August 8, 2026 • 39 mins
What to plant in your garden by landscape designer and Award winning garden expert Teresa Watkins welcomes.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome back to the second hour of Better Lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm your host, Teresa Watkins.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I'm a landscape designer, garden author, horticulturist, consultant.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I love to design landscapes.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
For just having a beautiful Florida friendly, low maintenance landscape
or a beautiful largest state type landscape. If you have,
you know, visions of grandeur. I can do those too,
And so I love I love helping people with their gardens.
And so this day, today, this hour, we're going to
be talking about your gardening questions one triple eight four
(00:45):
five five two nine six seven, or you can text
me two three six eight zero two three six eight
zero and you can just give your name and your
city location, uh, and I will get to you and
help you right away.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So let's start.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
I've got a very long dirty word of the day today,
so let's start.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Let's see and.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Now it's time for the dirty word of the Day
on Better Lawns and Gardens with Teresa Watkins.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And the dirty word of the day is hetero dicogamus.
Hetero dicogamus and this means, well, I'll tell you, avocados
are one of the fastest growing fruits in demand. Now,
let me say that again, avocados are one of the
fastest growing.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Fruits in demand.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
I didn't say that avocados are fast growing.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Okay, so the trees are growing very slow.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
In fact, avocado consumption has tripled in just twenty years.
Most of what we eat in the United States comes
from Mexico. But breeding better avocados have always been slow
and difficult. And why is that? Well, there's three reasons. First,
the avocado is a large tree that matures slowly.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
It takes five to eight years before producing fruit.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
A second major obstacle is the avocado's reproductive system. A
single tree typically produces more than one million flowers, of
which only one tenth or fewer will become mature fruit,
making controlled pollination difficult. Finally, avocados are heterodchogamus with three
(02:28):
with two flowering types that's A and B, so Type
A avocado trees are female, which means they're receptive to
pollen in the morning of the first day and shed pollen,
becoming a male in the afternoon. So on the first
(02:49):
day and shed palen become male in the afternoon of
the following day. Type A avocados include hass Reed and Pinkerton.
In contrast, Type B of A kados are female in
the afternoon of the first day and male in the
morning of the next day. Type B avocados include Brogden,
(03:10):
Bacon Joey, and winter Mexican. But there's also some varieties
like Wurtz, Brazo's Bell, Carmen Haas, and Lamb Hoss that
can be both A and B types on the same tree.
But until now, breeders had no way to know a
seedlings type without waiting for years of inspections. Last month,
(03:34):
University of California researchers made a major breakthrough in avocado breeding.
They discovered discovered a gene called SDMYB that determines whether
an avocado tree has A type or B type flowers.
With the SMDYB discovery, breeders can test the young trees
(03:56):
DNA and know its flower type right away. That means
faster breeding, smart smarter orchard planning, and better avocado varieties
for the future, and hopefully cheaper avocados.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So heterodchogamous and that's the dirty word of the day.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
I'm very excited about this because I'm into ancestry and genealogy,
and now we can go back with the DNA of avocados,
and these avocados have been intermingling and breeding for over
a million years.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
They've just been doing it on their own.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
They've been doing it on their own.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
But now we can tell a tree right from the
very beginning, which is is very, very exciting and great
for the agriculture industry.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
I'm excited about that because I know it takes almost
three months to four months before I can figure out
what a turkey is, and then sometimes that doesn't even register,
and then you know, then I mis ginger them for
about eight months and then I realized that it's a
tom and not a female.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, so you know what it is. But if you
could know what their DNA is right away, it.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Would be a good thing.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Then I know what to name them. You go from
Chocolatina to now his name is just chocolate.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I love that name. Chocolatina.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yeah, it was because they're deep deep brown, aren't chocolate slates?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
And so I was like, oh, you're going to be Chocolatina.
And then I found out it was a boy. I
was like, well, I guess.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Chocolate, chocolate, just chocolate. Oh, there you go. Yeah, it
saves it very good.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
This is the month of August and we can be
doing lots of gardening this week. We're not going to
have a lot of rainfall. That Saharan desert dust, which
I have a let's see somebody mentioned the desert. They
never heard about it. Hold on, let me get to
my text messages. I gotta scroll down. So let's see
the whole Saharan dust stuff. I never remember that when
(05:43):
I was growing up as being a factor that prevents uh,
let's see hurricanes. In fact, I always remembered hearing about
the Sahara dust only starting a couple.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Of years ago. Strange. Well, actually that's because of technology.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Now we have better satellites, we have better weather technology
and understanding of the technology we can we can see
the wind patterns now from space, so you know, with
the desert, it it keeps the moisture from evaporating and
going into that cold heat front there that creates those
(06:18):
those those hurricanes, that swhirling motion tropical storms. So yeah,
so it's it's something new in the last twenty years
that we didn't know about earlier than that. So that's
why we can kind of understand where our weather comes from.
We are doing wonderful there, so we do.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Appreciate that, so thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
We're going to be right back with your gardening questions
one triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero like
Eric did, and we'll talk about that when we come
back in a Saturday morning from the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I'm Teresa Watkins, Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Garden this hour. It's
all about you and your gardening questions.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
If you have something that's on your mind, don't know
where hurricanes come from, or you're just wanting to know
how to grow a plant or a tree. You want
some design topics or tips, you can give us a
call one triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero. Let's
go to Craig in Bellisle. Good morning, Craig, thank you
(07:36):
for calling in.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Hey, good morning ladies. How are you?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
I am good?
Speaker 3 (07:41):
All right? I've got two giant mango trees and I
know it's been six months since the freeze. But I
heard what you said earlier about seeing a tree with
a lot of brown leaves and the green growth inside,
and so I wanted to share what was shared with me.
The Orange County Extension Master gardener sent me some information
(08:06):
about this. If I could just read you a couple sentences, sure, okay.
Trees damaged mangoes often respond with epicormic sprouting, producing dense
clusters of dozens of new shoots from the trunk or
major lymb.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Let.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
The shoots grow from about six to eight inches tall,
so you can see which ones are the strongest selectively
snap off. We're proven away the weakest shoots, leaving only
two or three well spaced, robust stems per area to
become the tree's new primary branches. Leaving too many shoots
(08:51):
creates a weak, tangled brush brush pile that blocks light
and invites fungal diseases. So I was really uncertain kind
of how much to prove my trees or when, And
I just started doing it after reading this, and I
think it was a good move.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Well, good for you, that is.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
That's that's basically what we need. We need to cut
off those dead branches and let the new shoots come out,
and then you can select which ones will be better
to have good air circulation, will be a nice can
it be for you?
Speaker 2 (09:24):
And that's exactly what you need to do.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
That's what I've been doing. I'm really happy with the
results so far. As far as the I've also got
two avocado trees. The Brockden avocado. Yes, had flowers during
the freeze, and I thought those delicate flowers will all
fall off, but they didn't. And now I'm eating Brockdon
avocados and the tree looks.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Great, wonderful.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Well.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Brogden's are very frost tolerant, so you know you were
in a great area. Bellisle has a little microclimate growing there,
so that's a great choice for you. Brockdon avocados are great,
they're very frost tolerant. Good for you.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Thank you so much for sharing.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Yeah, the last thing I want to share. I also
have about twenty protins in my yard, and some of
them were totally unaffected. Some of them were largely affected,
and a bunch of them looked like they were going
to die. So I gradually trimmed them down till eventually
it was almost ground level. I thought these ones are
not going to make it. But in the last two
or three weeks, holy smokes, the new growth is coming
(10:26):
up from underground and I think they.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
All lived wonderful. Well, you know, that's a really good see.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
What you do is very important is you're not afraid
to cut and so you know, sometimes it's not recommended.
