Vegetable Gardening in the Caribbean Area
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? f-i/^íx '■ ¿ VEGETABLE GARDENING IN THE CARIBBEAN AREA ' 13 m. ^1:1..1Aí v^.^Jl LlíCLlrS Agriculture Handbook No. 323 Agricultural Research Service UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE VEGETABLE GARDENING IN THE CARIBBEAN AREA By Harold F. Winters Crops Research Division and George W. Miskimen, formerly Entomology Research Division Agriculture Handbook No. 323 Agricultural Research Service U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE This handbook supersedes Circular 32, "Vegetable Gardening in the Tropics." Issued August, 1967 Washington, D.C. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price 65 cents Trade names and the names of commercial companies are used in this publication solely to provide specific information. Mention of a trade product or manufacturer does not constitute a guarantee or warranty of the product by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or an endorse- ment by the Department over other products not mentioned. Contents Page Page Introduction 1 Chinese cabbages ^^ Vegetables in the diet 2 Collard ^J Vegetable breeding in the Tropics 3 Endive 2l Climatic relationships 3 Kale '^l Temperature ^ Lettuce ^f Mustard ^ Rainfall 6 New Zealand spinach ^ 59 Wind "^ Climatic requirements of vegetables 8 Parsley ^5 Light relationships 8 Rhubarb ^A Soils 9 Spinach ^0 Other greens ^ Garden planning ^ Choosing location and crops ^ Legume vegetables ^ Garden location ^ Cowpea ^ Crops and varieties to plant 10 Kidney (common) bean ^i Planting plans 13 Lima bean ^j Seed 1^ Pea ^ Source 1^ Pigeonpea ^^ Growing your own seed 18 Soybean ^^ Treating and storing 19 Other legume vegetables <5b Germination tests 1^ Root crops ^^ Garden management ^^ Beet II Soil improvement ^^ Carrot ^^ Soil preparation ^^ Cassava ^^ Garlic II Plant beds ^| Jerusalem-artichoke ^*^ Fertilizers ^^ Animal manures ^1 Kohlrabi Vr Composts and other organic materials ^^ Onions Ih Chemical fertilizers ^^ Parsnip ¡A Lime p Potato l^ Radish ¡J^ Planting the garden Tí Rutabaga ¡^ Direct seeding in garden ^^ Salsify ll Thinning seedlings f^ Sweetpotato ¿^ Growing transplants TÍ Turnip '^ Damping-ofC disease ^ Yam l^ Companion cropping ^ Yautia and taro ]^ Succession planting ^i Other root crops <^ Crop rotation ^j Flavoring and seasoning herbs 79 Cultivation ^^ Commercial vegetable growing in the Tropics 80 Mulching ii Vegetable growing by gravel culture 8d Irrigation ^^ General pest control ^ Windbreaks ^p Cultural methods of control ^ Culture of individual crops ^'^ Chemical control ^ Cucurbits ^^ Safe use of pesticides ^^ Chayóte ^^ Avoiding harmful residues in food »5 Cucumber ^ Availability, stocking, and storage of pesti- Muskmelon (cantaloup) ^^ cides 7--- ^^ Pumpkin and squash ^^ Basic chemicals recommended for tropical pur- Watermelon ^ poses 1^ Other cucurbits ^^ Specific formulations for pest control »o Fruit vegetables J?. Types of pesticide formulations and their Eggplant ^J^ ■Qggg ^* Okra Ir Selecting and preparing pesticides 88 Pepper jj Tables of measurements ^ Sweet corn (maize) 44 Application equipment for pest control _ 90 Tomato ^ Greens, stem, and leafy salad vegetables ^^ Vegetable insects ^^ Amaranth or Chinese spinach 4J General insects ^^ Asparagus ^î^ Ants Qo Broccoli ^1 Aphids ^^ Brussels sprouts ^^ Armyw^orms __^ ^^ Asparagus beetle ^^ Cabbage ^% Cauliflower 2r. Cabbage caterpillars ^^ Corn earworm ^^ Celery ^^ Ceylon spinach ^^ Cutworms ^^ Chard ^^ Flea beetles ^"^ III IV Page Page Vegetable insects—Continued Vegetable insects—Continued General insects—Continued Insects attacking specific crops—Continued Field crickets 94 Sweet corn 102 Grasshoppers 94 Sweetpotato 103 Hornworms 94 Other vegetable pests i03 Leafhoppers 94 Nematodes 103 Leaf miners 94 Rats and mice 104 Millipedes 94 Vegetable diseases 104 Mole crickets 94 Plant bugs 94 .General vegetable diseases lOi Damping-off disease 104 Slugs and snails 95 Spider mites 95 Powdery mildew 104 Thrips 95 Downy mildew 105 Webworms 95 Fungal leaf spot 105 Bacterial leaf spot 105 Weevils 95 Mosaic 105 White grubs 95 Rust 106 Wireworms 95 Specific vegetable diseases 106 Insects attacking specific crops 96 Carrot diseases 106 Asparagus 96 Celery diseases 106 Beans 96 Sweet corn diseases 107 Beets and Swiss chard 97 Cole crop diseases 107 Carrots 1 97 Cucurbit diseases 107 Celery and parsnips 97 Eggplant, potato, and tomato diseases 108 Cole crops 98 Legume diseases 108 Cucurbits 98 Lettuce disease 109 Eggplant, potato, and tomato 99 Okra diseases 109 Lettuce and endive 100 Onion diseases 109 Okra 100 Pepper diseases 109 Onions and garlic 101 Sweetpotato diseases no Pepper lOi Literature cited no Spinach IO2 Additional references 112 Vegetable Gardening in the Caribbean Area Service, Mayaguez, P.R. INTRODUCTION Vegetable gardening is the art and science adapted varieties, cultural methods, and pest having to do with culture of the plants com- control. monly known as vegetables. Included are a This handbook is the second revision of the broad variety of edible herbaceous plants or bulletin, "Vegetable Growing in Porto Eico," by plants with some part useful for culinary pur- H. C. Hendricksen in 1906 {16)?