UNPACKED

Major Nutrients

Have you ever asked yourself "how do plants take up nutrients when you spread fertiliser around them on the ground or dilute it into liquid ?"

It's something that we gardeners do quite a lot of,  spreading fertiliser around that is, and probably don't give it a second thought until plants don't respond to all this nutrient load.

• What went wrong? 

Firstly, the nutrients that you spread around are not directly taken up by the plants.

Nutrients have to be what's called 'made available' to the plants and to do this, the soil biota or the microorganisms have to do some work.

Water, soil and microbes are the three things that the plants need before plants can take these nutrients.

• So What Are These Nutrients?

Macro Nutrients:   these are the highest rated nutrients that plants can’t do without.

• Nitrogen:Phosphorus:Potassium or NPK: 

  

  A selection of fertilisers

• Kylie's main mantra is NPK refers to shoots:roots;fruit

The N component relates as Nitrogen, giving your plant nice healthy green leaves.

The P component: encourages healthy root systems.

The K or potassium component helps the fruits and flowers

Sure we can add compost, aged manures and liquid seaweed, but unless you’re sure of what’s in them nutrient wise, you may be under fertilising your plants.

Without the major nutrients, your plants may not grow and develop roots, stems leaves and flowers properly.

If you know what and how much to give your plants, the plants will be healthier and more productive.

Just remember to read the NPK amounts on the bag or packet of fertiliser.
Let’s find out more about what plants really need.
I'm talking with Kylie Last, horticulturist and TAFE teacher.


If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

PLANT DEFICIENCIES:

Imagine this scenario, you’ve fertilised your garden with all the right stuff, having followed the manufacturer’s instructions to a ‘t.’

But still the plants look sickly, or perhaps a bit yellow, or they’re just not putting on any growth.
Does that sound familiar?

• So what’s the problem?

The first thing you need to do is a pH test on your soil-there's no escaping it.

Why?

The soil pH will determine the availability pf different nutrients to your plants.

Let's look at an example

Looking at the chart on the right, it's immediately apparent that if your pH is higher than say pH7.5, then nutrients like iron start to taper off in their availability to the plant.

Then means your plant may start to show symptoms of iron deficiency.

In fact, after pH 7.5, other nutrients taper off in their availability, such as manganese, boron, and more importantly, one of the macro nutrients being potassium.

Basic pH test kit

 

• 
  Ideally the ideal pH range that gardeners should strive for is pH 6 - 7.5
• This is the range that the major nutrients of NPK are available to the plant the most.
• Some plants such as rhododenrons and azaleas like a like a low of pH6.

A pH testing kit is essential in any gardener’s shed. Consider testing your soil in different parts of the garden.

A good tip when taking soil samples from your soil is to get a sample from just below the surface for an accurate reading.

 

First signs of Nutrient Deficiencies: 

Nitrogen: new leaves are pale green and older leaves are yellow and start to dry up.

Phosphorus: purpling of the leaves, particularly along the lower leaves. New leaves are a bit stunted and deformed in severe cases.  A bit more rare.

Potassium: poor overall health; older leaves turn yellow then crisp up and die off. Often mistaken for dehydration.

Let’s find out more about  pH testing and plant deficiencies 
I'm talking with Kylie Last, horticulturist and TAFE teacher.

If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Pruning Figs: It's Not Too Late

 PLANT DOCTOR

Pruning Figs: 

Ficus carica is the edible fig that hails from the Mediterranean.

Fig trees aren’t quite as ubiquitous as citrus trees are in the produce garden but they are still a firm favourite.

What's not to like?

They are delicious to eat fresh and or dried, plus nothing beats home grown figs. 

There are a few different types: 

• 'Black Genoa' is typically a large growing fig tree and not suitable for small back yards. This is a fast growing heavy cropping tree that produces large sweet purple skinned fruit. Good for inlan Australia but not so good on the far north coast.

• White genoa-great for drying about half the size of black genoa: also grows well in cooler areas.
• Brown Turkey  good for eating fresh, is a very hardy tree that does well in inland areas.
• White Adriatic-a green skinned medium to large fruit.
• Dwarf Brown Slow growing and compact this small tree can be kept at about 1 - 1.5 m in height. Great for small spaces and pots and smaller backyards

There’s a only few things you need to know when attending to those trees and believe it or not, winter time is one of those times.

