How do you get purple heart out of a garden?
TxMarti
14 years ago
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pjtexgirl
14 years ago
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Organic gardeners--how do you get rid of pests??
Comments (25)scottamuss, Thanks. I'll go ahead and post it here... By the way, I feel soil quality is more important than water. Far too many gardeners over water. Take the time to learn that there is not a "cure all" for every pest at every stage of it's life cycle. Some won't work if it's going to rain. Some don't work well if it's too hot, etc. Pest management is complex, if you wish to use chemical products, do so responsibly which goes further than reading the label. If you want to learn, a good place to start is here: Integrated Pest Management This lecture is presented in two parts. Each part is 90-minutes in length. Recorded in Sacramento County in California's Sacramento Valley, this lecture is by Mary Louise Flint, Ph.D., Director, IPM Education and Publications, UC Statewide IPM Project and Extension Entomologist & Cooperative Extension Specialist. Education: B.S. Plant Science, University of California, Davis Ph.D. Entomology, University of California, Berkeley Appointment: 100% Cooperative Extension Research Interests: Integrated pest management of landscape, agricultural and garden pests; biological control of arthropod pests; alternatives to pesticides; adoption of alternative practices by practitioners; innovative delivery of pest management information. Topics discussed in the Integrated Pest Management Lecture: * IPM references and resources * Preventing pest problems * Natural common enemies * Making less toxic pesticide choices * Controlling aphids, scales, caterpillars, coddling moths, tree borers, snails and slugs, and lawn insects. You can watch the programs now online: Just make sure you have Real Player installed or download it free. Integrated Pest Management Part1 90 minutes Integrated Pest Management Part 2 90 minutes You'll want to bookmark the following link to Professor Flint's Lab Research on: Controlling Pests in Gardens and Landscapes: Vegetables and Melons I promise you'll learn one or two things to put in your gardening bag of pest management arsenals. ;) On Watering Some people want to customize the water for every plant. It's ambitious to try to give each plant the exact amount of water it needs but not practical or necessary. Even if someone gave you a chart, it would still depend on the quality and friability of your soil as well as the stage of the plant. So long as you have good drainage, the plants will take what water they need. General rule of thumb is that gardens require one inch of water per week by supplementing rainfall. You will have to adjust throughout the season and be attentive to the amount of rainfall you receive each week. There are two schools of thought on watering. Frequent shallow waterings or less frequent long, deep waterings. The general rule of thumb is that mature plants need 1-2 inches of rain per week in summer. You should provide whatever portion of this moisture is lacking. One inch of rain equals 65 gallons per 100 square feet of garden space. But this is just a guide. Time of the season, stage of the plants, soil composition, and many other factors affect the amount of water required. Be consistent during fruit production. Mulched plants require less water than plants that are not mulched. Raised beds require more than non-raised beds. If a good amount of compost is incorporated into the soil, less water is needed. Compost holds 6 times it's weight in water. Watering too frequently and too heavily is just as hard on plants as too little water. Roots require oxygen just as much as they require water and nutrients. Dry winds dehydrate plants. Cooler temps require less water. Those using drip irrigation whether from a soaker hose or milk jug are likely getting the best use of their water which is going right where it needs to go and the ground has time to absorb it. There are hundreds of methods of watering. Whatever you do, just be consistent. But I do agree, twice a day sounds like too much. Roots require oxygen equally as much as they require nutrients and water. I personally believe in a couple of deep waterings per week with the use of 2 inches of mulch to reduce evaporation and maintain a more stable soil temperature. Plants recover from dehydration much better then they ever recover from the roots being suffocated by drowning so under watering is better than over watering until you get the hang of it. Oxygen is equally as important as water and nutrients and rain water is always better than municipal tap water....See MoreWatering Cottage Gardens - Do You, How Do You, How Much
Comments (29)Right now, I need a sump pump...and I live on a hill. More rain in the forecast, too. The weather pattern has changed here - normally an El Nino year means severe drought in Oklahoma. Not this season anyway. With our normally semi-dry to dry summers, I use the garden hose to water EVERY day in most areas and every other day in other areas that prefer dryer conditions. We have our own well, so I can also use the sprinkler without ill affects on my plants. It is just like rain water. The birds, butterflies, bees and amphibians love it too. When I hand water, the birds follow me from tree to tree, so I spray up into the trees and they chirp and sing for me. The occasional tortoise will come out of hiding for a long, cool drink, too. I set the mister on the tropicals and water-loving ferns etc. to keep them happy. This takes all day. I use soaker hoses under my veggies when it is very hot and very dry to prevent scorching and so the water will get down deep where the nutrients are and encourage deep roots. For under my Phlox and roses, &etc., I screw on a fan sprayer and let it run slowly, gently and deeply under them to prevent leaf-scorch, and do this as often as needed. I even water in the winter if it is a dry winter. Soil heave (freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw) is terrible here in Okie, and in dry winters this will kill plants and even small trees and shrubs. And of course, potted plants need a drink just about every day in the summer. That is how I have to do it here to keep mine alive year round. ~Annie...See MoreHow do you get out poison ivy among daffodils & crepe myrtle?
