Xtremehorticulture

Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

Starting a Fall Vegetable Garden

Leave a Comment / fall gardening, herbs, vegetables /

Q. Could you help me get a fall garden going? Please send me a list of crops that grow in Las Vegas. I live in the northwest area off of Ann Road and Jones in Las Vegas A. I posted a calendar for planting in the fall on my blog. Download a copy there but I will give you a rundown of the crops which are normally started this time of year in the eastern Mojave Desert.             First, some background. There are two planting times each year. Plant cool season vegetables and herbs that withstand frost and cold during the late summer, fall, winter and spring months. Plant the warm season, winter-tender vegetables and herbs when danger of frost has passed and into the mid-summer months. Warm season crops die or perform poorly during cold or freezing weather.             Even though it’s still hot now, this is the time of year to plant several fall and winter crops. Notice that I said many, not all. Exact planting dates vary with soil and air temperatures, the time plants require before they are ready to harvest as well as the quality of the end product.             Cool season crops that require 60 or more days before harvesting will be just fine if planted now. It is too early to plant crops like radishes which are ready to harvest in 30 days.                         Exact planting dates vary with your garden microclimate. Gardens located in warm microclimates have different planting dates from those gardens in cooler microclimates. If you are lucky enough to have a landscape with more than one microclimate, you can stagger your planting dates so that the same crops mature a few days or even a week or two apart.             Plant gardens that face West or South later in the fall but earlier in the spring. Gardens facing east or north are planted in the reverse order.             The following vegetables can be planted during September from seed or seed pieces for fall, winter and spring harvest: beets, broccoli, carrots, collards, endive, Irish potatoes, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, peas, rutabagas, spinach and Swiss chard.             The following could be planted as small transplants: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, celery and Chinese cabbage. If temperatures are unusually hot, delay putting in transplants until weather cools off a bit.             Mulch the soil to keep the seeds and roots of transplants moist and cool.

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Identifying Their Damage and Controlling Borers

Leave a Comment / How to control borers /

Q. I am having a problem with a bug infesting my trees. I haven’t identified the pest but I wanted to first ask how did this infestation happen or if it’s common in the Vegas Valley and second how is the cycle of reproduction of this bug? Flat headed borer taken from tree A. Thanks for sending the pictures. You have taken the larva or “worms” of a beetle from this tree. These larva or worms are called borers. You can notice the flattened head of this worm so it is commonly called a flat-headed borer. I think it is either the Flatheaded Apple Tree Borer or Pacific Flat Headed Borer. I have been following this insect and its damage for many years in this valley. The adult of this “worm” is a beetle about ½ inch long. Borer damage on Apple when first seen The adult female beetle flies around searching for a mate so that it can lay its eggs. It finds a male by “smelling” the male’s pheromone it releases. Most likely this happens any time from about April through August. Once the female mates and prepares to lay eggs, she searches for suitable woody plants that are injured or unhealthy. Extensive borer damage to Locust This insect is part of an “ecological recycling cycle” helping plants that are on the decline continue in a downward spiral toward death. However, I have found this insect in trees that appear to be very healthy as well. The female laden with fertilized eggs searches for suitable plants through her sense of “smell”. One of the “smells” she identifies is damage of plants from sunburn. Discoloration and canker to scaffold limb because of sunburn High light intensity of our desert sun shining directly on the bark of trees that are thin and don’t provide much insulation become damaged and frequently die in the damaged area. Death in localized areas of the branches and trunk of woody plants leaves behind a “canker” in the surface. Sunburn damage to Japanese blueberry The smells and aromas of damaged plants attract the egg-laying of flat headed borers. She lays her eggs in the general vicinity of the damage but on top of healthy tissue. The very tiny worm or larva “hatches” from this egg and tunnels inside the plant just under the bark. Borer damage to flowering plum The wood just under the bark is laden with wet, sugary juices from the plant which the flatheaded borer feeds upon. As this flat headed borer feeds, it inches slowly forward just under the bark making a convoluted tunnel. At the beginning of this tunnel is the flattened head and it leaves a trail of sawdust and feces behind it as it feeds, moves and creates the tunnel. I can sometimes push on the bark covering the surface of these tunnels and feel a difference in the “hardness” of the stem. Borer feeding under the bark inside peach tree limb This borer matures (pupates or turn into an adult) inside the tree, exits the tree as a winged adult and searches for a mate to repeat the lifecycle. Sometimes, if it is late in the season, this borer will tunnel into the center of a limb to survive the winter and exit as an adult the following spring. Borer feeding just under the bark of peach tree limb Borers attack dozens of different trees and shrubs, many in the Rose family. This includes many of our fruit trees, landscape plants in the Rose family like Pyracantha and flowering plum and numerous others as well. What to do? Dig it out. Using a sharp and sanitized knife and laying it almost parallel with the branch, I will cut away the surface of the branch to expose the tunneling. I will remove all of the surface bark where there is damage. I will clean the surface bark all away until I have nothing but fresh wood remaining. In this way, I expose the tunneling and the source of protection for the boring insect. This exposes the hiding place to predators of this soft bodied “worm”. Borer control using a sharp, sanitized knife Prune it out. If the damage is more than 50% of the branch, I will remove the branch. If removing the branch seems excessive, I will not remove it and give it a chance to heal. Using insecticide. In a last ditch effort I will use is a soil applied systemic insecticide. I never use these on fruit bearing trees but on ornamentals only. I will use these on non-flowering ornamentals because it is suspected that this systemic may impact bees visiting the flowers. If the tree produces flowers, I time the application of the insecticide just after the time of flowering. One of the insecticides containing imidicloprid systemic for borer control Whitewash to prevent. Whitewashing the upper surfaces of limbs, scaffold limbs and the trunk reduces sunburn which should also reduce problems from borers. I make the whitewash by mixing white latex paint 1:1 with water. You can also buy commercial whitewash. In the old days, it was made from lime. Whitewashing fruit trees in the winter to help prevent sunburn

