Beyond the Garden Basics

Recorded last week in front of a live audience at a meeting of the Sun City/Lincoln Hills (CA) garden club. Included a Power Point presentation, which I mistakenly referred to as “slides”. And yes, I still have a slide projector in a closet somewhere, along with a box of slides of my cross-country bicycle trip in 1988. It’s probably next to the Betamax VCR and the Sony 630-D reel-to-reel stereo recorder (sweet!). But, at least I know what a “podcast” is!

1. ALL GARDENING IS LOCAL. In your own yard, there are microclimates where certain plants will have a better chance for success. For example, monitor the morning low temperatures in various areas of your yard to find the warmest home for citrus trees. Just moved to a new home and wondering what grows well there? Take a walk through your neighborhood. Mimic the garden successes that you see.

2. KNOW YOUR SOIL. A complete soil test will let you know what nutritional elements your soil is missing, including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; and, micronutrients such as calcium, magnesium, boron, iron zinc, sulfur and others. University of Massachusetts/Amherst, Colorado State University, and Texas A&M offer a complete soil test at very reasonable rates. For the do-it-yourselfer, there are variety of test kits available for testing pH (Rapitest), and LaMotte kits for pH as well as Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. All plants are adapted to a certain pH range of soil acidity or alkalinity. Monitor your soil moisture with a soil probe, moisture meter, trowel or screwdriver.

3. RIGHT PLANT, RIGHT PLACE. In our area, roses won’t bloom in full shade and many tomato varieties won’t produce fruit. On the other hand, winter daphne, impatiens and hydrangeas will croak in full sun. Know the sunlight requirements for your plants in your location. The Sunset Western Garden book is a good source for finding out how much sun or shade your plants need where you live.

4. MULCH, MULCH, MULCH. Benefits of mulch: Retains moisture. Keeps soil temperature constant, reducing plant stress. Suppresses weeds. Gradually increases soil organic matter, feeding the soil. Attracts beneficial organisms that improve soil fertility and porosity. Mulch encourages healthier plants, reducing the needs for pesticides and fertilizers. Protects roots and plants from mechanical injury. On hillsides and around rural homes, it suppresses the spread of brush fires.

5. MOTHER NATURE BATS LAST. When you apply broad-spectrum synthetic insecticides, the bad bugs will eventually find a way to overcome that issue, usually developing a resistance to that chemical. The same is true of weeds, treated repeatedly with herbicides. To battle the bad bugs, lend Mother Nature a helping hand. Limit the use of insecticides and provide the right plants for food and shelter for beneficial insects. Build it and they will come.

6. WHAT’S OLD IS NEW AGAIN. Growing heirloom fruit and vegetables is not a passing fad. A University of Texas study showed that older varieties of vegetables are more nutritious than their newer, hybrid counterparts. Beneficials are attracted to the fragrance of older flower varieties. In the Sierra Foothills, the Felix Gillet Institute is rescuing Gold Rush-era fruit and nut trees. These abandoned specimens, uncared for since the 1800’s but still thriving, may hold the key for future drought tolerant plants as well as a gene pool for adding pest and disease resistance to new varieties.

7. EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG. In the 1940’s & 50’s, DDT was available to home gardeners as a pesticide. Turns out, it caused cancer and killed birds. In the 1960’s-70’s, the Modesto Ash was considered the “perfect shade tree” for the Central Valley of California. Turns out, it is susceptible to anthracnose, mistletoe and is no longer recommended. In the first decade of the 21st century, the pesticides Diazinon and Dursban were taken off store shelves for health reasons. Proven ineffective, despite claims to the contrary: Vitamin B-1 for transplant shock, store-bought ladybugs, and tomato calcium spray to cure blossom end rot.

8. IF IT WORKS FOR YOU, FINE; BUT KEEP AN OPEN MIND. If you're using safe gardening techniques that others frown upon - and those techniques are working…well, who are we to tell you to stop? Still, new research, techniques or equipment may make your chores a heck of a lot easier and satisfying. Today’s solution could become tomorrow’s problem. Be open to change.

9. READ AND FOLLOW ALL LABEL DIRECTIONS. The instruction label on all pesticides is the law. Don’t assume that an insecticide or herbicide will kill a bad bug or weed if it is not listed on the label. Follow the instructions for when and how to apply the product.

10. LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO PUT UP WITH A PROBLEM PLANT. Become familiar with the euphemism, “Shovel-Prune.”

11. BERMUDA GRASS IS FOREVER. Runners on top of the soil, rhizomes beneath the soil, prolific seed heads, roots that can live for decades, just waiting for a bit of light. Instead of thinking "eradication" of Bermuda grass, think "control.” Bermuda grass is married to your yard. Just as in any marriage, you have to pick your battles. Call this one a draw.

Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.

Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com/subscribe

Thinning Crowded Fruit on Fruit Trees, Shrubs and Vines

A prolifically producing peach tree next to an often-used walkway in our narrow side yard serves as a not so-subtle reminder this time of year: thin the fruit before trouble begins. And if a glance up into the canopy of your peach, pear, nectarine, apple, kiwifruit, persimmon, apricot, or other deciduous fruit trees and vines (including table grapes) shows crowded young fruit, take action. Rubbing or tightly packed little fruit in a tree now can lead to big problems in the summer, such as undersized fruit, injured or diseased fruit, excessive fruit drop, and broken fruit tree branches.

Some tips:

• Remove some of the fruit. Space fruit evenly along each branch, with perhaps five inches between each piece of fruit. More importantly, be sure to leave the largest sized fruits on the tree or vine.

• For table grapes, remove grape bunches so that there is at least six inches of space between each remaining bunch of table grapes. Cut off the "tails" from the remaining bunches at that same time. This is the lower one-quarter to one third of the bunch, where it begins to taper down in size. This will send more energy to the remaining grapes on the bunch.

• Because of their small size, cherries are not usually thinned from backyard trees. In addition, nut crops, such as almonds and walnuts, are not thinned.

• For shrub-like fruit bushes, such as blueberries, pruning may not be necessary on older shrubs with thicker branches that can support the weight of the fruit. Younger plants may need thinning if you see the branches bending precariously. And, as you may have noticed, the local bird population may be helping you thin the blueberries. That’s a definite sign that those blueberries are close to being ripe. If the robin population seems to be spending most of their time around your berries, cover the plants with bird netting

The UCANR informational sheet, “Fruit Trees: Thinning Young Fruit” has more deciduous spring fruit thinning advice.

• Citrus trees tend to thin themselves, a phenomenon called “June Drop.” However, citrus fruit thinning now can help that tree produce next fall and winter.

Certain citrus types, such as Valencia oranges and some mandarins, produce heavily one year followed by a year with sparse production. This is called alternate bearing. You can reduce the potential of a tree to alternate bear by reducing the fruit load in a heavy fruit set year by thinning out some of the fruit.

Also, fertilize less in light years and more in heavy fruit production years so that the trees needs are met according to the demands of the fruit load. Despite using these strategies, some varieties will just alternate bear. Do not allow the old citrus fruit to stay on the tree longer than necessary. This may contribute to a smaller crop and perhaps, more fruit drop, for next year’s crop.

More Fruit Thinning Tips

• Here’s a valuable tip from the experts at Louisiana State University: when thinning fruit, keep looking at the tree; don't look at the ground. Seeing all that fallen fruit may dissuade you from the primary task. Cut off the excess fruit. Pick it up when finished pruning. Don’t try to juggle the chores of pruning and catching the fruit in a bucket. You may need both hands free for gently moving one piece of fruit out of the way to prune out the unwanted fruit.

• Snip off, don’t pull off, the fruit. Pulling can damage the branch, inhibiting future production. The best tool to use for thinning is a pair of needle-nose pruners. The long, thin blades can easily get into tight spaces to snip the fruit along its stem.

VEGETABLE THINNING

Planting easy-to-grow vegetables that can get out of hand quickly is a time-honored gardening tradition in the spring. Carrots, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, radishes, summer squash and winter squash all emerge with little effort, but can take over a garden by summer. The problem is: because the emerging plants are small, many gardeners don’t have the heart to thin them out to their proper spacing.

The result is an undersized crop, greater incidence of pests and diseases, or, too much of a good thing. The popular summer squash, zucchini, is a perfect example of the latter. Here are the planting and thinning instructions for zucchini seeds from the Burpee Seeds website:

“Sow one to two seeds about 36 inches apart. Cover with one inch of fine soil. Firm lightly and keep evenly moist. Zucchini seedlings emerge in 10-14 days. Thin to one plant when seedlings have two sets of leaves.”

That seems reasonable. And thrifty.

And certainly clearer than these instructions on the back of a packet of Ferry-Morse zucchini seeds:

Not sure how you leave three seedlings on one 2’x2’ hill, and yet space the plants four feet apart.

Because they have calloused hands but soft hearts, many backyard gardeners will ignore rational spacing instructions, let alone keeping only one plant. And what happens? Overwhelmed gardeners go on midnight runs in August, surreptitiously placing bags of oversized zucchini on neighbors’ front porches.

The bottom line: read and follow all planting instructions. If you can.

Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.

Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com/subscribe

(From a 2022 interview with Master Rosarian Debbie Arrington. Originally aired on May 20, 2022, Garden Basics podcast)

Farmer Fred

What is America's favorite flower? Well, of course, it's the rose. Something like 85% of all Americans say their favorite flower is the rose. How do you grow them? Well, we've talked about that on this show. You can go back and look for various episodes of the Garden Basics podcast where we talked about planting roses and pruning roses. We've even talked about fragrant roses. However, our next guest we've had on several times talking about roses, including the most edible roses. It's Debbie Arrington, Master Rosarian, the typist behind the Sacramento Digs gardening blog, a daily effort that has all sorts of good gardening tips including tips on roses. And Debbie, I am so into cutting roses now for display indoors. Is this what happens when you get old? You just descend into a cut flower garden mode. And that seems to be what I'm doing. And all of a sudden, I love going out to the yard every day, and picking off some rose branches and bringing them inside for display. And from my perspective, what I'm looking for in a rose as a cut flower is something that maintains its beauty for several days, if not longer. Something that, when I'm picking it, chances are I won't get stuck by a prickle. I mean little prickles are okay, but I don't want anything too thorny if you will, please. Maybe something that doesn't shed a lot while it's on display. Things like that. Everybody has their own criteria, as you might discover. And I imagine, Debbie Arrington, in the world of Master Rosarians, this might be a topic of great discussion, shall we say?

Debbie Arrington 

Yes, it is. Because there are literally tens of thousands of different rose varieties that you could choose from, and everybody has their own opinion of what is “the best”. But the qualities that you describe is a rose that has a long stem, a presence in the room and in the vase, has few prickles, so you aren't getting thorns in your finger every time you admire it. Those are all qualities that people that grow roses professionally want in a rose. And those are also good things to have in your own garden roses. So we have several favorites that we can share with you today. I should add that I'm President of the Sacramento Rose Society, and we just had our 74th annual show. And it was our first show in three years due to COVID regulations. So we had a lot of pent up energy. And our roses seem to, as well, because we had well over 1000 blooms in the room.

Farmer Fred 

Wow. And who won?

Debbie Arrington 

Oh, the the top prize went to Marilyn Monroe, not mine this time. But one that was grown by Charlotte Owendyk. Marilyn is an outstanding show rose. She's one of the best exhibition roses ever introduced. But I don't necessarily recommend Marilyn for everybody's garden because she has some of the most vicious thorns you will ever see on a rose plant. It's only because she is so beautiful she ever made it to the market.

Farmer Fred 

Okay, I'll cross that off my list.