It just depends on the plant species. But you've done
very well tropical plants. If you cut them back, they
will come back from the roots because our ground never freezes.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
So good, good, good decisions there. Thank you so much
for sharing, Craig.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
It was very hard warning you guys do an awesome job.
I really love your show. Keep up the good work.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Thank you so much, Craig. Have a great week. I
appreciate that that was.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
Some good information right there, because like you know, I
didn't think about that and about cutting them back and stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
So yeah, yeah, no, some people are just afraid to cut,
and then they have all these sticks and you know,
it just it just doesn't do well. So now, if
you've got any dead from the winter time, go out
there and cut it. This is the time of the
year to do it, before.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
We have three months.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
You know, you want to do major pruiting three months
before a change in the weather. And we have that
right now because usually our first freeze, our first cold
snap is December, maybe you know, definitely January, but end
of December.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
And speaking of a freeze, I'm telling you you need
to get your frost blankets and cloths ordered right now.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
That's true.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
Don't play these games. Don't wait another month, don't wait
till September. Get your order, and now trust me on this.
I know Peterson's that nursery also has you know, I
think they do carry them too.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
So exactly, so that's very important. Okay, So let me
go through my text messages. Eric set me in some
beautiful progressive his butterfly garden, butterflies and a hummingbird. And yes,
it is difficult to get them a picture of a
hummingbird that's not moving its swings. You have to have
a very fast camera. And so thank you for sending.
(12:13):
You always make us laugh when when you text us
so here in Polk County.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Let's see got that. That's Eric.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
So I don't know who asked this one or where
they are. I intended to transplant my amarillis after they bloom.
What is the best time to move them, and after
they bloom is the best time, so go ahead if
they finished up blooming.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
And because I have.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Some new amoralists that are starting to bloom again right now,
so that's kind of interesting. But if your emberalless have
finished blooming, you can go ahead and move them, and
so thank you. And then update on my cactus plant
I've had for about four years. It is sprouted into
many other cactuses and it's way taller than my trailer.
(12:58):
I'd say it's about close to fifteen foot tall right now.
I think it's called a fencepost cactus. But I did
exactly what you said, and I don't water it anymore.
You told me to let mother nature take care of it,
and since I've done that, he has sprouted very high.
I can send you pictures if you give me your website. Well,
I'd love to see your pictures, so go ahead. It's
(13:18):
Teresa dot Watkins at live dot com. Or you can
send them to me on Facebook, which is better Lawns
and Gardens U and I can get them either way.
So Teresa dot Watkins at live dot com. If you
have photographs you'd like to send, that would be wonderful
and congratulations, yeah we try. Mother nature is the best
thing for plants. And it's called a night blooming cactus.
(13:42):
Is also called a fencepost cactus. It is a serious C. E. R.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
E u s.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Species, And so they are wonderful and the fragrant blooms
and you're gonna have a lovely, lovely spring with it.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
So congratulations. Catching up right here on what you should
be doing.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
This month in your yard. It's again for vegetables. Seeds
of melons and pumpkins can be planted now in early August.
Also too, you can go ahead and give tomatoes an
extra large container, so your tomatoes should start.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Be filling in nicely.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Put them on a trellis and make sure that you
keep the soil moist consistently. Don't over water, okay, but
moist consistently so that they don't get blossom and roped.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
You can cut your herbs this month.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
If you've been planting them and they're giving you know
they're growing, don't waste them, go ahead and cut them
off and just you can just bag them and put
them in your freezer, okay, and then when you're ready
to chop them up, you can go ahead and pull
them out and let them thaw and then chop them
up then.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
But you don't have to do it right now. I
love that. Yeah, so simple it is, just cut them back.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Don't be afraid to cut back your plants, except when
I tell you not to.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
So I'm seeing all these people going out and cutting plants,
and right now the plants you should not be cutting.
Our spring blooming plants, which are our zaleas, do not
cut them. Camellias do not cut them. And hydranges do
not cut them.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Oh, and speaking of the camellias, like I have a huge,
beautiful you know, the splatter paint I call slatterpants the
proper but it's it's the white and red splatter paints gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
And and you.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
Said, what was it a week ago or two weeks ago?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Don't you cut it?
Speaker 4 (15:27):
And I caught Shrek, my husband, we call him Shrek,
got you know, going out there and he's fixed and
start trimnog And what are you doing, heaes, I'm wanna
trum back so i'd be ready for you know, the
winter and fall. And blessed sir, I said, you see
all these buds And he says yes, and he goes,
but it needs a haircut. I said, no, that's not
I said. Teresa said, leave it alone.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
He said, if there's one, if there's one like sticking
out two feet or three feet outside of your you know,
your canopy, of your of your camellia shrub er bush,
you can cut that one off, but don't trim the
whole plant.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Okay, So for the rest of the world, yes, Teresa says, right,
but when it comes to Shrek, now he's not allowed
to touch that one.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Sorry. There you go. That's smart. That's smart. So you
want to go ahead.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
And also to let's see, uh talk about the trellising mulching.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Make sure your plants are mulched.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
If you have no mulch, then the water's going to
vibrate out of the ground and you're going to lose
your water. Feed your sweet potatoes monthly right now, and
you can go ahead. And you know when you're planting
these vegetables, put on your calendar what the date is
when you should be harvesting them. That way you don't
have to dig them out, you don't have to guess.
(16:37):
So if you plant it in August, then about mid October.
End of October, most vegetables should be ready to harvest, okay,
seventy two to ninety days. And if you put it
on your calendar, you won't have to guess if it's,
you know, ready to eat or not. You want to
also feed your citrus with one quarter poud citrus fertilizer
(17:01):
per inch of trunk caliber. Okay, so if you have
a four inch citrus tree, then you're going to put
down a pound of citrus fertilizer. And citrus doesn't need
to have an expensive fertilizer okay.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
No plant needs to have an expensive fertilizer. Okay, but
your citrus you can use a six sixty six eight
eight eight, ten, ten ten.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Make sure you're looking on the label, make sure that
you're giving it the micronutrients that needs. You might have
to add minor elements which can be granule or can
be sprayed on your tree. And then also apply a
minor nutrients spray and insecticide to your citrus at each
flush of new growth. So when you're talking about each
(17:49):
flush of new growth, that means you have to go
out to your yards and look at your plants, okay,
and then notice when it's putting out new leaves. That
the time when insects know that the leaves are the
most delicious and they're going to start attacking the new growth.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
But if you never go out and look at your.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Trees or your shrubs, or your your your plants, you
never know what stage they're at or if you're seeing
an insect problem until it's too late. Walk your yards
on a regular basis, Okay, once a week, go out
there and look, especially if you have fruit trees.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Fruit trees can get.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Damaged overnight, and you want to make sure, and your
vegetables too as well. They need to be inspected every day,
every couple of days. That way you catch a major problem.
