Pat Welsh Southwest Garden Advice, plus garden ideas for everyone

Pelargonium Violareum, Growing From Cuttings

Pat — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:23:50 +0000

Question from Zane:
I have 200 plants Pelargonium Violareum, I never grow them. Can you tell me more information about these plants? I would like to know about soil, moisture, about propogation with making cutings. Thank you before!

Answer from Pat:
Pelargonium violareum is native to rocky hillsides in South Africa, tends to grow rangy and blooms mainly in spring.

Even if there is a flower on every tip, pinch back the tips of the plant progressively to make it branch. Otherwise the branches will become lengthy and lean on the ground and stems will be bare of foliage. This plant prefers well-drained soil with neutral pH. Water enough so water flows out the bottom of the pot. This plant does not do very well on drip system, but can be done if managed properly. (Experiment but don’t allow it to have wet feet or it will die.) Needs full sun and responds to weak solution of balanced liquid fertilizer once or twice a month. Good air circulation is beneficial.

P.S. To propagate Pelargonium violareum from cuttings, cut off a growing tip approximately 5 inches long, or of a length appropriate for your needs, remove the lower leaves, if any exist, and stick the cutting into a pot filled with well-drained potting soil. Plants take off much quicker if you root them directly into the potting soil you intend to grow them in than if you root in sand. If you wish roots to grow more rapidly, dip the cuttings into Clonex® or Rootone F® or a solution of Dip’N'Grow® (diluted according to package directions), or similar rooting concentrate prior to planting.

When using powders, such as Rootone®, after dipping the cutting into the powder always knock the excess powder off the cutting back into the package before planting the cutting. Then use a chop stick to make a hole in the potting mix before inserting the cutting, and then close up the potting mix around the cutting with your fingers. This keeps the powder from being wiped off the cutting as you plant it. In mild climates, just stick the cuttings into the ground. They root quite easily.

When To Plant Annual, Perennial, and Biennial Flowers From Seeds

Pat — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:19:42 +0000

Question from Brandon:
Please help! My wife and I, as inspired by your book, are setting in motion our plan to start our fall planting by starting seed in August. We’re planning our beds for cool season flowers, but we are having a giant disagreement about warm season blooms. Here’s the question: When should we plant rudbeckia, shasta daisies, conefower or other warm-season perrenials? What I’ve learned from your book says May, my wife says October. We live in Beaumont, CA which is inland. In order to draw up our plans, we need to know when to plant them.

We’ve basically followed your book for our lawn and our roses since last october – to spectacular results, and we’re setting our sights on our annuals and perrenials this year with your help. Thanks in advance for your expertise.

Answer from Pat:
Even though you live in Beaumont, California, at the foot of the San Bernadino Mountains, you are still living in a Mediterranean climate with a relatively mild winter. It just happens to be somewhat cooler in winter and hotter in summer than ours along the coast. And regarding your disagreement on when to plant seeds, luckily, both you and your wife are partially right. Also, it’s a complicated subject and I’m glad to have the chance to at least try to set it straight, including the cool- and warm-season annuals and biennials (just in case this helps.)

To begin with your question: To plant most conventional, summer-blooming, bedding perennials from seeds in flats and then pots, cold frames, or the ground, one needs to begin a full year in advance. This is not an easy task and it takes over a year of work and care but can be done and is hugely rewarding when it works. (See page 246 for basic instructions.) June is the time for starting seeds of perennials along the coast and April or May inland. This means that if you wish to grow your own plants of such items as Shasta daisies and the best rudbeckias, to bloom next year, it’s none too late to start. But for the wilder types of Rudbeckia and gaillardia and ratibida—even Echinacea purpurea, all things that are more like wildflowers, fall planting is fine, especially if you are planting in the ground right where you want to grow them.

But though all of the old types of conventional bedding perennials have to be planted a whole year ahead in order to have plants that will bloom the following summer—and here is the tricky bit that makes you both right—some of the new improved, more compact perennials can be planted from seeds in spring, and still give you flowers the same summer. (Read the seed packages; some new varieties are also described online.)