- The first poses. The edible part may be the leaves, complete revision was the circular, "Vegetable stems, underground parts, flower heads, seeds, Gardening in the Tropics," by N. F. Childers, or the entire fruit. H. F. Winters, P. Seguinot Robles, and H. K. Vegetables not only provide variety m what Plank in 1950 {8), This revision has been would otherwise be an extremely monotonous prepared to meet the continuing need for infor- diet but also supply dietetic elements essential mation on vegetable gardening, particularly in to the well-being of the human body. the Caribbean area. It may be useful, also, to Although modern transportation facilities gardeners in other areas of the Tropics. Some enable residents of the more cosmopolitan parts of the sections may seem unnecessarily elemen- of the Caribbean area to import a wide variety tary to the more advanced gardeners, but they of produce, such foods usually are expensive. are intended for individuals entirely without Where vegetables can be grown in a home garden, experience in gardening. By following the direc- they are apt to be cheaper, fresher and there- tions and suggestions given in the following fore more nutritious, and available in greater chapters, any beginning gardener can produce variety. Many residents of the Caribbean area a wide variety of delicious and nutritious vege- still are so remote from transportation centers table crops adapted to tropical conditions that they must grow their own fresh produce or do without. The information and recommendations in- Almost any vegetable can be grown at some cluded in this handbook are based on many jrears' place in the Tropics, provided the proper variety, experience in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin season, elevation, and soil conditions are selected. Islands, the authors' observations in other areas The Caribbean area, lying wholly within the of the American Tropics, and a review of numer- Tropics, offers, for the most part, favorable ous publications on the subject.^ (See p. 112.) climatic conditions for vegetable gardening. The scope of the subject and the area oí Most of the land areas lie at low or middle the world covered are much too broad to be elevations where there is no frost hazard. In treated adequately in a single publication of most areas there is a 12-month growing season this size. Thus, it is suggested that the reader with abundant sunshine almost every day. supplement the information presented here with Many vegetable crops are well adapted to the experiences and recommendations of local Caribbean area because they originated in the growers and of the nearest agricultural research Torrid Zone. Examples are lima bean, chayóte, or teaching institutions. Their suggestions will cowpea, eggplant, pepper, potato, sweetpotato, and be particularly valuable with respect to varieties tomato and possibly the common bean, muskmelon, that are locally desirable and to the best methods okra, and soybean. Native varieties of some of for dealing with prevailing insect and disease these vegetables still are found wild m the problems. Tropics. Unfortunately, many of the better varieties of these crops have lost their adapta- 1 Italic numbers in parentheses refer to Literature Cited, tion to tropical conditions through many genera- p. 110. ., tions of selection and breeding in the Temperate 2 A recent publication by H. D. Tindan contains similar Zones. It is important for the vegetable grower information with particular application to tropical areas to have as much information as possible about of West Africa. (See Additional References, p. 112.) 1 AGRICULTURE PIANDBOOK 323, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE -- ' »fr FIGURE 1.—Trial garden In tropical area containing, left to right, lima bean, liead lettuce, carrot, beet, head cabbage and tomato. VEGETABLES IN THE DIET The diet of most tropical residents is low in Vegetables especially high in minerals and fresh vegetables, particularly the green and leafy vitamins are green and lima beans, broccoli, types that are valuable for their high vitamin carrot, collard, cowpea (whole pods with peas), and mineral contents. A survey, published in lettuce, mustard, parsley, sweetpotato, tomato, 1946 (32), of diets in Puerto Rico, which are and turnip tops. Vegetables moderately high in fairly typical of those in most of the Caribbean minerals and vitamins are beet tops, Chinese area, showed