Hornworms
Just For Fun June 6, 2021
You may be familiar with these mean looking creatures. Tomato hornworms look menacing, but the real damage that they do is in your garden. Let’s talk about what they look like and what you can do about them in the garden.
The tomato hornworm doesn’t only feed on tomatoes; they will eat anything in the solanaceae plant family. This includes tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and potatoes. They will grow and go into their cocoon phase to emerge as a type of sphinx moth. Tomato hornworms have v-shaped yellow lines that run the length of their body. They have small brownish dots that look like eyes running the length of their body too. There is a black protrusion on the end of their body that looks like a stinger. This is to scare predators away and can’t actually hurt you. There is another hornworm called the tobacco hornworm that looks very similar to the tomato hornworm. The main difference is the tobacco hornworm just have diagonal white lines instead of a V-shape on its body. The horn on the tobacco hornworm is more reddish. Both can cause a lot of damage in your garden, and are controlled the same way.
The older and larger hornworms get the more damage they do, until they turn into moths. They start out pretty small at about half an inch long. At this size, they won’t do a lot of damage to plants. However, they grow quickly, and within four weeks are full-grown and up to 4 inches long. A 4-inch long hornworm can cause some serious damage very quickly, especially if you have a lot of them. They can rapidly defoliate entire plants. Because of their green body, they blend in with the plants, so you might not notice them until they have done significant damage. They will also leave behind dark green or black droppings that you might be able to see.
Managing hornworms is not difficult if you are walking through and closely looking at your plants a couple of times a week. Handpicking them and putting them in a container of soapy water usually works pretty well. If a jar of soapy water isn’t handy, you can also sling them onto the ground. A sight that you might see is a hornworm with lots of small white egg sacks attached to its back. These are from a parasitoid wasp. The eggs will hatch and the larvae will eat the hornworm from the inside out. Ladybugs and lacewings also serve as predators of hornworm eggs and young caterpillars. There are a couple of insecticides that you can use. It’s best to use insecticides on hornworms before they are full grown, because insecticides won’t be as effective against a 4-inch caterpillar. Bt is an organic insecticide that is effective against caterpillars. Spinosad is an insecticide that is derived from natural microorganisms that also works well. Permethrin will also work well to control many different types of pests on vegetables. Always read and follow the label for any insecticide that you use, whether it is organic or synthetic.
If you have questions about hornworms or other garden pests contact your County Extension office or email me at [email protected].
Soil Amendments
Just For Fun May 16, 2021
There are many different things that you can add to your soil. You may see ads for different products claiming that they’ll do miracles for your garden. Alternatively, maybe you’ve always seen your grandparents put a special mixture on their soil and it did wonderfully every year. Soil is alive with microbes and complex chemical reactions that are happening all the time. The amendments that we add may be helpful to those processes. Let’s talk about some common soil amendments and what they do to the soil
Real quick, what is a soil amendment? These amendments have nothing to do with our constitution. Rather, they are things that we mix in or incorporate into the soil. The overall goal of an amendment is to improve soil quality. That may be done by adjusting pH, adding nutrients, building organic matter, increasing soil biodiversity, or improving soil drainage. Amendments can be organic (from something that was alive) or inorganic (mined or man-made).
Fertilizer and lime are two of the most obvious soil amendments. Synthetic fertilizer provides a quick boost to the plants, but doesn’t really improve soil quality over time. Organic fertilizers must be broken down to be available to the plants, therefore, they will fertilize over a period. Lime raises the pH of the soil and makes the nutrients more available to plants. You can have too much of a good thing and over apply lime, resulting in a pH that is too high.
Coffee grounds can be added to soil. They will build organic matter in the soil. They also attract earthworms. Coffee grounds don’t have a big impact on the soil pH if you rinse them first. They can also be used in compost as a green material because they have nitrogen.
Compost is another amendment that people like to use. Compost is a great way to boost the quality of your soil because it builds organic matter. Compost will release nutrients to your soil over time. Releasing nutrients over time makes your plants use the nutrients more efficiently and gives you even growth throughout the season. One issue with growing plants in compost is that compost raises the pH of the soil. Growing in 100% compost can lead to nutrient deficiency problems because the pH is too high. Mixing compost with soil will help alleviate this problem.
Mycorrhizae can be added to the soil. Mycorrhizae are a fungus that attach to the roots of your plants. This fungus becomes like an additional network of roots. They will pass nutrients up the plant and the plant will send energy down to the fungus. It is a symbiotic relationship. Mycorrhizae can be beneficial to plants, but they’re not always effective. If there is too much phosphorus in your soil, the fungus won’t grow.
Compost tea is made from compost. You add the tea to plants to increase the microbes there. We need microbes in the soil, and the issue with this is that we don’t know all the microbes that we’re adding. There could be E.coli in the tea. A simpler thing to do would be to add the compost straight to the plants, and not worry about the tea.
