Leaves Burning Up on Cherry Tomato Plant in Container

This is not the readers tomato plant. These
are some leaf spots on tomato that were
never identified but probably diseased. Make
sure your leaf scorch is not a disease problem.

Q. Hi, I just read your gardening article in the Summerlin South View paper and thought I would take a shot at sending you an email with some concerns I have with my tomato plants. I moved down here a year ago from MN and was an avid gardener up there.  Down here?  It's a different story.  I have cherry tomato plants on my patio.  Not always in direct sunlight, but I water every day.  They seem like the leaves are burning up on the plants and the fruit has tapered off.  Any suggestions or ideas?  If you aren't able to answer this, can you point me int he right direction please? 

A. I dont know how you prepared your soil for the container but that is important. So make sure it is a good quality soil if you prepare it yourself or buy it in bags. Tomato production tapers off when temperatures consistently stay above 95F. Tomatoes and many other vegetables do not set very well under high temperatures. As temperatures drop, they will begin to set again.Vegetables that set fruit will need at least 6 hours of strong sunlight every day.
 

Morning sun is preferable to afternoon sun because usually afternoon sun also means a hotter microclimate. Direct sun on containers can fry a soil, particularly if the container is small, single-layered, dry when it gets the direct sunlight and dark colored.

I would double pot containers (one container inside another) to help reduce direct sunlight on the growing container. Put the plants in direct sunlight in the morning hours, make sure you use a good soil each time you plant and modify it with good compost.

Cukes Yellowing and Deformed and Beans Not Producing

Royalty Purple Pod Bush bean growing at The Orchard

Q. I am a fan and follow your column religiously. I have planted a garden for the first time this year. Out of three tomato plants two gave a good yield, the other had blossoms but nothing. The cucumber plants are growing like crazy, and have a bumper crop of cukes, but now they are turning yellow, and some are deformed. The leaves are turning yellow, and there are hundreds of these tiny little flies all over. I have sprayed with water but they come right back. The string beans have tons of blooms, but no beans, even though the vines are growing like crazy. My dill didn't make it. I have some sorrel, and the basil did well. My strawberries gave three or four little berries, and that was about all.

Dragon Tongue bush bean growing at The Orchard. Very
susceptible to crown rot by the way.

            I need and would like to take some classes, if I could find the time, but my husband has dementia, so I am kept quite busy. If you could shed a little light on my problem I would appreciate it. Do you think I should tear it all out, and start to get ready for Fall planting?

A. I am sending you a copy of Sylvan Witwer’s vegetable production book. He was retired from Michigan State University and was a celebrated horticulturist and vegetable scientist living in Overton, NV, after retirement. He has since moved to Utah.

I would read through this and follow his planting guide for time of year for planting things. It is pretty hot right now for alot of things to set fruit. Many have trouble setting fruit when tempertures top 95 to 100F. Your beans are out of season now.

Start ripping out the things that are not producing or producing pooly. Reamend those spots with compost, a GOOD compost. Good composts are expensive. Use a preplant fertilizer at the time of planting  high in phosphorus and mixed with the composted soil where you plant. If you are organic, use bone meal or equivalent high in phosphorus.

Variety selection is important. Record which varieties worked for you and which did not. If you plant at the right time, your beans and cucumber production should be better.

Crooked cucumbers. Generally, misshapen fruit are the result of stress or poor pollination. Poor pollination (cukes require about 8 to 10 visits by a bee) result in crooked cucumbers. However, fruit shaped like a lady's figure may be the result of drought during its development or not enough visits by bees. As temperatures get hotter, bees are less efficient as pollinators. They spend alot of their time and energy trying to cool down their hives or homes. We have to rely more on our native pollinators like the leafcutter bee.

 

So poor pollinations can cause crooked, misshapen and yellow cukes to form. As temperatures drop and if you keep your plants alive and healthy, you should see your production pick up again. However, replanting cukes from seed will also work and then you get the advantage of having younger, more prolific plants.