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Pyracantha Does Not like Rock Mulch

Leave a Comment / firethorn, Pyracantha growing slowly, pyracantha problems /

Q. I have a hedge of pyracantha on the northeast corner of my property. It is 16 years old.  It grows underneath three large pine trees.  It does not get much sun. The soil, if you can call it that, is mostly just rocks. The plant is thinning and getting bare in the center. The top is still fairly green. The amount of berries in the winter has been decreasing. I dug around the roots as much as I could and amended the soil with Paydirt. I added about a cup of sulpher and some bone meal to the amended soil. I plan to add fertilizer in a couple of weeks. What more would you suggest?  By the way, there is very little yellow on the leaves. A. Pyracantha is in the Rose family and so it likes soils that are similar to fruit trees in the Rose family. This includes apples, pears, peaches, apricots and the like. It is also susceptible to some of the same problems as fruit trees in that family. It isn’t terribly fond of desert landscapes and rock mulch. Dwarf pyracantha in winter hedge sheared Without seeing it I am guessing it is a combination of light as you mentioned, lack of soil improvement, perhaps irrigation, maybe improper pruning and borer problems. Pyracantha needs a lot of sun but it is thin-barked so it sunburns easily if it’s canopy is open. Sunburn leads to borer problems. It is not a desert plant so it likes improved soils and wood mulches. It would like surface mulches made of wood that can decompose. Rock mulch will mineralize the soil over time and it does not like this. Pyracantha fruit in winter. Pyracantha or Firethorn is in the Rose family. Pruning is a little tricky but should result in shading any exposed trunk or major branches. From your description it sounds like it has been a hedge pruned; pruned with a hedge shears not pruners. It hedges nicely but I don’t recommend this unless you plant it as a hedge. As far as borers, you would see the trunk or major limbs with bark coming off and some darkened areas because of sunburn. Borers can be active for a couple of years and cause no obvious visual damage. There is an insecticide you can apply to the soil that gives the plant season-long control of borers if it is a problem. Pyracantha in bloom in the spring So what to do? Check the irrigation and make sure it’s getting enough water or increase the amount it gets. I would not increase how often but the amount it receives each time. Pull rocks away from the plant and put down 3 to 4 inches of compost and wood mulch. When pruning, be very careful you don’t open the canopy up too much which might allow sun burning the trunk and limbs. Fertilize once a year in the spring with a fertilizer formulated for flowering woody plants. You can substitute a rose fertilizer which will work. Apply a soil insecticide as soon as you start to see new growth. I hope this helps. For more information please visit the following http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2015/01/care-and-pruning-of-pyracantha-and.html http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2014/12/pyracantha-good-choice-for-moderate.html