I would recommend caution when looking into new products to add to your soil. There are many things out there and not all of them do what they claim. If you have questions about soil amendments, contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Buttercup (Bittercup) Control
Just For Fun May 2, 2021
Buttercup is a longstanding problem for many pastures. Fields of yellow can be beautiful to look at when driving down the highway, but large populations of buttercup creates problems for livestock that are trying to forage. Let’s talk about these weeds and what can be done to control them in pastures and hayfields.
There are several different common names for buttercup. I’ve heard folks call it bittercup. It has a bitter taste that makes livestock not want to eat it. I’ve also heard it called bitter sneezeweed. That is a common name for a different plant that also has yellow flowers. The scientific name for buttercup is Ranunculus. There are actually different species of Ranunculus. Some of them are ornamental flowers that we like to see and grow. The plant that I am referring to has small yellow flowers that range in size from dime to quarter sized. The flowers have a glossy look to them. For most species of buttercup, you’ll see three leaves coming out of one spot. Each of those leaves will have three lobes on it. Generally, if you see those groups of three, that’s a good indicator that it’s buttercup. Some other plants like clover also have groups of three, but clover’s leaves don’t have lobes in groups of three on them.
So let’s talk about how to control it. There are three ways to control it. Growing a good stand of grass that outcompetes the weeds, mowing buttercup before it flowers, or spraying it with herbicide before it flowers.
Growing a healthy stand of grass that is able to outcompete weeds requires regular fertilizer applications, checking soil pH and adding lime as necessary, and managing the number of cattle grazing a field. Fields that are overgrazed will be more prone to weeds growing. Heavily grazed grass won’t be able to grow back as quickly because its energy storage down in the roots is depleted. If grass is growing healthily, it will be able to outcompete many weeds, buttercup included.
Mowing is another option for buttercup control. Buttercup is a short-lived perennial. If you mow before it flowers, you eliminate the seed production for that plant. This is a strategy that takes several years to become fully effective.
In some cases, forage stand management and mowing are not going to be enough and an herbicide must be used to effectively control buttercup. 2,4-D or an herbicide containing 2,4-D is the best option. Because buttercup is a perennial, a pre-emergent like Prowl, won’t be effective. For the 2,4-D to be effective the timing of the application is critical. If you see buttercup flowers, it’s too late. The 2,4-D application must be done when the buttercup plant is still small. Ideally, you want daytime temperatures to be 50 for two or three consecutive days. 2,4-D does have haying and grazing restrictions. Generally, you must wait 30 days before haying after spraying and wait 14 days before grazing lactating dairy animals. As always, follow the label.
A common weed that may be confused with buttercup is field mustard. Field mustard also has yellow flowers. Field mustard is an annual plant that usually flowers before buttercup. Because it is annual you can also use pre-emergent herbicides on it. Like buttercup, field mustard is not good for livestock to eat.
If you have questions about buttercup, identification, or control contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Blueberries
Community, Just For Fun April 4, 2021
I think that most people enjoy eating a handful of blueberries. Eating them always reminds me of my grandfather because he always puts them on his cereal in the morning. Blueberries grow pretty well here, but there are a few things to be aware of so let’s talk about those so that you can have a successful blueberry crop.
If you are selecting a site to plant blueberries, choose a place that will receive full sun for at least half a day. They can grow in shady spots, but the fruit production will be less. Blueberries like soil with a pH of 4.5 – 5.2. This trait makes them well adapted to native soils because most of our soils will naturally be in that range. Therefore, lime is probably not needed when planting blueberries. Rabbiteyes do best with 5 – 6 feet between plants in row and 11 – 12 feet between rows. When planting make sure you don’t plant too deep. After planting prune back 1/3 to ½ of the plant. This will cause the plant to focus on developing its root system. The first year you want to pick off any blooms, because you want the plant to put its energy into growing roots and not fruit. You can apply 1 oz. of 10-10-10 after the plant has begun to put on leaves the first year. The second year after planting put out 2 oz. of 10-10-10 in March and July. Make sure not to over fertilize blueberries, as that can harm them. After the third season, apply 1 oz. of 10-10-10 per foot of height on the bush.
Blueberry bushes do require pruning each year. Once plants reach 6 feet high you’ll want to start cane renewal pruning. This means removing 1 – 3 of the biggest canes each winter at ground level. Over a period of 5 years the bush will be completely renewed. New canes are going to bear more fruit than old canes so it’s important to maintain this pruning process. If you have bushes that haven’t been pruned for a few years, it might take several seasons to get bushes into the 5-year rotation. After you’ve picked the fruit, you can top plants if they are over 6 feet tall. This will keep bushes at a more manageable height.
Blueberries aren’t bothered by many insects or diseases. However, one disease to look out for is mummy berry. It will cause berries to shrivel up and drop. The berries that drop carry the pathogen over to the next year. Therefore, it’s important to keep the space beneath your bushes sanitary. Remove any old berries, wood, and leaves. Placing thick mulch around the base of plants will help prevent the disease from spreading as well. Captan is an effective fungicide at controlling mummy berry, but the timing of the application is very important. You must apply it while the flowers are in bloom because that is when the infection occurs. You must spray Captan every 7-10 days during bloom. Serenade is another product that you can spray instead of Captan that is organic, but it is not as effective.
