Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
The image at right shows the weird ones laying on the wood (you can see the crease where I tested each one for 'snap'. I appreciate any insight you might have, this is my third year growing peas and the first time it's ever happened.
UCMGCC Help Desk Response: Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk with a question about your snap peas. Snap peas' pods will naturally become woody or tough when they are too mature (late Spring for most County gardeners, a little later in West County). This is a common problem. You should harvest them just as the peas fill out. Waiting even a bit longer risks having tougher, woody pods. Most County vegetable gardeners grow Snap Peas as spring fill-in crops and harvest and pull them moving on to summer crops.
I hope this information is useful. Happy gardening!
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SEH)
Note: UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 608-6683, 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 Biog.
Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
MGCC Help Desk Response: Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk. You asked about carpenter bees boring a hole in your roof beams and how to get rid of them without killing them. From your description and the description of the holes, it does indeed seem likely they are carpenter bees, but we would recommend getting a positive identification before taking control measures. These very large bees with a loud buzz are quite obvious, the females being large and shiny black. The males are those beautiful golden fuzzy 'teddy bear' bees. You may also see pollen-laden bees entering the hole to feed their babies!
Only the females build nests, boring a tunnel into soft wood, leading to one or several nest cavities. They do not create hives, but several females may use the same tunnel for the nest. They mate and lay eggs in the spring, the young bees developing over several months - there is only one generation each year. These bees can indeed damage wood structures, but unless there are many holes you probably have time to consider control methods. As you do not want to kill them, and there may be young brood inside the nest at this point, you might want to wait until late summer after the bees have emerged. Then you can plug the holes and paint or stain the wood to discourage any further nesting.
Here are some UC links with more information on this bee, and how to manage them.
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7417.html
https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8049
We couldn't find any information on how to remove them without killing them - it also seems that even if the adults are excluded, the young bees can chew their way out of the nest after they hatch. So if you can wait, I think you would be fine waiting until later in the summer to paint and fill the holes, and then hopefully they will cause no further problems. Meanwhile, enjoy these beautiful and useful creatures in your garden.
If you are a DIY person, there are plenty of articles found via Google for fixing the holes as well as techniques to assure that the bees don't come back (they can be homing to their birthplace). And there may be contractors around that specialize in "fixing" the problem.
Good luck with this!
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program ofContraCosta County (SMW)
Note: UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 608-6683, 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.
Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
Good Bug for Milkwood
Client Gardener from Mid-County: Hello Master Gardeners, can you tell me who this guy is, and whether he's a friend or foe? Thanks,
Client Gardener from Mid-County (Again): Actually, never mind, it's the nymph of a small milkweed bug, isn't it? Finally found it online - wasn't seeing at first because they mostly have pictures of adults. Will continue to ignore them since they are harmless.
These bugs have few predators as they feed on toxic milkweed that makes them distasteful. Their red and black coloring also sends this same warning signal to predators.
Below are two links with additional information.
https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=22729
https://bugguide.net/node/view/460
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you again for contacting our office!
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (JMA)
Note: UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 608-6683, 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.
Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
Client's Request: I'm trying to grow Mimulus in ground and in pots the last several years and not having any success. Would you please provide me guidance. Thank You.
To successfully grow most flowers, it is important to follow these basic guidelines:
- Choose the right plant for where you plan to plant.Use the best and most suitable soil for your plant.
- Read the tag for the watering requirements. Some plants need water often, while others require it only infrequently.
- Make sure your plant has the right light exposure.
- Remove faded flowers to encourage more flowering. Pinch off growth tips to encourage a bushier plant.
- Follow guidelines for fertilization and preferably use organic fertilizers.
- Consider using a mulch to keep soil cooler, retain moisture and limit weed growth.
- Watch for and manage pests.
On the other hand, there is a mimulus species that is a California native and is drought tolerant and a perennial. Bush monkeyflower, or sticky monkeyflower (also spelled monkey flower), are erect or sprawling woody perennial mimosa plants. They get their name from the funnel-shaped, two-lipped flowers that are said to resemble grinning monkey faces. Monkeyflowers bloom in spring and summer and have exuberant 1 to 2 inch blossoms that range in color from white to yellow, orange, or red. They flower better in full sun but will tolerate part or even full shade. The 1 to 3-inch leaves range in color from green to silver, and can sometimes be sticky and hairy. Monkeyflower is native to southwestern North America, from southwestern Oregon and south through most of California. It's important to be careful when choosing a monkeyflower species for your yard because some varieties are native to the coastal areas and aren't as drought tolerant. The Mimulus diplacus species is the drought-tolerant woody perennial you should choose.
Here are several links that provide additional information:
- growing Mimulus: http://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/garden-help/water-wise-plants/full-plant-list/?uid=64&ds=833.
- How to grow mimulus from seed: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/grow-mimulus-40769.html.
- http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/monkeyflower.html.
I hope this information is helpful and let us know if you have any further questions.
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (EKP)
Note: UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 608-6683, 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.
Advice for Home Gardeners from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
Help Desk Response: Thanks for contacting the UC Master Gardener Help Desk about the problem you are observing on your nectarine tree.
Your nectarine tree is showing the classic symptoms of a fungal disease commonly called "peach leaf curl". It is a common problem for both peaches and nectarines, particularly in years when we have abundant rains as has now occurred this year. The fungal spores that spread the disease can be spread through splashing water and rain.
As you may already have noticed, typically the affected leaves turn yellow or brown and can remain on the tree or may fall off; they are replaced by a second set of leaves that develop more normally unless wet weather continues. Most often the disease will not show up on the developing fruit, but occasionally it does affect fruit, causing corky areas to develop on the fruit surface. Those fruits are still okay to eat—just cut away the affected area.
Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do now to stop the disease on your tree. The typical management approach for controlling peach leaf curl is to use a fungicide in the late fall or early winter months when the tree is dormant. The use of fungicides when the tree is dormant can control the development of the spores that usually survive the hot summer months on the surface of the tree bark. Those spores are reactivated by winter rains and attack the leaves when they emerge in the spring. You should plan now to consider applying such a fungicide in early December, particularly if we are having frequent rains. Just try to schedule the fungicide spraying for a time when you expect to have several successive days of dry weather so that the fungicide can work and not be washed off the tree. You can learn more about peach leaf curl and the use of fungicides to control it at this University of California website: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7426.html
Since fungal spores may also be present on the fallen leaves, it is a good idea to pick up all fallen leaves. Don't put them in your compost pile unless you have a pile that regularly achieves and maintains high temperatures. If your compost piles doesn't have those high temperatures on a regular basis, you can dispose of the leaves in a green bin that goes to a waste company's compost area. Fortunately, those sites typically have compost piles that achieve the high temperatures needed to kill fungal spores.
If you have not yet fertilized your tree, this would be a good time to feed. Just be careful not to use too much fertilizer. It would be better to use less now and re-apply some additional fertilizer is about a month or six weeks. Here's a link to more information on peach tree care: http://homeorchard.ucanr.edu/Fruits_&_Nuts/Peach/ which also applies to nectarine trees.
We hope that this information is helpful. You're welcome to contact us again if you have other questions.
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (TKL)
Note: UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 608-6683, 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.