Free Spring Planting Class Feb 10 by Master Gardeners

There are still raised beds available!!!!!

For more information contact 702-257-5555

Grow beds are still available at this community garden. Raised beds are 4 x 8 ft and only $10 per month which includes water. A water spigot is provided at each bed and they are ready to plant NOW. The $75 initial startup fee is waived this spring but will resume. For more information contact Nedra   nedrahoogland72@gmail.com

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https://www.facebook.com/providentcommunitygarden/

Minor Differences between Snap and Sugar Snap Peas

Q. Have had much success with sugar snap peas, but lately I’ve been planting sugar snap peas and getting snow peas instead.  Is it because the seed is old? 

Flowering of snap peas

A. I’m not sure the difference you are seeing between these snow peas and snap peas. Snow peas have flat pods when young and we see them frequently used in stirfry. Snap peas, or sugar snap peas as they are sometimes called, have round pods when they are young and not used conventionally in stirfry.

New growth of bush form of snap peas

            Snap peas, when they first emerge, are flat. As the seed inside the pod begins to enlarge the pod becomes round. If you pick snap peas too early they will look like snow peas. When harvesting snap peas, wait a little bit longer for the seed to enlarge and the pod to become round. But harvest the pods before the seed becomes mature. If you wait too long, the seed contains more starch rather than sugar and not as sweet.

            The differences between the two are genetic so it should have nothing to do with the age of the seed. Snap peas were genetically bred from their ancestors, the English or garden pea and snow peas, to be less fibrous when they are young.

            You also might be referring to the “strings” in the pod or how tough the pod is. If strings are a problem, harvest when very young or the pod may get tough when older. If you’re having problems with strings, remove the strings from the pods before using them and start harvesting earlier.

Apple Tree Seeping Water

Q. I noticed my Anna apple tree is seeping fluid and a white patsy substance from a previous cut done last year. What shall I do to help it?

Anna apple seeping fluid from old pruning wound

A. Smell the fluid. Take your finger and wipe it against this wetness and judge your nose whether the smell is “yeasty” or not. If there is a strong yeasty smell, there might be a bacterial infection going on. If it does not smell “yeasty”, then there is probably no infection. 

Wetwood or slime flux disease on older tree from a reader. Slime flux is caused by bacteria "feeding" on inner wood of tree and causing the fluid to smell "yeasty". Often times this liquid attracts flies and has a foul odor. This "disease" is not fatal to the tree but can be unsightly and create a nusiance.

            I would not do anything to the tree regardless. The yeasty smell is caused by a non-lethal infection.

            The inside of a tree has a central core of dead wood. The living part of the tree is an outer cylinder of living wood that enlarges year-to-year. The inside of the living cylinder increases the diameter of this dead, central core each year.

            Growth in the length of branches is called primary growth. Growth in width or diameter is called secondary growth.

            Secondary growth is responsible for “rolling over” pruning cuts and they can no longer be seen. When this secondary growth rolls over a wound, it surrounds or engulfs the wound, covering it, but the wound doesn’t “heal” like it does in animals.

The  cylinder of living "wood" of a tree is alive and can "roll over" a wound, even a large one, and "bury" it in the older dead wood inside the tree.

            The central core of the tree is dead. This dead wood can “rot” due to different microorganisms. This rotting caused by microorganisms can cause the “seeping fluid” you are seeing.

            I would do nothing to the tree at this time unless you see other problems developing in its overall health. Judging from the picture you sent, the old wound seems to be healing and rolling over the pruned cut very nicely.

            I would not disturb it in any way but let the tree heal on its own. It should stop weeping when tree growth begins in earnest in the next few weeks.

Leaf Damage Can Come from Salts

Q. Do you have any idea what causes deformed leaves to appear on my shrubs? I thought it was from heat this past summer but I also see it on trees not in this sunny spot.

Readers picture of small, deformed leaves from shrub. Except for the scorched leaf margins, the plant looks healthy.

A. If you look at the edges of the deformed leaves on your shrubs, they have brown margins or edges, very typical to salt burn.

            Fertilizer? If too much fertilizer is used or placed too close to the plant, it can cause this kind of brown leaf margins. They can also cause unusual growth. Most fertilizers are salts and can cause salt burn if too much is applied or applied too close to the trunk or main stems.

Extreme salt damage to vegetable leaf

            Salt damage sometimes occurs after a heavy rain. This is because salts are pushed away from the roots with applied irrigation but rain can push the salts back toward the roots. The return of salts to the roots can cause plant damage. For this reason, it’s a good idea to run drip irrigation right after a heavy rain.

Minor salt damage to pepper leaf margins. Enough to cause eventual leaf cupping.

            Salt damage is much worse for plants when air temperatures are hot rather than cool.

            Not enough water applied? This has nothing to do with how often water is applied, how many days each week, but about how much water is applied during each irrigation. Drought like this can also cause smaller leaves with brown margins.

            Salt burn can look a lot like drought.

            Mulch problem? Mulch placed too close to the trunk can cause disease problems when the trunk is in contact with wet mulch too often? This is true of wood chip mulch and rock mulch.

            Zinc deficiency can cause something similar, but I don’t think this is a zinc shortage.

            What to do? Flush the area under the canopy with a large volume of water to wash salts away from the roots. Secondly, pull wood mulch or rock mulch away from the stems or trunk of the plant. Third, add one or two more drip emitters to the plant so as to increase the volume of water applied without having to change the minutes on your irrigation clock.

Cut Back Bougainvillea or Not?

Q. Should bougainvillea be cut back in the winter?  I have two in large pots. I want to see them grow fuller this spring and summer. Cut back or leave them?

Bougainvillea used as a landscape shrub in Bullhead City, Az, USA

a

A. Wait until about March 1 and see if there is any winter damage from freezing. Then decide. If there is, cut it back close to the ground and let it regrow again.

Bougainvillea will regrow after damage quickly on established roots from year to year. As long as the winter temperatures were not cold enough to damage the roots and crown. Mulch the plant during winter months if you think it will freeze.

            If there is no winter freeze damage, make this plant fuller by cutting the stems back at various heights (so it doesn’t look like a butch haircut) anywhere from a foot to foot half from the ground. For every cut you make, three new shoots will grow and increase the density of the plant.

How to Grow Oaks from Acorns. Do you really want to?

Q. I picked up 10 acorns that were laying on the ground in Illinois. If I were to plant these, would the acorns germinate and produce an oak tree? What are the chances it will survive in the desert climate? 

Acorn from southern live oak, which grows in the desert southwest, from previous submitter

A. There are about twenty different kinds of oaks native to Illinois. Two of the more common oaks are northern Red Oak and White Oak. Both of these oaks are not native to the Southwest and you will have trouble growing them here as they get older.

Oak leaf gall does occur on our native oaks in the desert southwest

           We have oaks native to the Southwest and you are better off planting those than bringing some from Illinois. But you could have fun with them for a while.

            If you found acorns on the ground, then most likely the seed inside the acorn is mature. However, the seed may not be “alive”. Put them in a bowl of water and use the ones that sink and discard the ones that float.

           Plant them on the north or east side of a building. Mix compost 50/50 with native soil in an area 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep. Plant the acorns on their side in this amended soil, about 1 inch deep, in mid-November. If the winter is cold enough, the seed inside the acorn will grow when it warms in the spring.

           If you missed this November window, put them in a plastic bag with a moist sponge in the refrigerator. Take them out after two months and then plant them in the same way.

           Oaks have a very strong taproot. If you move them from this spot, do it when they are very small. They do not move easily to new locations once they establish a taproot. Otherwise, remove extra seedlings and grow the strongest ones the same way you would grow any other landscape tree.

Urban Agriculture Pays Off

New research from collaboration between Arizona State University (ASU) and Google provides an assessment of the value of urban agriculture and the benefits it provides on a global scale.

 

“For the first time, we have a data-driven approach that quantifies the ecosystem benefits from urban agriculture. Our estimates of ecosystem services show potential for millions of tons of food production, thousands of tons of nitrogen sequestration, billions of kilowatt hours of energy savings and billions of cubic meters of avoided storm runoff from agriculture in urban areas,” said Matei Georgescu, an ASU associate professor.

Using the Google Earth Engine, the researchers analyzed global population, urban, meteorological, terrain, and Food and Agricultural Organization datasets to arrive at their global scale estimates – and then aggregated them by country. The estimated value of four ecosystems services resulting from existing vegetation in urban areas was found to be roughly $33 billion. This includes a projected annual food production of 100 to 180 million tons and energy savings of 14-15 billion kilowatt-hours.

Read more about it here

Fertilizing Fruit Trees Class January 26 & 27

Learn which fertilizers to apply and when, whether organic or mineral. Learn how to correct leaf yellowing, improve growth and fruit production on all fruit trees including citrus.Topics covered include applying mineral and liquid fertilizers, tree stakes, injectors, and selecting the right fertilizer including micronutrients.

Where: Ahern Orchard, 700 Clarkway near Bonanza and MLK
Time: 9am to Noon
Cost: $10 plus tax

 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/applying-fertilizers-to-fruit-trees-tickets-42153109084?ref=estw

Growing Fruit in Bottles

Identifying Borer Damage to Fruit Trees

Thinning Asian Pears

Calendar of Operations for Fruit Trees in the Eastern Mojave Desert

I promised my friends at the last fruit tree workshop on pruning that I would publish a calendar of operations for fruit trees in the Eastern Mojave desert climate. This is at a 2000 foot elevation. Elevations lower than this will be earlier and elevations higher will be later. It is up to you to make some adjustments but I will post something about what the fruit trees are doing so the calendar can be shifted to a different calendar date. These are not exact dates but can vary two or three weeks either way.

December – January. Fruit trees have no leaves

 Dormant winter pruning

 Pruning of the trees including any major structural changes including removal of limbs with saw or loppers and hand shears. Sharpen and disinfect pruning equipment at the start of each pruning day. More often if diseases are suspected.

Winter insect control

Spray oil application to fruit trees for prevention of outbreaks from aphids, scale insects, mealy bugs and spider mites.These spray oils are marketed under several brand names including Horticultural Oil, Horticultural Oil Spray, Dormant Oil, Ultra Pure Oil, Dormant Spray, Dormant Oil Spray, and others.Two examples are below.Sprays are applied to the trees following label directions after pruning and include all branches and the trunk down to the soil. All weeds are removed. All fruit is removed from the tree and picked up off the ground.

 Fireblight 

Fireblight is a horrible bacterial disease that is commonly controlled through pruning or even tree removal in severe cases. If there was fireblight in fruit trees the previous year, you might see remnants of this disease while you are winter pruning of Asian pear, European pear, apple and quince. If suspected, disinfect pruning equipment BETWEEN each separate cut on the same tree. If severe, remove the tree. Immediately remove infected wood from the property.

Fertilizer application - Two weeks before peach growth begins 

Complete fertilizer mineral fertilizer application or compost application. Fertilizer stakes, fertilizer injectors, mineral fertilizers, guanos, fish emulsion, rich compost, many different fertilizers exist to use or put together your own concoction. Use last years growth to tell you how much to apply for the current year.

Use mineral fertilizers or compost that you know is rich in nutrients

Iron fertilizer application - Combined with a fertilizer application

Apply iron fertilizers to the soil for season long control of yellowing due to iron chlorosis. Most iron fertilizers will work but the best all around iron fertilizer contains an iron chelate called EDDHA.

March - May - Fruit trees have finished flowering and small fruit are developing

 Limb Spreaders

Limb spreaders are used to increase the angle of attachment of a small limb or branch to the tree. The best angle of limb attachment for growth and fruiting is about 45 degrees from horizontal. Limb spreaders can be used during winter pruning but there is a risk of splitting limbs and branches. These limbs and branches are much more supple and easier to bend to a 45 degree angle after new growth starts.

Fruit Thinning

Removal of fruit from peach, plum, apple, pear so that remaining fruit gets larger. Remove extra fruit when they are the size of a thumbnail.

Summer Pruning

Remove unwanted growth from fruit trees before this growth gets big. Redirects energy and nutrients into fruit production, helps keep fruit trees smaller and reduces the amount of winter pruning.

May - First apricots and very early peaches are beginning to ripen

Pheremone traps

This is the time when the first pheremone trap for codling moth and peach twig borer (other insects if you have them and there are pheremones for them) are placed in the fruit trees to catch the first flight of these pests. Getting some insects under control very early will reduce populations of them later. First catches are used to time insecticide sprays for best control and reduced pesticide use (IPM). It can also be used to time the deployment of traps for mating disruption.

 Fireblight

 Fireblight is an insidious disease of Asian pear, many European pear, apples and quince. This is when this disease first appears if it was not present before this. Cut at least 12 inches below where it is visible. If the infected limb dies to the trunk, remove the tree.

General insect control

Patroling and inspecting fruit trees on a regular basis (at least once a week) and inspecting fruit and leaves (bottoms and tops of leaves) helps identify if other pests and diseases might be a problem.

Harvest - May through December

The rest of the year is focused on protecting what you are growing and harvesting fruit. This requires frequent tree inspection and watching for insects, diseases, irrigation problems, mulch renewal, borer removal, etc.