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June
Garden Calendar
By
John Chapman
Irrigation:
Ineffective water management is the number one cause
of death of landscape plants in the Valley, and, believe
it or not, it is more frequently from over watering
than under watering. You can reduce your water bill
and take better care of your plants if you water slowly
- it prevents run off - and deeply. You must know your
plants. Tomatoes for example need to have the soil constantly
moist but Hibiscus and citrus need to have the soil
dry out between irrigations. County Cooperative Extension
Agent Terry Mikel suggests this moisture test: "As simply
as can be expressed, check the soil surface in the morning.
If the soil is dry down to 1 inch deep in annuals or
vegetables water your garden. If the soil is dry down
2 inches water the shrubs. When it is dry down to three
inches, water trees."
Insects and diseases: Many insects and worms
can be controlled with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).
Bt is a type of bacterium that comes in powder form
and is used as a dust or, when diluted with water, as
a foliar spray. It kills leaf-eating caterpillars by
invading their digestive systems. You can buy Bt under
a number of trade names, including Dipel, Safer and
Thuricide. Bt is fatal to worms but harmless to humans.
It is safe to use on vegetable plants. Roaches will
become more abundant in warm weather. Ortho Bug Be Gone
or Bayer Home Defense will help keep roaches and crickets
under control or you can lay down a boric acid trail
along doors and walls through which these pests have
to cross. Be sure to follow the label directions. You
can make a puree from citrus peels in your blender and
pour it around the hole. There are many different brands
of pesticides so ask you nursery or garden center sales
associate which product he recommends for your particular
need.
The air will soon be filled with the screeching of the
male cicadas, insects with large bulging eyes. All of
this shrieking is to attract a female. When egg laying
begins, the female opens up the bark of trees to lay
them. In the past, cicadas were on two- or three- year
cycles; however, by their very large numbers it has
become an annual ritual; it is just something we must
live with until about mid- July. There is no real control.
Don't worry about aphids now; the hot weather will cook
them.
Flowers: Winter flowers suffer the ravages of
warm weather by becoming faded and leaf-burned. End
their suffering by pulling them up. Flowers for summer
color include: celosia, coreopsis, cosmos, gazanias,
globe amaranth, portulaca, zinnia, salvia, vinca (periwinkle),
gomphorena and verbena. Water zinnias daily by trickle
or bubbler not by overhead sprinkling or Zinnias will
leaf-burn. Flowerbeds will need irrigation about every
two days through the summer. To increase and keep flowers
blooming, sprinkle about two pounds of ammonium phosphate
for every 100 square feet of flowerbed. For chrysanthemum
growers, it is pinching time. This will make bushy growth.
Staking will prevent damage from summer winds. Hose
off roses in the early morning to increase humidity
and control spider mites.
Vegetables: You can plant cantaloupe, squash,
and transplants of sweet potato. Keep plants moist but
not wet. Keep tabs on wilted leaves, a sign of moisture
stress. Late afternoon wilting may be heat stress, especially
if the soil is moist. Try to water before wilting occurs.
If leaves are wilted in the morning water immediately,
the plant is under water stress. Don't use herbicides
in your vegetable plot. Put sun screens on top and west
exposure of strawberries, tomatoes and peppers to increase
their life and productivity, however make sure the sun
screen does not exceed 50 percent reduction. University
field tests revealed that sunscreen that exceeds 50
percent actually traps heat while sunscreen less than
50 percent is cooler because it allows heat to escape.
Placing shade cloth over tomatoes will help keep leafhoppers
(carriers of curly top virus) away. As heat increases,
the tomato pollen dries out before it reaches the pistil,
which means less fruit will set. Cherry tomatoes are
more heat-tolerant than large types. Tomato bloom spray
uses a hormone to stimulate fruit development without
pollination, so as a side benefit you get fruit with
hardly any seeds. Don't provide shade for corn, squash,
any of the melons, black-eyed peas, okra or grapes.
They love sunshine. If your squash fails to develop
and the end rots, lack of pollination is the culprit.
You can still plant these sun-loving vegetables, but
you may have to hand-pollinate your squash. Squash plants
have both male and female flowers. The female flowers
have the baby squash behind them. Remove the petals
from the male bloom and dust the pollen on the pistil
of the female blossom. One male may pollinate four or
five female blooms. Do this daily in the morning before
the heat dries the pollen. As your melons begin to set,
place a board beneath them. This will keep them off
the moist soil and also prevent insects from attacking
them. If they seem to split, this may be caused by poor
watering practices irregular or over watering. Begin
harvesting onions and garlic. As tops turn brown, pull
them up and put them in a dry place. Panty hose or nylon
stockings are good storage containers, providing no
one is in them.
