Q. I would like to plant a pecan tree in my backyard but some friends told me they are so difficult to maintain plus they need to be close to another one to be pollinated. If I can plant a pecan tree which do you recommend to plant for some shade and nuts? A. Pecan trees will do well in this climate but I would not recommend them as a shade tree in the desert. Pecan trees can be monsters in size and spread and, because of their size, require very large amounts of water as they mature. They are not well suited to a desert climate where water is a premium. For shade, all you need are trees in the 20 to 30 foot range in height and they will use considerably less water. If you want a nut tree then pick an almond or pistachio instead. If you are concerned about shading a home for energy conservation, then select trees and shrubs which shade the south and west walls, not the roof. This is where you’re going to get the most energy conservation. But if you must have a pecan, try this website for selecting the variety you want. Pecan Selection from Dave Wilson Nursery Since these may be hard to find in Las Vegas you can try ordering online this winter for early spring delivery. Bay Laurel Nursery bareroot nut trees

Q. Recently I discovered some white round worms or grubs in my soil when I was planting. What are they and what can I do to get rid of them? Will they feed on the roots of the plants and kill them? Do you have any idea where they came from? Open publication – Free publishing – More insect control Grubs found in compost A. It is hard to tell without seeing what they actually are. There are some grubs which have six legs on the front and are grayish white which we see a lot of in decaying organic matter. They It is hard to tell without seeing what they actually are. There are some grubs which have six legs on the fun and are grayish white which we see a lot of in decaying organic matter. They can also feed on the roots of some plants usually herbaceous plants like vegetables and herbs flowers and that kind of thing. These are frequently larvae of beetles rather than moths. And because they are larvae of beetles they will not be controlled by a very many organic chemicals. If plants are present than you can use a soil insecticide drench of things like pyrethrum or a heart are pesticide such as Sevin as a liquid drench. If the soil does not have plants than you can loosen the soil, moisten the soil, cover it with plastic and let it cook and the sun making sure that the edges of the plastic or sealed tightly to the ground so that they do not escape. By now they probably have stopped feeding and have pupated, turning into adult beetles and will emerge to mate with other adults. By this time there feeding damage has probably stopped. After mating the female then lays eggs in well prepared garden soils or compost where the young hatch and feed on decaying organic matter and soft tender roots of plants. I hope this helps. Above is a picture of one of the grubs I’m talking about. And because they are larvae of beetles you will not have as many organic controls available to you. If plants are present then you can use a soil insecticide drench. Things like pyrethrum, an organic pesticide, or a hard pesticide such as Sevin can frequently be found as a liquid drench. If your soil does not have plants then you can loosen the soil with a spade, moisten it, cover it with plastic and let it cook in the sun making sure that the edges of the plastic or sealed tightly to the ground so that the heat does not escape. This is called soil solarization. Green june beetle on kadota fig By now they probably have stopped feeding and have pupated, turning into adult beetles and will emerge to mate with other adults during this summer. By this time their feeding damage has probably stopped. After mating the female then lays eggs in well prepared garden soils or compost where the young hatch and feed on decaying organic matter and soft tender roots of plants. Readers of my newsletter and blog will see what this grub looks like and get more information.

Q. I would like to start a compost pile if it is not a back killer turning it. Any suggestions on how to get started so I don’t have to return to trashing my kitchen garbage and coffee grounds? We also have tons of cockroaches and wondering what organic gardeners are doing to get rid of them. Compost piles at The Orchard http://www.facebook.com/pages/Master-Gardeners-Tree-Fruit-Orchard/117996858226695 A. Cockroaches are decomposers. They are out there looking for food that they can eat and, in the process, eating aids in their food breaking down and decomposing. The problem is that they do not distinguish between “their food” and “our food” so it is important to keep compost piles as far away from where we live as possible. It is also important to try and keep an open area between the house and the compost pile where they can be pounced on by predators such as birds, lizards, wasps and even cats. Stale beer works well as an organic control as it does also with slugs and snails. No, I own no stock in beer companies. You can make a bait station that they cannot crawl out of by using a slippery sided steep container with a bait such as stale beer, coffee grounds, vanilla or human food scraps containing sugar or fat combined with an inch of water for drowning them. They have to be cleaned out regularly. Diatomaceous earth works well as long as it stays dry as does boric acid powder. This can be placed on the outside of the home at possible points of entry. Leaking water serves as an attractant such as irrigation boxes and laundry rooms with washing machines or hoses that leak. Don’t keep wet sources of water close to the house or, if an irrigation box is continuously wet, then get it fixed and in this case important in reducing cockroach populations. Wash containers before putting them in the trash. Wash garbage containers frequently to eliminate possible “their food”. Finally there are chemical sprays that are quite effective sprayed in an area where the house meets the ground and sealing any possible holes or cracks where they can enter. Use chemicals as a last resort in pest control.

