Tomato Growing
Just For Fun May 23, 2021
Tomatoes are one of the most common vegetables in home gardens. They are great on a sandwich or eaten like an apple. You can can them and use them in all different recipes. My favorite is a fried green tomato. Tomato growing is rewarding and delicious.
Tomatoes are unique in that there are more tomato varieties out there than other garden plants. That’s because of the multitude of different ways that tomatoes can be used. So when you’re planting tomatoes, start with the end goal in mind. Use a variety that works well for what you want to do with it. Also, take a look at the disease resistance that tomato has in it. This can vary a lot by variety. Disease resistance will give you a serious leg up and give you a lot fewer headaches as the season goes on.
You’ll want to plant in an area that gets 6-8 hours of sunlight and has a soil pH of 6.2-6.8. Tomatoes can grow roots all along their stem. So when planting transplants plant them down to the first set of leaves. Plant them 2 feet apart in row, and set rows 4-6 feet apart. Firm up the soil around the transplants to push out any air pockets. After transplanting put 2 tablespoons of 5-10-10 fertilizer around each plant.
Most plants will need to be staked. You can buy cages to stake the plants. Alternatively, you can use wooden stakes that are 5-6 feet long. Drive a stake into the ground between every other plant about 1 foot deep. You can take twine or strips of cloth and weave these around the stakes to support the plants. As the plants grow higher, you can add more levels of twine.
Apply 1.5 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer per 100 square feet prior to planting. Once tomatoes start forming on the vine and are the size of a quarter apply 1 pound of 10-10-10 per 100 square feet. Repeat that application every 3-4 weeks until harvest is finished.
Tomatoes need about 1-2 inches of water per week. If we don’t get enough rain, you can supply the rest. When watering plants it’s better to give 1 or 2 heavy soakings, than multiple light sprinkles.
There are many insects that can cause problems for tomatoes. Insecticidal soap does a pretty good job for most soft-bodied insects. Bt is works well for caterpillars and insects that feed on the plants. Scout your garden regularly so that you quickly find new pests. Pests are much easier to control in small numbers and when they aren’t full-grown.
Blossom end rot is caused by a calcium deficiency. Maintaining a good pH, keeping plants well watered, and having enough calcium in the soil will prevent blossom end rot. Foliar sprays to give calcium are only short-term fixes. Healthy soil and good water practices will eliminate this problem.
Tomatoes are best if they fully ripen on the vine. However, if you pick them before they are fully ripe you can set them out in a room that’s around 70 degrees. I like to use the kitchen windowsill.
If you have questions about growing tomatoes 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].
Galls
Just For Fun May 9, 2021
Today I am going to talk about insect galls. I’ve gotten several questions from people that have seen something strange looking growing on their plant, and they wanted to know what it is. Galls can make a leaf look alien, but they rarely harm the tree. Let’s talk about some of them, what causes galls, and the damage that they do to a plant.
Insects usually cause galls. They look like an extra growth or tumor on the plant. They can take a variety of colors and shapes. Use of pesticides is not recommended in most cases to treat galls. Most pesticides will be ineffective because the insect or disease causing the gall is inside the plant.
Oak apple galls are somewhat common. These galls form on oak trees. They look like round balls that are attached to the oak leaves. They start out green, but turn brown, and are about half an inch to 2 inches in diameter. Oak apple wasps cause these galls. Oak apple wasps are really small wasps. These small wasps are not dangerous to people and won’t hurt you. Inside the gall is a single wasp larva. Once the larva emerges the gall will turn brown, and you can probably see the hole where it emerged, if the gall is still intact.
Azalea leaf gall is another fairly common gall. This one is not caused by an insect, but is a fungal disease. The disease overwinters inside the plant. Then in the spring and summer, you’ll start to see whitish swollen tissue appearing. That tissue has spores that can be moved to other leaves or plants by rain or wind. Fungicides are not an effective way to treat azalea leaf gall. If you see one of these galls, just pick it off and throw it in the trash, which will reduce its spread. Azalea leaf gall can also infect rhododendrons.
Maples can have a couple of different types of galls. One of those is called maple eyespot gall. A midge causes it. A midge is a really small insect. These insects will lay their eggs on the underside of leaves. The eggs hatch and the larvae feed on the leaf from inside the gall. The hormones that the midge injects into the leaf causes a dark red ring to form that has a yellow inner ring and a dark red center. The baby midge will then drop to the ground and finish growing into an adult. These galls rarely do real damage to the tree. Using an insecticide to treat is not recommended because the midge is protected inside the gall.
One type of gall that is problematic for farmers is phylloxera. This louse like insect will feed on roots, which causes roots to swell and die. One of their favorite plants to feed on is grape. Nowadays grapevines are grafted onto a rootstock that is resistant to phylloxera insects. Phylloxera is native to North America, so our native grapes like muscadine and fox grape are resistant to it. However, European grapes are not. In the mid 1800s, some American vines were shipped to Europe that were infected with phylloxera. The arrival of phylloxera in Europe and other countries around the world nearly destroyed the winemaking industry. For the vineyards that did not die, they had to rip out their vines and replace them with ones that were grafted onto resistant, American rootstock.
