Xtremehorticulture

Attention All Grade 3 Students Who Want to Garden!

The Bonnie Plants Third Grade Cabbage Program Registration is open now and it is free!  Gardening teaches kids where food comes from, healthy eating and heightens their engagement with nature. A great way to get kids started in the garden is the National Bonnie Plants Third Grade Cabbage Program, it’s free to any third grade classroom in the country (48 contiguous states), and kids love it! The program began in 1995 at Bonnie Plants headquarters in Alabama, by 2002; it grew by leaps and bounds and now includes 48 states! Bonnie Plants initiated the program with a mission to inspire a love of vegetable and herb gardening in young people. Each year, Bonnie trucks more than one million free O.S. Cross cabbage plants to 3rd grade classrooms across the country. Calling all Third Graders! Have you ever tried growing your own food right in your own backyard? Whether you’ve thought about it or not, you can do it, and the National Bonnie Plants Third Grade Cabbage Program will help you. Here’s how it works…. Every third grade classroom in the 48 contiguous states is invited to join this fun, free, colossal cabbage growing contest. Yes, it’s a National contest! Growing a cabbage provides third grade students with a chance to win a $1,000 scholarship from Bonnie Plants, plus statewide recognition. Bonnie Plants awards a scholarship to one winner from each state. Third Grade Teachers: If your third grade class isn’t already registered for this exciting program, it’s simple to get started. You can easily register your class online at www.bonnieplants.com. Just fill out the registration form and submit. Once registered, Bonnie Plants will truck, direct to your classroom, enough cabbage plants for each of your third grade students to take home and grow. Delivery date(s) are based on geographic region. The cabbage provided is an O.S. Cross; the “O.S.” stands for “oversized” and this variety can grow to be gigantic! In 8 to 10 weeks after planting, students should have a huge, healthy cabbage ready for harvest and program entry. To view past winners and learn more about the Bonnie Plants Cabbage Program contest visit www.bonnieplants.com and click on the “Cabbage Program” tab at top of screen. Green Earth Media Group Joan Casanova 203 292 8820 203 610 2069 (cell) [email protected]

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What’s Wrong with My Pampas Grass?

Q. My question is about our pampas grass which is now about six or seven years old. In the beginning the plumes were white, but now are brownish yellow. In fact, they look dirty. I notice too most of the plumes are coming on only half of the plant.  Pampas grass flowering A. Pampas grass is native to the grasslands and plains of South America. It has evolved with fire which is a clue about how to manage it. In the wild, range fires every few years keep these things burned to the ground and renewed naturally.             By the way, the standard size pampas grass is very large and should not be used in landscapes that do not have the room to support its growth. There are dwarf forms of this plant that would be more suitable and in a variety of colors. They are a pain in the neck to prune and some people burn them to the ground every three or four years where burning is permitted. If burning is not permitted, they may be cut to the ground and hauled off. This avoids the problems surrounding fire. Burning or pruning helps renew the plant and keeps its growth more evenly balanced.  When pampas grass first blooms, the plumes may be an assortment of colors depending on the type of pampas grass. After a short time the flowers may begin to turn an off shade of the same color. Pampas grass continually puts on new growth from short rhizomes on the periphery of the plant. As it does this, the center may stop being very productive. In some cases parts of the plant may die as they get older, larger and overgrown.  Giving the plant adequate water, fertilizer in early spring and pruning it properly should help quite a bit in maintaining good growth and color.

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Remove “Arms” Of Mediterranean Fan Palm To Make It More Open

Q. We have seven Mediterranean fan palms in our yard, one of which has an “arm” which will eventually block easy access to walk around that side of the house. Is it harmful to the palm to cut off this arm? If not, is there a time of year that is best to do so? How many “arms” can this type of palm sustain? Is there a suggested maximum? Mediterranean fan Palm with a pruned canopy to make it more open A. Mediterranean fan palm is meant to be a clumping palm with many side shoots that makes a canopy which is a dense, half circle if it is left undisturbed. Many people will remove some more many of these “arms” to make it more open. In some cases I have seen all of them removed except for the middle one. You can cut them back to the ground or even below ground at their point of origin in the clump. In fact, that is the best way to do it.  You can prune these palms nearly any time of the year but it is best to do it during warm weather so they have a chance to heal.  Remove soil from that side and cut it off with a reciprocating saw or handsaw after the blade has been sanitized with alcohol or dilute concoction of 5% bleach and water. If using bleach, oil the blade afterwards.  Replace the soil after a several days when the wound has healed. They are more visually appealing with an odd number of “arms” so three, five or seven going in different directions and with a balanced canopy is usually the best looking.