You didn’t ask about planting seeds of annuals and biennials, but right now in July is the best time for starting biennials such as foxgloves, sweet William, Canterbury bell, and cup-and-saucer from seeds. By starting now, you will have little plants ready to plant out into beds in October and they will bloom next spring. Protect tender plants from frost, and please see page 265 in my book for a discussion of biennials from seeds.

And next month, in August, (page 297) is the time for planting fall and winter-blooming annual flowers from seeds. A lady I knew years ago who lived in an interior climate zone like yours always planted such winter annuals as dianthus, stock, schizanthus, and Nemesia strumosa in flats from seeds August, and she had loads of bedding plants with which to fill beds at low cost in October to bloom for winter and spring bloom. She also planted ranunculus and her garden simply overflowed with color. To get an idea of what will work, look around to see what flowers do well in other gardens at various times of year and then count the months backwards and read the seed catalogues for days from seed until bloom to find when to plant.

Now for summer items: In your climate zone (if you were planting summer annuals from seeds), plant them under lights or indoors early enough so you can put them out in the garden after spring flowers fade. But in my climate zone (coastal) I plant seeds of warm-season annuals (things like zinnias, red salvias, and marigolds) straight in garden beds after the weather warms up in May. The important point is that if you were plant most perennials from seeds that late (i.e.: in May) they won’t bloom until a whole year later, but some new varieties will do so.

Three years ago I planted seeds of Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’ in fall along with some spring-blooming wildflowers. By spring, the wildflowers which had bloomed earlier were finished and I pulled them out. I then had a bed full of Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’, and they began blooming as soon as the spring flowers were finished, but when I pulled out the other flowers it had left a few gaps. I still had some Arizona Sun seeds so I popped them into the gaps. The later-planted gaillardias grew more rapidly in warmer weather, but ended up much smaller and not nearly as floriferous as the ones I’d put in earlier. Thus, though spring planting will work with any of the brand new perennials designed to bloom the first year, I would stick to fall planting. You don’t really have to begin as early as August except (as explained above) for the bedding plants of winter annuals and for biennials.

One last comment: I had another friend in an interior climate zone whose garden got frost every night in winter, who liked planting from seeds like I do right where the plant is to grow. She planted all her annuals and perennials, cool-season and warm-season ones at the same time in October. She did not get a lot of winter bloom as I do, but she said that her little plants got pinched back by frost and if anything it was a benefit since they were compact and sturdy and she didn’t need to stake them as I’ve always needed to do.

How to Prevent Blossom End Rot on Tomatoes, and Best Temperatures for Setting Fruit on Pepper Plants

Pat — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:13:27 +0000

Question from Ramon:
I am new to gardening and this is only my second year. My first year was hot peppers and tomatoes. The hot peppers did great that year but the tomatoes, I found out later, that I was over watering. This year I went to deep watering every other day and the tomatoes are doing ok but the chilies are slow going. I did start late this year because my mom got very sick and I didn’t plant when I thought I was going to. I went ahead with the garden anyway to see what would happen. I will get a soil tester and pull a plant to see how the roots are doing.

Answer from Pat:
Sorry your mom was sick and I hope she is better now. It’s always best to plant with the seasons, but sometimes circumstances make it impossible. Every year is different and it just means one gets to learn even more. Years ago when things went wrong in the vegetable garden I always felt maybe this was happening so I could gradually find out all the answers. But it turns out there is always more to learn! If you do winter vegetables next fall, however, be sure to plant at the right time. If not planting winter veggies, take the opportunity to put in a cover crop such as scarlet clover and dig it into the ground the following spring prior to planting in order to improve the soil.

It’s difficult to grow good tomatoes with a drip system. I prefer digging a watering basin around each tomato and then soaking the soil deeply once a week or once every week and a half, depending on the type of soil and how well it retains moisture. Sometimes I allow one watering basin to spill into the next one so that one can put the hose down at one end of the row and let it run until it fills up all the basins in the whole row. By watering slowly but deeply, fruit is less likely to get blossom end rot then when plants are watered shallowly and often. One of the farm advisors once told me that commercial growers have a lot of problems with tomato blossom end rot because they water with drip systems. They add calcium to try to prevent it, but it doesn’t work. Blossom end rot comes from uneven moisture in the soil and drip systems seem to encourage that condition, not prevent it.