As far as your "flies" are concerned, I am not sure what they are or if they are causing problems but if you feel they are then usually frequent applications of insecticidal soap like Safers can reduce pest problems if sprayed directly ON the insects. This means spraying UNDER the leaves as well as on top of the plants. Never spray plants when they are in bloom unless it is at dusk or a few minutes after sunrise.

Asparagus Crowns Not Covered Deeply. Bury them now?

Asparagus started in a trench from seed and
on drip irrigation at The Orchard

Q. I planted asparagus crowns in March at at depth of 12 inches. They are in a pit and my plan was to cover the shoots with soil, an inch at a time, as they grew. Well, they grew rather sporadically so I didn't want to inadvertently bury a new shoot...so I never backfilled the pit to the level of the surrounding soil. Currently, I have about five shoots (out of 12 crowns) that have ferned. The crowns are about two inches underground and about 10 inches below the level of the surrounding soil. Is it OK to backfill the remaining 10 inches at this point? Or would that damage the plants? On the watering, there's no set schedule. Just keep the ground moist, but not too damp, at a certain soil depth, correct?

A. I would slowly add the soil over time up to the correct level. The problem you have now is that the crowns have adjusted to this soil level and I would be worried that completely covering the crowns might damage what you have already. When you begin to backfill, mix in plenty of compost with the soil you are using for backfill.

Asparagus started from seed and the trench
is all filled in. The asparagus spears are not
harvested the first year from seed. Spears
are allowed to grow and fern out to help
get the crowns established.

Dont just use desert soil. Make sure the soil is loose and can drain easily. Remove any large rocks so that these rocks do not cause the spears to emerge damaged or interfere with their emergence. Part of the sporadic emergence, I would guess, would have been your watering or how the soil drained. Asparagus loves to grow along streambanks or irrigation canals. It is an oasis plant so to speak and loves the same environment as palms, grapes, figs and even pomegranates. I hope this helps.

Prune Out All Dead Areas of a Bottlebrush?

Q. I have a Bottlebrush shrub with a dead area. My question-What would be the best course of action to improve the condition of this shrub, pruning out all dead areas, then cutting it back?

Bottlebrush

A.  On your bottle brush I would guess this is either lemon or Scarlet bottlebrush. Depending on the bottlebrush it can get anywhere from 15 to 25 feet tall. You can train it as a large shrub if you want or small tree. This is an Australian plant that is not really considered a desert plant. However, they are typically fairly drought tolerant which just means they can survive periods of time with little water and recover when water is reapplied to them in sufficient quantities.

They don't particularly like desert soils and have a tough time in our alkaline soil environment. For this reason they tend to go yellow which is chlorosis most likely from a lack of available iron. They also would rather be growing in soils heavily amended in organic material such as compost at the time of planting. They will also grow better in a wood mulch, not rock mulch.

To correct iron deficiency apply an iron chelate to the soil in early spring or late winter. You can do it now and still get some response from it. The best iron chelate for the job is iron EDDHA (check the ingredients label on the label). You can spray the foliage with an iron solution several times and get a similar result but the soil application is much more ineffective and efficient.

Another bottlebrush showing extreme chlorosis in rock mulch

You will have to do this every year particularly if you continue to grow it in bare soil or rock mulch. This plant should be fertilized in January with an all-purpose fertilizer for trees and shrubs as well.

You should make a determination about whether you want it to be a shrub or tree. I like them better as small trees. If you decide to keep it is a tree then prune at the soil level so that you have 3 to 5 major trunks originating from the soil surface. Remove everything else and keep that area under the tree free from new suckers. Remove any broken or crossed limbs.

After you have fertilized this tree with an all-purpose fertilizer and iron for the next two years, then begin to work on developing the architecture of the trees canopy.

Early Mid and Late Peaches for Season Long Production

Q. I live in the Mesquite area (1800 ft elevation) and was looking to plant 3 differant varieties of peach's that would not ripen all at the same time. Would also appreciate some advice on when to plant them and where I might obtain them should you recommend bare roots.