If you have questions about galls 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].
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
Just For Fun April 18, 2021
Have you seen small white cottony balls on hemlock trees? If you have then that means those trees are infested with Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA). Let’s look at why it’s important to preserve hemlocks, what is the pest that is killing them, and what you can do to save them. We are getting to the time of year when they really start to come out.
Hemlocks are a native species that ranges from Maine to Northern Alabama. They are a keystone species that provides habitat for about 120 species of vertebrates and over 90 species of birds. Hemlocks are unique in their ability to thrive in shade. This attribute makes them common in ravines and along rivers and streams. Their proximity to streams and rivers means that they are crucial in reducing erosion and watershed protection. Hemlocks can be identified by their needles. They have short flat needles with two distinctive pale white stripes on the underside. The needles are wider at the base and taper to a rounded tip, unlike firs that have parallel sides the whole way down.
HWA is a very small insect. The white cottony sacks on the hemlock trees are egg sacks of HWA. They are an invasive species from Asia that doesn’t have a natural predator here. HWA feeds on the sap inside of hemlock trees. Wind, birds, deer, or humans can spread the HWA. Once a tree has become infected, it will die within four to 10 years. Therefore, it is important to treat trees as soon as possible after finding that they have been infected.
It is important to treat your own trees with cultural and chemical controls. Cultural controls include keeping hemlocks well mulched and watered. Hemlock trees don’t have very deep roots and droughts can make them more susceptible to infection. Don’t place any bird feeders or deer feeders near your trees. Birds and deer can carry the eggs for long distances. If you are hiking in an area that has HWA wash your clothes afterward because you may be carrying eggs. Be careful to not over-fertilize your trees as that could make them more enticing to HWA. Cultural controls may keep your trees healthy, but when they become infested, chemical controls are the only option. Chemical controls involves treating your tree with either Imidacloprid or Dinotefuran, and is the most common and effective method of control. An imidacloprid treatment will last four or five years. However, it may take one year before it is effective. Dinotefuran will last for two years in the tree and will take about four to six weeks to take effect. The ideal way to apply either of these insecticides is by soil injection or soil drench. Putting the insecticide in the soil will mean quicker uptake by the plant and reduce the chance of off target drift. If the trees are near open water, a trunk injection of insecticide is necessary, which will require a professional. Whenever applying a pesticide it is important to familiarize yourself with the label before using the product.
The Union and Towns County Extension Offices each have a soil injector that is available to be checked out. Checking it out requires a $250 dollar deposit that will be returned when the injector is brought back. I also have a soil drench kit in each office, which are simpler to use, especially if you don’t have many trees. You must provide your own insecticide. The organization Save Georgia’s Hemlocks have a website that has lots of information too.
Contact your local Extension Office or send me an email at [email protected] if you have any questions about HWA.
Pollinator Gardening
Just For Fun April 11, 2021
We all know the benefits of pollinators. Many of the crops that we grow would not be possible without pollinators. The State Botanical Garden of Georgia has a program where they designate four plants as the pollinator plants of the year. All four are native plants. The goal is to get more nurseries growing these pollinators and to encourage people to plant them in their gardens. Let’s go through each of one and give a brief plant profile on them.
False rosemary is the first pollinator plant of the year. It is a perennial. It does look like rosemary, but the leaves have a minty smell when crushed. They have dainty light purple flowers that bloom in the spring. Unfortunately, for us, this plant does not do well, as it needs a warmer climate than what we have in the mountains. It is hardy to USDA zone 8a; we are in zones 6a-7, depending on your elevation.
Sweet pepperbush is great plant that will grow in our area. It is native to the Eastern US. It blooms in the summer and grows to be 4-8 feet tall. There are some dwarf cultivars of it available too. It has white blooms that attract birds, butterflies, and hummingbirds. It can take part shade, which is good for our area, as we have many trees and lots of shade. It doesn’t have many problems with disease or insects. It does have a cousin called the mountain pepperbush that can grow in the North Georgia Mountains. The mountain pepperbush grows to be 12-20 feet tall.
Butterfly weed is a plant that every pollinator garden should have. It is our native milkweed. You can see it blooming along the side of the road during the summer. It has bright orange clusters of small flowers. It attracts butterflies and native bees. This one is not as tall, only growing to be 1-2 feet tall. I don’t recommend moving from the roadside to your house, because native plants don’t like to be transplanted, especially after bloom. You can purchase this from local nurseries. It likes to be grown in full sun.
The last plant is downy goldenrod. It’s a fall bloomer and grows 1-3 feet tall. It’s a great plant for native bees and other pollinators. There are a number of different species of goldenrod. We start to see a lot of goldenrod bloom at the end of August and into September. Many beekeepers will stop collecting honey from bees once goldenrod starts to bloom. Goldenrod honey is not as marketable, and by not collecting honey, it gives the bees a chance to build up their stores for winter.