Debbie Arrington 

The roses that were sitting next to her up on the top shelf are both really good garden roses, as well as exhibition roses that fit all the qualities that you want in a cut flower with a lot less pain. And those are Ring of Fire, which is a hybrid tea that is a dark orange bordering on red. And it just sort of flows. And it's a really large, but the buds measure about two and a half up to three inches long. Then when the flower opens fully, you know, it's about five, six inches across is a big rose the color. It has a sort of inner burning orangey color beneath the red. So it just sort of glows in the vase, so very eye catching rows and excellent dark green foliage. So it just really sets it off nice. And it puts out very long stems easily 24-30 inches, this great big rose on the top. So they're very handsome. And the other one that was the Princess of our show was was the aptly named Hot Princess. And Hot Princess is a wonderful rose, both in the garden and in the vase, because it has beautiful form to it, a beautiful point that slowly opens, it has that sort of rolling pedals. That's a dark dark pink, and another one that has this almost fluorescent color to it. And so both of those make them very eye catching. And when you're competing against 1000 other roses, you have to have something that is going to draw the eye to it other than than the other flowers next to it, and it does it in the garden and also does it in the vase, both those roses. One of the reasons they're so outstanding for exhibition is because they put out good long stems. The key to growing long stems is when you cut a rose, is to cut a lot of stem with it. And that includes deadheading to the plant. Right now people have a lot of roses, they've gone through their first flush of bloom. And there's a lot of dead roses on the plant that have spent flowers. Most people will just snip them off  with maybe one or two inches of stem underneath it. So they're leaving a lot of stem on the plant and just taking off a little bit of stem with the rows. Well, roses tend to grow to a certain height and a certain stem length. So if you had a long stem, you'll get a long stem on the next replacement rose coming off that cane. But if you cut a short stem, just like you're dead heading the top of the rose, then the rose thinks I don't need to put out any stem, I've got plenty of stem there. And we'll just put a little little rose on a little you know, side stem on top of that, that other stem. So instead of having a nice, long straight stem, you have this kind of funky, crooked, growth up at the top. And in the garden that looks fine. But if you're growing for a cut flower, cut long stems every time you cut the bush.

Farmer Fred 

Where do you make that cut? I have heard it often said that the place to make a cut when taking a stem for a rose is to make that cut just above a bud that is putting out a five leaflet leaf as opposed to a three leaflet leaf.

Debbie Arrington 

Yes, you always go down to five leaflet because the leaflet right there at the base of that  leaflet, where it attaches to the stem, is the node. And that node is what is going to generate the next step. You want that down farther in the plant. And you also want it to be pointing outwards, away from the inside of the bush so that when that new growth comes, it will be growing out, and not in. That improves air circulation inside the bush. It also makes for straighter stems because it doesn't have to compete with other stems inside the bush.

Farmer Fred 

One of my criteria also for going out to the yard and picking roses as a cut flower is I really like it when there's a bunch of roses all in one spot. I'm thinking of the Sally Holmes, there seems to be a gaggle of roses that are attached to what would be a long single stem and it fills out a vase very nicely.

Debbie Arrington 

Yes it does. That's what's called a spray. That's a multiple buds on one stem. All roses will produce a spray, some more than others. Some roses are bred specifically to produce large flower heads like that, also called large spreads. And Sally Holmes is one of those. Sally Holmes is a white climber. The flowers are single and they look like apple blossoms. And actually roses are a distant cousin of apples. So Sally Holmes, you can really see the relationship between the two. And Sally Holmes is one of those roses that will literally cover a fence or a house if you let it. It grows very vigorously, very fast. But it does put out one stem for a full bouquet, with easily eight to 12 flowerheads on that one stem. Other roses that are bred that way are the floribundas. And floribundas are a class of roses that were introduced about 100 years ago from breeding and what their name literally means is abundant flowers. And they are roses that  instead of just putting out one terminal bud on the end of a stem and that's the scientific approach to what you're describing: one bud, one stem. That's a terminal bud on that stem. Instead On a floribunda, and  Sally Holmes, they put out a spray. And those are several buds that are collected at the end of that stem..

Farmer Fred 

What is the difference between a floribunda and a polyanthus?

Debbie Arrington 

They're very different. Polyanthus tend to be little, itty bitty tiny roses, but lots of them. Polly means, "lots of" anthus. They put out on one stem, Oh easily, tend to 20 blooms, but they're tiny. They they look like little Tom Thumb roses, which is a variety, or Thumbelina, or something, something that is like a little fairy rose. In fact, a whole range of them are named after different storybook characters. There's a whole series of Snow White dwarfs polyanthus, that are named for each of the dwarfs. I've got Grumpy growing in my yard. And, Grumpy is hot pink, by the way, but the flowers are less than  an inch across. And they had many little petals too. They're they're just dainty, and adorable. But they they're really nice in how they fill out, okay, because the key to making a good bouquet is not all the flowers are the same size. Now, if you're doing a formal bouquet, like an exhibition, they want all 12 roses to be exactly the same. But if you're making a bouquet for your table, or, inside or as a gift, it's really nice to have a variety of size flowers in there when you put together an arrangement. The basic formula is thrill,  fill and the spill. And the thrill is your focal points. And those are usually, if you're talking roses, you're talking big roses. The fill is things to go between those big flowers and polyanthus  make an excellent filler flower and  they're these little tiny flowers that echo the big rows, but they're  small, and they are usually lighter colors there. There's some dark pink ones, and there's a few reds too. Wingding is an excellent red polyantha and it's fire engine red, but a lot of them are like baby pink or white. And so it's like a nice, soft frame for the other flowers. And then your spill is your foliage, and other things that framed your bouquet and spill over the edges of the vase to soften the edge of the vase. So ivy is a good fill, it could spill. Ferns, any sort of your curved foliage that would complement the roses. I have a lot of sword ferns. And so I usually use those to fill out my rose bouquets. But I also have some different ivies which look really nice. And Nandina, the heavenly bamboo, and that's  good for fill as well as spill. Because they have the little white flowers on the Nandina right now. And those look almost like baby's breath in the vase and a lot easier to grow. But other foliage that is just pretty foliage, this green foliage that  frames the flowers nicely. You're softening the hard edge of the vase and framing your flowers when you add your foliage quite often, florists will add a sprig of citrus leaf, orange or lemon, because that adds an extra scent to the bouquet and a popular trick to add more rows sent to a bouquet of roses is a stem of rose geranium. Because the Rose Geranium actually has a stronger scent than most roses.

Farmer Fred 

Do you want that?

Debbie Arrington 

Sometimes, yes. For roses don't have that much scent. Might have a lot of look but not in a lot of scent.

Farmer Fred 

Well, I distracted you from talking about floribundas.

Debbie Arrington 

Oh, there's a lot, and floribundas they're a class of roses that are almost full size, hybrid tea roses. Most floribundas are three to four inches across when fully opened. But they have this blooming habit where they will bloom in a spray instead of single roses. And they can put out single roses too, but they tend to put out these big flower heads. And my favorite and the favorite of most people here in Sacramento is Julia Child. It is a wonderful butter yellow floribunda and Julia herself picked out this rose to honor her and it is a color of freshly churned butter to a lovely yellow and it grows in these big soft romantic curvy heads. They're very rounded, they're very soft and very full. So it has this sort of Old English look to it. The most of the sprays oh they've usually got five or six on it, but it has very good foliage, a very clean foliage so it's a nice kind of like a dark apple green and the scent on it is a really interesting licorice scent. It's not what you would typically say as a rose scent, but it's a beautiful yellow rose. It's really nice in the landscape because it stays in bloom, all through our heat without losing that yellow color. And that's one thing that's really tough in Sacramento, is that a lot of roses get bleached out in summer, because it's just too hot and you really get better bloom if you have an East facing garden instead of it being south facing or in full blasting sun. That way your your color will last longer. Other floribundas I wanted to mention that just put out pectacular bouquets include Betty Boop. Betty Boop is just a fantastic rose. But it can take all sorts of different growing conditions. And my Betty Boop right now, oh, it probably has 300 roses on it. It's tall. People tend to think floribundas are small, because they're marketed that way. You can prune a floribunda harder than a hybrid tea and keep it smaller. So you can keep the bush in a smaller space like three to four feet, instead of, you know, four to five. My Betty is about six foot tall and six foot wide and just covered with blooms. Betty Boop. Looks like each of the blooms are kissed, with bright red lipstick. Oh, they call it semi double. It's about eight to 10 petals. So the petals are very open and look almost single with real pronounced statements in the middle. And it's cream colored, but with this bright red edge to it. So it's like somebody painted lipstick right on the edge of each bloom. It's a lovely rose. So you can just imagine these big heads of those flowers in a spray with you know, 10 or 12 of them clustered together. They're just lovely. And bees love that rose because it has such pronounced stamens and very open blooms. So it always has a lot of bee activity. And it's just a beautiful rose in the garden. And another one of my floribunda favorites, it doesn't so much put out the big spray as it puts out a lot of singles, but it is just an absolutely gorgeous rose. It's called Daybreaker. And Daybreaker is a kind of an apricot blush color with a gold center and  has a little bit of striping in it. And so every bloom looks like a slice of the dawn. And every one is different, just like dawn's art. No two are exactly the same. And it has beautiful dark green foliage that is totally disease proof. It never has any rust or powdery mildew or Blackspot or anything on it. It is just bulletproof as far as as any diseases, and I have a no-spray garden, so if somebody is prone to something, I know it right away. It puts out really nice long stems that look fantastic in a vase. It easily has about, I'd say, 60 blooms on that bush right now. And each of them has a two foot stem and that again is Daybreaker. Daybreaker. Yeah, it's a beautiful, beautiful floribunda.

THE BEST ROSES FOR CUT FLOWERS, Part 2

Farmer Fred 

You used a couple of terms that probably need a bit of definition for people who don't know. You talked about roses that are singles and roses that are doubles, what is the difference?

Debbie Arrington 

A single rose has fewer than eight petals. And quite often a single rose will have five or six petals. And it looks very open like an apple blossom with real pronounced stamens in the middle. And stamens are those little yellow gold things in the middle of the flower. It has a very open look to it like sort of like a daisy or something. You know,  it doesn't even look like a rose a lot of times, which is one of the reasons they're very eye catching is because you have to think twice about what it is there. Betty Boop has a few more petals than eight. You know she has some roses on her that are probably about six to eight, but quite often has eight to 10. So that makes it called a semi double, which is up to 16. But other than that, roses are full roses, it just depends on how full. And so a full rose is anything above that. Most hybrid teas are in the 30 to 40 range, but your Austin roses, which are your big English red roses, that are supposed to be like giant cabbage roses, they can be 80 to 100 petals and that's why they get so full looking. They have so many so many petals. But that also makes them extremely fragile. And they quite often will burst and literally throw petals all over the room. It's pretty wild.

Farmer Fred 

Yeah, I think that's another important criteria, is you don't want a plant on your  dining room table that's going to make a mess.

Debbie Arrington 

One that explodes. Yeah, so you know I have just a few Austin's because they get pretty big. And both of the ones that I have are in the ground, at least are ones that have smaller habits, which means that they stay under four to five feet. Because the thing about the Austin roses that they discovered  these were shrub roses that were originally bred in England, where it tends to be colder than here in Sacramento. They stay smaller, you know, in like four or five foot range. But when they come to Sacramento, they love the warmth. They think it is just fantastic here and they will get to be you know, six to eight feet real quick and just as wide. And they're very handsome if you have the room, but they take up a lot of room. So the two that I have, one that they released a long time ago named Tamora which is kind of apricot color. And the other one is this new one that was released a few years ago named Olivia. And yes, they do name most of the roses after people are for women's names. Olivia is an outstanding rose if you're going to get an Austin rose. Olivia would be the one to get because she has all the good qualities and none of the bad for an Austin rose. She's a light baby pink, and with very full cabbage style flowers and incredible scent. Just a wonderful scent. And she puts out big sprays where one stem is a whole bouquet. She also can grow in semi shade because I've got her in a spot where she gets quite a bit of shade during the summer. And she keeps blooming and she has very few thorns. The big difference between her and Tamora is that Tamora is covered with prickles. Just terrible, terrible thing. But Olivia is just the best of the Austins for cut flowers.