So one triple eight four or five y five. Let
me say it again, one triple eight four five two
nine sixty seven, or you can text me two three
(18:51):
six eight zero. I need another cup of tea. So
it's it's wonderful. I love hearing from everybody, So let
me go put these messages up more.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Linda, thank you so much. It is interesting about avocados,
isn't it.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
So.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
I love ancestry, and we can go back DNA five
generations and uh so when you're thinking about this DNA
and scientists and and and the agricultural industry what they're
doing to find out you know, when these these plants
UH started to hybridize and where the how far back
they go.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
It's fascinating to me. We're going to be back with
more of your gardening questions.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
It's Saturday morning. You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens
from the Summit.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Responsible Solutions Studios.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
I'm Teresa Watkins, and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
(20:01):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Tuisa Watkins.
If you have a gardening question, you can give me
a call one triple eight four five five two nine
sixty seven Triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven.
Or you can text me at two three six eight
zero and let me get to the text messages so
we can make sure we have everybody there.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
So let's see. Linda says she's in zone eight B,
that's up north.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
My little four foot avocado was a year old less
winter in a large pot. I covered it religiously, but
it froze back. A new growth came up at soil level.
It is doing good about two feet tall. Will it
be a productive tree or is it just like a sucker?
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I hope not.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
I don't know if was it a grafted avocado tree, Linda.
If it was a graft at avocado tree, you should
see the graft.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
It should be the graft kind of uh.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Gall or node that you see is about four inches
to five inches above the ground. If the sucker is
below that graft, then that is not.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
I would cut it off, okay.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
But if you don't have any growth above the graft,
then your avocado tree may not.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
It may be dead.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
So if you want to leave that sucker. If the
graft above the tree above the graft is dead, then
you might want to leave the sucker. It's just going
to take a long time for it to have fruit,
and you might feel better just getting another avocado tree.
But I would get one that's really really cold tolerant,
(21:46):
like Brogdon. We discussed that earlier. Or Linda, just send
me an email and I will send you a whole
list of the avocados that are good for winter time.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Then it says we have a concrete wall which we'd
like to plant some tall barrier to block the neighboring properties. However,
the footers underground have spilled over, so planting may be problematic.
I would think bamboo, but it seems like it would
required occasional trimming so they look good. What would you suggest, Well,
the bamboo is not going to need occasional trimming if
(22:19):
you get a small bamboo. So I don't know, let's
see how tall the wall is. If you don't say
how tall the wall is. But if you get a
shorter bamboo like Golden Goddess, it's going to get to
be ten to twelve foot tall, and you may not
have to prune it.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Now.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
It will lose its leeves in the wintertime, but they
come back, so bamboo can handle the winter time. And
so there's short varieties of bamboo. And if you want
a taller one, if your wall's like eight foot tall,
then you may want to get a bamboo that gets
fifteen to twenty foot tall. I'm not worried about the
footers because bamboo is a grass, and so the roots
(23:01):
are rhizomes and they go sideways. They don't they go
down to a little bit, but they'll get around the
foot have no fear of that, okay, So yeah, bamboo
might be a good choice. So as a designer, though,
I'm looking at what my theme is, and if you
have a tropical landscape.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Then bamboo will be great for it.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
But if you have another type of landscape where it's
a little bit more formal, or it's a butterfly garden,
you may want to put down a plant or shrub
or tree like a red bay, which would be lovely
because it attracts butterflies. So I would just think about
what kind of landscape design you have because you got
(23:43):
a number.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Of choices there. Okay, great question. Let's see built an
Orlando like Shrek. That's hilarious. High tree.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
So what kind of soil would do you recommend for
container rosis Just a regular potting soil would be fine.
What kind of contains or is it more important? Is
it a plastic container, is it a porcelain container, is
it a clay container. That's gonna determine what kind of
soil you use.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Okay, So if it's a.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Plastic or a porcelain make sure it has good drainage.
Roses don't like to have wet roots. Then you can
just use a regular potting soil. If it is a
clay pot, I would use a potting soil that has
those moisture prills in it that holds onto the moisture
because a clay pot is gonna suck the water out
(24:34):
and during the summertime it's going to need to be
watered every day. Okay, So just depends on the pot
you have. Regular potting soil is just fine. Uh, but
if it's a clay pot, I would use the one
that provides moisture control.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Okay, that would be great.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
One triple eight four five five, two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero what
fertilizer to have for sweet potatoes. To fertilize sweet potatoes,
you could just use a regular fertilizer six sixty six,
eight eight eight, ten to ten. They're not really specialty
fertilized or specialty plants that need you know that they're
(25:16):
not spoiled rotten yet. Okay, so you can just use
a regular balanced fertilizer.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
That's fine. Just make sure that it's in full sun. Okay.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
So I think we're all caught up there. Thank you
so much to all our texters collect Thank you so much.
It's nice to see you on the on the text
message line. Okay, so we talked a little bit about
carrots and how to grow them. Uh, and sweet potatoes
have come up today, so this is a time to
plant sweet potatoes. But Florida has a pest problem that
(25:49):
I've never talked about, and I just wanted to bring
it up today because it is one of the most
persistent and annoyingest we have. And it's orange. It looks
like carrots. It looks like sweet potato colors.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
So I thought that was interesting.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
So it's called wireworms, and wireworms are the larval stage
of the click beetle. Have you heard of click beetles
with the Egyptian click beetles. They're long and rectangular and
they make that clicking noise.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
I've heard of them, yes, yes, Okay, Well, the adults
are those little beetles and they flip over with a click.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
But it's the larva that causes the problem. So beetles
aren't the issue. It's the larva. Just like sod webworms,
it's not the moth that's the issue, it's the larva.
So larva is what eats the roots, eats leaves. Wireworms
look like slender, hard shelled reddish brown worms anywhere from
a quarter inch and a half long. You'll only see
(26:50):
the tiny pair of legs near their head. Everything else
is tough, is a tough, smooth body. They live in
the soil, usually in the top six inches, but in
dry weather they are going to bear it burrow deeper,
so they might be close to the surface right now.
Wireworms are the most damaging root pests in Florida, right
alongside the sweet potato weavil. They feed on root vegetables potatoes, carrots, beets, radishes,
(27:17):
and other vegetables cabbage, lettuce, peppers, sweet potatoes, beans, and.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Peas, so everything out there pretty much they eat.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
As far as vegetables go, they attack the roots and tubers,
leaving holes, stunting growth and reducing your yield. In high
value crops, the losses can be severe. Click beetles emerge
in spring in late summer and lay eggs in the
soil up to one hundred per female. The larvae develops slowly,
sometimes two to six years, and they can overwinter write
(27:49):
in your garden beds. So here in Florida, several generations
may show up in a single season.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Aren't we lucky?
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Right there are no insane deicides for home gardeners. So
cultural and biological controls are essential. You cannot get a
chemical to get rid of them. So how do what
do you do?
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Well?
Speaker 2 (28:12):
One, Well, i'm gonna tell you after this break.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
All right, if it's Saturday morning, you're listening to Better
Lawns and Gardens, we're talking about wireworms. This is Florida's
Talk and Entertainment Network. When we last left you, we
(28:53):
were talking about wireworms. Welcome back to Better Logs and Gardens.
And so here's a solution if you think you may
be getting wireworms. One is to recognize them. Their long
orange red orange larvae. They look like a little bit
of caterpillars, but they're very skinny. And so if you
(29:13):
are having problems with your vegetables in the ground, then
you want to till the soil before planting, and that's
going to turn them up. You'll see them in the soil.
Don't rotor till too deep. That's not recommended. You don't
want to hurt your micro your microbiological system in your soil.
