Xtremehorticulture

Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

How To Correct Winter Damage to Star Jasmine

Leave a Comment / dying, how to fix, leaf bronzing, star jasmine leaves yellow /

Q. What is the best way to fix frost damage to star jasmine? Give them nitrogen and iron? Wait for warmer temps? Or replace the plant? A. Mild freezing damage to many plants, including star jasmine, discolors the leaf causing it to yellow or bronze but not die. At lower temperatures the leaf may scorch, drop from the plant or dieback and still remain on the plant.             If winds are light, cold damage during mild freezes is more severe at distances further from the ground. The ground can radiate heat up to the plant, keeping the lower portions from freezing, if winds don’t continually blow it away.             If tender plants grow both above and below a wall, it is not uncommon to see the top portion damaged while the parts below the wall remain in good condition.             You sent me a picture of a star jasmine used as a ground cover. In the picture, most of the discoloration from cold is in the upper part of the plant. That discoloration is permanent to those leaves.             You have two options; let it grow out of it in the next couple of months and prune out some unsightly parts that still remain or make some deep pruning cuts inside the canopy. These deep cuts will be focused on stems with loss of leaves or discolored foliage.             Follow up with and all-purpose flowering tree and shrub fertilizer and some irrigations to wash it into the root zone. I would not replace the plants.

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Weather Report for UNCE Orchard for February 2014

Leave a Comment / did it freeze, Las Vegas, north las vegas, what were the tempertures /

We had freezing temperatures during the first three days of February in the middle of the night in two instances. There were some peaches and apricots in bloom at the time whose fruit crop might have been affected. Wind gusts during this time did occur on February 1. We did have wind gusts a few days during the month. Certainly on February 2 they were. at night on January 6 and 8th. Winds did not compound the problem. Humidity dropped to single digits twice during the month. No major rainfall events. ET was about 2. 4 inches during the month of January. Generally speaking, irrigation should have added about 2 inches of water in January, 2014. The UNCE Orchard is located at 36 degrees North Latitude and 2000 ft (666 meters) elevation in the Mojave Desert north of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The weather station sensors are located at about 7 feet above ground level in an deciduous orchard setting just above tree canopy. The soil temperature probe was accidentally above the soil surface for a few days but was reset to about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) below the soil surface covered in wood mulch. Reported by Mike Barrett.

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Garden Problems Answered Mondays and Fridays

Leave a Comment / garden problem, help with garden, where can i get my gardening questions answered /

I will be at the Viragrow every Monday and Friday to answer questions through March, 7 am to noon. Bring samples, pictures or descriptions. Or just come and chat about gardening. I will be glad to listen, we can talk and have a cup of coffee. I will be not be at the Viragrow location on Mondays and Fridays from April 7 to April 25 but I can be reached by email at [email protected]. It is always good to make an appointment if you are coming and make sure I can meet you. Bob Morris aka Extremehort  

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Preventing Thrips Scarring to Nectarine Fruit

Leave a Comment / deformed, nectaine fruit damage /

Western flower thrips are the major problem with growing nectarines in the Las Vegas valley.If not sprayed, fruit can get terribly scarred. The fruit is safe to eat, but who would want to? Nectarine fruit scarred from Western flower thrips These tiny insects appear at the time of bloom and begin ripping and tearing into the surface of the immature fruits as soon as the blossoms drop from the tree. If left unchecked they continue to rip and shred the fruit surface with their rasping mouthparts causing the fruit to scar and leak sap. The leaking sap crystallizes and remains attached to the fruit where it is scarred. The resulting fruit is deformed, ugly and looks inedible. But it is not. The fruit is still good and tasty.             Western flower thrips. Picture from University of California IPM Project. To keep the fruit from becoming scarred and deformed, pesticide applications must be used. One of the best organic approaches is to use the insecticide called spinosad. Spinosad is applied to the fruit with spray applications until harvest. It should be combined with a spreader/sticker additive to the spray mix. Follow label directions.   It doesn’t say it but this product from ferti-loam has spinosad in it and is labeled for fruit. Otherwise look for the name Spinosad in the ingredients. It is a must to change off your pesticide applications with others to prevent the possibility of developing chemical resistance to this product. This is called rotating your chemical applications. Other organic sprays you can alternate with include insecticidal soap, and neem oil.

