I finally got a chance to get outside (translation: it stopped raining) and took this photo:
They kind of look like barley grains, but I’m sure you know they’re not! The questions are – what are they and to what plant do they belong?
Answer Monday!
Bordeaux Mix
One of my favorite stories about pesticides is the story of Bordeaux mix. It’s a story of France in the 1800s (so it must be pretty romantic, right?) and how they were suffering from a shortage of grapes. Don’t feel sorry for them — it was really their own doing. Over the course of the 19th century grape vines were brought from the United States to test their merits against European grapes. It was quickly discovered that, for the most part, American grapes were not the equal of European grapes for winemaking. … Continue reading this article “Bordeaux Mix”
A salt bath for your tomatoes?
This morning I got an email from one of my gardening colleagues, wondering about the wisdom of watering tomato plants with salt water. He had a link to a UC Davis website which tacitly endorses spraying tomato plants with 10% salt water “to increase their nutritional value and taste.” Unreferenced “worldwide studies” are mentioned, along with the “major potential benefit of providing irrigation for crops in areas with freshwater restrictions.”
Before we deal with the impracticalities and out-and-out harm of using salt water for irrigation, let’s look at why this practice would work on tomatoes. … Continue reading this article “A salt bath for your tomatoes?”
Jeff Gillman a.k.a. Dr. Unbiased!
“Everyone’s taking stands, and unfortunately, some of those taking the strongest stands have the least information.”
– Dr. Jeff Gillman, on “How the government got in your backyard”, co-authored with Eric Heberlig
Fine Gardening did a fine job in a recent interview that was linked to their e-mail update. FG Editor Steve Aitken brings some humor as he quizzes Dr. Jeff. about his new book. Check it out here.
Steve opens with “Is the government really in my backyard?… Continue reading this article “Jeff Gillman a.k.a. Dr. Unbiased!”
What can CO2 do for you?!
Well, it looks like the climate change skeptics are starting to hedge their bets. Global climate is not changing. But if it does change, it’ll change for the better. At least that’s the gist of a book by the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change entitled “The Many Benefits of Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment”. The book documents 55 different ways that increasing global CO2 will benefit the world. Most of this is built on studies documenting increases in plant growth and/or photosynthesis associated with increasing CO2. … Continue reading this article “What can CO2 do for you?!”
Wet trunk – the whole story
We had a flurry of discussion on this over the weekend. The diversity of possible answers shows you how difficult it is to do diagnosis with only some of the information available. That being said, several of you (Gail, Tom, Dave and Jimbo) all had portions of the problem identified. Here’s the whole picture:
As both trunks of this double-leadered tree have continued to expand in girth, they’ve created the perfect conditions for disease to occur in the narrow constriction between the trunks.… Continue reading this article “Wet trunk – the whole story”
Friday puzzle: wet trunk
Another diagnostic question today. Below you can see the lower portion of a tree trunk whose left half is obviously wet:
What is directly causing the wetness (in other words, what environmental factor), and can you guess what led to this problem indirectly?
I’ll eliminate some of the obvious possibilities: it’s not from dog pee, nor is it from a directional sprinkler. And the answer to the second question is not in this close up photo, but will be revealed on Monday.… Continue reading this article “Friday puzzle: wet trunk”
Building a House of Straw — With Brix!
Before I get into the meat of this issue I wanted to mention that, a couple of weeks ago, Purdue came out with a statement which basically supported a post that I had previously written – one where I stated that there’s not a lot of good evidence that using Roundup leads to sudden death syndrome in soybeans. Yeah me! Well, not really – that’s not the way science works. While it is nice that other scientists agree with my conclusion, that doesn’t mean that Round-up isn’t affecting soybeans – it just means that there’s no evidence of it right now.… Continue reading this article “Building a House of Straw — With Brix!”
Parking tickets, compost tea, and pseudoscience in the Ivory Tower
Back in November 2009, Jeff posted an educational and amusing commentary about Harvard’s use of compost tea. Much vigorous discussion followed, and we’ll return to that topic in a moment. But first, I’d like to tell you about my morning yesterday.
In September of 2010, I received a ticket for parking longer than 2 hours in a restricted zone. Now, there was no way I committed this infraction; I had hard core proof that could not be rationally challenged.… Continue reading this article “Parking tickets, compost tea, and pseudoscience in the Ivory Tower”
Lasso those grasses!
While Jeff and Bert were swilling beers and eating burgers last weekend (dang, wish I was there to commiserate!) I was whacking back the last of the perennials and grasses in our home garden. Tarp after tarp were filled with winter’s debris for compost pile as we fought 25 mph gusts the entire time. Not ideal conditions. However, a neat trick I learned years ago came in handy with the grasses. I’m assuming many of you utilize this technique also – so forgive me if this is a “nothing new” post Here’s Paul and Dabney, our Hahn Horticulture Garden horticulturists, demonstrating said technique:
Just cut below the web strap or rope with your favorite implement of destruction, and toss the whole bundle on the tarp to get it to the pile.… Continue reading this article “Lasso those grasses!”