Q: I started from seed indoor vegetables which I’ll be planting in containers that are still full with last year’s soil. Should I change the soil completely?
Olga Toliusis, Port Coquitlam
A: Since it’s just the second year you’ll have veggies in the same containers, I think you can get away with removing the top three or four inches of soil. Then you could add compost into the older soil below, mixing it in well and top that with all-fresh soil.
It’s very important that you don’t plant the same vegetables in the same pot again. Peas and beans nourish the soil by fixing nitrogen and the cabbage family loves soil where the previous veggies donated some nitrogen. Where the cabbages were, root veggies will be happy.
Pests that overwinter in soil start families much faster if the same plants they fed on last year are waiting for them when they emerge again. So crop rotation is really important.
Every two or three years it’s best to completely replace soil in the containers. Your compost will welcome the old soil and recycle it naturally. Ultimately the finished compost can be donated back to your veggie pots.
Q: How do I apply pigeon poop to vegetable gardens? It is from my neighbour’s domestic-raised birds. Is it safe to use?
Lily Lau, Vancouver
A: It would be safer than poop from wild birds. Wild pigeon droppings can harbour diseases and should never, ever be used on vegetables.
But I have had no personal experience with pigeon droppings myself. Do you know anyone who has used poop from this particular flock of pigeons and had no problem? Perhaps your pigeon-tending neighbour knows people who garden with it and can talk to you about it.
If not, you might punch into the website of the Vancouver Poultry and Fancy Pigeon Association: vancouverfancypigeon.ca/vp fpa profile.htm
A good question to ask them would be if any of their members are also gardeners and use pigeon poop on their gardens — and if so what their experience has been.
My own feeling is that even with domestic pigeons the poop is likely to be very strong (like chicken droppings are) and would be likely to burn the vegetable roots unless it’s composted for a year before using.
Q: Last year all my red currant fruit had worms from the currant fruit fly. Can you suggest an environmentally acceptable spray or dust I can use after blossom fall?
Anne Maki, Vancouver
A: The safest organic way of dealing with this fly is to pick up and discard all fallen fruit into green waste (not in your compost). Worm-infested fruit tends to fall early. It’s easier to pick up if you lay plastic sheets under the bush just before the fruit begins falling.
The fruit fly chrysalis overwinters in soil or grass debris under the bush. If your bushes are surrounded by soil, its best to remove the top two inches of soil or plant debris under the bush then replace with more soil or possibly bark mulch.
If you repeat this each year, the number of fruit flies will gradually diminish.
Anne Marrison is happy to answer garden questions. It helps if you can tell me the name of your city or region.
