Rotate tomato patch to keep plants healthy

By Audrey Post
MS. GROW-IT-ALL

Q: I have been growing tomatoes in my back yard for about 20 years. I have an 8 x 8 plot that is filled with mushroom compost. Each year I replenish the top 2 to 3 inches with new compost. In the last two or three years, my tomatoes have yellow spots on them and sometimes they don’t grow as big as they should. I plant in March, water as needed and fertilize them when they are just beginning. They are still meaty inside and taste good; they just don't look like they used to, big and red. Could it be the soil or maybe I'm not fertilizing them correctly? If I need to have the soil tested, where would I go to have that done?

A: Even though you’ve been topping off your plot with fresh mushroom compost each year, you’re still growing tomatoes in the same soil year after year and that’s not a good idea. It’s better to rotate your tomato patch so that you don’t grow tomatoes in the same soil for at least three years. If you don’t rotate, any disease that affects your tomato plants in a given year can over-winter in the soil and affect next year’s tomatoes, so planting vegetables from a different family will reduce the likelihood of repeat problems.

Many things could be responsible for yellow spots and smaller fruits. You didn’t say whether there were any other problems with your tomato plants, such as spots or wilting on leaves, or whether there had been any other changes in your tomato patch, such as trees growing taller and reducing the amount of sunlight. I suggest you conduct a soil test to rule out any nutritional deficiencies and plan on planting your tomatoes in a new plot next year.

You can pick up the soil-testing kit from your County Extension Service. In Tallahassee, the Extension Office is at 615 Paul Russell Road, about a mile east of the fairgrounds. The kit comes with a plastic bag for collecting the soil, a cardboard box for mailing it to the lab and an instruction sheet. There’s no charge for the kit, but there is a small charge for the lab to process the sample.

Internet Radio Show: Ms. Grow-It-All’s Internet radio show now broadcasts live at 6 p.m. Wednesdays at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Ms_Grow-It-All. If you can’t join us live, you can download a podcast from my Web site. This week, Donna Legare of Native Nurseries discussed planting a garden for wildlife. Next Wednesday, Stan Rosenthal will share tips for selecting a tree service.

Pruning now could make roses vulnerable to damage

By Audrey Post
MS. GROW-IT-ALL

Q: My Knockout roses really need to be pruned, and I know you said the best time to prune roses is in February but they really look shaggy now. Will I kill my Knockouts if I prune them now?

A: Maybe not, but you’ll certainly upset their normal growth rhythms and you could be putting them in jeopardy. If you prune them now, you’ll signal to them to get ready to start growing. That won’t be a problem if we have a mild fall and winter. But if your rose bushes are in full-fledged growth when a hard freeze hits, it will likely damage them and, depending on the severity of the freeze, could possibly kill them. That’s why we prune roses in February, so they can get a jump-start on growing after the freezing season.

They might look a little ragged now, but you’ll really be better off if you wait until February to do any hard pruning. This isn’t like pruning azaleas, which are evergreen. A late season pruning likely will remove any buds for next year’s azalea flowers but it won’t jeopardize the plant itself. It’s designed to live through frosts and freezes in our area. Pruning a rose too late in the season could do nothing or it could kill it. It all depends on the weather.

Q: I planted a small wildflower meadow but it didn’t produce many flowers. Should I reseed it for next year?

A: Yes, I would sow a few more seeds in your meadow this fall. So many things affect the germination rate of wildflower seed – the availability of water, heat, the age of the seeds – and it takes several years to establish a wildflower meadow. Scatter a few more seeds to increase the odds of germination and flower production. Once established, the flowers will re-seed each year.

Make sure you’re using a mix of wildflower seeds blended specifically for the Southeast for the greatest chance of success.

Internet Radio Show: Ms. Grow-It-All’s Internet radio show now broadcasts live at 6 p.m. Wednesdays at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Ms_Grow-It-All. Just cut and paste the link into your browser window. If you can’t join us live, you can download a podcast from my Web site. This week’s topic was preparing your lawn for winter. Next Wednesday, our topic will be planting a garden for wildlife.

Radio Show: Planting fruit trees

This week's show on Blog Talk Radio was about planting fruit trees. Brandy Cowley-Gilbert  of Just Fruits and Exotics in Crawfordville, Fla., joined us for a discussion about the importance of site selection when planting fruit trees, including water needs, available sunlight and fertilizer requirements. Although Brandy and I both garden in North Florida, her tips on site selection apply anywhere. Click on the following link to listen: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Ms_Grow-It-All/2009/09/09/Ms-Grow-It-All Brandy will be back in a few weeks to talk about growing specific kinds of fruit trees and shrubs, so watch this space for  more information on her next appearance. Our show next week will begin at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sept. 16, and the topic will be preparing your lawn for winter. Please join us.

Build garden in raised beds to avoid tree roots

By Audrey Post
MS. GROW-IT-ALL

Q: We want to add a vegetable garden this fall to our back yard, which gets morning and early afternoon sun and is in high shade from pines in the late afternoon. I have read that vegetables need full sun, so is this enough sun to sustain a vegetable garden? Also, there seem to be a lot of tree roots criss-crossing the yard. Is there a way to tell where the roots are running, and thus avoid them, without digging up the whole back yard?

A: Full sun is considered six to eight hours a day, so morning and early afternoon sun should be enough to sustain your vegetable garden. But remember that sun patterns change with the seasons, and your back yard might get more – or less – sun in fall and winter than it does in summer. Keep track of sunlight patterns so you can make adjustments next year, if needed.

As for the tree roots, the best thing way to avoid them is to plant in raised beds. You can build a frame for your beds, or you can simply mound the soil and slope the sides. Make your beds about 18 inches deep and use lots of composted organic matter, such as mulch and manure. Four feet by 8 feet is a good size for a bed, because you can reach into the center from either side. Plus, most framing products come in 8-foot lengths, so you’ll need to make fewer cuts to build the beds.

A word of caution if you decide to build a frame: Make sure you know what your framing material is made of, and treated with. Some of the chemicals used to make wood rot-resistant, including arsenic, are toxic and can leach into the soil. When it comes to vegetable gardens, I prefer to let the wood frames rot and simply replace them every few years.

Internet Radio Show: Ms. Grow-It-All’s Internet radio show now broadcasts live at 6 p.m. Wednesdays at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Ms_Grow-It-All. Just cut and paste the link into your browser window. If you can’t join us live, you can download a podcast from my Web site. This week’s topic was planting fruit trees, and Brandy Cowley-Gilbert of Just Fruits and Exotics nursery in Crawfordville joined us and shared her expertise. Next week, our topic will be preparing your lawn for winter.

Webs on pear tree are benign

By Audrey Post
MS. GROW-IT-ALL

Q: Our pear tree is just covered with webs, over the branches as well as over the leaves. A second pear tree next to it turned brown and died earlier this year, so it was cut down. This one has a few brown, dead leaves on it but mainly we’re concerned about the webs. What are these webs that seem to be killing our pear trees?

A: We appear to be dealing with two different situations here – and I say “situations” instead of “problems” because one really isn’t a problem, even though those webs might be unattractive.

It sounds as though your other pear tree fell victim to fire blight, a bacterial disease that affects mainly pear trees and apple trees, killing blossoms, shoots, limbs and then sometimes the entire tree. Once the harvest is over on the tree you have remaining, you probably want to prune any dead or dying limbs. If you’re thinking of planting a replacement pear tree, ask your nursery for a variety that is resistant to fire blight. And check to see whether it is self-pollinating.

The webs are caused by psocids (pronounced SO-cids), tiny insects less than a quarter-inch long that form silky webbing, sometimes over large areas of the tree. Underneath the webbing, psocids consume fungi, lichen, pollen and other organic material that is on bark. And our hot, humid weather encourages things to grow on bark. But psocids don’t hurt the tree.

“Once they have eaten everything, they leave the tree unharmed,” said Stan Rosenthal, University of Florida/Leon County forester. “The lesson for us is that not all things on the tree are bad for the tree.”

Plant give-away reminder: Jerry Patton, the Tallahassee gardener with plants to give away including night-blooming cereus, can be reached at 850-878-1321. Several readers requested we run his phone number again.

Internet Radio Show: Ms. Grow-It-All’s Internet radio show now broadcasts live at 6 p.m. Wednesdays at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Ms_Grow-It-All. Just cut and paste the link into your browser window. If you can’t join us live, you can download a podcast from my Web site. This week’s topic was fall and winter herbs to plant now in North Florida. Next week, the topic will be planting fruit trees.

Radio Show: Fall and winter herbs

Our show this week on Blog Talk Radio was about herbs for fall and winter. In the Deep South, many common herbs such as parsley and sage actually perform better in cooler weather. Others can survive a mild winter with a little protection. Click on the following link to listen: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Ms_Grow-It-All/2009/09/02/Ms-Grow-It-All
Our next show will begin at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sept. 9, and the topic will be planting fruit trees.