The eye-popping visual of Indian Free peach. Flavor is
incredible as well when it is grown in the desert.

A. It is hard to predict which peach trees will be available for you to purchase to help you plan. I can make recommendations but these trees may or may not be available.


Off of the top of my head, I would probably pick a yellow peach, a white peach for sure. Something like May Pride, Babcock and Indian Free. If you look at my downloadable recommended variety list it will tell you which are early, mid and late peaches.

http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2011/10/recommended-fruit-trees-for-southern.html

You can also look at varieties posted on Dave Wilson Nursery at

http://www.davewilson.com/br40/br40_trees/peaches.html

The End of Ramazan. How Did I Do?

Children's kite landed on our roof. Just like in Kabul
they children fly kites here on windy days.

Ramazan, or Ramadan in Arabic, is over. Today, Sunday August 19 is the official end of Ramazan and the beginning of a celebration called Eid. Some Afghan friends estimate that about 80% of the population in the cities probably fasted during Ramadan. In the rural areas it was closer to 100% excluding children, the elderly and the sick. Also women who menstruate are also excluded for three days during that period of the month.

I have to admit it was tough when those temperatures hit 110F and above. Ramazan moves around on the calendar so it is not always during the peak summer months. I have to admit it was much easier when the day time temperatures were closer to 100F which fortunately was fairly often which was unusual here.

Afghan local tomatoes. 
Yes, they are as good as they look. 

How did I do? I came to a crisis point. One Afghan woman asked me in a rather impatient tone why I was fasting. She actually seemed like she was offended. I told her that I wanted to find out what my staff was going through. How could I know what I could ask them to do or not to do if I did not understand their situation. Her gaze softened. Her face turned to one of shock almost. She had  never considered this as a reason why someone might do this. Once she understood my motives she became a good friend but she was distant until she understood the Why.

This also caused me to think through my reasoning and the fasting restrictions I had put on myself. If I wanted to understand what they were going through, couldn't I just do it for a couple of days, understand the hardship, and break the fast for myself? I could. Would I understand the long term effects that fasting for a month had on my staff? Probably not
. But certainly there was no reason for me to wait for the Mull

Local higher end retail market. The low end is at the
bazaar.

ah to give his prayer some time around 7 pm to break my fast. I was not Muslim and I didn't need to live by this conduct. So I would break my fast after they went home for the day and I was alone...usually around 6 pm. Did I need to get up at 230 am and eat and drink so I could start fasting when the Mullah gave his prayer at around 430 am? No. So when I got up at 5 am i belted down my cup of java and then began my fast. Water and food.

The time of Eid is a time when family and friendships are renewed. The first day family visited each other. Food, massive amounts of good food they could or could not afford, was laid on the table. Candies, fruits, vegetables, meat,... it was all there. The second day close friends would visit other close friends. And the third day everyone joined in. It is a special time for children. Almost like our Halloween without costumes, children visiting and given candy and goodies at each of the houses.

I have been invited to two homes so far on tomorrow. I feel honored. It is the second day of Eid. I have close friends. I feel blessed.

Where Do I Get Pheremone Traps?

Q. Thank you. I have learned a lot from you. Thank you for all your newsletter. I hope that you continue to do all the good work. Do you know where I can get pheromone traps for insects that cause damage in our area and also for thrips that damage nectarines?

A. Try Peaceful Valley at

http://www.groworganic.com/weed-pest-control/organic-pest-control/insect-lure.html

            Pheremone traps can be used to identify what insect problems you have in your backyard orchard and when to spray. Commonly we use them for peaches, nectarines, apples and pears. You will want a trap for each insect and about three or four lures for each trap since they have to be replaced regularly. You will replace the lures about every 4 to 5 weeks until harvest then you can stop.

            There are no traps for thrips. For thrips you will need Spinosad biological insecticide which you can get from local nurseries. The label may not say spinosad but may say something like borer, bagworm control. You may have to look at the ingredients to see the spinosad.

