August 1, 2026 • 39 mins
Landscape designer and garden expert Teresa Watkins welcomes Dana Venrick of Quality Green Specialist Nursery for a discussion on planting edible shrubs and fruit trees to plant in August. Teresa’s Top Five (But Not Favorite) common tomato issues and answers listeners’ gardening questions.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Good morning from the summit Responsible Solutions Studios. Welcome to
Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm your host, Teresa Watkins. I'm
a landscape designer, garden author, horticulturist.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I love to help people with their yards.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Their front yards, their backyards, just making it Florida friendly
and water conserving and just beautiful. I'd love to see
beautiful gardens. So we're glad you're joining us this morning.
I have my cup of tea. Thank you very much, Tony,
and good morning, Lizzie. What are you drinking?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I am drinking a fruit punch of body armor today.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
There you go, Yes, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I'm doing good? Now you did leave off. You're like, okay,
So what's your titles? You say, I'm a horticulturist. I'm
an author, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother. I'm a superhero.
But you also forgot that you are award winning two time,
two time awards. But then one year, two time award winning. Yes,
Teresa Watkins.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Thank you so much. And it's Better Lawns and Gardens.
I just love what I do and I love helping people.
So Better Lawns and Gardens have won two awards. For
Garden comm Garden Communicators International, and it is two silver
awards and next month they will announce the gold medal awards,
so we'll see how that goes. So thank you so
(01:27):
much for mentioning that I do appreciate that. You know what,
we've had some rain. Have you done over in Lake County?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It's crazy?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Okay, So this year is kind of or at least
maybe this last year two years, I guess it's kind of.
This rain in Florida is really kind of strange because
it's either a torrential downpour and flushing of like clean
everything out and getting like two to five inches at
one time, or it's like.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Here's a little missed goodbye. Seriously, it is.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
It is because it's because we really, for the last
two years have been in a very severe drought, the
whole state of Florida and the southeast and even up
north they've had a drought. I was in the UK
they have had a drought, and we went to some
of the castles last year and their lawns, their magnificent
acreage that you could tell that they needed to have
(02:20):
some rain.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So but we're getting it this week.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
And why I mentioned the weather at the beginning of
the show each week is because it's going to tell
you what you need to do in your landscape and
how you water it and how you take care of it.
And if you're planning any major renovations or chemical applications,
you need to know what's going on in the weather.
So weather, especially here in Florida, is very important. So
(02:45):
this week we're getting rain in Florida. Gainesville seventy to
eighty percent chance all week long. It's going to ease
up next weekend, so Jacksonville you're going to be getting
some rain too. Ormond beat another seventy eighty percent chants
of rain with forty to fifty that's at the beginning
of the week. Forty to fifty percent from like Wednesday on,
(03:06):
which means you could get rain every day. Orlando sixty
to seventy percent chance of rain all week. Lakeland is chance.
Let's see seventy percent chance of rain all week every day. Melbourne,
you've got to have eighty percent this weekend, and then
back to fifty to seventy percent chance of rain midweek.
On Fort Lauderdale again another eighty to seventy percent chance
(03:29):
of rain every day. Miami sixty to seventy percent chance
every day. Key West, you're gonna have it a little easy,
thirty to forty percent chance of rain all week long.
So for the last two years, we really haven't had
any kind of issue with excessive rain. Heck, we didn't
even have any tropical storms last year. No hurricanes, no
(03:50):
tropical storms, which is where we get the majority of
our water to replenish the aquifer.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
That's very, very important. But now we're getting rain.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
So I wanted to give you an idea of what
you can do in your yard period for this time
period this week. What does that mean for gardeners and homeowners. Well, one,
make sure your irrigation system is not going on. Okay,
you should have a state enforced rain shut off device
on your irrigation system. Okay, shut your irrigation system down
(04:23):
when we've had enough rain, which is one and a
half inches for a week. But it's also if you
get disease issues in your turf, you need to be
applying fung a side okay. So fungus in the landscape
is never cured, Okay, it is prevented, all right, so
(04:44):
you can't So if you get a fungus you're gonna
have to wait for it to dry out to kind
of ease the symptoms and recover. But you can apply
a fung just side to prevent any future disease issues,
and so that's the important part.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
So looking at you your timeframe.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Wait till you have three to four days of dry
weather and then you can apply a systemic fungicide and
that's absorbed by the turf and it could take up
to seven to fourteen days to be effective.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Okay. Now they are effective longer.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
The systemic fungicides are effective longer than contact fungicides. And
by contact fungicides, this is just spraying the leaf and
it sits on the leaf and it prevents the fungus,
it prevents the disease. So when you're using contact fungus
or fungicides, they are only good for three to eight days. Okay,
(05:39):
So their effectiveness is reduced by rain or by watering
after the application of irrigation and it just washes off,
so you have to reapply it.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So you want to look at it this week.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
I'll talk about factors influencing effectiveness later on in the show.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
But you want to make.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Sure that you're not overwatering that is the main issue
you that you're going to get.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
It's because when you have the disease issue, you have
the humidity, and you have the rainfall, and you have
the plant susceptible to the disease. Here in Florida, that's
a perfect trifecta forgetting disease. And so you want to
again make sure your irrigation system is turned off and
(06:26):
that you're not applying water when you need to. That's
going to be the healthiest thing for your landscape.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Right now. Coming up, we're going to.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Be talking to the owner of Quality Green Specialist Nursery
and one of our most knowledgeable and experienced growers in
the green industry, Dana Venrick. He's a sponsor of the show. Well,
we're going to discuss edible landscaping with shrubs. You don't
want to miss that from the summit Responsible Solution Studios.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
That's Saturday morning. You're listening to the award winning Better
Lags and Gardens.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's talk and Entertainment record.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Welcome back to Better London Gardens.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
I'm Teresa Watkins. Dana Nrick is the owner of Quality
Green specialist nursery. And I have to just tell you, Lizzie,
good morning, Dana.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
How are you.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Oh, good morning Teresa. Before I forget, I wanted to
congratulate you on your two awards. Is Silver Laurel Medals
of Achievement.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Well, thank you so much, Dana. I appreciate that so much.
And it's because of great interviews with you and just
all our great guests here and listeners on the program
and Lizzie. So, Dana, you're gonna have to bear with
me just for a minute, because I wanted to tell
Lizzie this is how remarkable Dana is. So his background
includes he has a Bachelor of Science and Biology from
(07:50):
the University of Florida. He has a Master's of Science
and Botany plant physiology. He has miners in chemistry, fruit crops,
and community college education.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
He has a post baccalaureate in agricultural education.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
He is taught high school vocational agriculture. He has been
a plant pathologist and environmental specialist with Florida Department of Agriculture.
He has managed a three thousand acre farm growing citrus, timber, vegetables,
and cattle.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
We have to talk about the cattle. One day Data.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
He is an extension work For ten years he served
as a commercial horticultural extension agent and worked with pesticide
application training and he has been an international advisor grow
for growers in China, the Netherlands, Columbia and Chile.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Oh my goodness, there, Dana. You know what it sounds like.
You could be a horticulturist, mad scientist.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Well, I've been around, you know. I just get tired
just listening to all the things I've done, you.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Know, So thank you so much for coming on data
the heat. How is your nursery doing with the heat.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
We are doing well because we are dedicated to making
sure all the plants are water. The key is watering
right now right, And so I'm always looking around, you know,
for that tail tail sign of wilt or a little
bit of paleness on the plants.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And so that's that's important because you don't I mean,
if your plant is very healthy, it looks start green
and it's just sticking the leaves are just sticking straight
up or out, that means that it really is not
need of water. We need to That's one of the
signs that we should water is when we start to
see the wilt. It's not bad, it's not dead, but
it's going to start to decline.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
And that's when we shod absolutely, and if you don't
wait too long, you know, and water it thoroughly. That's
the key too. Just don't spray the top and thinking water.
