Our first major frost hit my part of Arizona a month ago, killing all tomato vines. I did my thanksgiving cleanup chores–removed all the vines and ground them into mulch. I noticed an ominous symptom on one a few of the heirloom varieties (Prudence Purple) that I removed—galled roots. This symptom when seen on tomato is evidence of Root Knot Nematode (RKN). More about RKN shortly. Nematodes are non-segmented worms, mostly free living in soil and feed on bacteria, fungi, small animals or each other.… Continue reading this article “The worms crawl in and the worms crawl out but these worms kill your plants”
Month: November 2020
Hydroponics for the Holidays? Home Systems are a hot holiday gift list item
Systems to grow fresh produce in your home using hydroponics or other automatic processes have been popular for several years but seem to be even more popular this year with more folks home and looking for something to do and hoping to produce their own food. As a result, these systems are popping up on holiday wish lists and gift buying guides all over the internet. But are they worth it? And if so, what should you look for in a system? … Continue reading this article “Hydroponics for the Holidays? Home Systems are a hot holiday gift list item”
The complicated issue of heavy metals in residential soils, part 1: What are toxic heavy metals, and where do they come from?
So many of us are growing our own vegetables – either as experienced home gardeners or as COVID19-isolated novices. There is a lot of effort in figuring out garden beds, vegetable choices, and growing medium – but one of the issues rarely considered is whether there are heavy metals present in the local soil and/or growing medium. We can’t see heavy metals, or smell them, so we need to have a way of assessing their presence before we plant edibles.… Continue reading this article “The complicated issue of heavy metals in residential soils, part 1: What are toxic heavy metals, and where do they come from?”