Emerald Ash Borer in Southern Nevada?

Emerald ash borer damage to
Green ash. From Wikipeida.

Q. Each summer when I vacation I note the westward movement of the Emerald Ash Borer, now in Eastern Nebraska.  Is it safe to assume this menace will make its way to Nevada and, if so, is there any defense against its damage?  It seems that Ash trees make up a large portion of the urban canopy here, many of which are already stressed by lawn removal.  Do you anticipate a problem? 

A. There is a good chance it will not reach southern Nevada and become a problem. It is currently restricted to lower Canada and the northern tier states extending as far south as Missouri as far as I can tell. Our climate may not be favorable for its spread. But we will not know until it gets here and it will get here. Also the ash trees it favors seems to be northern zone ash trees. Let’s keep our fingers crossed on this one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_ash_borer

When to Add Compost and How Much?

Compost being made by Ponderosa Dairy in Amargosa
Nevada by the windrow method

Q. I hope you remember me from the last time you were in Kingman teaching.  I am a Master Gardener.  My question involves composting in the home garden for spring planting.  There seems to be no definitive answers as to when is the best time to add compost to the garden, and exactly how much compost to apply.  I hear that it may be better to apply the compost before the first frost so that it has time to break down before spring planting, and then again I hear that you should add it maybe a month or so before you plant.  The latter is normally the approach I take.  So far, so good, but can you share your thoughts with me on these two topics?  Thanks.

A. I do remember you, Ron. Regarding the compost, I usually look at the color of the soil to determine how much compost to add. For instance, a dark rich soil that crumbles easily will need less compost than one which is hard to dig and does not crumble easily. A well prepared vegetable bed should be so friable that you can dig it nearly with your hands, unaided by a shovel. This kind of soil structure we call "crumby" like cake crumbs.

Compost being added to the vegetable
plots at The Orchard in North Las Vegas

Once we achieve this state in a vegetable garden soil we just need to replenish the organic matter which was lost during the growing season. Generally we figure that we lose about 1/3 of our organic matter content of our soil each year. So the first year it is 1/3 of our total organic matter content. The second year it is 1/3 of our remaining organic matter content, etc. So you see it will not run out
in three years to zero. It will continue to diminish annually but at a different rate as the total amount of organic matter diminishes.

When preparing a raw (never amended) desert soil for a garden it will take about three years of applying a heavy amount of compost to the soil each year. These applications of compost must also be accompanied by growing vegetables in it. Just putting a compost into a soil and doing nothing else and waiting for three years will accomplish absolutely nothing. Water and microorganisms must be in the mix as well. I like to compare it to making bread or a cake. You can add all the dry ingredients to a bread or cake mix you want but without adequate liquid they will sit there and do nothing.

In the raw desert soils of the Las Vegas Valley we have less than 1/10 of 1% organic matter. That is amazingly low. In other rawvdesert soils the organic matter may reach 3 /10 or 4/10 of 1%, still not much. We want our soils to get to 5 to 8% organic matter. This is 50 to 80 times higher amounts than we have. To achieve this I like to add a minimum of 50% compost to our raw desert soils. I would even push it higher, closer to 75% the first year. Every time the soil is prepared for a new planting, organic matter or compost should be added. It does not matter the time of year in the warm climate of Las Vegas. In colder climates when soil temperatures drop into the 40's, most compost will sit there and not do much. As soon as the soil temperatures hit the mid 50's the microorganisms will kick in and start to work.

Yes, this is my foot on top of a desert soil typical
of what we would use for vegetable production.
It is modified heavily with compost over a three
year production cycle.

Compost by definition has finished its decomposition. It is then ready to release all the goodies that was built up into it during the composting or rotting process. So if a compost is a finished compost it will not continue to decompose. This is not true of unfinished composts or manure. These will continue to "rot" or decompose and they create their own heat when they do so and are piled together into a pile. Heat builds in the center of the pile to over 160F which is what you need to start killing weed seeds and bad plant pathogens.

