Bob Morris

There are two types of cracking of tomatoes, longitudinal cracks and radial cracking. Radial cracking is mostly a varietal issue.

There is such a thing as root-to-shoot ratio. What that means is that the top of the oleander tree returns to its pre-pruning height as quickly as possible. It’s because of the size of the roots.

Wet spring weather is still causing havoc on tomatoes now and will affect grapes as we enter July and August.

Double-potting plants exposed to the sun is recommended for two reasons: The heat kills roots in the side of the container facing the sun and smaller pots blow over in the wind.

Diseases are ready to spread any time the weather has been wet. Sometimes these diseases happen soon after it rains and sometimes months later.

Palm trees do not get borers or sunburned trunks. Borer damage doesn’t happen much probably because they are monocots.

Many types of cacti have spines on the paddles to protect them from chewing-type predators like jackrabbits and desert cottontails. But insects can burrow in just under the skin.

Signs of plant disease are seeing the reason why the symptoms occurred in the first place. The reasons for leaf drop can be from many different signs.

Planting seeds during the heat requires that you visit your raised bed and check your seed (and new seedlings) at least twice a day — early morning and late afternoon. No need to keep the soil wet and soggy, but the seed should be swollen with water.

Dr. Sylvan Wittwer’s information on raised bed gardening stands the test of time. It is essential to use his recommended varieties but his recommendations on fertilizers and pesticides can be substituted for more organic forms if you prefer.

Lowering total landscape water use requires finding a balance between open areas that need no irrigation with areas that require irrigation.

Nitrogen causes stem growth as well as dark green leaf color. Adding only an iron fertilizer or chelate causes the new growth to become green but does not stimulate new growth that much.