The Green Valley Gardeners

Gardener's Tips


Links with information helpful to most gardeners:
AMWUA.ORG (Arizona Municipal Water)
U-of-A Cooperative Extension (Free Publications by Topic)

Tips from the Master Gardeners on common pests:
To rid your plant of:
Aphids:  Spray with mixture of 1 tablespoons Dawn dish soap in one gallon of water, repeat in seven days. You can also just scrape the pests off with your fingers.
Agave Weevil: Spray every 2 weeks from early April to late May with an insecticide recommended by a local garden store. (Diazinon has been banned for use in AZ, and has thus been removed from the recommended list.)

What to do in March with:
Roses:
By now you should have your roses all pruned and ready for fertilization. Roses seem to love the desert. Watch for aphids. You can just spray with a hose to clean those little critters off your roses. Thrips will not kill your roses but will cause the bloom to be disfigured, no treatment for this. If you notice a hole at the end of canes you pruned in January, you have cane borers. Cut the cane back until you no longer see a hole in the cane. To prevent this, when you prune apply a thin coat of Elmer's Glue or a wood glue. Fertilize with liquid fertilizer and Epsom salts (about 1/2 cup per rosebush). Water slowly and deeply to a depth of 2 feet. Use a soil probe to assure depth (available from the Master Gardeners office.)

Citrus:
Find the best spot to plant them, with good soil and drainage. Notice where the winds are especially strong; the wind can blow off blossoms causing low fruiting. Good spacing is 10 feet apart. Near a wall is a good place to plant for radiant heat. Fertilize oranges, grapefruit, and tangerines with 3 applications (on February 15, April 15 and June 15). Fertilize lemons and limes in 3 applications (February 15, April 15 and October 15). Do not fertilize a new tree for the first year. Watering schedule: from March through April, citrus need water once a week to 2 weeks, depending on maturity of tree. They need slow deep watering. Use a soil probe to make sure water is getting deep enough. Do not prune lower branches of tree (provides more and better fruit that you can reach).

Vegetables and Herbs:
Add from 3 to 4 inches of compost to your garden bed, working it into the existing soil. Compost can be organic or steer manure. Seeds need to be kept moist but not soaked while germinating.

Mid-March Plant:
Amaranth, Basil, Black Eye Peas, Bush & Pole Beans, Pumpkins, Sweet Corn, Chili, Cucumber, Eggplant, Gourds, Melons, Okra, Bell Pepper, Radish, Summer Squash, Tomatos, Sunflowers, Tomatillos, Butternut Squash

************************ Some earlier tips **************************

Tips for Growing Cool Season Vegetables

It’s time to roll up your sleeves and dig into that garden bed because the cooler temperatures of fall and winter allow us to grow entirely new crops of vegetables after the heat of summer.

  • Cabbage and its relatives such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kohlrabi, turnips, and rutabagas all thrive in our mild winters along with root crops and leafy greens.

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  • Prepare your soil by adding composted steer manure; one cubic ft size bag of steer manure for about every 3ft by 3ft area of garden. Sprinkle on granulated vegetable fertilizer according to package directions. Dig it all in evenly and water thoroughly.

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  • Set up irrigation lines and clocks then put in seeds and transplants and allow enough space between plants for growth to maturity. Test it all to make sure there are no leaks and the water goes where it is needed. Drip tubing with internal emitters every 6 inches work well for seed rows whereas individually adjustable emitter heads attached to ¼ inch drip line tubing are nice for transplants.

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  • Insulate water uprights, faucets, and clocks with foam or towels plus a rain proof cover to prevent breaks when temperatures dip below freezing.

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  • Seeds of carrots, beets, turnips, rutabagas, lettuce, Swiss chard, collards, parsnips, cilantro, kale, peas, spinach, onions, and parsley can go into the garden from the middle of September through October. Seeds need watered for a short time several times a day; check that they stay moist all the time but not soggy. Cover the seed beds with a white cloth (Agribon or old sheet type) until they sprout up, then replace this with a raised tent of fine mesh as plants grow. Grasshoppers and cabbage worms are serious pests to watch for and the covering helps keep them away.

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  • Transplants of cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower go in at the end of September or early October. Adjust irrigation to keep the soil moist but not soggy. A raised tent of fine mesh over the new plants to keep away cabbage moths can be helpful; remove the tent when the plants get large or after a hard freeze. Watch carefully for the cabbage worms and pick them off, but also spray with Bt (short for Bacillus thuringiensis, an organic caterpillar killer).

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  • Onion plants go in the middle of November. If you want large bulbing onions be sure to plant short-day onions. We usually grow Texas sweet onions ordered from Dixondale Farms. Plant about 6 inches apart, keep moist and harvest in May.


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