Sweetness varies among nectarine varieties

: My nectarines are ripe and they are falling off the tree. They are juicy but not as sweet as they should be. There is a tinge of unripeness on the palette. What can I do?

A: It just could be the variety. At the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners Orchard in North Las Vegas we find tremendous variation is the taste of peaches and nectarines among varieties. One of our absolutely best fruits in the orchard is a nectarine called Arctic Star, a white nectarine; while a nectarine called Panamint was horrible year after year and was removed. Fruit can change in quality from year to year as well. So give it another year and if the fruit is still not to your liking, then replace it.

Q: I was burying compost this morning and found these things (seen in the picture I sent) curled up in the moist dirt. Within two minutes, they uncurled and were trying to crawl back to the dirt. Can you tell me what they are and what they will do to a vegetable garden?

A: It is pretty hard for those of us who are not entomologists to identify these critters exactly from a picture, but this is most likely one of the so-called white grubs, an immature form of an adult scarab beetle. A common scarab beetle that many people know here is the green June beetle that attacks ripe fruit. Back East a common scarab beetle is the Japanese beetle.

The adults can be quite destructive to roots of grasses, vegetables, leaves of trees and ripe fruits. Curled up they resemble an uncooked (gray) shrimp with an enlarged bottom. Because they get larger and larger as they feed and there are many different kinds, they can range in size up to a couple of inches long. Of course, at this stage they are wingless and they must inch along the ground, as you have noted.

These immature beetles are famous to those who have lawns as the notorious white grubs that feed on the roots of lawn grasses. However they will eat any type of organic matter including stuff that is decaying in a compost pile.

This is one reason why it is very important for those making compost to try very hard to get those temperatures in the compost pile up to that 160 F mark so that critters like these and any pathogens are neutralized. If left alone, they will continue to feed on organic matter and then pupate before emerging as the winged adult. The winged adult found your compost pile to be quite inviting due to the organic matter and chose your lucky pile to lay her eggs.

The best thing to do if you have a compost pile that has not generated enough heat is to add heat to it by solarizing it. Moisten the compost pile, turn it and cover it in clear plastic, sealing the edges and let it “cook” in the sun for a few days. That should do the trick.

Q: I live out in Pahrump and this has been a year for squirrels. They ate every peach I had on my tree and I thought they might even undermine my tool shed! They are such cute little creatures (especially watching them collecting the bird seed from the feeders) but this was war. I found a natural way to get rid of the “varmints” online: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup baking soda. Mix well. It works. I put it out in small bowls every day for about three days and haven’t seen them since.

A: Unfortunately we have the same problem at the orchard. Last year they stripped all of the almonds from our remaining almond trees days before we were going to harvest them. One group of volunteers blamed the other group for stealing almonds. Squirrels will steal grapes, damage ripening fruit and vegetables and hollow out pomegranates. They are a health problem as well.

I have natural concoctions for controlling pests sent to me regularly. If I have the chance, I try them. Just to let you know, we tried your recipe at the orchard. Although we saw no immediate or obvious results, we did seem to see a reduction in the ground squirrel levels soon after we put this concoction out. We will continue to try it and see what happens and report back to you. How and why it works is a real mystery.

Q: I plan to purchase several houseplants and indoor trees for my new home, but I don’t know how to avoid bringing in unwanted pests from the nursery. Any suggestions?

A: Great plan. First inspect the plants for the pests. A list of common pest can be found online at www.wvu.edu/~agexten/ipm/insects/compest.htm or by e-mailing me at morrisr@unce.unr.edu. or calling the master gardener help line at 257-5555.

Secondly, isolate these plants from other plants for a couple of weeks and see if they develop any pest problems. I would bring them in one at a time over a period of time before the next one is brought in. If this is not possible, then you might try either an insecticidal soap or even an insecticide application to the plants in isolation.

One of the more common problems brought into the house are fungal gnats, those pesky mosquitolike flying insects that are common to houseplants. You should be able to see if this is a problem in a matter of a couple of weeks. They are fairly hard to control and a real nuisance if they get established, but close inspection of the plants before they are brought in will help a lot.

Bob Morris is an associate professor with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. Direct gardening questions to the master gardener hot line at 257-5555 or contact Morris by e-mail at morrisr@unce.unr.edu.