So add a finished compost every time you plant. The amount varies with the color of the soil. Darker, rich soils need less than lighter colored less well developed garden soils. But if you add compost every time you plant and you continuously garden for three years in it, then the garden soil will be sustainable with small amounts of compost every time you plant. I hope this helps.

Fruitless Olive Tree Has Fruit!

Olive flowers

Q. I read a small article on line that you wrote about "Fruitless" olive trees. We just had two new 36" box "Fruitless" olive trees planted in our front yard.  We noticed about a dozen green olives growing at the top areas of the trees.

Almond Tree 8 Yrs Old Bearing No Nuts

Q. We have two almond trees and since they produce nuts we assume that one is male and the other one female, although we do not know which is which. However, one tree bears almost no nuts. I just checked and could find only two nuts on the entire tree. The other tree is loaded with nuts. The two trees were planted at the same time, eight or ten years ago. Can you explain this disparity in production?

A. Even though almond flowers contain both male and female parts, some almonds require pollinators while a few others do not. Since you did not tell me the varieties I am not sure which you have.

Almonds in bloom at the Orchard in North Las Vegas

            It is possible that you have one almond tree which requires a pollinator while the other one does not. In order for pollination to occur the flowers need to be open at the same time. So if the almond flowers are not open at the same time it is possible that the tree will get flowers with no nuts produced.

            See if you can find out what the variety is and let me know. Once I know that, I can tell you a good pollinator to use. You probably do not want a third almond tree but maybe you can talk to your neighbors into getting one.

            The other option you have is to drive around town looking for another almond tree in bloom at the same time you're nutless almond is blooming. If you can find one in bloom at the same time, see if you can convince them to let you cut a few branches from their tree to supply pollen for yours.

            Immediately after cutting the branches, put them in a bucket of water directly beneath the nutless tree. This bouquet of almond flowers, providing it is a different variety, can act as a source of pollen for your tree. Otherwise, get rid of the nutless almond and put in Garden Prince or All in One almond variety which are self-fertile.

Who Stole My Almonds?

Q. I live on Black Mountain in Anthem in Henderson, Nv.  I have an almond tree about 3 feet high.  It must have had about 2 dozen almonds on it.  I woke up yesterday morning and all the almonds were gone over nite without a trace of hulks or shells.  What animal could have taken 24 almonds over nite? 

A. This is probably the culprit. As soon as I was ready to take his picture, he did this to me! The antelope ground squirrel.

UNLV Center BBQ, Plant Sale and Science August 23

The August UNLV Research Center BBQ, Plant Sale and Garden Talk will get underway on Thursday, August 23, starting at 6:30 PM with the BBQ and Cactus Sale. Garden talks featured will be Getting to Know Your Soil by Dr. Dale Devitt of UNLV and The Colorado River and the Future of Water by Dr. Tom Piechota. For directions or more information please call UNLV Biology at 702-895-3853. Click on it if you want it bigger!

Oleanders Drop Leaves in Drought. Will it Recover?

Q. I read the post on your blog on oleanders with interest. I too have an issue. My five oleanders are mature (at least 20 years old) trees.  When we moved here a year ago they had not been watered.   When the water was turned on and major landscaping installed, many of the leaves turned yellow and dropped. However the trees blossomed and continued to do fine. 

This is not the readers oleander but this oleander has leaf
scorch and leaf drop while the oleander behind it is
doing very well. Check the emitters or the source of water.
This is a good sign it is getting a lack of water.

            During the rains the gardener turned off the water system and sadly forgot to turn it back on. The water is of course back on but I have had to replace many bushes, although NOT the oleanders.  However they have begun to turn yellow again and are dropping leaves. There are still a majority of green leaves and the trees are about to burst into blooms. They have been fertilized, as has everything on the property, but I am baffled.  Would you be so kind as to give me your advice on what is happening and why?

A. Oleanders are so extensive worldwide that no one is sure where they originated from. Their climate of origin is important because it determines under what conditions these plants perform best but we do know quite a bit about how oleanders behave with and without water.