You don't want to break that up. But they don't
(29:36):
like predators in sunlight. So wireworms, you want.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
To rotate crops. This is the best.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Way to prevent having an insect issue. Avoid planting root
vegetables in the same spot year after year. Okay, So
you want to go to something else, lagoons, your brassicas
after you plant a root crop improved drainage. Wireworms thrive
in poorly drained soils and old sod. So if you
(30:06):
have really moist or hydrix soils, if you're overwatering, okay,
this is one of the reasons why we don't overwater.
Make sure that you're not getting wireworms. And then beneficial
nematodes they can be applied to target larva naturally. So
here's interesting, and some of you may not have thought
(30:26):
about that, but beneficial nematodes. We have the good nematodes
and we have bad nematodes. What you want in the good,
healthy soil is the beneficial nematodes.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
And you can buy them, okay.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
And so they cost about thirty two seventy five dollars
for a size for a good vegetable garden area, I
would say probably twenty by twenty. And the beneficial nematode
that will take care of wireworms is called a Steiner nema.
Steiner Nema and just look up beneficial nematodes. You can
(31:04):
even put in wire worms or steiner Neema STI n
e R n em and then you can purchase them.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
They'll come to you.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
It has the label, it tells you how to put
them in your soil and they will.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Take care of your wireworm problem.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
And then the other really easy way for homeowners to
take care of these bad worms or even bad nematodes
is solar solarization. During the hottest month, you can solarize
your area, your vegetable bed and that will take care
of your problem. So always inspect your soil before planting crops.
(31:46):
That's very, very important. You can also use bait traps.
I'm not necessarily a big fan of bait traps because
if you don't have the insect that you're trying to
control in your yard, you put bait down.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
It's gonna come to your yard.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
So that's kind of like attacking or inviting the enemy
into your house.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
Okay, I feel that same way, like with the the
those fly the smelly fly things.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yeah, I mean they weren't great, yes, but.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
I swear I feel like it's just inviting everything in
the whole Lake County to come to my house.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Yeah, I feel that way about termite bait traps. If
you don't have termites, why are you putting a bait
trap out in your yard to attract them? Okay, friends, Yeah,
so so can you help reduce the population. So in Florida,
wireworms are year round concerned. They just don't happen in
(32:42):
the summertime or during the winter. They happen in South Florida,
Central Florida, North Florida. So being proactive and again monitoring,
walking your yards on a regular basis, be observant. I
think we've lost that skill over the last one hundred
years that we used to be able to know what
was going on in our landscapes and our soil.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
Yeah, and so it's just too busy we are. That's
the bad part about it. And I think that we
kind of need to slow down for a second. And
like you said, take the time, and you've always recommended.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
To walk your yard.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
Just take the time to walk and look, because yeah, it.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Turned the leaves over, you know, looking at the color
of the of the foliage. Is it changing, is it
getting less?
Speaker 2 (33:26):
You know?
Speaker 1 (33:26):
So, and that helps it and it makes you more
observe it and you can know what's better because I
tell you, once you learn something about gardening, you're gonna
start to see it everywhere.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
You're gonna go, oh, that's that, that's that's that.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
As facts like mushrooms are popping up everywhere right now
they are and it's I mean, they're really pretty. I
know you absolutely love the look of mushrooms, so I
try to get pictures so I can send them to you.
But yeah, it's crazy the amount of mushrooms that I find,
especially with this little bit of rain we have. And yeah,
so yeah, definitely go out and walkingryard, like Teresa says,
because you will really start noticing some nature. Like leave
(33:59):
your phone, you know, in your pocket and ignor it
for a minute and just do that.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
That is good bit of advice right there. So last
week we talked a little bit about fireflies. Somebody mentioned
they hadn't seen fireflies and so they're one of nature's
most remarkable night light makers. A group of fireflies. Do
you know what a group of fireflies is called Lizzie light? No,
(34:25):
they're called a sparkle. A group of fireflies is called
a sparkle. So the the fireflies are soft body beetles
again beetles from the family lampyride, and inside their abdomens
they have a tiny lantern cell where a chemical reaction
reaction creates a cool efficient glow, a compound called lucifer
(34:50):
and lucifer and just spelled just like lucifer is.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
That which which is? Which means light?
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Wait, yeah, light bearer? So light bringer, morning star is
lucifer is Latin for morning star, light bringer, And so
a compound called lucifer and mixes with oxygen and an
enzyme named luciferrae and a little cellular energy and the
result is light without heat. So first of all, why
(35:21):
they do this is because it's communication. Male fireflies flash
specific patterns as they fly, and females answer back with.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Their own signal. There you go.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
So they're just talking back and forth to each other's
high babe, I'm over here, you know, hey?
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Wait, which one are you?
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Each species has its own rhythm, almost like a language
of light. In some places, hundreds of fireflies even synchronize
their flashes, creating a breathtaking display.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
I think we've lost.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
That a little bit here in Florida with all the development.
But fireflights glow symbolizes a bridge. This is the symbolism
bridge between the living and the spirit world, according guiding
departed souls on their journey. In Japan, people often view
fly of fireflies as the souls of fallen warriors. Fireflies
(36:14):
also represent fleeting yet passionate love. Their glow also serves
as a warning. Many fireflies contain bitter toxic chemicals. The
light tells predators, don't eat me. From courtship to protection,
that tiny spark in the firefly's abdomen is a powerful tool,
one of nature's most elegant designs. So I love fireflies.
(36:37):
We used to see a lot of them here in Florida.
We don't necessarily see as much. But you can stop
spraying your yards. Yes, okay, stop spraying your yards. We
want to thank everyone who called in today, Jerry and
Eileen and everyone who texted Collette, everybody.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Bill, Thank you so much. Eric, You're always wonderful. Linda.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
We have so many good people out there that listen
to us, so yes, we're happy to visit.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
With them and answer your gardening questions.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
And you can go onto the Facebook page and like us,
please like us.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
That will really be special.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
You can see my dried tomato recipe, Yes, how to
dry tomatoes. I will have the purple carrots link up
there and then on our Better Lawns and Gardens dot
com you can see what to do in the month
of August and all the other important my plant to
the month and we're going to get have all that
up and so we will do that for August.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
And don't forget that.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
At Peterson's Nursery today at nine thirty they're going to
have the seasonal we control and they have a thing
called b yoc that means bring your own chair.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Yes, that's very very important.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Give a big hig hug to Howie and Karen Forrest
also too. I have more of our garden tours up
on art and bloomgardentours dot com. Please come with me.
We will have a great time. You will see beautiful gardens.
I have an article in National Garden Bureau newsletter this week.
(38:08):
I'll put that up on our Facebook page two as well.
On the designs of France. We have a wonderful tour
going to France next April. Then in May we are
going to the Chelsea Flower Show, which we will be
having afternoon tea with King Charles, not with him, but
in his home, King Charles the Third's home, High Grove House.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
And so we will be and you need a passport
for this.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
So you need to go ahead and get on the
website and go ahead and find out that information about
how much it costs, get your name on the list,
and get your passport going.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Now, there you go.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
That's artbloomgardentours dot com. If it's Saturday morning, you're listening
to Better Lawns and Gardens from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios.
I'm Teresa Watkins, the great producer Lizzie Steele, and this
is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 4 (38:59):
If you miss it any of the show, or we'd
like to recap any other shows that we have done,
go to Better Lawns dot dot com has Better Lawns
dot com
Welcome back to the second hour of Better Lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm your host, Teresa Watkins.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I'm a landscape designer, garden author, horticulturist, consultant.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I love to design landscapes.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
For just having a beautiful Florida friendly, low maintenance landscape
or a beautiful largest state type landscape. If you have,
you know, visions of grandeur. I can do those too,
And so I love I love helping people with their gardens.
And so this day, today, this hour, we're going to
be talking about your gardening questions one triple eight four
(00:45):
five five two nine six seven, or you can text
me two three six eight zero two three six eight
zero and you can just give your name and your
city location, uh, and I will get to you and
help you right away.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
So let's start.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
I've got a very long dirty word of the day today,
so let's start.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Let's see and.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Now it's time for the dirty word of the Day
on Better Lawns and Gardens with Teresa Watkins.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And the dirty word of the day is hetero dicogamus.
Hetero dicogamus and this means, well, I'll tell you, avocados
are one of the fastest growing fruits in demand. Now,
let me say that again, avocados are one of the
fastest growing.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Fruits in demand.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
I didn't say that avocados are fast growing.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Okay, so the trees are growing very slow.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
In fact, avocado consumption has tripled in just twenty years.
Most of what we eat in the United States comes
from Mexico. But breeding better avocados have always been slow
and difficult. And why is that? Well, there's three reasons. First,
the avocado is a large tree that matures slowly.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
It takes five to eight years before producing fruit.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
A second major obstacle is the avocado's reproductive system. A
single tree typically produces more than one million flowers, of
which only one tenth or fewer will become mature fruit,
making controlled pollination difficult. Finally, avocados are heterodchogamus with three
(02:28):
with two flowering types that's A and B, so Type
A avocado trees are female, which means they're receptive to
pollen in the morning of the first day and shed pollen,
becoming a male in the afternoon. So on the first
(02:49):
day and shed palen become male in the afternoon of
the following day. Type A avocados include hass Reed and Pinkerton.
In contrast, Type B of A kados are female in
the afternoon of the first day and male in the
morning of the next day. Type B avocados include Brogden,
(03:10):
Bacon Joey, and winter Mexican. But there's also some varieties
like Wurtz, Brazo's Bell, Carmen Haas, and Lamb Hoss that
can be both A and B types on the same tree.
But until now, breeders had no way to know a
seedlings type without waiting for years of inspections. Last month,
(03:34):
University of California researchers made a major breakthrough in avocado breeding.
They discovered discovered a gene called SDMYB that determines whether
an avocado tree has A type or B type flowers.
With the SMDYB discovery, breeders can test the young trees
(03:56):
DNA and know its flower type right away. That means
faster breeding, smart smarter orchard planning, and better avocado varieties
for the future, and hopefully cheaper avocados.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So heterodchogamous and that's the dirty word of the day.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
I'm very excited about this because I'm into ancestry and genealogy,
and now we can go back with the DNA of avocados,
and these avocados have been intermingling and breeding for over
a million years.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
They've just been doing it on their own.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
They've been doing it on their own.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
But now we can tell a tree right from the
very beginning, which is is very, very exciting and great
for the agriculture industry.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
I'm excited about that because I know it takes almost
three months to four months before I can figure out
what a turkey is, and then sometimes that doesn't even register,
and then you know, then I mis ginger them for
about eight months and then I realized that it's a
tom and not a female.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, so you know what it is. But if you
could know what their DNA is right away, it.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Would be a good thing.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Then I know what to name them. You go from
Chocolatina to now his name is just chocolate.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I love that name. Chocolatina.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yeah, it was because they're deep deep brown, aren't chocolate slates?
Speaker 4 (05:09):
And so I was like, oh, you're going to be Chocolatina.
And then I found out it was a boy. I
was like, well, I guess.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Chocolate, chocolate, just chocolate. Oh, there you go. Yeah, it
saves it very good.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
This is the month of August and we can be
doing lots of gardening this week. We're not going to
have a lot of rainfall. That Saharan desert dust, which
I have a let's see somebody mentioned the desert. They
never heard about it. Hold on, let me get to
my text messages. I gotta scroll down. So let's see
the whole Saharan dust stuff. I never remember that when
(05:43):
I was growing up as being a factor that prevents uh,
let's see hurricanes. In fact, I always remembered hearing about
the Sahara dust only starting a couple.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Of years ago. Strange. Well, actually that's because of technology.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Now we have better satellites, we have better weather technology
and understanding of the technology we can we can see
the wind patterns now from space, so you know, with
the desert, it it keeps the moisture from evaporating and
going into that cold heat front there that creates those
(06:18):
those those hurricanes, that swhirling motion tropical storms. So yeah,
so it's it's something new in the last twenty years
that we didn't know about earlier than that. So that's
why we can kind of understand where our weather comes from.
We are doing wonderful there, so we do.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Appreciate that, so thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
We're going to be right back with your gardening questions
one triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero like
Eric did, and we'll talk about that when we come
back in a Saturday morning from the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I'm Teresa Watkins, Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Garden this hour. It's
all about you and your gardening questions.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
If you have something that's on your mind, don't know
where hurricanes come from, or you're just wanting to know
how to grow a plant or a tree. You want
some design topics or tips, you can give us a
call one triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero. Let's
go to Craig in Bellisle. Good morning, Craig, thank you
(07:36):
for calling in.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Hey, good morning ladies. How are you?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
I am good?
Speaker 3 (07:41):
All right? I've got two giant mango trees and I
know it's been six months since the freeze. But I
heard what you said earlier about seeing a tree with
a lot of brown leaves and the green growth inside,
and so I wanted to share what was shared with me.
The Orange County Extension Master gardener sent me some information
(08:06):
about this. If I could just read you a couple sentences, sure, okay.
Trees damaged mangoes often respond with epicormic sprouting, producing dense
clusters of dozens of new shoots from the trunk or
major lymb.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Let.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
The shoots grow from about six to eight inches tall,
so you can see which ones are the strongest selectively
snap off. We're proven away the weakest shoots, leaving only
two or three well spaced, robust stems per area to
become the tree's new primary branches. Leaving too many shoots
(08:51):
creates a weak, tangled brush brush pile that blocks light
and invites fungal diseases. So I was really uncertain kind
of how much to prove my trees or when, And
I just started doing it after reading this, and I
think it was a good move.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Well, good for you, that is.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
That's that's basically what we need. We need to cut
off those dead branches and let the new shoots come out,
and then you can select which ones will be better
to have good air circulation, will be a nice can
it be for you?
Speaker 2 (09:24):
And that's exactly what you need to do.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
That's what I've been doing. I'm really happy with the
results so far. As far as the I've also got
two avocado trees. The Brockden avocado. Yes, had flowers during
the freeze, and I thought those delicate flowers will all
fall off, but they didn't. And now I'm eating Brockdon
avocados and the tree looks.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Great, wonderful.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Well.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Brogden's are very frost tolerant, so you know you were
in a great area. Bellisle has a little microclimate growing there,
so that's a great choice for you. Brockdon avocados are great,
they're very frost tolerant. Good for you.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Thank you so much for sharing.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Yeah, the last thing I want to share. I also
have about twenty protins in my yard, and some of
them were totally unaffected. Some of them were largely affected,
and a bunch of them looked like they were going
to die. So I gradually trimmed them down till eventually
it was almost ground level. I thought these ones are
not going to make it. But in the last two
or three weeks, holy smokes, the new growth is coming
(10:26):
up from underground and I think they.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
All lived wonderful. Well, you know, that's a really good see.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
What you do is very important is you're not afraid
to cut and so you know, sometimes it's not recommended.
