Orchardgrass often infests tall fescue lawns. Unfortunately, orchardgrass is lighter green and faster growing than tall fescue, so it is very visible. Homeowners complain of the light green tufts of grass wherever this weed has become established. Even worse, there are no herbicides that will kill the orchard grass without also killing the turf. About the only good thing about orchardgrass is that it is a bunch grass and does not spread. Orchardgrass often comes in as a contaminant in grass seed, especially K-31 tall fescue. Buying good grass seed is the first line of defense against this weed. Orchardgrass is a pasture grass and therefore is not found in the “weed seed” portion of the seed label. Rather, orchardgrass will be listed as “other crop seed.” Try to buy grass seed that has 0.0% “other crop seed.” Control options are few and painful. Use glyphosate (Roundup, Killzall Weed and Grass Killer, Kleeraway Systemic Weed and Grass Killer and others) to spot spray orchardgrass clumps. Any lawn grasses you hit will be killed, so keep the spots sprayed as small as possible. Wait until the spots have turned brown and then cut out the clumps and replace with a small piece of sod. Large numbers of orchardgrass clumps may mean it is more practical to kill the entire lawn and start over. This should be done in the fall rather than now. For information on identification of orchardgrass, including images, go to: http://kswildflower.org/grass_details.php?grassID=15 (Ward Upham) Lawn-mowing season is here. Remember that dull blades give the lawn a whitish cast. A dull blade does not cut cleanly but rather shreds the ends of the leaf blades. The shredded ends dry out, giving the lawn that whitish look. A sharp mower blade is even more important when the turf starts putting up seed heads next month. The seed head stems are much tougher than the grass blades and more likely to shred. Under normal use, mower blades should be sharpened about every 10 hours of use. (Ward Upham) Most garden soils in Kansas have adequate levels of all nutrients other than nitrogen IF the area has been fertilized in the past. However, it is recommended that a soil test be done to be sure of the nutrient needs of your fruit planting. If the soil test recommends phosphorus and potassium, use a 10-10-10 fertilizer or 12-12-12 instead of what we recommend below but triple the rate. For example, instead of ½ cup per 10 feet of row, use 1.5 cups per 10 feet of row. Strawberries (June-Bearing): June-bearing strawberries are not fertilized in early spring as this can make the berries soft and more prone to rot. Fertilize at renovation and again in late August to early September. In most cases, strawberries need primarily nitrogen, so the recommendations are for a high nitrogen fertilizer such as a 27-3-3, 29-5-4, 30-3-3 or something similar. Though recommended for lawns, these fertilizers will also work well for strawberries as long as they do not contain weed killers or crabgrass preventers. Apply ½ cup for every 10 feet of row. Note: For more information on renovating strawberries, see page two at http://www.bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/pubs/mf598.pdf Strawberries (Everbearing or Day-Neutral): Fertilize in the spring as growth starts and again in early August. Use the rates recommended for June-bearing strawberries. Everbearing (dayneutral) strawberries are not renovated. Brambles (Blackberries and Raspberries): In most cases, brambles need primarily nitrogen, so use a high nitrogen fertilizer such as a 27-3-3, 29-5-4, 30-3-3 or something similar unless a soil test directs otherwise. Though recommended for lawns, these fertilizers will also work well as long as they do not contain weed killers or crabgrass preventers. Apply ½ cup for every 10 feet of row. Fertilize in spring as growth begins. (Ward Upham) Strawberries are one of the most popular fruits, but gardeners often have problems with weed control. Strawberries form a mat of plants, which makes hoeing difficult. Gardeners must pull weeds by hand or use herbicides. In small plantings, hand weeding is usually sufficient as weeds become less of a problem when the plants canopy over to block sunlight to the soil. In larger plantings, herbicides may prove helpful. Although there are no weed preventers available for homeowners to use on strawberries, Poast (sethoxydim), a grass-killing herbicide, can be used after weedy grasses have emerged. It can be sprayed directly over strawberries without harm but should not be applied within 7 days of harvest. You can find Poast in Fertilome Over the Top II, Hi-Yield Grass Killer and Monterey Grass Getter. (Ward Upham) Asparagus should be doing well now that it isn’t being frozen back all the time. That won’t hurt the plant, by the way. You will lose the spears that were frozen but the plant is fine. However, be on the lookout for asparagus beetles. Both the adult and larvae of asparagus beetles feed on asparagus spears by chewing the tips and spear surfaces, leading to scarring and staining of the spear tips. Asparagus beetles overwinter as adults in trash near the garden. The adults are a blue/black beetle with a red prothorax with yellow spots. The larvae are a soft, greenish grub. Small, elongated, black eggs — sticking out long ways from the side of asparagus spears — are laid on developing spears. Early control of beetles is important to reduce feeding damage later. Permethrin will provide control but requires a 3-day waiting period between spraying and harvest. Permethrin is found in Garden and Farm Insect Control and Eight Vegetable, Fruit & Flower Concentrate. (Ward Upham) Rhubarb, like