With peppers you might find the blossoms fall off if the weather gets too hot. Peppers set fruit best when nighttime temperatures are between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit and daytime temperatures around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit can cause blossom drop.

When to plant tomatoes for fall/early winter harvest

Pat — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:09:21 +0000

Question from Lewis:
I wanted to know when to plant tomatoes and what kind of tomatoes for a late fall, early winter harvest.

Answer from Pat:
The best time to plant tomatoes for summer use is in March, but this year our temperatures have been cool along the coast and cool temperatures can lead to bud drop so use a tomato-blossom set and grow cold-resistant varieties when planting early.

When planting tomatoes for tomatoes for fall harvest, choose early or cold-resistant tomatoes and count the days to harvest backwards from the time you want to be picking fruit to when to plant. For example if you choose a plant that bears in 58 days, you will want to plant in early August if you want to begin harvesting in late September. My guess is that most often you will want to plant in late July or early August for fall picking.

Some of early and cold-resistant varieties include Early Girl Improved VFNT, Champion 11 VFNT, Grushovka #4717, Jetsetter VFFNTA Hybrid #4519, and Oregon Spring V #2712, and Siberian #2908. Tomato Growers Exchange lists a whole page of cold-resistant varieties, and other catalogues have a few too, but beware of those which may also need long days, since our days in fall are growing shorter. Use blossom-set spray to keep the blossoms from dropping off when nights are cold or days too hot.

Squash

Pat — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 08:27:54 +0000

Question from Peggy:
Plant starts to grow a squash about 2-3 inches nice shape and color then the tip turns yellow. After that the whole thing turns yellow and dies. Planted in 5 gal plastic pots with bottom cut out, and sunk down about a foot with drip and hose watering. Soil is natural top soil. Thank you

Answer from Pat:
There are two reasons why fruit can abort and fall off a squash, melon, or pumpkin plant. The first reason is lack of pollination. If female flowers aren’t pollinated they will fall off the plant and you will get no fruit. Look at your plants in the early morning. See if bumble bees or honey bees are pollinating them, if not, then hand pollinate them in the way I suggested to another reader.

(I have also made a video on this subject. As soon as possible we will post it on this site.)

The second reason fruit falls off squash plants might be bad soil conditions. I can guess that might be your problem because of the way you have planted. Cutting the bottom off a 5 gallon plastic pot and sinking it in the ground, does not make a good planting situation for squash. Sun can hit the black sides of the container and heat up the soil inside and burn roots. Also, roots of squash need to spread out into the ground. They will be restricted inside a pot. Additionally you do not inform me whether you filled the container with potting soil or with top soil. Scientific experiments have proved that top soil or garden soil stays too wet or too dry in pots and containers and it does not drain properly. Well-amended top soil is the correct thing to use when filling raised beds because a raised bed is more like a terrace, but a pot, even a 5-gallon can with the bottom cut off is not a terrace. Potting soil is the correct material to use when filling pots, hanging baskets, 1 or 5-gallon or 15-gallon cans, and even big tubs and half wine-barrels since potting soil drains properly in containers and yet maintains adequate moisture for plant health.

A better way to plant squash is first to choose a spot in full sun, then dig up your garden soil to 1-foot depth, regardless of how poor you may think it is, then improve it by adding a 4-inch layer of well-rotted homemade, bagged, or trucked compost (not mulch), and digging this into the ground. (If you have heavy clay soil, also mix in some gypsum. Though it takes time to work, you might as well begin now to improve your drainage.) Then sprinkle on organic fertilizer according to package directions, or alternatively, apply chicken manure or guano and then using a pronged cultivator, work the fertilizer into the top 6-inches of the soil. Follow up by watering the ground and letting it settle overnight, and then the next day plant the seeds. Thereafter, water deeply at least once a week. If you do this and also watch that you have bees and hand pollinate if you don’t, you will have success growing squash.