Planting a pollinator garden is beneficial to your garden and to the pollinators. If you have questions about pollinator gardening contact your County Extension Office or email me at [email protected]
I will be hosting a raised garden bed program at Hamilton Garden on April 22 at 10 am. There will be an educational portion of the program that everyone is welcome to attend. I will also have some 4×4 ft. raised beds available for people to purchase for $40. To reserve your raised bed call 706-439-6030 and I will put you down.
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 Bed Soils
Just For Fun March 7, 2021
Last week I talked about the different materials that can be used to construct a raised bed. This week I want to talk about what we put in the raised beds. There are many different options out there, some are better than others are, and some are cheaper than others are. So let’s talk through some options for soil in your raised garden bed.
Before filling up your raised garden bed figure out how many cubic feet of soil you will need. This is a simple calculation of multiplying length by width by height. Let’s use the dimensions 8 feet X 4 feet X 10 inches. In this case, we would multiply 8x4x0.833 because 10 inches is 0.833 feet. The answer is 26.66 cubic feet. If we wanted to convert cubic feet to a cubic yard, we would divide our cubic feet by 27. This means that we have close to one cubic yard of volume.
Now that we have the math out of the way and know how much material we need let’s talk about what materials can be used. Obviously, you can use top soil to fill the raised bed. If you have extra top soil nearby this might make sense for you. Otherwise, I don’t think that it’s a great option. Top soil is not regulated in terms of what is in it. So you might have many chunks of bark that haven’t started decomposing. If you don’t know the source of top soil, it could also contain weed seeds that will grow and compete with your plants.
Another option would be to go to the store and buy bags of soil that are made for raised beds. This would give you quality soil in the beds. The flip side is that you’re going to spend a lot of money doing it. You could easily spend $250 or more for soil using the dimensions I talked about earlier. If the money is not a problem, this is a quick and easy solution.
Compost is a great way to fill your raised beds. Compost that has completely composted will provide many nutrients to the soil. If you have your own compost you can use that, or you can buy compost in bulk. Some companies will deliver or if you have a pickup truck, you can use that. You can also buy compost in bags. A product like Black Kow is an example. Buying bags will be more expensive. One drawback to using compost is that the pH will most likely be high. This can lead to some nutrient shortages. Another thing to keep in mind with compost is that it will continue to decompose. This means that the amount you have will decrease and more will need to be added periodically.
The lasagna method is a popular way to fill raised beds. You alternate layers of brown and green material. Brown material is dry leaves, shredded newspaper, peat, and pine needles. Green materials are vegetable scraps, garden trimmings, and grass clippings. The green materials contain nitrogen and the brown materials contain carbon. Make the brown layers twice as thick as the green layers and it will compost down into a good material into which you can plant.
If you have beds that are very deep another option is the put branches in the bottom to fill up space. The branches will break down over time, giving you good material in which to grow.
If you have questions about filling your raised bed 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].
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].
What is IPM?
Just For Fun November 29, 2020
IPM is a pretty big buzz phrase out there in agriculture right now. It stands for Integrated Pest Management. Integrated means that you employ several different types of strategies. Pest in this case can refer to insects, diseases, weeds, or any other thing out there that you don’t want messing with your plants. Management is important. It’s not Integrated Pest Eradication. Management means that an acceptable threshold is found for the pest. Depending on what the pest is and what type of damage its doing affects what is an acceptable threshold. For example, the threshold for kudzu growing in a gully or ditch will be much higher than kudzu encroaching on your yard.
Management in IPM comes from a combination of biological, cultural, mechanical, and chemical means. By using a combination of these practices, the idea is that pests can be managed to minimize economic, environmental, and public health risks. IPM is a long term management strategy where chemical control is used as a last resort.
Biological control is using natural enemies of a pest for control. Ladybugs are an excellent example because they eat a lot of other insects that feed on garden plants. Another example is that UGA and UNG are conducting research on beetles that will control the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid that is ravaging our hemlocks. Cultural controls can include watering practices. A lot of fungal diseases are encouraged by wet conditions. Another example of cultural control is selecting disease-resistant varieties to plant. An example of mechanical control is using traps for rodents or other pests to remove them. Mulch to prevent weeds from popping up is another example. Finally, chemical control involves spraying pesticides. When pesticides are applied they are used only where needed. Selective pesticides that are safest for the surrounding organisms are used.
Prevention of pest problems is a big part of IPM. When IPM is used on a large production scale quantitative thresholds will be set so that chemical sprays are used only when necessary. Spraying chemicals is not bad or disallowed when using IPM, you just try to be more conscientious of using sprays and use them sparingly. There are times and situations when biological, cultural, and mechanical aren’t effective and spraying is the only effective option of control available. The goal of IPM is to reduce the reliance on chemical applications for successful control.
You may already be using IPM without even realizing it. Using mulch around flower beds or drip irrigation to water can be IPM. If you have a fence around your garden to keep deer and other pests out that are part of IPM. Some ways that you could improve your use of IPM could be spraying insecticides when beneficial insects aren’t active. When planting look to see what disease resistance your seeds have or use plants that are from our area, oftentimes those will have natural resistance and be adapted to our climate.
The key to being successful with IPM is to be more conscientious of your surroundings and thinking long term. If you have questions about IPM contact your local county Extension Office or send me an email at [email protected].