Xtremehorticulture

Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

Planting Fruit Trees from Containers Gives Few Advantages

Leave a Comment / bareroot, container advantages, fertilizer fruit trees, vs bare root /

Fruit tree in container to avoid purchasing when roots are exposed like this Q. I would like to plant a peach and pluot in my backyard. I know you always recommend planting bare root, but I am too excited and don’t really want to wait 3-5 years for fruit. There is a drastic price difference between 5 gallon and 15 gallon trees.  How soon would I get fruit with each of these options? I have one spot that is cooler and another a bit warmer. Which would be best in these spots? A. The 5 gallon tree will catch up to the size of the 15 gallon tree in about two years. This is because the larger tree transplants more poorly compared with the smaller tree. A bare root tree will catch up to the 15 gallon tree in 2 to 3 years.             There is very little difference between all of them in how soon they will produce due to transplant shock. Transplant shock is less in bare root trees than container trees and they establish better in soil than container trees.             The peach tree should be into full production in its fourth year. You will get a trickle of fruit prior to this. The pluot will enter into full production in about the sixth year but you should get a trickle of fruit in the fourth year.             I would put the pluot in the cooler winter location to try to delay its bloom later in the spring to avoid fruit loss due to late freezes.

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March Todo List in the Orchard

Leave a Comment / definition horticulture desert, Mohave Desert, Mojave Desert, orchard calendar, vegetables, what to do to fruit trees in march /

 Sweet corn at the orchard March Todo List Plant sweet in at least three rows for wind pollination. Plant seed one foot apart and enough room between rows so you can harvest ears. Keep out of strong winds. Contessa sweet onions after harvest at the orchard Dig and replant onion transplants or plant transplants ordered. Be sure to use a high phosphorus fertilizer and compost at the time of planting. We can grow both Short and Long Day onions. Try Candy, Big Daddy, Texas Super Sweet, Red Candy, Walla Walla, Sterling. A good place to order online is Dixondale Farms in Texas http://www.dixondalefarms.com/      Harvest asparagus every 2 to 3 days. Store spears upright to prevent curving of the spears. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, cucumbers to be planted March 15. Protect from wind and strong sunlight for two weeks. Early March. Prune table grapes. Spray to prevent thrips damage on nectarine fruits. Prepare bottles for putting on fruit trees for harvesting fruit in bottles. Select early producing varieties and put the bottles upside down so they drain and in the shade of the canopy on the north side. Growing fruit in bottles partially covered with aluminum foil to prevent heat buildup  Weed vegetable plots. Cutworm control on newly emerged seedlings. Spray Bt (Dipel or Thuricide) or Spinosad over newly applied vegetables and the soil surrounding the plants. Prune palms to get them out of the way of the vegetable plots. Harvest green almonds toward the end of the month and into April. Thin apricots when dime sized. Thin peaches when nickel sized. Harvest snow peas Fix irrigation leaks Almonds harvested green. This size and smaller can be used.

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Texas Moutain Laurel with Yellow Leaves

Leave a Comment / caterpillar, desert, moth, texas mountain laurel, worm /

Q. My Texas Mountain Laurel has yellow leaves and they continue to get more yellow as time goes by. It faces southwest, has 2 adjustable emitters turned down low, in the winter watering once a week for one hour. In early August I fed it with a fertilizer for acid-loving plants. I have looked very closely for bugs, and see none. There are some brown spots that have been appearing on the leaves. Want to see what this plant looks like? A. This plant is native to the Chihuahuan desert and so is accustomed to very low rainfall, particularly during the summer months. This doesn’t mean you should not water it in the summer but it does tell me that it would prefer deep but less frequent irrigations at the time of the year.             It is also not accustomed to high amounts of fertilizer and does not need fertilizers blended for acid loving plants. This plant grows easily in alkaline soils. It is a legume so go lightly with the fertilizers.             Generally speaking, deep irrigations to a depth of 12 to 18 inches, once a week should be fine during the summer months. You should be able to water less often in the winter. They are found on rocky soils in the desert but I am sure that they would prefer improved soils as long as they drain water.             In the spring this plant tends to get a caterpillar, the larva of the Genista moth, in it that feeds on the leaves. Sprays containing Bt, like Dipel or Thuricide or even Spinosad, should control it with one or two applications when you start to see them. Genista moth on Texas Mountain Laurel

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Lilac Pruning and Selection for the Desert

Leave a Comment / definition horticulture desert, lilac, Mohave Desert, Mojave Desert, plant selection, varieties /