If you have questions about growing blueberries contact your County Extension Office or send me an email at [email protected].
Cedar-Apple Rust
Just For Fun March 28, 2021
Cedar-apple rust is a common disease in our area. If you have apple trees you have probably seen it before. It is an unusual disease in that it alternates between hosts. Let’s talk about this disease so that you can learn how to identify and control it.
Cedar-apple rust (CAR) is from the Pucciniaceae family. Members of this family need more than one host to complete their life cycle. Some other diseases in this family are black stem rust of wheat, soybean rust, and white pine blister rust. Apple trees that are heavily infested with CAR will see reduced yield and blemished fruit. It can also weaken and kill eastern red cedar is the infection is severe enough, but this is rare. Red cedar is the primary alternate host for CAR. On apple trees, the infection creates orange-yellowish spots. On cedar trees, you will see gelatinous masses form that are bright orange. You also see what are called telial horns that grow out of the mass. To me these masses look like they are not from this earth. If the tree is heavily infected it might look like little Christmas decorations hanging from the limbs.
These masses will start to appear on cedar and juniper trees about seven months after infection and turn gelatinous 18 months after infection. The horns begin to appear, but if the weather is dry, they will dry out quickly, and then swell back out after a rain. The horns release spores to infect apple trees. The masses on the cedar tree will dry up and remain on the tree for about another year, but they are dead at that point. The spores released can only infect plants from the rose family, like apple trees, not more cedar trees. The spores released can travel 2 or 3 miles on the wind to infect an apple tree. When they land on an apple tree, they germinate and create the orange spot. These spots release a sticky liquid to attract insects. As the insects pick up the sticky liquid they transport spermatia from one infection to the next, which fertilizes the disease. The disease then grows through the leaf and creates new spores on the bottom side that are blown back to a cedar tree to start the cycle all over again.
Spraying to control this disease on cedar trees is not recommended. CAR will rarely kill cedar trees. You can prune out galls to slow its spread. If you see this disease on a cedar tree, it may be best simply to co-exist with the disease, as it does little damage to the cedar. On apple trees there are some other management options. It will cause apple trees to lose their leaves and infects the fruit. Captan and myclobutanil can both be used preventatively against CAR. If you have cedar trees right next to your apple trees you might consider removing them. But keep in mind that the spores can travel a couple of miles from cedar trees, so even if you remove all the cedar trees that you can see, you can still get this disease because we have a lot of cedar trees around.
Cedar-quince rust looks similar to CAR, but it infects pear trees instead of apple. This disease also forms gelatinous masses along its branches instead of balls like CAR.
If you have questions about cedar-apple rust contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Georgia Ag Week
Just For Fun March 21, 2021
This week is Georgia Ag Week. In the spirit of Georgia Ag Week, I wanted to write about the importance of agriculture in Towns and Union Counties. Agriculture is the number one industry in Georgia, and has importance in many different aspects of our lives. So let’s take a little time to talk about the impact and importance of agriculture where we live.
Over the years, Americans have become more and more distanced from the farmers that feed them. Today the average American farmer feeds 166 people. As the world population continues to increase, that number will only go up. 86% of the Ag products sold in the US are produced on family farms or ranches. One number that is alarming to many people is the average age of the American farmer. This number continues to increase and today is at almost 60 years old.
These days there is a movement to buy your food from a local farmer. This movement is great at putting money back into the pockets of farmers. On average farmers only get $0.08 on the dollar of the money that consumers spend on food. The rest of the costs are taken up by transportation, wages, processing, marketing, and distribution. Many of those costs are necessary, but the farther we get away from where our food is produced the less money is going back into farmers’ pockets. That means buying food directly from farmers either at a farmers market, farm store, or through a CSA will put more money back into the farmers’ pocket.
In the mountains, we have a strong and unique heritage of agriculture that has changed over the years. Lately, we have seen a growth of agritourism. The growing wine industry in North Georgia is evidence of that. We also have a number of farms that take visitors, so that you can go on a tour. These too are agritourism. We continue to have many cattle as well. Cattle farms can be a benefit to the economy because they take land that would otherwise not be productive and make it productive. Cattle farms that incorporate conservation practices are great for the environment. Sweet sorghum for syrup is a crop that is unique to the mountains. It can be used for biscuits, pancakes or any number of things. Sourwood honey is another product that is unique to our area. Sourwood trees grow in a large portion of Eastern US, but in most places don’t produce the nectar flow for bees to make sourwood honey. The shorter growing season that we have means that we get a higher number of chill hours, as is required by apple trees. The diversity of southern apple varieties is due in large part to the Cherokee propagating and spreading apple trees.