It just depends on the plant species. But you've done
very well tropical plants. If you cut them back, they
will come back from the roots because our ground never freezes.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
So good, good, good decisions there. Thank you so much
for sharing, Craig.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
It was very hard warning you guys do an awesome job.
I really love your show. Keep up the good work.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Thank you so much, Craig. Have a great week. I
appreciate that that was.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
Some good information right there, because like you know, I
didn't think about that and about cutting them back and stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
So yeah, yeah, no, some people are just afraid to cut,
and then they have all these sticks and you know,
it just it just doesn't do well. So now, if
you've got any dead from the winter time, go out
there and cut it. This is the time of the
year to do it, before.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
We have three months.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
You know, you want to do major pruiting three months
before a change in the weather. And we have that
right now because usually our first freeze, our first cold
snap is December, maybe you know, definitely January, but end
of December.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
And speaking of a freeze, I'm telling you you need
to get your frost blankets and cloths ordered right now.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
That's true.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
Don't play these games. Don't wait another month, don't wait
till September. Get your order, and now trust me on this.
I know Peterson's that nursery also has you know, I
think they do carry them too.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
So exactly, so that's very important. Okay, So let me
go through my text messages. Eric set me in some
beautiful progressive his butterfly garden, butterflies and a hummingbird. And yes,
it is difficult to get them a picture of a
hummingbird that's not moving its swings. You have to have
a very fast camera. And so thank you for sending.
(12:13):
You always make us laugh when when you text us
so here in Polk County.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Let's see got that. That's Eric.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
So I don't know who asked this one or where
they are. I intended to transplant my amarillis after they bloom.
What is the best time to move them, and after
they bloom is the best time, so go ahead if
they finished up blooming.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
And because I have.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Some new amoralists that are starting to bloom again right now,
so that's kind of interesting. But if your emberalless have
finished blooming, you can go ahead and move them, and
so thank you. And then update on my cactus plant
I've had for about four years. It is sprouted into
many other cactuses and it's way taller than my trailer.
(12:58):
I'd say it's about close to fifteen foot tall right now.
I think it's called a fencepost cactus. But I did
exactly what you said, and I don't water it anymore.
You told me to let mother nature take care of it,
and since I've done that, he has sprouted very high.
I can send you pictures if you give me your website. Well,
I'd love to see your pictures, so go ahead. It's
(13:18):
Teresa dot Watkins at live dot com. Or you can
send them to me on Facebook, which is better Lawns
and Gardens U and I can get them either way.
So Teresa dot Watkins at live dot com. If you
have photographs you'd like to send, that would be wonderful
and congratulations, yeah we try. Mother nature is the best
thing for plants. And it's called a night blooming cactus.
(13:42):
Is also called a fencepost cactus. It is a serious C. E. R.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
E u s.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Species, And so they are wonderful and the fragrant blooms
and you're gonna have a lovely, lovely spring with it.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
So congratulations. Catching up right here on what you should
be doing.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
This month in your yard. It's again for vegetables. Seeds
of melons and pumpkins can be planted now in early August.
Also too, you can go ahead and give tomatoes an
extra large container, so your tomatoes should start.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Be filling in nicely.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Put them on a trellis and make sure that you
keep the soil moist consistently. Don't over water, okay, but
moist consistently so that they don't get blossom and roped.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
You can cut your herbs this month.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
If you've been planting them and they're giving you know
they're growing, don't waste them, go ahead and cut them
off and just you can just bag them and put
them in your freezer, okay, and then when you're ready
to chop them up, you can go ahead and pull
them out and let them thaw and then chop them
up then.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
But you don't have to do it right now. I
love that. Yeah, so simple it is, just cut them back.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Don't be afraid to cut back your plants, except when
I tell you not to.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
So I'm seeing all these people going out and cutting plants,
and right now the plants you should not be cutting.
Our spring blooming plants, which are our zaleas, do not
cut them. Camellias do not cut them. And hydranges do
not cut them.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
Oh, and speaking of the camellias, like I have a huge,
beautiful you know, the splatter paint I call slatterpants the
proper but it's it's the white and red splatter paints gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
And and you.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
Said, what was it a week ago or two weeks ago?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Don't you cut it?
Speaker 4 (15:27):
And I caught Shrek, my husband, we call him Shrek,
got you know, going out there and he's fixed and
start trimnog And what are you doing, heaes, I'm wanna
trum back so i'd be ready for you know, the
winter and fall. And blessed sir, I said, you see
all these buds And he says yes, and he goes,
but it needs a haircut. I said, no, that's not
I said. Teresa said, leave it alone.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
He said, if there's one, if there's one like sticking
out two feet or three feet outside of your you know,
your canopy, of your of your camellia shrub er bush,
you can cut that one off, but don't trim the
whole plant.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
Okay, So for the rest of the world, yes, Teresa says, right,
but when it comes to Shrek, now he's not allowed
to touch that one.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Sorry. There you go. That's smart. That's smart. So you
want to go ahead.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
And also to let's see, uh talk about the trellising mulching.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Make sure your plants are mulched.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
If you have no mulch, then the water's going to
vibrate out of the ground and you're going to lose
your water. Feed your sweet potatoes monthly right now, and
you can go ahead. And you know when you're planting
these vegetables, put on your calendar what the date is
when you should be harvesting them. That way you don't
have to dig them out, you don't have to guess.
(16:37):
So if you plant it in August, then about mid October.
End of October, most vegetables should be ready to harvest, okay,
seventy two to ninety days. And if you put it
on your calendar, you won't have to guess if it's,
you know, ready to eat or not. You want to
also feed your citrus with one quarter poud citrus fertilizer
(17:01):
per inch of trunk caliber. Okay, so if you have
a four inch citrus tree, then you're going to put
down a pound of citrus fertilizer. And citrus doesn't need
to have an expensive fertilizer okay.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
No plant needs to have an expensive fertilizer. Okay, but
your citrus you can use a six sixty six eight
eight eight, ten, ten ten.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Make sure you're looking on the label, make sure that
you're giving it the micronutrients that needs. You might have
to add minor elements which can be granule or can
be sprayed on your tree. And then also apply a
minor nutrients spray and insecticide to your citrus at each
flush of new growth. So when you're talking about each
(17:49):
flush of new growth, that means you have to go
out to your yards and look at your plants, okay,
and then notice when it's putting out new leaves. That
the time when insects know that the leaves are the
most delicious and they're going to start attacking the new growth.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
But if you never go out and look at your.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Trees or your shrubs, or your your your plants, you
never know what stage they're at or if you're seeing
an insect problem until it's too late. Walk your yards
on a regular basis, Okay, once a week, go out
there and look, especially if you have fruit trees.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Fruit trees can get.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Damaged overnight, and you want to make sure, and your
vegetables too as well. They need to be inspected every day,
every couple of days. That way you catch a major problem.
So one triple eight four or five y five. Let
me say it again, one triple eight four five two
nine sixty seven, or you can text me two three
(18:51):
six eight zero. I need another cup of tea. So
it's it's wonderful. I love hearing from everybody, So let
me go put these messages up more.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Linda, thank you so much. It is interesting about avocados,
isn't it.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
So.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
I love ancestry, and we can go back DNA five
generations and uh so when you're thinking about this DNA
and scientists and and and the agricultural industry what they're
doing to find out you know, when these these plants
UH started to hybridize and where the how far back
they go.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
It's fascinating to me. We're going to be back with
more of your gardening questions.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
It's Saturday morning. You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens
from the Summit.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Responsible Solutions Studios.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
I'm Teresa Watkins, and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
(20:01):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Tuisa Watkins.
If you have a gardening question, you can give me
a call one triple eight four five five two nine
sixty seven Triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven.
Or you can text me at two three six eight
zero and let me get to the text messages so
we can make sure we have everybody there.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
So let's see. Linda says she's in zone eight B,
that's up north.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
My little four foot avocado was a year old less
winter in a large pot. I covered it religiously, but
it froze back. A new growth came up at soil level.
It is doing good about two feet tall. Will it
be a productive tree or is it just like a sucker?
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I hope not.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
I don't know if was it a grafted avocado tree, Linda.
If it was a graft at avocado tree, you should
see the graft.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
It should be the graft kind of uh.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Gall or node that you see is about four inches
to five inches above the ground. If the sucker is
below that graft, then that is not.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
I would cut it off, okay.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
But if you don't have any growth above the graft,
then your avocado tree may not.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
It may be dead.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
So if you want to leave that sucker. If the
graft above the tree above the graft is dead, then
you might want to leave the sucker. It's just going
to take a long time for it to have fruit,
and you might feel better just getting another avocado tree.
But I would get one that's really really cold tolerant,
(21:46):
like Brogdon. We discussed that earlier. Or Linda, just send
me an email and I will send you a whole
list of the avocados that are good for winter time.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Then it says we have a concrete wall which we'd
like to plant some tall barrier to block the neighboring properties. However,
the footers underground have spilled over, so planting may be problematic.
I would think bamboo, but it seems like it would
required occasional trimming so they look good. What would you suggest, Well,
the bamboo is not going to need occasional trimming if
(22:19):
you get a small bamboo. So I don't know, let's
see how tall the wall is. If you don't say
how tall the wall is. But if you get a
shorter bamboo like Golden Goddess, it's going to get to
be ten to twelve foot tall, and you may not
have to prune it.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Now.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
It will lose its leeves in the wintertime, but they
come back, so bamboo can handle the winter time. And
so there's short varieties of bamboo. And if you want
a taller one, if your wall's like eight foot tall,
then you may want to get a bamboo that gets
fifteen to twenty foot tall. I'm not worried about the
footers because bamboo is a grass, and so the roots
(23:01):
are rhizomes and they go sideways. They don't they go
down to a little bit, but they'll get around the
foot have no fear of that, okay, So yeah, bamboo
might be a good choice. So as a designer, though,
I'm looking at what my theme is, and if you
have a tropical landscape.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Then bamboo will be great for it.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
But if you have another type of landscape where it's
a little bit more formal, or it's a butterfly garden,
you may want to put down a plant or shrub
or tree like a red bay, which would be lovely
because it attracts butterflies. So I would just think about
what kind of landscape design you have because you got
(23:43):
a number.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Of choices there. Okay, great question. Let's see built an
Orlando like Shrek. That's hilarious. High tree.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
So what kind of soil would do you recommend for
container rosis Just a regular potting soil would be fine.
What kind of contains or is it more important? Is
it a plastic container, is it a porcelain container, is
it a clay container. That's gonna determine what kind of
soil you use.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Okay, So if it's a.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Plastic or a porcelain make sure it has good drainage.
Roses don't like to have wet roots. Then you can
just use a regular potting soil. If it is a
clay pot, I would use a potting soil that has
those moisture prills in it that holds onto the moisture
because a clay pot is gonna suck the water out
(24:34):
and during the summertime it's going to need to be
watered every day. Okay, So just depends on the pot
you have. Regular potting soil is just fine. Uh, but
if it's a clay pot, I would use the one
that provides moisture control.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Okay, that would be great.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
One triple eight four five five, two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero what
fertilizer to have for sweet potatoes. To fertilize sweet potatoes,
you could just use a regular fertilizer six sixty six,
eight eight eight, ten to ten. They're not really specialty
fertilized or specialty plants that need you know that they're
(25:16):
not spoiled rotten yet. Okay, so you can just use
a regular balanced fertilizer.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
That's fine. Just make sure that it's in full sun. Okay.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
So I think we're all caught up there. Thank you
so much to all our texters collect Thank you so much.
It's nice to see you on the on the text
message line. Okay, so we talked a little bit about
carrots and how to grow them. Uh, and sweet potatoes
have come up today, so this is a time to
plant sweet potatoes. But Florida has a pest problem that
(25:49):
I've never talked about, and I just wanted to bring
it up today because it is one of the most
persistent and annoyingest we have. And it's orange. It looks
like carrots. It looks like sweet potato colors.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
So I thought that was interesting.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
So it's called wireworms, and wireworms are the larval stage
of the click beetle. Have you heard of click beetles
with the Egyptian click beetles. They're long and rectangular and
they make that clicking noise.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
I've heard of them, yes, yes, Okay, Well, the adults
are those little beetles and they flip over with a click.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
But it's the larva that causes the problem. So beetles
aren't the issue. It's the larva. Just like sod webworms,
it's not the moth that's the issue, it's the larva.
So larva is what eats the roots, eats leaves. Wireworms
look like slender, hard shelled reddish brown worms anywhere from
a quarter inch and a half long. You'll only see
(26:50):
the tiny pair of legs near their head. Everything else
is tough, is a tough, smooth body. They live in
the soil, usually in the top six inches, but in
dry weather they are going to bear it burrow deeper,
so they might be close to the surface right now.
Wireworms are the most damaging root pests in Florida, right
alongside the sweet potato weavil. They feed on root vegetables potatoes, carrots, beets, radishes,
(27:17):
and other vegetables cabbage, lettuce, peppers, sweet potatoes, beans, and.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Peas, so everything out there pretty much they eat.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
As far as vegetables go, they attack the roots and tubers,
leaving holes, stunting growth and reducing your yield. In high
value crops, the losses can be severe. Click beetles emerge
in spring in late summer and lay eggs in the
soil up to one hundred per female. The larvae develops slowly,
sometimes two to six years, and they can overwinter write
(27:49):
in your garden beds. So here in Florida, several generations
may show up in a single season.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Aren't we lucky?
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Right there are no insane deicides for home gardeners. So
cultural and biological controls are essential. You cannot get a
chemical to get rid of them. So how do what
do you do?
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Well?
Speaker 2 (28:12):
One, Well, i'm gonna tell you after this break.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
All right, if it's Saturday morning, you're listening to Better
Lawns and Gardens, we're talking about wireworms. This is Florida's
Talk and Entertainment Network. When we last left you, we
(28:53):
were talking about wireworms. Welcome back to Better Logs and Gardens.
And so here's a solution if you think you may
be getting wireworms. One is to recognize them. Their long
orange red orange larvae. They look like a little bit
of caterpillars, but they're very skinny. And so if you
(29:13):
are having problems with your vegetables in the ground, then
you want to till the soil before planting, and that's
going to turn them up. You'll see them in the soil.
Don't rotor till too deep. That's not recommended. You don't
want to hurt your micro your microbiological system in your soil.
You don't want to break that up. But they don't
(29:36):
like predators in sunlight. So wireworms, you want.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
To rotate crops. This is the best.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Way to prevent having an insect issue. Avoid planting root
vegetables in the same spot year after year. Okay, So
you want to go to something else, lagoons, your brassicas
after you plant a root crop improved drainage. Wireworms thrive
in poorly drained soils and old sod. So if you
(30:06):
have really moist or hydrix soils, if you're overwatering, okay,
this is one of the reasons why we don't overwater.
Make sure that you're not getting wireworms. And then beneficial
nematodes they can be applied to target larva naturally. So
here's interesting, and some of you may not have thought
(30:26):
about that, but beneficial nematodes. We have the good nematodes
and we have bad nematodes. What you want in the good,
healthy soil is the beneficial nematodes.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
And you can buy them, okay.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
And so they cost about thirty two seventy five dollars
for a size for a good vegetable garden area, I
would say probably twenty by twenty. And the beneficial nematode
that will take care of wireworms is called a Steiner nema.
Steiner Nema and just look up beneficial nematodes. You can
(31:04):
even put in wire worms or steiner Neema STI n
e R n em and then you can purchase them.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
They'll come to you.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
It has the label, it tells you how to put
them in your soil and they will.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Take care of your wireworm problem.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
And then the other really easy way for homeowners to
take care of these bad worms or even bad nematodes
is solar solarization. During the hottest month, you can solarize
your area, your vegetable bed and that will take care
of your problem. So always inspect your soil before planting crops.
(31:46):
That's very, very important. You can also use bait traps.
I'm not necessarily a big fan of bait traps because
if you don't have the insect that you're trying to
control in your yard, you put bait down.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
It's gonna come to your yard.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
So that's kind of like attacking or inviting the enemy
into your house.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
Okay, I feel that same way, like with the the
those fly the smelly fly things.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yeah, I mean they weren't great, yes, but.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
I swear I feel like it's just inviting everything in
the whole Lake County to come to my house.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Yeah, I feel that way about termite bait traps. If
you don't have termites, why are you putting a bait
trap out in your yard to attract them? Okay, friends, Yeah,
so so can you help reduce the population. So in Florida,
wireworms are year round concerned. They just don't happen in
(32:42):
the summertime or during the winter. They happen in South Florida,
Central Florida, North Florida. So being proactive and again monitoring,
walking your yards on a regular basis, be observant. I
think we've lost that skill over the last one hundred
years that we used to be able to know what
was going on in our landscapes and our soil.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
Yeah, and so it's just too busy we are. That's
the bad part about it. And I think that we
kind of need to slow down for a second. And
like you said, take the time, and you've always recommended.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
To walk your yard.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
Just take the time to walk and look, because yeah, it.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Turned the leaves over, you know, looking at the color
of the of the foliage. Is it changing, is it
getting less?
Speaker 2 (33:26):
You know?
Speaker 1 (33:26):
So, and that helps it and it makes you more
observe it and you can know what's better because I
tell you, once you learn something about gardening, you're gonna
start to see it everywhere.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
You're gonna go, oh, that's that, that's that's that.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
As facts like mushrooms are popping up everywhere right now
they are and it's I mean, they're really pretty. I
know you absolutely love the look of mushrooms, so I
try to get pictures so I can send them to you.
But yeah, it's crazy the amount of mushrooms that I find,
especially with this little bit of rain we have. And yeah,
so yeah, definitely go out and walkingryard, like Teresa says,
because you will really start noticing some nature. Like leave
(33:59):
your phone, you know, in your pocket and ignor it
for a minute and just do that.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
That is good bit of advice right there. So last
week we talked a little bit about fireflies. Somebody mentioned
they hadn't seen fireflies and so they're one of nature's
most remarkable night light makers. A group of fireflies. Do
you know what a group of fireflies is called Lizzie light? No,
(34:25):
they're called a sparkle. A group of fireflies is called
a sparkle. So the the fireflies are soft body beetles
again beetles from the family lampyride, and inside their abdomens
they have a tiny lantern cell where a chemical reaction
reaction creates a cool efficient glow, a compound called lucifer
(34:50):
and lucifer and just spelled just like lucifer is.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
That which which is? Which means light?
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Wait, yeah, light bearer? So light bringer, morning star is
lucifer is Latin for morning star, light bringer, And so
a compound called lucifer and mixes with oxygen and an
enzyme named luciferrae and a little cellular energy and the
result is light without heat. So first of all, why
(35:21):
they do this is because it's communication. Male fireflies flash
specific patterns as they fly, and females answer back with.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Their own signal. There you go.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
So they're just talking back and forth to each other's
high babe, I'm over here, you know, hey?
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Wait, which one are you?
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Each species has its own rhythm, almost like a language
of light. In some places, hundreds of fireflies even synchronize
their flashes, creating a breathtaking display.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
I think we've lost.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
That a little bit here in Florida with all the development.
But fireflights glow symbolizes a bridge. This is the symbolism
bridge between the living and the spirit world, according guiding
departed souls on their journey. In Japan, people often view
fly of fireflies as the souls of fallen warriors. Fireflies
(36:14):
also represent fleeting yet passionate love. Their glow also serves
as a warning. Many fireflies contain bitter toxic chemicals. The
light tells predators, don't eat me. From courtship to protection,
that tiny spark in the firefly's abdomen is a powerful tool,
one of nature's most elegant designs. So I love fireflies.
(36:37):
We used to see a lot of them here in Florida.
We don't necessarily see as much. But you can stop
spraying your yards. Yes, okay, stop spraying your yards. We
want to thank everyone who called in today, Jerry and
Eileen and everyone who texted Collette, everybody.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Bill, Thank you so much. Eric, You're always wonderful. Linda.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
We have so many good people out there that listen
to us, so yes, we're happy to visit.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
With them and answer your gardening questions.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
And you can go onto the Facebook page and like us,
please like us.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
That will really be special.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
You can see my dried tomato recipe, Yes, how to
dry tomatoes. I will have the purple carrots link up
there and then on our Better Lawns and Gardens dot
com you can see what to do in the month
of August and all the other important my plant to
the month and we're going to get have all that
up and so we will do that for August.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
And don't forget that.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
At Peterson's Nursery today at nine thirty they're going to
have the seasonal we control and they have a thing
called b yoc that means bring your own chair.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Yes, that's very very important.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Give a big hig hug to Howie and Karen Forrest
also too. I have more of our garden tours up
on art and bloomgardentours dot com. Please come with me.
We will have a great time. You will see beautiful gardens.
I have an article in National Garden Bureau newsletter this week.
(38:08):
I'll put that up on our Facebook page two as well.
On the designs of France. We have a wonderful tour
going to France next April. Then in May we are
going to the Chelsea Flower Show, which we will be
having afternoon tea with King Charles, not with him, but
in his home, King Charles the Third's home, High Grove House.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
And so we will be and you need a passport
for this.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
So you need to go ahead and get on the
website and go ahead and find out that information about
how much it costs, get your name on the list,
and get your passport going.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Now, there you go.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
That's artbloomgardentours dot com. If it's Saturday morning, you're listening
to Better Lawns and Gardens from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios.
I'm Teresa Watkins, the great producer Lizzie Steele, and this
is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 4 (38:59):
If you miss it any of the show, or we'd
like to recap any other shows that we have done,
go to Better Lawns dot dot com has Better Lawns
dot com
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