Q. What is the best way to get ants out of my potted plants outside? A. The best chemical control method I have seen is a bait product made for several kinds of ants and manufactured by Amdro. I am sure other companies that make similar products are just as good. Ants take this bait back to the nest where it is fed to the queen as well as other ants. Control of ants is within 24 hours if done right. The usual reasons for failure are because the bait was not placed near the nest or because it became wet. If you use it, find the nest or opening to the ground. Place it near the nest in the ground. This product must be used dry so use it in containers when it is cool and after an irrigation. Read the directions for this bait and follow them precisely.
Q. We are planting a 30-gallon apricot tree. The hole is large and deep, but the bottom has lots of thin roots from nearby trees. I took out most of the bigger ones. Can I torch these small ones? A. Roots no longer attached to the “mother” plant can be “torched”. Using fire to kill roots only kills the roots a few inches from the fire. Killing roots is due to the heat produced by the fire. During the summer, clear plastic can be used to kill roots during the day. All roots and diseases are killed at 180F in 30 minutes and allowed to “solarize”. That’s the temperature and length of time needed to sterilize dry soil 6 to 12 inches deep. If you are still not sure, then sever the roots from the tree with a sharp shovel. By the way, it is less of a problem if the planting hole is dug wider but not deeper. When digging a planting hole, it is recommended to dig the hole three times the width of the roots, but not any deeper than the roots or container unless, of course, there is a drainage problem. Water added to the dug hole should drain overnight.
Q. I bought straight compost. I told them I was going to use the compost for trees and shrubs planted outside. I hope this is the right product I need. I may be looking at other vines soon to cover some other cinder block wall areas. In this case I am thinking about vines that do not require a trellis. I looked at cat claws and read some reviews about how aggressive it can grow and how tough it is to control it in places like the southeast. What do you think about it for wall covers with no trellises in Las Vegas? A. Make sure whatever compost you use is mixed with sand at about one shovel full of compost to three shovels full of sand (25 to 30%). The planting mixture should still be dark, about the same color as straight compost. Straight compost may be too “hot” for plants that grow in soil and may injure them. The only thing municipal compost is in short supply is potassium, a macronutrient but high in nitrogen, phosphorus and lots of minor elements. Use Straight Compost as a Fertilizer You can also use straight compost as a fertilizer but be careful with it. Municipal compost can be “hot” (high in salts) so don’t put municipal compost closer than about 18 inches from the plants trunk or central growing point and then water it in. Soak the fertilized area with lots of water! Apply straight compost lightly. If you are not sure, then ask how to apply …
Q. I recently planted two vines in my backyard; a Bank’s rose and a tangerine crossvine. I got the amended soil at Viragrow and the wood chip mulch at the demonstration orchard as you suggested. Shall I use wood chips mulch for both vines or not? How often shall I add the amended soil or fertilizer to the vines after having planted them? A. When in doubt, use wood chips as a surface mulch. Mulch of all types (including rock mulch) saves water and reduces weeding. Wood chip mulch, unlike rock mulch, “rots” into the soil and increases the organics of desert soil. Rock mulch doesn’t. After planting, apply this mulch in a circle six feet wide from the trunk and 3 inches deep. When the wood chips get sparse, freshen this layer with new wood chips. Keep them away from the trunk until the plant gets woody (five or six years after planting). The idea is to have the wood chips decompose or rot during the first few months and add “organics” to the soil. The wood chips will decompose in less than six months during warm and hot weather. When using a fertilizer, the type is not important but getting the nutrients it needs when its young, and applied to the right places, is important. After the hole is dug, apply a fertilizer high in phosphorus (something like a 16-20-0) at the bottom of the planting hole (a handful of fertilizer added to the soil at first when backfilling). A single application of fertilizer …