Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 25, 1990 TAG: 9003270003
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: John Arbogast
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The first step in a lime program should be a soil test, which is available through Cooperative Extension Service offices. Lime is used to correct a soil acidity condition, but there is no way to look at the grass or other plants and say correctly that lime is needed. Soil test results include recommendations for fertilizing and pH adjustment based on the plant that is to be grown in that soil. (Be certain to include planting plans with your soil sent for testing.)
Lming is a low-cost project and it can be done at any time of year that the ground is not frozen. Not all soils need lime, however. Applying lime where the soil acidity is already appropriate for the plants growing there can be harmful since this will cause the pH to go higher than the desired range and necessary nutrients will not be available to plants at that higher pH either.
Soil testing is a free service from Virginia Tech available through local Extension offices. The Virginia "soil test kit" includes a box to hold a mixture of soil, the soil information sheet to be filled out by the owner and turned in with the soil, and a sheet of basic instructions on filling out the form.
Q: Could you give us any insight as to why our daffodils have drooping heads? We see other peoples' standing so nice and tall, and ours face the ground. P. J., Huddleston
A: I really can't tell you why your daffodils do this. Some of the possibilities are variety difference, site-caused stress, need for nutrients, or crowding and weakening of the bulbs. All of the spring flowering bulbs can be fertilized just as soon as the foliage appears with a liquid fertilizer mixed according to package instructions. You can apply compost to the site or granular 5-10-5 or 5-10-10 can be scattered over the bed at 1/2 cup per 25 square feet and watered in well.
If your daffodils were planted more than five years ago and are less than six inches deep, they are likely getting crowded with the formation of new bulbs and thus should be dug up after the foliage has completely turned yellow or brown, divided and replanted in enriched soil. If you find that all the bulbs are small when you dig them, replant these in an area where flowering for a few years is not necessary and replace the original planting with new, large bulbs planted deeply this fall.
Q: I have a house fern that has a real sticky substance on it; then it falls on the floor; you can hardly walk there because it's so sticky; then ants come. Now, it has spread to a begonia. Please tell me what to do. D. G., Callaway
A: It sounds like these plants have an insect such as aphids or scale insects that naturally give off a sticky secretion as they suck out plant sap. Both these pests are visible, so look over the plants to see what is there. Aphids are small, pear-shaped soft bodied insects that are usually wingless. They may be green, black or some other color. The visible part of a scale insect is the scale covering, which looks like a miniature inverted disk or bowl glued to plant parts. The color may be white, gray, brown or other. If you spot the culprit, use one of those general purpose, ready to use aerosol or finger pump sprays available at garden centers for house plant insect control. Look at the label before buying to be sure use on ferns and begonias is OK. Follow label directions. Repeat as suggested. Isolate those plants in a window by themselves until the problem is cleared up so that it doesn't spread to even more plants.
Q: In reply to Mrs. C. P. C. of Blacksburg about slugs, salt sprinkled around plants will kill slugs. Do not use salt directly on plants. Hope this helps. Also, I don't think that there is enough poison in slug bait to kill cats and dogs. I have used it without any trouble. Mrs. E. T. D., Pearisburg
A: Thanks for your comments. However, I wouldn't suggest applying salt to soil. Salt can work like a non-selective herbicide killing plant roots it contacts. Also, salts last a long time in the soil and thus can kill that soil for an extended period of time. It is difficult to say that the amount of chemical in snail and slug baits won't hurt animals. I've read that poisonings have occurred.
Got a question about your garden, lawn, plants, or insects? Write to Dear John, c/o the Roanoke Times & World-News, P. O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010. GARDENER'S CHECKLIST Early plantings: The end of March is a good time to plant radishes and leaf lettuce in Roanoke area gardens. Both vegetables do well in the cool part of the growing season and may develop poor flavor if grown when the weather is hot. Leaf lettuce is much easier to grow than head lettuce. Plan to have a summer vegetable like bush beans follow these spring vegetables in their location. Hedges: Non-flowering hedges can receive their first 1990 shaping now. As you clip or prune, be sure to leave the base of the plants wider than the top in order to allow sunlight to reach those branches, too. Lawns: Resist the urge to give a regular application of turf fertilizer to your bluegrass or fescue lawn until after the period of spring greening and usual rapid spring growth. Garden: Do not dig in, spade, or till the garden when the soil is wet. Doing so will create chunks or clods of soil which may be present all summer.
by CNB