Comments (10)I am VERY allergic to poison ivy. Round Up works. And something else you can try that I found by to be the easiest way for me to eliminate poison ivy, and other persistent deep rooted plants as well, is to cut the main stem off near the ground with long handled loopers and put a drop or two of BROAD LEAF weed killer full strength on the stump. "Broad leaf" means it is for herbaceous plants and doesn't work on grass, etc. It's method is different from Round Up. You can just put a stick in the container of broad leaf weed killer and let it drip off onto the stump while the cut is fresh. You can very carefully remove the vine part you have separated from the root with a long handled rake or let someone else not so allergic do the whole job. It's my understanding that the broad leaf weed killer is a highly concentrated plant hormone that instructs the plant to grow faster than it can so it dies trying. It's my impression that it's less toxic than RoundUp. At least that is what I heard from one of the radio guru's years ago. Maybe someone on here can tell us whether it's true. I haven't researched it myself. This has always worked well for me and doesn't endanger the plants you want to keep that are growing near by. If I accidentally get a drop on a valued plant I just remove that leaf before it has a chance to be absorbed by the plant. This also works well on little tree sprouts like hackberry and pecan which have deep roots and are hard to pull. I carry the little yellow spray bottle of "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" filled with broad leaf weed killer in my garden holster to have handy for such jobs....See MoreHow do you keep ( or try) weeds out of your garden?
Comments (9)In the veggie garden I use a scuffle hoe. In perennial and shrub beds I use a combination of cardboard or newspaper and a deep layer of mulch, 4-6 inches when spread, though it settles some. It is looser than soil and so makes new weeds much easier to remove. I edge the shrub beds to prevent grass and weeds from growing in from surrounding lawn areas and check that weeds haven't grown over the edging about once a month. I weed regularly, but never for long and learn the life cycles of my weeds so that I can get rid of them before they bloom and seed. So dandelions are the earliest spring and are removed by a long skinny-bladed weeder that is designed to remove deep tap roots. I look for the flowers and spend perhaps 1/2 hour 2-3 times a week to remove them before they seed. The flowers go in the trash since the seeds continue to develop, but the plants get spread out to dry on the fencing around the compost pile and then join the compost. The Glechoma/creeping Charlie and Oxalis/wood sorrel are also easiest to spot when blooming. Glechoma blooms late spring here, and I try to trace the vines and pull at each root node so I get as much as possible of the long vines that wind around other plants. I find Oxalis blooms on and off all summer, and so I patrol about once a week all summer and pull what I find. Once you get to the point that you are preventing seeding, the amount of work will reduce amazingly over a couple of years....See Moretrsinc
14 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
14 years agoTxMarti
14 years agoTxMarti
14 years agoTxMarti
14 years agoThis started with just 4 plants of the stuff planted next to the pond and it spread out.
denisew
14 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
14 years agoTxMarti
14 years agoHU-628572778
2 years agoroseseek
2 years agodaninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
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roselee z8b S.W. Texas