The food that we eat carries our cultural ancestry with it. It is literally and figuratively a part of who we are. To lose that heritage is to lose a part of ourselves. I encourage everyone support farmers because in doing so, you support the local economy, personal nutrition and health, and the culture that makes us who we are today. The next time you eat be thankful to the farmer that grew or raised it. It is my privilege to support farmers and I am thankful for all that they do for us.
If you would like to know more about farming or agriculture contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Cicada
Just For Fun March 14, 2021
I’m sure that by now a lot of people have heard about the cicadas that are due to emerge this year. Because this will be a once 17 years type of event, I wanted to talk about it. Let’s talk about what they look like, what they eat, and any other facts you might need to know about cicadas.
Adult cicadas are a winged insect that grows to be about 2.5 inches long. They sometimes get confused with locusts because people associate them both with coming in waves or plagues. Cicadas are not nearly as destructive as locusts. Their bodies are black with some orange stripes down the wings.
Cicadas are divided into different broods. The brood coming out this year is brood X (10). Some broods are on a 13-year cycle, and the brood like what we’re this year every 17 years. 12 broods that emerge every 17 years and 3 broods emerge every 13 years. Brood X is one of the most widespread as there will be appearances from the east coast to the Mississippi River and from New York down to Georgia.
We get cicadas every year, as there are also annual cicadas that emerge. These annual cicadas actually live 2-5 years, so they are annual in the sense that they reappear annually. This brood of cicadas is projected to have as many as 1.5 million cicadas per acre. That brings the total population to the trillions. These cicadas even though they only emerge for a few weeks have been living underneath us for the past 17 years. Scientists don’t know why 17 is the magic number. The cicadas will even wait a couple of days together if the weather is rainy. Underground they feed on tree roots. The damage that they cause is minimal. Once they are emerged, the damage that they do to plants is mostly cosmetic. I do not recommend spraying any pesticides for them. There will be so many of them that it will be impossible to control them with the use of pesticides. Their mouthpart is a piercing-sucking one. It’s designed like a straw so that they can slurp plant juices. This means that they can’t really bite you, but they might stick you if you antagonize them.
The main issue with cicadas is going to be the amount of noise that they create. In groups, their sound can reach 100 decibels. This is the same as a jet flyover at 1000 feet or a helicopter at 100 feet. The males trying to attract a female to mate create this noise. After mating, the female will lay her eggs inside the trees. If young trees are completely swarmed it can damage them. You can use a net to protect them. These eggs will hatch in 6-10 weeks. The nymphs fall to the ground and burrow in, starting the 17-year cycle over again.
Cicadas will begin to emerge when soil temperatures reach 64 degrees. We typically start to hit those temperatures the end of April. Cicadas do provide some benefits. The nymphs in the soil burrow and create channels for roots. They are a source of food for a lot of wildlife like trout and wild turkeys. Moles also feast on the nymphs that are underground.
If you have questions about the cicadas contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Raised Beds
Just For Fun February 28, 2021
This week I would like to talk about raised beds. There are many different ways to make raised beds. So I’ll go through different types of materials that you can use and some basic principles to use when building your raised beds. I’ll also talk about situations where I like raised beds over growing in the soil and vice versa.
Raised beds are a great tool to use if you have don’t have a lot of sunlight in your yard. Plants grown in raised beds will still need full sun, but if you only have a small area of your yard that has full sun, a raised bed is a good way to maximize that. If you have slopes that are too steep to plant, leveling out a small area and putting in a raised bed in that spot is another good idea. Oftentimes, the best soil in Towns and Union is found in river bottoms. If you don’t the good fortune of putting your garden in one of those places, growing in raised bed will also be much easier than fighting with heavy clay soils. Raised beds are also going to have fewer weed issues, and less soil compaction. You can build elevated raised beds to that you don’t need to do as much bending down.
Dimensions for a raised bed depend on the materials that you are using. Generally, I like raised beds that aren’t more than 4 feet across. If you have really long arms you can make them wider. I also like beds that are about 8 feet long. If you make long beds, it’s just more difficult to walk around them, especially if you’ve put a bunch of raised beds next to each other. 10 inches height will be enough depth for most vegetables. Potatoes will need more depth. The deeper you make the raised bed the more material you will need to fill it. Soil to fill raised beds costs money, so don’t make them needlessly deep. If you have tall crops planted in your raised beds they can shade out other crops, so orient them in a north-south direction. You want to the raised bed to be completely level. To do this you may need to dig out the place where you’re putting it.
Let’s move on to materials that you can use. There are several different types of lumber. Cedar is very good, because it does not rot quickly. However, it is very expensive. Cypress is often easier to get than cedar. Oak and other hardwoods can be difficult to find in sufficient quantities, and are only a little more rot resistant that pine. Pine is the most readily available and cheapest lumber. It will rot, but I’ve seen where you can get several years of use out of pine. An alternative to lumber is cement blocks, brick, concrete, or stone. If you are going to build the wall high, you would need some mortar to keep the walls from falling.