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Leafhoppers Are Pesky on Grapes Now

Q. I have a lot of  midgets or gnats in the leaves of my grape trees.  I don’t know what to do to kill them. If I touch the leaves these insects will fly all over me. A. These are more likely leafhoppers and not gnats or midges. I have had others report these as gnats too but after confirming their presence with some pictures they agreed they were leafhoppers. Leafhopper damage on grapes Leafhoppers are very small and jump rather than fly. There can be hundreds, if not thousands right about now on grapes. They cause some leaf yellowing, black specks on the leaves and fruit. The biggest problem with them is they are a nuisance. They will jump in your face and mouth when you walk by a grape vine. Here are some posts on my blog about leafhoppers on grapes http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2011/10/grape-leafhopper-damage-or-fleabeetle.html http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2015/04/leafhoppers-hornworm-and-skeletonizer.html http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2013/07/grape-leaf-problems-leafhoppers-and-iron.html http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2012/06/leaf-munching-on-grapes-whiteflies.html Not much will work on them when they are adults like now. You can try soap sprays but I would not do much until next year. A couple of applications of Spinosad in late April and May to the undersides of leaves and tops will knock the populations back along with horticultural oils applications while it is cool in the late spring.

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Figs, Blueberries and Strawberries for Las Vegas

Q. Can you give me any particulars as to growing a fig tree, blueberry bush and strawberries?  It would be helpful if you have any information as to the varieties of each. One of the yellow or white figs A. Figs do very well here and any variety will grow. They love this climate. You will get two crops every year if you prune them correctly.  Yellow figs like Kadota are milder in flavor and usually preferred for cooking. While the purple and “black” varieties have a stronger flavor and used for drying, jams and preserves. Figs will not be productive here without plenty of water so the biggest mistake people make is not keeping the soil around the roots moist.  Use wood chip surface mulches to preserve soil moisture. Treat them like any other fruit tree except for pruning.  Blueberries are more difficult to grow in our climate and are not a good plant for the desert. People do grow them here and they do produce but require extra care and good gardening techniques. Don’t grow them unless you want to put in the effort.  Blueberry growing in Las Vegas at a home residence Grow them in containers or tubs because the soil is easier to manipulate. I discourage people from planting blueberries in this climate unless they are an accomplished gardener. Learn the basics and then you can try exotics like blueberries.  Surprisingly good at lowering pH If they simply must have them then they should have a very high percentage of quality compost in the soil and the soil covered in wood chip mulch. Expose them to as much sun as possible with protection from late afternoon direct sunlight.  Focus your selections on southern highbush types with a low chilling requirement. There have been no trials conducted in our climate so I can only guess at which varieties to try. Though varieties I would look closely at include Misty, Sharpblue, Sunshine Blue and perhaps Southmoon. Misty is one of the better ones in a desert climate. Your selections should be self-fruitful. The soil will be much easier to manage because if adding some acidifying agent such as finely ground soil sulfur, aluminum sulfate or Organic Magic. Organic Magic That drops the pH very fast compared to sulfur. Strawberries are in between these two in difficulty; not as easy as figs and not as difficult as blueberries. They require soils similar to tomatoes for good growth; a well-drained vegetable soil with plenty of compost. Quinault Strawberry starting to set fruit in a container with surface mulch of pine shavings growing at Viragrow Like any fruit crop, give them as much light as possible but protect them from late afternoon sun. They are shallow rooted so water them like you would most vegetables. Fertilize them just after then finish producing which varies with the strawberry whether it’s an Everbearer or main crop type.  Varieties are important. Stay with the Everbearing varieties rather than main crop types when selecting for home gardens. Use a surface mulch to keep soils moist and avoid letting the soil get too dry in the summer months.   There is lots of general growing advice on the internet on things that are not as critical when growing in the desert.

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