            We know that they are very drought tolerant. This means that when there is limited water, they can survive. Many plants can’t do this. Normally when drought tolerant plants first experience a lack of water the leaves will drop and the canopy will become sparse. If the water continues to be sparse the leaves they produce will be few and smaller and little new growth. They have to have a sparse canopy to survive.

            However when water is present they have the potential for using a large amount of water and are not low water users. They respond to this water by growing more, setting new leaves that are quite a bit larger and shedding the old ones. The plant itself becomes denser and flowers profusely (provided they are not trimmed with a hedge shears).

            Leaf drop is very characteristic in response to a drought. It is also characteristic when they receive water again after a drought. It is also characteristic of older growth to shed some leaves on older wood.

            So, in a nutshell, going from drought to abundant water expect some leaf drop. And when oleander grows normally, expect some leaf drop as the plant matures but not typically as much as during dry/wet periods. So is oleander a good pool plant? No.

What Do I Do? My Lawn Has Dead Spots in Summer

This lawn is starting to recover. Just the dead spots remain.
Wait until mid September or even October before you begin
to remove dead grass. Leave it there for mulch to prevent
weeds like bermudagrass from getting started.

If you had dead areas develop in your lawn and you are pretty convinced the damage has passed then it is time to wait until fall to repair it. Three types of problems lead to dead spots in the lawn: insects, diseases and irrigation problems. It is pretty easy to determine if the problem has passed. If it has passed, the grass surrounding the damaged area and throughout the rest of the lawn area will appear healthy and rapidly growing. All that will remain of the damage are the brown spots surrounded by healthy, vibrant, green grass.

Whatever you do, DON'T rake up the dead grass now and reseed or resod. Dead spots in a lawn are ugly. But what can be worse if you are not careful is to open up your lawn to a weed invasion, particularly bermudagrass, if you try to clean up these dead spots now. Wait. Wait until Fall, around mid September to mid October, to rake it up and reseed or resod.

If you try to reseed it now you will fail. Even laying sod right now will be difficult to keep alive. But if you rake up that dead area and expose the bare soil to sunshine and irrigation, bermudagrass WILL seed itself right into those spots. And then you WILL have a problem. Leave the dead grass alone and let it "mulch" or cover the dead area, protecting it from invasion by bermudagrass.

Powdery Mildew on Tomato... what to do?

Q. I have a problem with my heirloom tomatoes  the leaves on top have mildew on them what is causing this? I have never had this problem before. The plant is producing tomatoes and the leaves on top are still green.  I am baffled!

This is not tomato but it gives you an idea what powdery
mildew looks like. It looks like someone sprinkled the
plants with wheat flour

A. I would be very interested if what you are seeing is actually mildew and if you mean the disease powdery mildew. Powdery mildew is a disease that is very specific to certain plants. For instance the powdery mildew on roses cannot attack tomatoes.

Powdery mildews can attack numerous plants but each type of powdery mildew is specific to that plant. Powdery mildew is a common disease in desert environments because it can be very active under very low humidities.

The environment for this disease to occur is usually the same; somewhat shady areas frequently irrigated with overhead sprinkler type irrigations. This causes water to splash when it hits surfaces. This splashing water can carry the disease from one plant of the same type to a neighboring plant.

Nonchemical control of powdery mildew is the same for all types; reduce or eliminate the shade problem and the splashing water problem. Use drip irrigation. Improve air circulation among the plants by not planting too close together and don't let them shade each other. Give them some space and dont over fertilize them so they get real bushy and have alot of internal shading. Thin out the canopies of the plants to improve air circulation. Go to a different type of growing. Dont let them sprawl but stake them and tie them to stakes to get them more vertical and improve air circulation.

Usually if you can do all this you will not need a fungicide. Otherwise there are fungicides you can apply to keep it from spreading.

