Wood from orchard is safe for smoking meats

Q: Is using wood from a commercial orchard safe for smoking meats? I don’t know whether you use any of these, but I figured you might have an answer .

A: I think this is a matter of opinion. Some people would be adamantly opposed to using wood unless the tree was grown organically. We have made wood for smoking available from the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Orchard in North Las Vegas in the past during our winter pruning. We do not use only organic pesticides , but we do paint the limbs with diluted latex paint to aid in borer control.

I put a guide on which wood to use on my blog. You can find it by entering “smoking wood” on the search engine.

Having a background in pesticides and its use in orchards, I would not be afraid of using wood from such an orchard provided the pesticide had been applied several months before the wood being cut. Most pesticides don’t have a particularly long life once they have been hit by the environment.

Any residue remaining is on the bark of the tree and not inside . Most pesticides that end up inside the plant are “systemic” and almost none isallowed for use in fruit and vegetable production. This is because it is thought that the pesticide would be moved around or translocated to the fruit and vegetables we eat.

We have had similar questions about our smoking wood since we paint limbs with latex paint for sunburn protection. I have told people , when they expressed some concerns, to remove or burn off the outside bark of the wood with high temperatures first, turn down the heat and then put in the food for smoking.

If you are using wood with no bark , then you don’t have to do anything.

Q: I have vee-shaped cross marks on my tomatoes (especially the Celebrity tomato) starting from the stem and reaching out and down about one-fourth the side. I always thought these were from lack of water but we give them extra water by flooding them for 5-10 minutes at least once a day. This is in addition to drip irrigation at 1, 3 and 5 a.m. for six minutes each.

A: I think your description is either catfacing or cracking of the fruit. This is a surprise since Celebrity is known for its lack of both and was developed to reduce cracking. You can help prevent this by picking the right variety (Celebrity should be one) to grow, as well as some garden management.

I also think you might be watering too often. This might also cause fruit drop.

There are two things that I can think of that might contribute to cracking. Catfacing is a different issue. Cracking can be vertical, down the side of the fruit from the stem, or radial, around the circumference of the fruit.

Two things important in cracking are how well the tomato skin will expand without breaking (cracking) and soil moisture. Some tomatoes have skin that can stretch without cracking. Also try to water early in the morning hours before it gets hot.

Cover the soil with light mulch, like straw, to help slow down the loss of water from the soil.

The last thing is something that I think most people neglect — good soil preparation at the time of planting. If the soil is pretty heavy and not “fluffy” or what we call “crumby” (like bread crumbs or with a cakelike texture), the roots of the plant will be forced to grow close to the soil surface. The only way to do this is by adding compost to the soil.

If the majority of the roots are close to the surface, where water is lost quickly during the heat, the plant will go into water stress (drought) soon after irrigation. If the soil is prepared well so that it has a crumby structure, then plant roots are distributed through the soil better so that it can take up more water before it becomes stressed.

Going from water stress to water abundance leads to expansion of the fruit and can lead to splitting. Having enough foliage covering the fruit can reduce cracking so good canopy coverage of the fruit is important. This means adequate fertilizer .

Q: I have a healthy sago that is outgrowing its space rapidly. When is the best time to move it? Is relocation successful usually? It is such a nice plant that I hate to risk endangering its life.

A: You would move it this fall, some time from the end of September to mid-October, or next spring. You should not have a problem moving it. I would not put it any closer than five feet from anything you don’t want it to touch or invade such as a sidewalk or wall.

Hopefully, you will put it on the north or east side of a building or in a spot with a little wind and sun protection and not use rock mulch around it.

Dig your hole for the plant and make sure the hole and soil for replanting are prepared well with compost and a starter fertilizer high in phosphorus.

Remove the bottom tier of fronds from the trunk. I would leave only the fronds that are at about 45 degrees from horizontal and the inner fronds. . Bend the remaining fronds up around the central bud and wrap some twine around them to hold them together .

Take as much of the root system as you can when you move it. Cut deeply with your shovel all the way around the plant, about a foot to 18 inches from the trunk. Cut the roots in a complete circle all the way around the plant at least twice, making sure all the roots are cut .

On the third trip around the plant, cut in the same spots but push down on your shovel handle and begin leveraging the palm upward. Move to a new spot and repeat it until you have gone around the plant two times, leveraging and lifting, with your shovel.

The plant should almost be free or, if you are in luck, it can be lifted by the fronds. If not, then push the plant on its side and cut any remaining roots with your hand shears to free it .

Move and orient it so that it looks nice. Don’t worry about orienting it the same compass direction as it was before. Backfill around the plant and run water in the hole at the same time to remove any air pockets.

Plant it the same depth as it was in its original hole . Put a small moat around the plant to contain water from the hose when hand watering. You can drip irrigate the plant but still hand water it for the next two to three weeks, filling the moat each time. Untie it and release the fronds.

In the spring, remove the bottom layer of fronds at the base of the crown, leaving just juvenile fronds that are upright .

Bob Morris is a horticulture expert living in Las Vegas and professor emeritus for the University of Nevada. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com.