You want to water at least twice in our case
because we're on some pavement to want to make sure
we thoroughly water. If you just water the top and
a few men, you know, it's dry again. So we
(10:03):
I emphasize that with with my assistance.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Right, So if you if you're watering, you make you
want to make sure that the water is coming out,
especially in containers, is coming out of the bottom, and
then water it again absolutely.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Okay, So that's that's very important. That water is the
main issue here in Florida, and usually it's too much,
but right now, in the heat of the summer, you
know it's just not enough practically. So edible landscaping, what
kind of shrubs I wanted to talk about this with you.
What kind of shrubs do you recommend for edible shrub edges?
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Well, I'll tell you what what I do at my
home and my wife and I and so on the
right front corner. Out from the corner a little ways,
I have a beautiful olive tree and arbequina olive has
that beautiful, graceful weeping look behind it. In front of
the corner, I have a strawberry guava is a nice
(11:02):
manicured look. And then going around the other corner, I
have next to the corner a beautiful, beautiful pajo the
pineapple guava. It's still the best looking, most manicured looking shrub.
It shears readily and now it's just inside a crape
myrtle that frames the corner with the informal look. Then
(11:25):
going around the house, I have another strawberry guava in
the sir and am cherry. And then I have some
pineapples as the groundcover around the corner back corner with
a couple of papaya trees that look really tropical. And
then back along the back property edge, I have a
beautiful avocado and mango coming back vigorously from the freeze.
(11:50):
They are responding beautifully after that damaging freeze, but they're
looking good again.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Well, it sounds beautiful, Dana. I have to come and
look at it one day. That is wonderful. Now, what
is the difference between pineapple guava and strawberry guava. And
we have to give a little caveat about strawberry guava,
don't we.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
We do because the strawberry guava or the County guala
is considered invasive in South Florida and it's taken over
some natural areas, so it's really not a planet in
SOUTHWARDA do not plant in South Florida. I haven't seen
it be a problem here and it's not really that
(12:31):
invasive in Central Florida. And you also get delicious fruit.
It's great for birds. And as a matter of fact,
you know, I have a bird nest in a strawberry guava.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
They've moved in.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Marcking bird comes either to the pa joa, the pineapple
guaba or the strawberry gualla makes her nest every year.
But it's my pet marcking bird.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Well, that's what we'll because the pineapple guava is naturally
pollinated by mocking birds and so they come in and
that's why you sometimes only see the fruit on the
inside where the birds go in there and hide and
that's where the fruit is.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
But it pineapple guava has.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
A beautiful, beautiful flower white petals with pink stamens and
a little bit of pink coloring on the inside.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
Yes, right, the birds love it. I eat petals sometimes
they are sweetly. Yes, they're edible.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
That's that's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
And so do you have pineapple guavas at and strawberry
guavas at quality Green Specialist Nursery.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
We have a really good selection of boats right now.
They are just I was say, Florida fancy three gallon
strawberry right now and a good supply of each. We
really like both of those, particularly the strawberry, particularly the
pineapple guaba for joa. And it is so hardy it'll
(14:00):
grow along the postal areas up all the way up
to North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Wow. So it is so tolerant.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Well, I've seen them along the highways because I know
the state of Florida has planted them in a number
of different interstates and so so describe how tall does
the pineapple guaba get and do you have to prune
it or is it something you can.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Like call us I ever seen. When I was a child,
we had a big one but it was only like
fifteen feet tall. But we never trimmed it. But my
mother made the best jelly from those fruits. Oh wow,
I remember it well because I climbed up, way up
into the tree to pick some. In fact, I had
one off of the tree here in Nurse Street today.
(14:42):
But I made the mistake of going out on the
limb and I fell and I landed on my back.
I'm laying there, I said, I wonder when I'm going
to be able to breathe again. It was painful.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
You learn not to climb in those trees or select
your branches better. Right, Okay, So so pineapple, guava, strawberry guavas.
What other fruits do you have or what can people
use for headges an an edible landscape?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Well, we have many different types. We've got course olive
trees we trim they can be smaller, make a script,
beautiful scream. We've got for smaller like near sidewalks. Blueberries.
We have figs. We have pomegranates and grow bushy. You
(15:31):
don't want to trim pomegranates, just letting them grow as
a multi trunk bush. We have Barbados cherries that has
delicious fruit. Also beauty berries that's a naties, just wonderful.
You can make grape jelly and jam from the beauty berries.
We have avocados for bigger, but there's dwarf avocados also
(15:55):
like the words.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, the words is a dwarf onticavo. It only gets
to be what about ten foot tall?
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Yeah, eight to ten foot eight to ten foot wide
or less. But that's a good one. It's a green
avocado and it's pear shaped. It's self fertile. It's a
type aid but it's also self fertiles. You don't have
to have the companions.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
That's good to know. That's good to know.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
And so so does pineapple guava or do edible land shrubs?
Do they have more than their share of pest issues
or are they pretty self sustaining?
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Well, it depends, you know. I've never seen any issue
with pastor diseases or insect problems on the on the
pajoa or the pineapple gualla, but others, like the regular guava,
it'll be eaten up with whitefly larvae, whitefly and insects, mites, scales.
(16:54):
Sometimes it all depends because you know, the edibles have
delicio sat for insects. It's like a feast for a
lot of these pists, right, So you have to watch scout,
check everything and target spray like you know, if it's
a caterpillar eating the leaves, use something like basilicterningensis the
(17:15):
dip heal right, if it's a you know, a sucking insect,
use something like horticultural oil. Will actually use malathion sometimes
because it's very effective and it'll be completely denatured in
one day. So that's a very safe chemical pesticide.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
So I'm interested in how's the spacing.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
So air circulation is very important and it helps decrease
When you have good air circulation the insect tissues. So
how far apart should the shrubs and a hedge be.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
Well, Research in a particular fruit tree and see how
big and how wide it grows. For example, we just
mentioned the guava. There'll it'll mean it'll grow like eight
to ten foot wide on that dwarf avocado. So you
want to spaced it more or less based on that,
(18:09):
you know, So I would like to see at least five.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Feet between them.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I mean fruiting plants in a little bit wider, you know,
in the cases something gets a little bit bigger, So.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
That's very important I think to know.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
And how big can you plant them or how small
to create a nice hedge that's four to five feet tall.
What kind of size do you do you think you need?
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Well, I recommend at least the three gallons side. We
have some good sized three gallon fruit trees, and if
you plant them properly, don't plant them too deeply. Make
sure that the topmost ladder roots had the surface. Water
them every other day and get them off to a
good start. After a couple of weeks, cut back to
(18:52):
twice a week unless they start getting rained every day,
then cut it back even more. But make sure that
then you follow up the good fertilizer like we have
that has all the minerals and the micronutrients such as earn, manganese, zinc,
and copper and boron based on a soul test, all
(19:16):
in a recommended low amounts.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Wonderful. Thank you so much. We ran through.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
I've got a bunch of other questions. You're gonna have
to come back on again. Thank you so much for
sharing your knowledge and all your efforts for the green industry.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
I certainly appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
That's Quality Green Specialists at three thirty five West Michigan
Street in the Land and you can go to their website,
Qualitygreenspecialist Nursery dot com. We're going to be back with
more of Better Lawns and Gardens and your phone calls
this Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens,
Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. I want to
thank Dana Venrick and.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
You want to be able to go to his nursery
because he can help you with anything that you need
in your landscape, soil tests and also selecting the right
plants and mulch and soil, so he's he's got it
all there and fertilizers which are so important for fruit
trees and for you know, edible shrubs. You want to
(20:25):
make sure that they're getting the nutrients they need to
produce that fruit. And so that's a Quality Green Specialist
Nursery three point thirty five West Michigan Street in DeLand,
and you can go to the website Qualitygreenspecialist dot com.
