Herself’s Houston Garden

If you have an unhappy plant the first things you should look at are the amount of sun and water it is getting and how much sun and water the plant wants.

If that is fine, check the nutrients in the soil. You can send a soil test off to the state or use one of the many kits available.

If all is still well and you don’t see critters, consider a fungal or bacterial problem. Especially with the high humidity in Houston, fungus can be a problem. Virus problems are rare in the home garden.

So how do you tell a fungus from a bacteria problem?

To prevent damping off fungus in seeds you are germinating use sterile pots and soil. You can sterilize your soil by placing it in a glass bowl and putting a potato in the middle of the bowl under soil. Bake until the potato is done. Or you can just buy it. If you do get a damping off fungus in your seedlings try spraying them with a fungicide containing copper.

To kill fusarium and verticillium wilt remove plants. Then till and moisten your soil. Cover with clear plastic and seal the edges. After about two weeks the heat will have killed the wilt. To identify the wilt split a plant stem vertically and look from brown rotten lines in the stem.

Viral infections are not often seen in the home garden. They appear different than fungus and bacteria problems. Viral infections often show as mottled yellow spots on leaves, you may see thin rings on leaves, spots on leaves are very tiny. Viruses are usually spread by insects. Once your plant has a virus it has it for life. There is no fixing it, you must remove the plant to protect other plants.

Plant names followed by VFNT have resistance to several diseases. V - resistance to Verticillium wilt, F - resistance to Fusarium wilt, N - resistance to root-knot nematodes, and T - resistance to Tobacco Mosaic Virus. So if you’ve had problems with any of these, consider buying resistant plants.

‘Immunox’ or ‘Neem Oil’ are often good choices for treatment of fungal problems. Nurseries have several products for fungal problems, many specific to specific fungi or plants.

There are also products for bacterial problems but your best option in that case is to wipe down the effected area with alcohol, take a clean sharp instrument and remove the bacteria affected area plus a buffer area. Fungicides with copper sometimes help with bacterial infections.

Mulching around your plants helps keep down fungal infections. Fungal infections are spread when rain or sprinklers kick up soil and fungus from soil lands on plants.

If you still have a problem you can’t identify consider sending it to the Texas A&M Diagnostics Lab for $30 they can tell you exactly what the problem is with your plant.

See also:
Primary plant nutrients
Secondary plant nutrients
Micro plant nutrients

Trees can be planted or moved any time of year provided . . . you are going to remember to go out and water them almost daily if we have no rain. If you are not going to go check the soil around your new tree every day for a year, plant it in Dec/Jan/Feb when it is dormant and we are getting plenty of rain.

Do not fertilize your tree the first year, except for the local preferred starter ‘SuperThrive’. I myself prefer Shultz ‘Starter Plus’ which just has extra phosphate to get the roots growing. Only use these once when you first plant the tree. After that wait a year before fertilizing.

When you move a tree remember you must remove equal amounts of leaves as you have roots. If you left half the roots behind, you had better prune off half of the leaves. If you purchase a tree for planting don’t do any pruning the first year.

Dig a hole twice the width of the root ball and about as deep as the root ball. You don’t want the tree settling down into loosened soil underneath it.

If it is a potted tree you purchased, unpot it and cut off the very bottom of the root ball. Then slice four vertical slices about a quarter inch deep down the root ball. Do these an equal distance apart with a razor or extremely sharp knife. This gets the roots growing in a direction outside the shape of the pot.

Place the dirt and the tree in the hole so the tree ends up with its base just a few inches above ground level. Cover the ground with a couple of inches of mulch for at least a foot, maybe two around the tree.

Now take your left over dirt and create a wall around the mulch a couple of inches tall. This helps keep water in near the roots of your new tree and helps prevent injuries from lawnmowers and weed trimmers.

According to the A&M, who did tests, the trees planted back with the same soil grew 25% larger and had a much more extensive root system after 5 years.

When choosing a tree don’t go for the largest one. A smaller tree will settle in quicker and surpass a tree that is much larger with in five years. Remember you are in it for the long haul when you plant a tree. Like the rabbit beating the hare, the smaller tree will beat the larger tree over time.

Staking a tree is not recommended. The trunk will not strengthen properly if it is kept too stiff. The only reason you might stake a tree is to keep the roots from moving around while the tree settles. If you stake be sure to use 2 or 3 stakes and place them a foot or more out from the end of the roots.

There are many advantages to starting plants from seeds. It is much cheaper and you have a much larger variety of seeds available than you do plants. The downside is a fair bit of work is required and it takes quite a bit longer to get a mature plant.

Use fresh potting medium and pots. The biggest problem most of us have with starting seeds is ‘damping off’ which is caused by a fungus. When this fungus is present, seedlings wilt or do not even germinate. You can also use bleach to clean out your pots if you going to reuse some.

The less you have to move a seedling the better. If you must separate and replant seedlings loosen the soil with a pencil or skewer. Grasp the seedling by a leaf, not stem or root. Drop seedling root into an already prepared hole in its new pot. Seedlings can recover from leaf damage but not root or stem damage.

