Fertilizing Pecans: When and With What?

Q. When do I feed a 50-year-old pecan tree growing in our front yard and with what?

A. Pecan trees do well in our climate. But they are such a large tree and require so much water you really have to think twice about growing them here in the desert.

            If your pecan tree has been doing well in the past, then don’t change much. However, fertilizing pecan trees can mean an increase in the production of nuts and prevent alternate bearing (producing nuts every other year).

            Fertilize in February. If there is grass under the tree, then use a shovel to apply the fertilizer beneath lawn roots but above tree roots. Fertilizer is applied in “slits” in the grass about 6 to 8 inches deep. Make these slits in two concentric rings around the trunk and a distance equal to the spread of it’s canopy.

            The fertilizer is applied in the slit, watered, and the wet slit closed by stepping on it. Water these slits thoroughly to prevent damaging the grass.

            If there is no grass, then apply fertilizer where water is applied and in a similar manner. Let the water move the fertilizer to the roots of the tree.

            Select a fertilizer with all three numbers the same such as 10-10-10 or 16-16-16 or 20-20-20. If using 10-10-10, then apply four pounds of this fertilizer for every inch of trunk diameter at chest height. If it is 20-20-20, use two pounds; 16-16-16, use three pounds.

            Look for leaf yellowing or leaf growth in bunches at the ends of branches. If you see either of these problems, apply iron or zinc as well as the fertilizer. If not, then don’t worry about it.

            Water deeply during the growing season to make sure you get strong growth and flower production. If there is a late freeze, the tree may not have much, if any, nuts. Both a male and female tree are needed. If there is no pollenizer tree nearby, you won’t see any nuts produced. 

Common and Dwarf Myrtle Make Excellent Landscape Plants in Las Vegas

Suggested by Andrea Meckley at Imn2plants@aol.com

Why in Las Vegas Fruitless Plums are NOT Fruitless and Have Borers

Q. Perhaps you can tell me why in Odessa, Texas, fruitless plum trees are actually fruitless and don’t fall easy prey to borers.

A.  Ornamental plums, we sometimes call purple leaf plums, are actually fruit bearing trees (fruit trees) that are sold for landscaping because of their showy flowers. They are from a group of fruit trees collectively called “cherry plums”. Actually, some cherry plums have purple foliage and some have green.

            Two popular purple varieties are ‘Thundercloud’ and ‘Atropurpurea’. Cherry plums require a pollenizer (another tree similar but distinctly different) to set fruit. If no pollenizer is nearby, then there is little to no fruit.

Purple leaf Plum flowering

            Some cherry plums will set a only few fruit by themselves but many more fruit if a pollenizer tree is closeby. If there is a pollenizer nearby, you might see a lot of fruit produced.

            Fruit set without a pollenizer can depend on the climate as well. Late frosts after flowering can cause any fruit that might set, to fail.

            The types of borers present vary with the climate and geographical location. Also, borers are transported inside nursery plants between states. This is one method they have for getting around…by truck!

A very good indication that this purple leaf Plum has borers working inside the trunk

            If a state like Nevada is dominated with nursery plants grown in California, these plants are much more likely to have pests common to California. If plants are bought from nurseries in Texas (Texas has a booming nursery industry) then the pests are more likely to be pests common to Texas.

            Borers are decomposers. They are attracted to plants that are weakened or damaged. Our intense sunlight is tough on plants and can weaken them. Our soils are poor and can lead to unhealthy plants as well. These all make a nice hunting ground for borers.

Can't Find Yellow Honeysuckle in the Nurseries

Q. I cannot find the white or yellow honeysuckle here that grew in West Texas, Odessa, and smells so wonderful. 

A. The primary reason you can’t find familiar plants here is because of marketing and sales of local nurseries and gardens centers. The temperatures and soils are similar enough between West Texas and southern Nevada where many plants grown there would work here.These are Texas native plants that have become mainstreamed in Texas nurseries. Start asking for them at your local nursery and they will probably bring them in.

            You also have Texas A and M University which is very involved with the Texas nursery industry and, through their Extension Service, is helping homeowners and local nurseries in providing a wider variety of plants that will work there.

            Odessa is a little colder and not quite as hot as Las Vegas and the soils are…believe it or not… Better than ours primarily because there is more organics in the soils and more rainfall. West Texas is considered semi-arid, a part of the High Plains, while Las Vegas is in the eastern Mojave Desert.

Read This to Remove Confusion on Pruning Grapes

Q. I read your column about fruit and flowers only growing on 2 year old wood grapevines.  So now I am confused about how to prune my beautiful grape vines. Just what do I remove, or do I even need to remove any of the vines?

A. Yes, it can be confusing. Maybe you can think of grapes this way. The first year the plant pushes new growth. There is no fruit on first year growth (first year wood). This new growth must be fully grown and mature to support the fruit that will grow on it the following year (second year wood).

