Plants are springing up everywhere at the Lenoir County Cooperative Extension Office greenhouse.
Master Gardener volunteers are sowing, transplanting, watering and labeling thousands of plants for the annual spring plant sale set for 7 a.m. to noon April 13 at the greenhouse, 1791 N.C.11/55. A pre-sale will be from 9 a.m. to noon Friday at the Lenoir County Farmer’s Market.
More than 25 varieties of tomatoes and peppers include hybrids that vary in disease resistance and some heirloom tomato varieties will little disease resistance.
To be considered heirloom, a tomato must be reproduced by seed, be cultivated for more than 50 years, and have a history.
While heirloom tomatoes are considered quite tasty — even a bit salty or spicy — are meatier and have fewer seeds, they do have some disadvantages to hybrids. They usually are not disease resistant, are less vigorous and produce less fruit. They are more susceptible to pathogens, even borne pathogens, and have lower heat tolerance than F1 hybrid varieties.
They have a shorter shelf life, do not store well, are highly susceptible to bruising, and high temperatures affect their flavor and appearance. The fruit defects include blossom-end scar, catfacing, cracking, grey wall and odd shapes. They are difficult to grow in areas like ours affected by Fusarium wilt or Fusarium crown rot. Using soilless media in greenhouse production or grafting to pathogen-resistant rootstocks reduces pathogen pressure.
Hybrid tomatoes are uniform in size and shape, are bred for disease resistance to a variety of diseases but are considered bland in taste.
The Master Gardener volunteers have been working for several years to raise a wide variety of plant material to benefit the community and the Kinston Lenoir County Children’s Garden. Additional plants include okra, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, eggplant and a mixture of herbs.
Flower varieties include black-eyed Susan, dahlia, zinnia, amaranth, gomphrena, sweet William, coleus, cornflower, hibiscus, dianthus, asters, English daisy, calendula, hollyhocks, Shasta, coreopsis, marigolds, snapdragons, poached eggplant and begonias.
For more information, call the extension office at 252-527-2191.
Peg Godwin is horticulture agent, Lenoir County Cooperative Extension Center. Reach her at Peg_Godwin@ncsu.edu or 252-527-2191.