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Hibiscus Blooming but Leaves Too Small

2 Comments / how to grow hibiscus /

Q. My hibiscus plant, which I planted from a pot to my outdoor flower bed, is blooming like it should.  The problem is, that the leaves are not getting any bigger than 1 – 1½” long and ¾” wide.  The new leaves also only get to that size.  I water and fertilize if with Miracle Grow regularly, but that does not help.  Any suggestions? A. The appearance of plants will be different when growing in different climate zones. Appearance can also be impacted by your management practices. Let’s cover a few of these. Red hibiscus growing on our farm, Moca Family Farm, in the Philippines Climate and Microclimates. Plants growing under high light intensities will have a different appearance then plants growing under lower light intensities. The principal differences are in leaf size, color and thickness.  Leaves growing under higher light intensities, provided they are getting enough water and nutrients, will be dark green, they will be smaller, thicker or tougher and develop a thicker waxy coating on the leaf surface. The same plant growing under lower light intensities will have larger and thinner leaves with a waxy coating that is not as thick.  If light intensities get extremely high then we will see leaf discoloration, yellowing or bronzing, on some plants because the light intensity is actually damaging the leaves. If the same plant does not receive enough light then the plant will become “leggy” with large distances between the leaves and thin stems that will not support its own weight. The plant will become “floppy”. Our job as a manager of this plant is to find the right location in our landscape, the right microclimate, that will give it enough light so that it will flower and have an appearance close to what we expect. Because we are in a desert, Hibiscus might not look exactly the same as it does in semi tropical or tropical climates but we can approach that look if we are careful where we plant it. Fertilizer. The selection of the right type of fertilizer and amount of fertilizer will, to a large degree, influence the type of growth we get from a plant. We know for instance that phosphorus fertilizers are very important for flowering, fruiting, root development and production of oils in plants.  If not enough phosphorus is present for the plant to use it will impact this type of growth. If too much is present, it can also impact growth of plants by “messing up” the soil chemistry. If fertilizers are applied to the soil, we generally do not need to apply phosphorus frequently. Nitrogen is a different animal. Nitrogen is important for developing dark green color in leaves and stems and for “pushing” new growth. It is important in producing good leaf size and in the number of leaves and supporting stems produced.  The nitrogen in soils available to plants are in “salt” form. Applying too much nitrogen can result in leaf burning or scorching along the edges and even plant dieback or death if excessive amounts are applied. Unlike phosphorus, nitrogen is removed from the soil fairly quickly unless it is in organic form.  The nitrogen will be depleted in 4 to 6 weeks through plant uptake and removal from the soil by the irrigation water and “evaporating” into the air. Organic nitrogen is removed much more slowly and gives the plants a “steady feeding” of nitrogen over a longer period of time.              In your case you want to make sure that nitrogen is applied regularly through the growing season to maintain dark green color and “push” new growth. Combined with moderate amounts of shade, nitrogen will encourage more leaves and larger leaves. Soil. Organic matter such as compost mixed into the soil at the time of planting and applied at least annually to the surface of the soil surrounding the plant will encourage more leaf production and larger leaves on those plants which have it in their genetics to produce this kind of growth. I have seen this numerous times on a number of plants particularly in parts of the plants that are shaded such as lower leaves. What do you need to do? Understand that if your hibiscus is in a very hot, bright location that this location will limit the plants ability to produce larger leaves. Moderate amounts of shade will encourage larger leaf development, particularly in a microclimate that gets morning sun but afternoon shade.  Get some compost and dig it into the soil surrounding the plant as much as you can. Apply about 1 inch of compost to the soil surface after you are finished and thoroughly wet the soil deeply immediately after you apply. At least once a year apply compost to the soil surface surrounding the plant and water it in thoroughly.  Apply phosphorus either to the soil or to the foliage as a foliar spray at least once a year after it is finished flowering for the season. Apply high nitrogen fertilizers to the soil surrounding the plant in early spring, early summer and late summer. Winter tender plants should not be fertilized with high nitrogen fertilizers after August 1. The three overall factors that will determine the leaf size:  what it’s capable of producing genetically (if you know this plant can produce much larger leaves but it is not doing it),  soil improvement, and  application of nitrogen fertilizers.