The research that is available says that pressure treated wood is safe to use for food production. Arsenic is no longer used to pressure treat wood, and has not been used since 2005. Wood treated with creosote should not be used. Railroad ties and utility poles are treated with creosote.
If you have questions about building your own raised beds contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Plant It?
Just For Fun February 21, 2021
When to plant? That is a big question. We are still a ways off from warmer weather. However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t start thinking about the garden. Winter is a great time to go ahead and start planning your garden and picking up seeds. Let’s talk a bit about planting calendars and when to get started on that garden.
Soil temperature should be our guide for when we plant. Ideally, for warm-season vegetables we want the soil temperature to be at least 65 degrees. Some examples of warm-season vegetables are tomatoes, peppers, squash, and okra. Cool-season vegetables can be planted when soil temperatures have reached 50 degrees. Some examples of those are radishes, cabbage, collards, and kale.
Some crops like carrots, parsnips, beets, radish, turnips, and mustard do better from seed. However, for most other vegetables using transplants is a great way for your garden to get a head start. There are a few benefits to using transplants. One is spacing. Not every seed that you plant is going to come up. For most plants, if we have good quality seed we hope to get at least 85% germination. If you space out the seeds in your garden and some of them don’t germinate you’ll have wasted space. Using transplants, you know that you’ll have a live plant in every spot. Another reason is weed control. A transplant that is already up and growing with a developed root system will be able to compete against weeds for sunlight, water, and nutrients better than a plant growing from seed. You’ll also put yourself a little ahead of the game.
There are two ways to get transplants. The first is the easiest. Go to one of the garden centers or nurseries around here and buy them. The second option is to grow them yourself. This is not too difficult to do, and it gives you a fun project to do inside while it’s still cold outside. The things that you’ll need are seeds, growing media, and a grow container or tray. Fill the container with the growing media (a mixture of peat moss, sand, and loamy soil). Place one or two seeds in each cell of the tray, and then cover it very lightly with a little bit of soil. The timing of seeding is important. Tomatoes take 5 to 7 weeks before they’re ready. Squash only takes 2 to 3. Peppers take 7 to 9 weeks. So pick your target planting date and back up from there to determine when you need to start transplants. I usually recommend planting outside in mid-May for warm-season vegetables. Most seeds will need to be at least 70 degrees to germinate. You can purchase a heating pad to put your seed trays on to reach this temperature. Once the plant has germinated, you will need a way to provide light for it. A south-facing window won’t provide enough light and will need to be supplemented. Supplement with fluorescent or LEDs. Leave the bulbs on for 16 hours a day. You can plug the light into a timer to help keep track.
If you have questions about when to plant or starting your own plants you can contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Blueberry Pruning
Just For Fun January 31, 2021
Blueberries grow pretty well in Georgia. Rabbiteye blueberries are native to the southeast, so they’re well adapted to our climate. Let’s talk specifically about pruning blueberries.
Blueberries don’t need to be pruned every year to be fruitful. However, if you start doing some cane renewal pruning every year on a mature plant the bushes will be more fruitful and have more longevity. The ideal time to prune blueberries is late winter because the plants are dormant. February is late winter for us in the mountains. Plants in their dormant state are going to be less prone to infection or stress from the pruning.
Blueberry is a multi-stemmed bush. Each one of the stems that comes out of the ground is called a cane. Cane renewal pruning is removing old canes from the plant so that there is space for new canes to grow. Ideally, under cane renewal pruning you’ll remove old canes each year so that in five years all the canes on the plant will be completely different. Each year go through the plant and cut out the oldest canes that you find. Also, remove any diseased or dead canes. Ideally, you don’t want to remove more that 25% of the canes in a single year. If you have a blueberry bush that hasn’t been pruned for a couple of years it may take a couple years to get it back into shape. If you have a blueberry bush that hasn’t been pruned for many, many years cane renewal pruning probably isn’t going get the plants back into shape. In that situation, I’d recommend something that may seem very drastic, but is better for the plants in the end. Mow the bushes down to the ground. Mature plants will be able to take this hit, and put up new suckers, that turn into canes. This is going to give you fresh growth, and a new healthier plant. You’ll go without blueberries for a couple of years. Therefore, if you have several plants that need to be mowed, you could do a couple a year, until they are all back under control.
New plants should be pruned to have the healthiest plants. Prune back 2/3 of the top growth on bare root plants, and ½ of the top growth on potted plants. If the new plant has many canes prune out all but 1-3 of the best looking ones. You also don’t want a first year plant to produce fruit, so pick off any flower buds. If you prune plants like this the first year, the second year won’t need much pruning. In the second year pick off flower buds again, and remove any diseased canes. The third year, remove diseased canes, but you can leave the flower buds on vigorous shoots. The fourth year, the plant should be able to handle full crop, but if you have some weak looking canes, thin out the buds to prevent over fruiting, which can cause permanent bending of canes from the weight.