This is new growth of grape, a few months old. This growth will produce fruit the next year, second year wood.

The second year the plant again pushes new growth from its end or sides (first year growth). First year growth always comes from second year wood. While it is pushing this new growth, it is also pushing flowers and fruit to grow on the previous year's growth (second year wood). The vine is doing two things at the same time. It is always pushing new growth that does not support fruit (first year wood). At the same time it is pushing flowers and fruit from the previous year's growth (second year growth).

This is a grape flower cluster that will become a bunch of grapes in about five months. These grape flower clusters can only grow from stems or wood, that are growing in their second year.

Different grapes produce flowers and fruit in different locations along second year of growth. Some grapes produce flowers and fruit at the very base or bottom of the second year growth (second year wood). This fruit is mostly produced very close to the juncture of the first and second year growth. When pruning these kinds of grapes we only have to leave about 1/2 inch of the second year growth remaining. The rest is cut off. 

Immature bunches of table grapes developing along second year wood

Removing all of the second year growth except for one half inch results in a "spur" of second year wood. We say that these kinds of grapes should be "spur pruned". From these "spurs" we allow new growth but this new growth is always cut back again leaving only about 1/2 inch. From these "spurs", it is a continuous cycle of growth one year and cutting it back to 1/2 inch in late winter of the second year. Growth and cut back to a half inch, growth and cut back to a half inch, etc.

Grape vine pruned to spurs. The one year old wood is a nearly totally removed leaving behind only one or two buds. These spurs were left a little bit long because of fear from die back due to winter damage. Just before new growth begins, these spurs will be pruned even more leaving only one bud.

Other grapes do not produce flowers and fruit at the base of the second year wood. Instead, they produce flowers and fruit further away from the base at a distance of perhaps 10 or 12 inches from the base or more. When we prune these grapes, we must not cut back too much or we will remove all the fruit. When pruning grapes such as these we must leave very long spurs to accommodate for the flowers and fruit. We no longer call these "spurs" because they are too long. Extra long spurs are called "canes". Grapes that are pruned so that second year wood is 10, 12 or perhaps 18 inches long are "cane pruned".

Some grapes will fruit only further along the vine. If you spur prune these types of grapes you will remove all of the fruit. These types of grapes must be "cane pruned". A cane is simply a long spur that has 8 to 10 buds along its length rather than just the one or two on a spur.

When pruning grapes it is important to know where the fruit is produced along the second year wood. If the fruit is produced at the base of second year growth, it is "spur pruned". If the fruit is produced several inches away from the base, it must be "cane pruned".

My Tree Trunk Is Dying from the Inside to the Outside

Q. What’s wrong with my tree? The tree trunk is dying from the inside to the outside.

A. The vast majority of trees are dead in the center of their trunk as they get older. This dead interior gets larger and larger as the tree gets older.The dead inside of the tree is covered by a thin layer that is living. This living thin layer is constantly getting bigger and bigger in diameter. To the inside of this thin layer, the dead wood is left behind. This occupies the vast majority of the center of the tree.

Living part of the tree on the outside of the trunk growing over the dead inner portion of the tree

            The only living part of the tree is a cylinder of living wood just below the bark. The living cylinder of wood can heal itself. The center part of the tree, which is dead, cannot. If this cylinder of living wood is damaged and the dead center of trunk is exposed, it can become infected. About 90% of the time this infection cannot spread to the living cylinder of the tree.This is because these infections only feed off of dead wood, not living tissue.

The only living portion of this tree trunk is the green cylinder close to the bark

            The dead interior of the tree rots. The living cylinder stays healthy. The dead center rots away leaving the center of the tree hollow. A tree like this can live for decades with the center of the tree gone or rotted. But the strength of the tree is compromised. It is more likely to be damaged during heavy winds that cause "shearing" damage. Hollow cylinders have good "compressive strength", but poor "shear strength",

Here is the trunk of a Chinaberry tree. It has been damaged enough to expose the dead inside of the tree.

            Normally, we don't pay much attention if the center of the tree is rotting. We get concerned when the living cylinder becomes infected. From the pictures you sent, it looks like the dead interior is under attack. To me, this appears to be normal for a tree which has its center rotting out.

October 29th Farm to Table Dinner in Moapa Nevada

I hope you will repost this event and like it so others know about it! Let's give them a boost and sell this event out!

The Omer Family in Moapa, Nevada, about 50 minutes from Las Vegas, have been operating their CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture) farm operation since 2009. They are a wonderful family and produce some great locally grown and produced products, naturally and organically. They are focused on sustainable food production, agriculturally, economically and as a family farm!!!

They are having a Farm to Table Event on Oct 29th, 2016, featuring locally produced foods and entertainment. I would highly recommend going if you can. Please repost and visit their website below for more information about them as producers and this event. Support your local farmers....please!!

Meadow Valley Farm go here!