Farmer Fred 

Well, since you brought it up, will either of those explode on the dining room table?

Debbie Arrington 

Oh Tamora does. Tamora will do it in a day. Tamora does not last well off the bush at all. But Olivia, when she goes, she will explode all over the table. Yes. Because she has just so many petals. And they have to go somewhere.

Farmer Fred 

But do you recommend them as a cut flower?

Debbie Arrington 

Yeah, because the scent is so strong. Okay.

Farmer Fred 

All right. And, of course, most people are familiar with hybrid tea roses, in my experience with hybrid teas is they don't really have a long stem. They don't look great, that great in a tall vase. Or am I just being lazy on this?

Debbie Arrington 

It depends on how you were cutting those stems, and how you were training that plant to grow. Because most hybrid teas are bred to put out nice long stems. That's one of the things that they look for in that rose. And there are a lot that will put out very good stems, especially for your first flush of flowers, those ones that you get in April in May.

Farmer Fred 

All right. Now I know we've mentioned a couple of hybrid teas already, Ring of Fire and Hot Princess, what are some other good hybrid tea roses for cutting?

Debbie Arrington 

Well, I'll start with the reds, because that's what people usually associate with cut roses is red roses. And that seems to always be the request that people have is what are some good red roses that I can grow and cut and bring inside? And everybody's favorite in that category is Mr. Lincoln. That's an old oldie, but still a goodie. And one of the reasons it's so beloved, is that it has a wonderful deep red rose scent, it's a very heavy scented rose, and that you bring one of those stems inside and it will fill a room with scent. So it's much sought after for that. It's a very dark red rose. And it's one of those roses that if it's planted in full sun, it can get kind of toasted. But it's a nice rose, you know, and  it has wonderful long stems, and very consistent. Another good red is Olympiad, and Olympiad was introduced in 1984. For the LA Olympics. It's a classic red rose with a wonderful, high pointed center. It looks like a florist rose, has very few prickles on it. And a nice long straight stems. It has a beautiful red color that does not fade. So a very consistent rose in the garden. And a red rose that was introduced recently that is a outstanding red rose that looks just like a florist rose, is called Veteran's Honor. And it is a dark red with a high point and it lasts a long, long time in the vase, it will last easily a week, and it will still be continuing to open during that time, instead of opening really quickly. That's the one thing about Mr. Lincoln, is that once it's off the plant and in a vase it will tend to open fairly quickly. While Olympiad and Veteran's Honor will stay in their bud form much longer.

Farmer Fred 

Is that a good thing? That's another thing I've been wondering about as I'm pursuing this new hobby of cutting roses for displaying indoors, is I see some of these with full open flowers. And yet there were buds that haven't opened right next to it. And I'm wondering, well, maybe I better not cut it because those buds will never open,

Debbie Arrington 

The buds will eventually open. In most cases, the key is to keep getting water up the stem. And so when you bring that flower into the house, really cut the stem underwater, because it will remove any air bubbles. And it will get better flow of water up the stem. And recut the stems every couple of days. Also underwater again, to keep that flow of moisture coming up the stem. Because as long as there's there's water coming up the stem, those buds should continue to develop and open.

Farmer Fred 

Now explain to me exactly how to do that. Do you keep a bucket in the kitchen and then take the rose out of the vase, put it in the bucket, make the cut and then quickly transfer it back to the vase?

Debbie Arrington 

Yeah, but I don't even take a bucket. It's just like a cup of water or something. It's just just long enough for me to get a pair of scissors in there to snip the end of the rose because  it doesn't need much, just about an inch  from the bottom of the stem.

Farmer Fred 

Okay, that's a good tip for cutting roses: trim them every couple of days and do it underwater and then plunge them back into, I imagine, into fresh water in the vase.

Debbie Arrington 

And you can use some sort of flower food. That will help keep the water cleaner. What it does is add some sugar to the water and that is some nutrients. It's like giving your plant fertilizer and help the plant continue to be robust off the plant.

Farmer Fred 

Will ginger ale accomplish the same thing?

Debbie Arrington 

Yeah, So does sevenup or sprite. As long as you don't use diet versions.

Farmer Fred 

Okay, well good. Now I know what to use that unopened bottle of ginger ale for.

Debbie Arrington

it will work. It's like ginger ale does have have some ginger in it. So It will color the water, but sprite and seven up, you know, they don't have any coloring in it so it doesn't come into the water as long as you don't use diet. Another tip while we're talking about it, is make sure to remove all the foliage that's going to be below the waterline, because the foliage will decay when it's underwater. And that will ruin the water. It makes it all funky.

Farmer Fred  30:24

So do you use tap water to put your flowers in? Or are you somehow maybe using a filter?

Debbie Arrington 

I just use tap water, that's fine. Our water's fine here. I mean, there's a problem over in the Davis area because of the boron in the water. But most people have that filtered off their tap, anyway.

Farmer Fred 

What about soft water systems?

Debbie Arrington 

Oh, geez, it should be fine. Okay,

Farmer Fred 

I guess the other option is to use like a Brita filter like you'd use for drinking water and use that.

Debbie Arrington 

Yeah.

Farmer Fred 

Let's  go back to  hybrid tea roses and add some color to our to our red selection of Mr. Lincoln, Olympiad and Veterans Honor. What are some other colorful hybrid tea varieties for cut roses?

Debbie Arrington 

Well, a lot of people love pinks and there are a lot of great pinks. One right now that a lot of people have and it's a very popular rose for several reasons is Pink Promise. And Pink Promise was distributed a few years ago as the breast cancer rose. A portion of sales went to a Breast Cancer Research Fund. And it is a lovely, classic shaped, really light pink rose. Very much like a baby pink, with just a little bit of a darker edge around the petals. And what's outstanding about this rose though, it puts out really long stems, beautiful,  two to three foot long stems with these huge roses that are easily three inches long. So they're beautiful, but the one thing it does tend to fade out in heat and so it gets a little toasty around the edges, but it's a very pretty rose and very nice long stems and not many thorns on it either. So it's very good that way. A traditional pink, there's two that have a very kind of a fluffy look to them, but are really nice pink and one of them is Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth is the original grandiflora rose. Grandiflora is a cross between a hybrid tea and a floribunda. So it has that habit of putting out big sprays on one stem but they're full size roses and very showy and very big. And Queen Elizabeth was introduced the year that Queen Elizabeth the second took the throne, back in the early 50s. And it is an outstanding medium pink rose that just blooms and blooms and blooms. And she looks fantastic in the in the landscape and she's fantastic in the vase. They tend to open up quickly as a lot of grandifloras do tend to open up quicker than hybrid teas. A stem is a bouquet so it's a really, really nice rose. Another good pink that looks similar to Queen Elizabeth but is a hybrid tea is named Friendship. And  that's a lovely rose. And those roses, they'll last a week off the bush easily. And another pink, this rose is wild, it is Gentle Giant. Gentle Giant is hot pink with a little bit of yellow in the throat and those blooms are easily eight to 10 inches across. When fully open, wow they they are immense. They're really impressive. And very very pretty. it's a lovely color in  the blend. And one that has a wonderful scent and that lots of people love is Double Delight . Double Delight doesn't have that long of stems. it tends to stay a shorter plant but the flowers are just beautiful. And they have this wonderful kind of apple scent to them. They're cream colored with red coloring on the edges of the petals and the more heat and sun it gets the redder the bloom when early in the season. It will look very cream colored with just a little bit of blush on it. But by the middle of summer, it will look like it's a red rose with a little bit of white in the throat but it has a wonderful scent and it's another one that can really fill a room up with perfume and it looks good in the garden and good on the table.

Ones that are yellow. Yellow is another popular color. And there are some excellent yellows that have come out recently. One of them is called About Face. About Face is a grandflora and it's really tall.  it's definitely one that you want to put at the back of the bed because it goes six feet and up and it can throw up canes that are 10 foot tall.  They're just amazing, which means it always has great long stems if you're looking for long stem, and the roses are easily six inches across when fully open, and  they're bi-color on the inside of the petals. It's a light gold, but on the outside of the petals, It's a copper color. It's a real dark copper. And so it looks like two different roses on the same plant as they open up. It's a really interesting rose, and very pretty. One that's more traditional gold is called Strike it Rich. It's a grandiflora., And another one is Gold Medal. It's also a Grandiflora and one of the things about the grandifloras is a lot of them have fewer prickles, which makes them a lot smoother stemmed. And so they're easier to work with. And they're definitely easier for a bouquet.

Farmer Fred 

And that last one, of course, was Gold Medal. Please continue.

Debbie Arrington 

Yes. And Gold Medal is one that is a beautiful exhibition rose as well as in the garden and in the vase. It's a gorgeous, perfect yellow form. And it keeps it's dark yellow, which is really nice. While Stike it Rich is more of a soft gold as you would think, because it has, you know, they're both golden in their names. Love and Peace is a combination of red and yellow, which is really striking in the vase. It was a hybrid created between the Peace rose, which is a beautiful light yellow pink combo, and a rose named Love, which is a beautiful red rose. And in one of those weird happenstances it actually worked where they got what they were aiming for. It looks like a Peace rose with a dark red blush. And it's a very striking rose in the garden and in the vase. Perfect Moment is another one that's a red and yellow blend that's very striking as a cut flower. It has very nice long stems, and very consistent. My bush puts out 36 stems at once. With these big, big buds on them. It's a very, very good looking plant. Sunset Celebration is a wonderful orange. It's kind of a medium orange, somewhere past peach. It's a really nice orange color that holds this color instead of fading into something that's attractive. And it opens very slowly and has long, nice straight stems. It's a very good looking rose, and I have one left, that's a purple rose, because purples are good. Silver Star is  kind of a lavender-mauve color. And it tends to put out a lot of sprays. So it's another one that has this bud habit of a bouquet on the stem, and it will bloom in summer shade. I've gotten in a spot where it's getting less than five hours of sun a day, and it blooms beautifully.

Farmer Fred 

I will repeat that for those of you who like me may be blessed with more shade than you'd like, the name is Silver Star. Now let's talk a little bit about some, shall we say, rose confusion that exists out there because if somebody goes shopping for roses based on what we're chattering about here, and let's say they see Love and Peace. Well, they may see the hybrid tea like we've been talking about, but they may also see a miniature Love and Peace and a lot of these roses come in more than one form, don't they?

Debbie Arrington 

Well, it depends. There's only a few of them really, where they doubled up on the name, because the registry tries to  stop that confusion. But there are many forms of roses and miniatures are our one class of roses and miniatures are not referring to the size of the plant, they are referring to the size of the bloom. And miniature rose blooms tend to be under two and a half inches. There's smaller blooms. And the plants also tend to be smaller, generally will stay under three feet tall. And there's some that only grow to about ankle height. And in a container  they'll stay quite small and compact. The roses can look like hybrid teas they can look like floribundas with big sprays, but they always are smaller. And so that that's why they're called a miniature.

Farmer Fred 

Well, I have plenty of small vases. So I bet there's some good miniatures that make for good cut flowers.

Debbie Arrington 

Yeah and closely related to miniatures are a class they created a few years ago called minifloras, and minifloras are that gap between miniature and floribunda. So it gets even more confusing. But yes, there are many miniatures that look really nice in a vase. Everybody's favorite in Sacramento is this one called Joy. and Joy is a classic, old creamy white rose, but has this purple peak edge, a picotee edge on the blooms. And they look like little hybrid tea roses. They they have that perfect form of a hybrid tea with a pointed center. But it has this edge that's this purple pink. That's very pretty. And it puts out lovely sprays. It's a really nice looking rose on the plant and also in the vase. It's just gorgeous. It almost always wins when when somebody brings in a good Joy.

