Ahhhhhhh the summer season is in full progress here in the High Desert and all plants are doing what they do. Watch out for spider mites (those micro sized bugs that are on the underside of leaves and sucking out the juice on needles of various  evergreens) as they can cause some serious damage to some of your plants. Some of the common plants you may want to pay close attention to are Alberta Spruce, Colorado Spruce, Potentilla, Cucumbers, Fushias, and some of your rose bushes. A hand held lens will help in identifying their presence. You should also monitor for disease such as powdery mildew. It can realy cause some damage to your roses, summer squash, garden peas, and perennial lupins. It appears as a white powdery substance on the leafs surface. Some flowering crabapples can also be affected. We (Redmond Greenhouse) stock a pretty good system fungicide drench as well as a good topical spray. As always include a spreader sticker when spraying. Another tip is to water the target plant in the mornning and spray in the evening. Three sprays, seven to ten days apart.

If you are in need of a tree or two now is a very good time to plant. Through my thirty some odd years in the business I see greater success with planting at this time of the year versus spring or fall. The soil is warm the nights are warm and the plants want to realy grow. As long as you can provide lots of water a trees roots will take hold in as little as two weeks……. Grass and wildflower seed will also germinate in as little as a week. Quick action like this ensures your efforts of satisfaction.

Meanwhite out in the berry patch keep a watchful eye on prolific suckers and runners. Too many suckers will weaken the parent plant and reduce the quality of the berries. Runaway runners will potentialy stop almost all berry production. You may also want to watch for damagiing insects on your berries. Boy oh boy can they slow down and reduce the quality of the fruit. “Spinosad” seems to be working pretty good for mites and thrips if you are looking for organic control.

Annoying root suckers from trees (aspens, chockcherries, crabapples) and shrubs (lilacs, sumac) can be contolled by a product we carry called “Sprout Inhibitor”.

A liquid or granular product by Fertilome will assist in internal insects (borers, leaf miners, scale) on such trees as Quaking Aspen, Willows, and Maples. If you see sap oozing from some of your evergreen pine trees you may also want to treat them with an insecticide. We carry an injectable product that has proving itself. This product can also be used on locusts and ash trees with boring insects.

Last but no least make sure to do DEEP watering on all your green and growing plants and lawns. Water in the morning and do any spraying in the evening.

Hope the summer is treating you well. The crops are starting to roll in and the smiles are starting to show. I have even seen a couple of tomatoe juice stains on a few of your white t shirts……………. Ah you just have to love the summer season……. Enjoy…. Doug

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 5:25 am and is filed under My Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.