Watch your watering during long days of high temperatures

Q: We have several containers on our patio and it seems like we are watering them all the time. What can we do to conserve water and still have beautiful plants?

A: Because of the containers’ exposure to sunlight, your plants need more water than those growing in the ground. We also often forget about the roots. As plants mature they fill the soil with roots and, as a result, there isn’t much water storage capacity for plants to draw from. So water at shorter intervals or transfer plants to larger pots. Nest your potted plant inside of a larger pot and fill the gap between pots with potting soil to reduce water loss and heat.

Q: When watering my container plants this morning, water almost immediately ran out of the container. By noon, the plants were wilting. Can you explain why they were wilting?

A: You bet I can. With the intense heat on the pots, the rootball shrinks from the container sides and the dry soil becomes water repelling. Then when you watered, it ran off the rootball and out the bottom, leaving the rootball bone dry.

Before watering again, cultivate around the plant’s base and press soil back up against the container wall. Add a teaspoon of detergent in a gallon of water to rewet the dry soil and water until you have resoaked the entire rootball.

Or place the container in a pan of water or kitchen sink and let the water soak up through the rooted area. Follow with another irrigation from the top to drain away the salts.

Q: Why aren’t my split-leaf philodendron leaves splitting anymore?

A: I strongly suspect you moved it from a well-lighted situation to where it is not getting enough light. The splits do not develop when struggling for light.

Q: We just moved into a home and thought we had good soil but I swear it is 100 percent caliche below the soft dirt. How can I plant anything?

A: You may be right, but I strongly suspect your yard is not on a caliche bed. When developing the pad, the developer brought the pad to 90 to 95 percent compaction to build your home. Break through the compacted layers and your plants will develop OK. I had the same experience until I dug down below the compaction and found sand. Come to find out, it was a peach orchard many years ago.

Caliche is a layer of soil in which the particles are “cemented” together by lime. A layer of caliche can be anywhere from a few inches to several feet thick. Similar to hardpan, it creates drainage problems and roots cannot penetrate it.

Caliche causes three problems in your garden.

1. It is so tight roots cannot penetrate through it. The plants only have soil above the caliche as a source of nutrients and water, but roots can’t develop normally.

2. It stops water movement and accumulates salts to reduce plant vigor.

3. It ties up the iron, which causes a yellowing of leaves while leaf veins remain green. Iron deficiencies are additionally aggravated by the water saturation of the soil.

Q: I have a patch of lawn that has dried out and now become very hard. What can I do to rectify the situation?

A: First, check your sprinklers by placing tuna cans or the like across the dried area and run sprinklers as normal and then check the water in each can. Ideally, all cans should have the same amount of water in them. If not, correct the problem. You may need to bring in professional lawn management company to assist you.

Next, put three tablespoons of dishwashing detergent in a gallon of water and drench the dried area. When soil or turf becomes dry, they respond by repelling water and the solution allows the water to soak into the root zone.

Then aerate. No one practice can do as much good for so little cost as aerating your lawn. Considerable water savings have been realized by this task. These half-inch-wide by five-inch-deep passageways allow water to enter the soil faster with less runoff and increase fertilizer effectiveness. This results in a better root system that is less susceptible to drought. Make it a practice to aerate your lawn three times a year — in spring, early summer and fall. Foot aerifiers do a good job for smaller lawns, but if you have a larger lawn and a bad back, rent a power aerator.

Q: My gardener mows my fescue lawn about 1 1/2 inches high and I feel it should be higher. Who is right?

A: Chalk one up for you, because you are right. When you mow fescue too low, it exposes the soil surface and increases evaporation. Low cuttings also restrict root growth. However, if you cut the grass too high, it increases transpiration and minimizes the savings. The best mowing heights during the summer are 2 to 2 1/2 inches for fescues and one inch for Bermuda grass.

Q: Why doesn’t my okra bear fruit?

A: Temperature extremes from too hot to cold will prevent fruit from setting, or it may be a lack of fertility.

FORTY-FOUR NEW MASTER GARDENERS

Cooperative Extension announces the graduating class of master gardeners for 2007. The ceremony took place at University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lifelong Learning Center on June 6. These 44 community members completed 70 hours of horticultural training and passed the final exam. As master gardeners they agree to volunteer at least 50 hours each year on desert gardening projects. They are: Lorenzo Alva, Michelle Bachmann, Sunny Brown, Angela Cantrell, Anita Cardin, Gary Cramer, Lauren Diaz, Marge DiOrio, Marie Campanella, Donna Dye, D’Ann Eakin, Carolyn Ellsworth, Fran Escarzaga, Ron Esparza, Jennie Freund, Beth Garner, Joyce Grayson, Nancy Grimm, Tom Grimm, Chuck Hanson, Sharon Hatcher, Richard Honzo, Shelley Hunnel, Lori John, Annie Macias, Rose Manley, Ronen Moshe, John Palmer, Alix Peters, Lenor Ramiscal, Judy Ross, Connie Savage, Eileen Singer, Virginia Smith, Yuki Takagi, Ed Thomas, Maggy Thompson, Jeannie Toscano, Judy Vandever, Kate Walker, Laurie Wanser, Beth Wetzler, Maria White and Rita White.

There are now more than 250 certified master gardeners in Clark County. They provide free, unbiased, research-based information to the public at plant clinics, community projects and the home gardening help line, 257-5555. In addition, these ambitious gardeners are hosting the 2009 International Master Gardener Conference. More than 1,500 Master Gardeners from across the United States and Canada will attend.

Linn Mills writes a garden column each Thursday. You can reach him at lmills@reviewjournal.com or at the Gardens at the Springs Preserve, 822-8325.