Each year after harvest is completed cut plants back so that they don’t become too tall. Tall plants are more difficult to harvest for people; bears and birds probably won’t have that same problem.
If you have questions about pruning blueberries, contact you County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Crape Myrtle Pruning
Just For Fun January 17, 2021
Crape myrtles are a very common tree that many people like to plant in their home landscape or you may see them lining roads in towns. There are a couple of reasons why crape myrtles make great landscape trees. The first is that they are very disease and insect resistant, as there are not too many pests that will bother them. Powdery mildew is the most serious disease issue that crape myrtles will usually have, and it rarely kills the tree. Ambrosia beetles will attack crape myrtles, but generally, they only attack trees that are already dead, dying, or stressed. Crape myrtles also come with a variety of flower colors, making them very attractive. Finally, crape myrtles come in a variety of sizes. Varieties range from dwarf to semi-dwarf to full size, meaning mature tree heights range from 3 to 30 feet tall.
Pruning is important for crape myrtles because the blooms only form on new growth. Even more important is selecting the right sized variety for your location. If you select a variety that will grow to a good height for the spot where you’re putting it, the pruning will not be difficult, because you won’t be as concerned with managing the plant’s size.
Now is a good time of year to prune your crape myrtles. Excessive pruning can lead to problems with disease and insects because the tree is stressed. Bad pruning practices are called CRAPE MURDER. Crape murder generally involves topping the tree or cutting back all the branches to 3 to 4 feet above the ground. This will result in an oddly shaped tree that produces a lot of suckers.
To properly prune a crape myrtle start at the base of the tree and work your way up. You’re looking for suckers, if you find them prune those off. Once you get to where the branches are, remove crossing branches. Crossing branches will rub against each other when the wind blows and create sites where disease and insects can get in. As the tree grows you can remove branches from the lower third of the tree. Removing those branches will expose the trunk character. Some people like to prune off the old seedheads. I think they’re an attractive feature. With new growth in the spring, the old seedheads will fall off. On some varieties of crape myrtles, you can prune in the summer after the blooms are spent to create another flush of flowers. A second bloom is difficult to force on varieties that bloom after mid-July.
A common misconception is that crape myrtles have to be pruned to produce flowers. This is not true. Pruning allows to you shape the tree. If you have a spot where the tree can grow and does not need shaping for space concerns, pruning is not necessary. I encourage everyone to do some research on finding the variety that will fit in the space that they have because that will solve a lot of pruning issues before they arise.
If you have questions about crape myrtle pruning contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Radon Action Month
Just For Fun January 10, 2021
As it is every year, January is national radon action month. This year feels different. Many of us are spending more time at home to keep each other safe and focus on our health. This makes it even more important that we test our homes for radon, a colorless, odorless gas that is the second leading cause of lung cancer. This December Lamar Paris, Union County Sole Commissioner, released a proclamation January 2021 would be Radon Action Month in Union County.
In Union County, about 45% of homes have elevated levels of radon. In Towns County, about 34% of homes have elevated levels of radon. (Data from radon.uga.edu) Over the course of many years, exposure to this gas can cause lung cancer, even in non-smokers. In fact, radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers.
Radon is a naturally occurring gas that comes from the breakdown of uranium in soil and rock. Often granite rock naturally has high levels of uranium, which is part of why radon is such a persistent problem in Georgia. The gas seeps out of the soil and rises up through crawlspaces, foundations, and basements into a home. About 800 Georgians die annually from radon-induced lung cancer.
Fortunately, testing for radon gas is simple and inexpensive. A short-term radon test is hung in the lowest level of the home for three to seven days before being mailed to the laboratory. The laboratory will then send the homeowner results after it processes the test kit. Tests can be obtained from the UGA Radon Program website (radon.uga.edu) or a hardware or big box store. We also sell them at the Towns and Union County Extension Offices for $10. During the month of January, Georgians can receive $5 off their online radon test kit order at (radon.uga.edu) by using the code NRAM2021 at checkout.
If the radon level in your home is high, you can install a radon-reduction system. A radon reduction (or radon mitigation) system reduces high levels of indoor radon to acceptable levels. The system most frequently used is a vent pipe system and fan that pulls radon from beneath the house and vents it to the outside. We also have curated a list of people who have certified radon mitigators and do radon mitigation work in our area that I would be happy to share with you.
Radon exposure from drinking water is primarily a concern in private wells. In Georgia, wells drilled into granitic crystalline rock aquifers, usually in the northern part of the state, are at risk of naturally occurring radon contamination. This is where the uranium that decays to radon can be found at higher levels. If you don’t know whether there is radon in your well water, have the water tested. The UGA Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories in Athens test water samples for the presence of radon. To get a water testing kit, contact your County Extension office. We sell the radon in water test kits for $40.