I think I said nursery last time, but it's Qualitygreenspecialist
dot com. And if you google it, you can just
(20:47):
put in Quality Green Specialist Nursery and it pops right up,
so it is a wonderful nursery to go to. What
should you be planting this time of the year, Well,
right now, in North Florida, you can be planting eggplant
and dive kale, peppers toalmattillos, tomatoes and tropical spinaches. Spinaches
(21:08):
as a ruler, are a winter winter plant. But if
you plant the tropicals they can take the heat. They're
usually from the Caribbean area and South America. You can
also if you have mustard, you can put that in
right now.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
You can use seeds.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
You can plant beans, bush lima and pole beans. You
can be planting carrots and cucumbers, onions and squashes and turnips.
We call those nips in Scotland. So you can be
planting naps and tatties, which are potatoes. In Central Florida
the same thing. You can be planting eggplant and dive peppers,
sugar cane tomatoes, and tropical spinaches. You can be planting
(21:50):
pineapple and again the seeds bush lima, pole carrots, okra.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
You can still be planting here in Central.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Florida onions, peas, southern peas, and squashes.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
South Florida, we don't want to leave you out.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
You need your veggies too, and fruits, so you can
plant eggplants and peppers, sugar cane, tomatillos, tomatoes, and tropical spinaches.
You can also be planting amorates, calabasas and papayas, pineapples,
seminal pumpkins and sweet potatoes. And if you want to
plant okra and pumpkin, you can be using seeds right
(22:25):
now and plant them and you'll have fruit for both
on till the end of the year, So that's important.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
What you want to do.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Watering right now is once a week watering in most areas,
but with the rainfall this week throughout the state of Florida,
even Key West, you want to just let mother nature
do her thing. There's no reason to pay a water bill.
So I got an email and it's from one of
my clients, and she said, I wanted to share that
I'm enjoying the ease with which I am able to
(22:56):
navigate the garden after your design update. Most of the
transplan she had a full native landscape, and unfortunately it
had been overplanted and it was it was a hot
mess and so very high maintenance, which native landscaping shouldn't be.
So we went in and moved things around and changed
things out. And so she said, most of the transplants
(23:18):
have taken hold in her coming back strong now that
we're having more regular precipitation. She doesn't even have an
irrigation system. So, oh, you know, so it's doing well
the native lands. I was really really thrilled with it. Yes,
And she said I even had my first hummingbird come
to pay us a visit, something we didn't see at
all last year. She says, I'm having a few pest
problems that I wanted to run by you. It seems
(23:39):
there's a roof fungus attacking our twin flower. And then additionally,
I think I'm seeing either mildew or some sort of
egg sacks in some of the grasses. And she attached
a wonderful photograph, and so could you give me guidance
on how to treat them? So what you have Taren
is well one, thank you for the kind words.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
I love working with you.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
But you have a mealy bug infestation. And what you
need to use for that NIM eighty five, which is
a Summit Responsible Solutions product, NIM eighty five oil. Follow
the label instructions, and I would use it on your
mulch and around the plants because sometimes mealy bugs are
(24:22):
in the ground area running around out there. So do
the plant and surrounding area stems plants and NIM eighty
five oil is organic and it's certified OMOR important. So
when it's certified OMRI, which is the Organic Materials Research Institute,
(24:43):
that means that it's good to use in your landscape
for organics, for edibles, and so you want to make
sure you do that. So thank you Taren for the comment.
I loved your photograph. It was a great picture of
mealy bugs. Sorry you have mealy bugs, but whenever I
get a chance to get bug pictures you wonderful there.
So if you'd like to give us a call one
triple eight five five five two nine sixty seven, or
(25:06):
you can text two three six eight zero and let
us know what your gardening question is. If you'd like
to text us, we would love to see you your
text messages give us your name or your non diplume
and the city that you're located.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
In that way I can give you the accurate information.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Let's go to rich In, Vera East and what can
how can I help you?
Speaker 5 (25:31):
Hello, Eah, I have a ameralist. Yes, one, just one
of them, okay, out of about twenty. Okay, that is
going weird.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
What is it doing?
Speaker 6 (25:45):
Well? Normally you have.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
The big flat leaves to come off, and you get
a new one and another new one, and you.
Speaker 7 (25:52):
Know, and of course down here they don't die off.
But this one, all of a sudden, it looks like
a dailily. It's got small narrow leaves coming up about
two feet over the rest of them, and like a
fan shape. And I'm going, I thought it was like
(26:13):
maybe a palm pre seed. I've gotten in there and
it was a palm or something. I'm looking at it,
going that's not an ami, but it is. And it's
the only one, just just one. It's it's strange. I mean,
it's like, okay, what.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Color is it?
Speaker 2 (26:29):
What color is it? What color is your emerialist flower?
Speaker 6 (26:35):
Red?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Red? Okay? Okay. So sometimes things can happen.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
So sometimes you can have a mix up in the
bulbs and what you originally planted was doing fine and
was very active, and now all of a sudden, this
one is coming up, and it could be a different bulb.
It could also be a sport. It's just a variation
in the flower. And this happens in nature and we
really have no control over it. But what I would
(27:01):
like to do is rich, if you could send us
a picture of this the the daylily, not daily. I'm sorry, emoryalless,
then I could I could make a better deduction.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Sometimes you know, like I said, plants get planted in
and they don't come.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Out right away.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
They don't emerge right away, and so it may be
something that was already in that pot when you planted
it or when it was shared with you, or it
could just be a variation in nature and this is
how we get different types of Amorillis's colors, and so
it just happened to you know, shoot out, or it
(27:40):
could be another issue. So I would have to really,
does it look really healthy?
Speaker 7 (27:45):
Yeah, that's the thing. I mean, I don't even have
lubber grasshoppers around.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
You are so lucky. Good for you.
Speaker 6 (27:50):
I know, I haven't seen any of them in the
entire time I've been here.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Oh excellent.
Speaker 7 (27:55):
It's like, yeah, the other ones next to it have
the regular flat leaves, huh.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
And they they're fine and they blossom every year three
spring they come up and I've got white.
Speaker 7 (28:08):
Ones and pink ones and all sorts of stuff.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Wonderful this one.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
This one has usually two. This year it had three
flower stalks.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Hmmm, so it seems like it's a totally different kind.
Speaker 6 (28:24):
I don't know. But it's been in the ground now for.
Speaker 7 (28:29):
Four years five hours.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Pretty cool, and it's been.
Speaker 7 (28:32):
Doing the same.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
And then all of a sudden this year, after the
flowers went it, all of a sudden started sprouting all
these damn extra leaves, and I'm like, what's the.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Have Well, you are doing really good, rich So I'd
love to see it if you'd like to send it
to me. Teresa dot Watkins at live dot com. Uh
and I would love to see that. If you're listening
to us at Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns
and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins and this Florida's talk and
Entertainment Network.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
Welcome back up Better Lawns and Garden And now Theresa's
top five.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
My top five but not my favorite, my top five
common tomato pest issues. We're in the midst of tomato
growing season. Here are some issues you need to.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Look for and how to get rid of them.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
So Number five blossom and rot is called B E
R Blossom and rot and it's caused by a calcium deficiency,
but you don't need to apply calcium. The other causes
for it could be excessive nitrogen, fertilizer and income assistant watering.