As a general rule of thumb plant seeds about twice their depth down in the soil. Some need light to germinate, some dark. Be sure you know which your seeds need, most need some light.

Soda bottles with the bottoms removed, clear plastic cups and take out containers all can be used to make green houses for your seedlings. Do not use saran wrap, it does not let air through. Be sure to only use clear containers for covers. Your seedlings need their light.

Some seeds need a period of cold before they will germinate. Use some sphagnum peat that you have soaked, then wrung out so it is damp but no longer dripping when you squeeze it. Mix your seeds into this mix and place in a clear plastic food container. Lunch containers work great. Leave outside for 2 or 3 warm, sunny days. ( Seeds will take up water and swell. ) Now place the bag of seeds and peat in your vegetable bin in your fridge for 3-8 weeks depending on how much cold time your particular seeds require.

Seeds may be marked F1 or Hybrid. This means that they are the result of hand pollination between two parents. Seeds saved from hybrids may not be true.

F2 seeds are the seeds of F1 or Hybrid plants and have been self or inter-pollinated.

If collect or are interested in heirloom seeds check out Seed Savers Exchange

Seeds should be stored in a dark, air tight container, just above freezing. Your refrigerator will work well.

If you are planting seeds from plants that prefer dry conditions, like cactus or herbs use a vermiculite/perlite mix rather than soil.

Thompson & Morgan has a seed planting guide online.

There are several ways to compost your yard waste. You can lay it down as mulch on top of beds. You can grind it up with your lawnmower and leave it on the lawn. You can lay it down between raised rows in your vegetable garden. Or you can use a mulching bin.

You want your compost pile to break down aerobically, which uses oxygen. This will prevent odors, and waste from bacteria will be released as heat, speeding up the process and killing weed seed.

If it breaks down anaerobically ( with out oxygen ) it will be releasing methane and it will smell bad. Not much heat will be generated in the pile and weeds will not be killed off.

Compost activators are a waste of money. Properly built compost piles will reduce very quickly on their own.

The carbon to nitrogen ratio is important for maintaining heat and speeding up the breakdown of the leaves and grass, etc. You want a ratio of 30:1 Carbon to Nitrogen. A 30:1 ratio will give you a temperature of about 160′F, 40:1 tops at about 140′F and 60:1 tops at about 120′F. You want a temperature between 110′-150′F. Over 160′F and you kill off the bacteria making your compost, less than 110′ and you don’t kill off weeds and it will take longer to decompose. The proper ratio is achieved by mixing brown and green material in equal weights.

Carbon is found in brown stuff; dried material, fall leaves, corn cobs/stalks, paper, straw, pine needles, newspaper, sawdust etc.

Nitrogen is found in green stuff; eggshells, fruits and vegetables, grass clippings, manure, coffee grounds, meal and garden trimmings. (* note: I’m told if you heat your eggshells first they won’t attract fire ants. If you do get fire ants pour some boiling water on them. )

Do not use: Meat, fish, fats, or dairy products. Weed seeds will be killed if you get the pile to a nice hot temperature excepting grass runners. They will survive so do not add them to your pile.

Turning the pile is not necessary but will speed up decomposition and help heat the pile up. The more you can turn the pile the better. If you turn the compost pile every three days you should be able to reach 160′F, every 10 days 140′F, and once a month will only get you to about 120′F.

The amount of moisture in your pile is extremely important. If you grab a handful and squeeze it should not have water running out, nor should it be so dry as to crumble. Try to keep it about the dampness of a well wrung out sponge. Too much water you gt anaerobic conditions turning the pile sour. Turn the pile after a rain storm. If we are getting lots of rain, cover the pile.

Smaller particles break down faster due to their higher surface area. But keep a variety of sized material in your compost bin. This helps to keep it from packing down and allows air to circulate. You can shred material before adding it to your compost bin.

In the beginning bacteria do most of breaking down of the waste material. As it breaks down and cools down fungi step in to help followed by protozoa. Lastly we have your larger critters like earth worms helping.

You can just pile up your compost or you can use a bin. Any bin will work, just use what makes things easiest for you. You do want it to be a minimum of 3′x3′x3′ or you won’t get a heat buildup. It does not matter if you put your bin in sun or shade. Don’t set it too close to your home or fence however. Set the bin on bare ground and make sure you can reach it with a garden hose.

To build the pile:

Wet ground with garden hose

Add about 6″ of brown stuff

Add about 2″ of green stuff

Mix and water — it is very important to water as you go

Repeat

The pile will heat up and shrink as time goes on. You can add new materials to the pile as you get them.

Use hot pepper flakes to keep raccoons and other critters out of the pile.

Finished compost is dark, crumbly and no longer heats up.

If the pile smells bad it is either too wet or needs more air. If all else is well but only middle is warm the pile is too small. If all else is well but it is not heating up, add more green stuff ( nitrogen ).

If you add compost to your plants before it is done, then it will use the nitrogen in the soil. You will need to add more nitrogen for your plants use.

More information:
How to compost