Runner Beans Have Stopped Growing

Pat — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 08:06:24 +0000

Question from Ramon:
Hi Pat, I planted my green bean seeds in early May. They sprouted in the first 2 weeks and seemed to be growing just fine. At the end of June it seemed like they just stopped growing, with the biggest plants only 6 inches tall. I live in Riverside Ca. and the weather is pretty hot. They are in full sun most of the day and I water them daily. Why did they stop growing… help!

Answer from Pat:
First, bush beans only grow six or eight inches high. If that is what you planted you don’t have a problem as long as they bear a crop. But read on and see if any of the information below sounds similar to the situation you are facing.

My daughter Wendy has also had a problem with bush beans and later with string beans. Wendy had been advised by the person who built her raised beds to fill them with potting soil. When I heard that I said, “It’s better to fill raised beds with good quality top soil since a raised bed is a terrace and potting soil dries out too fast in so large a space.” Wendy then purchased top soil and as her beds settled down lower she added top soil on top and combined it with the potting soil below. She also fertilized with organic fertilizers and added her own homemade compost. Despite all this good care and a successful summer garden last year, Wendy had trouble with purple-podded bush beans this year and two weeks ago the problem began afflicting her pole beans also.

Wendy thought the beans were afflicted with nematodes, but the foliage was deformed and had turned purple and magenta, which is usually a sign of potassium or phosphorus deficiency and not of nematodes. Also, the roots had rotted away leaving a thickened woody root that look more as it were afflicted with Club Root (a disease of the cabbage family.) Wilted foliage is as sign of plants that are attacked by nematodes and also the roots of these beans were club-like and the feeder roots were rotted, which did not look like nematodes. With root damage from nematodes, when you pull up the roots, they usually all hang together and they are often dried out, deformed and twisted with bumps and knobs on them.

I phoned Wendy the next day and suggested she do a soil test since her problem was more likely some kind of rot or it might result from an insufficiency of a nutrient. A soil test could tell us that, so might as well begin there. Wendy purchase an excellent soil kit that contained several little bottles. Using this kit she tested the soil, and the problem turned out to be an insufficiency of nitrogen.

Now I should say right here that beans generally do not need nitrogen since they are legumes and thus can get nitrogen directly from the air, but it is always good to inoculate the seed with the appropriate rhizobia bacterial inoculant when planting beans so that their ability to make their own nitrogen is enhanced. (See page 137 in my book.) But when and if the soil has a serious deficiency perhaps then one needs to add nitrogen, even if it’s breaking the rule for beans. A soil deficiency in nitrogen could happen if un-rotted woody material is in the soil, as might have happened either from insufficiently rotted compost or from un-nitrolized wood shavings in the potting soil. (Some brands of potting soil do not contain enough nitrogen to offset the woody mulch that is in them and if not compensated for, the woody ingredients will rob nitrogen from the soil in order to rot.) I suggest you test your soil to see if it is deficient in any specific nutrient and if it is then provide that nutrient.

With beans growing along the coast, unseasonal cold nights this year have caused problems. Have the nights been cold where you live? Beans are a warm-weather plant and our weather has been more like winter in some areas, but probably not in yours. Cold can seriously damage the growth rate of beans and can turn the foliage yellow because nitrogen is less active in cold temperatures. In England where gardeners often have this problem with green beans they sometimes grow scarlet runner beans instead, since they are more cold-hardy. If you pick scarlet runners very young they taste fine.

For you, who live in a hot interior zone, I would not recommend planting beans so late as May. A better date for beginning is March. Plant beans in March and give them winter protection at first, then they should be up and growing well and bearing beans much earlier than now in July. Once daytime temperatures reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit, this is too hot for beans because the pollen will be no longer be active. Thus beans will stop bearing about one week after this daytime temperature is reached. Also, beans that are planted earlier will be less afflicted by rust problems.

You also said you are watering every day. Daily watering in hot weather can lead to problems with root rot. I suggest deep and infrequent watering instead of shallowly and often, so next year stretch out your waterings and water more deeply. Let your beans dry out a little between waterings. Also, apply a layer of mulch on top of the soil to maintain moisture. I hope this helps. (Pull up one plant to see if it’s suffering from root rot. Also, dig into the ground to see how deeply water is penetrating.) In future always prepare the ground before planting by digging deeply, adding soil amendment and fertilizer when necessary or in the case of beans rhizobial inoculant instead of fertilizer and plant earlier.