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Oleander Leaf Scorch Disease a Rarity in Las Vegas

Leave a Comment / Does my oleander have leaf scorch disease, how to tell if oleander leaf scorch disease, pierce's disease /

Q. We are thinking of putting in a new oleander bush/tree.  But we are concerned about oleander leaf scorch affecting our new plant in the near future.  We’ve read where the disease has killed oleander in California and Arizona. Has it been found here in the Las Vegas and/or Nevada as a whole?  If not here now, is it wise to put in a new plant? Oleander with leaf scorch A. I rarely see any problems on oleander here. Oleander leaf scorch usually occurs in Southern California and not in southern Nevada. I know our state plant pathologist has been watching for it here and is taken several samples looking for it.  There has been some debate about whether this disease in oleander can be transferred to grapes and cause a similar disease and appearance called Pierce’s Disease. The researcher is pretty firm that it does not. For more information on oleander leaf scorch I would refer you to the University of California website. If you are convinced that your oleander may be diseased with leaf scorch, contact the Nevada State Department of Agriculture. Freeze damage of oleander and recovery in the spring  Diseases are very rare but do happen occasionally. Nothing to worry about. Keep the plants healthy with plenty of water and mulch the soil with organic mulches when possible. Some oleanders are more tender during winter freezes than others. When oleanders become overgrown and woody, cut them within a couple of inches of the ground in the winter and let them grow back from these stumps.

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Salt Cedar Removal from Landscapes Is Difficult

Leave a Comment / controlling tamarisk, killing salt cedar, Removing salt cedar /

Q. What is the best way to remove Salt Cedar, mature trees and the seedlings that are sprouting all over the yard?  Would appreciate any advice you might be able to offer. A. You should consider getting rid of it but I will warn you it will be difficult. Salt cedar, or tamarisk, produces hundreds if not thousands of seeds every year. The seeds will germinate easily even floating on water or submerged in flooded soils. Salt cedar is a problem because it uses so much water and kills other plants growing close to it by pulling salt out of the soil, concentrating it in its needle-like foliage and dropping this salt load on the soil surface. The salt concentrations are so high, very little will grow in these areas. The other problem is that it suckers easily from its roots so just cutting it down will cause it to sucker in many other places. The most effective way has been to cut it down as close to the soil as possible and apply weed killers to the fresh surface of the cut. Another method is to drill holes in the trunk close to the soil and inject weed killers into these fresh wounds. The two most effective weed killers have been Roundup (glyphosate) and Garlon (tyriclopyr). The label will tell you the concentration you should use. The best time for treatment is in the fall months just before plants are preparing for winter, not the spring. In our climate this would be October and perhaps early November. After the tree has been injected and begins to die, you will probably see suckers growing from the roots in a last ditch effort to stay alive. Cut these suckers close to the ground and daub on the fresh cut ends with the same solution. Do not make the mistake of thinking that a greater concentration of the chemical will give a better kill. Use the labeled concentrations. These were established by the manufacturer and tested in the field. Seeds from the mother plant may continue to germinate for a long time after the tree is dead and been removed. When these seedlings emerge from the soil, kill them immediately. They can grow 1 foot or more every month during summer. Their roots grew first before the top so it will be deep.  All of these years I have been working near and around salt cedar and I have no pictures of it. If any of you have some that are yours, send it to me and I will post it here. More information about salts cedar and its removal

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Peach Tree Life Limited by Borers