Japanese Blueberry Leaves Falling and Canopy Thinning

Q. My problem is with my Japanese Blueberry trees. Leaves seem to fall prematurely, browning and yellowish. One of the trees bark is peeling off and appeared to be dry. There are no visible insects but I do not know what to find anyway. I have spent so much money on them for them to die. Please help.

Not the readers but Japanese blueberries planted along a
block wall.

A. Japanese blueberries planted in a desert environment is like a square peg in a round hole; it will fit but you have to use a hammer. Japanese blueberries will require a soil heavily amended at the time of planting and organic mulch on the surface of the soil after planting.  It will do terribly in south or western exposures in full sun or in rock mulches. 

            If you planted this Japanese blueberry from a 15 gallon container then it will require about 15 gallons of water each time you water.  The amount of water must increase from this amount as the plant gets larger from year to year. 

            This can be accomplished by adding minutes to your existing irrigation schedule at each watering or adding additional emitters.  The frequency in the application of water, but not the number of gallons per application, will vary from season to season. 

            There is generally are a winter schedule, spring schedule, summer schedule, fall schedule and back to a winter schedule which means you should increase the number of times you irrigate per week about four times each year.  These schedules will coincide approximately with December 1, February 1, May 1, mid-June, mid-September and finally December 1 which completes the seasonal cycle. 

            Because your plant did not have the fullness that you would like, I would assume it is due to improper irrigation which may also lead to infestation with borers.  Pull off the loose bark at you see and look for damage in the wood do too boring insects.  This would include sawdust under the bark and perhaps elliptical exit holes from the trunk under the damaged area.  If the damage is more than half way around the trunk then I would replace the plant.

Yellowing of Meyer Lemon Tree Leaves Hard to Correct

Q. We went and talked to nursery folks a couple times about this tree. First we got the water cycle correct, then iron was suggested which we did as directed. Then a soil amendment was suggested. Online I read possibly the tree suffers from a magnesium issue. I thought these photos would give a better picture. We did as directed and the tree is not responding in fact it is getting worse. I am wondering if it is because of where it was planted which is a confined root growing area. Any insight would be appreciated.



Readers lemon tree with yellowing leaves

A. By looking at the leaves I have to assume this is a Meyer Lemon (which is, by the way not technically a lemon but an unknown hybrid found in a Chinese back yard by USDA researcher D. Meyer in the early 20th century).

Your pictures are all pretty good with the exception of not showing a critical view of the trunk where it is just out of the soil. Just for future reference always look at and show this interface of the trunk and soil. W/o that view I have to only guess that the rootstock/trunk union is well out of the soil and we can eliminate that issue. And, a shot of the soil might show how the plant is getting watered. I have to assume drippers and I would guess they are in the same locations as when the plant was planted.



Closer look at readers yellowing leaves

The leaves show two distinctive symptoms that often occur in concert: 1. There is some salt burn and 2. The common symptom that comes with salt issues is the magnesium deficiency. Just FYI Iron deficiency only occurs on the new leaves.

For the salinity (salt) issue we usually look first at the watering and with watering comes knowing if the water can even be applied uniformly all around the edge of the canopy, sometimes called the 'drip line'.

Citrus are botanically a shrub with shallow and wide spreading roots that are tough to grow to maturity with drippers unless they are closely spaced in a wide band around the canopy's edge. There is one picture showing the plant is right next to a step wall with no water being applied in that zone of the root system.

Clear look at the yellowing or chlorosis problem
on readers citrus

I would not worry too much about adding any supplements and see if you can begin to manage a watering system of application that would give a long deep soaking water application out near the drip line. The 'soaker' hoses could be laid out on the ground out near the drip line and let it run for hours and hours to try and leach out the excess salts that may have accumulated over time with the drip system. Drip systems are fine but, due to their limited water output salts can begin to accumulate thus impacting citrus' sensitivity to salts.

Give it a long deep watering about once every few weeks from now on all during the growing season (May through October)  to supplement the regular water to leach out the salts that inevitably are deposited with the limited volume of drip systems . .This leaching watering is also the great time to add fertilizer and get it into the soil evenly all around the active roots near the drip line.