Here in Florida, we have plenty of calcium in the soil.
It's very rare to see a deficiency, so check your
(30:06):
watering and make sure you're not over fertilizing. Number four
stink bugs and leaf footed bugs are shield shaped insects
known for their foul smelling defense. They feed on many
garden plants. You want to control with safer garden insect
control spray, which can be used up to the day
of harvest.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Number three Root.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Not nematodes Florida's most damaging plant. Parasitic nematodes in tomatoes,
causing severe yield loss through root calling and stunting.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
You want to.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Make sure you incorporate a lot of organic matter in
your soil. You can rotate your tomatoes so you don't
plant them in the same area each year, and then
look for tomato cultivars that have resistance. Look for the
n on the label VPN, which is the resistance code.
Number two early blight caused by fungus altenera solenite control
(31:01):
with bonn eyed Captain Jack's Tomato and Vegetable spray, and
number one sun scald. Here in Florida, excessive sun and
heat can cause tomatoes to develop sunscald. What you want
could do is provide them some shade during the peak sun.
You don't want to over prune, let the leaves provide coverage,
and then plant your tomatoes early, which is now. Yes,
(31:24):
So those are my top five but not my favorite,
top five common tomato issues.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
So, if you have a gardening question, we'd love to
hear from you one triple eight four five five two
nine sixty seven or you can text two three six
eighth zero and we will answer your questions right away.
So I am also looking, so, Lizzie, where can they
hear your uh? Where can they hear the show? With
(31:53):
the podcast?
Speaker 3 (31:53):
It is very easy. Uh. The easiest way to do
it is to go to better Lawns dot com. That's
better Lawns dot com, or you can check any of
the potlant podcast platforms and you can just search better
lawns and gardens or even search trees or watkins.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
And it's not exactly I'm everywhere you are.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Thank you, Lizzie, So Samantha asked. She says, can you
briefly explain how to tell the difference.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
I don't know why she said briefly, but.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Can you tell the difference between mole cricket damage and
damage from other pests?
Speaker 2 (32:30):
How can I keep them out of my lawn?
Speaker 1 (32:32):
And so, mole crickets thrive in behea grass and bermuda grass,
So when you start to see this is cline during
the summer, mole crickets could be the cause. They feed
on underground roots and they attract plants. The effected plants
dry out, they wilt, and can even be pushed upward
from mole crickets. So when you're looking at your damage,
(32:55):
look to see if you see the upper twelve inches
of soil disturbed, leaving small ridges on the surface. And
as that activity, that area is going to grow. So
you will also see them at night, and this is
one of the main reasons not to have a night
light on in Florida. Night lights attract moths and said webworms.
(33:17):
It attracts the lawn mole crickets and so you want
to do that. So, Lizzie, do you remember when when
I was little growing up in Florida, it was Silver
Lake in Winterhaven Lake Silver. I remember watching my parents
play tennis at night. They would go down to the
park and play tennis, and the mole crickets were always
jumping around and flying around those big, big, huge floodlights.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
Yes, do you remember those, Yes, they do.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
So you would around the area of the tennis courts
was always behea behea grass. And so the difference is
if you're looking at turf decline and you're seeing another
issue besides mole crickets, it could be that chinch bugs
eat in a circle, so you'll see more of a
(34:03):
circular pattern.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Oh okay, where it's dead.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
And if the issues were fungal, the grass blades will
appear slimy, they might turn yellow, or that whole area
dies out. So excessive take on root rot, you're not
going to be able to see any roots.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
So there's a little bit of difference between mole crickets
and other pest issues. You'll be able to spot it.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
So one of the best things that's happened is that
the University of Florida and other research facilities have released
Laura wasps. They've released predatory bugs that attack mole crickets
and they have they have made an impact and we
have seen reduced populations.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
It's crazy because now that you're saying this, I haven't
really seen mole crickets in a minute, Like that's been
a while since I've seen them.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
So that may be why.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Yeah, because of all the predatory bugs that they've released.
So again, so to keep from getting mul crickets, you
want to make.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Sure that you're following best management practices.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
You don't want to be overwatering, overfertilizing, and you want
to prevent scalping, which is when you're mowing too long
or too short so that your lawn is very very tiny,
but you think that you're not gonna have to come
back and mow it, you know fast, you know it's
going to extend the time between mowings.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
It doesn't.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
But it also you know, hurts your turf because the
height of your blade leaf blade is the same depth
of your roots. So if you're cutting your blades short,
then you're gonna have a short root system and your
short root system is going to need to be watered
more often, which leads to disease and other insect issues.
(35:42):
So go ahead and just best management practices, you know,
water correctly. If we don't get any rain, which that's
not an issue right now. And I will tell you
it's really fascinating because we have caught up in some cities.
So Orlando, your year rainfall is fourteen inches of rain
so far.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
We are below fifteen inches.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
For the year, so we have to you know, hopefully
we'll get some storms to catch that up. Melbourne you've
had twenty seven inches so far and you are over
almost an inch for the year, So that's really good
or for this time, not for the year, but.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Oh for years. Yeah, they are.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Samford you've had twenty five inches. That's down three and
a quarter inches for this time this year. Daytona Beach
you had twenty five inches, you're down almost three inches
for the year. And Liesburg you've had twenty inches so
far this year and you are down four and three
quarters of an inch so far this year. So this
(36:44):
rain this week is going to be very helpful. You're
not going to need to apply it. You want to
check out we have some great tours with art and
bloom garden tours. I will tell you the Artiste Gardens
of France is going to be tremendous. I would love
for you to me and we can just go and
look at all the beautiful gardens and get inspirational ideas.
(37:05):
We just got back from the garden Walk Buffalo and
they were saying our guests were saying that they came
back they had a whole notebook full of ideas to
put their gardens.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
And with every garden.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Tour, Yes, and the good thing about the garden tour
is that they get that personal kind of one on
one time as a small group with you and Tony
So and they're able to see things and see different
things that you wouldn't be able to do if you
just went and went to certain events exactly.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
So, we have the Florida Spring Break for Gardeners in March,
we have the tour the arteeth Gardens of France in April,
we have the iconic Chelsea Flower Show which is always
full and the best of English Gardens in May, and
we are also going to High Grove House. We are
having afternoon tea in Charles's home. King Charles the Third's
(37:58):
Home and so we're very excited about that.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
That is in May. In June we have.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
The beautiful Newport Flower Show in Martha's Vineyard. Lots of
exciting places we're going there. And then in July we
are going back to the garden Walk Buffalo. This has
to be on your bouquet list. That's spelled bucket list,
but you pronounce a bouquet. And in August we're going
to Scotland. September we are going to the Great Hudson Valley,
(38:26):
the gardens and grandeur of the Hudson Valley in September,
and then in October we are going to the North
Carolina Fall Fullest Show.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
So I want to thank data.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Venrick for coming on and helping us with edible landscaping
and shrubs. You can visit Quality Green Specialist Nursery at
three point thirty five West Michigan Street.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Just go to his website and go buy.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
And see him. He has got wonderful plans. Lizzie, thank
you so much. I couldn't do this without you. We've
got another sensational second hour all about tomatoes. If it's
Saturday morning at the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios you're listening
to Better LUNs and go Arden. I'm Teresa Watkins, and
this is Florida's talk and Entertainment network.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
If you missed any of the show and you would
like to go back and recap and get to better
Lawns dot com. That's better Lawns dot com.