Q. About 15 years or so ago, I read about fruit trees that have limbs that are bare for 18 – 24 inches before new stems and leaves come out. I have forgotten what the cause is and what the prevention or cure is. I presently have a peach tree with this condition and wonder how I could have prevented it or can cure it. A. This can be a complicated area and it depends on what you might be referring to on the tree. If you are referring to fruit trees with new growth that has normal vigor but without the development of leaves along its length, these can be referred to as “blind shoots” or “blind wood”. Older thought used to say it was due to a lack of winter cold weather or a lack of “winter chilling”. Some are questioning whether this is true or not. Blind wood in apple If you are referring to new growth that is excessively long and vigorous but lacks side branches then this can be excessively vigorous growth that could be handled through summer pruning. If I want to keep a tree small, I try to summer prune as much as I can every late spring and early summer. This helps to control tree size and keeps them smaller and more manageable. Summer pruning is only pruning growth that has developed since spring. Growth older than this is not pruned until winter dormancy. Starting about in April in our climate I begin the summer pruning process at The Orchard. The first growth that I remove is growth that is not worth keeping. These are vigorous shoots that grow straight up, straight down or toward the center of the canopy. Remove these at their point of origin. Once these unproductive branches are removed I then focus on shoots that I plan to keep or at least until I can see them better when the leaves drop this winter. Remember the most productive branches grow in the canopy at about a 45 degree angle above horizontal. Watersprouts in apple should be removed Any shoots that have grown longer than about 24 inches in length since spring are cut back to about 18 inches in length. I know yours is a peach in your case but on fruit trees that produce fruiting spurs along their branches (think short side shoots that produce fruit like in apples, pears, plums, apricots) cutting them back sometime between April and June will encourage earlier fruiting along these branches. Cutting these excessively long branches so they are shorter will force fruit to be produced closer to the ground where it can be harvested easier. Most peach and nectarines do not produce spurs for bearing their fruit. They bear their fruit along the length of one-year-old branches. Do not allow this year’s new growth to become excessively long. Apple spur (short compressed shoot) supporting fruit In your peach tree’s case, if branches are growing straight up, straight down or toward the center, remove them at their source. If new growth is growing excessively long, either remove them (if growing straight up, straight down or toward the center) or cut them back to 18 inches in length if they look like they will be productive in the future.

A good series of pictures of this insect can be found published online by the University of California Riverside at http://cisr.ucr.edu/bagrada_bug.html   Here is Arizona’s information. Open publication – Free publishing – More bagrada bug

 Corn earworm thanks to Michigan State University Q. My corn is 3-4 ft high and has ears on it already. According to “the book”, I shouldn’t be harvesting until mid June by the ‘days to harvest’ guide. The ears are about half formed. The silks have turned dry and brown, which is when they should be harvested. I pulled one off to see what is going on inside, and it is forming, but I found an ugly green worm about 3/4″ long. Is that an army cutworm? I thought they were brown, as that looks like what is feeding on my Lantana. Yuck! A. You may have planted your corn a bit too late in the season and this may have been because of cold spring weather. This was not a good spring for corn because of the cold weather. In fact, it was not a good spring for many vegetables that prefer heat unless you had a nice warm microclimate for your vegetable garden. The cool spring vegetables were fabulous! You can try a fall crop of corn by planting the seed around the middle of July or the first part of August. One other reason the corn may have been short is a lack of water. If they were stricken with drought they will not get to their full size but try to produce ears on shorter plants.  Corn showing signs of drought and lack of nitrogen The insect you describe is corn ear worm. As your corn plant begins to silk or produce those soft silky filaments out of the ends of the young years then you must begin to apply an insecticide to prevent ear worms from damaging the ears. The insecticide can range from oils to Bt or spinosad to a hard insecticide such as Sevin. Corn showing signs of drought and lack of nitrogen The insect on your lantana was probably tobacco budworm. Bt or spinosad will work great on these grubs or larvae as well.

