Fall planting season is just a few weeks away

Q : When should I start lettuce and kale for fall planting and harvest? — WWW, Albuquerque

A:

I looked for several charts listing vegetables for a fall harvest planting. Most all agreed that for veggies like leaf lettuce and kale, you can go ahead and do a planting soon to get that fall harvest. From the info I’ve garnered, the dates are mid-August to the end of August. So, you are right in-line to get a fall harvestable planting done.

You could also consider planting several additional veggies too. Things like carrots, beets, spinach, snow peas, radishes and turnips. These veggies planted mid-August have enough time to grow successfully and allow harvest until Christmastime. Especially the beets, carrots and radishes.

You have just enough time to get out there before planting mid-August to the end of August and prepare your garden soils with a good turning and cleaning up. Wait until the heat of July has passed, and your fall planting will be more successful.

Q: I read your article about the thrips infestation in a hibiscus’ buds. Can thrips also infect rosebuds? — S.R., Albuquerque

A:

You betcha! In fact, diagnosing rosebuds for continuing troubles lead me to learn about thrips.

I was taught the thump test having torn open several rosebuds and sure enough, when a bright light was shown onto the paper where the buds were thumped, the smallish specks do move.

Not knowing lots about the lifecycle, I’ve done a bit of research on thrips. I’ve learned that the adult thrips overwinter in all sorts of places. Plant debris being the most comfy home they can ask for.

The adults, 1/50-inch long, winged critters become active in the early spring, just when so many plants are setting bud. The adult lays eggs in living plant tissue, and they hatch very quickly. They feed by rasping the most delicate plant tissue there is — the insides of a bud — and then fall to and rest in the soil. Then they molt into adults and begin a new life cycle all over.

Some references I have said they can breed up to fifteen times a growing season. That’s a lot of thrips! So, it’s up to us to help slow the cycle.

I have read that using pesticides like insecticidal soap, pyrethrin, and sprays containing neem will help eliminate the adults before they lay the eggs that hatch and burrow into the flower buds. Again, I was taught that it’s the removal of any and all buds, then spraying regularly up to and early on into the next bud set.

It’s also recommended sprinkling diatomaceous earth onto the soil surrounding the plants and dusting the undersides of the plant leaves to help eradicate the adults.

Since the adults overwinter in plant debris, that’s just another reason for tidying up the gardens regularly during the year. Poking around in my reference book “The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control” I have learned about a remarkably safe insecticide that can be employed too. Are you ready? Potato starch dextrin!

It’s an easy to create recipe, just don’t spray it during the heat of the day and do make sure the plant life is well-watered first. Mix three tablespoons of potato flour in a quart of water and add a couple of drops of liquid dish soap. Shake the ingredients thoroughly, put into a spray bottle and go at it aiming to cover the plant surface, upside down and inside out. Soaked to dripping wet. All while agitating the spray bottle to keep everything mixed up and suspended. You could see a bit of a white chalky tinge on the plants, but you can spray them off a couple of days later if needed.

I had no idea that something as non-noxious as potato flour can be made into a pesticide. Amazing!

So yes, thrips can be trouble on roses, hibiscus and chrysanthemums — any plant that grows a tight multi-petaled flower. Be on the lookout and know that you can prevent the thrips.

Happy hunting and Happy Diggin’ In!