Tomatoes can handle a bit of winter

Question: I added several tomato plants to the garden in November that have flowers and fruits but a few limp leaves with brown spots, which I remove. Will the plants last through spring?

Answer: It’s a good bet tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and similar plantings that have made it through the winter can continue to produce spring harvests. Some leaf decline and brown fungal leaf spots are common. Continue to trim off the declining portions as you noted you were doing and keep the covers handy just in case there is a late-season cold snap. Maintain a mulch over the soil surface and begin monthly feedings or use a slow-release fertilizer following label instructions. You may also want to apply a copper fungicide to control leaf spots. Q: We have a banana planting that is about 5 feet tall and at least eight years old that has never produced fruit. Someone said we needed male and female plants to produce fruit. What should we do?

A: You won’t need to find mates but you may need to take a look at your care program. First make sure the planting is in a warm, sunny spot. Normally bananas need over a year of good growth without a freeze. Regretfully temperatures much below 40 degrees can delay or restart the flowering process. Good banana production also involves keeping the soil moist, maintaining a mulch over the root systems and monthly feedings March through October with a general garden fertilizer. Tom MacCubbin is an urban horticulturist emeritus with the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service. Write him: Orlando Sentinel, P.O. Box 2833, Orlando FL 32802. Email: TomMac1996@aol.com. Blog with Tom at OrlandoSentinel.com/tomdigs.