Advice From the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
MGCC Help Desk Client: I've attached photos of our Patriot blueberry bush. Why are the leaves turning brown and curling? The problem began about a month ago. We tried to treat with acidifying powdered fertilizer, applied to the soil and cultivated in prior to watering. We water every other day or as needed (we check soil moisture with a short stick). The plant is now sending out new growth which looks relatively healthy.
Blueberriy showing sun burn/scald and/or water stress...
MGCC Help Desk Response: Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk with your blueberry question. You wrote that the leaves were turning brown and curling.
Your photographs were helpful. We think the plant has been experiencing sun scald and/or water stress. Several different factors may be contributing to this.
1. Blueberries have a shallow root system. During times of high moisture demand the roots may not be able to keep the leaves hydrated. This is especially true for container plants in full sun where during significant heat spells they will likely need water every day. To help the roots function, we recommend that you put an inch or two of mulch such as wood chips, or well-decomposed compost on the top of the soil (but keep it at least an inch away from the stems). This will help the soil to remain cool and reduce water loss.
2. Shallow rooted plants are susceptible to damage from cultivation. When you apply fertilizer or acidifier, just water it in without cultivating. Plants with damaged roots will have a much more difficult time absorbing sufficient water.
3. Shallow rooted plants need room to expand sideways in order to have an adequate root volume. We recommend that you re-pot your blueberry plant into a wider container in the fall once the weather cools down (e.g. November). Wait at least 4 weeks after re-potting before applying any fertilizer.
Additional information on growing blueberries can be found at this University of California website http://ucanr.edu/sites/gardenweb/files/29062.pdf.
I hope that this information is helpful.
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (JL)
Note: The UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).
Advice from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa
Scab spots showing on leaves
UCMGCC Help Desk Response: Thank you for sending in the photo of your Toyon. It was very helpful.
Based on the picture, it looks like your Toyon has a mild form of scab. Scab is caused by various types of fungus. Scab appears first as pale or yellow dots on leaves. Affected leaves can twist or pucker. At more advanced stages, which you do not seem to have, you would see dark, olive-colored spots on the leaves. You could also find soft, velvety spots on the undersides of the leaves.
Scab is spread through the air, and more importantly by splashing water. Hot dry weather usually slows the development of scab. The disease is most active during spring rains.
To limit the spread of the disease, remove and dispose in your garbage waste bin of any fallen leaves from the plant. Avoid any overhead watering. You may also want to prune the plant to open up the canopy to allow more air on the leaves.
For more information on scab, see http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/DISEASES/scab.html
For information on pruning, see http://extension.oregonstate.edu/linn/sites/default/files/pruning_pub_handout2012.pdf
Note that there are two basic types of pruning cuts: thinning (which remove entire branches) and heading (which shorten branches). You want to focus on thinning cuts which reduce plant density. See page 2 of the document for the complete descriptions of the differences.
Please let us know if you have further questions.
Good luck with your Toyon.
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa (ECS)
Note: The UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa
Client's Request: My coworker brought me some red onion seeds from Mexico. I have a small garden bed in my backyard and wanted to get some general info. on planting them. Some of the questions I had were: -How deep should I plant the seeds? -how far apart? how often should I water them? and what nutrients do they need to thrive?
UCMGCC Help Desk Response: Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Help Desk with your question about onion seed from Mexico.
Please help protect California agriculture by not importing foreign pests or diseases!!
If the seeds did go through inspection at the border and were Ok'd for entry, then it would be Ok to use them.
Onion seed should be planted 1/4 inch deep. Plants should be 4 - 5 inches apart - you can plant the seed more closely and then thin to the proper distance once you see which seedlings are the strongest. You may also be able to eat the “thinnings”.
If you live in west county, plant between January and September. If you live in a warmer part of the county, plant between February and October.
Keep the soil moist until the plants have emerged and look sturdy. Onion is a high water needs plant. Additional information on watering and harvesting can be found here http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/CULTURAL/onionwatering.html
Fertilizer needs depend upon the quality of your soil. You should test your soil for the 3 main nutrients: nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. You should also do a pH test, since if pH is high, micronutrients may not be available to the plants. Relatively inexpensive soil test kits can be purchased at garden centers. Or, if you prefer, you can send a soil sample to be analyzed by a commercial laboratory. A suggested list of laboratories can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/files/51308.pdf. You'll want to visit their websites to learn how to take and submit samples, and what the service will cost. Once you know the condition of your soil, you can determine what nutrients would need to be added, if any. If you needed further advice about fertilizing once you have your soil test results, feel free to contact us again. Additional information on fertilizing can be found here: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/CULTURAL/vegefertilizing.html.
More information about growing onions can also be found at this University of California website: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/onions.html.
I hope that this information is helpful and you get some great onions.
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (JL)
Note: The UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).
Client: I'm somewhat disappointed in my garden's performance this year. Or maybe it's me. However, I'm thinking that my soil isn't what it used to be. I know you frequently recommend soil testing for struggling gardeners. Could you please remind me of how to test my soil?
UCMG Help Desk: Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk with your question about soil testing. Healthy soils will definitely improve your garden's performance
Alternatively, you could take samples of your soil and send them to a commercial laboratory for analysis. This would allow you to test for additional variables, including organic matter and any micronutrients you may have an interest in. Attached below is a list of laboratories you could consider. You'll want to visit their websites to help you chose which laboratory to use and what to test for. The websites should also have information on how to take and submit the soil sample for analysis. We do recommend contacting the laboratory to confirm how and what to sample. They will most likely have special equipment and procedures that they will recommend that you use to assure accurate results. The laboratory should also be able to provide you with guidance on what the results mean and how to apply the results to your garden.
If you decide that you need help to understand the results of your tests, we would be happy to help you with that.
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa County (JL)
Note: The UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).
Soil Test Kits UC Davis Garden Web
Soils Testing Laboratories for Home Gardeners v20160322p (03-16)
Advice From the Help Desk
of the UC Master Gardener Program
While the plants featured by the several organizations are California native plants, they may not be "native" to where the garden was actually located. Have you ever wondered what the “native plants” were where you actually live and garden? Well, the California Native Plant Society along with UC's Jepson Herbarium (and many other herbariums and collectors) did and they have implemented a very useful graphic database on the web, www.calscape.org, that has cataloged what actually was native to your garden … right down to your address. So now you can "easily" plant and grow what was originally “native” vs. what “natives” you could grow… maybe. Their efforts are at www.calscape.org.
Below are edited excerpts from the “About” page of calscape.org to entice you to check it out:
“About Calscape
Our goal at Calscape is to help Californians restore nature and save water one garden at a time. We do this by showing people which plants are really native to any location in the state, helping them figure out which ones they want, and where to buy them and how to grow them.
California is an extremely environmentally diverse state. Different California native plants evolved to grow in areas of the state with very different temperatures, rainfall levels, summer drought periods, air moisture levels, and marine influences, among other factors. Because of this, it's always best to grow California native plants in the areas in which they evolved. They are easier to grow, healthier and require little or no artificial irrigation when they are planted in an area in which they evolved and naturally belong. Native California plants that aren't really native to that location will often struggle or die no matter how much you water them.
True native plants are the foundation for nature restoration. They attract birds, reptiles, amphibians, small mammals and insects and other pollinators that evolved with those plants, and over time create a working natural ecosystem, without pesticides, and without artificial fertilizers. The bird life in particular in a true natural garden is often spectacular. With the right plants, it's not hard for homeowners to create small patches of nature throughout even the developed part of the state.
Our estimates for which plant species naturally grow in each square mile of California are based on algorithms using the GPS locations of over a million field occurrences of native California plant species provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, the 36Jepson geographic subdivisions, and detailed elevations profiles within each square mile of California.
Sources of plant photos include Calphotos, and dozens of amazing plant photographers who have agreed to share their photos with Calscape. Authorship and copyright information is shown under each plant photo.
Other sources include Wikipedia, which is an important source for the "About" sections in the Calscape plant pages. In many cases the sections have been edited and built on by Calscape volunteer editors. …
[S]unset information was provided by The Jepson Flora Project.
Propagation from seed information was provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery.
Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson eFlora, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout.”
The input and effort for Calscape.org is very impressive, solid, and can only get better as it allows for edited input on locations, plants, etc. (e.g., think Wikipedia) If you are interested in the impetus that led to calscape.org and how it was “built”, Dennis Mudd, one of calscape.org leaders provided some details in a recent radio interview. (He was also the founder of the digital music website Slacker.) He said he was motivated to construct this website because he planted so many drought-tolerant plants in his San Diego garden that died. But he couldn't find a site which told him what he should be planting instead. Thank you Dennis!
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa (SIM)
Note: The UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).