Q. My daughter has just moved into a house that has old growth lilacs and we need to know how to prune them without causing too much stress on the plants.  Do you have any ideas? A. By the way, Persian lilacs grow and bloom better here than the common lilac and are very showy. However, the lilac variety “Lavender Lady” requires less chilling and blooms very well here. These are not plants for rock landscapes but should be in the high water use zones and the soil should be amended well at planting and covered with organic mulch.             For good-looking lilacs always start pruning at the bottom of the shrub. At the bottom, identify the two or three largest stems coming from the base. Remove them with clean cuts close to the ground. I can’t see the shrub but several smaller stems should remain that supports flowering for next year.             What you are trying to accomplish with many woody shrubs is to renew the shrub with new growth on a constant basis. You do this by removal of the largest stems close to the ground. This should cause smaller and newer growth to originate from the base keeping the shrub green, juvenile and full of flowers and leaves from top to bottom.             Every couple of years, repeat this type of pruning; remove the largest stems at the base. If done correctly, this will keep the shrubs renewed and looking good. This is all you need to do unless you have some crossed or broken branches at the top that you need to remove.             Don’t forget to fertilize the with a good quality fertilizer made for woody plants. Fertilize plants whenever you take anything from them (pruning) or they give you something (flowering). So when you’re pruning or they bloom for you, you need to give back to them lightly in the form of a fertilizer. You can use fertilizer stakes. Put fertilizers close to the emitters or their source of water. Do this in late January through March and make light applications right after they finish blooming. I hope this helps.

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Mulch Forms Crust I am Worried About

Leave a Comment / desert mulch crust forming /

Orchard with wood mulch in the Mojave Desert Q. I noticed that even though my drippers water deeply, the mulch around the surface of the plants and trees form a crust. Does that prevent oxygen from getting to the plants? The summer heat can only make worse. What do you suggest? A. I have never noticed this with the organic wood mulch that we use at the Orchard. It is very important that air gets to the roots. If this is a problem, then break up the crust with a rake.              Very fine mulches can compact or lay flatly on the surface of the soil over time. This can happen with sawdust, finely shredded newspapers and even very fine rock mulch such as 1/4 inch minus. Salts that are pulled up from the soil from surface evaporation can accumulate and cause crusts to form.             Coarse mulches seldom if ever have this problem because they cannot lay flat. Air moves through the coarse mulch where it supplies oxygen to microorganisms that help break down the mulch at the soil surface.             This constant breaking down of wood mulch adds organic matter to the soil which further aids in getting air into the soil. With time, the breakdown of wood mulch loosens the soil even further and causes the soil to allow even more air to the roots, particularly at the soil surface.             Hopefully you added compost to the soil at the time of planting. The wood mulch even adds more nutrients to the soil as it breaks down. It is important to have a wide diversity of different types of wood in the wood mulch; the more the better.             If you want a measurement of the activity, pull the wood mulch back where the soil is irrigated. After just a few months the soil will become much darker indicating its enrichment and biological activity which continuously improves the soil. Wood mulch also helps to keep the soil cooler aiding in decomposition as well.

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Fruit Trees to Provide Shade for the House

Leave a Comment / energy conservation, evergreen trees, fertilizer fruit trees, shade, solar gain /

Q. I want to replace my acacia-like tree because it does not lose its leaves during winter and thus persists in shading our house from the sun at a time we actually need the solar heat. I want a deciduous peach, apricot, plum or apple tree which would be a fast-grower, provide shade during summer, give little shade during winter, and bear some flowers and some good fruits on the side. A. If you want some shade on your home to help reduce cooling costs in the summer you should focus on shading the South and West facing walls of your home. Since the walls typically have less insulation in them, they are the worst offenders for heat gain in the summer.             It is not as important to shade the roof as it is to shade the west and south walls. If you do focus on the walls, then some of the smaller fruit trees such as peach, apricot and plum and semi-dwarf apple will work just fine. All of these fruit trees are deciduous so they will not create shade from December through February or March.             I would recommend planting them about 5 to 7 feet from the wall and that far apart so that you can work all sides of the trees. Another possibility is to trellis them along the wall to create shade. The trellis should be a stand-alone trellis, not attached to the wall. You can also achieve the same thing by putting an arbor on that side of the house and using grapes to shade the walls from the overhead sun.             My recommended varieties can be found on my blog which is called Xtremehorticulture of the Desert and can be found at http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com

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Using Ficus as a Hedge/Screen Around a Pool in Phoenix

Leave a Comment / cold damage, definition horticulture desert, ficus nitida, freeze damage, heat, pool screen, privacy, screening /

