Upcoming January/February Classes

Thursday, January 18th, 9:30am-12:30pm, Spring Around the Corner. Learn spring prep ideas, how to prune/train small trees, and what’s an invasive plant. Cost $5. Registration/payment deadline January 16th. Call 255-7450. Saturday, January 20th, 9am-Noon, Vegetable Seed Starting Class. Join us for a make and take vegetable seed starting class. $15, Pre-registration and pre-payment required. Payment options: Online: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vegetable-seed-starting-class-tickets-39413722505 Or by mail: include your name, address & phone number. Send check made payable to: University of Florida. Address to: Vegetable Seed Starting Class. Friday, January 26th, 10am-12:30pm, My Duval Yard, Learn what it takes to have a Florida-Friendly Landscape. After attending, you can request a yard review by the Yard Advisor Team if you live in Duval County. $10 to attend. Call Sarah 255-7450 to register by January 23rd.

January & February Canning Classes: Pre-registration and pre-payment required for all classes. Cost is $20 per person. Call Jeannie 255-7450 to register. A ll classes below are 9am to Noon.

Saturday, January 13th: Calamondin Preserves Monday, February 19th: Strawberry Kumquat Jam

Saturday, January 20th: French Onion Soup & Crackers Saturday, February 24th: Sweetheart Jam

Wednesday, February 7th, 10am-12:30pm, Rain Barrel Make &Take Workshop. Learn about water conserva-tion methods including best uses for the rain barrel, rain gardens and water restrictions and laws. Cost $50, ($5 class, $45 rain barrel). Checks to University of Florida. Limit of 25 rain barrels. Deadline to register and pay is Feb-ruary 2nd. Call Sarah 255-7450.

See back page for details on A Day of Gardening - Saturday, February 24th, 2018

Things to do in January/February

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What to Plant in January/February

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Protect Pets from Poisonous Plants

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Compost Options Page 4

Growing Edibles Page 5

Time to Plant Blackberries

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Is it Citrus Greening? Page 7

A Day of Gardening coming up!!

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Bringing in the New Year by Terry DelValle

Winter officially arrived on December 21st but so far temperatures have been relatively mild. Lawns are still green and landscape plants have barely missed a beat. Deciduous trees are showcasing beautiful colors which means they are at least going into their slow-down phase. Now is a great time to examine the landscape and determine changes that might be made to make your yard more Florida-Friendly. Transplanting and installing new plants now allows root systems to get a head start before the heat kicks in. If you are interested in getting some ideas on how to create a landscape that is more Florida-Friendly and low maintenance, sign up for the program below, “My Duval Yard.” As an added incentive, after the class, you can schedule to have a group of Master Gardeners visit your landscape and offer more suggestions. That’s a great way to bring in the new year.

Volume 19, Issue 1 January/February 2018

In this Issue

Firebush shows off fall colors

Things to do in January/February by Terry DelValle

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Flowers Deadhead (remove old flowers) pansies and

snapdragons to keep them blooming. Cover cold sensitive bedding plants with leaves,

pine straw, blankets, or row covers for pro-tection during a freeze. Propagate cold sensitive plants by tak-ing cuttings to carry them over for next spring. Cover with a plastic bag to create a mini greenhouse and place in an area that receives bright indirect light. Add cool season flowers like alyssum to produce food for pollinators during win-ter months.

Fruits and Nuts Prune grapes in January or February. For musca-

dines, prune all branches that are less than 3/16” in diameter, leaving 2 to 6 buds per spur. Re-move most of the spurs located at the top of the trunk to prevent crowding and bushiness.

Harvest citrus that is ripe before the freeze if tem-peratures are going to drop below 28°F for at least 4 hours. If fruit is not ripe, leave on the tree be-cause citrus will not ripen once picked. Grapefruit will maintain good quality on the tree through June, so if you have an abundance of fruit, consid-er leaving them and harvest as needed.