Good morning from the summit Responsible Solutions Studios. Welcome to
Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm your host, Teresa Watkins. I'm
a landscape designer, garden author, horticulturist.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I love to help people with their yards.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Their front yards, their backyards, just making it Florida friendly
and water conserving and just beautiful. I'd love to see
beautiful gardens. So we're glad you're joining us this morning.
I have my cup of tea. Thank you very much, Tony,
and good morning, Lizzie. What are you drinking?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I am drinking a fruit punch of body armor today.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
There you go, Yes, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I'm doing good? Now you did leave off. You're like, okay,
So what's your titles? You say, I'm a horticulturist. I'm
an author, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother. I'm a superhero.
But you also forgot that you are award winning two time,
two time awards. But then one year, two time award winning. Yes,
Teresa Watkins.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Thank you so much. And it's Better Lawns and Gardens.
I just love what I do and I love helping people.
So Better Lawns and Gardens have won two awards. For
Garden comm Garden Communicators International, and it is two silver
awards and next month they will announce the gold medal awards,
so we'll see how that goes. So thank you so
(01:27):
much for mentioning that I do appreciate that. You know what,
we've had some rain. Have you done over in Lake County?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
It's crazy?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Okay, So this year is kind of or at least
maybe this last year two years, I guess it's kind of.
This rain in Florida is really kind of strange because
it's either a torrential downpour and flushing of like clean
everything out and getting like two to five inches at
one time, or it's like.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Here's a little missed goodbye. Seriously, it is.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
It is because it's because we really, for the last
two years have been in a very severe drought, the
whole state of Florida and the southeast and even up
north they've had a drought. I was in the UK
they have had a drought, and we went to some
of the castles last year and their lawns, their magnificent
acreage that you could tell that they needed to have
(02:20):
some rain.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So but we're getting it this week.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
And why I mentioned the weather at the beginning of
the show each week is because it's going to tell
you what you need to do in your landscape and
how you water it and how you take care of it.
And if you're planning any major renovations or chemical applications,
you need to know what's going on in the weather.
So weather, especially here in Florida, is very important. So
(02:45):
this week we're getting rain in Florida. Gainesville seventy to
eighty percent chance all week long. It's going to ease
up next weekend, so Jacksonville you're going to be getting
some rain too. Ormond beat another seventy eighty percent chants
of rain with forty to fifty that's at the beginning
of the week. Forty to fifty percent from like Wednesday on,
(03:06):
which means you could get rain every day. Orlando sixty
to seventy percent chance of rain all week. Lakeland is chance.
Let's see seventy percent chance of rain all week every day. Melbourne,
you've got to have eighty percent this weekend, and then
back to fifty to seventy percent chance of rain midweek.
On Fort Lauderdale again another eighty to seventy percent chance
(03:29):
of rain every day. Miami sixty to seventy percent chance
every day. Key West, you're gonna have it a little easy,
thirty to forty percent chance of rain all week long.
So for the last two years, we really haven't had
any kind of issue with excessive rain. Heck, we didn't
even have any tropical storms last year. No hurricanes, no
(03:50):
tropical storms, which is where we get the majority of
our water to replenish the aquifer.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
That's very, very important. But now we're getting rain.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
So I wanted to give you an idea of what
you can do in your yard period for this time
period this week. What does that mean for gardeners and homeowners. Well, one,
make sure your irrigation system is not going on. Okay,
you should have a state enforced rain shut off device
on your irrigation system. Okay, shut your irrigation system down
(04:23):
when we've had enough rain, which is one and a
half inches for a week. But it's also if you
get disease issues in your turf, you need to be
applying fung a side okay. So fungus in the landscape
is never cured, Okay, it is prevented, all right, so
(04:44):
you can't So if you get a fungus you're gonna
have to wait for it to dry out to kind
of ease the symptoms and recover. But you can apply
a fung just side to prevent any future disease issues,
and so that's the important part.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
So looking at you your timeframe.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Wait till you have three to four days of dry
weather and then you can apply a systemic fungicide and
that's absorbed by the turf and it could take up
to seven to fourteen days to be effective.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Okay. Now they are effective longer.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
The systemic fungicides are effective longer than contact fungicides. And
by contact fungicides, this is just spraying the leaf and
it sits on the leaf and it prevents the fungus,
it prevents the disease. So when you're using contact fungus
or fungicides, they are only good for three to eight days. Okay,
(05:39):
So their effectiveness is reduced by rain or by watering
after the application of irrigation and it just washes off,
so you have to reapply it.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So you want to look at it this week.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
I'll talk about factors influencing effectiveness later on in the show.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
But you want to make.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Sure that you're not overwatering that is the main issue
you that you're going to get.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
It's because when you have the disease issue, you have
the humidity, and you have the rainfall, and you have
the plant susceptible to the disease. Here in Florida, that's
a perfect trifecta forgetting disease. And so you want to
again make sure your irrigation system is turned off and
(06:26):
that you're not applying water when you need to. That's
going to be the healthiest thing for your landscape.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Right now. Coming up, we're going to.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Be talking to the owner of Quality Green Specialist Nursery
and one of our most knowledgeable and experienced growers in
the green industry, Dana Venrick. He's a sponsor of the show. Well,
we're going to discuss edible landscaping with shrubs. You don't
want to miss that from the summit Responsible Solution Studios.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
That's Saturday morning. You're listening to the award winning Better
Lags and Gardens.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's talk and Entertainment record.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Welcome back to Better London Gardens.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
I'm Teresa Watkins. Dana Nrick is the owner of Quality
Green specialist nursery. And I have to just tell you, Lizzie,
good morning, Dana.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
How are you.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Oh, good morning Teresa. Before I forget, I wanted to
congratulate you on your two awards. Is Silver Laurel Medals
of Achievement.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Well, thank you so much, Dana. I appreciate that so much.
And it's because of great interviews with you and just
all our great guests here and listeners on the program
and Lizzie. So, Dana, you're gonna have to bear with
me just for a minute, because I wanted to tell
Lizzie this is how remarkable Dana is. So his background
includes he has a Bachelor of Science and Biology from
(07:50):
the University of Florida. He has a Master's of Science
and Botany plant physiology. He has miners in chemistry, fruit crops,
and community college education.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
He has a post baccalaureate in agricultural education.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
He is taught high school vocational agriculture. He has been
a plant pathologist and environmental specialist with Florida Department of Agriculture.
He has managed a three thousand acre farm growing citrus, timber, vegetables,
and cattle.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
We have to talk about the cattle. One day Data.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
He is an extension work For ten years he served
as a commercial horticultural extension agent and worked with pesticide
application training and he has been an international advisor grow
for growers in China, the Netherlands, Columbia and Chile.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Oh my goodness, there, Dana. You know what it sounds like.
You could be a horticulturist, mad scientist.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Well, I've been around, you know. I just get tired
just listening to all the things I've done, you.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Know, So thank you so much for coming on data
the heat. How is your nursery doing with the heat.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
We are doing well because we are dedicated to making
sure all the plants are water. The key is watering
right now right, And so I'm always looking around, you know,
for that tail tail sign of wilt or a little
bit of paleness on the plants.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And so that's that's important because you don't I mean,
if your plant is very healthy, it looks start green
and it's just sticking the leaves are just sticking straight
up or out, that means that it really is not
need of water. We need to That's one of the
signs that we should water is when we start to
see the wilt. It's not bad, it's not dead, but
it's going to start to decline.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
And that's when we shod absolutely, and if you don't
wait too long, you know, and water it thoroughly. That's
the key too. Just don't spray the top and thinking water.
