Q. We have a mature pear tree standing about 14′ tall that produces about 100 pears each year. These pears are always rock hard when harvested regardless of how long we leave them on the tree. We have attempted ripening them indoors, in brown bags, all to no avail. A. Do you know what kind of pear it is? There are two groups of pears; the European and Asian pears. The Asian pears are normally round or roundish and crunchy, much like a crisp apple. They are not rock hard, but they aren’t soft, either. They are “crunchy” in texture. Most people are familiar with Bartlett pear, a European dessert pear that is picked hard but ripens and softens after harvest. All pears pictured were grown by me in the Mojave Desert.             Most of the European pears are dessert pears, but a few are cooking pears. The dessert pears will soften after harvesting but the cooking pears do not. They stay firm, some might say “rock hard” when compared to dessert pear like a fully ripe Bartlett. Some of the European pears used fresh (aka dessert pear) are Bartlett, Comice, d’Anjou, Bosc and Seckel. The stores in the US carry a lot of Bartlett but there are some excellent other dessert pears out there to try. Comice pear, a European dessert pear, also does well in the Mojave Desert.             Most dessert pears are picked when still hard but after the background color of the fruit has begun to lighten. This is true of Bartlett because its flesh will have a “buttery” texture when picked before they are fully mature and allowed to ripen at room temperature for three or four days. Sensation Red Bartlett, another dessert pear, also does well here.             I’m thinking yours is a European type cooking pear. A popular variety is Kieffer. They don’t soften much at all when ripe because they are used for cooking and making pear sauce, compote, jams, jellies, pickling and used in stuffing.  Kieffer pear is a European pear but it is a cooking pear. They are called cooking pears because their flesh stays firm after cooking. They can be left on the tree longer because they stay very firm when ripe. If I am right, there is nothing you can do to soften them and you either enjoy them for their cooking attributes or replace the tree.

Q. This tree in my front yard is turning yellow. It is 20 years old. Is it because of lack of water? Should I have it trimmed? This is the canary island date palm talked about. Notice the lower fronds scorching on the edges and turning yellow. Water could be an issue. A. Lack of water can have two meanings.  Not enough water applied or not watered often enough. Sometimes it can be both…too little water applied and the water that is applied is not applied often enough.  Hard to judge but my guess is that water may be part of the problem. When water is applied to palms, a lot should be applied all at once and then hold off on the next watering for about the same time as other nondesert trees, like fruit trees, need water. For date palms in Las Vegas this is about one week, maybe twice a week at the most in the middle of summer.   See that cluster of new growth going straight up in the center top? Good sign. It had enough water to push spring growth. But what about summer growth? The browning on leaves seen in your pictures is on older leaves at the bottom. That is normal for it to happen that way. It is NOT normal if leaf fronds are turning brown along the edges on newer fronds higher up.  The palm to the right is getting water. The palm on the left is not. Look at the grass at the base. Palm Drought Water should be applied to a distance of about three to four feet from the trunk all around the tree. In many soils about two inches of water in the basin around the tree is enough to get it down to about 24 inches. This would be about 50 gallons. So the palm tree roots have to have access to about 50 gallons of water at least once a week to 100 gallons if it is watered twice a week in summer. But the important part is giving the soil a chance to drain and start to dry out after an irrigation. This is date palm, not canary island date palm, but the roots will be similar. This date palm was removed from the farm, harvested, so the roots are cut. It is pushing new growth from the center so that tells me If underwatering is severe the fronds will be smaller and scorched. From the picture   Palms pruned with enough canopy remaining to provide some protection to the central bud. As far as pruning, remove the lower fronds so that the remaining fronds are in a half circle

Q. I know Roma tomato plants are determinate in their growth but if I keep them healthy will they set a fall crop for me? A. All I can tell you is what I think will happen if it is a determinate tomato and how to prune it for fall production. There are a lot of unknowns involved but this should give you the best chance. Roma Confusion             Roma tomatoes are a certain type of tomato good for making tomato paste because they dont have a lot of water inside the fruit. So sometimes Romas are mixed with paste tomatoes and plum tomatoes and called paste types. Yes, Roma is determinate but paste types are predominantly indeterminate. So check what you got. Determinate Vs Indeterminate Determinate tomatoes are plants that are bush-like and produce fruit over a short time so it’s easier to pick. Indeterminate tomato plants grow as tomato “vines” and produce fruit spread out along these vines over a longer time. So-called Roma tomatoes are considered paste or plum tomatoes and many of these types can be either determinate or indeterminate. It’s good to know which you are buying for proper spacing and management. Fall Pruning             All plants need new growth to set flowers and fruit. For Fall production we want to stimulate new growth when air temperatures are entering the mid 90s. While indeterminate tomatoes can be cut back a lot in the Fall because they are so long, determinate types are cut back less due to their smaller plant size. Prune the plant back enough to provide for new growth but not enough to open the plant canopy for sunburn. Follow this pruning with water and fertilizer.

Q. I had my yard re-landscaped in June and with it I planted a Desert Museum Palo Verde. After planting, I pruned it and maybe removed too much which caused some sun damage. My great aunt used a lime and water “paint” on her trees to repel critters and I’m wondering if this might help. A. The time of year it was planted probably had something to do with the damage you’re seeing. The lime and water paint was used in the past mostly to reduce sunburn from intense sunlight. The reduced damage from painting the trunk and limbs attracted fewer insect problems. Fruit trees with trunks painted in Afghanistan. This was probably done by someone from an NGO and not done by locals for insect  and sunburn control in Balkh Province. lime and water concoction             But painting trees with this concoction was also used to make them look prettier. It’s still done for ornamental purposes in some countries. Now we paint the trunk and larger limbs of fruit trees with dilute white latex paint mostly to reduce damage from boring insects attracted by injury from intense sunlight. That’s its primary purpose. Plant at the Right Time of Year             First off, planting trees and shrubs in the spring or fall months leads to more success and less damage than planting during the summer months. Palo Verde, like most landscape plants, should be planted in late January or February or late September and October for best success. Those spring and fall months are more forgiving than planting during the heat of the summer. Transplant Shock             Secondly transplant shock, or the “interruption in growth” of plants when moved from a container into the landscape, is more dramatic during the heat of the summer than during the cool spring and fall months. Transplant shock that time of year varies from almost nonexistent to severe branch dieback depending on the care given when planted. Dig the hole and planting depth             Dig the planting hole three times the diameter of the container and make sure plants go into a wet planting hole as quickly and carefully as possible. Never plant into a dry hole even if you add water immediately after planting. Damage from planting that time of year during the summer in coastal California might be minor but not in the Mojave Desert.             Make sure plants are planted at container depth and, after planting, have not sunk deeply into soft, wet soil. This can be difficult to detect after planting and is a major cause for plants that struggle and eventually die after planting. Water Deep and Not Often             Water this tree under the canopy with enough water to wet roots 24 inches deep. Irrigate again to keep the soil moist at this depth, but not wet. Irrigating frequently and deep enough to keep soils moist will cause your tree to stay full, grow quickly and recover from sun damage. When it gets larger, reduce how often the tree is watered but not the volume of water applied.

Q. There are lots of black seeds when you cut open a papaya fruit. Can the green sprouts from these seeds be eaten and added to a salad? I don’t want to grow a tall papaya tree in my condo. A. Since the fruit produced by this tree is not important to you, the seeds can be collected, germinated and used for “sprouts”. Not many people are using these seeds for sprouting because the white latex sap of many plants is oftentimes a warning sign parts of it may be poisonous. Im on our farm in the Philippines now so I went out and nicked this young papaya with my fingernail so you could see the latex             Papaya sap contains a white latex thought to be important in reducing its pest problems. This sap however is used in pharmaceuticals and meat tenderizers because it contains an enzyme called papain.  The same papain is used to speed up skin and muscle repair from sports injuries like cuts and abrasions, “leaky gut” syndrome, and implicated as useful in treatment of shingles, hay fever and minor aches and pains. Not much is known about eating papaya sprouts. Much more is known about the papain derived from the fruit or leaves. Its also known in local folklore to reduce sex drive. Maybe that’s why its nicknamed the fruit of priests. Back in 1993 when I first went to the Philippines the locals in small villages on Palawan were pleased to see me eat alot of it and I didn’t know why. I was single at the time. Papain enzyme

Q. Can you recommend a good fescue grass seed for starting a lawn? I did not have great success with a local brand that said it was made for our desert climate.   A. Most of the lawns planted in our desert climate are a blend of at least three different kinds of tall fescue. This can be read on the grass seed label. Personally, I would stay away from grass seed mixtures that contain annual rye grass, bluegrass or perennial ryegrass combined with tall fescue. This is NOT a good tall fescue grass seed for home lawns. Great for parks but not home lawns due to its coarse texture. K31 or Kentucky 31 is a great highway grass…looks good at 50 mph             With grass seed, you get what you pay for. Most of the best grass seed blends are also the most expensive. Read the label. Buy grass seed that has at least three different types of tall fescue listed on the label. Stay away from K 31 a.k.a. Kentucky 31 tall fescue grass seed for home lawns. It’s great for parks and it’s cheap but mostly because it is durable and can handle our heat. a hot cup of coffee is really hot and will damage grass but continual hot temps in hot climates can also be damaging. Las Vegas is in the transition zone for grass…grows all grasses poorly.             Make sure the problem you had did not result from how it was planted or the irrigation system. Check the irrigation system before you plant and make sure it’s operating properly. The water from the sprinklers should be thrown far enough so that it reaches neighboring sprinkler heads. This is called “head-to-head coverage”.             A seedbed needs to be prepared for grass seed at least 8 inches deep. This soil should be “firmed” enough so that when you walk on it your shoes don’t sink more than half an inch into the prepared and firmed soil. Proper soil preparation, not too hard and not too soft, is where most people fail.             A starter fertilizer and grass seed mixture is applied to the surface of the soil with the grass seed applied at a rate of 10 to 12 pounds per thousand square feet of lawn area. Apply a very fine mulch on top of the seed no more than 1/8 inch deep. This can be steer manure or fine compost.             Water long enough until water begins to “puddle” in areas. This tells you the maximum number of minutes you can irrigate until seed starts showing. Water twice a day at this stage; once a day when you start seeing grass. Increase the amount of minutes and decrease the frequency of application until you find that “sweet spot” to you are growing grass roots as deeply as you can.

Q. I recently found your blog and wonder if you have any advice for me about an African Sumac that we planted last October. It did beautifully through the winter. About a month ago, I started noticing some leaves curling up, but staying green. Now the lower branches are drooping and over half of the leaves have curled, but stayed green. Rot? Fungus? I did one treatment of ferti-lome around the base last week. No change. A. Watering too often and not watering enough can give the same results so I can see how it could be either way. The only way to know for sure is know how wet the soil is when you water again and how much water you are applying. When you water African sumac, water it with lots of water over a large area under the tree canopy and don’t water again until it is about half gone. One of the problems with tree installations by the contractors who plant for Moon Valley I have been told in the past is the size of the hole they dig for the tree and lack of amendment added to the soil when planting. This could be part of the problem for you as well. The hole provided for the tree  should be at least three times the size of the container. If this was a 24 inch box tree then it will be a big hole that is dug. The hole does not have to be deeper than the container but three times its width. I don’t know how much amendment was added but it should be about the same volume as the soil taken from the hole. What can you do now? Remember this in the future but there is not much you can do to a tree that was already planted. I tell people who buy trees to be planted by a contractor from Moon Valley is to pay them extra cash and have them dig the hole wider.  Buy your own amendment like Viragrow’s compost and provide it for them instead of the bags they bring. Water the tree in the hole AS it is being planted and flood the area planted three times, once a day. Then turn it over to the drip or irrigation system but do not water daily. Provide enough water each time you irrigate to get it down to 18 inches deep. Water the area under the canopy of the tree at least half its width. All its width is better. Use a four foot long stick of rebar to determine this by pushing it in the soil until it is difficult to push. Water again when the soil in the upper four inches is starting to dry out. You can use a $10 moisture meter to determine this. Water when it reads “5-6” in three locations under the tree canopy where you watered. https://www.buzzsprout.com/245292/1459687-how-to-water-plants-in-the-desert