asparagus, is a perennial vegetable. It is harvested for the leaf stem, which is also called a petiole. Some years rhubarb will produce large, hollow-stemmed seedstalks that arise from the center of the plant. These should be broken or cut out as they appear so that energy will go into plant vigor rather than seed production. It will take several weeks for all the seedstalks to appear so be vigilant in removing them. Newer varieties of rhubarb are selected for vigor, bright red-colored stalks and less of a tendency to produce seedstalks than the older types. (Ward Upham) If you planted cole crops such as cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower earlier this spring and made it through our earlier cold snaps, they will need a little fertilizer boost. These plants need to mature before summer heat arrives, so they must grow quickly while the weather is cool. A sidedressing of fertilizer about 3 weeks after transplanting helps plants continue to grow rapidly. Use fertilizers high in nitrogen for sidedressing such as nitrate of soda or blood meal at the rate of 1/3 cup per 10 feet of row. You may also use lawn fertilizers that have close to 30 percent nitrogen such as a 30-3-4 or 29-5-4 but the rate should be cut in half to 3 tablespoons per 10 feet of row. Do not use lawn fertilizers that have weed killers or preventers. Fertilizer must be watered in if timely rains don't do that job for you. We have a sheet available that gives recommendations on how to sidedress specific vegetable crops. It can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/j2ggaa6 (Ward Upham) Plastic mulches have long been known to provide advantages for the vegetable grower including earlier fruiting, increased yields and weed control. More recently advantages have been noted for colored mulches over the more traditional black plastic mulch. With tomatoes, the color of choice has been red. Though normally there is an increase in production of marketable fruit with red mulch over black mulch, the amount of the increase varies with the type of year we have. There may be no increase during years of near-perfect weather or up to a 20% increase with less favorable growing conditions. A good average expected increase is about 12%. So, how do you apply plastic mulch? Commercial growers have a mulch-laying machine that applies the trickle (drip) irrigation line and the mulch in one operation. Home gardeners must do this by hand. The first step after soil preparation is to place a trickle line near the center of where the mulch will lay as the plastic will prevent rainwater or overhead irrigation from reaching the plants. Then construct trenches for the outer 6 inches of the plastic mulch. This allows the center of the bed to be undisturbed with the edges of the mulch draping down into the trench. Fill the trenches to cover the edges of the mulch. This will prevent wind from catching and blowing the mulch. If the soil has been tilled, a hoe is all that is needed to prepare the trenches. (Ward Upham) The pine tortoise scale, Toumeyella parvicornis, is a major insect pest of pine trees grown as Christmas trees. Pine tortoise scale feeds on many different types of pines, including: Scots, Austrian, and red. Females are 1/6 to 1/4 inches (4.2 to 6.3 mm) in diameter, hemispherical, and red to brown, with dark-brown to black markings. Pine tortoise scales overwinter as fertilized females on branches. Eggs are laid underneath the body of adult females. Females can produce up to 500 eggs within a generation. Eggs hatch and red nymphs (crawlers) are active from late-spring through mid-summer. After finding suitable locations, nymphs will settle down and start feeding. Nymphs can spread to other pines via wind currents or by attaching to birds. Males, like most scale species, develop into winged individuals that fly and mate with females. Males do not feed and eventually die. There is typically one generation of pine tortoise scale per year in Kansas. Pine tortoise scale feeding results in yellowing of needles, stunted needle growth, and even death of pines under extensive populations. In general, young pine trees are more susceptible to pine tortoise scale than older (mature) trees. In addition, foliage closer to the ground tends to support higher populations of pine tortoise scale than foliage higher in the tree canopy. Pine tortoise scale produces copious amounts of honeydew, a clear sticky liquid that serves as a growing medium for black sooty mold. Entire pine trees may appear blackened from black sooty mold as a consequence of heavy infestations of pine tortoise scale. A forceful water spray applied twice per week will quickly dislodge/remove the nymphs and mature females from infested pine trees. Insecticides that can be used to suppress populations of pine tortoise scale nymphs include: acephate (Orthene, Bonide Systemic Insect Control), acetamiprid (TriStar; Ortho Flower, Fruit & Vegetable Insect Killer), bifenthrin (Talstar), cyfluthrin (Tempo, BioAdvanced Vegetable & Garden Insect Spray), dinotefuran (Safari), imidacloprid (Merit), insecticidal soap (potassium salts of fatty acids), and horticultural oils (petroleum, mineral or neem-based). These insecticides must be applied when nymphs are present to obtain maximum suppression of pine tortoise scale populations and subsequently alleviate future problems. (Raymond Cloyd) |
AuthorsCynthia Domenghini runs the Horticulture Response Center in the Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources at Kansas State University. Other contributors include K-State Extension Specialists. Archives
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