Is Cape Honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis) Toxic?

Pat — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 08:22:16 +0000

Question from Sandy:
Need to know if cape cod honeysuckle is toxic or not-want to put in exotic bird cages for them to perch and/or eat on(parrots-amazons,macaws,cockatoos)do not see it listed on toxic sheets for birds,tortoises ectc and can not find the answer on internet sources that I have tried. Please help me solve this question. Thanks so much.

Answer from Pat:
There is no such plant as “Cape Cod honeysuckle.” Perhaps you are referring to a subtropical plant called Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis.) The word “Cape” in this common name refers to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, where this plant is native, not to Cape Cod where it would freeze and die in winter. Cape honeysuckle has orange or yellow tubelike flowers and is a rangy shrub or climber. Since you had the wrong common name, there is a chance that you are referring to a different plant altogether. Therefore, for your own protection please look up the botanical name “Tecoma capensis” on the Internet. Find a photo of Tecoma capensis, and make sure this is the plant to which you are referring.

If Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis) is the plant you mean, then I can answer that Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis) is not poisonous and does not harm birds nesting in it or eating it. Indeed, birds eat it in Africa and some birds there live on its nectar. In Southern California, where I live, many birds frequent Cape honeysuckle and hummingbirds are attracted to the flowers for their nectar, without any harm to the hummingbirds.

It is important to determine a plant’s correct botanical name when trying to look it up in a book or on the Internet especially when you want to find such important information such as whether it is poisonous. For example, a relative of the plant mentioned above is yellow trumpet bush (Tecoma stans.) This plant is poisonous, yet bees are attracted to it. The bees are not killed by Tecoma stans, but the honey that comes from it is poisonous. Animals can also eat yellow trumpet bush (Tecoma stans) and it does not harm them.

My mission in the Kalu Yala

Pat — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:10:57 +0000

Question from Chris:
My name is Chris Garcia, I am not a beginner gardner but I am definitely not at your level yet. I am on a mission to gain as much knowledge as possible regarding organic gardening, I am seeking an internship of sorts in Panama to work on a new sustainable community called the Kalu Yala (Kaluyala.com). I feel I have a good chance of winning this competition as my video has got a lot of positive feedback. If I win I would get a 25,000 dollar grant to start my first organic farm and 5 acres to work on. The soil is excellent and I am excited. Do you know of any farms or organic gardens in the area that I should visit?

Answer from Pat:
Thanks so much for writing. First, I want to encourage you in your desire to get an internship in Panama on a new sustainable community.

A glance at the site indicates that this community may be early in its development, may offer great learning and service opportunities, and may be an exciting adventure as well as one of lasting value. When and if you arrive there, you will doubtless have opportunities to learn a great deal about the area and the work required of you to make your 5 acres into a productive farm or garden while growing plants adapted to the climate in Panama and recycling back into the land all the organic waste products from the animals you raise and the plants that you grow.

I’m sorry I do not know of other organic farms in Panama, but once you arrive there I would suppose you will have the opportunity to meet other gardeners and learn from them the rhythm of farming and gardening there, what crops to grow, and when to plant and harvest. Every climate offers its advantages and drawbacks, but timing is all-important. The best way to learn these things is to talk to long-time organic farmers in the area. If there are none then you will have to rely on books and scholarship to know what to do when. In the 1940’s, my mother purchased and then ran an organic farm mainly by reading “Rodale’s Organic Farming and Gardening Magazine” and also a current, multi-volume encyclopedia of farming. Then she would have us all do exactly what that magazine (which was very good in those days) and also the encyclopedia said to do. She also wrote lists of tasks and then crossed them out as we accomplished these items. Another way she learned was from the County Agent, which was the name in those days of the Farm Advisor. I doubt you will have anyone like that in Panama, but it is important to listen to experts whenever you can and to learn from them.

