Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Farm & Home News with Rex Dollar

Summer can be hard on flowers and vegetables, especially those being grown in containers.

Container-grown flowers and vegetables need to be monitored daily for watering needs. Container plants have a limited root area, and dry out quickly on hot days, especially those plants sitting in full sun. Daily watering may be needed.

Remember that frequent watering helps to leach nutrients out of containers. Regular fertilization will help keep these plants in top form.

Newly planted trees and shrubs need extra moisture during hot and dry weather. Their root systems are still somewhat limited and not able to draw moisture from a large area of soil. Keep them moist and well mulched.

Avoid any fertilizer until next spring.

Powdery mildew can be a problem this time of year on plants such as crape myrtles, lilacs, phlox and dogwoods. This condition looks like someone coated the foliage with talcum powder. On new leaf growth, some curling and die back may occur on the leaf tips with heavy infestations.

Light applications are simply a nuisance, heavy attacks would benefit from a spray of funginex or daconil.

When using any pesticides (insecticides, fungicides or herbicides) make sure your plants are well watered before application.

When temperatures are high and moisture levels low, the plants may take up too much of the pesticides in search of moisture which may result with burned foliage.