Prior to a severe freeze, protect graft unions of young citrus by banking clean sand around the trunk just above the graft union. In the event of a freeze, leaves and stems may be damaged but pro-tecting the graft union is critical in saving the tree. Now is the time to pur-chase and plant bare root fruit trees like pears and plums. Fertilize fruit trees in mid-February. For most fruit, use a citrus blend or peach/pecan special. Use

a 6-6-6 or 8-8-8 at the rate of 1 to 2 pounds of fer-tilizer per inch of trunk diameter measured 4’ above ground level.

Lawns Large patch fungus (brown patch) is active in area

lawns creating circular brown patches in St. Au-

gustine and Zoysia lawns. This disease thrives with mild temperatures and moisture. For more info: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/lh044.

Even though lawns may be dormant, water may be needed if it’s dry. The Irrigation Ordinance al-lows watering once per week if needed. During cool weather, water once every 10 to 14 days. Watering days are Saturdays for odd # addresses and Sundays for even # addresses.

Don’t irrigate lawns 24 to 48 hours before a freeze thinking you are preventing cold damage. Accord-ing to research, lawns experience less damage in a freeze if they contain less water because when water freezes it expands and plant cells rupture.

Trees & Shrubs It’s time to prune deciduous plants if needed.

Trees like crape myrtles don’t need to be pruned except to remove rubbing branches, diseased or dead branches, and suckers from the base. Don’t prune spring flowering shrubs or trees until after bloom. Examples include: azalea, dogwood, red-bud, Japanese magnolia, and spirea.

Prune roses and strip any remaining flow-ers and leaves from plants to reduce dis-ease problems. Re-move leaves that have dropped to the ground. For pictoral pruning guide, go to http://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/hort/2015/03/05/rose-pruning-a-pictorial-guide/.

Fertilize young orna-mental plants in mid-February with a specialty or 16-0-16 type fertilizer. Trees or shrubs that have been in the landscape for 3 or more years many not need fertilizer if they are surrounded by turf because their roots extend out some distance. Because these roots are so extensive, they may also pick up herbicides intended just for the lawn so be careful making applications.

Vegetable Garden Prepare gardens for spring planting in February.

Turn the soil two weeks before planting to give plants a chance to rot or for a no-till option cover with cardboard or newspaper to choke out weeds.

Dark water-soaked areas of citrus leaves associated with

freeze damage

Photo: Chris Oswalt, UF/IFAS

1st remove dead/disease wood, then crossing/rubbing branches

plus spindly growht, then shorten growth by 1/2

Photo: Matthew Orwat UF/IFAS

What to Plant in January/February by Terry DelValle

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So far the weather has been mild but it’s still a good idea to grow only the cold hardy plants. Choices of things to plant are limited, so take some time to look through 2018 catalogs and prepare for spring planting. Order seeds now while they are still available. Start transplants by late January to early February for March planting to get a head start on the spring season. Vegetables to plant now include beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots,

cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, collards, kale, kohlrabi, leek, mustard, onions, parsley, English peas, potatoes, radish and turnips. Endive and lettuce can be planted in February. Lettuce is one of the first cool season vegetables to go to flower if we get a few days of really warm weather. Once the plant begins this process (bolting), harvest the leaves as soon as possible because they will become more bitter over time. For more information, go to: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh021. Annuals recommended for planting now are carnation (China doll), dianthus, flowering cabbage and kale, lobelia, pansy, petunia, ranunculus, stock, viola, and

snapdragon. Violas are much easier to care for than pansies as they require no deadheading for continued flowering. For March flowers, plant delphinium, digitalis (foxglove), and larkspur in January or February. Both delphiniums and larkspur may require staking to support the flower stalk and both can be used as cut flowers. Keep in mind that all plant parts, including the seed, are poisonous. In February, add to the list baby’s breath, calendula, marguerite daisy, and statice. Bulbs that can be planted are Achimenes, African lily (Agapanthus), amaryllis, Aztec lily, calla, crinum, daylily, Dutch iris, Gloriosa lily, gloxinia, Hurricane lily, Ixia, Kaffir lily, marica (walking iris), moraea (African lily), Spider lily, Tritonia, tuberose, tulip (prechilled only), Voodoo lily, watsonia, and Zephyr lily. In February it’s too late to plant amaryllis, calla, daylily, Hurricane lily, and tulips, but add to the list Amazon lily, caladium, canna, and dahlia. Amaryllis and some daffodils received as Christmas gifts can be added to the landscape and should adapt to our climate.

Every year we get questions about pets and children that have ingested poisonous plants like the seed from this coontie. This seed appears to be especially attractive to pets and the end result is liver failure and death. The best way to avoid plant poisoning is to know

your plants both inside and outside of the home. Know the scientific and common names and research them to see if any plant part is poisonous.

Flowering plants like delphinium, foxglove, lantana, larkspur, oleander, and others may be fatal to humans or pets if eaten. Berry producing plants like hollies, mistletoe, and ligustrum are also poisonous. If you suspect your child has eaten a poisonous plant, contact the poison control center @ 1-(800)-222-1222. This is a nationwide number throughout the country. For pets, go to this site: https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants. Check here for a great link to Poisonous Plants in the Landscape out of the University of Georgia http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.cfm?number=C957 and the link to Florida’s Poison Control Centers http://

floridapoisoncontrol.org/poisoning-in-florida/plants/.

Protect Pets and Children from Poisonous Plants by Terry DelValle

Ingesting seed from female coontie is deadly to pets

Tuscan kale will continue to perform into June

Crinum lilies can be grown in the ground or in containers

Gray leaf spot is a common leaf spot disease on St.Augustinegrass in wet summer months Photo: Phil Harmon UF/IFAS

The Brandywine tomato plant is an heirloom, with potato

-leaved foliage and bears large beefsteak-shaped fruit.

Compost Options by Terry DelValle

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Along my drives throughout Jacksonville, I always enjoy seeing the changes in plant material along the road. Now my focus is on the colorful foliage and deciduous plants that create a beautiful display. Which leads to another topic of what happens to all those leaves that eventually fall? In nature, they simply drop and decompose but in landscapes, homeowners usually rake and bag them for yard side pickup. There are other options to keep these leaves on site. Using leaves as a mulch is always an option as long as leaves don’t harbor diseases that might affect the plants. After all, many of us purchase pine straw to use as a mulch in landscape beds. Vegetable gardeners often canvas neighborhoods and pick up bags of oak leaves to use as mulch in vegetable gardens.

Other options for using the fallen leaves is to turn them into compost that can be used to enrich our sandy soils. Leaves can be included in a compost pile using the layering approach and are rich in carbon

having a 60:1 carbon to nitrogen ratio. The best ratio for a compost pile is a 30:1 ratio so rotted manures, plant-based table scraps and/or fertilizer have higher nitrogen content than leaves so can be added to offset the high carbon in leaves. A successful compost pile is built in layers. At the bottom, place a layer of coarse twigs or wood chips to increase aeration. Then start rotating layers of brown and green materials, making each layer about 3 to 4 inches thick. Water each layer lightly as it is added and firm, but don’t compact the materials. Continue the layering process until the desired height is reached. After 2 or 3 days, the pile will begin to heat up. Keep the pile moist, but not too wet. To check for moisture, squeeze a handful of the compost. If a few drops of water drip out, the moisture level is okay. If nothing drips out, it is too dry and water should be added. If a lot of water is squeezed out, the pile is too wet and may develop a bad odor. If the pile is getting too much water from rainfall, place plastic over the top of the pile during rainy weather.

After 4 to 7 days, turn the pile using a pitch fork to mix the materials. The compost pile is most effective if it heats up to about 122°F to 131°F. It would be a good idea to buy a compost thermometer to monitor temperatures. If the pile heats up to over 149˚F, it will destroy many of the beneficial organisms which are necessary to help break down the organic materials. To reduce the temperature, decrease the number of times you turn the materials. If temperatures are okay, continue to turn the material to speed up the composting process. As the material decomposes, it will shrink by 50% or more of its original volume. If you don’t want a compost bin as a part of your landscape but can spare some garden area to compost on site, you might consider these options: sheet composting or pit/trench composting. Sheet composting is simply placing a two to four layer of leaves on top of a garden bed and then using a tiller or shovel to mix the material in. If leaves are thick and/or large, it will help to shred these prior to incorporating them into the bed. Because leaves are high in carbon, be sure to add additional nitrogen fertilizer to the soil or plants may be nitrogen deprived. Pit or trench composting is a popular method for disposing of food wastes. One method is to randomly bury the food wastes in holes around trees and shrubs. The buried food debris should be chopped up and covered with eight inches of soil. Another method is to divide the garden space into rows using a rotation system. Note the illustrations above. In Illinois, this is shown as year 1, 2, 3 (from top to bottom). but because Florida soils heat up so much, we could likely practice this rotation every 6 months.

Red Mustard can be an attractive

addition to the garden or landscape

Resources: Compost Tips for the Home Gardener http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep323. Composting Methods: https://web.extension.illinois.edu/homecompost/methods.cfm (source of trench photos)

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Vegetables can be grown in Florida year-round if attention is paid to the appropriate planting dates. Cool-season vegetables are hardy or frost-tolerant. For best quality, they need to mature during cooler periods rather than in the heat. Warm-season vegetables do not tolerate frost and need warm temperatures to set fruit and properly mature. However, when temperatures are too high, quality may be impacted. In January we are in the middle of the cool-season gardening period. Continue to set out cool season vegetables such as beets, broccoli, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, carrots, collards, kale, lettuces, mustard, radishes, sugar snap peas, Swiss chard, and turnips. Herbs that prefer cooler weather, include but are not limited to: borage, cilantro, thyme, onion chives, dill, fennel, mints, nasturtium, calendulas and parsley. January can also be well-spent by planning for your

upcoming warm season garden. Evaluate the space you have available to ensure you have adequate room to fit all the plants that you want to grow. Additionally, you need to make sure there is enough light for the crops you select. Vegetable and fruit production will require at least 6 to 8 hours of sun, while leafy greens need only 4 to 6 hours. Refer to the “Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide” @ http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh021. Table 1 recommends the best time of year each crop grows in North Florida and their recommended spacing requirements. You not only get a much earlier start in the garden when you start your own flat of vegetables, but you can chose your favorite and most dependable varieties. When buying your start-up plants, your options are limited to what’s available.

It can be a lot of fun selecting your favorite varieties to grow. There are several sources to help you, such as seed catalogs, gardening friends, personal experience, and your Extension Office. Whether a novice or experienced gardener, consider joining us for a “seed-starting” workshop scheduled for January 20

th. Instead of ordering a seed pack for

each variety, which is usually more seed than you will ever need, you will be offered 6 seeds per variety. Each of the varieties provided are suitable for our area and will include one or more of the following characteristics which make them excellent for home use: Disease resistant Handle adverse

conditions Good flavor This workshop will guide you through the process to ensure your success in achieving that sense of independence which comes from growing your own food. It will also help you avoid some of the following mistakes:

We hope to see you on January 20th!!!!

Growing Edibles in N. E. Florida By Mary Puckett

A bed of greens that will highlight any

landscape includes: Giant Red Mustard,

Toscano and Red Russian Kale, Swiss

Chard and Champion collards.

Even experienced gardeners struggle to resist the allure of beautiful pictures and glowing words in seed catalogs. Make sure the seeds you select are varieties suited for our area.

Starting your seeds too soon. Planting seeds too deep. Not labeling the trays. Not making sure the soil is warm and uniformly

moist. Not providing adequate light. Not providing daily attention and care.

