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From: jbd@duke.UUCP (Joanne Bechta Dugan)
Newsgroups: net.garden
Subject: Zoysia Grass; Cutworms; Tomatoes
Message-ID: <5910@duke.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 10-Jun-85 09:48:30 EDT
Article-I.D.: duke.5910
Posted: Mon Jun 10 09:48:30 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 12-Jun-85 07:48:40 EDT
Organization: Duke University
Lines: 39


1.  About Zoysia Grass:  My husband & I just installed 1300 Zoysia grass
plugs in our yard, in sections where regular grass would not grow.  It was
VERY hard to do.  The "plugs" that are sent are really pieces of sod, about
9" by 15" that have to be cut into plugs.  Each piece of sod is supposed to
yield 130 plugs, but if they are cut that small, they fall apart. We only 
managed to get about 65 plugs from each piece of sod (my hands were 
sore from cutting the plugs).  In order to install the plugs, small holes have
to be dug in the ground about a foot apart - then one plug is planted in 
each hole.  Since we were trying to plant in rather rocky ground (thats why
other grasses wouldn't grow there), the planting was difficult too.  One
other remark: since Zoysia is a hot season grass, it has to be planted in the
hot weather.  It would have been much easier to plant it before the 90 degree
weather was upon us.  It's only been in a few weeks, so I can't report on
success yet -- maybe next year.


2.  I had similar problems with cutworms when I put my tomatoes and peppers
out in April.  The cutworms got about half the tomatoes and 2/3 of the
peppers in the first two days.  When I planted replacements for the peppers,
I tried using yogurt containers (clean, with the bottom cut out).  I put
one container around each plant, about 2 inches deep.  The theory is
that cutworms can"t climb over the "wall" around each plant.  It worked
very nicely, as I did not lose any plants in the second planting.  I'm
trying to replace the lost tomatoes with "suckers" removed from the
surviving plants (removed when about 12 inches long, and rooted).  Has anyone
else tried this?

3.  A question about tomatoes: there are quite a few large tomatoes on
my plants.  Some of them appear rather "deformed".  Any idea as to
the causes of deformed tomatoes?  Any suggestions on how to get them
to "ripen up"? There have been green tomatoes on my plants for two weeks
now, but they don't seem to want to turn red.  I sure am getting
impatient for some "home grown" tomatoes !!

Happy Growing!

Joanne Bechta Dugan
 Duke University