Unknown pest(s) on Monterrey Oak - please help
ksfaustin
17 years ago
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botanybob
17 years agoksfaustin
17 years agoRelated Discussions
Tree ID help, please!
Comments (29)You evidently didn't find out why cottonwoods are not good trees for your yard. They are very weak wooded and prone to breakage, especially in the kind of regular spring t-storms you get there in TN. They are also short lived compared with other more commonly planted trees. They produce this cotton-like material (Seeds actually) that gets all over everything. People have even reported it getting into AC condensers and starting a fire. And last but not least they are rather lacking in the ornamental features department. If you're going to plant a cottonwood in a suburban environment like that, you need to be putting away about $20 a month into an interest bearing account for each tree so that in 15-20 years when you need to call out a tree service to pay for the removal, you'll be prepared. These are water loving trees. They will do poorly in the south in the heat and drought if not anywhere near a water source. It's not going to look full and beautiful like the pictures you see on the internet. Also don't bother with ammending your soil and all of that. Lots of trees, particularly the ones I mentioned do just fine in clay in the sun....See MoreVery Sad Key Lime Needs Help, Please!
Comments (17)About.com says, "More often they [fungus gnats] come in as eggs, either in the soil of plants that have been outside for the summer or in damp bags of potting soil." Here is the link to their article for further reading: http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenproblems/a/FungusGnats.htm I think you on the path to success with your tree. Basic winter needs are temperatures above 55 degrees, enough light, humidity, watering when dry, fertilizing (but less than during summer) and pest control when needed. Btw by no means am I a professional, but this is what has been working for me. I have 10 meyer lemons that will be ripe in the next 2 months and I can't wait to eat my first homegrown lemon. I can almost never find these in local grocery stores. I have to give thanks to the many citrus nerds here on the forums for my success....See More1890s 1940s 1990s bath update
Comments (8)Antiquesiluver - I used some tricks for the staining and floor laying. I didn't really stain the pine. After the dirt and paint was removed, and the old crusty varnish scraped off, it was the color you see on most of the board area. It got a scuff sanding and a light "whoosh" of stain to even out the color. (like a henna rinse for a redhead, not a dye job on a blonde) You can minimize "grabbing" on pine by wiping it with mineral spirits and then the stain while it's still wet. 1 - Ignore color names, and run stain tests on the new flooring, comparing with the old floor by laying the samples on the old stuff and seeing what blends. Sand and stain just like you will for the real floor. Doesn't have to match, just blend shades and have the same undertones. For oak, it's shades of golden and reddish brown. 2 - Pick three colors that are close to a match with the existing boards. Match the darkest, medium and lightest shades. For this floor, it's Minwax Golden Mahogany, Light Cherry, and Birch. 3 - Sand and stain the individual boards before installation. About 20% darkest, 20% lightest, the rest the middle shade. This mimics the natural variability on an old floor, where different boards have reacted differently to light. I shoved several pieces together and sanded and stained them as a group, then took them apart for install. I had to plane down the strip of new oak next to the pine because it was a teensy bit higher than the pine, just enough to be annoying. The trick is to plane a taper into the top of the new board so the height change is spread across the new board, edge to edge. It's a ramp, but on a tiny scale. The trick with the toilet stack's hole is to have a long strip running across the front and back of the hole: lay the boards so you have no seams within a foot or so of the hole. Those boards start at the tub and end well past the door opening. =============== Enduring ... Clean it and RENT IT! We have a roommate arriving Friday, a grad student. All the student is looking for is clean and functional. The vanity (to the right in the pics, under the window opposite the tub) is one of those oak things with molded plastic sink/top, which we might paint or do the cheap gel-stain trick on later this year. It's in great condition, but butt-ugly and not as functional as we'd like. Long term plan is - because this is a bathroom that needs storage and counter space - to build a wall-to-wall single-sink vanity under the window with shelves and shallow drawers. The overall house is, despite the adobe walls, a very plain Craftsman bungalow, so we're sticking to that woodworking style with NM trimmings and colors. New Mexico Territorial Style ... I've always liked it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_architecture Here is a link that might be useful: [New Mexico Territorial Style[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/new-mexico-territorial-style-phbr0lbl-bl~l_43230)...See MoreFavorite garden links: rose fragrance, diseases & pests, fertilizer
Comments (51)Got curious about compost tea. This is the second time I checked. Early this summer time I spent 1 hour researching but was disappointed. Here's one link from United Kingdom on compost tea (unbiased, NOT sponsored by compost-tea industry): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/11121288/Compost-tea-does-it-really-work.html " What did they find? In a glasshouse study on lavender and choisya, none of the compost teas had any effect on growth or on susceptibility to botrytis (grey mould) or spider mites. Sometimes plants treated with compost tea were taller, sometimes they were shorter, sometimes there was no difference. Sometimes plants treated with compost tea were of higher quality, but often they weren’t, and treated choisya plants at one nursery were significantly worse. In short, the effects of compost teas were “extremely inconsistent”. Other links from U.S.A: http://www.walterreeves.com/landscaping/compost-tea-does-it-work/ From University of New Hampshire: https://extension.unh.edu/articles/Does-compost-tea-really-work From University of Vermont: http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/composttea.html Excerpt from above link: " It’s not clear whether it’s necessary to aerate during compost tea production. Aeration can speed up the production time, but it may also add to equipment cost and complexity. There are claims that aeration helps kill off the organisms that can cause illness. Very few studies have compared aerated and non-aerated compost teas. Some recent research. A 2-year study by the Rodale Institute and Pennsylvania State University evaluated the use of aerated compost tea for disease suppression and crop stimulation in grapes, potatoes, and pumpkins. During year one, approximately 50% suppression of powdery mildew was observed in the compost tea treated grape plots. A slight reduction of gray mold, along with an INCREASE in the level of downy mildew, was observed in the compost tea treated plot during the first year at one of the vineyards. Compost tea failed to suppress powdery mildew on Howden pumpkins in year one, but reduced the number and size of pathogen colonies in year two. Compost tea did not reduce severity of late blight on Superior potatoes when disease was present in year two. " http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/composttea.html *** From Straw: FOR ROSES, just spraying with alkaline tap water alone is enough to suppress mildew, as testified by Roseseek (Kim Rupert) in CA and rosarian Dave Boyd in HMF. For mildew, just plain tap-water spray (alkaline pH over 8) is enough to contain mildew, as rosarian Dave Boyd in a dry climate (only 13" of moisture per year) testified in HMF: http://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=3.4748...See Moreksfaustin
17 years agojean001
17 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
17 years agoksfaustin
17 years agojean001
17 years ago
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