Robert Morris
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Xtreme Horticulture
Question:
I was very interested in a recent article about adding ammonium sulfate to one's lawn to keep it green. Can I do this all summer long, every 8 weeks?
Answer: The short answer is yes. Once a year use a high-quality lawn fertilizer as one of the applications. The best lawn fertilizers have a ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus to potassium of 3-1-2 or 4-1-2 with most of the nitrogen available as slow release. One example would be 21-7-14. There are many others.
The principle nutrient lawns need is nitrogen on a regular basis. Nitrogen fertilizers keep lawns green and lush. Nitrogen is the first number in the triad of numbers on the fertilizer bag.
In the case of ammonium sulfate this is 21&#;0&#;0. A bag of ammonium sulfate contains nitrogen, hydrogen, sulfur and oxygen in mineral form. There is no &#;filler&#; in it. Ammonium sulfate is 21 percent nitrogen. The usual recommendation for lawns is 1 pound of nitrogen every square feet.
This is applied with some sort of spreader such as a drop spreader, a broadcast spreader or hose end applicator. Since ammonium sulfate is 21 percent nitrogen, then 5 pounds of 21-0-0 delivers about 1 pound of nitrogen.
However, I find this rate is higher than necessary and lawns do just fine at half to three quarters of this rate. This is particularly true if mowing with a mulching mower and the clippings are allowed to fall back on the lawn. Lawn clippings are very high in nitrogen and act like an extra fertilizer application.
In about 99 percent of the cases we have two types of lawns out there; tall fescue and Bermudagrass. Both of these lawns require a high nitrogen fertilizer about every eight weeks. However, the timing of these applications is different.
A fertilizer application at Thanksgiving is extremely important if you want a dark green lawn tall fescue through the winter. It is unnecessary for Bermudagrass.
To make it simple, I recommend applying lawn fertilizers too tall fescue on Labor Day, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. For Bermudagrass switch the Thanksgiving application for the Fourth of July.
There is no problem applying a fourth application to tall fescue during the heat around the Fourth of July as well but it is probably unnecessary. Any application to tall fescue during the summer should be the half rate I mentioned earlier.
Question: What is causing brown spots and leaf scorch on my tomato plants? I grow about 17 different tomato plants and several different varieties in containers. I always use good potting soil and compost each year in the containers. They are drip irrigated.
Answer: This is the time of year that brown spots begin to develop on tomato leaves. As the season progresses, disease problems on tomatoes are often in inevitable. Prevention of disease should be high on your list of things to do with tomato plants.
It&#;s too late this season but some varieties are more susceptible to diseases than others. If you don&#;t know which variety you have, do a little homework and pick varieties more resistant to disease that give you the types of fruit you like.
Tomato cages are nice. They support the fruit off of the ground. Fruit lying on the ground is more likely to rot than fruit supported off of the ground.
Tomato cages can also be a menace. They force crowding of the interior of the plant. Leaves and vines growing in the center don&#;t receive enough sunlight to stay healthy. They also don&#;t provide good air circulation. This encourages disease. Remove the oldest leaves near the center of the plant to improve air circulation and reduce disease problems.
Drip irrigation is good. Watering at the base of the plant helps. Many vegetable plants, unlike us, don&#;t like showers. Avoid overhead watering of these plants. Overhead watering keeps the center of the plant wet which encourages disease. Splashing water can spread disease from leaf to leaf.
Regular feeding of plants is important. When fruit has set then continue monthly feeding of tomato plants. They are taking nutrients from the soil as they grow. You should be replacing these nutrients as they are removed.
At the first sign of possible disease it is important to take action. Applications of fungicides may be your last alternative. Choose a fungicide for controlling the more common tomato diseases such as early blight. Most fungicides are preventive and don&#;t cure a disease once they have begun and running rampant.
Question: I put a passionfruit tree on the north side of our house. I noticed many flowers but later on after self-pollination the flowers fall off. What do I do to prevent it?
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Answer: Passionfruit is a tropical and at best a semi tropical vine that bears a delicious, seedy fruit with very little care under tropical conditions. It is not a tree so it does need to be supported by a trellis of some sort. This is the cold desert so this plant is handled a little bit differently here.
In the desert, passionfruit requires more care than it does in the tropics and it will most likely freeze back to the ground every year. But if the roots are protected from winter cold it will grow again in the spring.
It is good you planted it on the north side of a building but the East side would be even better so that it gets light in the morning and shade from the late afternoon sun. It likes a lot of compost added to the soil at the time of planting and to the top of the soil each year.
Wood chip mulch applied to the surface helps keep the heat off of the roots and preserve moisture in the soil. Drip irrigation works but this plant may perform better if rooted in a large basin or donut that fills with water.