Fertilizing: Water - fertilize - water. If we
throw dry fertilizer on dry soil and water it in, the
fertilizer is carried toward the roots as a concentrated
solution and will burn them. Always apply fertilizers
to moist soils and continue with the second half of
the irrigation.
Fruit trees: Do not expose citrus and other sun
sensitive plants to sunburn by pruning during the summer.
Protect the bark of fruit trees from sun burning with
a wrapping of cardboard or newspapers or paint trunks
with the new brown tree paint called Go Natural Tree
Paint (how original). You can find it at most nurseries,
but call before you drive, let your fingers do the walking
first. I know Bakers, Berrage, A & P, Harpers and Summer
Winds carries Go Natural Tree Paint. Garden centers
in home improvement stores don't carry it. It is made
from crystal silica so it won't crack and peel off like
white latex paint does so it won't have to be repainted
every year. Besides it looks natural instead of that
jarring white. Peaches and apricots are ripening. Pick
the fruit before it becomes tree ripe and ripen indoors
to prevent the birds from getting and spoiling it first.
As our weather continues to warm, the quality of your
grapefruit will decline. Seeds will sprout inside the
fruit causing a bitter taste. If you have room, refrigerate
your remaining grapefruit. Tropical fruits: Pineapple
can be grown in the Salt River Valley with some extra
attention and care. Twist off the crown and tear or
peel off two or three levels of leaves to expose more
of the stem. Place the crown in a gar of water for a
couple of weeks until roots begin to form, then transplant
it into a container of potting soil and place the container
in a shady place. Water it about once a week; more often
will rot the plant. It will take about two years for
the plant to be large enough to give you a large fruit.
Because we are not in ideal climate conditions you will
have to coax it to flower with a hormone. Mix a fourth
teaspoon of Olive Stop - you can get it at most nurseries
- in a quart of water. Put the mixture in a spray bottle
and spray the two-year-old pineapple plant all over.
You only have to do it once and it will put up a fruit
stock with a beautiful bloom and start growing a pineapple
in about 2 weeks. They make great houseplants also.
If you would like to try bananas, find someone with
banana trees and ask them for some shoots that grow
up from the base of their banana trees. Usually they
are happy to share. Bananas don't produce viable seed
so we have to start them from shoots.
If you like to try growing avocados forget about growing
them from seed. Oh yes, they will sprout from seed;
you most likely will not get any fruit from it. There
are several varieties that grow here and I've seen trees
with avocados on them in the valley and eaten the fruit
but the trees are imported. If tropical fruit is your
passion the only source I know of in the valley is Tropica
Mango nursery 3015 E. Baseline Road, Phoenix.
Trees and shrubs: For best results transplant
palms, mesquites, palo verdes, and other arid shrubs
and trees in the heat of the summer. Prune the bougainvillea,
and lantana now. This will stimulate new growth and
a better blooming. Hibiscus enjoys warm soil, and these
shrubs can be set out this month. Fertilize hibiscus
and palms with palm tree food and keep watered. For
established hibiscus, prune back about one-third of
the new growth. The bush will thicken and give you more
blooms. If you use line trimmers, exercise care around
trunks of shrubs and trees. In a matter of a few seconds,
these motorized devices can girdle the trunk and result
in death or serious damage.
Turf: Plant Bermuda lawns during the active growing
season, May through August. Fertilize Bermuda grass
lawns each month beginning late April or early May with
2 1/2 pounds of ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) per 1,000
square feet. Apply six ounces of Ironite per 1,000 square
feet per month. Apply about three fourths inch of water
every three days to Bermuda lawns. You can determine
three fourths of an inch by setting out tuna or pet
food cans every five feet on your lawn and watering
until the cans are three fourths full. Measure the time
it took to get the three fourths inch and set your controller
for that amount of time. Some may be more and some less
so average them. Once every two or three years dethatch
Bermuda lawns if necessary. Only dethatch during the
active growing season, May through August. This enables
the turf to quickly recover.
____________________________________________________________________
If
you have a specific question for John please leave them
on his voice mail 480-898-5636 or email him at john@johnchapman.com
. Please leave your question, name, city, and phone
number. For more of John Chapman’s gardening tips
listen to news radio 620am KTAR Saturday morning 7:40-8AM.
On Television watch John’s garden segments on Jan
D’Atri’s Heart and Home on Sunday 12:30pm
and replays Monday evenings 8 pm AZTV broadcast 27,
Cable America 4, or Cox 13
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