In fact, winter time is the time you need to go out and take a look at your fig tree, assessing it for what to prune and what to leave

• When you first get your fig tree, prune the tree by half; cut it back to 3 or 4 branches.
• Prunings can be used to propagate more trees as the cuttings take root very easily.

TIP: figs like to grow in shallow soil which has been enriched with limestone. 

• pH 8 is an ideal for figs, and you can do this by adding crusher dust to the soil. 
• What is crusher dust?
• Crusher dust is a blend of small crushed blue metal rocks and finer dust.
• Either add it to your pot or to the soil.
• Incidentally, crusher dust is a great medium for striking 'slow to take' cuttings.

Getting Down To Pruning

Steve’s tip is to prune new fig trees by half when you get them, but for older trees, prune one-third to one-half each year. 

• We are looking for the new growth to supply the current season's fruit.  
• Prune out any limbs that are less than 45 degrees to the trunk. Keep branches that are more or less at right angles to the main trunk.
• Remove any branches or laterals that are less than half a metre from the ground.
• If you need to, you can now bring it into shape but otherwise you have done your main pruning.

So let’s find out what more needs doing.
That was Steve McGrane, agriculturist and horticulturist.

If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Dahlias and Snails

 PLANT DOCTOR

What's Wrong With My Dahlias?

Dahlias are collectible in that once you start growing them, it's hard to not to want more every time you look at a plant catalogue.

If you want more proof, then look no further than the dahlia societies www.dahliasaustralia.org.au which exist in four states, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

But dahlias need some looking after if you want perfect show quality blooms.

One horror is holes in leaves of your precious plants.

What could cause that?

One culprit could be caterpillars or grasshoppers.

Another is one of the worst marauders appear in just about every garden,  and every gardener wants them to be gone.

• Snails is what I’m talking about, those slimy leaf munching pests that multiply rapidly and even climb shrubs and trees.

• Did you know that inside a snail's mouth there is a file-like 'radula' that scrapes the leaves and flowers.
• Snails are also hermaphrodite, meaning that after mating, each of them can go off and lay eggs, up to 100!

Snail Patrol or Control:

So, what do you do to try and reduce their numbers?

The big tip is to be vigilant and control their numbers before they outnumber your plants.

Copper sprays are good to control those small snails that have climbed up into the foliage.

Coffee sprays are also known to control snails.

General prevention or control-bit of a mixed bag as to their effectiveness.

1. Classic beer trap
2. Diatomaceous earth
3. Ring of ash.
4. Crushed eggshells

• Thin copper tape is better to control snails climbing up into pots or into trees.

One thing we forgot to mention is that natural predators like ducks or blue tongue lizards are a great help.

You may not want ducks, but you can think about creating a blue tongue lizard friendly garden.
That’s in another segment.
Listen to the podcast.
I'm talking with Steve Falcioni of www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au





If you want more information about snails or have some feedback why not email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Ants on Plants and Top Ten Unusual Veggies to Grow

 PLANT DOCTOR

Ants on Plants

Ants in the house are a problem because they turn up in your pantry, in your cat and dog food that you’ve put out, or just hang around the kitchen bench.
Sometimes they’re in places like the bathroom, leaving you wondering what on earth are they doing there?
Ants in the garden are another matter, however, it's pretty common to see ants running up and down on your plants, and one or two shouldn't be a cause for concern.

It's when the ants are present on your tree or shrub in large numbers that you should start to worry because they can signal other pest problems occurring on your tree, shrub or even seedlings.

Why Are Ants On Your plants in the First Place?

• Whitefly, aphids, mites are all sap suckers.
• It’s not just the presence of scale pests that ants are attracted to. These are all sap suckers and produce honey dew which ants like to farm. 
• Juvenile scale which is the crawler stage, are very small and you may not notice them, although the ants will know that they are there.

Ants farming aphids

• Sometimes it’s just the sweet nectar of the flowers that bring in the ants.
• Ants can live in your containerised plants if the potting mix has become very dry or hydrophobic. The dry soil becomes a perfect medium for the ants to build a home in.
• Watch to see what the ants are doing-going to the flowers only or running all over the plants.

Solution:

Horticultural or Neem oils can be sprayed to smother the aphids and controlling mealybug. Spring is the best time to control spray for scale, but you can still spray in summer. 

