Small Black Critters Chewing Leaf Holes

Q. For the past three years these little black critters have chewed holes in the leaves of my Mexican Primrose. What are they and how can I get rid of them permanently? Since Mexican Primrose is not a food crop, I sprayed them with Ortho’s Home Defense, but that may not be the best solution.

BB sized holes in grape leaves from flea beetle feeding

A. Thanks for telling me the insecticide you used but legally you are not supposed to use an insecticide unless the label states it can be used for that purpose. The active ingredient of the insecticide might work on flea beetles but unless there is a given rate of application on the label, then the rate to apply is not known. The rate of application can mean the difference between control or no control.

Mexican Primrose and Flea Beetle Damage

            Mexican Primrose is notorious for flea beetle damage in the spring and sometimes fall months. Knowing which flea beetle is yours is the first step in getting permanent control. If you elect to go down this path, take five or six flea beetles in a vial of alcohol to the Nevada State Department of Agriculture and ask their entomologist in Reno to identify the type of flea beetle. Once the flea beetle is properly identified, methods of permanent control can be discussed. There is quite a bit of literature on permanent control without chemicals.

Flea beetles are quite small

            As far as I am concerned, flea beetles are vagabonds and become a problem frequently during the spring, and sometimes fall months. Mark your calendar because they will come near the same date in the spring most years. This date signals you to start looking for them or their damage and apply the proper control measure.

Heavy flea beetle damage on grape leaves

            Flea beetles last about three weeks and they are gone. They can cause a lot of damage in a noticeably short time. If you see damage during the fall months, mark your calendar. Watch for holes in the leaves that signal their feeding has begun. They hide out on the bottom of leaves so you must spray “up” as well as over the top.

Pesticides and Controlling Flea Beetles

            Conventional insecticides used for controlling flea beetles include Sevin (active ingredient of carbaryl) or one of the pyrethrins (look for something ending in -thrin in the active ingredients). These must be applied each season you see them. Once damage is done, cut the plant back to get rid of the ugly parts, fertilize, water, and let it regrow.

Food Production - Is it Safe to Eat?

Farming in the Age of COVID-19

By Renee Pinel

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, hand sanitizers and bleach wipes are now a part of our daily lives because everyone understands that we need access to chemicals that  kill the germs and viruses that can kill us.

Yet, as things drag on, more and more weary Californians are struggling to stick with shelter-in-place orders. People are venturing out more.  We don't see as many masks. Businesses are defying state guidelines.  People are starting to let down their guard.

This is likely a combination of factors.  One, it is human nature to want to be amongst others.  Two, people are making their own calculations on their risk of exposure, based on individual circumstances.  Three, it is just plain difficult for anyone to sustain intense self-discipline over a long period of time.

But we know it is possible to maintain strict standards of safety.  Look at California farmers.  For decades, they have possessed "safety-first" behaviors and practices now deeply ingrained in their DNA.  During the COVID-19 crisis, our farmers have continued to put food on the table and fill food banks while keeping their workers and communities safe.  They have achieved this not by adopting new standards of safety, but by continuing to follow existing requirements for pesticide use and safe food handling.

Californians may take this for granted.  But agriculture's emphasis on safety has been the result of a lot of work, dedication and collaboration between farmers, their communities and government.  Consider:

• Farmers have been able to continue to produce food because health and safety rules are the norm - not the emergency exception.

• California farmers have absolutely no interest in short cuts that compromise safety.  They and their families work on the farm. They value their workers. They live in the community. 

• Our farmers operate under the most restrictive safety standards in the country, if not the world.  Long before COVID-19 became a household word, farmers and farm businesses were investing in the safety of their employees, communities and environment.

• Scientists with the United State Environmental Protection Agency and California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) conduct the most rigorous pesticide safety testing of anywhere else in the world - more than 300 safety reviews before a product may even be considered for use. 

• It takes more than seven years to register a pesticide in California.

• This is the same agency that regulates the sanitizers members of the public are comfortable using at levels that exceed the recommended amounts. 

• Just as DPR reviews sanitizers designed to kill dangerous germs, they also review products used by farmers to kill dangerous pests.

• Unlike the sanitizers that the public uses, DPR continues to regulate agricultural products after a purchase is made.  Farmers may only purchase and use an approved pesticide if they receive a "prescription" from state-licensed experts, who dictate terms of every use. 

• Agriculture follows a complex system of permitting, monitoring, inspections, and reporting to assure that products are only used as labeled.

• Farms provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and other safety protections to employees.

• Farmers, farm workers and professional pesticide advisers receive continuous education on the safe use of products.

• Farmers report all usage, and provide safety buffers around fields and additional precautionary buffers around sensitive sites like schools.

• To assure all these rules are followed, Agricultural Commissioners and DPR inspectors enforce high standards on farms and other agricultural businesses.

• These inspections cover the comprehensive array of federal, state, and local worker safety as well as environmental and community human health laws and regulations that cover the agricultural use of pesticide products.

During this pandemic, farmers have continued to maintain these high safety standards - even around schools, which are closed.  They have not asked for any current pesticide law or regulation to be suspended or relaxed.  Neither DPR nor the Agricultural Commissioners have suspended or loosened a single regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Farmers continue to keep farmers markets, food banks, and grocery produce sections filled with healthy, fresh fruits and vegetables under the same strict standards as they always operate under.

While those of us in towns and cities continue to live under special emergency orders that at some point will be relaxed, we can be secure in the knowledge that farmers will continue to protect their employees, communities and the consumers of their produce - long after the Governor lifts his emergency orders. 

Converting Peach Tree Irrigation from Twice a Day to Normal

Q. I have a well-established, prolific peach tree. About this time every year it loses some of it's immature fruit and I know that is normal. However, this year it's losing an abundance of fruit. I'm literally picking up 50-100 peaches a day. I have checked the irrigation and it seem to be fine with drippers at 15 minutes per day, twice a day.

A. This will be a challenge. Get ready for an irrigation overhaul! The usual reason for fruit drop is because the fruit was damaged in some way, either from a lack of water to the tree or cold temperatures that hurt the fruit. I don't think there were cold temperatures this late in the year, so I go back to the water issue.

Irrigation Twice a Day

I don’t like that you are applying water every day; twice a day in fact! Is there any way that can be changed to less often? That irrigation frequency sounds like watering a lawn or vegetable garden when its really hot and windy out! I don’t know about the amount you are applying, but you are applying water way too often.

Peach Tree Irrigation and Woodchips 

Fruit trees should have water applied to them twice a week right now and growing in most soils. The applied water should be enough so that the roots of the tree get wet to a depth of about 18 inches. For fruit trees growing in the desert, I like to see a layer of woodchips on the soil surface 3 to 4 inches deep. These woodchips provide a layer that protects the roots from getting too hot, conserves water, prevents most weeds from growing and helps keep the soil dark and rich.

This is an irrigation basin around a peach tree filling with water.

You are watering so often, unless you have very sandy soil, I imagine the tree roots  are growing about 2 inches deep. They should be growing 18 inches deep. Roots growing shallow like this are cycling back and forth between too dry, too hot or too wet. Roots can’t grow deeper because they are drowning (if you are watering a lot) or getting too hot and dry (if you aren’t watering enough).

Thirty minutes of water is meaningless to me. I need to know how many gallons you are applying and where it’s being applied.

What to do? 

This is tricky because the tree roots need encouragement to grow deeper and hot weather is already here. Root growth would be better starting in October when temperatures are cooler. Do not apply any more water using the current irrigation schedule of twice a day.

Free woodchips from local arborists who wanted a place to dump clean mulch.

Cover all the soil under the tree’s canopy with 3 to 4 inches of woodchips. Apply water to the soil 12 inches from the tree trunk all the way to the edge of the canopy. This can be done by constructing a donut around the tree trunk 6 to 8 feet in diameter.

Basin beneath grapes that didn't hold the water. It was repaired but easy to see!

The inside of this donut must be flat with a circular wall that is 3 to 4 inches tall. Fill the inside of this donut with a 1-inch layer of compost with woodchips on top. Fill the inside of this donut with water once a day. At the end of August, begin watering every other day. At the end of September water every third day. By December you should be watering once a week.

Rectangular basins with flat insides to hold water but let people and equipment through.

I generally figure that most peach trees that produce an abundance of fruit should only be allowed to keep about 1% or less of all the fruit produced by a tree. I'm assuming you are removing fruit that are closer than three or 4 inches apart all through the tree.

When peaches are pruned in the wintertime about half of all their branches are removed from the limbs. The removal of these branches are so that the remaining branches produces fewer fruit and there is less thinning to do. Otherwise there's a lot of limb breakage because of the weight of the peach fruit.

Bay Laurel or Carolina Cherry Laurel?

Q. I found your blog and am hoping you can tell me if this tree in the picture is a Bay Laurel. I have looked at pictures of Carolina Cherry trees that also look similar. This tree has supports which I know need to be removed at some point. The tree was planted by my builder in February of last year.

A. Looks like Bay Laurel to me. Bay Laurel is a Mediterranean tree and more tolerant of our desert climate than Carolina Cherry Laurel. Carolina Cherry Laurel is native to the southeastern US and not tolerant of desert conditions without proper site selection, soil preparation and watering.

            One easy way to tell the difference is to crush the leaves and smell the herbal (Bay) aroma of Bay Laurel. Bay Laurel leaves are pungent in their aroma. When you crush the leaves of Carolina Cherry Laurel they have an aroma of cherry rather than herbal. 

            The second way is to look for round “glands” at the base of the Carolina Cherry Laurel leaf where the leaf is attached to the petiole (leaf stem). These “glands” are characteristic of many plants in this genus (Prunus).

Click here to see the glands on P. serrulata

Japanese Blueberry Growing Problems in the Desert

Q. We have three Japanese Blueberry in our yard; two in the backyard and one in the front. All three have dead branches yet there are scattered green leaves above them. There are far more green leaves at the bottom of the three plants. Is it possible this is due to a lack of water?

A. Japanese blueberry is not a good choice for a desert climate and soils but will handle it if planted in the right location, good soil prep and regular watering. If planted in a hot microclimate with alot of reflected heat and light it gets sunburn easily and dieback.

https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2015/07/more-problems-growing-japanese.html

Japanese blueberry is from Far Asia and not many deserts there so it is not really a desert plant.It grows better in a Mediterranean climate like you find in coastal CA. It grows better in a Mediterranean climate like you find in coastal CA. When grown there it is much easier to manage.

What To Do

So if the soil is covered in rock, if the water amount is not increased as the plant gets bigger then chances are good there will be problems.  Not sure what the reason is for dead branches but most likely related to soil management (not covering the soil in woodchips and not amending the soil so its more like soils in the Far East) or water or both.

Borers

It is possible to be a borer problem but I would need more information. Remove dead branches. Improve the soil and apply water to a larger area under the plant.

Orange or Yellow Bottom Palm Fronds Signal Removal Time

Q. The bottom layer of palm fronds turned an orange - yellow color almost overnight. Is this from too much water or not enough water?

Color change if the fronds of this Canary Island palm signals the owner to remove them.

A. Neither, the cause of it turning orange or yellow is natural. These orange and yellow colors are natural, masked by the strong green color that the chlorophyll provides. We see the same color changes in leaves in the fall color of trees.

            The bottom layer of fronds die a natural death. As these lower fronds approach death due to old age and shade, some of the minerals in the leaves are absorbed back into the palm, first turning the lower fronds orange or yellow and eventually brown. Sometimes these color changes occur quickly and other times more slowly.

            The nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium move out of the frond first followed by magnesium, chlorine, zinc and molybdenum. Lesser mobile nutrients are left behind which include sulfur, iron, boron, and copper. These would be the dominant minerals remaining if these palm fronds were used to make compost. This color change is your signal to cut and remove palm fronds.

Pruning Standard Fruit Trees to Control Height?

Q. I watched your pruning videos on YouTube and learned a lot! Is it possible to reduce the size of a standard sized apple tree to a dwarf size this way?

A. Probably not. Standard sized apple trees may grow to 35 or 40 feet in height. You might be able to keep a standard sized tree under 20 feet tall (maybe 15 feet if you’re really aggressive) through pruning but I don’t think you will get it to eight feet tall which is what I aim for in pruning semi dwarf trees for backyards. I call the size of these fruit trees “ladder less”. The standard sized apple tree is just too vigorous for pruning to short heights.

Standard Sized Apple Tree Is Big

            Standard sized apple trees normally grow 30 to 40 feet tall. Buying these trees on semi dwarfing rootstocks will keep them smaller than this but it depends on which semi dwarfing rootstock the tree has been grafted onto. I have found that the M111 semi-dwarfing apple rootstock is probably the best semi-dwarfing apple rootstock for backyards in our climate.

            Using this semi-dwarfing rootstock, I have been able to keep Pink Lady and Mutsu apples, for instance, pruned at eight feet through appropriate pruning methods. Apple trees grafted onto M111 rootstock will normally get to 80% of its mature height if left unpruned.

            Nurseries sell fruit trees with a tag that calls the tree a “semi dwarf” because most people don’t know the different kinds of semi dwarfing rootstocks. In our area an apple that is labeled as semi dwarf is most likely grafted on to M111 rootstock. 

There are online stores for fruit trees, such as Grow Organic and Bay Laurel, that specify the rootstock used and the most common semi-dwarfing rootstock available on apples for backyards in the Western US is M111.

How Much to Water?

Q.. I am writing you to find out how often should I be watering my trees and shrubs. The weather got hot so quickly that I’m really not sure when to water. I have a California Pepper Tree, 2 palm trees (a canary date and a Mediterranean fan ) and 5 Japanese boxwood shrubs.  Any help you can give me is appreciated .

A. There are two questions that need answering: how many minutes to water each time and secondly how often.

https://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/landscape-watering-guide/plant/

The number of gallons of water given to a plant depends on its size; small trees are watered 18 inches deep, medium-size trees 24 inches deep and large trees 36 inches deep.

Establishing the Number of Minutes

The number of minutes depends on the soil you have and how big the tree is. Small trees are watered 18 inches deep. Medium-size trees are watered 24 inches deep. Large trees are watered 36 inches deep. Always apply the water to wet the soil at least half of the area under the tree's canopy. Small trees are less than 20 feet tall. Medium-size trees are 20 to 35 feet tall. Large trees are above 35 feet tall.

Your soil and how big the tree is so I can tell you the number of minutes. You have to figure that out for yourself. To do that I use a 3/8 inch diameter rebar 4 feet long. If the water didn't go deep enough, water more minutes until you get there.

A 4 foot length of three-eighths inch rebar I use for measuring how deep water penetrates in the soil after an irrigation.

Right after I irrigate I push this rebar into the soil in three locations, where the soil is wet, as deep as I can. The rebar pushes in easily if the soil is wet. When the water doesn't go any deeper and the soil isn't wet anymore it's hard to push.

Watering How Many Times A Week

Each time I water I use the number of minutes it takes to get the water to that depth. That doesn't change. What changes is how many times I water each week. This is for non-desert plants.For desert plants water less often but give them the same amount of water as I mentioned above.

Winter months every 10 days or more

Starting February 1 every seven days

About mid April twice a week

About June 1 three times a week

In the wintertime I water to that depth about every 10 days or longer. About February 1 I start watering once a week. Around the middle of April I water twice a week. Around 1 June I start watering three times a week. If it gets really hot I might water four times a week. A 3 to 4 inch layer of woodchips or rock helps keep the soil wet. I only use rock with trees that come from the Southwest deserts. All the rest of the trees I use woodchips.

By the way, none of the plants you mentioned in your question are desert plants.

Summer Watering Schedule from LVVWD

Summer watering restrictions begin May 1   Summer is almost here and it's time to turn up the heat on saving water! Beginning May 1, seasonal watering restrictions allow watering up to six days a week and prohibit landscape irrigation on Sundays, as well as between the hours of 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., when water can be lost to intense heat and high winds. Water your landscape in the early morning hours before sunrise to reduce evaporation. While watering is permitted up to six days a week through Aug. 31, just because you CAN doesn't mean you need to. Adjust watering gradually as temperatures increase; plants on drip need water less often than sprinklers on grass. Find more watering tips.

Energy of Sunlight When Growing Vegetables

Put Farm Animals Intended for Processing to Good Use

I am sure you are all aware of the closures of large packers due to COVID-19 outbreaks, and the ripple effects this is having throughout the industry.  The loss of processing capacity is causing a backlog of animals, for pork producers in particular.  Here in Iowa and in other Midwest states, producers are looking at having to euthanize market-weight animals due to lack of processing.  Our small plants here are booked out for months, and farmers are selling off hogs at next-to-nothing to anyone willing to drive up and buy one.  Iowa Pork Producers and Iowa Dept. of Ag are doing everything we can to find outlets, including processing for food banks, but it’s just nowhere near enough.

Those of you in other areas of the country: who has room to buy and process hogs??  Every one of these hogs that we can find shackle space for is one less that has to be wasted, and can instead go to keeping our communities fed.  If your facility-alone or together with your near neighbors- have the ability to take on some of these hogs, you will be able to purchase them for next-to-nothing, and I believe that Pork Producers will even help to arrange transportation.  If you are interested, please reach out to Drew Mogler, Public Policy Director for Iowa Pork Producers, at (515) 225-7675, or dmogler@iowapork.org. 

My thanks to all of you for considering this-

Dr. Polking

Bureau Chief

Meat and Poultry Inspection Bureau

Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

Time to Partner Up for Local Food Production Grant

April 24, 2020 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced $9.5 million awarded to 11 collaborative, multi-state projects to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. specialty crops. The funding is made possible through the Specialty Crop Multi-State Program (SCMP), reauthorized by the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (Farm Bill). SCMP strengthens food safety; seeks new ways to address plant pests, disease and other crop-specific issues; and increases marketing opportunities for specialty crops—fruits, vegetables, tree nuts and dried fruits to horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture. Funds are awarded competitively to state departments of agriculture and entities in nonparticipating states within any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Projects funded through SCMP involve at least two partners located in different states.  Examples of this year’s projects include: The Arizona Department of Agriculture’s collaboration with University of Arizona and University of California Cooperative Extension to advance commercial mushroom production by increasing the use of local agricultural/industrial wastes as production substrates and increasing nutritional value of resulting mushrooms grown on modified substrates and environmental conditions. The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s collaboration with the University of California, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Minnesota and the Organic Center to evaluate the food safety impacts of sheep grazing cover crops, compared to tilled termination of cover crops and winter fallow, before spinach and cucumber. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ collaboration with the University of Florida, the Pennsylvania State University, and the USDA-ARS to study disease resistance and diversity to improve lettuce cultivars against bacterial leaf spot (BLS) through breeding, genetics, and study of the BLS-lettuce interaction. A full list of grant recipients and their project descriptions is available on the SCMP Awarded Grants page of the Agricultural Marketing Service website.  To learn more about AMS grant funding to enhance and strengthen agricultural systems, visit Agricultural Marketing Service: Grants. For more information, please contact Martin Rosier at Martin.Rosier@usda.gov

Red Baron Peach Flower Color

Support Community Agriculture

I follow a thread for small scale meat processors (NMPAN) where some of them received their SBA Loan for their employees when they applied. This is what one of them is doing with it and how they responded to the pandemic.

I was one of the few out there who successfully applied for a SBA Payroll Protection Plan loan.  I received a check this week, and the first thing I did was announce to my staff that I am paying a $3/hr. hazard pay supplement over the next 8 weeks.  

The second thing I did was to call the 2 employees who were on leave -they were isolating at home because they felt they had risk conditions and couldn't risk going out - and told them they would receive a regular paycheck over those eight weeks.  So I am torn - I need to incentivize people to keep working, since we are under incredible demand for our services.  I have changed my processing services to eliminate the unproductive fussy stuff, and allow me to increase throughput by 20-25%, and try and meet demand.  Even with that, I am now scheduling in August.  

But I do not want to put people at risk, so we are wearing masks, sanitizing doorknobs and contact surfaces like crazy, and constantly reminding employees to go straight home, don't hang out!  

I will likely process in the range of 1,000 beef and 3,000 hogs this year.  That is like nothing, compared to the big meat plants that are being forced to shut down.  But in the weeks and months ahead, as shortages increase, we are going to find that this truly is an essential service.  People generally come together during hard times.  But food shortages will drive us apart, so I am doing what I can.  

I am also hoping to set a good example of how community-based agriculture can work, so in the years ahead, perhaps we will re-think neo-liberal capitalism, and create a system that treats people well. 

Tyson and Cargill and JBS and the rest are literally killing people in their plants by their work practices.  I don't want to take this analogy too far, but I feel a little bit like those doctors and nurses who keep going into the emergency rooms knowing they are risking excessive exposure, but they can't leave the patients.  

I am fielding e-mails and calls all day long from producers trying hard to get processing services anywhere they can.  I hate telling them they have to wait 4 months.  I don't think that there is a right answer to this question - we each have to answer it for ourselves.  I have told every one of my employees that I will hold their job if they self-quarantine.

Joe Cloud of T&E Meats

Buy Local Whenever Possible

Bay Laurel with Scorched Leaves

Q. I have two bay laurel trees planted in a narrow bed behind my swimming pool. They were planted there for about 7 years, and in the last couple of years, the leaves have developed brown borders and spots. There doesn’t seem to be excessive leaf drop, but the leaves don’t look healthy to me.

Bay Laurel tree will be healthiest surrounded by woodchip mulch

A. Sounds like an irrigation or soil issue if it’s affecting all the leaves on the tree. 

Irrigation or Soil Problem

I would guess it’s drought (not enough water) or the soil was kept too wet for a long period of time. Both give brown borders (scorch) to the leaves. My guess is that the trees need water applied to a larger area underneath their canopy. This will result in more water applied to that area.

            Judging from the pictures you sent, this is not a true disease problem.

Bay Laurel Planted from 24 Inch Box

Add More Emitters for More Water

            As trees get older and larger, their water requirement increases and the number of emitters placed under the canopy also must increase. By increasing the number of emitters under the tree, or increasing the size of emitters or both, provides more water during the same number of minutes. Don’t just increase the number of minutes on the controller. That results in all the irrigated plants getting more water.

Bay Laurel can be pruned

Don't Water Too Often

            A word of caution. If the soil is overly wet for weeks at a time, then it can cause the same look. When the soil is overly wet it causes root rot and the tree looks like it is not getting enough water (it’s not getting enough water because the roots rotted!).

Leaves Tell You the Past

            Whenever you look at old leaves, it tells you about its past problems. The new growth tells you how the tree is doing NOW! If you agree with me that it is probably a lack of water, flood the area under the trees with a sprinkler and look at the new growth in a couple of weeks. If the new growth looks strong, add more drip emitters under the tree canopies. After adding the emitters, refresh the top of the soil with a 3-inch layer of woodchips.

Golden Lead Ball Flower Production

Q. I bought the trees and soils you recommended. I am curious if my Golden Lead Ball tree will produce "balls" this first year? Can you point out where to look on the branch, or is it obvious when it happens?

A. Most likely it will not flower or “ball” for about six years, when it gets old enough. Many native desert trees like Golden Ball Lead Tree are like that. They are slow to flower but when they do start, it is perpetual every year.

Yellow or Gold Balls Are Flowers

            These “balls” are its flowers. All flowers are considered “modified leaves”. They always emerge from new growth and from the same places where leaves are formed. In some plants, the plant does not know if its new growth will become leaves or flowers until it figures out its status for that growing season. But these “balls” emerge from new leafy growth when its ready.

            Early in its life is the time to start building a tree’s structure. You can do this with a couple of well-placed pruning cuts so the scaffold limbs originate at the right height and location.

            Golden BallLead Tree is a very hardy small desert tree native to the Chihuahuan desert inareas of south Texas and northern Chihuahua (Mexico). Water it twice a week to about 18 inches deep to get them established. New growth is your signal that the tree is establishing. If you want to “push” its growth, then water deep once a week during the summer. If you want to slow it down, don’t water as often.

            Established desert trees signal they need water when their leaf canopy starts to thin out. Water them 18 inches from the trunk to the edge of their canopy as they get bigger. Give them enough water to wet the roots to 18 inches deep. Watering them along with other trees in the landscape works for the first couple of years but they will grow very fast like that.

Growing Desert Marigold in the Landscape

Q. I want to grow some desert flowering plants like Desert Marigold in my landscape. In the past, when I attempted to transplant them from seedlings, they did not make it. Is there a technique to transplanting or am I better off planting the seeds directly into the soil?

Opuntia (nopal) cactus flower

A. Once established, desert plants are difficult to move.  If you sow seed into the landscape, get them to grow and then try to move them to a new location, then that is probably why the died. It’s hard to harvest enough roots when moving desert plants to a new location.

Start Wildflowers from Seed in Containers

            You are better off starting plants from seed in containers and then moving them into the landscape once they have solid growth. Kind of the same as starting tomato or basil transplants from seed but without watering as often. If you do move them to a new location, take lots of roots with the plant and cut the top back to reduce its need for water!

            Desert marigold is native to the Mojave Desert and can be grown from seed easily provided they are watered less often and the soil growing them doesn’t hold water. Wet or damp conditions kill new plants or the germinating seed. Spread twice as many seeds as you need on top of a well-draining, coarse gravelly or sandy soil in the spring and cover the seed lightly with a thin sheet of sand. Cactus soil works well.

            Use small plastic or peat containers to start them but 8-ounce paper cups work as well provided you make sure they drain water easily. Don’t use rocks in the bottom of the cup but make sure there are holes that allow water to easily drain.

Starting Wildflowers Seed in the Landscape

            In the landscape, rake the seed lightly into the soil with a garden rake. Lightly apply a sand layer. After you’re done, water with a spray nozzle so the seed gets wet and the sandy sheet tucks them in. Then fight the urge to sprinkle them daily, or even every other day, until you see growth appear.

Warning about Collecting Seed

            Remember, don’t collect seed or plants from public lands. Secondly, get permission from landowners in writing when collecting seed or plants from privately owned land.

Small Fruit Trees are Best With Dwarfing Rootstocks

Q. I watched your pruning videos on YouTube and learned a lot! Is it possible to reduce the size of a standard sized apple tree to a dwarf size this way?

"Dogleg" where scion was grafted to the rootstock about a year earlier

A. Probably not. Standard sized apple trees may grow to 35 or 40 feet in height. You might be able to keep a standard sized tree under 20 feet tall (maybe 15 feet if you’re really aggressive) through pruning but I don’t think you will get it to eight feet tall which is what I aim for in pruning semi dwarf trees for backyards. I call the size of these fruit trees “ladder less”. The standard sized apple tree is just too vigorous for pruning to short heights.

Dwarfing Rootstocks

            Standard sized apple trees normally grow 30 to 40 feet tall. Buying these trees on semi dwarfing rootstocks will keep them smaller than this but it depends on which semi dwarfing rootstock the tree has been grafted onto. I have found that the M111 semi-dwarfing apple rootstock is probably the best semi-dwarfing apple rootstock for backyards in our climate.

            Using this semi-dwarfing rootstock, I have been able to keep Pink Lady and Mutsu apples, for instance, pruned at eight feet through appropriate pruning methods. Apple trees grafted onto M111 rootstock will normally get to 80% of its mature height if left unpruned.

Nursery Tags

          

Nursery tags on a fruit tree from Dave Wilson Nursery showing the rootstock (other color) and the scion (white tag)

Nursery tags from Dave Wilson Nursery on a fruit tree of the rootstock and the scionrseries sell fruit trees with a tag that calls the tree a “semi dwarf” because most people don’t know the different kinds of semi dwarfing rootstocks. In our area an apple that is labeled as semi dwarf is most likely grafted on to M111 rootstock. There are online stores for fruit trees, such as Grow Organic and Bay Laurel, that specify the rootstock used and the most common semi-dwarfing rootstock available on apples for backyards in the Western US is M111.

Early Apricot Produce Fruit First

Q. I have a 9-year old apricot tree that produced a bumper crop of delicious apricots each year.  However, this year there is an abundance of fruit set, but not many leaves. Unless the number of leaves increases significantly, I doubt if all the fruit will mature. I fertilized this apricot tree the last week of January using 10-15-15 fertilizer spikes as I do every year.

Early apricots produce fruit first

A. It is not uncommon for early apricots to set fruit first, followed shortly thereafter by leaf and shoot growth. 

Apricot Flower Production Is Early

The tree “invests” in its fruit production early by shoving stored food reserves into fruit production. You’re right. At some point the tree will not “invest” anymore and it will expect the leaves to start contributing. But that shouldn’t be for a few months.

            Later in the year the apricot tree recovers its stored food investment plus more because of the new leaf growth combined with the presence of fertilizer in the soil. Fertilizer is applied just before growth starts happening. So, in mid-to-late January (very early Spring) is a good time to apply fertilizer.

Look at Leaf Color

            Over the next couple of weeks observe the new growth. Look at the color of the leaves and the strength of growth. Dark green leaves mean the nitrogen fertilizer is inside the leaves and ready to push new growth. If we experienced cool weather earlier, then growth is slow until it gets warmer and then the tree should grow like gangbusters!

Nitrogen Produces Leaves and Stems

            If you’re established tree is not putting on some new growth by April 1, apply a high nitrogen fertilizer around the tree such as 21-0-0 or a rich compost which does basically the same thing. Spread one bag of rich compost, or about 3 pounds of 21-0-0, in a circle around the tree 18 to 24 inches from the trunk. Water it a few inches deep into the soil by hand or sprinkler. It’s important not to apply fertilizer or rich compost too close to the trunk or it could cause the fruit to drop or damage the tree.

Mulch Conserves Water

            Secondly, spread a 3 to 4-inch layer of woodchips on the surface of the soil around the tree and out to at least the edge of its canopy. Keep woodchips away from the tree trunk a few inches to avoid inciting a disease called collar rot. This mulch layer helps keep moisture in the soil and enriches it as well. You should see the tree explode with new leaf growth in about a week or two.

Time to Garden! Garden Plots Available at Provident Community Garden

Since most people are staying at home during these times and many are feverishly gardening now, you might want a raised bed or two at the Provident Garden Community Garden.

Plots are $10 per month and ready to plant which includes your irrigation water. Members are avoiding contact with each other but still gardening! Many have not gone to the grocery stores in weeks!

Provident Community Garden is located at 6001 W. Oakey, behind the Mountain View Church.  They have several 4′ x 8′ raised beds available.  The one time fee of $75 is currently being waived!  The only cost is $10/mo billed quarterly for maintenance which includes water. The Provident Community Garden is located near the cross streets of South Jones Blvd and West Oakey in Las Vegas.

Contact me if you're shy and I will forward your contact info.

http://www.providentcommunitygarden.com/aboutus/