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March and April Fruit Tree Todo List

Leave a Comment / deformed fruit, limb spreaders, manage fruit trees, nectarine fruit scarred, what to do to fruit trees, when to /

Orchard Todo List: March and April. Each of these below will be talked about more in depth in the coming weeks. Irrigate deeply every 7 days if you have mulched your fruit trees Thin fruit when fruit reaches thumbnail size: peaches, nectarines, apricots, apples, pears, Asian pears, plums and plum relatives. Needing no thinning are figs, pomegranates, persimmons all nut trees. Class coming! Begin spraying nectarine fruit with spinosad immediately AFTER flowers drop for control of Western flower thrips (ugly and sappy nectarines) Thrips damage to nectarine fruit. Foliar iron fertilizers can be applied (sprays) if you missed your soil application of iron. This may take multiple applications while the temperatures are cool. This is a good time to put in limb spreaders on apples, pears and Asian pears to 45 degree angle. The branches will bend easily now on limbs one or two years old. Limb spreaders are placed into trees to force limbs into a 45 degree angle from horizontal. Pears and plums are notorious for having growth that is very upright. To be productive this growth should be pushed to about 45 degrees. Ground squirrels become active in late March and early April. Bait traps with no poison. Switch to poison bait when squirrels are eating the bait. Look for tomato hornworms to be active in April. They attack grapes as well as tomatoes. Make sure you have Bt or Spinosad on hand. Grape fleabeetles may appear in mid-April and eat holes in the leaves of grape leaves. Do not panic. They do little damage. Set pheremone traps. One and set more when you see the first flight. Watch for early damage to peaches and nectarine new shoots (flagging) by peach twig borer. Treat with Bt or spinosad. Weed control is very important right now since they are harboring insects like aphids, thrips, and others. A hoe and walk the old and newer orchard areas will be a big help.

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Watch for Aphids This Time of Year

Leave a Comment / dripping sap, how to control aphids. plant lice, leaf curling, sticky leaves /

This time of year is a busy time for home horticulturists. Now that we have finished fertilizing landscape and fruit trees and increased irrigations as temperatures warm, we turn to pest problems. Curling of leaf edges on plants like plum is a pretty positive sign of aphids this time of year.             Spring growth attracts overwintering insects. Soft, succulent new growth is easy to feed on. Insects like aphids move to new spring growth to feed and have their young. Expect aphids to begin feeding and multiplying on the undersides of leaves now and through cool weather. Aphids like to spend the winter on weeds close to the ground, particularly just below loose mulch. This protects them from cold and still allows them to feed through the winter. They leave weeds and migrate to spring growth when temperatures warm.             If your landscape is a healthy one, you will see an explosion of ladybird beetles or ladybugs and green lacewings. The young of these insects are voracious feeders upon small, soft-bodied insects like aphids. These adult predators lay eggs in areas where their young can easily feed.             Signs that aphids are present and feeding are the curled edges of new leaf growth. However, what might attract your attention more are ants. When the leaf is turned over and the leaf edge uncurled you will see adult aphids and their young feeding. Their feeding creates a sugary sap that ants relish. Aphids prefer the undersides of leaves like on this apricot leaf. This gives them more protection. If you are planning to spray, you must spray the undersides of leaves, not just the tops.             Soap and water sprays directed on them and spaced several days apart are usually enough to control aphids. Most people will spray the top sides of the leaves to control insects. But when aphids are inside the curls on the underside of the leaf, they can be a challenge to control with just soap and water.             If you an adherent to organic methods of pest control then multiple sprays directed toward the tops and bottoms of leaves will be necessary. Most organic methods do not persist. Multiple applications may be needed a few days apart for good control.

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Branch Dieback in Olive Sign of Soil Disease

Leave a Comment / branch death, branch dieback, olive, olive death, olive dying, verticillium wilt /

Q. We have a twenty year old olive tree in our front yard diagnosed with Verticillium wilt disease. The north third of the tree appears to be healthy. If we remove this tree, what distance from the old hole is needed for the new tree? We would a replacement tree to provide shade. We are looking at oak, pine, ash, spruce or fir.   Olive leaf drop and branch dieback may be a sign of verticillium wilt in olive. A. That’s unfortunate. Hopefully the diagnosis was correct and it is not something else that caused it. The information you received about the disease sounds correct. This disease is present in the soil and enters the tree via the roots.             Olive has very few pest problems and an excellent tree for the desert. Verticillium wilt disease is rare in olive here but does occur. Symptoms include the death and dieback of individual limbs for no apparent reason.             Trees resistant to Verticillium wilt disease and good choices for you in our desert include live oak such as Heritage or holly oak, ornamental pear, European pear, honeylocust, apple, crabapple and any of the conifers such as pines.             Eucalyptus is also resistant but a lot people do not like eucalyptus since it can be “messy”. I would not recommend spruce or firs since they do not grow well in our climate.             If you want warmth from the winter sun then conifers (pine) or any evergreen tree (such as our southern oaks) is not a good choice for you. I would stay with ornamental pear or honeylocust for seasonal shade, disease resistance and good looks.             If you stay with Verticillium resistant trees, planting in the same general area should not present a problem.

