How do I get sweeter fruit on my fruit trees?

Answer:

First, fruit trees need a minimum of at least half a day of sunlight each day during the growing season. The more sun, the sweeter your fruit will be. If your trees are in a bad location, consider transplanting when they are dormant in winter.

That said, many times the fruits on trees are not as sweet as they could be, because the soil they are planted in is lacking phosphorus and potash. It is important to apply a fertilizer such as Gro-Power Flower N Bloom to the soil around your trees in November and again in January to provide these vital nutrients.

During the growing season, feed once after the blooms are finished, again in June and one more time in September with a complete fruit tree food such as E B Stone Citrus & Fruit Tree Fertilizer. Make sure not to overwater, either. Allow the soil to dry out a little between waterings.

Established fruit trees respond best to deep and infrequent watering.

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There's nothing that says summer like the sweet, succulent flavor of melons. What a refreshing, tasty warm weather treat! When plucked fresh from the vine at the perfect ripeness, they have a flavor that brings a smile to everyone. A slice of melon makes the perfect ending for any summer picnic or barbeque.

The most important factor in growing melons is heat. The hotter your climate, the better melons will grow. In warmer climates you can grow seed directly in the ground starting in early spring. However, where the growing season is shorter you will need to grow fast maturing varieties and plant starter plants from seed grown early indoors. You can also lay black plastic over the soil around the plants or cover with a floating row cover until the plants start flowering.

Make sure to sow seed or starter seedlings after the soil has warmed to at least 60 degrees. If you grow vegetables in raised planter beds, the soil will warm up faster than on flat ground. If you must plant on flat ground, make sure the area has good drainage. Always prepare all sites by adding an organic soil amendment, such as Gardner & Bloome Harvest Supreme, and a good starter fertilizer, such as Gro-Power Flower N Bloom.

Plant your starter plants (or two or three seeds in one hole, thinned out later if needed) at least two feet apart or grow vertically on an arbor or trellis. Melons take up a lot of room, so plan accordingly. Make sure to avoid planting near cucumbers, or the cross-pollination can create undesirable flavors in both fruits.

Try to avoid overhead watering at all costs, because that can make melons more susceptible to mildew and other diseases. Using drip irrigation or a soaker hose will help to avoid wetting the foliage. Water often enough to keep your plants healthy. Once the melons have reached full size (check label or seed package for size)--but before they have fully matured--cut back on watering to avoid bland flavor and splitting of the fruit.

When melons are fully ripe, they slip off their vines quite easily. Harvest honeydew types when they turn color or when the leaves where the fruit is attached start to turn yellow. We have a great selection of melons in seed and starter packs, so hurry in and get started today. You'll soon be on your way to a great crop of delectable, sun-sweetened summer fruit.

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Peppers (Capiscum frutescens) are in the same group as the potato and tomato family (Solanaceae), which is also called Nightshade. The pepper is another one of our favorite vegetables native to South America. It has been a part of the human diet in the Americas for thousands of years.

A bushy annual, the plant grows from 1-4 feet tall and likes full sun but will tolerate part shade too. Regular water is necessary, along with a long, warm growing season to produce the most fruit. If your growing season is cool or short, try techniques that will increase the warmth around your plants, such as clear plastic mulch. Steve Goto of Goto Nursery (heirloom tomatoes and peppers) recommends mixing an acid plant (azalea, camellia, gardenia) planting mix with your native soil at planting time.

There are so many kinds of peppers--what is your fancy? They range from the classic bell peppers that can be green, red, yellow, orange or buff to Hot Hot Hot!

There are peppers for salads, peppers for stuffing, peppers for spices, peppers for pickling…on and on and on.

Hotness scales related to peppers reveal the amount of capsaicin, which is the source of that hotness, and truly can be scientifically measured. Bell peppers are rated at 0 SHU (SHU=measure of hotness), green chilies are 1500 SHU, jalapenos 3000-6000 SHU and habaneros 300000 SHU. How could one even chew one tidbit of something that hot!! Great care must be taken when trying out a new hot chile pepper.

FYI, the camp song above is referring to Pepper Pot Soup. There are many variations on this recipe theme. Here’s one to try with your home grown peppers!

The Caribbean Pepper Pot
• 2 chickens, cut up in pieces (2-1/2 pounds each)
• 1 pig's foot
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 cup cassareep*
• 1 lg. onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 chili peppers, seeded, diced
• 1 2-inch piece stick cinnamon
• 4 whole cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Place the chicken pieces and pig's foot in a large stew pot and pour water in to cover. Add salt. Bring to a boil and skim scum. Cover partially and simmer for 1 hour.

Remove as much fat as possible from surface of water. Add pork, cassareep, onion, brown sugar, chilis, cinnamon, cloves, and thyme. Bring to a boil and simmer, partially covered, for another hour. Remove the cloves and cinnamon and discard. Stir in the vinegar.

*Used primarily in West Indian cookery, cassareep is a bittersweet condiment made by cooking the juice of bitter cassava with brown sugar and spices until it reduces to a syrup. Bottled cassareep can be found in Caribbean markets.

The Unwanted Trio: Powdery mildew, rust, and blackspot. For rose growers, these three characters are hard for us to avoid. Morning and evening air moisture will get us every time, no matter how careful we are about giving our plants the best cultural environment that we can. Oh sure, there are others! But we'll start with these three guys.

Powdery mildew appears as a superficial white or gray powdery substance over the surface of leaves, stems, flowers, or fruit of affected plants. These patches may enlarge until they cover the entire leaf on one or both sides. Young foliage and shoots may be particularly susceptible. Leaf curling and twisting may also occur with this fungus. Severe powdery mildew infection will result in yellowed leaves, dried and brown leaves, and disfigured shoots and flowers. Although it usually is not a fatal disease, powdery mildew may hasten plant defoliation, and the infected plant may become extremely unsightly. On roses, uncontrolled powdery mildew will prevent normal flowering on highly susceptible cultivars.

Some powdery mildew, especially those on roses, is favored by high humidity. This can happen in our gardens when we have plant overcrowding; shading will keep plants cool and promote higher humidity. These conditions are highly conducive to powdery mildew development.

Rust is another fungus presenting problems in our gardens. It first appears on the undersides of leaves and other plant parts as orange powdery "pustules." As these pustules develop, they become visible on the upper leaf surfaces as orange brown spots. Rust can develop when temperatures are 65 to 70 F, and moisture is continuous for two to three hours.

It is very important to remove and destroy the infected foliage containing rust. Wear gloves that can be washed afterwards and clean any tools used in the removal. This fungus is easy to spread. That is why it is important to also clean up any foliage that has fallen to the ground under the infected plant. Replace any mulch present with new mulch. Don't try to "wash" the rust away from the foliage! This will only help it to spread further in your garden.

Blackspot , also a fungus, appears like its name. It also develops during warm but wet weather. Unfortunately, it can overwinter in the leaf buds and canes or on fallen leaves not cleared away from your roses. Lots of sun, good air circulation and healthy soil will increase your rose plant resistance capabilities. As with rust, it is very important to remove and clean up infected foliage. Remember to clean your tools between cutting on infected plants.

Before using fungicides you should attempt to limit powdery mildew and rust by following good cultural practices.

• Purchase only top-quality, disease-free plants of resistant cultivars and species--we sell only the best.
• Prune out diseased terminals of woody plants, such as roses during the normal pruning period. All dead wood should be removed. Remove from the surrounding soil all dead leaves that might harbor the fungus.
• Keep plants healthy. Plant where the plants will obtain a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight daily (especially roses), space for good air circulation.
• Water thoroughly without over-watering. Don’t use overhead watering/sprinklers, which wet the foliage. Don’t water in the late afternoon or evening when the foliage will not have time to dry.

Fungicides may become necessary to achieve acceptable control. For best results with fungicides, spray programs must begin as soon as mildews are detected. Ask one of us which of the fungicide products are best suited for your needs. There is a range of products available on our shelves.

Are you considering a new landscape for next year? If you're tired of your old garden look or have a brand new yard that needs landscaping, consider our team for all of your design and installation needs.

Green Arrow Nursery Consultants are experts in landscape design. We know which plants grow well in our area, and our design team is knowledgeable in all of the latest plant introductions and landscape techniques.

We work with you to design and create a look that is unique for you and truly reflects your needs and desires. But many people make the mistake of contacting us in late spring when we are already booked up for most of the year. It takes time to design a landscape plan for your home, and we invite you to plan ahead and let us design your landscape plan now so we can add you to our work schedule.

Give us a call today at (818)894-8306. We're here to make sure all of your garden dreams come true!

Full sun, full shade, part sun, part shade. How’s a gardener supposed to know and understand the best place in the garden for these plants?

This determination can be an interesting proposition! Let us begin with the definitions of the terms. Then we will digress into the nuances of gardens.

Exposure refers to sun, shade, part sun, part shade, etc. Information tags on plants from the nursery will indicate which of these exposures is recommended for that particular plant.

Full Sun or Sun: the plant grows at its optimum with full sun all or most of the day. An hour of shade in the morning or afternoon would be ok.

Part Sun/Part Shade: the plant needs shade for about 3 hours of the hottest time of the day. It also means that a plant may succeed in full sun in more northern areas that do not get extremely hot sun.

Full Shade/Shade: the plant prefers little to no direct sun. This exposure can be provided on the north side of the house or under a large dense-foliage tree.

Now that you have the definitions (as provided by the Sunset Western Garden Book), don’t be surprised to learn that there are exceptions to the rules.

The effects of full sun on a plant are quite different in cooler and warmer climates. Full sun in a very hot climate may be too much for the same plant that loves full sun in a cooler climate. That plant may need to be in part shade or even indirect sunlight in the hotter climate. Conversely, a plant that requires full shade in warmer climates may grow quite nicely in partial shade, if the climate is cool.

Physical structures can contribute to these exposure issues. Think about where in your garden this new plant is located. If you plant near a white or almost white building, along a concrete sidewalk, a plant that may normally take full sun may find that it is too hot and bright in this location. Light-colored buildings, light-colored sidewalks, and pools all reflect much light and generate more heat that might prove to be too much for some plants.

Alternatively, if your white house, light-colored walk and pool are in full shade, that same reflected light could allow you to grow otherwise sun-loving plants in the part shade or shade.

What happens if you grow a plant without following the exposure recommendation?

Flowering plants or variegated plants that love sun but are grown in the shade may not flower to their full potential. The variegation may revert to a solid green color, and the plants may become leggy and less attractive than they could be.

Plants that love shade but are grown in the sun may wilt, especially in the warmest time of the day; flower color may fade; and foliage color may bleach and dry out. The plant will live under constant stress.

There are very good reasons for the exposure recommendation on each plant tag, but many plants have built-in flexibility in a garden. Look around your neighborhood and take note of the light exposure for the plants you like. Get to know your own garden and discover whether or not you can slightly bend these rules. And above all, trial and error is the best way to learn! Happy Gardening!