Farmer Fred 

Yeah, that is the rose that got me interested in doing roses as cut flowers, because  the Joy in my yard last year just performed outstanding. It was in a very warm area too. And yet it bloomed and bloomed and got like four feet tall.

Debbie Arrington 

Yeah, it's a very vigorous plant. It's really lovely. There's another that it's been an instant hit. And its name is You’re the One. And it is pink and yellow blend. And it's a very vigorous plant. And it's just covered with flowers right now, mine is at least, and they look like like full size hybrid teas, only they're tiny, maybe about two inches across. But very pretty. Kind of hot pink with it with a yellow blend at the throat. And my favorite miniature, at least in my own yard, is one that's called Rainbow Sunblaze. And it is a red yellow blend, it has more of a ball shape in the middle instead of a pointy center. But it just blooms and blooms and blooms. And so it's one of those I can always make a bouquet off the bush, you know, and it stays fairly compact. It's about two and a half feet tall. But easily that wide also, and just covered with buds. So it looks spectacular in the garden. And it also allows me to make lots of bouquets after that.

Farmer Fred 

So I'm going to make an assumption here. I hope it's true. There is in the world of roses, a lot of single blooming roses where you get one major flush per year. And I think all the roses we're talking about today are repeat bloomers.

Debbie Arrington 

Yes, it is. And there's a lot of older roses that only bloom in spring that are just single bloom roses. And a lot of your species roses and old garden roses will only bloom in spring, they bloom just once a year. But everything we've been talking about today, blooms multiple times a year, and very reliably. The thing about roses is that they react very predictably, when you cut off a stem, they will try to grow a new stem with a new flower on it. And that will take about six to eight weeks, depending on weather conditions until it blooms again. So if you have a major event coming up and you have a lot of flowers in your garden, you want to have a lot of roses for people to see. Like you know you're having a party or a wedding, backyard wedding or something like that. Count back eight weeks from the event and prune your rose bushes. Because the roses will put out new blooms that will bloom in six, eight weeks. And so it will have a very predictable flower show when the time comes. So you can use that. It also works if you're planning to have a rose show.

Farmer Fred 

Or a wedding. Wedding events. Yeah. So people who plan weddings well in advance. You want to, if you're going to have a summertime, especially a late summer wedding in your backyard, then  six to eight weeks beforehand, prune the roses.  Do you have any more tips for growing roses or caring for roses as cut flowers? How often do you fertilize them, for example?

Debbie Arrington 

Right now about once a month. Well, because I started my pruning schedule in anticipation of having an April rose show. I had a big bloom in late April. And so now my plants are cycling back. It's at that time of year where they're  warming up again. So I've been doing a lot of deadheading. And so now that they're deadheaded they  need some food. So  I tend to fertilize after I've done a lot that.

Farmer Fred 

Any of the roses we've mentioned, will most of these roses work well across the portions of the country that grow roses, I guess would basically be USDA zone six through nine.

Debbie Arrington 

Oh, yes, definitely. Roses, you know, admittedly they grow better in Sacramento probably than just about anywhere because we have just about the perfect growing conditions for them.

Farmer Fred 

We have low humidity, there's no summer rain and there's no Japanese beetles.

Debbie Arrington 

Yeah. So we have good soil, we have everything they need. And roses actually are very drought tolerant. You know,  that's one thing to remember. You know with them is, is they can get by with less water if you need to. The one thing is when you do cut back on your water cut back on your fertilizer. You can burn your plants.

Farmer Fred 

And I imagine mulching would play a big role in making them more drought tolerant, too.

Debbie Arrington 

They appreciate mulch.

Farmer Fred 

Alright, did we leave anything out?

Debbie Arrington 

To prompt more bloom, you need to cut your roses regularly. You need to cut out the spent blooms and encourage that plant to bloom more. Some people, though wonder why the roses aren't blooming, and then they realized they never took off the old roses. And if you don't take those off, that rose will think that it is done for the season and it should just let that turn to fruit.

Farmer Fred 

Which is higher in vitamin C than most foods.

Debbie Arrington 

Yes, rose hips are very high in vitamin C. That's for a podcast for the fall.

Farmer Fred 

There you go. Cutting roses. Add them to your garden. A good pair of snippers to helps as well. Debbie Arrington, thanks so much for all your help, growing some good roses today.

Debbie Arrington

Thank you very much. It's my pleasure.

(Here’s an update from Debbie, with the 2023 Sacramento Rose Show results:)

“Yes, we did hold our 75th Sacramento Rose Show on April 29 at Shepard Garden and Arts Center. Two weeks before the show, we were worried if we were going to have any entries. It had been so cold and wet, nobody seemed to have any blooms. (Baldo Villegas had only one or two open buds at that time -- out of 3,000+ bushes.) But then it turned 90 degrees and bam! Roses everywhere. It just shows roses like heat and sun. And when they get it, they grow and bloom rapidly.

Our top roses were all oldies. I'm inclined to think that these all came from well established older bushes that really benefited from the rain. (I know it's true in my case.)

Winner of the 75th Sacramento Rose Show Queen of Show was 'Mikado,' a 1987 red-gold blend hybrid tea. It's similar to Perfect Moment but bigger and redder. The inner petals just glow. Beautiful straight stems. Classic form with a lot of petals (35).

And it was my rose. It's only the second time I've won Queen HT (Hybrid Tea) at Sacramento. (I've won Queens of minis and minifloras.) The other time I won was with 'Marilyn Monroe' in 2017 (maybe 2018). Marilyn wins a lot. That rose was introduced in 2001.

Mikado is now out of patent, so it may become more widely available as a non-patent rose. It was an AARS winner.

King of Show was 'Veterans' Honor," a beautiful red HT, probably the best red long-stem rose available. Introduced 1999.

Princess of Show went to a real oldie, 'Paradise," a 1979 AARS winner. (I had one of these at the Long Beach house.) It's mauve with outer petals of red-purple, and has a great scent. It is available as a non-patent rose. Linda Larsen, an up-and-comer in our club, exhibited both the King and Princess.

Another of my HT roses made the Court of Honor: California Dreamin'. It's a 2009 introduction and just delightful -- big, creamy white blooms edged in purple pink. The hotter it gets, the more pink on the petals.

For really long stems and some unusual roses, I recommend 'About Face.' It's a 2003 AARS-winning grandiflora. It puts out 8-foot stems all the time -- crazy long stems. (They're not canes because they're not sprouting from the graft.) The cuplike flowers are copper on the outside of the petals and golden apricot on the inside. Very impressive, but it needs room.”

Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.

Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com/subscribe

As the weather warms, so do outbreaks of fleas and ticks. Today’s newsletter podcast features an interview with retired veterinarian and Master Gardener Heidi Napier, who talks about these pests, along with a scenic bypass about controlling slugs and snails using less toxic products that won’t harm your kids or dogs.

Flea Control Tips

This pest can live indoors and out, as well as on your pets. However, a combination of remedies can reduce a flea population. The trick, though, is to attack the problem simultaneously on three fronts: indoors, outdoors and on your pets.

Here are a few flea control suggestions from the UC Integrated Pest Management Program.

Inside the Home:

• Wash throw rugs and the pet’s bedding in hot, soapy water once a week.

• Vacuum daily or every other day to remove flea eggs, larvae, and adults. Include upholstered furniture, cushions as well as in cracks and crevices of furniture.

• Vacuum carpets, especially beneath furniture and in areas frequented by pets. Recent studies suggest that destroying the vacuum bags isn’t necessary.

• Use a hand sprayer to treat all carpets with an insecticide that contains an insect growth regulator. The most effective spray products contain the Insect Growth Regulator methoprene or pyriproxyfen. Aerosol foggers don’t provide the coverage and long-term effectiveness of direct sprays.

• Hand spray pet sleeping areas, areas beneath furniture, baseboards, and windowsills.

On the Pet:

• If you administer oral or topical products early in the year before flea populations begin to build, the products can prevent fleas from establishing themselves in your home. Contact your veterinarian for advice in selecting the best flea-control product for your situation.

• Use a spot-on or oral treatment, which can be purchased in pet stores or from vets, or a systemic oral treatment, which is available from vets only. Active ingredients suggested by UC that are available over the counter include Fipronil and Imidacloprid. Prescription products include those with the active ingredients Dinotefuran, Lufenuron, Nitenpyram, Pyriprole, Selamectin and Spinosad.

• University of California research has shown that neither Vitamin B1 supplements nor brewer's yeast prevents fleas from feeding. In addition, herbal collars and ultrasonic devices are not effective flea repellents.

• In our home, we spend quality time with our cat and dogs when we bring out the flea comb. This fine-toothed comb manages to pick off at least a couple of fleas from the cat each week, as well as letting us know when there is a major flea outbreak.

Outside the Home:

• If you treat your pets with spot-on or oral treatments, you’ll rarely need to spray outdoors.

• Sprays are only necessary outdoors if you detect lots of fleas, usually in shady areas or places where pets rest. To locate heavy infestations, walk around pet resting areas wearing knee-high white socks. If fleas are present, they will jump onto the socks and be readily visible.

Tick control tips

from UCANR:

* Ticks can spread several diseases to humans and pets, but Lyme disease is the most common. In California, Lyme disease is carried by the western blacklegged tick which occurs throughout the state.

* Lyme disease has been reported in most California counties, but some areas pose higher risks than others.

* You can protect yourself from ticks and the diseases they transmit by wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts outdoors, using an EPA registered repellent with 20-30% DEET, or applying permethrin to clothing. 

* Check yourself often after being outside in areas that are prone to ticks (forests, woodlands, and grasslands).

* Shower within 2 hours of exposure to ticks and place clothing in a hot dryer for an hour to kill any ticks that may be on them.

* Safely remove ticks with tweezers by grabbing the tick as close to the skin as possible and slowly pulling it out.

* The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) says to control ticks around your home, remove leaf and grass litter from your yard and create a 3-foot barrier of mulch or gravel between your lawn and unmanaged or forested areas.

From the University of Massachusetts/Amherst Hort Notes, May 2023:

Q.  I have been receiving offers and seeing advertisements for services to spray for ticks and mosquitoes. Is this something to consider and is it safe?

A.  Perimeter yard sprays are recommended as part of a three phase plan:  Protect Yourself, Protect Your Pet and Protect Your Yard. I tell people not to depend on a yard spray as their only effort. Wearing permethrin treated clothing/footwear should be a front-burner tactic; a yard spray is a way to further reduce exposure risk.

As far as yard spraying, this is something you can easily do yourself with a hose-end sprayer available at any garden center. Check out our video on yard spraying, as well as other resources about ticks, at capecod.gov/ticks(link is external). When contracting a service, there are key questions to ask about what, where and when to spray.

* What? The products should contain the active ingredients bifenthrin or permethrin. These have very low mammalian toxicity and, once they contact leaf litter or soil, they are immobilized, so there is no potential to leach and they are degraded by soil microbes. All Natural products that contain botanical oils like rosemary or cedar are NOT recommended. Research has demonstrated them to be completely ineffective.

* Where? Only the perimeter of the yard where there is shade and leaf litter under shrubs and trees. If a service offers to treat the entire yard, they really do not understand ticks.

* When? Mid to late May and mid to late June covers the window when nymph stage deer ticks are out. I also recommend a third spray around mid-October when the next generation of adult stage ticks emerge. 

A major study is underway to determine how effective perimeter yard sprays are by The New England Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases. If you are interested in participating, please visit https://www.newvec.org/itch(link is external) to complete their survey.