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All Desert Plants Need Water Including Cactus

1 Comment / landscape without water, plants that dont need water /

Q. I am looking for substitutes for cacti.  Plants without stickers that need no water.  I want to replace my 15 lantana. I would like to plant them now before the heat comes. A. All of the plants in the desert require irrigation, even cacti. Some of the cacti require more frequent irrigation than others.             Those coming from the Mojave Desert require the least amount. Cacti from the Mojave Desert can get by with shallow irrigations occurring perhaps once a month with a hose. Nopal cactus fruit called ‘Tunas’. Brix hit about 16. Birds love the sweet ones. That is mostly bird damage. The spines on these cacti are diminished but they are present and you must protect your hands handling pads or fruit.             Thorns or “stickers” is a defense mechanism used by plants to keep desert animals from eating plant parts that are full of stored water. There are some cacti that have “stickers” which are much diminished. However, they are present and can cause pain if you handle them.             If water is your major limitation then I would encourage you to look at other possible ways of making your landscape look attractive without growing plants.             A big benefit of growing plants in a yard is their increase in individual value as they get larger and collective value as part of a beautiful landscape. Nopal cactus grown in Hernosillo, Mex, at the University of Sonora field trials.             Other benefits besides beauty are to create more hospitable environments in your landscape. Then of course the right plants can provide food for us.             You can bypass some of this “added value” to your landscape by spending more money upfront in the design. This includes things such as creative use of rock mulches with different colors and sizes, use of changes in landscape elevations when contouring the landscape during construction, use of boulders and good boulder placement, attractive screens, trellises, fences and good garden art.             But I am afraid there is no solid, one answer to your question.

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Aggressive Desert Creature a Centipede!

Leave a Comment / bite, desert animals that sting, desert centipede, desert insects that sting, painful sting /

Q. This insect was found on the west side of town inside the house. As you can see from the picture, it looks like a centipede. When we approached it, it became very defensive and acted like it wanted to attack us!  I also found one on a rose bush in the backyard. It was also very aggressive. What might it be?  Desert centipede found by reader. A. Thanks for the picture and you are correct, it is a centipede. This one is probably the common Desert Centipede. They have very characteristic color differences from other types of centipedes found outside of the desert.             They can look intimidating since they can reach lengths of 4 to 8 inches, one of the largest centipedes, depending on which desert centipede you encounter. There are several types all with different colorations.             They are poisonous and can deliver a nasty “bite”. It was threatening to use this on you because you were a threat to it.             If you search on the internet for “desert centipede” several good sites will come up from a “naturalist” point of view. They are good predators of other insects including roaches. However, they do pose a threat to humans with a “bite” similar to a bee sting which is treated much the same way.             Some people may have a “reaction” to the sting so if you have concerns, go to Quick Care or other medical service where you can get prompt medical attention.             There is very little information on controlling them so the approach is similar to controlling spiders and roaches. This includes excluding them from the home by caulking all possible entry points and creating a chemical barrier using a “foundation spray” if you want to use pesticides.             Once inside the house they may set it up residence if there is a food supply,  places to hide and nest. In cases like these, sprays called “crack and crevice” treatments would be recommended until you can get them under control.             Outside I would just leave them alone and treat them like any other potentially dangerous desert creature such as bees, hornets, wasps, black widows, brown spiders, tarantulas, biting ants and bark scorpions.

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How to Sell Food to the USDA Webinar Mar 20

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Each year USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) buys nearly $2 billion and 2 billion pounds of frozen, processed, and fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish and eggs. How to Sell Domestic Foods to the USDA Thursday, March 20,  2014 2:00 – 3:00 Eastern Time      On Thursday March 20, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will present a free interactive webinar, “How to Sell Domestic Foods to the USDA.” Each year, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) buys nearly $2 billion and 2 billion pounds of frozen, processed, and fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish and eggs.  Otherwise known as “USDA Foods.”  These healthy, American grown and processed products help feed millions of school children and are also distributed to food banks, disaster areas, and wherever else they are needed. AMS proudly buys “USDA Foods” from a diverse pool of companies, both large and small.  For this webinar, we will be placing special emphasis on contracting information for small, socially disadvantaged, women-owned, and service disabled veteran-owned businesses, as well as those in Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUB Zones).  Note: The small business size standard for federal contractors in “USDA Foods” procurement is 500 employees or less (except for shell eggs, which is $12.5 million in annual revenue). Sara Hernandez and Dianna Price of the AMS Commodity Procurement Staff will: ·       introduce you to USDA purchasing activities and “USDA Foods,” ·       discuss the types of products USDA buys, ·       explain the solicitation and award process ·       outline the requirements for selling to USDA, and ·       give you the tools and resources you’ll need to explore doing business with the USDA. Following the formal presentation, the webinar will conclude with an interactive question and answer session.  Feel free to submit questions before the webinar to [email protected]. Visit the USDA’s AMS Commodity Procurement website to see what products AMS buys. Then tune in to this webinar to learn everything you need to get started selling your products to USDA. This informative webinar is designed for growers, producers, processors and distributors of all sizes.  The webinar is free and available to anyone with Internet access.   However, registration is  required and space is limited.  Visit (https://amsfv.webex.com/amsfv/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=664780806) to register today!  We will host webinars on more AMS programs and services throughout the year.  To view previous webinars online, visit our Webinar Archive.       We’ll see you online!   REGISTER TODAY! If you have any questions about the webinars or AMS, please contact Christopher Purdy at (202) 720-3209 or [email protected].

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