Q. The Agave in my front yard (maintained by HOA) is dying.  I was informed by an Aborist that it was getting too much water.  I relayed this to the HOA maintenance and when they looked at it they said it needed more water and ran another dripper line, which drips about every day. Can this once beautiful plant be saved. Pictures are 6 weeks apart and show how it has deteriorated. Agave appearing to wilt from a watering problem, or is it? This could also be from the agave weevil. A. This is either too much water or agave weevil damage. The weevil deposits eggs in the crotches of the leaves at the base and the eggs hatch. The larvae of the weevil then invade the roots where they feed causing the agave to collapse just like in your picture. However, overwatering can cause the roots too rot easily and cause exactly the same type of symptoms; collapse of the outer leaves and eventual death of the entire plant. Unfortunately you get the same result and is not much you can do at this stage.             I would predict the plant will die and it will have to be removed. American agave is probably one of the worst ones for agave weevil infestation. Replanting with a different agave like Agave weevil in the roots of an agave. It is a light colored or white grub near the center of the picture.             Weber’s or Parryii will be more resistant to the weevil but not overwatering. Both of these are smaller and more in scale with homes landscapes.             There are two types of overwatering. One is watering too much and the other is watering too often. This is more of the watering too often kind of problem. Wish I had a better story to tell.             I have attached a brochure from the U of Arizona on this weevil problem and some recommended preventions from one of the arboreta down there. I also attached a picture of the weevil larvae you would find in the roots if that was the cause. They would be there now.

One type of papaya. Fruit are borne on the trunk like so many tropical fruits. Q. I accidently have a papaya tree growing in my yard.  When we moved in I setup a compost bin.  Unfortunately I didn’t think about the irrigation pipes when I placed the bin and I eventually had to move it to fix a leak.  My wife had a thing for papayas while pregnant so quite a few papaya seeds went in to that bin prior to me moving it.  After moving the bin one of the seeds sprouted.  I didn’t know what it was at first and just let it grow out of curiosity.  My wife eventually identified it and, since I now knew I was growing a tree right on top of a pipe, I had to move it as well.  That barely succeeded and it almost died but eventually made a comeback and is now thriving at two feet tall.  Now I’m concerned about getting it through the winter which brought to mind your article in the weekly and I thought I would bounce the concern off of you.  I’m thinking about building a simple green house from sheet plastic and pvc pipe.  Would that work or should I take a different approach? A. Very interesting story. Yes, I have encouraged people to consider papaya in Las Vegas because there are some varieties like the Hawaiian Solo types which are highly productive and some can bear fruit nine months after planting from seed. You can find seed sources online and refer to this website for growing instructions in mild climates. http://www.extento.hawaii.edu/kbase/crop/crops/i_papa.htm They will grow in the Phoenix area as evidence on this website http://www.phoenixtropicals.com/papaya.html           Papaya in container For our area the two enemies will be climate and soils. So you will have to modify both of these if it is to work. In the temperature end you have to consider the heat as well as the cold. I would pick a location in the yard that has some protection from the late afternoon sun as much as possible.               However the plant will need lots of sunlight so make sure it gets it in the morning hours up to mid-afternoon. Winter cold will kill it for sure. So it will have to be protected from windy locations and a structure put over the top during night time.               This structure could be opened during the day when temperatures are above 50F. Throw a blanket or protection over it when it gets cold at night. The papaya is a tree that grows straight up  so you will not be able to keep it very long before it is too tall. So plant in succession or even annually.               Next is soil modification. The soil must drain easily and add lots of compost and phosphorus based fertilizers at planting time. This could be a lot of fun for you to try.

Q. Our Association Lawns are infested with a weed that spreads rapidly. We have been told it is spurge. Some owners have been told by a nursery that spurge control is accomplished by spraying in June and approximately every 6 weeks through the summer. Others have said that spraying can’t be done when it is very hot. Please give your opinion on this matter. Prostrate or spreading spurge A. If this is spurge you are fighting it is a very poor competitor with a lawn. Most of it can be kept out by increasing the competitiveness of your lawn by following a few rules: •           Keep the lawn dense by keeping its fertilizer program current. •           Make sure it is getting water at the right times and avoid stress during the summer months and starting in February for spurge. Closeup of the small leaves of a spotted spruge. Not all spruges have spots on their leaves but all spurges have white sap or latex. So if you want to know if your weed is a spurge, break the stems and look for the white sap or latex. •           Irrigation system must apply water evenly to the turf area. Get rid of mix and match nozzles and make sure the system applies water head to head. •           If this is fescue, all irrigation heads must pop up out of the ground a minimum of four inches. Replace irrigation heads that are less than this with four inch popups. •           Do not use line trimmers to trim grass around irrigation heads or along hard surfaces like sidewalks. Use a steel edger, not line trimmers to edge turfgrass areas. •           Mowing height must be 2 ½ inch minimums. •           You can use post emergent herbicides (weed killers applied after you see it up) such as Trimec or similar but the best weed killers are applied pre emergent, before the seed germinates in the spring. Visit Helena chemical in town to get your chemicals and visit with them about which chemical has been working best and the timing of it. Do it this winter before spring.