I'm talking with Steve Falcioni from www.ecoorganicgtarden.com.au

PLAY: ANTS ON PLANTS_24TH March 2021

If you have any questions about ants on plants, drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

VEGETABLE HEROES

TOP 10 UNUSUAL VEGGIES TO GROW

More people are getting into growing produce and possibly are overlooking the more unusual vegetables.
Perhaps they’ve never heard of them, or they are wondering how to grow them or been even a little afraid.

Winter Radishes
Because we’re leading up to the cooler months, I’ll start with winter radishes, yes there’s more than one.
The one often used in Asian cooking is  Daikon.  Then there’s black Spanish radish and watermelon radish.

Daikon radish

Daikon is a Japanese variety that has long white cylindrical roots.
Daikon grows quite large so give it a bit of space.
This one’s good for pickling.
Black Spanish radish comes in two varieties, a long and a round.
The long grows to 25cm and is cylindrical, while the round is a turnip shaped.

Black Spanish radish

Both have very dark almost black skin and white inner flesh.
Sow it in late summer and autumn.
Watermelon radish have round white skins and a deep pink inner flesh. They are usually best around 8cm in length.
Jicama is a turnip shaped root vegetable that tastes sweet and crisp and can be eaten raw or cooked.
It stays crisps when looked, similar to water chestnuts in texture.
The flavour has been described as resembling snow peas but slightly sweeter.
It’s actually the root of a vine Pachyrhizus erosus.
Benefits are lots of vitamin C and fibre.
Easy to germinate from seed, although soaking overnight will speed the process up.
It can be sown all year in tropical areas but best in spring in temperate and sub-tropical regions.
Rich in vitamin C.

Apple eggplant is actually Thai eggplant.

Thai eggplant

It’s quite a small rounded dark green looking eggplant like you’ve never seen before.
Best sown in spring in all areas.
Interestingly you can eat it raw in relish or in a stir-fry, which I think, most chefs would grow it for.
Unlike other eggplants, these little gems don’t need soaking to remove any bitterness.

Ethiopian cabbages cope better with variations of temperature and moisture. Looking a bit different from your regular cabbage, because instead of around ball, their leaves are open.
Their appearance explains why it’s also called Ethiopian kale.
Growing to a height of 1.5m and 1m width. they still produce tender leaves that have a buttery and mustardy taste if you can imagine that.
Best yet, is the white cabbage moth steers clear of them.
Available from www.australianseed.com

• Taro root for carb lovers not avoiders.

Makes a great substitute for regular spuds and even sweet potatoes.
Another tropical or subtropical plant, but why not try growing it wherever you are perhaps in a large pot as it grows to 1-2 metres tall.?
Plant it any time of the year in frost-free areas, and in spring in cold areas. Best growth occurs at 25-35°C.
Each plant grows one large tuber with smaller hangers onners.
The leaves are attractive, similar to Alocasia or elephant ear plant.
Taro has a sweeter taste than other carbs, and is loaded with fibre.
Jerusalem artichokes, are in the sunflower family with tubers that look a bit like ginger roots.
Tastes slightly nutty when cooked.

Jerusalem artichoke tubers

These are high in iron
Plant the tubers in spring by cutting them into 2 or 3 sections, each one with an 'eye' then cover with 10cm of soil.
Full sun is best.
Celeriac some of you might know because it occasionally gets a mention in the veg heroes section.
With a name like celeriac, you’d have guessed it was related to celery but also parsley.
Unlike celery or parsley, you eat the bottom bit that looks like an ancient looking sphere that perhaps belongs on a show about aliens.
All that aside, the flavour is quite nice, especially as a mashed potato substitute.
The flavour could be described a lighter mix of parsley, celery and nuttiness.
Celeriac is slow to grow so plant early in spring (after the frosts have passed) for mid-autumn harvesting
Romanesco broccoli is another that might a bit familiar.

Romanesco broccoli

It looks like a pointy cauliflower that turned bright green.
Grow it the same way as you would broccoli or indeed, cauliflower.
Daikon, bitter melon, romanesco, and saldify are just a few of the thousands of unusual but highly nutritious vegetables grown around the world.
Adding some of these veggies to your diet will not only expand your palate and add flavour to your dishes but also potentially boost your overall health.
Don’t be afraid to try these unique vegetables if you spot them at farmers markets or your local grocery store.
AND THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY