Are you Into Food Storage and Buying Bulk?

From Elizabeth Kay at www.crazykranch.blogspot.com

k, guys, lots to say here, so here goes...

First - orders - our next REGULAR order is the fresh strawberries again in April.  From now until then is completely open, so I'm welcoming any ideas for items you need in your storage - it can be freeze-dried foods, freeze-dried meals, herbs/spices, grains, beans, etc., or we can look into bulk ordering for something bigger like a sun oven, pressure canners, wheat grinders, etc.  Or we can stock up on some medical supplies.  Really, you can throw anything out there that you're interested in, and I'll find out if it's worth it to do a bulk order with it or not.  

Meanwhile, I do still have some things from leftover orders so let me know if you are interested in any of the following:

Raw Honey from Wyoming - 1 gallon (around 12 pounds) - $30 each (I only have 2 left so hurry fast)

Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth - 50 pound bags - $50 each, 

                                                     5 gallon buckets - $23 each

                                                      or $2 a pound 

Metal Bung Wrenches for 55 gallon water barrels(will not break or warp from the heat) - $12 each

I Dare You to Eat It book - $8 each

Redmond Clay - 6 pounds (1 gallon bucket) - $50

and maybe some fresh free-range eggs from the farm while you're at it - and don't be surprised when they come in different shapes and colors - apparently that's what real eggs look like!  $3 a dozen.  :)

Also, zaycon foods is offering Alaskan salmon, cod, and white shrimp in bulk right now if you are interested -  https://secure.zayconfoods.com/refer/zf44690 

And food storage geek is doing an order for natural beef (by the cow), and for coconut oil(if you are interested in learning about the REAL benefits of coconut oil, let me know, and I'll do a post about it.  email me for more info on these orders...

I know I've been a bit sporadic regarding my blog, but I'm getting better - instead of having to look it up, you can sign up for updates, and that way it will be sent to your email whenever I update it.  My blog is www.crazykranch.blogspot.com.  

We've had some people ask us lately if we offer training for emergency preparedness/self-reliance representatives, and good news!  We do!  Let us know if you are having trouble getting started or need some ideas to get everyone thinking and excited instead of overwhelmed.  We'd be glad to help!

Is there any else I can do for you right now?  I will be starting a preparedness/reliance series on my blog soon, so stay tuned for this!  Hope everything is going well for everyone.  Hang in there, and remember - self reliance is the KEY to free agency...

Elizabeth Kay, Self-reliant Network

poohnda@hotmail.com

How to Prune Tri-Color Hydrangea

Q. I have a tri-colored hydrangea bush in a pot in the front of my house.  When is the right time to cut it back and how do I do it?  After almost 20 years I finally got beautiful flowers on it last spring. After looking it up on the internet, I think I've been cutting it wrong.  I'd like your thoughts on this.

A. Wow. You are adventurous. Hydrangea is certainly not a desert plant. It does not like a lot of heat, low humidity or intense sunlight. It does like filtered light or early morning light and humidity. Just what people would tell you NOT to grow here. Go for it!

I didnt have a picture of this tricolor hydrangea
 so I "borrowed" it online from
http://www.planfor.fr/buy,hydrangea-tricolor,9117,349,list,EN,349
so I hope they don't mind

            If you have evaporating water somewhere with no wind it should like the spot if it's not too sunny. It will also not like wind. You have to have a balance in the amount of light. Not enough light and the plant will not bloom. Too much light and it might cause leaf scorching, dieback or death.

            It is also interesting because in many hydrangea the flower color may change depending on soil acidity. It is assumed it is because of the availability of aluminum. If there is ever a plant that will test your ability as a gardener, this should be tops on the list. It is probably a wise decision to plant it in a container.

            Tricolor is referring to the color of the leaves, not the flowers. The leaves are supposed to be a combination of green, light green and creamy color. There has been mislabeling of this plant in the past. Whenever you see a tender plant with leaf colors like this it is nearly always one that you must keep out of direct sunlight during the heat.

            My understanding is that Oak leaf and tricolor are pruned the same way. My understanding is that tricolor blooms on older wood, not this past year’s wood. This means that when you prune you will want to keep your older wood established and remove any older wood that is getting too old or that may be crossing or too close to other productive stems.

            The idea is to maintain older wood and selectively removing wood that is too old while constantly renewing the older wood. This will also mean you will have to remove excess new growth that makes the plant too dense and thick while, at the same time, keeping new growth that you want to preserve for future flowers. Not an easy task and certainly one that is difficult to explain. I hope this helps.

Lining Raised Bed Garden to Prevent Salt Deposits

Q. My wife and I are building a raised garden for vegetables.  It will be about 6' x 9' and just under 3' deep and will be made of landscape bricks. What type of liner would be best along the inner walls to avoid weeping of irrigation on the stones? What type of soil can I have delivered to our site that is best for this purpose?

Raised vegetable and herb beds at The Orchard
No walls are used. The natural slop of the
bed is used to contain the raised bed.

A. Congratulations on your move toward vegetable gardening in raised beds. I think your best alternative for lining your raised bed would be to use rubberized pond liners. They can be purchased in 5 foot wide strips and in various lengths. These should be puncture resistant.

            I would recommend getting a heavy-duty liner perhaps around 45 mil, not the 20 mil types. You can find sources on the Internet by searching for pond liners. It would be nice if it were also UV resistant.

            Make sure that you have drainage on the bottom of your raised bed so it should stick up slightly above your soil level and it should also be wider than your wall so that a few inches of it also lies on the ground. These should last at least 10 years or more.

            These liners will not add the toxicity to your soil that you might get by painting the inside walls with sealant. Make sure the strips overlap each other when the inside walls.

I am not recommending this company but here is an example of the kind of pond liner I am talking about.

            In my opinion there is not a decent soil “manufactured” in the valley that can be used for vegetable growing and see fabulous results from it the first year. These types of soils that will give you fabulous results can be developed over time, usually two to three years of growing plants and adding compost at planting time and water. This does not mean you will not be able to grow any vegetables, it just means you will see a gradual improvement in the quality of the vegetables over time combined with your efforts.

            Whatever you do, do not use reject sand or even add it to an existing soil. This would be a big risk if you use it and just might result in a soil that will not grow anything decently. If it were me, I would use an existing soil at the site, or if purchased, a soil that drains freely.

            Amend it with compost in a mixture of at least 50/50 of compost. Good compost is hard to find and it takes a lot of time and effort to make it. So it will not be cheap! When evaluating whether you have good compost or not, use all of your senses; look at it, smell it and feel it. It should be dark brown, smell like a forest floor with no off smells like ammonia or manure and a fine texture, not coarse.

            Even using the best compost will not give you fabulous vegetables or herbs the first year. It will take about three years for any desert soil, or one manufactured from desert soils, to reach its full potential for vegetable production. Be patient.

            You should screen the soil and remove rocks that are larger than a golf ball sized. If you are growing root crops and asparagus then you should remove the rocks even smaller than that to a depth of 12 inches. Amend it heavily with compost for the next 2 to 3 seasons at each planting and grow something the best you can. Even the first year your vegetables will be better than what you can get at the store but in two to three years you can have superb vegetables in our desert climate and desert soils.

When to Plant Fruit Trees

Q. When is a good time to plant fruit trees?

A. We normally plant fruit trees starting at the end of January and through February if they are bareroot. Bareroot are plants that are bought and planted without any soil around the roots. The roots must be well protected from drying out during shipment, while being held before planting and even as it is placed into the planting hole.

            Container fruit trees can be planted well into early summer. They can struggle a lot if planted during the summer heat so it is not a good idea to do it then but it can be done. The next best time to plant container plants or even bare root is in the fall. Actually it is better than the spring but harder to find plants that you want because availability is limited.

            Make sure your hole is dug prior to bringing the plant home and deep enough to accommodate the plant roots. It is more important to dig the hole wide than it is to dig it deep.

How to Plant Fruit Trees

Dig the hole wide and as deep as the roots

 

Critical Success Factors

·         Keep tree roots moist

·         Make sure the bud union is ABOVE ground after planting

·         Stake the plant to prevent root movement in the soil after planting

·         Protect from rabbits and damaging sunlight

Planting New Trees. If you are buying new fruit trees to plant, dig the hole much wider than deep. Dig it deep enough to accommodate the new tree’s roots. As a general rule, we try to dig our planting holes at the Orchard about 3 feet wide for bare root trees.

            Take the soil out of the hole and mix it 50/50 with a good organic compost or high quality soil amendment. We make our own compost at The Orchard.  It is important to get the plant’s roots covered and watered as soon as possible after taking it out of the container so have the hole predug before you bring the tree home.

Add soil amendments like compost to the soil
taken from the hole and remove large rocks

Begin collapsing the sides of the planting hole around the rootball making a slurry surrounding the rootball. It is important that dry soil not come in direct contact with plant roots.

Add the amended soil from the hole back into the planting hole as you continue to collapse the sides of the hole as well.

Add more water making a very wet mud  or slurry to surround the rootball and get rid of air pockets. Round out the hole around the rootball so that the collapsed sides act as a basin for holding water around the newly planted tree.

Add water to the hole as you add the amended soil back
around the fruit tree.
Make a slurry to remove air pockets.

Remove the tree from the container (if there is one) and plant in the slurry. If there is no container (bare root), then plant directly into the soil keeping the bud union above ground. Fill the basin with water and allow the water to settle the soil in the basin.

Tie the tree tightly to a stake driven into
solid ground at the bottom of the hole

Stake the tree to immobilize the roots, not the top of the tree. Drive the stake through the rootball, or next to it if it is a large stake, and into the solid soil beneath the rootball at the bottom of the hole. Tie the tree to the stake as low on the tree as you can which will keep the rootball from moving. We use green nursery tape to do this. It stretches as the tree grows. The stake is removed in the fall of the same year as it was planted. No longer. A tree should not need it beyond this. If it does, the tree was improperly planted or rootbound in the container.

One inch hexagonal chicken wire, 24 inches
wide, is cut into a three foot length to make
a protective cylinder around the young tree

The hole is filled with water three times after it has been planted to help remove air pockets. Once planted the tree is handwatered once a week in combination with the normal irrigations to make sure the soil in the planting hole and the undisturbed soil surrounding the planting hole are wet.

Whitewash the new tree and put rabbit protection (chicken wire) around the new planting, securing it to the stake. Whitewash is made from white or any light colored latex paint by adding an equal amount of water and mixing.

Wood mulch is added to the soil surface around the tree but outside of the rabbit protection to keep moisture in the soil, suppress weeds, add organics back to our desert soil, contribute to soil mircroorganism and worm activity, help keep soil cooler and many other reason. The rabbit protection helps keep the mulch away from the trunk of young trees which might contribute to "collar rot" a rotting of the thin bark of young trees due to some disease organisms present in most soils.

The chicken wire is removed in about four years when rabbits are no longer a threat to larger trees. The mulch is then allowed to come in contact with the trunk as the trunk has matured and more resistant to collar rot organisms.

Selection of Fruit Trees

Arrival of 20 bare root fruit trees from Dave Wilson Nursery
in 2009.

You can purchase fruit trees growing in containers as well as bare root (no soils surrounding the roots). In southern Nevada, bare root fruit trees are not available through retail outlets. However, bareroot trees can be purchased mail-order or online and we do purchase bareroot trees for sale and distribution at the orchard. Orders are normally taken in September for a January delivery. Containerized fruit trees usually survive better for inexperienced gardeners but bareroot trees have many more advantages. These advantages include faster establishment after planting and fewer problems with developing roots among other advantages.

Containerized fruit trees. A major problem with containerized fruit trees are with its roots. Frequently containerized plants are overgrown in their containers leading to roots that are circling and deformed in the container. There is very little you can do to these plants to reestablish a well developed root system and should be avoided.

Fruit trees growing in smaller containers will always establish faster in the landscape after planting than plants in larger containers. For most fruit trees, container size has little to do with when they come into production.

Containerized fruit tree

It is best to select containerized plants that are in proportion, or even somewhat undersized, for the container but still exhibit strong, healthy growth. Some nurseries in southern Nevadawill allow you to inspect the root system before purchasing. If this is the case, gently turn over the container and remove the tree upside down and quickly examine the roots. The small feeder roots should be creamy white and prolific with little evidence of circling roots on the edge of the root ball.

 Container fruit trees should not be transported unprotected in the back of a vehicle. Wind damage due to a moving vehicle can be severe. As soon as the tree is brought home, water it and put it on the shady side of the building, out of direct sunlight on the container, until ready to plant. Plant as soon as possible. It is highly recommended that you dig the planting hole, amend the soil and have everything ready to finish the planting (stakes, rabbit protection, whitewash, mulch) before you bring the tree home!

Bare root fruit trees. Bare root fruit trees can easily be located on the Internet by searching with the name of the type and variety of the fruit tree and the words “online”, “nursery” and the state where you would like to purchase from. As an example, if I were looking for a Pink Lady apple from an online nursery, I would search the internet with the words, “apple” “Pink Lady” “online” “nursery” and either Nevadaor a neighboring state where fruit tree selection is available online. Check with The Orchard and see if we have any leftover fruit trees from our fall order/spring delivery. They do go fast. 

Bare root fruit trees are usually a better choice than those growing in containers. Planting holes should be prepared well in advance of the arrival of bare root fruit trees. When bare root fruit trees arrive, they should be unpackaged immediately and placed into clean, fresh, cool water and allowed to soak for several hours prior to planting. The container holding the water should be sanitized and triple rinsed with freshwater prior to filling it. Tree roots should be totally submerged. If the trees are to be kept overnight, place them and the bucket in a cool, shady location. Bare root fruit trees should not be kept in standing water for more than 24 hours. Keep fruit tree roots wet until ready to plant.

Tree selection. Important things to look for when selecting a fruit tree include a variety known to do well in our climate, appropriate amount of chilling hours, and a suitable rootstock.

 Varieties of fruit trees are evaluated at the UNCE research and demonstration Orchard in North Las Vegas and located at UNLV’s Center for Urban Horticulture and Water Conservation. You can also contact me at Extremehort@aol.com for suggestions or search for our recommended varieties here on my blog. Many fruit trees do quite well in southern Nevada. Fruit tree selection is limited more by elevation and winter minimum temperatures.



Bare root fruit tree
with dogleg at the
union of the rootstock
and the desired variety

Chilling hours refers to the number of hours below a threshold temperature which accumulate during the winter season. Fruit trees that originate from temperate climates use winter chilling hours to judge when spring has arrived. In the Las Vegas Valley we would consider 300 to 400 hours to be are chilling requirement for fruit trees. Although some fruit trees which require more hours than this will grow and often times produce fruit, there are risks involved when selecting fruit trees that require more hours than that. However, we do grow fruit trees at the orchard with a much higher number of chilling hours than we receive with no obvious concerns for the homeowner or small scale grower that we have been able to note so far.

Many fruit trees are growing on root systems that are not their own. This is done through techniques such as grafting and budding. Rootstocks can be important for controlling diseases, insects and the growth habit of a tree. For example, rootstocks for apple's are usually selected for controlling its mature height and are referred to as dwarfing rootstocks. If plant size is a consideration for an apple, then a dwarfing rootstock is a necessity. Dwarfing rootstocks are usually not a consideration for stone fruits. Rootstocks are usually selected for disease control. Most commercial rootstocks for stone fruits have performed well in southern Nevada.

Why Is My Pine Tree So Sparse?

Q. Why does my one pine tree seem so sparse and inadequate?  I purchased four Mondale pines and treat them all equally. But the one shown in the left picture looks so scrawny.  The other one shown looks healthy and appears to be robust.  Any thoughts on that? 

Aleppo pine blight

A. The usual reason for a pine tree being sparse and not full is that it is not receiving the same treatment as the others. I have to assume the picture you are painting for me with words is the same one that I am seeing and understanding.

            When you say the tree is ”sparse or inadequate” this, to me, means that there are far fewer needles along the branches of this tree compared to the branches of other trees. Pine trees generally maintain needles on their branches until the wood gets to be three to five years old and then the needles are dropped from this older wood. This older wood is needle-less except for other small branches growing from it that are less than five years old.

            The reason for thinning is that there is not enough young growth covering the entire tree so that needles are lost at a higher rate than they are being replaced. If you were to look at the growth of the youngest branches you can actually see each year’s growth for several seasons and count back several years of growth on one branch. This gives you an idea of how much growth a tree is putting on each year so that it can be compared to the other trees.

            So bottom line for “thinning” is that the tree is not growing fast enough (or putting on enough new growth). I know that this seems a bit simplified but we have to start at the simplest point if we are going to try and figure it out. Reasons for thinning include water, fertilizer, damage to the tree, or disease or insects. So let’s follow the keep it simple rule first and handle the most frequent and common reasons. Once we have eliminated these then we can move on to the more “exotic” answers.

Pine tree dieback due to shading

            By far the most common reason is differences in the amount of applied water or water available to the plant. So when you say you treat them the same it does not necessarily mean these treatments are all reaching the trees equally. But if there is inadequate water two things will happen; the tree will put on less growth and the needles will be partially brown from the tips.

            The first thing to do is to check and make sure that whatever is delivering water to the tree is not plugged. Secondly make sure that water applied to the base of the tree is not running off the surface to some other location. Just because water is applied to a tree does not mean it is getting to the roots.

            Remember that as these trees get bigger their demand for water increases. The increase is not a simple few gallons per year but rather the increase is much more dramatic because trees are three dimensional in their water use unlike a lawn. A lawn doubles in size then its water use doubles. When a tree doubles in size its need for water is probably more than double.



Pine tree thinning due to lack of water

            One tree showing signs of water stress might be an indicator that in the next few years the others may also show the same signs. What you are seeing is a snapshot in time and may not indicate what will happen in future years if all things remain the same. As a precaution, I would start to increase your water to the trees and supplement the thin tree with some water from a hose to see if there is a difference.

            The next most common reason is that the roots of the tree in the container never fully established into the surrounding soil after planting. This can be because the tree was too old for the container and the roots started circling inside the container.

            It can also be because the tree was not firmly staked at the time of planting so the root system doesn’t move. You should be able to push on the trunk and NOT see any movement of soil at the base of the trunk.



Mondale pine dieback due to unknown,
nonpathological problem

            If you see movement of soil then the tree most likely never successfully transplanted from the container into the hole. If the tree moves easily in the soil then it is difficult for them to ever get established and most likely never will if it has been five years and they haven’t.

            Trees need to be firmly staked when planted to immobilize their roots and give them a chance to get established in the amended soil surrounding the container roots. If this is the case you are better off getting rid of it and replanting.

            A third possibility can be that it was planted too deep. If planted too deep the tree can die fairly quickly in one season or linger for several years due to damage to the trunk from disease organisms.

            Pull the soil away from the trunk and see how deep the first roots are. They should be no more than perhaps half an inch from the soil surface. Sometimes soil can fall back into the hole after planting, the plant can sink in the hole (this is why I tell people not to dig the hole deep but rather wide) or mulch can be pushed up against the trunk when it is young causing a disease called “collar rot” to develop.



Pine tree damage due to weed killer ie
herbicide (dicamba)

            The next most common reason is damage to the roots or trunk. This will be far less likely than a watering problem but much easier to identify. This can be physical damage like construction, damage from chemicals like salts or weed killers, insect or diseases like collar rot.

            If it is insects or diseases it is most likely to affect a few branches rather than the entire tree unless the damage from insects or diseases occurred to the roots or trunk. If damage is to the roots or trunk then thinning may also occur and look very similar to a lack of water.

            So inspect the trunk for loose or damaged bark. This can include damage from equipment like mowers or line trimmers if it is in a lawn area or surrounded by other plants. Check and make sure the tree is firmly anchored in the soil after this number of years.

            If none of this seems to pan out lets follow the keep it simple rule for now and increase your water during the spring and summer months.

            After looking at your pictures again another reason occurred to me. That is shade. If the tree is being shaded by other plants and not receiving enough light (at least six hours a day) then these branches in the shade can drop their needles. If this is the case then some pruning to allow more light will help.

Should I wrap the Trunks of My Date Palms?

Q. I live in Pahrump and last winter we had a cold spell that turned the fronds on most of my Canary Palms brown and one of them is still recovering. How can I protect them from the cold the rest of the winter? A few neighbors have wrapped theirs where the fronds meet the trunk with burlap. Will this help?

A. There really is no magic way to do it. Many palm trees generate their new growth in the coming and future years from the terminal buds located at the tip of the trunk. The bud is usually good to about 10F for short periods of time. If cold kills the terminal bud the tree will eventually die because it cannot continue its growth without that terminal bud. Damage can also occur to the trunk from freezing temperatures so wrapping the trunk or wrapping some lights around the trunk might help if there is wind and low temperatures.

            Remember that cold damage is measured in how low the temperature gets combined with the amount of time it stays at these temperatures. Wind makes it worse. Then you have to figure the time of year as well.

            Extreme cold is usually more damaging in late fall and early spring than mid-winter. Winter damage to palms may not show up right after the cold temperatures. In some cases the extent of the damage may linger for years. Not very encouraging but I hope this helps.

My Turnips Taste Very Bitter

Q. I planted turnips from six-packs in September.  I harvested two beautiful turnips but their flavor was terrible, approaching inedible. They were very bitter. What may have happened?

A. The timing for planting sounds okay but heat will do that to turnips and many other root crops. Turnips have a higher germination threshold temperature, about 60F, and so have to go in a bit earlier in the fall than beets, parsnips or rutabagas and later in the spring. Also, a lack of water would too but if they are a good size and shape then I doubt it is a water problem.

            Another thing to note is that turnips, like rutabagas, can contain a bitterness that some people find intolerable. This is an inherited trait in people so that some people will taste the bitterness while others may not. You may be one of these people. Also, you might try boiling them first, throw the water out half way through boiling and replace it. This may help remove bitterness.

            I would switch to a different variety or grow kohlrabi instead which I find much more enjoyable and easier to grow. Make sure your soil has been prepared with plenty of compost and phosphorus prior to planting. Make sure they get adequate water and I would even mulch them with some straw after they emerge if the temperatures are still warm.

I got an update. Turnips harvested later were not bitter so sounds like they were planted a bit too early and got hit with some high temperatures.

When Should I Pick Oranges in Las Vegas?

Q. I have a tree loaded with oranges but I am not sure when to pick them. I read in the paper today about the Meyer lemon tree and you said to pick them now. Should I pick my Washington navel orange now?

A. Since this is not a commercial growing area for oranges we have to take our best guess at the time for picking. It is not the same for Myers lemon and different oranges will be ready at different times. The problem here is if you wait to pick through the winter, we may get a hard freeze and you could lose the fruit.

            Washington navel orange fruit mature at the Christmas season in California. In hot hot tropical climates the fruit may never turn orange. In cooler climates the fruit turn orange when they mature. If it is close to Christmas and the fruit is orange, harvest it. Use a shears and leave a small nib or piece of stem attached to the fruit if you plan on keeping them for any length of time. If the stem is pulled from the fruit, it leaves a fresh wound where disease organisms can enter and cause early rotting. Pulling them is okay if you are going to use them right away, otherwise cut the stem.

            By the way, if you are going to juice this particular orange then remove the peel first or it may be bitter.

When Should I Cut My Grape Vines Back?

Q. When should I cut my grape vines back?  They're on a trellis, and are 1 year old.  During the summer they spread out very well, and produced several large groups of table grapes.

A. I would wait until late February or early March to prune them. We still have some potentially difficult times to go through this winter for grapes. Cutting them early may result in a loss of bud wood and fruit production.

            When pruning you will cut back this past years growth (it will be a different color) so that only one or two buds remain. I prefer two. Also I usually prune it back so that ten or twelve buds remain if I do it early. Then just before bud swelling in the spring (like about early March) I cut then spurs back to two buds. This way if there is dieback during the winter I won't lose the fruit producing spur.

Privet Turned Brown With Cold Weather. Is it Dead?

Q. My privet hedges turned a copper brown color.  I have three in a row on one side that are really brown while the hedge on the far right still has a substantial amount of green but is starting to get spots.  Not sure what to do to save them. Pictures are attached.

A. These pictures look like possibly cold damage. It could be more than this but I want you to do this to find out. Walk over to the privets and start bending some branches just below where they were pruned. If they are still soft and supple and bend easily without breaking then it is most likely cold damage that caused leaf death.

            If they are supple and bend, don't do anything. They will leaf out again this spring as temperatures begin to warm or you may see them leaf out sooner than that.

            If they all are snapping when you bend them, then there is severe dieback. It is still possible the dieback is due to cold weather this past November. Cold temperatures are very damaging during the early winter if the plants were caught unexpectedly by sudden drops in temperature.

            There was really nothing that you could have done to prevent this. It is the luck of the draw sometimes. However, if there was severe dieback you should have healthy stems closer to the ground. I would wait until late February or March and see where the new growth comes from. I would then cut the dead growth slightly below this new growth.

            Check and make sure they were getting water this winter. Turn your station on and look for water coming out of your irrigation emitters. If there was blockage and you didn't notice, it's possible they could die back from a lack of water. My best hunch, however, is cold damage.

My Pomegranates Were Spoiled When I Harvested Them

Q. I have a single, four year old pomegranate tree in Las Vegas.  The tree produced excellent fruit the first three years.  This year the fruit was spoiled as they came off the tree.  The tree appeared normal.  Looking at the fruit, it wasn't evident if it was infested with a bug or a disease.  Would you have any suggestions on what caused it? 

Adults

A. The most likely reason would be an insect called the leaf footed plant bug. They will infest pomegranates, almonds and pistachios most frequently. Their feeding can cause small holes in the outside of the fruit or nut.

            This wound can open the fruit for infection by disease and possibly cause a nut not to develop inside the shell causing what we called blanks, or no nut, to develop. You will see these insects overwintering on your fruit trees or nearby landscape trees as well.

Adults and nymphs

            These are nefarious denizens of the worst kind and seem to have no value except to breed more of the same. I would recommend spraying your fruit and nut trees with dormant oil twice during the winter and follow this a few days later with an insecticidal soap.

            I have seen most of these adults overwintering on the stems and trunks of trees, usually in the sunlight because of the heat they can get. I hope this helps.

White Leaves on Sage Probably Cold Damage But Dont Dry It At Such a High Temperature!

Q. I have a large pot of sage growing on the protected side of my house (north) where all my citrus and other herbs have done well.  I notice that when the weather cools, the sage leaves turn a whitish color.  I collected some for sage dressing, but I didn’t bother using the white leaves, just the green ones.  Is this a natural occurrence during cold weather?  Would those leaves have been okay to use? 

            I dry the good leaves in the oven at 225 degrees for about 1 hour, leave them out in the house to get thoroughly dry for a day or so, then crush them in a coffee grinder.  Works great for my use in the kitchen, especially for sage dressing.  

A. This white discoloration is probably some damage to the leaves due to cold. You are right, don’t use them.

            However, drying at 225F is far too high. This should be done at temperatures between 95 and about 125F. There is a lot of damage done to the herbs at high temperatures, particularly above 140F.

            Our weather and climate is perfect for drying herbs without the use of extra heat. It will take longer than one hour but the quality will be much, much better. Cut the stems of those with flower buds just starting to form. Hang these bunches in the open air and not in intense sunlight for 1 week to dry.

            If this is too slow for you, use a cookie sheet and put in the oven at the lowest temperature that provides heat. Bottom line, do not use excessive heat and keep them out of intense sunlight while drying. Hope this helps.

Don't Overdue It With Ashes from Your Fireplace in the Garden

Q. I've enjoyed your articles in the LVRJ over the years. I Love my backyard garden here on Sunrise Mountain but it's been a challenge compared to growing a garden on the Island of Maui.  I would like to augment my garden soil with the wood ashes from my fireplace. Would that be good for the garden soil? 

A. If these ashes are from plants then there should be no problem incorporating some of it. Much of this has to do with the volume that you want to add. Small volumes of this distributed over a larger area will be no problem as it will be high in some nutrients. One ton of wood ash has about 15 lbs of phosphorus and 50 lbs of potassium but it is strongly alkaline which we don't need. If this ash is coming from plastics or other manufactured products then I would not use it.

Sour Tangerine May Not Be a Tangerine

Sour orange rootstock that took over a Navel Orange tree

Q. I have a dwarf tangerine in a container that gives lots of fruit but it is sour. Why?

A. Sugar content is developed over time as fruit matures. When the fruit is immature it usually has higher acidity and low sugar content. As the fruit matures the acidity drops, and sugar content climbs. Be sure to wait for full color development in the fruit and it should be at its highest sugar content.

            Tangerine is sometimes grafted onto sour orange rootstock. If the tangerine part of the plant dies, the sour orange rootstock will replace it producing beautiful fruit but very sour and it will never become sweet. If this is the case, and this happens a lot in Las Vegas due to our winter freezes, dig it out and replace it.

What To Do to Fruit Trees in December and January

Todo Lists for December and January

Pruning: lower the heights of fruit trees. Lower the heights of fruit trees if you want to do most of your tree management without a ladder. Lowering the height of your fruit tree to a pruned height of 6 1/2 feet will allow you to prune, spray and harvest while standing on the ground. Most full sized fruit trees can be kept to this height through judicious pruning methods. Apples should be grown on a semi-dwarfing rootstock.

Pruning: begin pruning for production. Each type of fruit tree is pruned differently. You must know where your fruit is being produced on the tree that you are pruning. Delay pruning grapes until late February.

Mulch. Use organic mulch in the Orchard or around fruit trees. This is not the same as bark mulch which is inferior to wood mulch. Wood mulch can be kept to a depth of 4 to 8 inches around fruit trees. On younger trees, keep wood mulch 12 inches away from the trunks until they are 6 to 8 years old. Green waste from pruned and chipped ornamental trees makes an excellent mulch. Avoid using trees such as Mesquite with their large thorns and palm trees which decompose very slowly. Organic mulches such as wood mulch return nutrients to the soil, increase microbial activity, retain moisture around the plant roots, reduce weed problems and help keep the soil cool.

Four year old trees with wood mulch. Keep the mulch
six inches from the trunk on young trees.

 Irrigate fruit trees deeply every 10 days. After leaf drop, irrigations can be applied every 10 days to two weeks if you have a surface mulch applied to the soil. Sandy soils may require irrigations weekly to every 10 days. Heavier soils may require an irrigation every two weeks.

Borer control. This time of year concentrate on removing borer damage from fruit trees. Look for borer damage on the upper surfaces of limbs, particularly of peach, nectarine and an apricot. Using a sharp, sterilized knife remove the damaged wood from these areas. Be sure to cut all the way down to fresh wood when removing damaged wood. Let the tree heal by itself. Do not apply pruning paint but you could apply whitewash.

That is one of the flatheaded borers.

Dormant oil application. Dormant oil is an insecticide made from petroleum products used in organic production. The oil itself is not toxic but spraying it on the limbs and trunk of fruit trees helps to suffocate overwintering, usually soft bodied, insects that are pests of tree fruits. Usually to applications are made during the winter months.

Weed control. Weeds that are living close to your fruit trees provide homes for overwintering insects. Once your trees begin growing in the spring, these insects move from weeds to your trees. Keep in areas near your fruit trees without weeds.

Using a backpack sprayer to apply whitewash. Clean
thoroughly when done!

Renew whitewash on fruit trees if needed. Whitewash provides a light colored covering to the outside of the bark of the tree and its limbs. It is particularly important in reducing sun damage to fruit trees due to our high light intensities. Whitewash can be made by diluting white latex paint with an equal amount of water or more. Dilute the white latex paint so that it will color exposed areas of the tree white and reduce sunburn. Reducing the sunburn will reduce the damage from borers.

Pull wood mulch away from the trunks of young trees about a foot. Wood mulch that gathers around the trunks of small trees can damage them.

Remove any stakes from trees planted early in the year. Fruit trees that are planted correctly and are not overgrown in their containers will need staking for only one season. If your trees have not become established after one season, there is a problem.

Limb spreaders easily seen in the winter time

Remove limb spreaders that were used earlier in the year. Limbs spreaders are used to increase a limbs angle of attachment to the trunk of the tree. Ideally, this should be a 45° angle. Limbs spreaders can be applied to the tree now but there is less danger of breakage in larger limbs when the sap is flowing in March. Ideally they should be applied when the limbs are one to two years old.

 Fertilize fruit trees. Fruit trees respond nicely to fertilizers with moderate amounts of nitrogen, high phosphorus and moderate to high potassium. Do not apply them earlier than January. Mineral fertilizers can be granular or in the form of stakes. Organic fertilizers are preferred but can be slower acting. Apply fertilizers where water is delivered to the fruit tree. Keep all fertilizers 12 inches away from the trunk to prevent damage to the tree. An iron chelate, preferably with the chelate in the form of EDDHA, should be applied to the same area, watered in and covered with mulch.

Irrigation system should be checked for plugging, broken lines and runoff.

My Shrubs Growing In Rock Mulch Turned Brown in November

Q. I now water once a week but my shrubs are looking like they might in the hottest part of the summer. Leaves look dry, burnt and falling off. My average shrub is about 3'x3' and receives 3-4 gallons per week week based on my emitters and time on. Did I cut back to much ? What should I do to try to revive them ?

A. Your watering sounds very appropriate and probably what I would have scheduled as well. You have to make sure, however, that the water which is scheduled to be delivered to your plants is actually getting there. Make sure you check for plugged emitters when the system is on. You should have a filter on your drip system even if you are on city water.

             It could be several possibilities. I have to walk through them with you because I don't know much about their previous history. For me, it looks like possibly watering, possibly collar rot at the base of the trunk where the rock mulch sits against the stem, it could be very low temperature damage as possibilities. If there were some very low temperatures just prior to that than this could be just that. If there were no low temperatures than most likely it is not. Then we have to look at watering issues including the rock against the trunk.

First determine whether the plant is dead or not. Bend some branches and see if they snap. If they are still supple and just have damaged leaves then it is a temporary setback and they will regrow and set new leaves in the spring. If they snap when you bend them, it may be dead. You will have to pull it anyway so start bending the branches and see how much of the plant is dead. If the amount is sizable, remove it. When you remove it look at the trunk where the rock mulch was resting against it.

Use a knife or your thumbnail and scrape the bark away from the trunk starting about an inch above where the rock mulch sat and down along the stem to the roots. Look to see if there appears to be a dark area or rotten area in the trunk or bark around the rock mulch line. If there is, then it is collar rot. Make sure on any new shrubs that rock mulch does not lay against the trunk or, in some cases, the plant was not planted too deeply. It should have been planted the same depth as it was growing in the nursery container. Nurseries don't have many plants this time of year because they are trying to reduce their inventories. You can look for a replacement plant but chances are you may not find one that you like until next spring when it gets warm. I hope this helps.