-Terry Mikel

Why Do People Like to Bash Miracle Gro?

Q. I have a small garden with a big Mexican palm, some Cana lilies, various green plants and flowering annuals. Everything does well but I would like to encourage flowering and general health especially during the hot months. I have used Miracle Grow and I think it does a good job with flower growth but I do find that some flowering plants die off during the summer, particularly, marigolds and petunias.

            I was told not to use Miracle Grow as it adds too much sodium to an already salty soil that we have here. I have tried others recommended by plant stores but they require mixing with the soil and are difficult to apply once the garden is established. I like the spray on method that Miracle Grow uses. Any suggestions for a good fertilizer to use?

A. The idea that Miracle Grow adds too much sodium to an already salty soil is hogwash.  Whoever told you that doesn't know what they're talking about. All fertilizers are salts.  But too many people salt is sodium chloride.  Sodium chloride is common table salt, not a fertilizer salt.  There is virtually little to no sodium in Miracle Gro. 

            Other quality inorganic fertilizers you can use include Osmocote and Peters as well and they do not contain sodium either.  What is more important than the manufacturer to promote flowering is the fertilizer ratio or the numbers associated with that fertilizer.  That is what you need to focus on. 

            For flowering plants the middle number needs be higher than the first and third numbers.  For nonflowering plants the first number should be higher than the second and third number. When focusing on reducing stress then the last number should be the highest. 

            Try to use a fertilizer that has all three numbers present (no zeros) but use fertilizers which have ratios, as I suggested, promoting specific types of growth.

            Other problems with marigolds during the summer include spider mites. The biggest problem related to the decline of nondesert type annuals in our desert climate and soils is the lack of adequate soil preparation at the time of planting.

Aren't Those Quail Cute!!!

Q. I'm hoping you can help me with my quail problem.  I once thought they were adorable but now that they've eaten lots of my garden, I'm less thrilled with them. They have eaten my radishes (2 plantings), carrots, spinach (2 plantings), Swiss chard (2 plantings), lettuce, beets, jalapenos, Hungarian wax peppers. 

            I've made wire covered with plastic into arches and put plastic netting over them and held it down with U-shaped large clips.  They have eaten through the netting in places.  Or they have just landed on the netting and collapsed it enough to reach the new plants.  And the thing I hate the most is that they peck through a stem and leave the leaf just lying there.  To top it off, they now have eaten my mock orange into half its size and taken some rosemary (which grows so fast, I wish they would just stick to it!). 

            Last fall they pecked off two thirds of a valentine plant.  I would greatly appreciate any help you can give me.  I hesitate to use an ultrasonic type of machine as I enjoy all the hummingbirds and other small birds that come to the yard. 

A. I usually cut down the questions a bit but yours was so interesting (and I’m sorry but kind of funny) that I had to put the whole thing in. Those quail sure are cute aren’t they! When they are in someone else’s garden! I can almost hear some of the readers, “Get a cat!”

            Quail, as you have found out, can be a big problem for vegetable gardens.  The best way to keep them out is to fence the garden plots with metal chicken wire, 1 inch diameter hexagonal.  The ultrasonic bird repellents only work for short periods of time until they get accustomed to it.  That has been our experience at the orchard using these devices. 

            When you put up the chicken wire make sure it is 48 inch wide metal mesh and that it is staked securely about every five or 6 feet.  You must then run a wire between the stakes at the height where the top of the fence will be and tightly secured to the wire to keep it from sagging.             You should dig a trench about 6 to 8 inches deep on the outside of the stakes so that this fencing can be buried 6 to 8 inches deep.  This helps to keep animals, like rabbits, from getting under the fencing.  This is preferable to staking or stapling the bottom of the fence to the ground.         The mesh should be no larger than 1 inch diameter and even though this size will still allow small rabbits and baby quail access if they choose to leave their mothers.  This should reduce and nearly eliminate the problems to the vegetable beds.