Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 28, 1993 TAG: 9303290457
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: John Arbogast
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
\ APRIL
Preparing garden or flower beds correctly preserves the soil and its nutrients, enhances absorption of rainfall and protects local streams from run-off sediment. Don't work the soil when it is wet enough to squeeze into a mud ball. It is not necessary to plow or till the soil every year; working each area before planting and leaving mulches or dead cover crop stubble between rows can reduce erosion as well as prevent hard soil that results when tilling is done to the same depth year after year.
Before applying pesticides - including insecticides, fungicides or weed killers - consider that weather conditions (wind, rainfall, temperature) will affect not only their effectiveness but also may cause them to contaminate other plants. Apply insecticides to plants in your yard in late evening when bees are not actively foraging.
\ MAY
Go easy on fertilizers on vegetable gardens and flower beds. Remember that fertilizers are designed to supplement nutrients already in the soil. Too much fertilizer can damage roots, and in the case of tomatoes too much nitrogen from any source will delay flowering and fruiting. Keep in mind that excess nutrients can leach or be carried away with the potential for causing water pollution. Also, apply fertilizer where the nutrients will be used rather than wasted on walking paths or unused growing areas.
Slugs love cool, moist weather and soft plant parts, such as succulent leafy crops (lettuce and cabbage). Before you get the slug poison out, remove debris around the garden and any other material that provides slugs with a daytime hiding place near their lunch.
We're all trying to minimize the amount of pesticides used. However, if you find yourself contemplating pesticides for the landscape or garden, try buying only the amount you can use in one season.
\ JUNE
Whenever the weather dictates watering, use irrigation techniques carefully with the objectives of reducing fertilizer and pesticide runoff as well as conserving water. Morning watering is preferred for the lawn, landscape and garden in order to prevent loss of water to evaporation in the hot sun as well as to avoid wet foliage all night after evening waterings. Consider soaker hoses and hoses that weep to provide slow, low-volume watering in rows or in close proximity.
Be sure to properly identify pests and plant problems before resorting to pesticides. Also, remember that some plant problems are the result of the site or care practices, such as weak spindly plants that may be caused by excessive shade, too much water, or too much nitrogen fertilizer. Problems caused by site or care factors will not be solved by pesticides.
Q: Why do my chestnuts turn black and get sour when they mature? Is there a deficiency in the soil? D.E.A., Rocky Mount
A: Here's what the Plant Clinic at Virginia Tech had to say about your question:
There is a fungus disease called blossom-end rot of chestnuts (different from tomato blossom-end rot, which is not caused by a fungus) that can cause symptoms that sound like what you described. The first sign of this problem would be dime-sized brown spots on the green chestnut burrs; the chestnut shell will discolor and then the nut deteriorates; there is no fungicide registered for control of the fungus; suggestions include thinning the nut orchard to increase air circulation and cleaning up debris from under the trees to remove any fungus that may be living there waiting to infect the next crop.
Problems like yours can be diagnosed more readily with a sample. If your chestnuts have problems this summer, take some of the nuts to your local Extension Office in Franklin County (352 College Street in Rocky Mount, telephone 483-5161) or send a sample to the Virginia Tech Plant Clinic.
Thanks to everyone who called, wrote or stopped by the Extension Office with information on the Harry Lauder Walkingstick. I just happened to find that plant in a catalog and answered P.S. from Fincastle in the last Dear John.
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. 24010-2491.
John Arbogast is the agriculture extension agent for Roanoke
by CNB