Bob Morris is a horticulture expert and professor emeritus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com.
This cool, wet spring was perfect for some early insect and disease problems to appear, namely aphids and powdery mildew. Roses and plants in the rose family, like many of our fruit trees, were rapidly hard hit because of cool, wet spring weather. This will get worse.
Q: Is it too late to prune? We have artificial turf around the tree, but the borders are open for applying fertilizer. Is this good, or should we use fertilizer stakes too?
Cool, rainy weather when pear and apple are in bloom is perfect weather for fireblight disease. Fireblight is a very aggressive and dangerous plant disease that shows up as new infections in about May in Asian pear, European pear such as Bartlett and some apples. It can be a major problem on quince too.
Q: If a fruit tree gets infested with borers in the main trunk and seems likely to die, can I cut off the trunk and allow the tree to grow back from this stump?
Tomato plants that were put in the ground early, before this cold spell, didn’t grow much. This is because of cold soils. Cold air temperatures are bad enough, but when warm-season vegetables like tomato plants have “cold feet,” they struggle to put on any new growth, even with warm air temperatures. If they do get larger because of hot caps or Wall O’ Water plant protectors, it’s not because their roots got larger.
Early Saturday morning I saw water that dripped from the ends of hoses lying on the ground. The water had formed icicles at the ends of the hoses, and temperatures were not freezing during the night.
Q: When can I put tomato plants outside in the garden?
Q: This past year we had lots of fruit, but the problem seems to be the same every year; when do you know its ripe? We pick one fruit every couple of days when they are looking good and try it, but they are sour and hard. Then they slowly start wrinkling and falling off at some point.
Q: How well do strawberries grow in our Las Vegas climate? When is the best time to plant and fertilize them? Any other tips?
Q: I have had much success with sugar snap peas, but lately I’ve been planting sugar snap peas and getting snow peas instead. Is it because the seed is old?
Q: I was checking today after our big rain and noticed something weird low on the trunk of my peach tree. I touched this spot and a chunk of rotten wood came off. Was this an unnoticed borer attack or something to do with the rain? Can it be fixed?
Q: If I make my own compost, can I use it instead of commercial fertilizers for grass, plants, trees and shrubs?
Q: I have a 5-year-old Thomcord grape and I was wondering how to prune it properly. I am using it to shade a chicken coop.
Q: Is it a good idea to work coffee grounds into the soil in flower beds? Does it help?
Q: You mentioned that male asparagus plants produce more than female asparagus plants. How do you tell the difference?