Q. Could offer any advice on what to do to keep my spring bulbs (tulips and hyacinths) healthy so that they bloom again next year?  I bought them this past fall and kept them in the refrigerator for six weeks or so, and then planted them.  They came up and bloomed beautifully.  Should I dig them up when all of the foliage has died off of them and store them again in a cool place until next fall?  Will they survive if I leave them in the ground over our hot summer? A. Both tulips and hyacinths are considered fall bulbs. Fall bulbs should be planted in late summer and fall. Besides tulips and hyacinths other fall ball does include crocus, narcissus, and ranunculus. October, November and December are the months to plant fall bulbs. You must work the soil well with compost and some sort of phosphorus fertilizer such as bone meal. Plant the bulbs twice their diameter. If your soil is sandy then you can plant deeper than this. Make sure they are mulched and receive periodic Irrigations during the winter to keep them from drying out. Remember that after the flower fades the bulb is making its flower bud for next year so try to keep the foliage green as long as you can. Don’t cut off the foliage. You can pick the flowers and use them for arrangements if you like or gifts. That will not affect next year’s bulbs but try not to remove the foliage as much as possible. Anemones and ranunculus can be planted as early as October. Tulips, hyacinths and daffodils should spend six weeks in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator and planted in late November or December after soils have cooled. This pre chilling simulates winter temperatures and blooms will be bigger and brighter. Don’t forget to try gladiolas. They do well here. Grape Hyacinth or muscari performs year after year with very little care. They might last as long as five years. Go ahead and scatter them under shrubs and trees alike. They are nice for arrangements and last for days.

Q. I am thinking how expensive it is to keep the slugs in beer. Can you tell me if I am the only one with slugs?  I have lived here 22 years and bought plants from Plant World, Star, etc., know they could come in that way and multiply…grrr A. I had to go looking for an answer other than beer and found an interesting answer on a website at http://www.plantea.com/slug-baits-coffee.htm  Strike up a conversation between people who garden in “cool” climates and within moments the word “slugs” will pop up. It’s enough to shift a casual chit-chat into a strategic planning session. Gardeners agree that slugs are a menace, but they are often confused about which tactics to employ. While Picking slugs is one of the most effective methods to reduce the adult breeding population, sometimes in the heat of the battle you need to attack on more than one front. Here’s the scoop on slug baits, including a different twist on the war against garden mollusks: Coffee. Many commercial slug and snail baits are available today as pellets, meal, or emulsions. The two most popular baits that are currently licensed and formulated into baits for use on home gardens are: + Metaldehyde + Iron phosphate The hazards of metaldehyde Most chemical baits combine an attractant, usually apple meal or some other sweet-smelling base (more on that later) with an active chemical compound such as metaldehyde, to poison whatever swallows the bait. Products containing varying concentrations of metaldehyde include: Cory’s Slug and Snail Death, Deadline, and Slug-Tox. Metaldehyde, which has been used since the 1930’s, works by dehydrating its victims. These products are sold as granules, sprays, dusts, pelleted grain or bait. They are usually applied to the ground around plants to attract and kill slugs and snails. Toxic to birds, dogs, cats, humans… Metaldehyde is classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a “slightly toxic compound that may be fatal to dogs or other pets if eaten.” Many vets have experience with dogs ingesting metaldehyde baits. According to the Field Guide to the Slug (Sasquatch Books) ingested metaldehyde can lead to nervous system damage or death in humans and other animals.”The threshold for tolerance is related to size, making birds and small mammals especially vulnerable.” Bottom line: if you decide to use poison baits, do so with extreme caution, especially about edible plants, and READ THE LABEL. Now let’s take a look at two chemical-free alternatives: Iron phosphate bait Iron phosphate slug and snail baits are much different than chemical warfare. For one thing, iron phosphate is a compound that occurs naturally in the soil. Products containing iron phosphate include: Sluggo and Escar-Go! (available through GardensAlive!). Iron phosphate products are a pelleted bait, that resembles grains of rice. They’re a blend of iron phosphate (the “active ingredient”) which is then coated with an attractant (bait). Slugs and snails are attracted to the bait more so than plant (I’ve witnessed this personally!), even luring them from their hiding places. According to one set of instructions, this is how a product like Sluggo works. “Ingestion, even in small amounts, will cause them to cease feeding.” Or, as one gardener-friend put it, “They crawl away and die, and you never see them again.” Unlike Deadline, Sluggo granules can be used around domestic animals and wildlife. It stays intact for a week or two, even after waterings or several rains, and provides protection to greenhouse plants, container gardens, vegetables, flowers and fruiting plants and shrubs. Manufacturers of iron phosphate baits claim they are non-toxic around children and pets, and are much safer to use than those baits containing metaldehyde. SKIP THE SALT Many gardeners have sprinkled a dash of salt on a slug at least once. This is not a good thing, as the salt can make the soil toic to all but a few salt tolerant creatures and plants. Do the java-jive against slugs According to Nature magazine, we have another weapon in the eternal battle against slugs and snails: the double espresso. Slugs and snails hate caffeine, researchers have discovered. The chemical could become an environmentally acceptable pesticide. Robert Hollingsworth of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service in Hilo, Hawaii, and his colleagues were testing caffeine sprays against the coqui frog, an introduced species that infests potted plants. They also noticed that a 1 to 2 percent caffeine solution killed nearly all the slugs and snails within two days. Concentrations as low as 0.01 percent put the pests off their dinner. A cup of instant coffee contains about 0.05 percent caffeine, and brewed coffee has more. This sounds like scientists chatting around the water cooler, so let’s look at a more real-life example: A cup of drip brewed coffee has about 115 milligrams of caffeine, an espresso (and percolated coffee) about 80mg, while instant coffee has about 65mg of caffeine. Thus, drip brewed coffee is about twice as strong as the instant stuff, which means you want to use drip brewed coffee for repelling slugs and snails. Coffee grounds are already recommended as a home remedy for keeping slugs and snails at bay. Grounds repel slugs, Hollingsworth found, but a caffeine solution is much more effective, he says: “Slugs turn back immediately after contacting the [caffeinated soil].” Personally, I’ve had good results (if you want to call making a slug uncomfortable “good results”) with sprinkling coffee grounds around plants as well as spraying slugs with brewed coffee–you know, the stuff that doesn’t get consumed in the morning and tastes really bad when you try to microwave it in the afternoon? Many other gardeners have told me they’ve had similar luck. How does caffeine repel slugs and snail? Well, caffeine is an alkaloid compound that acts as a stimulant in humans. Alkaloids are usually derivatives of amino acids and most alkaloids have a very bitter taste. Just think about your first taste of coffee. Pretty bitter, wasn’t it? Caffeine is found in the beans, leaves,