You want to water at least twice in our case
because we're on some pavement to want to make sure
we thoroughly water. If you just water the top and
a few men, you know, it's dry again. So we
(10:03):
I emphasize that with with my assistance.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Right, So if you if you're watering, you make you
want to make sure that the water is coming out,
especially in containers, is coming out of the bottom, and
then water it again absolutely.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Okay, So that's that's very important. That water is the
main issue here in Florida, and usually it's too much,
but right now, in the heat of the summer, you
know it's just not enough practically. So edible landscaping, what
kind of shrubs I wanted to talk about this with you.
What kind of shrubs do you recommend for edible shrub edges?
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Well, I'll tell you what what I do at my
home and my wife and I and so on the
right front corner. Out from the corner a little ways,
I have a beautiful olive tree and arbequina olive has
that beautiful, graceful weeping look behind it. In front of
the corner, I have a strawberry guava is a nice
(11:02):
manicured look. And then going around the other corner, I
have next to the corner a beautiful, beautiful pajo the
pineapple guava. It's still the best looking, most manicured looking shrub.
It shears readily and now it's just inside a crape
myrtle that frames the corner with the informal look. Then
(11:25):
going around the house, I have another strawberry guava in
the sir and am cherry. And then I have some
pineapples as the groundcover around the corner back corner with
a couple of papaya trees that look really tropical. And
then back along the back property edge, I have a
beautiful avocado and mango coming back vigorously from the freeze.
(11:50):
They are responding beautifully after that damaging freeze, but they're
looking good again.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Well, it sounds beautiful, Dana. I have to come and
look at it one day. That is wonderful. Now, what
is the difference between pineapple guava and strawberry guava. And
we have to give a little caveat about strawberry guava,
don't we.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
We do because the strawberry guava or the County guala
is considered invasive in South Florida and it's taken over
some natural areas, so it's really not a planet in
SOUTHWARDA do not plant in South Florida. I haven't seen
it be a problem here and it's not really that
(12:31):
invasive in Central Florida. And you also get delicious fruit.
It's great for birds. And as a matter of fact,
you know, I have a bird nest in a strawberry guava.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
They've moved in.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Marcking bird comes either to the pa joa, the pineapple
guaba or the strawberry gualla makes her nest every year.
But it's my pet marcking bird.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Well, that's what we'll because the pineapple guava is naturally
pollinated by mocking birds and so they come in and
that's why you sometimes only see the fruit on the
inside where the birds go in there and hide and
that's where the fruit is.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
But it pineapple guava has.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
A beautiful, beautiful flower white petals with pink stamens and
a little bit of pink coloring on the inside.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
Yes, right, the birds love it. I eat petals sometimes
they are sweetly. Yes, they're edible.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
That's that's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
And so do you have pineapple guavas at and strawberry
guavas at quality Green Specialist Nursery.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
We have a really good selection of boats right now.
They are just I was say, Florida fancy three gallon
strawberry right now and a good supply of each. We
really like both of those, particularly the strawberry, particularly the
pineapple guaba for joa. And it is so hardy it'll
(14:00):
grow along the postal areas up all the way up
to North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Wow. So it is so tolerant.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Well, I've seen them along the highways because I know
the state of Florida has planted them in a number
of different interstates and so so describe how tall does
the pineapple guaba get and do you have to prune
it or is it something you can.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Like call us I ever seen. When I was a child,
we had a big one but it was only like
fifteen feet tall. But we never trimmed it. But my
mother made the best jelly from those fruits. Oh wow,
I remember it well because I climbed up, way up
into the tree to pick some. In fact, I had
one off of the tree here in Nurse Street today.
(14:42):
But I made the mistake of going out on the
limb and I fell and I landed on my back.
I'm laying there, I said, I wonder when I'm going
to be able to breathe again. It was painful.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
You learn not to climb in those trees or select
your branches better. Right, Okay, So so pineapple, guava, strawberry guavas.
What other fruits do you have or what can people
use for headges an an edible landscape?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Well, we have many different types. We've got course olive
trees we trim they can be smaller, make a script,
beautiful scream. We've got for smaller like near sidewalks. Blueberries.
We have figs. We have pomegranates and grow bushy. You
(15:31):
don't want to trim pomegranates, just letting them grow as
a multi trunk bush. We have Barbados cherries that has
delicious fruit. Also beauty berries that's a naties, just wonderful.
You can make grape jelly and jam from the beauty berries.
We have avocados for bigger, but there's dwarf avocados also
(15:55):
like the words.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, the words is a dwarf onticavo. It only gets
to be what about ten foot tall?
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Yeah, eight to ten foot eight to ten foot wide
or less. But that's a good one. It's a green
avocado and it's pear shaped. It's self fertile. It's a
type aid but it's also self fertiles. You don't have
to have the companions.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
That's good to know. That's good to know.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
And so so does pineapple guava or do edible land shrubs?
Do they have more than their share of pest issues
or are they pretty self sustaining?
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Well, it depends, you know. I've never seen any issue
with pastor diseases or insect problems on the on the
pajoa or the pineapple gualla, but others, like the regular guava,
it'll be eaten up with whitefly larvae, whitefly and insects, mites, scales.
(16:54):
Sometimes it all depends because you know, the edibles have
delicio sat for insects. It's like a feast for a
lot of these pists, right, So you have to watch scout,
check everything and target spray like you know, if it's
a caterpillar eating the leaves, use something like basilicterningensis the
(17:15):
dip heal right, if it's a you know, a sucking insect,
use something like horticultural oil. Will actually use malathion sometimes
because it's very effective and it'll be completely denatured in
one day. So that's a very safe chemical pesticide.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
So I'm interested in how's the spacing.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
So air circulation is very important and it helps decrease
When you have good air circulation the insect tissues. So
how far apart should the shrubs and a hedge be.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
Well, Research in a particular fruit tree and see how
big and how wide it grows. For example, we just
mentioned the guava. There'll it'll mean it'll grow like eight
to ten foot wide on that dwarf avocado. So you
want to spaced it more or less based on that,
(18:09):
you know, So I would like to see at least five.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Feet between them.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I mean fruiting plants in a little bit wider, you know,
in the cases something gets a little bit bigger, So.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
That's very important I think to know.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
And how big can you plant them or how small
to create a nice hedge that's four to five feet tall.
What kind of size do you do you think you need?
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Well, I recommend at least the three gallons side. We
have some good sized three gallon fruit trees, and if
you plant them properly, don't plant them too deeply. Make
sure that the topmost ladder roots had the surface. Water
them every other day and get them off to a
good start. After a couple of weeks, cut back to
(18:52):
twice a week unless they start getting rained every day,
then cut it back even more. But make sure that
then you follow up the good fertilizer like we have
that has all the minerals and the micronutrients such as earn, manganese, zinc,
and copper and boron based on a soul test, all
(19:16):
in a recommended low amounts.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Wonderful. Thank you so much. We ran through.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
I've got a bunch of other questions. You're gonna have
to come back on again. Thank you so much for
sharing your knowledge and all your efforts for the green industry.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
I certainly appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
That's Quality Green Specialists at three thirty five West Michigan
Street in the Land and you can go to their website,
Qualitygreenspecialist Nursery dot com. We're going to be back with
more of Better Lawns and Gardens and your phone calls
this Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens,
Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. I want to
thank Dana Venrick and.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
You want to be able to go to his nursery
because he can help you with anything that you need
in your landscape, soil tests and also selecting the right
plants and mulch and soil, so he's he's got it
all there and fertilizers which are so important for fruit
trees and for you know, edible shrubs. You want to
(20:25):
make sure that they're getting the nutrients they need to
produce that fruit. And so that's a Quality Green Specialist
Nursery three point thirty five West Michigan Street in DeLand,
and you can go to the website Qualitygreenspecialist dot com.