Radon is a real and serious issue in our area. If you have questions about radon contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Christmas Cactus
Just For Fun December 20, 2020
Christmas cactus is a popular plant. They are one of the three plants that make up the holiday cacti. Thanksgiving cactus and Easter cactus are the other two. Each of these species typically blooms around the date of their respective holiday. Christmas cactus is a tropical plant, so they take a little extra care to be able to bloom at the right time. Let’s talk about Christmas cactus and how to take care of them.
Even though we call it a cactus, the Christmas cactus doesn’t like dry and hot conditions. They are native to the tropical rainforests of Brazil. That means that you need to water them more regularly than a true cactus or other succulents. Once the plant has set flower buds, you want to keep the soil evenly moist to keep the buds from falling off. Don’t overwater and waterlog the soil. During the spring and summer, you can let it run a bit drier.
During the warm months, you can leave Christmas cacti outside, so long as they are out of direct sunlight. Direct sunlight will burn them up. If you leave them outside, you need to be wary of a frost because freezing temperatures will kill them. Generally, if temperatures go below 50 they need to be brought inside. Too much direct sunlight can damage them inside too.
To fertilize them, begin when new growth starts. Usually, this is either late winter or early spring. Fertilize with a balanced liquid fertilizer such as 20-20-20. If you use liquid 20-20-20 dilute it to half strength. Fertilize once a month throughout the month. Christmas cacti need extra magnesium as well. So fertilize with Epsom salts once a month, but not the same week that you put out the general fertilizer. Fertilizer contains salts, if the concentration of salts is too high in the soil, the water will become unavailable to the plant. Mix the Epsom salts at 1 teaspoon per gallon of water. Stop all fertilizing in the late summer for better flower bud production in the fall.
Sometimes people are disappointed when their Christmas cactus doesn’t bloom around Christmas. The trick is that Christmas cacti are photosensitive, like many other plants. Photosensitive means that they will put on flower buds in response to changes in day length. Christmas cacti need at least 14 hours of continuous darkness in the fall to set buds. These long nights should start in September and continue for 6 weeks to complete the bud set. The darkness needs to be continuous. If the darkness is broken for 2 hours bud set will be inhibited.
You can prune them in the late spring to encourage more branching and flowers. Simply cut off a few pieces of stem. Those pieces of stem can be placed in potting soil and kept lightly moist. After a few weeks, they will root and you have a new plant.
If you have questions about the Christmas cactus contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Mistletoe
Just For Fun December 13, 2020
Around this time of year mistletoe is sometimes a popular decoration in people’s homes. You’ll see it hanging above doorways for use by romantically inclined couples. Nowadays you can buy plastic mistletoe at stores to put up in your house. Let’s talk about the effect that mistletoe can have on trees in the nature.
The origins of hanging mistletoe come from Norse mythology and Celtic Druids.
You can find mistletoe outside on trees year round as it is an evergreen plant. Usually in December it will become more noticeable because trees are bare after dropping their leaves. If you see a green bundle of leaves in the branches of tree around this time of year, chances are that it’s mistletoe. In the plant world mistletoe is considered a parasitic plant. Mistletoe will send its root, called the haustorium, into the bark of a host tree. The mistletoe will take nutrients and water from the host tree.
Mistletoe is usually found in the southern United States, because it is susceptible to freezing temperatures, ranging from Virginia over to Texas and down to Florida. It can infect more than 105 different species of trees. Some trees often infected by mistletoe are maples, buckeyes, birch, hickory, oaks, and a whole bunch more.
Mistletoe can be shaded out by surrounding branches. Therefore, fast growing trees that can cover mistletoe from above will have success in preventing infection.
Mistletoe creates a large draw for water and nutrients on the tree. Mistletoe will pull these things to itself away from the roots of the tree. This process can lead to a lot of stress on the tree, especially in a drought. Mistletoe tissue will have 1.6 times more nitrogen, 2.3 times more potassium, and 2.5 times more phosphorus than the host tree tissue. During times of drought mistletoe water and nutrient uptake from the tree will increase while the rest of the tree is in decline. Research has shown that moderately infected trees can have a 66% mortality rate after a severe drought period. Mistletoe is able to pull water from the tree more effectively than the tree can pull the water up.
Mistletoe infections can be very common. Trees that are taller than surrounding trees and trees that are not densely packed in with other trees are most likely to be infected. Infections will be begin at the top of the tree and move downward and inward over time. Advanced symptoms on the tree of infection can be branch die-back, reduced tree growth, increased stress, and in massive infestations, tree death.
Early intervention is critical when dealing with mistletoe infection. If you simply remove the mistletoe shoot it will mostly likely grow back, so repeated removal would be necessary. Pruning tree branches that are infected is an effective method of removing mistletoe. Remove the branch at least 14 inches below the point of infection. Ethephon is as chemical application that is a plant growth regulator that can be used to control mistletoe. Whenever you apply any chemical, read the label before application.