PAGE 6

The Invaders Among Us By Larry Figart

Chinese Tallow

Coral Ardisia Photo by Chris Evans, Bugwood.org

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Time to Plant Blackberries (Rubus spp.) Compiled by Mary Puckett

Blackberry bushes are often called brambles, from a word that means prickly. They belong to the genus Rubus, which is in the Rosaceae family. Planting is best from December through February and fruit typically ripens during May and June. Blackberry plants prefer deep, well-drained soils and perform best at a soil pH between 5.5 and 6.5. Avoid low lying areas to minimize flood damage during excess rainfall and possible frost damage to flowers. Blossoms can be injured by temperatures below 28º. Blackberry bushes may be erect or trailing. A few of the recommended varieties for Florida include: Brazos, Oklawaha, Flordagrand, Arapaho*, Navaho*, Natchez*, and Ouachita* (* = thornless). In general, space erect cultivars 2 to 4 feet apart and trailing one’s 3 to 5 feet apart. Trailing needs to be trellised and often requires cross pollination. To ensure cross pollination, plant more than one variety. Most erect blackberries (including all Native American-named Arkansas released blackberries) are self-fruitful and do not require a pollinator. When planting, spread the roots to avoid bending, cut back the shoots to about 6” in length and do not fertilize until late spring or early summer. Blackberries are vigorous growers and do not require much fertilizer. Because they have shallow roots, when applying fertilizer, make an 18” ring surrounding the plant to avoid burning them. During the first year, fertilize with about 1/4 lb. per plant or up to 5 lbs. per 100 foot row. During the second year and thereafter fertilize in the winter and in the summer (after harvest) with 1/4 lb. to 1/2 lb. per plant or up to 10 lbs. per 100 foot row. Fertilize with a 10-10-10 that includes micronutrients or equivalent, for best results. Always follow label directions for application rates when fertilizing. Blackberry plants in Florida usually remain productive for 4 to 7 years. These perennial plants produce new canes (shoots) every year. These canes are called primocanes and will elongate, but do not produce berries. The annual fruit is produced on the previous years canes, known as floricanes. It is recommended that when the primocanes reach 30 to 36 inches (erect or semi-erect variety) or 40 to 48 inches (trailing variety), cut the tip off to encourage lateral growth and enhance flower bud initiation which should increase yield. In the spring the floricanes will leaf out, flower and fruit. After harvesting fruit, go ahead and prune floricanes down to the ground or crown level. Irrigation and weed control are the two most important cultural practices during the first year. Drip irrigation is preferable to overhead irrigation. Drip irrigation conserves water, does not wet foliage (which enhances disease) and does not promote excessive weed growth. Soils with high water holding capacity require less frequent irrigation than sandy soil. Organic mulches such as pine straw or pine bark further enhance water conservation. During the fruiting cycle, add one inch of water per week in the absence of adequate rainfall.

The fruit is an edible cluster of tiny drupelets that turn from red to deep bluish-black when ripe.

Please refer to this excellent resource for specific descriptions of each variety recommended:

“The Blackberry” http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/HS/HS10400.pdf

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The Invaders Among Us By Larry Figart

Chinese Tallow

Coral Ardisia Photo by Chris Evans, Bugwood.org

PAGE 7

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Is it Citrus Greening? by Larry Figart Citrus Greening is the biggest threat to Florida’s cit-rus industry. It is estimated that as many as 80% of commercial citrus trees are infected. While research is ongoing, there is no control for Citrus greening. While we have Citrus Greening in Northeast Florida, other diseases are common as well. Greasy Spot and Melanose are common and very treatable. In the next few paragraphs I will attempt to sort them out and hopefully make it easier to identify on your tree.

The first noticea-ble symptom of greening is called blotchy mottle. Blotchy mottle is the best diagnostic symp-tom and the ear-liest leaf symp-tom. Blotchy mottle is a ran-

dom pattern of yellowing (chlorosis) on leaves that is not the same on the right and left sides of the leaf. It can be confused with a nutrient deficiency, but the asymmetrical pattern of the blotchy mottle is the key difference. In addition to blotchy mottle, infected leaves may be thicker and leathery and have raised corky veins. As the disease progresses, the entire tree will be affected, and symptoms will become more prominent. Fruit symptoms would include the fruit be-ing lopsided, misshapened, smaller, and remaining mostly green. Also, the fruit would taste salty and bit-ter. If you suspect citrus greening on your tree, there is an easy test to perform using household iodine that does not confirm greening outright but it does help de-cide whether a leaf sample should be sent in for test-ing. For instructions on the iodine test go to: http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/greening/PDF/HS37500.pdf. In order to confirm a greening diagnosis you will need to send a leaf sample into the U.F. Plant Diagnostic Center where they will look for the bacte-ria's DNA. The cost of the laboratory screening is $75.The procedure for sampling can be found here: Citrus Greening Sample Procedures. Greasy Spot is a leaf and fruit disease that is very common. The first things that people usually notice is that the tree starts loosing a lot of leaves in January and February. The leaves may or may not have spots