I think I said nursery last time, but it's Qualitygreenspecialist
dot com. And if you google it, you can just
(20:47):
put in Quality Green Specialist Nursery and it pops right up,
so it is a wonderful nursery to go to. What
should you be planting this time of the year, Well,
right now, in North Florida, you can be planting eggplant
and dive kale, peppers toalmattillos, tomatoes and tropical spinaches. Spinaches
(21:08):
as a ruler, are a winter winter plant. But if
you plant the tropicals they can take the heat. They're
usually from the Caribbean area and South America. You can
also if you have mustard, you can put that in
right now.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
You can use seeds.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
You can plant beans, bush lima and pole beans. You
can be planting carrots and cucumbers, onions and squashes and turnips.
We call those nips in Scotland. So you can be
planting naps and tatties, which are potatoes. In Central Florida
the same thing. You can be planting eggplant and dive peppers,
sugar cane tomatoes, and tropical spinaches. You can be planting
(21:50):
pineapple and again the seeds bush lima, pole carrots, okra.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
You can still be planting here in Central.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Florida onions, peas, southern peas, and squashes.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
South Florida, we don't want to leave you out.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
You need your veggies too, and fruits, so you can
plant eggplants and peppers, sugar cane, tomatillos, tomatoes, and tropical spinaches.
You can also be planting amorates, calabasas and papayas, pineapples,
seminal pumpkins and sweet potatoes. And if you want to
plant okra and pumpkin, you can be using seeds right
(22:25):
now and plant them and you'll have fruit for both
on till the end of the year, So that's important.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
What you want to do.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Watering right now is once a week watering in most areas,
but with the rainfall this week throughout the state of Florida,
even Key West, you want to just let mother nature
do her thing. There's no reason to pay a water bill.
So I got an email and it's from one of
my clients, and she said, I wanted to share that
I'm enjoying the ease with which I am able to
(22:56):
navigate the garden after your design update. Most of the
transplan she had a full native landscape, and unfortunately it
had been overplanted and it was it was a hot
mess and so very high maintenance, which native landscaping shouldn't be.
So we went in and moved things around and changed
things out. And so she said, most of the transplants
(23:18):
have taken hold in her coming back strong now that
we're having more regular precipitation. She doesn't even have an
irrigation system. So, oh, you know, so it's doing well
the native lands. I was really really thrilled with it. Yes,
And she said I even had my first hummingbird come
to pay us a visit, something we didn't see at
all last year. She says, I'm having a few pest
problems that I wanted to run by you. It seems
(23:39):
there's a roof fungus attacking our twin flower. And then additionally,
I think I'm seeing either mildew or some sort of
egg sacks in some of the grasses. And she attached
a wonderful photograph, and so could you give me guidance
on how to treat them? So what you have Taren
is well one, thank you for the kind words.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
I love working with you.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
But you have a mealy bug infestation. And what you
need to use for that NIM eighty five, which is
a Summit Responsible Solutions product, NIM eighty five oil. Follow
the label instructions, and I would use it on your
mulch and around the plants because sometimes mealy bugs are
(24:22):
in the ground area running around out there. So do
the plant and surrounding area stems plants and NIM eighty
five oil is organic and it's certified OMOR important. So
when it's certified OMRI, which is the Organic Materials Research Institute,
(24:43):
that means that it's good to use in your landscape
for organics, for edibles, and so you want to make
sure you do that. So thank you Taren for the comment.
I loved your photograph. It was a great picture of
mealy bugs. Sorry you have mealy bugs, but whenever I
get a chance to get bug pictures you wonderful there.
So if you'd like to give us a call one
triple eight five five five two nine sixty seven, or
(25:06):
you can text two three six eight zero and let
us know what your gardening question is. If you'd like
to text us, we would love to see you your
text messages give us your name or your non diplume
and the city that you're located.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
In that way I can give you the accurate information.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Let's go to rich In, Vera East and what can
how can I help you?
Speaker 5 (25:31):
Hello, Eah, I have a ameralist. Yes, one, just one
of them, okay, out of about twenty. Okay, that is
going weird.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
What is it doing?
Speaker 6 (25:45):
Well? Normally you have.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
The big flat leaves to come off, and you get
a new one and another new one, and you.
Speaker 7 (25:52):
Know, and of course down here they don't die off.
But this one, all of a sudden, it looks like
a dailily. It's got small narrow leaves coming up about
two feet over the rest of them, and like a
fan shape. And I'm going, I thought it was like
(26:13):
maybe a palm pre seed. I've gotten in there and
it was a palm or something. I'm looking at it,
going that's not an ami, but it is. And it's
the only one, just just one. It's it's strange. I mean,
it's like, okay, what.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Color is it?
Speaker 2 (26:29):
What color is it? What color is your emerialist flower?
Speaker 6 (26:35):
Red?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Red? Okay? Okay. So sometimes things can happen.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
So sometimes you can have a mix up in the
bulbs and what you originally planted was doing fine and
was very active, and now all of a sudden, this
one is coming up, and it could be a different bulb.
It could also be a sport. It's just a variation
in the flower. And this happens in nature and we
really have no control over it. But what I would
(27:01):
like to do is rich, if you could send us
a picture of this the the daylily, not daily. I'm sorry, emoryalless,
then I could I could make a better deduction.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Sometimes you know, like I said, plants get planted in
and they don't come.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Out right away.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
They don't emerge right away, and so it may be
something that was already in that pot when you planted
it or when it was shared with you, or it
could just be a variation in nature and this is
how we get different types of Amorillis's colors, and so
it just happened to you know, shoot out, or it
(27:40):
could be another issue. So I would have to really,
does it look really healthy?
Speaker 7 (27:45):
Yeah, that's the thing. I mean, I don't even have
lubber grasshoppers around.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
You are so lucky. Good for you.
Speaker 6 (27:50):
I know, I haven't seen any of them in the
entire time I've been here.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Oh excellent.
Speaker 7 (27:55):
It's like, yeah, the other ones next to it have
the regular flat leaves, huh.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
And they they're fine and they blossom every year three
spring they come up and I've got white.
Speaker 7 (28:08):
Ones and pink ones and all sorts of stuff.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Wonderful this one.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
This one has usually two. This year it had three
flower stalks.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Hmmm, so it seems like it's a totally different kind.
Speaker 6 (28:24):
I don't know. But it's been in the ground now for.
Speaker 7 (28:29):
Four years five hours.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Pretty cool, and it's been.
Speaker 7 (28:32):
Doing the same.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
And then all of a sudden this year, after the
flowers went it, all of a sudden started sprouting all
these damn extra leaves, and I'm like, what's the.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Have Well, you are doing really good, rich So I'd
love to see it if you'd like to send it
to me. Teresa dot Watkins at live dot com. Uh
and I would love to see that. If you're listening
to us at Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns
and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins and this Florida's talk and
Entertainment Network.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
Welcome back up Better Lawns and Garden And now Theresa's
top five.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
My top five but not my favorite, my top five
common tomato pest issues. We're in the midst of tomato
growing season. Here are some issues you need to.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Look for and how to get rid of them.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
So Number five blossom and rot is called B E
R Blossom and rot and it's caused by a calcium deficiency,
but you don't need to apply calcium. The other causes
for it could be excessive nitrogen, fertilizer and income assistant watering.