Control of mistletoe on old and socially significant trees can be important. Having a mistletoe infection does not necessarily mean that death is imminent for a tree, but mistletoe can have a drastic impact on the tree’s ability to thrive. If you have any questions about mistletoe contact your local Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Feed Hay Efficiently
Just For Fun December 6, 2020
Winter-feeding is one of the most costly parts of running a livestock operation. It is also necessary to get livestock through the winter. I know that everyone is being stretched this year, financially, emotionally, and mentally. As we are stretched, we have to find new ways to make do with fewer resources. Let’s talk about how to improve the efficiency of your hay, and some practices that you can use to make it go further.
Feeding hay in a hay ring is one of the largest gains in efficiency that you can have if you haven’t been using one. Research has shown that cattle will waste 45% of hay if it is fed by simply put out on the open ground. Using a hay ring can reduce waste to 20% or less. Modified cone rings are the most efficient design at 5% waste; they are usually the most expensive too. Hay rings are not cheap, but they will pay for themselves over time because they make your hay go further. Hay trailers or wagons will reduce waste, and are in the 15-20% reduction range. The advantage of using a trailer is that you can move where the hay is fed so that the manure is spread over the pasture more evenly.
Chopping hay increases your efficiency because your hay comes in shorter pieces. This makes it easier for the cattle to get the hay out, resulting in less waste. It’s estimated that shorter pieces of hay reduce waste by 5-10% because less hay ends up on the ground. Chopped hay is also easier for cattle to digest in their rumen. This is because smaller objects have a larger surface area to volume ratio than small objects. A larger ratio means that there is more space for the bacteria in the rumen to break down the hay.
You can sort feeding by groups, which means evaluating which of your animals need the highest quality hay, and which ones can take the lower quality hay. Lower-quality hay (50% total digestible nutrients and 7% crude protein) can be fed to cattle in mid-gestation. Mid quality hay (55-58% TDN and 8-9% CP) should be fed to cattle in late-gestation. Your highest quality hay (59-65% TDN and 10-13% CP) should be fed to first-calf heifers throughout gestation, growing calves, and mature cows during early lactation. Understanding cattle’s body condition scoring also helps you sort which cattle need which hay.
Hay testing is important so that you know what your total digestible nutrients and crude protein are. Ideally, you want to wait about 2 weeks after baling to test hay to let the moisture settle. For haylage or baleage, you should wait about a month before testing. A basic hay test will tell you about how digestible your hay is and how much energy is in it. Armed with this knowledge you can make decisions about which animals will get which hay. Animals have a limited amount of space in their belly, so making sure that space is filled with forage that will provide them with enough energy is important. If you would like to test your hay, let me know. I’d be happy to help.
If you have questions about increasing your hay efficiency contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].
Tree Dormancy
Just For Fun November 15, 2020
The leaves changing color and falling is a sign that colder weather is getting closer and closer. Trees are entering into dormancy. Dormancy is an important process to allow the tree to survive through the winter. Let’s talk a bit about how dormancy works in trees and why they need to do it.
Dormant trees will stop growing above the ground. Dormancy is partly brought on by temperature change, but even more so by the change in day length. The college word for this phenomenon is ‘photosensitive’, meaning the trees change in response to day length. Leaves will begin to change color and fall off. Leaves begin to change color because chlorophyll begins to break down. Chlorophyll is a green pigment that plants use to turn light energy to chemical energy. There are other pigments in the leaves too. As the chlorophyll breaks down the other pigments are left, resulting in the wide array of leaf color that we see. Evergreen trees like pine trees of hollies will have a needle drop in the fall and again in the spring.
As we move into winter trees will enter what’s called endo-dormancy. In endo-dormancy an unsatisfied chill hours requirement will keep plants from waking back up. Different plants have a different number of chill hours, or hours spent below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Chill hours are supposed to keep plants from waking back up too soon. In 2019, we had a couple of days in February that were over 70 degrees. While my pale legs might like to see some sun, February is not time for plants to begin waking up, as we have more freezes that are coming. Hopefully, those plants haven’t met their chill hour requirement, so even though I’m wearing shorts, the trees are still dormant.
Endo-dormancy also makes trees cold hardy. Trees will behave in a couple of different ways to make themselves cold hardy. One strategy that trees use is to keep all their water inside their cells. Frozen water expands. If all that water froze and expanded the cells would burst. To combat this trees move minerals and hormones in to mix with the water. Mixing water drops the freezing point, so that plants’ cells don’t freeze and burst. Another strategy is to move the water out of the cells so that it can freeze safely in the intracellular space.
When spring rolls around temperatures start to rise and trees will start to bud out because they have satisfied their chill hours requirement. However, if plants start to bud out and then we have another freeze, that can kill off the buds and cause damage to the trees. We saw that happen this year with a couple of freezes in April and then one on May 10.
Evergreens will continue to need water throughout the winter. If the soil freezes for long periods, the roots can’t take up the water. Deciduous trees, trees that lose their leaves, will not need as much water. Roots in trees will continue to grow as long as soil temperatures are over 40 degrees. Soil temperatures are warmer than air temperatures in the winter because they are insulated.
If you have questions about trees and dormancy contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected].