Horticulture Hints for SOUTHWEST Louisiana Summer 2019 Upcoming Nothing Better Than Eating Fresh, Events Homegrown Peaches If you have ever tried buying fresh peaches in the grocery store, you know Southwest Louisiana Master it is hit or miss. Usually, it’s a miss! Although it may take a little pruning Gardener volunteer and spraying, you cannot beat the flavor of a peach that you have grown training class yourself! Begins June 18. In south Louisiana, drainage is one area to address when planting peach Class is held Tuesdays and trees. I use the “pitcher’s mound” method for good external drainage. The Thursdays from mound should be at least 1 to 1.5 feet high and 6 feet in diameter. Trees 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for 17 classes. should be pruned to an open center, allowing sunshine to reach the inner Jackson/Swoope Conference part of the tree for better ripening and spraying purposes. Trees need to Room, Calcasieu Parish be planted in full sun. Because Cooperative Extension Office of soil-borne fungi, such as Building Armillaria root rot, peach trees 7101 Gulf Highway, should not be planted where Lake Charles hardwood trees once occupied Interested applicants may the area. contact Robert Turley, extension Which variety of peaches you horticulturist, at RTurley@ plant depends on the chilling agcenter.lsu.edu. hours you receive each winter. This number is based on how Lafayette Parish Master many hours of temperatures Gardener training class 45 degrees and lower we receive in the winter. In south Begins Aug. 8. Class is held Louisiana, we are looking at Thursdays somewhere around 400 to 650 from 8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. hours as the target number in for 13 classes. determining the right variety. Ira Nelson Horticulture Center, Recommended varieties for 2206 Johnston St., Lafayette. our area include Florida King Deadline for applications (cling), La Feliciana (freestone), is May 31. La Festival (freestone), La Interested applicants may contact Peche (semi-freestone), Sam Dan Devenport, extension Houston (freestone) and June horticulturist, at Ddevenport@ Gold (freestone) agcenter.lsu.edu. Peach trees will need to be sprayed on a regular schedule Never miss an issue of Horticulture as you would roses. Spraying Hints from the LSU AgCenter! begins at petal drop up until a Visit the Horticulture Hints website at week or so before harvesting. Peaches ripe for picking. www.lsuagcenter.com/HortHints The Louisiana Home Orchard is an excellent reference for learning about peaches and many other fruit trees Then click on the Subscribe button! for Louisiana. To find it, search for publication 1884 at LSUAgCenter.com. Dan Devenport Extension Agent, Lafayette Parish Summer Citrus Care Fall Tomatoes Many homeowners can care for citrus with very few Tomato lovers who desire an endless tomato harvest pesticides, but it is necessary to monitor trees for should consider planting fall tomatoes. A fall crop will potential pest outbreaks. Some of the more common generally be lucky to reach 60% of spring expectations. issues include whiteflies and scale, aphid and mealybug A hurricane, early frost or flooding rain can wreak infestations. These soft-bodied insects secrete honey havoc on a late-season planting. Gardeners determined dew. Bread mold (rhizopus) in the air lands in this to plant fall tomatoes should either plant seed from sticky excrement, and heavy infestations blanket early June to mid-July or purchase plants in late July. leaves and fruit with a black soot that can usually be Quality fall transplants can be difficult to produce and washed off but can reduce the leaves’ ability to collect hard to find. High temperatures often leave transplants sunlight. These insects also sap energy from the tree. leggy and spindly. Utilize heat-tolerant varieties like Imidacloprid drenches, malathion and oil sprays can be Sun Leaper, Florida 91, BHN 216, BHN 1021, BHN 589, effective against them. Pruning low limbs or branches Tycoon and Phoenix. touching other trees or buildings can improve air flow and reduce the microclimate effect from a cluttered Plant transplants 6 inches deep to take advantage of canopy. soil moisture and cooler soil temperatures. Irrigate plants in the early morning to cool ground conditions Citrus leaf miner will appear on new growth. Damaged and lower stress. Fruit cracking can be a major issue leaves may reveal the small caterpillar larvae tunneling with fall plantings. Evenly regulate moisture to keep through leaves and leaving white squiggly lines and fruit growth consistent. Organic mulches can suppress a crinkled, scarred leaf. Imidacloprid drenches and weeds, cool ground temperatures and prevent dirt spinosad sprays can control leaf miner, but, luckily, this splashing on fruit. damage is primarily cosmetic. Timber rot damages the stems of tomato plants. Leaf-footed plant bugs and stink bugs move into citrus This disease shows up in spring gardens while cool trees as fruits begin to size up. Stink bugs will feed temperatures are favorable for disease development. around the fruit stem and cause fruit to abort. Leaf- Fall tomato growers do not have to contend with footed plant bugs resemble large, elongated stink bugs this fungal disease. Fruit cracking, stink bugs and with a flattened frog leg hind limb. Leaf-footed stink caterpillars are major issues facing fall tomato bug-damaged fruit often show no outward symptoms of production. Spotted wilt virus will stunt tomato plants being injured. However, as fruit begin to ripen, growers and ruin production. The virus is vectored by thrips. will find dry and discolored slices. Stink bugs must be Luckily, this issue is seldom seen in fall tomatoes. If controlled when they are noticed in the trees. Leaving you have trouble with spotted wilt or timber rot in your long grass or unkempt areas around the orchard spring tomato crop, these diseases may not be an issue provides a haven for stink bug development. in your fall crop. The orange dog caterpillar is the larvae of the beautiful Stuart Gauthier giant swallowtail butterfly. It will appear usually in low Extension Agent, St. Martin Parish numbers on citrus. If damage becomes severe, growers can handpick larvae off the tree or use insecticide spays, like spinosad or malathion. Avoid mulching citrus trees. Keeping the trunk moist may create issues with foot rot. This water mold fungus loves wet conditions. Keeping the ground under a citrus tree bare and pruning low-hanging limbs will help keep the ground drier and less likely to be attractive to phytophthora Spotted wilt virus will organisms. stunt tomato plants and ruin production. The orange dog caterpillar is seldom a serious pest of citrus and transforms into the beautiful giant Timber rot damages the stem of swallowtail butterfly. tomato plants. 2 LSU AgCenter Horticulture Hints SOUTHWEST REGION SUMMER 2019 Let’s Be a Plants that attract butterflies Pollination Alyssum Dianthus Oregano Aster Fennel Phlox Nation! Bee balm Globe thistle Sages Lantana Butterfly bush Hollyhock Scabiosa There’s nothing my family and Calendula Lantana Shasta daisy I love more than sitting out on Cosmos Lavender Sedums the back porch or looking out from our kitchen windows and Cupheas Marigold Verbena watching all the activity in our Daylily Musk mallow Yarrow back yard. We just love watching Delphinium Nasturtium Zinnia the hummingbirds fly in to sip Lemon sedum nectar from the feeders strategically placed just outside the window and Plants that attract butterfly larvae after catching our glances, they fly off like jet planes. When they (caterpillars) slow down just slow enough to Bean leaves – Long-tailed skipper take a sip, they are a joy to watch! Cassias – Sulfur butterflies I never knew just how territorial Dill, Fennel and Parsley – Eastern black swallowtails hummingbirds are and what elusive Hollyhocks – Painted lady birds they were until we had our Lupine – Silvery blue feeders and pollinator garden put Milkweed – Monarch in. Additionally, our young girls Milkweed aged 6 and 7 just love all the insect Passion vines – Gulf fritillary activity of the bees, butterflies and Verbena – Common buckeye beetles that come to visit. They often watch the frenzy of honeybees and bumble bees in the Mexican heather in the beds as they wait for Plants that attract hummingbirds the school bus early in the morning. Angel’s trumpet Delphinium Lupine They especially loved observing the Bee balm Fire pink Nasturtium monarch butterfly caterpillars on Bat face cuphea Four o’ clocks Nicotiana the milkweed. Bleeding heart Firecracker plant Paintbrush Anyone who has a little room to Butterfly weed Foxglove Penstemon Zinnias spare in the landscape or even Canna Gilia Petunia Phlox a place to put containers can Cardinal flower Geranium Sage provide a wonderful place for these Century plant Gladiolus Salvia delightful little creatures that are Columbine Glossy abelia Scabiosa essential to our environment. Coral bells Hollyhocks Scarlet sage Seventy-five percent of the world’s (heuchera) Impatiens Sweet William flowering plants require pollinators to reproduce. So, don’t ask what Cleome Iris Verbena your garden can do for you, but Crape myrtle Lantana Yucca what you can do with your garden Dahlia Liatris Zinnia for our world! Get a pollinator Dame’s rocket Lily garden growing! Vermillionare Firecracker plant I personally prefer perennials because they come back year after Plants that attract bees year and do not require much care, Allium Four o’clock Poppy and, luckily, many of the plants that Aster Gaillardia Sage attract pollinators are perennials. Basil Geranium Skullcap There are so many plants to choose Bee balm Giant hyssop Sunflower from, and nothing really needs to Blanket flower Globe thistle Thyme be coordinated. Just throw some Borage Hibiscus Verbena plants out there. All you need is a fairly sunny place for your bed — Cleome Hyssop Wild rose preferably in a place that is easily Cosmos Lavender Zinnia visible for your viewing enjoyment! Cupheas Lupine Flax Mexican heather Dr.