VOL. 6, NO. 6 University of Arizona Cooperative Extension JUNE 1995

Cochise County Master Gardener

Nen/dteUe/iUniversity of Arizona and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating.

Pick a Peck of Peppers

"A watched pot of water doesn't boil," andpeppers seem like they don't do anythingeither.

A person shouldn't become frustrated because the pepper seeds or the peppers youtransplanted just seem to sit there and smile.Seeds or transplants need hot weather and hotsoil in order to grow. The soil should beslightly acidic. That means you don't plant themwhere you put lots of lime. There are two typesof peppers; hot and sweet and both should tantalize a person's taste buds.

Gardener, Dick Raymond, in his book, Dawnto Earth Principle Gardening Know How^ suggests tearing matches from a matchbook andplacing three or four in the ground where youare to plant one pepper plant. You should dothis with each plant. The peppers seemto enjoythe sulfur on the matchhead because the sulfur

lowers the pH ofthe soil around the plant.Peppers need fertilizer, but they don't appre

ciate getting it in large doses. It is a good ideato put compost or manure under the plantswhen they are transplanted, and if you are usingseeds get the area ready prior to putting theseeds into the ground. Side dress them with

rich organic fertilizer when they blossom. Keepthe insects offwith rotenone or Sevin.

People sometimes ask, "How do I get redpeppers?" The answer to that question is simpleenough. Any pepper will turn red if it is left onthe plant long enough. This is true with hotpeppers, Hungarian Yellow Hots and even California Wonders.

One more trick. When the plants first startto blossom, take an old spray bottle and add aspoonful of Epson salts. Fill the rest ofthe bottle with lukewarm water and shake the contents

so it will go into solution. Spray the mixtureright on the leaves of the plant. The plants likethe magnesium in the Epson salt, and soon theleaves Avill turn green and the fhiits should beplentiful.

Barry R. Bishop

Master Gardener/StaffWriter

Cochise County Cooperative Extension1140 N. Colombo, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635 450 Haskell, WQIcox, AZ 85643(520) 458-1104, Ext 141 (520) 384-3594

Cuttings "N"Clippings

>• Recently a good friendcame to my rescue when I wassufTering with a severe headache. She brewed me some fe

verfew tea. Feverfew is an herb

that we can easily grow. Thisperennial is a strongly scented 2- 3 foot plant whose leaves andflowers are effective in easingmigraine headaches while givinga sense of well-being. Theflower is a creamy yellow aboutan inch across.

> Here is a secret from

the beauty parlor. Are you getting your hair cut? Rather thanletting it get swept away, usethose clippings in your compostpile. Hair has a high nitrogencontent like wool or silk. Six to

seven pounds ofhair contain approximately one pound of nitrogen or as much as is found in100-200 pounds of manure. Ifkept well moistened, hair disintegrates easily.> Problems with June

bugs? Try this old-fashionedremedy. Place a pan of buttermilk with a little sugar sprinkledon top in your garden or orchard. The bugs are attractedto it and drown.

> I'm sure everyone hasheard that a pan of t^r will attract snails. Well, if you'reworking in the garden and findyou drank up all your brew, justlay your empty cans or bottlesin the garden and you'll findthem full of snails as they are attracted to the smell.

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> Now is the time to try thistasty recipe:

Fried Squash Blossoms1/2 cup flour1/2 tsp baking powder1/4 tsp garlic salt1/4 tsp ground cumin

1 egg1/2 cup milk1 tbs vegetable oiladditionaloil for frying12 largefreshly pickedblossoms

Combine flour, baking powder, garlic salt and cumin.

In another bowl combine

egg, milk, and 1 tbs. vegetableoil. Beat well and add to dry ingredients. Stiruntil smooth.

Heat 2 inches ofoil in skillet

to 375®. Dip blossoms in batterand fiy a few at a time untilcrisp. Drain on towel.

Enjoy!

Linda QuintMG Trainee

r—^Newdetter Staff:

Bany R. BishopCarolyn GraenhagenElizateth RiordonVirginia Westphal

Robert E. Call, ExtensionAgent-Horticulture

BVC Classes

Continue

Join the University of Arizona CooperativeExtension andthe Border Volunteer Corps fora free lecture series coveringtopics that will help you to enhance your property and conserve natural resources."Brown bag" sessions at noonand again at 7:00 pm will beheld at the University of Arizona, Sierra Vista Campus.Topics and dates are:June 14: IrrigationJune 21: Erosion ControlJune 28: Horse Grazing on

SmallpropertiesYou are welcome to attend

just one talk or come to all ofthem. For further information,caU the BVC at 458-8278, Ext.139, or stop by the oflBce theyshare with the Master Gardeners at the U of A, Sierra VistaCampus.

Freeze hit area

crops hard!

WILLCOX (AP) - Late freezeskilled off about 99 percent ofsouthern Arizona's apple cropand ruined about hdf of thearea's pecan and pistachio harvest, a horticulturist says.

"We haven't seen damagethis extensive to all the orchards

before," said Ann Holcomb,owner of Apple Annie's Orchard, which has been in business since 1986.

This year, the apple orchardswere damaged heavily by aMarch 26 freeze after a mild

winter led to early blooms.

THE AGENT'S

OBSERVATIONS

QUESTION: My mesquitetrees have brown round bumpson many of the limbs. In factsome of the branches have ooze

dripping from them. Is thissc^e?ANSWER: Yes, the problem isscale, soft brown scale, in fact.Scale are a "super family" ofover 200 insects that feed on

plant sap while females protectthemselves with a soft or hard

"shell" body covering. Males can be Scales - over 200 specieswinged. Scale pro- Coocoideasuperbmilyduce young by eggs v,•or by bearing Uveyoung. The young,called crawlers, maycrawl out from un

der mother's cover

ing and move toanother location,usually close by, andthen set up "housekeeping." One tofive generations willbe produced eachyear depending onthe species and environmental condi

tions. Scale are protected bythe covering they make forthemselves and it is very hard topenetrate with pesticides.CONTROL: Physical removalby spraying a hard stream ofwater may work, however manytimes they are stuck on the plantvery tightly. Even rubbing off"the scale with a stiff brush can

be effective. Using systemic insecticides can help control scale

but many times does not workvery well. Suffocating or penetrating their "shell" are methodsalso used to kill this pest. Dormant oil sprays are used whenplant leaves are no longerthan ahalf inch in early spring. Ifusedlater, leaf damage may occur.Rubbingalcohol applied to scalewill penetrate their waxy shellcoveting and kill them. Use70% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, mixing 1 to 2 cups of alcohol per quart of water. Sincealcohol can damage some plantsfirst test spray on a small area.

Wait for a day ortwo to see if damageoccurred, if not it issafe to spray. Youcan mix insecticidal

soap up according tothe label directions

but substitute rub

bing alcohol for halfof the water. A

recipe that hasproven effective inthe past for scalecontrol and other in

sects is made by mixing one cup cookingoil plus I tablespoonof dish detergent(non-citrus). Mix

one to two teaspoons of this solution with one cup of water.Spray mixture on the infectedplant until it drips off. It is bestto spray a few leaves and thencheck for leaf bum the next daybefore spraying the entire plant.With many of these treatmentsthe scale will not drop off of theplant but will remain attachedeven though they are dead. Prysome off several days aftertreatment to determine if the

Winged male

of femalo scales

scale are dead,

again.If not treat

QUESTION: I have pear, apple, peach, nectarine, plum, apricot and cherry trees whichhave new leaves that are curlingup aroimd the edges and are deformed. Is this peach leafcurl?ANSWER: Peach leaf curl iscausedby a fungus and does notaffect pear and apple trees. Theproblem at hand is caused bythe western flower thrip or onion thrip. Thrips are small,l/25-l/50th inch long or so, andlay their eggs in flower or leafbuds or on very young leaf tissue. They feed with their rasping sucking mouth parts andcause irreversible damage to theplant tissue, flowers, and fhiit.Five to 15 generations per yearcan be produced. To see if youhave thrips, hold a piece ofwhite paper under the damagedleaves and t^ them sharply.Thrips will fall on the paperandstart to walk around. Theyrarely fly becausethey are weakflyers but will hop. There havebeen vast numbers of thrips thisyear because of the good winterrains we had which caused coolseason weeds, mustard particularly, to thrive. Thrip populations build up to high levels onthese weeds and when they diedown, due to warm weather, thethrips migrate to fiuit trees,roses and other perennial flowers.

CONTROL: Thrips are hard tocontrol once they are inside abud because they are protected.Systemic pesticides do helpwiththrips on roses, peonies, andother perennial flowers. Hang

Pages

up blue or yellow sticky traps tocatch adults as they move intoan area. Diatomaceous earth

applied to the underside of theleaves my also be helpful. As alast resort sprays of insecticidalsoap, rubbing alcohol or otherinsecticides may be helpful. Thebest thing to do is controlweeds where thrips are living inthe early spring. Annuallycheck weeds on your propertyto see if thrips are there. Usethe

method Tbrlpsdescribedabove.Generallyplants willoutgrowthe dam

age caused by thrips by produc-ii^ new leaves, but damagedleaves flowers and fhiit will notbe mended.

Source: Can Anna et. al.Chemical-Free Yard and Gardening. 1991. Rodale Press,Inc., Emmaus, PA. pp. 242,244.

Robert E. CallExtension Agent, Horticulture

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>

JUNE REMINDERS

Check tree ties

Remove stakes if tree can stand by itsdfMulch trees & shrubsRemove faded flowers and fertilize rosesStake tomato plants and watch for curly top-remove

Prevent blossom end rot on cucumbers*squash, melons & tomatoes by even wateringWater! Water! Water!

"H

-m

Twenty-five people were awarded certificates as Master Gardener Trainees at anawards dinner following their completionof the Master Gardener Training Course.Approximately 75 people, including MasterGardeners from previous classes and familymembers, were in attendance at the University of Arizona, Sierra Vista CampusConference Room for this annual eventheld this year on May 17. Rob Call, Extension Agent, gave out the certificates andCheri Melton, new MG trainee, with thehelp of the children present, gave out numerous door prizes and a special t-shirt toRob Call. Many thanks to new MG trainees, Jo Babbie, Darlene Bohner, WinifredDill (who made all the adorable centerpieces), and Diane Goates for their organizational efforts - itwas a fun evening. Wecongratulate all the new trainees and wishthem good luck as they continue on to become Master Gardeners.

J

m-

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^ Garden Tip^ Number 4217

At this time of the year insouthern Arizona most gardeners are concerned about gettingenough water to their plants.May and June here in Cochisecounty are the hottest and driestmonths of the year. The calicheand clay soil in most of my yardis now baked as hard as con

crete, and I can actually watchmy plants desiccate in the hot,dry winds.

Gettingwater to the roots ofplants under these conditions isvery difficult. If you apply thewater too fast, most of it runsoff and the rest wets only a thinlayer of soil just below the sur-face. The trick is to apply thewater very slowly over a longperiod of time. I have developed a system to help me watermy trees and shrubs that doesjust that. Using this system Ileave the water on for severalhours (sometimes even overnight) and can thoroughly wetthe soil around my plants to adepth of three feet or more.Even under the hottest and driest conditions, the trees wateredthis way can go for a week ormore between drinks.

The system is easily madeout of materials that are readilyand cheaply avmlable in anyhardware store or garden shop.The heart of the system is theblack weeping soaker hosemade out of recycled

automobile tires. You can either buy this hose in bulk without fittings or in 25 or 50 footlengths \wth male and female fittings installed. I cut up piecesof a 50 foot hose that had suffered an accident and needed repair anyway. The othermaterials required are two female hose couplings of the kindyou can install yourself and a"Y" fitting with shutoff valves.The whole lot shouldn't run

much more than ten dollars.

To construct the system, cuta piece of the hose to a lengththat will form a circle largeenough to fit just inside the dripline of the tree or shrub youwant to water. You should remember being taught back inthe fifth gradeor so that the circumference of a circle is pitimes the diameter, where pi isequal to a little more than 3. Tofigure out how long to cut thehose, measure the diameter ofthe drip line circle you want towater and cut the hose to three

times that length. Now attach afemale coupling to each end ofthe hose. To finish the construction, all you need to do isattach the female end of "Y" fitting to the end of a regular hoseand each of the female coupling

on the ends of your soidcer hoseto the other ends of the "Y". Ifyou want to water a largerplant, you can extend the lengthof the soaker hose with anothersoaker hose that has male andfemale fittings on eitherend.

To usethe system, fiisten thesoaker hose around the plantyou want to water and turn thewateron very slowly (a 5 gal/hrdelivery rate works well forme). Leave the soaker on forseveral hours until the soil iswetted to a depth of two tothree feet. By shutting bothvalves on the "Y" fitting, youcan unfasten the soaker fi'omoneplant and move it to anotherwithout having to change thedelivery rate of the water at thefaucet. Happy watering.

Gary A. GruenhagenMaster Gardener

Ifyou love gardening, don'tmiss the Southwestern

Low Pesert Gardeningand Landscaping Conference, presented i?y Mar-,icopa County MasterGardeners, August11-15 at the Arizona

Siitmore Conference

Center, Phoenix, AZ.For info, contact

Cathy Neai at (602)470-6066, Ext. 354

or write 4341 E. Broad

way, Phoenix, AZ 650^

U>.ed in fiirtherance ofCooperative Extension work, acts ofMay 8and June 30.1914, in cooperation with the Uni^State Dqwitj^ ofnireoinr Cooneralive F.irtansinn Colleae ofAcriculture. The University ofArizona and Arizona Couitfies cooperating. TheUiuvereity ofAnzona Colle^ ofApcultureismDirector, Cooperative Extension, College ofAgriculture, The University ofArizona I-™.-— —•'V'Tfr .u«« Tn<h«ii<n>i»>r>ltniievequal opportunity employer authorized to provide leseaich, educational informalirai arid other services only to individuals and institutions that function witbwit regard to sex,race, religion, coIot, national origin, age, Vietnam EraVeteran's status, ordisability. iThe infomiaUon given herein is supplied with the understanding that no discrirrnnation is intoided and no endorseniem by Cooperative Extension is inqmea.Any products, services, or organizations ftat are mentioned, shown, or indirecUy impBed in this publication do not imply endorsemait by die University ofArizona.

• Page 5

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

TUCSON, ARIZONA 85721

OFnCIAL BUSINESS

PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE $900

BULK RATE

POSTAGE & FEES PAIDUSDA

PERMIT No. G268

r^,

DO YOU BEUEVE IN MAGIC?Van Stetler

MG Trainee

I like to invite hummingbirds Ldce the bergamots (Monarda)Into my butterfly garden And Bee Balm, Oswego-Tea,

With large "Red Magic" daylillies Sweet Williams, White ConeBo^, Blue Delphinium,That they may see from a mile away. J'rst to name the best ofafew.

ei^ver. Blue Delphinium,

An exotic Trumpet Vine or two.With three inch orange trumpets

Like the hybrid "Nfodame Galen"That play blooms till those frosty autumn dawns.

And Blue DelphiniumThat raise up showy spikes.

Or Pink Coreopsis roseaThat covers the ground so nice.

So gloriinis, just fbr the butterfliesWe have bright "Orange Glory" flowers,

Asclepsis tuberosa,That bloom from mid to late summer's end.

Also the potent deep purple Butterfly Bush,Buddleia davidii "Black Knight."

Now I wish 1were a butterfly tooSo I could sample some sugaiy delights.

SonowI mayhave sweet smelling memoriesOf mybutterfly and hummingbird garden.

And some say"Humbug! Sowhat?""What's in it for me?"

And I can Just sigh and say,"Only all the magic

That the hummingbirds, bees.And colorful butterflies can bring."

"Do you believe in magic?"I do.

Best of all when it's real

And no illusion.

So treat your favorite garden visitorsTo some flower flesh colors

And backyard sugaiy delights.It's magic... just add water.