Spider Mite Damage But Obviously Not Tomato. What to look for? Yellow speckling or stipuling, dusty appearance on the leaves, webbing may or may not be present. Q. I am hoping that you can help me, to help my son. He lives in southern California, with a young family. In order to make ends meet, he has created a good size garden for his family, to have fresh vegetables. Some of his tomatoes are getting ready to be harvest, but his crops are being plagued by spider mites. He has released a large amount of lady bugs, from his local nursery, but they don’t seem to be solving the problem. Is there something that he can treat his crops with, that will not contaminate the vegetables? Please give me some “fatherly advice” for him. A. When your son purchases transplants in the future try to find a supplier who is growing them by using only organic pesticides. Some growers will spray transplants with a hard pesticide to knock everything down before shipping them out. This way they get to market looking pristine and with few insect problems. The problem with this approach is that spider mites are controlled by other insects and predatory spider mites. Once these predators are killed any new infestation of spider mites takes off like a rocket since they reproduce so quickly and their predators are gone. Spider mite population explosions are enhanced if plants are covered in dust. Wash them periodically, particularly after a wind may have covered the leaves in dust. As far as chemical controls of an organic nature try the use of insecticidal soaps or horticultural oils or perhaps both. I have heard some recommendations that include the use of Neem oil but people are recommending mixing a soap or detergent with the Neem oil. No, no, no. You must never mix a surfactant or any kind of soap or detergent with oils. This destroys the basic property of an oil that kills insects; namely suffocation. Use both of them, but use them separately or alternate their use. Insecticidal soaps must be applied every 3 to 4 days or no more often than the label recommends but spray to include the undersides of the leaves for any chemical control to be effective. Never spray in the hot times of the day but only very early in the morning or late at dusk when bees have returned to their homes. Bees will succomb to these sprays. I hope this helps your fatherly advice.

Summer Squash Failing to Fruit Due to Lack of Pollination. Photo by reader. Q. I have had great success growing both yellow and green squash in my garden for the past five or six years.  Last month I harvested about ten nice pieces, but in the past couple of weeks they have all been turning very hard and the yellow pieces have turned dark and almost orange.  I have attached a couple of pictures of both the fruit and the plants.  Please let me know if you any suggestions.   A. Your summer squash looks nice. You will get more blemish free fruits with twice to three times a week sprays of insecticidal soaps including spraying the undersides of the leaves. The lack of squash development is due to poor pollination most likely due to cool weather and poor bee activity. You can attract more bees to the area by planting plants that bees love and flower at the times your vegetable garden needs pollination. Bee loving plants include many of the herbs which are allowed to flower. These might include rosemary, basil, lavender, oregano and thyme to name a few. Woody ornamental plants typically flower for short periods of time but there are some like Texas Ranger, brooms like Scotch broom, lantana, verbena, and others. Go to your nursery and see what is in bloom, particularly reds, purples, pinks and start planting. Some gardeners like to hand pollinate squash for better setting of fruit or if you want to save seed from certain squash for planting next year. If you want to save seed and you don’t prevent contamination from other melons or squash then your seed will not come true. Here is a video on hand pollinating squash and some great background on this family of vegetables. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ay4smh2FfQ&feature=related