There are many different types and varieties of passionfruit and some perform better than others in the desert. Varieties that have performed in the Phoenix, Arizona, area include Frederick, Incense and Blue Crown. More can be read about their care in Phoenix at .phoenixtropicals.com/passionFruit.html
Just remember that Phoenix has warmer winters than we have so we must apply better winter protection. They generally have better soils than we have as well.
Passionfruit is a heavy feeder so fertilize them frequently. They set fruit easiest during the cooler times of late spring and early summer but may have difficulty during the heat.
They may need to be hand pollinated if they fail to set fruit by themselves.
Question: I transplanted these tomato plants outside April 3. I noticed holes in the leaves. I searched for insects day and night and have not found any. What could this be? It is only on a few upper leaves no damage to lower ones.
Answer: I looked at the pictures you sent very closely and I don't see a disease problem. The raggedy edges of the holes do not look like insects. I think this is wind damage. I wouldn't worry about it.
You got them out a little bit late. You should be putting out transplants no later than mid-March.
Don't water plants with overhead irrigation such as water from a hose. Water at the base. As soon as you see fruit, give them light fertilizer applications once a month.
The oldest leaves in the center of the plant and in the shade should be cut and removed to improve air circulation. Keep the plant open in the center which should reduce disease problems. Start watching for whiteflies and spider mites as temperatures get hotter.
Robert Morris is a consultant, area horticulture specialist and a professor emeritus in horticulture with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension (UNCE). His blog is Xtremehorticulture of the Desert Blog. He can be reached on Skype at RLLMorris, cell and VOIP 702-630- and on LinkedIn at Robert L Morris. questions to .
Nitrogen fertilizers are classified by the rate of nitrogen release (that is, availability to plants). The two general types are water-soluble nitrogen and slow-release nitrogen.
Water-soluble nitrogen is available immediately after being watered in, and it rapidly turns the lawn green and stimulates growth. Nitrogen in soluble fertilizers doesnʼt last long, so you need to apply it more frequently at lower rates to maintain a steady supply of nitrogen to the turf. Examples of water-soluble nitrogen fertilizer materials include ammonium nitrate, urea, ammonium phosphate, and ammonium sulfate.
Water-soluble fertilizers have salt-like characteristics and can cause desiccation injury (burning) by drawing water out of leaf tissue. This problem is most common when people apply ammonium sulfate or urea to moist turf and fail to water it in immediately (Figure 3). Avoid foliar burn by irrigating turf thoroughly after applying any water-soluble fertilizer. Water long enough to wash granules off foliage or until granules completely dissolve.
Slow-release nitrogen fertilizers have relatively low water solubility and release nitrogen slowly over a longer period of time than soluble fertilizers. Therefore, they may give less initial color and growth response but are less likely to cause fertilizer burn. Theyʼre significantly more expensive than soluble nitrogen fertilizers.
Common slow-release nitrogen fertilizers include methylene ureas (Nitroform and Nutralene), sulfur-coated urea (SCU), polymer-coated urea (PCU), polymer-coated SCU (PCSCU), isobutylidenediurea (IBDU), and natural organic, protein-based sources such as activated sewage sludge and mixtures of feather meal, dried poultry waste, and dried blood.
Synthetic methylene ureas release nitrogen when soil microorganisms break them down. Since microbes are more active in warm weather, these products work well in the summer but poorly in winter and early spring.
SCU nitrogen release depends largely on water that permeates the sulfur shell and dissolves the urea. These products release nitrogen faster at higher temperatures. Common SCU materials release nitrogen slightly faster than other slow-release sources. This source appears in many common fertilizers.
PCU and PCSCU sources depend on water movement through the polymer shell to dissolve the urea, which then diffuses into the soil, where the nitrogen is taken up by plant roots. Nitrogen release is faster in warm weather and slows down dramatically when soil temperatures drop to about 40°F.
IBDU depends primarily on water hydrolysis to release nitrogen and is less affected by soil temperatures than natural or polymer-coated fertilizers. It is effective at all times of the year, but first-time applications tend to produce a weak response. Used repeatedly over time, this is a highly effective material.
Protein-based natural products release nitrogen when soil micro-organisms break them down. Thus, they are highly temperature-dependent and release nitrogen faster during summer and fall when soil temperatures tend to be high. They produce effects much like those of methylene ureas, PCU, PCSCU, and IBDU. Natural organic materials work well and are widely used in Oregon.
Commercial fertilizers often combine soluble and slow-release nitrogen sources to give good initial and residual response, lower burn potential, and intermediate cost.
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