Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

Sunday, May 18, 2014

My Pomegranate Has Those Little Red Bugs

Q. I have a pomegranate tree planted by birds about 20 years ago. I never had bug problems on this tree before 2011. In 2012 it produced about 150 pounds of pomegranates. In 2013 the tree did not produce any fruit at all. This year the tree is loaded again but it is infested with those little red bugs that I think will turn into those ugly creatures you have been talking about. We don't want to use poisons. Have there been any new developments for control?

New Texas Ranger Not Looking Good After Daily Watering

Q. I planted a Texas Ranger shrub three weeks ago in some sandy and rocky soil. I have been watering it with about two gallons daily. I added one inch-deep bark mulch in a 1 foot circle around the plant. Now I am finding yellow, brittle leaves on the lower stems and curling leaves on top. Am I overwatering?

Tomatoes With Black Bottoms Now Being Seen

Those of you who were lucky enough to get your tomatoes planted the first part of March have already tasted your home grown tomatoes. Quite a few of you have discovered tomatoes with black bottoms. What do you do?

Leafcutter Bees Will Probably Use Houses for Blue Mason Bees

Q. Someone gave us a Mason bee house to use. I saw in a July 2011 post on your blog that there really aren't mason bees in the Las Vegas area but there are leaf cutter bees. Do you think the leafcutters would use the Mason bee house? I know leaf cutters stuff the hole with leaves so the fact that the Mason bee holes are larger might not be an issue.

Artificial Grass Not Damaging Lemon Tree

Q. My lemon tree is about five years old and it has a lot of flowers and tiny lemons. The tree looks healthy but I have noticed the leaves are turning yellow. I water it every day about ten minutes, six days a week. We have artificial grass about a foot away around the trunk. Am I overwatering it or is it the artificial turf the culprit?

Cold Damage is Different for Different Oleanders

Q. For the past couple of years my oleanders have suffered severe frost damage and slow to recover in the spring. They are all mature plants. While I was trimming the dead leaves recently, I noticed that the oleanders with red flowers had less damage and were recovering more quickly than the others that have pink flowers.

Can I Use Chipped Pine for Mulch Around Fruit Trees?

Q. Our neighbor's pine trees are going to be cut down soon. I would like to use the wood chips from the tree as mulch for our recently planted fruit trees. I remember you recommend 4 inches deep. What are your thoughts on fresh mulch as this?

Smokey Grey Color in Your Lawn Means Water

If you see that smokey, green or grey color in your lawn it is a good sign that the grass is not getting water in those spots. Check for blocked or broken sprinklers in that location.

Don't Forget to Thin Apples and Pears When Fruit are Small

Apples and pears require aggressive thinning particularly if you did not space your bearing limbs far enough apart.You can still do some summer pruning if the canopy is too dense.

Harvesting Early Can Keep Fruit from the Wind and Hungry Birds

The fruit in the grocery store looks good. But frequently when you taste it the taste does not match the look of goodness that you thought was there. This is why.

Gopher Plant Adds Interest to a Desert Landscape

Gopher plant adds a lot of interest to an otherwise boring desert landscape due to color and texture during bloom and even after bloom. Use it as a specimen (planted alone as the center of attention) or in masses if you have a large area. In masses, plant them two to three feet apart.

Tomato Transplants Wilted and Died. Disease?

Q. Last weekend I started putting some tomatoes into raised garden beds. I had started these from seed about 8 weeks ago, transplanted them once into 20 oz plastic cups after four weeks, and hardened them off for a week before putting them in the ground. The were 4-6 inches tall. They went into good topsoil and I fertilized them lightly with Miracle Gro for tomatoes. Within about five days they started wilting from the bottom up and two are completely dead. I've noticed white lesions on several of the stems. Photos attached. Could this be blight? Is there a chance I overfertilized? I haven't seen any insects on the plants.

I Told You to Spray Your Vegetables!

Here is what to do when protecting your vegetables from insects:

This Question on Drip Irrigation Made My Head Hurt!

Q. I have a LOT of different shrubs and trees on only 2 valves. I don't know how to water them.

Never Plant or Transplant into a Dry Hole

Compost and soils amended heavily with composts can present some problems with transplants and seeds if you are not careful. I did some of my own testing with some local composts and guess what I found out!

Brown Bumps on Quince Branches Probably Scale Insects

Q. We have a three year old Quince tree which looked very good to me until today when I noticed brown or dark purple, small, pee-sized bumps on the top brunches. Removing the bumps causes a fluid to ooze out. I guess the fluid must be sweet since there are ants running up and down the branch.