Leave a Comment / why is my peach tree dying /

Q. I have a peach tree that has produced magnificent fruit for over 15 years- for the past two seasons I have seen no production or at best tiny fruit that doesn’t mature- I have studied your blog and believe that my tree has peach tree borer damage. I live in southern California- zone 9. Should I try to save the tree or is it a lost cause and if so what applications can I use to restore it? I prefer organic methods. A. I am more familiar with the problems in the Mojave Desert but I would probably agree with you that it is some type of borer.  Peach trees can be fairly short-lived in many locale because of borers. This includes other countries I have visited. The borers are different but the result is the same. At our orchard in North Las Vegas peach trees that are 15 years old are getting up there in age and a 20 year old tree is old.  All that being said you can always find someone who has a peach tree that is 40 years old but it is rare and they were lucky or possibly the variety but trees that old are usually not productive any more.  I would remove it and replace it with another this fall if you can find a variety you like. If you are in a very temperate part of southern California like the San Diego area or along the coast you could do it any time. In the hot desert area, wait until it cools off.

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Cilantro, Parsley and Basil Are Easy to Grow in the Desert

Leave a Comment / how to go cilantro, How to grow basil, how to grow Italian parsley /

Q. Please, I would like to know what is the best way to grow Cilantro, Italian parsley and basil in Las Vegas. I have tried several times growing them in pots from small plants or directly transplanting them to the raised bed we have. I am not sure if I water them in excess or not enough but the leave start falling out or dry out. A. All three of these are pretty easy to grow here if you have prepared your soil adequately and growing them at the right time of year. All three can handle full sun but they should not be put into areas of the landscape that are extraordinarily hot due to reflected heat from walls in the late afternoon. Basil test plots in North Las Vegas. Here we grew 17 varieties of basil and all of them did well under drip irrigation. I have grown all three of them frequently and have had no problems with them except some insect management. Basil loves the heat and should not be put in the garden until temperatures start to warm up, perhaps late March or early April if temperatures are warm. They do not like cool temperatures below 55° F. Cilantro and Italian parsley also do very well here but prefer cooler temperatures of spring and fall rather than the heat of our summer. A great time to plant cilantro and Italian parsley is in the early fall or late summer when temperatures begin to cool off. Italian parsley growing in North Las Vegas with drip irrigation If we have a hard freeze you might lose them during the winter months but if winters are mild and you place them in a warm part of the landscape protected from wind they will probably survive the winter. After it gets established and growing well, basil can handle temperatures all the way down to freezing but nothing below freezing. Parsley Hamburg growing in North Las Vegas. The only problem I had with it was dodder one year. When temperatures get cold in the late fall and you fear a freeze, throw a light sheet or even better a crop cover over the top of them just before sundown when soils are still warm. This will protect them 5 to 6° F below their freezing point. Your basic elements of success in this order will be planting at the right time, soil preparation, watering correctly, protection from bugs and location in the yard for protection from cold and wind. Leaf cutter be damage to basil Insect problems, generally speaking, include aphids and “worms” which are larva of moths mostly. I would focus on for organic options; insecticidal soap, oils such as horticultural oil or Neem, Bt or Spinosad and a pyrethrum product for fast knockdown. I would use them in rotation as pests begin to appear in the spring and as needed. Leaf cutter bees can be a problem on basil but I do not recommend any insecticides. It is better to cover basil with insect netting or ignore it.

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Another African Sumac Dropping Leaves in Summer

Leave a Comment / Why is my African sumac dropping leaves /

Q. I have a concern about our 10 year old African Sumac. Is it normal for it to lose large amounts of leaves in the summer? There is new growth, but it is not full and bushy as others in the neighborhood. A. No, it is not. But be aware that African sumac is a very messy tree for a variety of reason. I have posted information on this on my blog. African sumac in bloom in February. Achooooo….. http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2014/08/african-sumac-can-be-messy-tr ee.html http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2011/07/african-sumac-and-leaf-drop.h tml http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2014/11/african-sumac-needs-more-wate r-as-it.html http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2014/08/african-sumac-with-curled-lea ves.html http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/p/how-to-search-my-blog.html

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Rose Primer for the Desert

1 Comment / do roses grow in the desert, how to grow roses /

Hybrid Tea rose  ‘Las Vegas’ Q. I enjoy your page in the RJ, but I cannot see that you ever write about ROSE BUSHES.  We inherited these 14 year old, (estimate), bushes when we bought this house in 2011.  I ask friends, that have roses, and up until this summer, used Lady Bugs, Rose food, have hosed out salts from the roots, etc.  The bushes take up one side of the front of my walk way, plus in 3 other places, and it is important to me, that they look nice.Thank you for your thoughts on my problem. A. Thanks for asking that question. I seldom generate my own questions so I rely on the public to send these questions to me. It is my hope that people who read my blog and newspaper article will ask questions that many other people are also asking themselves. I seldom try to “second-guess” what people are thinking. Let’s cover some general tips on roses and this would be posted on my blog and an abbreviated form of it in my gardening column. There are two Rose Societies in the Las Vegas Valley; the long-standing Las Vegas Valley Rose Society and a second one which split from the original as the Las Vegas valley became larger, South Valley Rose Society Get information about the Las Vegas Rose Society Go to the South Valley Rose Society website I consider many of these members to be outstanding Rosarians and I defer to them and their expertise. However, I will give you my version of growing roses here in the eastern Mojave Desert. Roses do extremely well in our climate. The “winter” for roses is during the heat of the summer; June July and August. Expect that roses will look their worst in these months. The rest of the year Rosa canina, dog rose, used in Central Asia for its high Vitamin C content they do beautifully and are very prolific bloomers. If you want your roses to bloom during late December and January, plant them close to a south facing wall that throws radiant heat out during the winter. Our garden rose takes many different forms from miniatures to climbing roses to the garden rose in its many forms such as the Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, Grandiflora and the so-called shrub roses. Shrub roses is a catchall category for those that don’t fit anything else. All of them will grow in our climate but an excellent grower and hybridizer of roses,  Go to the Weeks Roses website puts together a list of roses that do well in our desert climate and publishes it every year  Go to Weeks Roses recommended roses for the desert If you are planning to grow roses, I would strongly suggest that you pay very close attention to your Rose selection by following lists such as these. These are solid recommendations. Rose ‘Nevada’ a semi-doubled shrub rose developed in 1927.  Blah, Blah, Blah. Most of the roses that are popular among home gardeners are what we call “repeat bloomers”. Roses weren’t always like this. Roses grew in different places all over the world including the Americas but the ancestors of what we now recognize as a modern garden rose had its origins most likely in western China and Central Asia. These areas of the world are very dry. International traders like Marco Polo, before and after him, moved these roses all over the world including the Middle East, northern Africa Eastern Europe and Western Europe.  Before and after these roses were moved internationally, horticulturists and gardeners began to breed them for different traits. The two traits that probably dominated most of the breeding early on was flower color and repeat blooming. Once the repeat bloomer discovered in China was identified, there was a scramble by many ancient Rose enthusiasts to “breed” this trait into the garden rose. Voilà. All of our popular garden roses now are repeat bloomers. Other traits popular were oil production and floral aroma which is tied very closely to the type of oils produced. Marco Polo trade routes from China Moving roses from dry Central Asia and western China to the wetter climates of Europe produced an increased number of disease and insect problems. We can see the reverse of this when we grow roses in desert climates. We see disease and insect problems are normally minimal so the need for spraying roses in our climate because of diseases and insects is small. Aphids on unopened rose flower buds Selection of roses for the home garden. Use a list like the one I talked about earlier to pick a variety that does best in our desert climate. Nearly all other varieties will do well but growing those selected for the desert that will tolerate the heat and our soils will do better than others. Straight phosphorus Planting roses. If you plant into native desert soil, blend this soil with an equal amount of good quality compost. If you are using a good quality soil mix, plant directly into this mix without amending the soil. Add a starter fertilizer high in phosphorus mixed into the backfill surrounding the roots at the time of planting. Always plant into a “wet” hole, never plant directly into dry soil or a dry soil mix. Wood chip mulch, not bark mulch, for soil improvement Always cover the surface of the soil with 3 to 4 inches of mulch that decomposes adding organic matter to the soil as it does. This type of mulch is a “wood chip mulch”, not a bark mulch or a rock mulch. If you must use a bark mulch, then use a wood chip mulch first and cover the surface last with bark mulch. Fertilizers. When first planting roses use a fertilizer high in phosphorus blended into the backfill at the time of planting. Or just use a straight phosphorus fertilizer instead. Once planted, focus on getting some size on the plant by using fertilizers high in nitrogen. Good

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