on the undersides that start out yellow and then go from brown to black. Usually, after the diseased leaf falls to the ground the spot starts to take on a dark, greasy appearance. While the disease shows up in the winter, the leaves are actually infected by the fungus in the early summer. It is then that most of the spores produced on the fallen leaves get dispersed onto the new flush of tender green leaves. It is for that reason that fungicidal control is applied to the new growth flush in the ear-ly summer, not in the winter when the worst symptoms ap-pear. Melanose is a disease that is very similar to greasy spot in that it can affect fruit and leaves. When the dis-ease appears on the fruit it is a blemish that does not affect the fruit quality, however it causes the fruit to look unappealing. The sign of melanose on the fruit is called mudcaking. The blemish is formed as the fungal spores are washed over the fruit with irrigation or rain-fall. On the foliage, melanose symptoms start as tiny water-soaked specks that become depressed in the center and surrounded by a translucent yellow area that is not depressed. Later, the leaf cuticle ruptures and a gummy substance, which turns brown and hardens, is exuded. The yellowish mar-gin disappears and the hardened gummed areas will have a sandpaper-like texture. Control of melanose uses a two-pronged method of attack. If melanose was bad the year before, fungicide application should be started at petal fall continuing until it becomes re-sistant in late June or early July. Also, melanose over-winters in dead twigs. Any deadwood in the tree should be pruned out in order to reduce inoculum.

Blotchy Mottle in a citrus leaf

Greasy Spot

Melanose on fruit

For more information on citrus diseases go to: http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/plant_pathology/.

Once you have read this newsletter, turn “A New Leaf” and pass this information on to a friend.

Terry B. DelValle Extension Agent-Environmental Horticulture

For individuals requiring special accommodations, please contact our office (904-255-7450) within a minimum of 5 work-

ing days of the program. For persons with hearing or speech impairments, when contacting our office please use the Florida Relay Service at 1-800-955-8771 (TDD).

Extension programs are open to all regardless of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disabil-ity, religion, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. Reference to commercial products or trade names is made

with the understanding that no endorsement by the Extension Office is implied.

A Day of Gardening coming up by Terry Delvalle

Duval County Extension

1010 N. McDuff Avenue

Jacksonville, FL 32254

(904) 255-7450

Fax: (904) 387-8902

Website: http://duval.ifas.ufl.edu

Address Service Requested

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. Postage Paid

Jacksonville, Fl

Permit No. 1482

Visit our Facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/DuvalCountyAgriculture

We are hosting “A Day of Gardening” on February 24th from 9:30am to 2:40pm to kick off the spring season. Please join us for this delightful day of gardening top-ics while you shop with local vendors to get ready for the

growing season. The cost is $20 and the deadline to register is February 22nd. This fee will cover a light lunch, snacks and handouts. Please call 255-7450 for a registration form or request one via email at delvalle@coj.net. Doors will open @ 8:30am & not before.

To register using a credit card, click here https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2018-a-day-of-gardening-tickets-41524974316

Agenda 8:30 to 9:30am: Registration and Shopping 9:30-10:15am: Welcome & Putting out the Wel-come Mat for Pollinators 10:15-10:30am: Break 10:30-11:30 am: Breakout Session 1 (select 1) Top Tomato Picks Ideas for Themed Gardens Managing Tough Weeds 11:30am-12:15 pm: Lunch 12:15-1:15pm: Breakout Session 2 (select 1) Mythbusters: Food Labels Tool Time: Sharpening & Maintenance Tips Storm Hardy Trees 1:15-1:30pm: Break 1:30-2:30pm: TBA 2:40pm: Adjourn