When we had our farm we were living in a cold-winter climate. You will be in a tropical one and tropical gardening offers totally different and new challenges. In Africa several years ago I flew over a large area of small individually farmed and owned “strip farms” Each one was about an acre in size. These were hugely productive, but this one area (near Lake Victoria) had a nearly ideal growing climate with ample year-round rain. Torrential rains can ruin crops and rot seeds and roots, just as longtime drought can kill crops also. Dealing with insect and animal pests and plant diseases organically in Panama may also present challenges and be quite different from anything you have faced prior.

You say the soil is good and that is excellent news, but your task as an organic gardener will be to put back into the ground at the end of each season and before the next season, whatever nutrients your plants subtracted from the soil. In this way you can eventually leave it even better than you found it. You also have a chance to learn the economics and time management of farming. I wish you good fortune in all these endeavors.

With good wishes for your success and happiness in this project.

Root Rot and Wisterias

Pat — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:58:18 +0000

Question from Judy:
My Wisteria – 9.5 years old — just stopped growing and leaves began yellowing and drying. I cut back some wood that had not leafed out and it was dead. When I looked up these conditions, it said it could be Cotton Root Rot. Have you ever seen or experienced this? The article also stated that it was usually fatal. Yikes! Am I going to lose my beautiful Wisteria? Is there anything I can do? It’s actually happening on both front yard and backyard Wisterias.

Answer from Pat:
I’m sorry your wisterias are dying from root rot. They are perhaps already dead. There may be nothing you can do to save them, but don’t become discouraged! You will just have to find a spot with better drainage and replant. That’s what I did at my house. See the story Chapter 7, “The Wisteria That Would Not Give Up,” in my first memoir: “All My Edens: A Gardeners Memoir,” published by Chronicle Books in 1996. (Long out of print but you can find used copies on the Internet.)

Not sure where you live but in Southern California where I live rains were heavy this winter. Yes, a wisteria could certainly die from root rot. This does not need to be Cotton Root Rot, but any root rot. Wisterias need good drainage. When I planted my first wisteria 50 years ago I knew that, but I didn’t know the correct way to provide it. I built a sump instead of a drain. A sump consists of a narrower hole dug on the bottom of a planting hole and filled with rocks. Years ago it was mistakenly thought to help drainage but of course it did not. Instead, it simply filled up with water thus provlding an underground swimming pool for roots. Roots went in there and soon rotted. This killed my first wisteria. (The full story is told in the chapter mentioned above and I don’t want to spoil it by telling you the ending.)

But I can tell you this: A better way to improve drainage in poorly drained soil is to build a raised bed. The raised bed doesn’t need to be very high. Just 4 inches will suffice. Fill the raised bed with top soil mixed with the native soil and then dig your hole through the raised bed and into the soil below and plant into the ground that way. Also if drainage is poor due to the alkalinity of clay soil, then dig as much as half a coffee can of gypsum into the bottom of the hole before planting.

Terr-O-Vite vs Organic Fertilizers

Pat — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:54:23 +0000

Question from Dave:
Your book recommends the use of Terr-O-Vite for so many things. I live in Thousand Oaks and can’t seem to find it. I don’t even see it on the internet. Can you recommend a source to buy it, or can you recommend a suitable available replacement?

Answer from Pat:
Terr-O-Vite is not longer made and as far as I know was no longer in used ten years ago. Sounds as if you are still using the first edition of my book that was published in 1991. It is now almost 20 years out of date. I revised it totally and the second edition was published in 2010 and included much more stuff in it and all the perennials grown then but not yet introduced in the late 80’s when I wrote that first book that is now so long out of date. Now you need the third edition.

My new book is all-organic so I would not suggest Terr-O-Vite today even if it were still available because it would contribute to runoff and pollution of groundwater. I suggest you use organic fertilizers, instead, such as those recommended throughout my new book, “Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening: Month by Month.” (Available anywhere books are sold.) If the soil in your garden has a problem absorbing liquids, also apply and organic penetrant such as Yucca schidigera. (Terr-O-Vite included a penetrant and that was one reason it worked.) For a list of generic fertilizers, please see the chart on this website under “Fertilizers.” Also, please read the other material under that heading.