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KSB GARDENING NEWS

FROM JAMES MILES

October 2024 Fall is for planting. Now is the time to plant woody, fruits, strawberries, other perennial plants, spring bulbs, and hardy annuals. Fall is also our dry season so it will be important to have a plan to irrigate. Even plants that are drought-resistant will need to be watered after planting for a while. Water your plants daily after plant- ing for a couple of weeks, then reduce the interval to every other day for a couple of weeks, then every 3 days for a couple of weeks, and so on. Once you get to once a week you can skip an irrigation event if we get a decent rain. A closing note do not apply fertilizer until we get into the grow- ing season next spring. I spoke with a few farmers the last week of September. Most of them are paying close attention to the weather as we are in hurri- cane season. As I write this, we have been fortunate to have not been too badly affected by the last couple of storms. Many folks may not think about the effects of storms on agriculture, but storms can not only destroy lives, structures, and infra- structure, but they can also destroy crops. A destroyed crop means no income for those families. Those I have spoken with recently reminded me that they are still feeling the financial losses from last year’s drought and spring freeze (March 2023) that resulted in crop loss. This year so far, the agricultural communities have recov- ered financially to some extent but still need to end this year with a good harvest. With that said, the pecan crop looks great, and some varieties will even be a couple of weeks earlier than normal. There may be a greater demand for our local products as a result of Helene’s destruction of crops to our east. Later this month we will begin harvesting the early varieties of satsumas. If you have satsuma trees in your landscape, I am sure you have experienced “Puffy” fruit. Puffy fruit has a thicker skin than normal and is looser, giving it a “puffy” look and feel. The flavor of puffy fruit is hit and miss, about 50% will be either bland or lack the normal amount of juice. Some years are worse than others. There are several factors that contribute to “puffy” fruit. Young vigorous growing trees or those over-fertilized seem to be more prone to producing “puffy” fruit. Also, major temperature swings during blooming, particularly warmer weather, can also influence this. Over the years “Owari”, a variety of satsuma tend to have more puffy fruit than others. Owari is a very productive and reliable fruiting vari- ety as well as very cold tolerant. I would not eliminate this variety from my choice of planting based on “puffy” fruit. We do not currently have a solution for “puffy” fruit. Rarely will it affect the entire crop on the tree. The best you can do is keep your tree healthy, soil fertility up, and soil moisture consistent as much as possible, especially during blooming, fruit swell, and as the fruit begins to change color. There are some things that we need to address in our lawns, such as weeds and fallen leaves. As I mentioned last month, we are in a transition period. Our turf grasses are going dormant as are most of the common weeds. Some of the weeds are producing seeds. Keep them from going to seed by mowing, pulling, etc. If you choose to use an herbicide, this is a great time to get a large bang for the buck because the plant will translocate the product to their roots resulting in reduced winter survival and green up next spring. I received sev- eral calls in the last two weeks of Septem- ber about Virginia Button Weed, a common weed in our area. This plant is low-grow- ing, has white flowers, and can form a thick mat in weakened turf areas. Virginia Button weed will out compete your turf and some believe that the weed is killing the grass. It does not kill grass. Keep your turf healthy and it should out compete the weeds. The second item is leaf-drop. Fallen leaves can smother your desirable turf sim- ply because the turf can’t receive the much- needed sunlight for photosynthesis. As long as the turf is green, it is conducting photosynthesis and putting energy into the root system that will help it green up in the spring. Remove leaves or anything that stresses your turf during this transition period. Enjoy the outdoors!