Larry Dapsis, Deer Tick Project Coordinator – Entomologist, Cape Cod Cooperative Extension

Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.

Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com/subscribe

Interview with Robert Pavlis of GardenMyths.com:

Can Human Food also be Plant Food? (It depends how you apply it.)

(originally aired in Episode 126 of the Garden Basics Podcast)

Farmer Fred: What do you give plants to drink besides water and plant food? This question actually has been asked on many social media outlets, and in many gardening groups. And you might be surprised at the number of household kitchen products that are given to plants. Are they worth it? There is one gentleman who actually tackles a lot of garden myths. He's even written a book on the subject. It's Robert Pavlis. He's a well known speaker-educator, with over 40 years of gardening experience. He's the author of several books including "Building Natural Ponds", "Soil Science for Gardeners", and "Garden Myths". And he publishes the popular gardening blog, gardenmyths.com as well as garden fundamentals.com . He gardens in Ontario, Canada, and Robert Pavlis, it's a pleasure to have you on the program. Tell us, for those of us who aren't familiar with gardening conditions in Ontario, Canada, exactly what your seasons are.

Robert Pavlis: Well, we have a USDA Zone five garden, so we have a fairly long winter. Around here we don't get great snow cover but we do have snow and then we have hail and sleet and everything in between. And then it gets warm and then it gets cold. So even though our winters aren't that cold, the problem here is that we have this freeze-thaw problem. Then spring comes, the summers are quite humid, quite hot. So today is 29 degrees centigrade (84 F). And fall comes pretty quick. And you know, by middle September, while things are finished in the garden by October, we could have frost.

Farmer Fred: So if you're going to grow a summer vegetable garden there, you start around Mother's Day and wrap it up by, I guess, the end of September.

Robert Pavlis: Yeah, well, our traditional last frost date is May 24. That's moved back now to around May 10. So a lot of gardeners up here will try to extend that season. So we use things like rowcovers, or we gamble, what I call gambling in the garden. And I plant things two or three weeks early and hope it doesn't freeze. But that doesn't always work. And we try various other ways to keep things a little warmer. But yeah, early May. Tomatoes and warm season crops, they probably won't go out until late, middle-late May, depending on the year.

Farmer Fred: All right. So a bit shorter than here in California, to say the least.

Robert Pavlis: Just a little bit. Right.

Farmer Fred: All right. Well, I love your GardenMyths.com column that you post, and people can subscribe to it. It's free, and you get email notifications when they are released. And awhile back, you had one on feeding plants from the kitchen, discussing which products actually work. And for those of you who are short of time, the quick answer is, "not many". But I am amazed, though, at what food scraps people are feeding to plants that they think will work. I guess we should start off with discussing exactly how plants absorb nutrients.

Robert Pavlis: Plant roots only absorb certain things. And they have to be what I call small molecules. So nitrogen, potassium, phosphate, these are all small molecules. But what you have in most plants is large molecules, proteins, carbohydrates, and so on. And you can put all that you want on a plant, it can't use it until it decomposes. That's why that composting process is so important. We're taking large molecules, converting them to these small little nutrients that plants can use. And until that happens, plants get no benefit. And they need a certain amount of those, they need a fair amount of nitrogen. They use a fair amount of potassium and phosphate, and then they use about a half a dozen other minor nutrients like calcium, magnesium, manganese, and sulfur. And they need all of those. So one of the things I look at when we're talking about the stuff we're putting on our plants, the first question you really need to ask is, what nutrients are in there? And by the way, the one nutrient that most soil is missing is nitrogen. And I won't get into why,  just accept the fact that most of the other nutrients are probably there in the soil. But nitrogen can go away very quickly. It doesn't stick to soil,  it runs away. So in most cases, growth is controlled by the amount of nitrogen you give your plants. Now, if you are deficient in one of those other things, you also need to add that one, but nitrogen is a key one. So the key question is how much nitrogen is in what I called food scraps, adding to my plants, and if it's very minor, then it's really not going to do much for your plants.

Farmer Fred: And besides, it has to be converted by the soil biology into a form that the plant can use.

Robert Pavlis: That's right, and nitrogen is used mostly as nitrates and some as urea. But plants pretty much use nitrates. So if I take a big protein molecule, which has lots of nitrogen in it, and I give it to my plant, it's absolutely useless, the plant can't use it. Now, the bacteria in soil may come along and degrade that protein and eventually release the nitrogen. But until the nitrogen is converted into nitrate, plants can't use it.

Farmer Fred: Well, speaking of high protein foods that people like to put on plants for one reason or another, is milk. And this is something that people have been trying for years. Does milk do any good on a plant?

Robert Pavlis: Well, I guess it depends on how you ask the question, right? So milk is mostly water, the second biggest ingredient in clean whole milk is fats. So now there's a tiny, tiny little bit of other stuff there. And some of that is protein, and protein does contain nitrogen. So milk does have a very low level of nitrogen in it. It also has things like calcium and magnesium and some of the other nutrients. So yes, adding milk to plants will provide nutrients to that plant. The question you really need to ask: is that enough nitrogen to actually make my plant grow? Well, and quite honestly, if you have spent milk, you know, you can't drink it. Okay, put it in your garden, put it on some plants, and it will do some good. But milk is an extremely expensive way to get nitrogen. So if you're using good milk that you could drink, I would never put that on the soil. That's just a waste of money.

Farmer Fred: Exactly. It's a  very expensive source of nutrients, if you dare. All right. Now, people also want to think that they can get their plants to grow faster if they give them some coffee. And I don't think plants absorb caffeine.

Robert Pavlis: Yeah, this is something that people like to do. So they've finished drinking their coffee, there's a bit left on, it's got to be good for them, let's put it in the plants. So what I did in that blog post is I took a slightly different approach, because so many people are against chemicals, and pro organic. And this concept never makes any sense to me. I'm a chemist, so I understand what's going on here. And coffee is full of all kinds of carcinogens, and I listed them in the blog. And, I said, would you give that to your plants? I mean, would you even drink it yourself? All right. Well, that's the key here. And the thing that people just don't understand is that there's lots of chemicals out there that are toxic, and most of those, in fact, come from plants. Remember, coffee is a plant extract, it is coming from plants. Every plant we eat is full of toxins. The key question is how much of that toxin is in the plant? And what does it do to our bodies, and in most cases, these levels are very low. You don't have to be concerned about them. The chemical names just sound really nasty. They are carcinogens without question, but their levels are low. And the other thing is our bodies have been doing this for millions of years and we're very adapted to eating these toxins as long as they stay in low levels. So coffee doesn't hurt us, and coffee will probably not hurt most plants. However, there's a caveat here. Coffee does have caffeine in it; and, coffee grounds, which are also very popular in the garden. They also have caffeine, and both of them can harm seedlings. So small plants can be given too much caffeine from the coffee grounds if they're used as a mulch. And I guess if you pour too much coffee on you'll get the same effect. So caffeine can kill small plants and it can stunt larger plants, so you have to be careful how much caffeine you put on your plants.

Farmer Fred: That takes us down another scenic bypass. All the people that are going to Starbucks and picking up that five gallon bucket of coffee grounds and taking it back home and putting it around their acid loving plants thinking it will acidify the soil. My concern is they apply those coffee grounds too thickly and it becomes an anaerobic environment.

Robert Pavlis: Yeah. Well, there's a couple myths in this little story. The first thing is coffee grounds are not acidic. So I don't know where that came from. They can be slightly acidic, or they can actually be alkaline. But they're certainly not heavily acidic, they're not going to acidify the soil around your plants. And it's now been shown that a little bit as a mulch is probably okay in your ornamental beds. I would not use it in a vegetable garden where you're planting seeds. Just keep coffee grounds out of there completely. And quite honestly, the best thing you can do with them is compost them first. That will reduce the amount of caffeine and then they'll be fine in the garden.

Farmer Fred: I feel sorry for house plants, especially in offices, especially around party time, just because people tend to dump everything into the house plants on their way out, including things like beer or Gatorade.

Robert Pavlis: Yeah, yeah. By the way, this list came from an actual discussion on Facebook and these are all things that people suggest that I didn't really make out the list. I just went down and recorded it. And yeah, people are pouring good beer on the plants. I don't get that. Again, there's some very minor value there, because again, it has some protein in there. But basically, it's not doing any good for your plants. Gatorade, the reason people use that is because it replaces electrolytes. I mean, Gatorade is good for us, right? It's gotta be good for plants. And that's the logic that people use to get to this point. Well, it doesn't take a lot of effort to Google Gatorade and see what's in it. And the electrolytes is mostly sodium, and potassium. Now plants use potassium. And so that might be helpful. But sodium is toxic to plants. Now, we got to be clear, plants do need a very, very small amount of sodium in their diet. But higher levels are very toxic. Now you're from California, you wouldn't know this. But when it snows everywhere, we tend to put salt on the roads to keep them from freezing up. And so along the road edge, a lot of people have trouble growing plants because all that sodium comes on to those plants. Canadians know that you don't put sodium on plants. But a lot of people think Gatorade is electrolytes. So that's that's got to be good stuff. But it's not. One of those electrolytes is toxic to plants. So don't put Gatorade around your plants.

Farmer Fred: Another ingredient of Gatorade that is also of dubious value when it comes to putting in the garden, although I know nurseries who sell it, is sugar. And, especially in the last drought here in California, there were nurseries selling a product that was mostly sugar, claiming it could mollify the effects of a drought by preserving soil moisture on your lawn.

Robert Pavlis: Yeah, yeah, I've seen those products advertised and I haven't yet done a review on them. But sugar on its own, may help soil a little bit. So plants won't absorb this sugar, it doesn't really do anything for them. Now that may come as a surprise because some people know that plants are “green”. And they photosynthesize. They take sunlight and convert it to sugars. And plants need lots of sugars. That's what makes them grow. But plants don't absorb sugar through their roots. So they want to make the sugar themselves, they don't want to absorb it. So what happens with most of the sugar we put on our soil is that it makes microbes grow. And for microbes, sugars, like candy, they just love it. And they go nuts and they grow like crazy, you get this big explosion of microbes. And that sounds like a great thing. And it may be, but once the sugar runs out, there's a big crash in populations, they all die off. They are all decomposing and indirectly that decomposition of all those microbes will provide some nutrients to the plant. So other things, the potassium and phosphate and magnesium from these dead microbes, are now feeding plants. So indirectly sugar does help plants. But again, it's not the best source. You're better off getting some manure or compost that works just as well and probably works much better because it also includes other things than just sugar. Yeah, sugar is a high carbon material that has no nitrogen in it. And for microbes to decompose high carbon they have to get nitrogen from somewhere and they steal it from the soil, steal it away from plants, to digest that sugar. And so in the short term, it may actually reduce the amount of nitrogen that the plants are getting.

Farmer Fred: In your post at gardenmyths.com on feeding plants from the kitchen: a lot of the substances you mentioned are water-based. There's banana water, there is coffee, of course, fish tank water, pasta water for plants, rice water, even soda pop. And again, probably water is okay, but it's that other stuff that it is probably not going to do much good.

Robert Pavlis: Yeah, I think some of the reason people use this is because they don't want to waste it. Water is now recognized as a precious resource. And so you've got this water in a pot and well, what do I do?  I don't want to put it down the drain and waste it, so I'll give it to my plants. And that's probably a valid way to use the water. It's certainly won't hurt the plants. So all those things you mentioned are not going to do a tremendous amount of damage, particularly in a garden where you've got lots of soil and a very small pot of water. If you're doing house plants, see, you might want to give them some variation once in a while. You don't give them all pasta water all the time, but it probably won't harm your plants. The biggest value though, is the water. it's not the other ingredients, the other ingredients are really not doing very much. So the key is you still have to fertilize those plants. Okay? And that's the danger. I think for most beginning gardeners, they say, well, geez, I put some pasta water on there. So I fed my plants. But that doesn't have the nutrients that the plants need. Okay, think of pasta water, and all these other things you mentioned as water, and you still need to put some fertilizer in there.

Farmer Fred: One word of warning. If you do use pasta water on your plants, let it cool off first. Don't put boiling hot water on your plants. Thank you very much.

Robert Pavlis: Yeah, that's a good idea. You'll only do that once though.

Farmer Fred: Yeah, exactly, the results will be quick to see. All right, anything else in this you want to cover?

Robert Pavlis: I think the the overall message I tried to get to gardeners is that except for potted plants, most things in the garden really don't need to be fertilized a lot. I grow about 3000 different varieties and species of plants, everything from trees down to little rock garden plants. And I've been doing this for 15 years in this garden. I have never fertilized anything. I don't fertilize when I plant and I don't fertilize 15 years later, and guess what, stuff grows. Okay. Now if you have a known deficiency, you do have to do something about that. But that applies to a very small percentage of our gardeners, particularly if you're putting on compost and manure and mulching and so on, you're not going to have that deficiency. So you don't have to feed those plants. Now container plants is a different situation. There, we're adding lots of water. We're watering regularly, water pours out the bottom, particularly if they're outside containers. And so we're washing those nutrients out of the soil all the time. And most of time that's not even soil, right? Some soilless stuff that has no nutrients in it, or very few nutrients. So containers, you have to fertilize. Everything else, ignore. Let it grow.

Farmer Fred: Like we say on this program when it comes to fertilizing container plants, fertilize weekly, weakly. In other words, a regular fertilization, but cut the dosage in half every time you fertilize.

Robert Pavlis: Good advice.

Farmer Fred: Robert Pavlis is the author of the gardenmyths.com blog, plus the author of several books, including his best selling "garden myths", book one and Book Two. If you want more information about all his writings, including the books, you can visit his website, gardenmyths.com. Anything else you want me to mention?

Robert Pavlis: I even have a YouTube now. So I'm a YouTuber. So we have a channel called Garden Fundamentals. And there's regular YouTubes on there all about gardening.

Farmer Fred: Robert Pavlis. We've learned a lot this morning. I appreciate your time.

Robert Pavlis: Well, thanks very much. It was fun being here.

Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.

Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com/subscribe

For years (decades, really), I’ve been promoting April 28 as Official Tomato Planting Day* for our area here in Northern California (Southern Sacramento and Northern San Joaquin Valleys, low foothills, and East Bay). And this time around in 2023, the weather has been very cooperative to make this year’s April 28th celebration an excellent time to start planting tomatoes.

Wherever you are in the country, you have your own Official Tomato Planting Day. And it may change from year to year. The factors you are looking for include that the warmth of spring has settled in. Daytime highs will be in the 80’s (and above) for the foreseeable future. Early morning low air temperatures are steadily above 50 degrees. Soil temperatures are near 60 degrees. With those conditions, newly planted tomatoes will get off to a quick start. Just add water and fertilizer.

Now, the question is…which tomato varieties to plant?

We’ve talked in the past about the tried-and-true performers for our area, tomato varieties that will be in stock at area nurseries and garden centers now. If you are new to tomato gardening, start with three winners: The Sungold cherry tomato, the Early Girl tomato as your main season crop, and Big Beef for a large, slicing tomato. Other sure bets include Whopper, Champion, Ace, and Sweet 100.

All the ones mentioned so far are hybrid tomatoes. Hybrid varieties are bred for desirable traits such as early productivity, adaptability to the local climate, vigor, and disease resistance, helping to guarantee success for the new tomato gardener. According to the UC Davis Vegetable Research and Information Center, Fusarium and Verticillium wilt are common diseases that can destroy a whole tomato crop. Many hybrid tomato varieties are resistant to these two diseases. Look for the letters, “VF”, after the cultivar name, indicating resistance to the wilts. “VFN” means the plants are resistant to verticillium, fusarium, and nematodes; “VFNT” adds tobacco mosaic virus to the resistance list.

However, perhaps you want to stretch your tomato growing horizons this year by planting heirloom tomato varieties, which are noted for their flavor, aroma, and beauty. The downside to heirloom tomatoes? Production variability and a lack of disease resistance. Sacramento County Master Gardener Cathy Coulter explains the traits of an heirloom tomato. “An heirloom tomato is an open-pollinated variety that has been passed down at least 50 years through several generations in a family, ethnic, religious, or tribal group, or was commercially introduced before 1940,” says Coulter. “Some tomatoes now marketed as ‘heirloom’ are actually a cross between two different heirlooms (crossed on purpose or by nature) or are a cross between an heirloom and a hybrid tomato. The cross is then stabilized over several generations, so they become open-pollinated.”

In other words, there is no agreed-upon standard for what makes a tomato variety an “heirloom.”

One Northern California tomato plant breeder, Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms, specializes in developing those modern heirlooms. “The most common definition of an heirloom tomato that I can come up with is that it's 50 years or older,” says Gates. “That seems to be the loose definition of an heirloom, because the definition of a heirloom is something that's been passed down from generation to generation. So somewhere along the line, somebody threw out the 50-year mark, and it seems to be the most popular. So some of my varieties are maybe working on 20 years old now. So they'll just have a little bit of a wait. But I think when most people think they want an heirloom, they want a tomato that's something other than round, red and tasteless.” Listen to the podcast (above) to find out more about Brad Gates’ tips and techniques for starting tomatoes from seed, as well as what it takes to breed a “modern heirloom” tomato. Originally aired in Episode 75 of the Garden Basics podcast.

Sacramento County Master Gardener Gail Pothour is a fan of Wild Boar Farms’ “Brad’s Atomic Grape” tomato, a variety that is definitely neither red, round nor tasteless. “It is a kind of a grape tomato, which is the size of a cherry tomato, but it's elongated, kind of egg shaped,” says Pothour. “It's multicolored, with shades of purples and greens and red stripes and streaks all through it. And it's very tasty. It's got a good hang time, too. You don't have to pick it right now. It'll hang on the plant. I've been growing ‘Brad’s Atomic Grape’ for several years and it's become one of my favorites.”

Davis, CA-based nursery owner Don Shor has his favorite heirloom tomatoes that he grows repeatedly for their beauty, productivity, and their flavor. “Most years, ‘Mortgage Lifter’ does reasonably well for me,” says Shor. “Another one that has done extremely well is ‘Cherokee Purple’. It was my top producer in 2021 of all my tomatoes. It's a good one for the valley and good one for hot climates.”

In our garden, the heirloom tomato varieties that I tend to plant regularly include the prolific grape-sized heirloom, “Gardener’s Delight”, which will produce all the way through Thanksgiving, if the weather cooperates. Larger heirloom tomatoes that are consistently productive, tasty, and beautiful include Lemon Boy (there’s also a newer, hybrid variety of this), Dr. Wyche’s Yellow, and Orange Oxheart.

* Plus, April 28th is a good date to mention my birthday. After planting tomatoes today, I’ll be out bicycling my age. I’ll be gone awhile.

Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.

Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com/subscribe

The healthiest food you can eat is the food you grow yourself. It doesn’t get any fresher than that. In today’s newsletter podcast, we talk with two Master Gardener/chefs: Kathy Morrison of the daily “Sacramento Digs Gardening” newsletter, and Master Gardener and Chef/instructor Andi MacDonald.

Kathy has several recipes using ingredients that just might be maturing in your garden right now. And that’s the thrust of what is published in each Sunday’s edition of the Sacramento Digs Gardening Newsletter: If it’s ripening in your yard, she has a recipe for it. We have many of the recipes she mentioned in our chat here; for more, check out her Sunday posts, or the springtime recipes that Kathy and Co-content producer Debbie Arrington have compiled in their first recipe e-book, which is available for free at SacramentoDigsGardening.com. And their newsletter is free, as well, with little or no advertising (they will be going to heaven, I am sure). Even though their newsletter has a definite Sacramento slant about gardening activities here in Northern California, there’s a lot of good information provided in their daily posts that inspire gardeners everywhere. Go ahead. Subscribe.

Here’s the recipe for the Strawberry Salad with Violets (courtesy of Sacramento Digs Gardening):

Spring strawberry salad with fresh violetsMakes 2 to 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 to 6 strawberries, hulled and sliced crosswise2 radishes, sliced1 scallion, chopped2 tablespoons slivered almonds2 cups lettuce, roughly cut or torn into pieces1 cup baby spinach leaves, roughly cut or torn into pieces Dressing:3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil1 tablespoon red wine vinegar1 teaspoon Dijon mustard½ teaspoon sugar¼ teaspoon seasoning salt Garnish:

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh violets or violas (optional) Instructions: In a large bowl, put sliced strawberries, radishes, scallions, lettuce and spinach. Toss lightly. In a jar, combine olive oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, sugar and seasoning salt. Cover jar and shake to combine. Pour dressing over salad and toss lightly again. Divide salad onto plates. Garnish with violets or violas. Serve immediately.

Another recipe from the Sac Digs Gardening e-cookbook that Kathy raved about in today’s newsletter podcast: Baked Asparagus ala Sacramento:

Baked asparagus a la Sacramento

Adapted from Sunset magazineServes 4

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh asparagus, washed3 hard-boiled eggs1 tablespoon butter1 tablespoon flour1 cup milk1 cup soft bread crumbsSalt and pepper to taste½ cup dried buttered crumbs¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Break or cut the asparagus into 1-inch pieces. Steam until tender. Cook, cool and shell the eggs. Slice. Make a cream sauce with the butter, flour and milk. (Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in flour until bubbly, then gradually add milk. Cook until sauce starts to thicken.) Add the soft bread crumbs and seasoning.

In a buttered casserole dish, spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom, then a layer of the cooked asparagus, then a layer of the sliced hard-cooked eggs. Repeat until the dish is filled. Sprinkle the top with the dried buttered crumbs and the grated cheese. Cover and bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees) for 30 minutes, removing the lid the last 10 minutes to allow the top to brown lightly. Serve warm.

And, I would be remiss if I didn’t include Kathy’s recipe for Cherry Salsa!

Cherry salsa Makes 2 cups Ingredients:2 cups fresh sweet cherries, any variety or a mix, de-stemmed and pitted Zest and juice of 1 lime 1/4 cup chopped red onion 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1 jalapeño pepper, seeds removed (keep them if you like more kick in your salsa), minced 1 fresh garlic clove, minced Salt and freshly ground pepper Instructions :Halve the pitted cherries and then chop them. Place in a bowl, then stir in the lime zest and lime juice. Add the red onion, cilantro, minced jalapeño and garlic clove. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cover the bowl and let the salsa chill in the refrigerator 45 minutes for the flavors to meld. When ready to serve, taste and adjust seasonings. Serve over grilled chicken breasts or grilled pork tenderloin, or with tortilla chips. Variations : This salsa also is delicious with any of these mix-ins:  1 chopped ripe but firm avocado;  1 chopped white nectarine; 1 chopped ripe mango.

And, I did come across one recipe at the Sacramento Digs Gardening Spring e-cookbook that piqued my interest, just because I have beets ripening, as well as blood oranges: Roasted Beets and Citrus Salad. Check it out!

Master Gardener/Chef Instructor Andi MacDonald is the “camp cook” for all the Master Gardeners who volunteer their services on Open Garden Days at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center. Each month, the aroma wafting from the gazebo is so enticing, Master Gardeners keep checking their watch, asking: “Is it Lunchtime yet?”

This month’s treat: Moroccan Lentil Soup

Andi writes: “Lentil soup makes a simple, hearty, and inexpensive meal. This one is low in fat and high in flavor, with bittersweet cardamom, warm tones of cinnamon, earthy turmeric and cumin, aromatic saffron, and musky hints of rose water. The soup itself is easy to throw together but the Moroccan spices might prove more of a challenge. All are available at a well-stocked grocery, a Middle Eastern store, or online. Serve it with flat bread or a crusty loaf. This makes for a satisfying lunch or light dinner.”

Moroccan Lentil Soup (serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

1 cup red lentils

1 cup diced onions

2-4 large garlic cloves, minced

1 cup canned, crushed tomatoes

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 of a teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads

6 cups vegetable stock

1 cup coconut milk (or other non-dairy milk)

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (or Balsamic Vinegar)

2 teaspoons rose water

Salt to taste

Place all ingredients except coconut milk, rose water, and salt into a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours, until the lentils are very soft. An alternate method is an instant pot. Pressure cook for 35 minutes, and let steam release on its own.

Remove and discard the bay leaves. Add the coconut milk and rose water, and stir well. Taste, and add salt as needed.

Can be made several days ahead and refrigerated. Reheat before serving.

Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.

Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com/subscribe

For the best tomato growing season ever, we have tips. Just a few tips.

Today’s newsletter podcast features excerpts from two episodes of the Garden Basics podcast, Episode 93 with America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, and Episode 259 with Don Shor, proprietor of Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis, CA. two tomato chats with these scenic bypasses for tomato success.

As the sign posted at Don Shor’s Redwood Barn Nursery proclaims: IT’S TOO EARLY.

Wherever you live, wait until nighttime temperatures are steadily above 50 degrees and the soil temperature where you’ll be planting is approaching 60 degrees. Less stress on the tomato plant means earlier, better growth. Note to tomato growers in the desert southwest: how were the tomatoes this past winter?

If you have never “moved up” your young tomato plants into larger pots, start that habit about a month or three weeks before you put them in the ground. Those tomato plants in their original three or four inch nursery containers (or HEAVEN FORBID! in a six-pack) may already be root bound. By the way, why would you want to plant six Early Girl or Better Boy or Sungold tomatoes, all of which would ripen at the same time? As Don Shor is fond of saying about your tomato garden: “Diversify your portfolio!”

Another tomato choosing task: if those tomato plants have been sitting in the nursery for more than a few weeks, or look like there about to tumble off the shelf, always turn over a tomato plant container at the nursery and make sure the roots aren’t coming out the bottom. Ditto for those tomato plants on your back patio, waiting to be planted. Watch for protruding roots! Root stress can set a tomato plant back. Sure, it will recover after it’s finally been planted in the ground, but it will take awhile. Meanwhile, tomatoes that have been repotted into larger pots can stretch their legs for a few weeks, putting on height and vigor to give you a “ready-to-grow” tomato plant once it is in the ground. Athletes warm up before an event. So should your tomato plants.

Even though the calendar says “April”, your soil is just beginning to wake up from winter. Early April is a great time to go shopping for tomato plants. Late April, and continuing through June, is the time to plant tomatoes into the garden. By the end of this month, the weather will be more conducive to rapid tomato plant growth because of more sun, warmer nights (steadily above 50 degrees) and warmer soil (60 degrees and above). But be prepared for sticker shock when shopping.

Checking out the garden center shelves of tomato plants recently at a big box store, tiny tomato plants in four-inch pots were selling for nearly six dollars; six-packs of tomato plants, which were even smaller, were approaching seven dollars.

“Yes, the prices have definitely gone up,” explains Don Shor, owner of Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis. “And there are a couple of reasons for that, besides the increasing cost of labor. One is the cost of heating greenhouses. You don't get tomato seedlings available in March and early April if you don't have a heated greenhouse. If you do it at home, you've got to start them indoors, move the young seedlings outdoors during the day, and then move them back in during the evening. They're not doing that in big commercial wholesale nurseries. They're using propane or natural gas to heat those greenhouses. Plus, greenhouses aren’t very effective when it's cloudy. And we've had a lot of cloudy days.”

Shor emphasizes a few rules for beginning tomato gardeners: don’t buy too many tomato plants, and “diversify your portfolio”. For the first time gardener, start with perhaps one plant per family member, maybe a total of five tomato plants. And those tomato varieties should be easy to grow hybrids (not necessarily heirlooms) of varying sizes, including a cherry tomato, a paste tomato, an early ripening full size tomato, a reliable main season tomato, and a variety that strikes your fancy, which could be an alluring heirloom variety.

“There's a whole group of red tomatoes that are classic and reliable,” says Shor. “Better Boy, Champion, Red Delicious, and Whopper. Those are four that I find very similar in their performance. The most consistent, year to year, has been Champion, which has an easy to remember name. But all those are good. Better Boy has been very consistent over the years.”

The key is: plant several different sized tomatoes that vary in ripening times as insurance in case of wild weather swings. Gardeners may remember last September, when the first nine days of the month sizzled with temperatures above 100, including three days above 110, with high temperature records falling by the wayside. For many tomato growers, including myself, most of the medium to large tomatoes shut down production for the year after that September heatwave. That was highly unusual for our area, where serving homegrown tomatoes on Thanksgiving is not uncommon. The ones that made it through that heat? The smaller, cherry-sized and slightly larger paste tomatoes.

“Diversify your portfolio,” says Shor. “Get some interesting sauce tomatoes, because in my experience, a lot of those are just very consistent. One of the best-known ones is Roma, which will produce almost no matter what you do. You can't go wrong with cherry tomatoes such as Sungold. Juliet is a variety that is a bit bigger than cherry sized, but firm and incredibly popular. But try to mix in different kinds and a couple of early ripening, mid-size varieties, such as Early Girl and New Girl.”

In our garden, consistent performers over the years have included the Sweet Million and Sungold cherry tomatoes, the slightly larger Gardener’s Delight, mid-season favorites Early Girl, New Girl, and Valley Girl, and a larger, long-season slicing tomato variety, such as Big Beef or Orange Oxheart.

One tip that many tomato growers are familiar with: plant your tomatoes horizontally, in a trench. Why? I will let Dr. Rick Sommer, PhD in Mathematics from University of California, Berkeley, and over 30 years experience teaching mathematics and logic at Stanford (and apparent tomato-head, as well) explain:

Trench planting is a special technique for the advanced tomato grower. It involves planting in the ground horizontly, and bending the stems so only the top portion is above the surface. Roots will develop along the length of the stem, forming a more massive root system, capable of supporting a larger plant. Also, more of the root mass will be near the surface, which means the roots will be warmer (this induces plant growth). Of course, having a substantial root system that reaches several feet below the surface is important for healthy plants, and trench planting is meant to contribute to that. A large healthy plant above the surface requires a correspondingly substantial root system below the surface.

I recommend that you bury the horizontal stem at least three inches below the surface. It is extremely important not to ever walk on the soil above the horizontal portion of the stem. Generally, walking too near your tomato plants will damage your root systems. It's good to have well defined walkways sufficiently close to the plants for tending and harvesting, but no closer than necessary. Establishing a walkway with stepping stones is one recommended way to help insure that no one will step too close to the plants.

Pictured here are the roots of one of my plants (Sun Gold) from last year; on this one about 14 inches of stem was buried horizontally. When it was full grown, the length of the stem on this plant (above the surface) was over 13 feet. It grew to the top of my 8 foot stakes, and then along horizontal bamboo polls on my overhead trellis.

They tell me that growing tomatoes is an addictive hobby. Nah…

A Garden Tip Every Day on Substack Notes

Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.

Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com/subscribe

If the idea of raising backyard chickens appeals to you, you just might be mulling over the thought, “Well, why not raise backyard bees, too?”

You may have listened to Episode 260 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, featuring urban chicken consultant Cherie Sintes-Glover discuss beginning a backyard chicken raising hobby. Cherie, besides being an urban chicken consultant, is also an apprentice Master Beekeeper. In today’s Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter podcast (above), she talks about how to get started raising bees. Her suggestions include:

• Although bees are available now (April-May), they are best ordered in the winter months, due to demand.

• Strive for ordering bees from local sources. Bees that are adapted to your climate have the highest success rate.

• Take local beekeeping classes in the winter, before you get bees. Learn about the equipment you will need, as well as learning about bee temperament. Check with your local bee supply company for class information in your area.

Cherie, a resident of San Joaquin County in Central California, is part of the Big Valley Beekeepers Guild, which is online at bigvalleybeekeepersguild.org. They also maintain an active page on Facebook. There, you can get a feeling for what’s involved with your new hobby!

Bees are one of the best pollinators to have flying around your food and flower gardens. It’s been said that bees are responsible for one out of every three bites of food you eat. Today, we take attracting bees to your garden one step further: how about raising your own hive of honeybees? Besides a honeybee conversation with Cherie Sintes-Glover, we talk on today’s newsletter podcast with one of the world’s foremost bee authorities, Dr. Norman Gary, on how you can become a successful honeybee hobbyist. That just so happens to also be the title of his book, “The Honeybee Hobbyist”.

The book contains:

* Detailed, practical instructions for hobby beekeeping

* Bee anatomy, behavior, and reproduction

* How to safely open a hive and use a bee smoker

* How to monitor hive conditions, prevent swarming, and deal with bee diseases

* Sting prevention and effective strategies for safe handling

* Fun uses for your beekeeping hobby, including entertainment and education

* Urban beekeeping, with updated information on beekeeping on rooftops and in city environments.

According to the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources on-line publication, Bug Squad:

Gary, known internationally as "The Bee Man," holds a doctorate in entomology (apiculture) from Cornell University and served on the UC Davis entomology faculty from 1962 to 1994. 

A beekeeper for seven decades and the author of Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees, he has written more than 100 publications, including scientific papers, book chapters and popular articles in beekeeping trade journals.  He drew widespread acclaim for wearing a head-to-toe suit of clustered bees while "Buzzin' with His Bee-Flat Clarinet." (As a professional musician, he performs in area bands, but sans the bees.)

"The Bee Man" holds the Guinness World record for keeping 109 bees inside his closed mouth for 10 seconds.    

You may have seen him and/or the bees he trained in action scenes in movies, television shows and commercials. His credits over the last 35 years include 18 films, including Fried Green Tomatoes; more than 70 television shows, including the Johnny Carson and Jay Leno shows; six commercials; and hundreds of live Thriller Bee Shows in the Western states.

Your Harvest to Better Health Begins at Dave Wilson Nursery!

Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.

Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardenbasics.substack.com/subscribe

Jumping worms, and the publicity about them, are spreading. Debbie Flower (America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor) and I talked about this in August of 2021 in Episode 126 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. We provided an update on Episode 217 in August of 2022 (listen to that chat in today’s newsletter podcast).

Jumping worms have been in the United States for more than a half century. And they’re moving around the country, with our unknowing help.

As Debbie pointed out in the podcast (above), one of the biggest threats is their poop. Because they tend to reside near the surface and move horizontally through the mulch layer, their poop is more highly mineralized and not incorporated deeper into the soil. Plus, that poop tends to be hydrophobic: it repels water. As a result, the soil fungi and bacteria that would be incorporating typical castings into forms of nutrients for plant availability isn’t happening. The biggest threat is to emerging native plants that would use the nutrients and moisture normally in the soil to germinate, either as understory plants in the forest, or freestanding wildflowers in pastures or prairies.

Verified, effective controls at this point, are still being studied. From Cornell University, come this:

“Research is currently being conducted on invasive worms at the University of Wisconsin and several practices do show some promise of control. Abrasive materials such as biochar (ground up charcoal) and diatomaceous earth (fossilized diatoms) may show some promise in killing adult jumping worms. Incorporate one of these products into the infested soil to a depth where the worms are located; worms that come in contact with the materials will be adversely affected.”

Again, that is ongoing research. Debbie and I, in the newsletter podcast, suggest other possible control measures, including using mustard to bring them to the surface, identify them as jumping worms, and discard them (the recipe is in the podcast).