You scared me for a minute. I’m in Las Vegas so when I saw your Ficus mentioned I was concerned. I am less concerned with it in the Phoenix area but the pool area puts it in a different twist and you still have to worry about freezing damage.             But I am going to copy this to my good friend Terry Mikel who was your Extension Specialist in Maricopa County with the main office in Phoenix. He is better at answering this one and I will post his answer. He is in retirement but I am SURE he will come out of hiding on this one! Q. I live in Glendale Arizona. I have a 45ft section of 6 foot brick wall that I would like to plant Ficus nitida along. There is a 4 foot width between the wall and a plaster underground swimming pool. No problem watering the hedge?  But will this plant seek the pool water and cause a problem. I am not worried about frost. I want a 10 foot hedge when done. A. Your thoughts about having a hedge sound good.  Ficus microcarpa sub species/or cultivar ‘Nitida’ can fit the situation; its clean (no real messes). evergreen and makes a dense wall of foliage.             I have to use the term ‘can’ with a couple caveats.  1. This plant can grow to a very large size.  Frosts every few years help keep them in check.  And pruning can, to a certain degree keep them in check.  But, frosts and pruning will be a continuous battle against their genetics: it wants to be a 60′ tall and 80′ wide tree. 2. This species of Ficus will after time develop huge surface roots that will lift, push or barge anything in their path.  It’s their genetics and watering will have little, if any affect so the wall to the one side and any pool decking on the other side will be vulnerable to the large lifting roots.             Your one concern about them ‘seeking’ water is a commonly misunderstood trait of any plant. . . Plants do not search out water, period.  Plants send out roots randomly in all directions and roots that run into a water source will proliferate.             Pool sides, if sound will be the same a rock in nature, the roots will try to grow up, under, or around any solid object.             If, and this is a big if there is the slightest oozing leak from the pool’s wall  and a root meanders there then it will grow and proliferate in response.  That’s where the issue of roots and pools becomes a problem.             Personally, the Ficus is overused and most people who grow them quickly tire of all the problems with them.  If anyone who knew much about them would warn folks against using them except for large evergreen tree.             Your setting is a little bit of a challenge. You might think about something much less vigorous with fewer potential problems and some have blooms (a potential ‘mess’ issue). Look at: citrus, Hop Seed Bush (Dodonea), Xylosma (both common and botanical name), Arizona Rosewood (or any in that genus of Vauquelinia), one of the many different blooming colors of Arizona Yellow Bells (Tecoma and various species and varieties), Petite Oleanders have been used in that setting for generations.             Every person’s ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ vary. Check with your water department and pick up some of the nice booklets about planning and plants for the landscape. These were produced by the Arizona Municipal Water Users’ Association, more lovingly called AMWUA to be distributed in the different communities.             Another resource might be going to the Mountain States Wholesale Nursery (MSWN.com) site for a truly complete list of plants that are well adapted in the lower Sonoran desert. They also produce some for the higher deserts but their main goal is for lower deserts. . Respectfully, Terry H. Mikel

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Growing Saffron in the Desert

12 Comments / desert production, herbs, spices /

Q. I live in Summerlin and I want to grow saffron crocus. Is our area suitable for the successful propagation of this plant? If so, can you tell me the best source for the sativus corms? I would like to plant in the early spring if possible. Saffron crocus growing at the orchard A. Yes, saffron will grow here and does quite well. Saffron, a type of crocus is in the iris family, is one of the most expensive spices in the world. It takes about 60,000 crocus flowers to make one pound of saffron. One of our volunteers began growing it successfully at the orchard a couple of years ago.             There is no seed so propagation is by planting the bulb which is actually a corm much like a tulip bulb. Your best source for corms for planting will be online. Saffron crocus loves our alkaline desert soils, hot dry climate and mild winters. It does well in climates and soils that can grow pistachios.             The bulbs of saffron should be planted in full sun in heavily composted desert soil with additions of your favorite phosphorus fertilizer. Planting should be about 4 inches deep and about 4 inches apart. They should be irrigated and mulched with light mulch such as straw. Lightly fertilize continuously through the season to increase bulb size so it can be further propagated.             There are different levels of quality in saffron usually based on its color and taste. You can affect the quality of saffron by manipulating how it is grown. Grow it so it is “happy” and it will produce a good quality product. Saffron production manual

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Can Myers Lemon Do Well in Rock Mulch?

Leave a Comment / desert landscape, fruit trees, rock /

Q. I live in the far western area of the Las Vegas valley.  I have a good sized area covered with rock mulch. A flowering plum tree (soon to be removed) is struggling in this area. Can a Myer’s lemon tree do well in a rock mulch setting? Loquat in rock mulch A. I would not recommend it. It might do okay for a few years, maybe 3 to 5, and then it will start to take a dive. You will have much better luck if you can pull the rock away from fruit trees, including your flowering plum, perhaps 6 feet or so from the trunk and putting down wood mulch instead of rock.             If you decide to plant some citrus, I would highly recommend adding a lot of compost to our desert soil at the time of planting. It is much more effective to mix it in the soil then it would be to try to add it to the soil after it has been planted.

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