Q: Can you give some tips on how to survive this latest bout of heat? Is it simply too hot right now for plants? Is shade cloth the answer?
Bob Morris
Bob Morris is a horticulture expert living in Las Vegas and professor emeritus for the University of Nevada. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com. Send questions to Extremehort@aol.com.
Q: Please settle a disagreement between my wife and me. Each spring my wife plants several plants in pots for our patio using bagged potting soil. Each year a few of them die and others live. This happened two years in a row. I contend the potting soils need to have some real dirt mixed in with it to make them better.
Q: I need confirmation of a problem with my grapes. A gardening Facebook group is certain my grape berries have thrip damage this year. I sent you a picture to confirm it or not.
Q: We have a 30-foot-tall lemon tree planted in late 2006. This tree produces large fruit, averaging 15 ounces to more than a pound. I consider this tree to be perpetual as it flowers fruit and maintains a crop in development at the same time. My question is, do we pick the ripe fruit or let them fall as they may?
Q: Once again I had a fairly good crop of tomatoes this year. One problem, though, a lot of ripe tomatoes are disappearing overnight. Are gray rats known for foraging and consuming garden produce? I spotted one about a week ago going over a side wall in my yard.
Q: I am trying to grow an avocado tree. I have it in a container, and it’s now 22 inches tall. When is the best time to transplant, and what is the best way to take care of it in our desert?
Q: I would like to grow my own rhubarb. Could you tell me where I can find the plant or the bulb, and when would be a good season to start?
Q: Last year, we bought a Meyer lemon and planted it in a large pot. We got more than 30 lemons off this little tree. I noticed a lot of sap near the base of the tree, then a bunch of furry little things on the trunk and some branches. They scrape off easily. I’m guessing they are the cause of the sap.
Q: Two years ago I planted Thompson seedless grapes. The first two years there were no grapes, and I did not expect any fruit. This year, there are leaves and no fruit. They were pruned the same way as my red seedless grapes, which were very prolific. Is there something special that I must do to make the vine produce?
Q: This year has been the worst for weeds and grass coming up through the rocks. I’ve tried Bayer Advanced all-in-one concentrate that acted like a fertilizer and strengthened their growth. I got Roundup weed and grass killer concentrate. Two weeks later and the grass is coming up like I planted it. What do you suggest I use to spray on this grass to kill it?
Q: Could you provide me with a copy of the mulch trial you conducted on fruit trees several years ago? You randomly applied mulch to different fruit trees and grew some without mulch and had some remarkable results.
Q: During the first year with my apricot tree, I sprayed it with soapy water to control aphids. Every day I check the leaves, but the apids never stop. Is this good a spray to use?
Q: I was reading up on controlling the leaf-footed plant bugs on my pistachio and almond trees and came across a recommendation by the University of California to use a pesticide containing bifenthrin. I see some Ortho products for lawn and garden contain bifenthrin. Is this a pyrethrin or something similar like you are recommending? Could this be used to spray the almond and pistachio every two to three weeks until it gets hot?
Let’s talk about wind damage. If you didn’t sustain wind damage to your landscape, you are extremely lucky. It was fortunate these high winds occurred early in the season, and many trees were not yet full of leaves. If it had been a few weeks later, the damage would have been worse.
Q: I’m curious if there is any reason other than drought or overwatering that would cause my donut peach growing in a container to wilt within 24 hours? I pruned the dead branches off and touched very little of the live wood.