Here in Florida, we have plenty of calcium in the soil.
It's very rare to see a deficiency, so check your
(30:06):
watering and make sure you're not over fertilizing. Number four
stink bugs and leaf footed bugs are shield shaped insects
known for their foul smelling defense. They feed on many
garden plants. You want to control with safer garden insect
control spray, which can be used up to the day
of harvest.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Number three Root.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Not nematodes Florida's most damaging plant. Parasitic nematodes in tomatoes,
causing severe yield loss through root calling and stunting.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
You want to.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Make sure you incorporate a lot of organic matter in
your soil. You can rotate your tomatoes so you don't
plant them in the same area each year, and then
look for tomato cultivars that have resistance. Look for the
n on the label VPN, which is the resistance code.
Number two early blight caused by fungus altenera solenite control
(31:01):
with bonn eyed Captain Jack's Tomato and Vegetable spray, and
number one sun scald. Here in Florida, excessive sun and
heat can cause tomatoes to develop sunscald. What you want
could do is provide them some shade during the peak sun.
You don't want to over prune, let the leaves provide coverage,
and then plant your tomatoes early, which is now. Yes,
(31:24):
So those are my top five but not my favorite,
top five common tomato issues.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
So, if you have a gardening question, we'd love to
hear from you one triple eight four five five two
nine sixty seven or you can text two three six
eighth zero and we will answer your questions right away.
So I am also looking, so, Lizzie, where can they
hear your uh? Where can they hear the show? With
(31:53):
the podcast?
Speaker 3 (31:53):
It is very easy. Uh. The easiest way to do
it is to go to better Lawns dot com. That's
better Lawns dot com, or you can check any of
the potlant podcast platforms and you can just search better
lawns and gardens or even search trees or watkins.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
And it's not exactly I'm everywhere you are.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Thank you, Lizzie, So Samantha asked. She says, can you
briefly explain how to tell the difference.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
I don't know why she said briefly, but.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Can you tell the difference between mole cricket damage and
damage from other pests?
Speaker 2 (32:30):
How can I keep them out of my lawn?
Speaker 1 (32:32):
And so, mole crickets thrive in behea grass and bermuda grass,
So when you start to see this is cline during
the summer, mole crickets could be the cause. They feed
on underground roots and they attract plants. The effected plants
dry out, they wilt, and can even be pushed upward
from mole crickets. So when you're looking at your damage,
(32:55):
look to see if you see the upper twelve inches
of soil disturbed, leaving small ridges on the surface. And
as that activity, that area is going to grow. So
you will also see them at night, and this is
one of the main reasons not to have a night
light on in Florida. Night lights attract moths and said webworms.
(33:17):
It attracts the lawn mole crickets and so you want
to do that. So, Lizzie, do you remember when when
I was little growing up in Florida, it was Silver
Lake in Winterhaven Lake Silver. I remember watching my parents
play tennis at night. They would go down to the
park and play tennis, and the mole crickets were always
jumping around and flying around those big, big, huge floodlights.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
Yes, do you remember those, Yes, they do.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
So you would around the area of the tennis courts
was always behea behea grass. And so the difference is
if you're looking at turf decline and you're seeing another
issue besides mole crickets, it could be that chinch bugs
eat in a circle, so you'll see more of a
(34:03):
circular pattern.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Oh okay, where it's dead.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
And if the issues were fungal, the grass blades will
appear slimy, they might turn yellow, or that whole area
dies out. So excessive take on root rot, you're not
going to be able to see any roots.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
So there's a little bit of difference between mole crickets
and other pest issues. You'll be able to spot it.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
So one of the best things that's happened is that
the University of Florida and other research facilities have released
Laura wasps. They've released predatory bugs that attack mole crickets
and they have they have made an impact and we
have seen reduced populations.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
It's crazy because now that you're saying this, I haven't
really seen mole crickets in a minute, Like that's been
a while since I've seen them.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
So that may be why.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Yeah, because of all the predatory bugs that they've released.
So again, so to keep from getting mul crickets, you
want to make.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Sure that you're following best management practices.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
You don't want to be overwatering, overfertilizing, and you want
to prevent scalping, which is when you're mowing too long
or too short so that your lawn is very very tiny,
but you think that you're not gonna have to come
back and mow it, you know fast, you know it's
going to extend the time between mowings.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
It doesn't.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
But it also you know, hurts your turf because the
height of your blade leaf blade is the same depth
of your roots. So if you're cutting your blades short,
then you're gonna have a short root system and your
short root system is going to need to be watered
more often, which leads to disease and other insect issues.
(35:42):
So go ahead and just best management practices, you know,
water correctly. If we don't get any rain, which that's
not an issue right now. And I will tell you
it's really fascinating because we have caught up in some cities.
So Orlando, your year rainfall is fourteen inches of rain
so far.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
We are below fifteen inches.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
For the year, so we have to you know, hopefully
we'll get some storms to catch that up. Melbourne you've
had twenty seven inches so far and you are over
almost an inch for the year, So that's really good
or for this time, not for the year, but.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Oh for years. Yeah, they are.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Samford you've had twenty five inches. That's down three and
a quarter inches for this time this year. Daytona Beach
you had twenty five inches, you're down almost three inches
for the year. And Liesburg you've had twenty inches so
far this year and you are down four and three
quarters of an inch so far this year. So this
(36:44):
rain this week is going to be very helpful. You're
not going to need to apply it. You want to
check out we have some great tours with art and
bloom garden tours. I will tell you the Artiste Gardens
of France is going to be tremendous. I would love
for you to me and we can just go and
look at all the beautiful gardens and get inspirational ideas.
(37:05):
We just got back from the garden Walk Buffalo and
they were saying our guests were saying that they came
back they had a whole notebook full of ideas to
put their gardens.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
And with every garden.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Tour, Yes, and the good thing about the garden tour
is that they get that personal kind of one on
one time as a small group with you and Tony
So and they're able to see things and see different
things that you wouldn't be able to do if you
just went and went to certain events exactly.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
So, we have the Florida Spring Break for Gardeners in March,
we have the tour the arteeth Gardens of France in April,
we have the iconic Chelsea Flower Show which is always
full and the best of English Gardens in May, and
we are also going to High Grove House. We are
having afternoon tea in Charles's home. King Charles the Third's
(37:58):
Home and so we're very excited about that.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
That is in May. In June we have.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
The beautiful Newport Flower Show in Martha's Vineyard. Lots of
exciting places we're going there. And then in July we
are going back to the garden Walk Buffalo. This has
to be on your bouquet list. That's spelled bucket list,
but you pronounce a bouquet. And in August we're going
to Scotland. September we are going to the Great Hudson Valley,
(38:26):
the gardens and grandeur of the Hudson Valley in September,
and then in October we are going to the North
Carolina Fall Fullest Show.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
So I want to thank data.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Venrick for coming on and helping us with edible landscaping
and shrubs. You can visit Quality Green Specialist Nursery at
three point thirty five West Michigan Street.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Just go to his website and go buy.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
And see him. He has got wonderful plans. Lizzie, thank
you so much. I couldn't do this without you. We've
got another sensational second hour all about tomatoes. If it's
Saturday morning at the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios you're listening
to Better LUNs and go Arden. I'm Teresa Watkins, and
this is Florida's talk and Entertainment network.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
If you missed any of the show and you would
like to go back and recap and get to better
Lawns dot com. That's better Lawns dot com.
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