Oh, you don’t want to listen? OK, here’s the transcript, which can also be found in Episode 217 of the Garden Basics podcast:

Sarah in Sacramento 

Hi, Fred and Debbie. This is Sarah from Sacramento. My question is about jumping worms. I've heard they're very destructive. And unfortunately, I recently found three in my yard. So I'd like to know a little more about them. My question has three parts. First, how much of a concern are these worms for the home gardener? And second, is there anything I could or should be doing about the jumping worms? Should I kill the worms when I find them, or just leave them be? And third, I keep reading that their castings deplete the soil? I'm wondering if that's actually true. And if so, why are these worms so different from other types of worms which are generally good for the soil? I have heard the jumping worms eat organic matter really quickly. So could I offset this by simply adding a lot more mulch? Any other advice for me? Thank you so much.

Farmer Fred 

Jumping worms. Yes, indeed. We've tackled this topic before here on the garden basics podcast, but the jumping worms are jumping all over the place. Debbie Flower is here, America's favorite retired college horticultural professor, and golly now we have them in our own backyard, Debbie.

Debbie Flower 

Yeah, that's unfortunate. Right.

Farmer Fred 

And one of the primary ways they spread is through fishing bait. If you go to a bait shop, you may see see worms intended for fishing, and they go by a variety of names, like jumping worm or Asian jumping worm or crazy worms or Alabama jumpers, or snake worms. Don't buy them. And if you do buy them and you have bait left over at the end of your little trip, get rid of them, put them in the trash. Yes, jumping worms, as the caller said,  they kind of destroy organic matter because they have a rather big mouthpiece.

Debbie Flower 

And super, super, super fast. And that's the problem. Regular earthworms that we're used to and maybe keep in our house to consume our kitchen waste also consume organic matter, but they do it much more slowly. And when the jumping worms consume all the organic matter on the surface of the soil, especially in forests or places around lakes or natural areas, then the  there is no organic matter on the surface of the soil that allows other plants, typically their native plants, in those situations, to establish and grow. And so it's causing fast destruction of the mulch layer  and is causing destruction of the native plants.

Farmer Fred 

And they live very shallowly. Unlike earthworms that tend to go vertically, the jumping worms tend to live horizontally.

Debbie Flower 

yes, just below the mulch layer and on top of the soil, that's one way to identify them. If you find a worm there, along with their, their poop, their feces, their black and crumbled, it looks like coffee almost, then that's probably a jumping worm. They're also recognizable because they do jump. And they have a white collar that goes all the way around one end, close to one end of the worm itself, much like a Nightcrawler, which is also used as bait. It has a collar. But in the Nightcrawler, it's kind of a pinkish color. And in the jumping worm, it's a white color, and it is smooth, it doesn't have any ridges in it.

Farmer Fred 

It's interesting how it's spread rather quickly, it was first reported back in around 1950, 1960, in the United States, it started off in the east, jumped over to the central states. And that's where it has changed the soil composition there in areas where it is living, its soil composition changes so that the soil is more water resistant, actually,

Debbie Flower 

Yeah, the soil becomes more mineral, because they're not bringing the organic matter into the soil like an earthworm would do. They leave it on the surface. And they've already broken it all the way down, the mineral component of soil becomes greater, but an ideal soil will have 45% mineral and then about 5% organic. That 5% doesn't sound like much, but it makes a huge difference in the quality of the soil.

Farmer Fred 

The soil gets so crumbly, that it does improve water percolation, but way too much.

Debbie Flower

Yeah, that's the problem there.

Farmer Fred

And it's basically not helping your plants out, because it's destroying that matter before the microbes in the soil have a chance to work it.

Debbie Flower 

Right, it's not bringing it down into the soil. The healthy soil has a poop loop. And the bigger things that we can see, like worms, first eat the organic matter, they get what they can from it, they poop out there. And then the next level of organisms eats their poop and does the same thing. They do their pooping and the next level of smaller organisms eats their poop, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And each one releases something different into the soil that is beneficial for the plants. And we don't get that poop loop with when we have the jumping worms.

Farmer Fred 

Oregon State University has a lot of good information online on the jumping worms. I'll have a link to that in today's show notes. And they advise that the jumping worms and their cocoons can be transported via soil, compost or other organic materials. So you want to check all that stuff when you're transporting material from one property to another, or bringing home a new purchase. And check all soil and organic material, especially if you're buying it from a sand and gravel yard, to make sure that it doesn't have any in there.

Debbie Flower 

right. And if you're getting soil from a community garden, or organic mulching going on  where you live. And let's say you're using your blower or rake to collect your leaves and you put them at the curb or you put them in your Greenwaste can. However you do that, because you can collect the egg cases with it. And then it goes to the organic waste station or maybe it gets used as mulch somewhere else. And so it can be transported that way. So knowing what it looks like, and that it's very close to the surface, is good when you bring home a potted plant. You can do the mustard check.

Farmer Fred 

The mustard check. Do I need to break out the French’s on this one?

Debbie Flower 

Yes, you do.

Farmer Fred 

Yeah, it's interesting about the fact that maybe your nursery is selling plants with those critters in them. Hopefully not. But check them before you leave, that's for sure. Oregon State advises to buy bare root stock when possible. Good luck on that. As more and more plants now are potted up before they even leave the wholesale nursery to make it easier for the retailers. If you do have the jumping worms in your yard and you know it, never share the compost, the mulch, the soil, or plants with a known infestation.

Debbie Flower

Here’s the mustard check. It takes mustard and water, and you pour it on the soil. The mustard irritates the jumping worms and they come up. It irritates all the insects and they will come to the surface.

Farmer Fred 

So that’s why I don't like mustard.

Debbie Flower 

It's great for leg cramps. The proportions were written here somewhere.

Farmer Fred 

How do you use mustard for leg cramps?

Debbie Flower

Just eat it.

Farmer Fred

Oh, okay.  I thought maybe spread it on your legs.

Debbie Flower 

Oh, that'd be lovely.

Farmer Fred 

One other way to control jumping worms is to heat the soil. Jumping worms and their cocoons are unable to survive temperatures above 104 degrees Fahrenheit . Increasing soil temperatures above that threshold is one way to manage jumping worm populations. You can tarp sections of soil or compost that received direct sunlight or temporarily place soil in plastic bins and place that in direct sunlight. Oregon State also says to control jumping worms, you could perform a controlled burn. Don't do that.

Debbie Flower 

No, no, especially not in the West. But the mustard solution is this: you mix a gallon of water with 1/3 cup of ground yellow mustard seed and pour this slowly into the soil. It won't hurt the plants. But worms, even good worms, will come to the surface and you can check for the bad guys.

Farmer Fred 

How long does it take for the worms to come up?

Debbie Flower 

It's going to be pretty quick. If I had known this when I was a kid, I would have done it with my grandfather's compost pile because he liked to collect worms for fishing. That  just irritates them. You know, the mustard?

Farmer Fred

What's in it that does that? The mustard?

Debbie Flower

I don't know, specifically.

Farmer Fred 

So again, that's 1/3 a cup of ground mustard seed to a gallon of water.  Dump that on your garden soil.

Debbie Flower 

One way of bringing them in is having them come in, in a container plant. So if somebody was using compost as the mix, some grower was using compost as the mix, or they set the containers on the ground, which is a no no, there should be gravel, etc. under the pots. And the worms crawled in the drain holes, let's say, and you want to just be sure that you're not bringing them into your pristine garden.

Farmer Fred 

That's the other reason to check all containers. When you buy them at the nursery. Look at the bottom of the container for slugs.

Debbie Flower 

Right. It's a common place for slugs to hide, right, say, brush it off.  If you hire equipment, somebody to rototill ,don't do that very often. Maybe you're starting a garden or somebody is going to aerate your soil. Or if you're in the business and you're bringing in even bigger equipment that has tracks etc, or big tires, there should be language in the contract you want it to come in clean ,soil free, and leave clean. That way. Ii’s not bringing the worms to you, or weed seeds for that matter. And it's not taking whatever's in your yard to the next person.

Farmer Fred 

And what also goes, if you have jumping worms, check your shoes. Because you don't want to be moving them around the yard.

Debbie Flower 

yes. So there's no particular control right now. There's no chemical, there's no one size fits all. So we have to be aware of them. We have to look for them. We have to do what we can to prevent spreading them

Farmer Fred 

The handout from Oregon State University is called, “Jumping Worms - a guide to identifying a new invasive species.” We'll have a link to that in the show notes and it has pictures of the worms. We will also have links to videos of the jumping worms where you can watch them jump, so you have a good idea of what you're dealing with. And yes, indeed they do jump. Jumping worms: they're jumping into a garden near you. So be on the lookout.

Debbie Flower 

Unfortunately, yeah.

Farmer Fred

Debbie Flower. Thank you.

Debbie Flower

You're welcome, Fred.

So, what’s a gardener to do? Don’t discard unused fishing bait worms into the soil; there’s a good chance they are jumping worms, which have proven to be, because of their thrashing about, excellent bait. Check any new soil in containers or bulk purchases carefully for jumping worms.

But basically, just keep gardening, keep incorporating compost into the garden!

We have written about jumping worms in this newsletter before:

From Beyond the Garden Basics Newsletter, Sept. 2021:

The damage that jumping worms (aka Asian Jumping Worms, Crazy Worms, Alabama Jumpers, or Snake Worms) can do to your garden soil.

(video originally produced by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources)

More on how jumping worms damage your soil structure, from Oregon State University:

Because they have very large mouths akin to mechanical excavators, jumping worms are able to grasp and consume large amounts. With their voracious appetite, they outcompete the native microbial organisms and invertebrates that other organisms feed on. Their propensity to eat all the litter creates bare soil where invasive plants and animals move in, altering native ecosystems. They also remove the mulch that helps cool the soil and conserve moisture,

Further, the castings – or fecal material – of most worms contain extremely important microbes that help fight soil-borne plant diseases and repel insects. Worm castings also improve soil structure by diversifying the size of soil particles, which enhances moisture penetration and increases water retention. With jumping worms, the outcome is the opposite. Since their gut biome is slightly different, there aren’t the same beneficial results.

“What they are casting out doesn’t absorb moisture well so you end up losing porosity, which affects the overall structure of the soil,” said Sam Chan, Oregon State University Sea Grant Extension watershed health and aquatic invasive species specialist. “Initially wet and gummy, the castings quickly dry into hard granules that are difficult to rewet, not the best medium for growing plants.”

The changes to soil structure and composition caused by the worm castings can attract certain unwanted microbes, which creates an increased susceptibility to disease and can cause girdled roots. Plant stems and roots at the surface of the soil may become exposed to more environmental extremes from the loss of litter and decomposed organic matter and changes to soil structure.

Jumping worms have been outlawed in many states, but not all, and can still be found online for fishing. Chan advises to be careful not to purchase jumping worms, also known as crazy worm, Asian jumping worm and snake worm, and to spread the word about their danger. Many people – even those who sell them – aren’t aware of their invasiveness.

To help decrease the spread of jumping worms, shake off the roots of plants when sharing or buying at a private plant sale. Buy bareroot plants when possible. Never share compost, mulch, soil or plants that contain a known infestation.

Nurseries are being careful, but it’s still a good practice to inspect the soil for cocoons when you transplant. If you find jumping worms in your garden, they will probably be in pockets rather than the whole garden. Brush off your shoes and equipment when you move from place to place in an effort to keep them from spreading. If they are in contained spaces, you can spread plastic to heat the soil. Once it reaches 104 degrees F, the cocoons die.

Thank you for also listening to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast! It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Please share it with your garden friends.

Fred Hoffman is also a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Sacramento County. And he likes to ride his bike.

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