Short Hort Notes^TM
November 29, 2004

*Hiatus: Short Hort Notes was put on hold for awhile so we could finish the text and start the first printing of the new Master Gardener training handbook. It is now being printed and we can return to “normal”, whatever that is.

*Natrona County Master Gardener Conference: The Natrona County Master Gardeners are hosting their annual spring conference on Saturday, March 12, 2005, at the Agricultural Research and Learning Center, 2011 Fairgrounds Road, Casper, Wyoming. This year’s theme will be: "Let’s Plan Ahead" (for the upcoming growing season), and the focus will be on helping growers adapt to conditions relative to central Wyoming.  Keynote speaker for the day-long conference will be David Salman of High Country Gardens of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

For more information call: (307) 235-9400

Submitted by Helen Scott, Conference 2005 Coordinator.

*Holiday Plants: Now that the Holiday season is in full swing, people will be buying poinsettias and other holiday plants to brighten their homes and offices. Here are a few tips for keeping them healthy through the holidays.

Þ    Keep in mind that poinsettias are not poisonous. They are not meant to be eaten of course, and they may cause allergic reactions like many other substances, but they are not toxic.

Þ    Poinsettia foliage varies greatly in color – a lighter shade of green to the leaves does not necessarily mean the plant is not healthy.

Þ    Poinsettias prefer high light – put your plant in a spot where you can easily read fine print during daylight hours.

Þ    Avoid high traffic areas – for poinsettias and any other holiday or interior plant.

Þ    Put a saucer or waterproof container under the pot. Poke a hole in the decorative pot cover, if there is one, so water can drain freely after irrigation. Toss the water in the saucer out so roots don’t rot.

Þ    Keep the plant evenly moist as lower foliage will yellow and drop if the plant dries out too much.

Þ    Another holiday plant you may find is kalanchoe. Kalanchoes are succulent plants that require much the same care as poinsettias, although they will tolerate a bit drier soil.

Þ    Amaryllis bulbs in bloom are also sold frequently at this time of year. They also require high light and consistent moisture. Cut the flowering stalks off after the flowers fade.

For further information, check our bulletin Care of Flowering Potted Plants (B-1146). It is available in hard copy at your local UW Cooperative Extension Service office or on-line at http://www.uwyo.edu/CES/PUBS/B1146.pdf.

*Christmas Tree Selection and Care: Christmas trees are beginning to appear in lots all over the country right now. Here are a few tips on selecting and caring for holiday trees.

Þ      Make sure you know the maximum size you can bring home! Measure twice, cut once, as all good carpenters (and Christmas tree buyers) say.

Þ      Choose a spot in the house away from windows, heat sources, wood stoves, and fireplaces. The extra heat and light will definitely shorten the life of the tree.

Þ      Choose a tree type

o        Firs and pines are very common and tend to hold their needles fairly well. They’re often fragrant too.

o        Spruces are also common but don’t hold their needles quite as well as firs or pines. The bluish color of blue spruces may be an attraction, though.

o        Cedars and junipers are less common but their aroma is a big plus.

Þ      Bend the needles a little. If they spring easily back to their original position, the tree is probably fresh. Bump the tree gently on the ground. If just a few needles fall, the tree is probably fresh. Check the cut end too. If the sap is gooey and moist, it’s probably fresh.

Þ      At home, cut off the bottom couple of inches of the trunk to expose fresh wood. Then place the tree in a bucket of tepid tap water to hydrate it. You can purchase a tree now and just keep it in the garage or other cool spot in water for a week or two or three until you’re ready to bring it indoors. Just make sure the bucket is always full of water.

Þ      Use plain tap water; no other ingredients are needed.

Þ      Don’t let the tree stand water container indoors run out of water as the life of the tree will be greatly decreased.

For further information, we have a longer article written on this, but it’s not in Extension Service bulletin form yet. Let us know if you want a copy of the article and we can email it to you.

*Recent Problems: Geraniums brought indoors after the growing season frequently show yellowing foliage, leaf drop, and petal/flower drop. This is normal due to drastic changes  in conditions from outside to inside. It was recommended to the client that up to 1/3 of the plant be pruned back (no more than 1/3 – just like pruning trees and shrubs) and the plant be placed in high light indoors. It was also recommended that the plant not be allowed to dry out – consistent moisture is best until the plants re-acclimate themselves to the interior environment.

                Another recent problem involved a greenhouse tomato grower experiencing any number of symptoms (low yields in particular) on his hydroponically-grown plants. We suspected nutritional problems, which are fairly common in hydroponics, and then discovered the “root” of the problem in the water quality test results. The SAR (sodium adsorption ratio – a measure of sodium, calcium, and magnesium contents of the water) was 4.4 (anything over 3 in greenhouse horticulture sends most of us over the edge), chloride levels were 240 ppm (maximum for greenhouse tomatoes is recommended at 70), and sodium was 170 ppm (maximum recommended for greenhouse tomatoes is 30 to 50). Bicarbonates were also relatively high (180). With poor water quality like this, our recommendation would not have been to start a new hydroponic greenhouse tomato operation without using a reverse osmosis water purification system. The water had been tested before the greenhouse operation started up, but the lab deals mostly with agronomic production and as a result, the recommendation was that the water was “fair.” Interpretation of the numbers for hydroponic greenhouse tomatoes is entirely different.

                Woody plant problems are still coming in. One in early November concerned a juniper tree in a corner lot in an urban yard. The description helped, of course, but the picture truly spoke a thousand words. It was clear the tree had outgrown the space allotted to it. It had been planted in a back corner of the yard and there was a fence, sidewalk, neighbor’s driveway, and the street nearby. The roots had nowhere else to grow and the juniper was showing browning on the side near all the hardscapes. There’s not much that can be done – the best option is probably removing the juniper and replanting with something of a more suitable size. We ran into a similar situation here in Laramie in October. The homeowner has a problem with the spruce tree in the yard (another corner lot). Turns out there are five enormous trees where there is room for about two. On the east and south sides of the lot are four huge white poplars (two on each side). The poor spruce tree is to the north and west of the poplars and is almost completely shaded out. The poplars are taking all the water and nutrients and spruce is very spindly, sparse, and weak. The best option is to remove at least the spruce if not one or two of the white poplars.

*Ohio Master Gardener Program: Ohio hopes to fund a full-time state coordinator for its Master Gardener program through a new endowment. The goal of the endowment is to raise $2 million over 3 years to fund the position indefinitely. The mission of the state's Master Gardener program is to provide knowledge to and develop the leadership abilities of volunteers who conduct research, maintain demonstration plots, carry out gardening projects with civic and school groups and are involved with various environmental projects. (From GM Pro News)

*In the Panter Back Yard and Zoo: Now we have a foot of snow (in places anyway) in the back yard. There are about a dozen flowering kale plants in one of the front planters and they look terrific! They are great cool/cold weather plants that haven’t shown any signs of quitting for the winter. The white ones are particularly pretty, but the purple ones also look interesting under the snow.

We’ve been cutting back the perennials mostly because the vast majority of them look horrible once they’ve turned brown. A couple of exceptions are the sedums, the ornamental grasses, and a few of the sages. We leave them alone until spring because they add such great winter color and texture.

The zoo seems to be a work in progress. The tank of fish now consists of a plecostamus, two mollys, one angelfish, and one swordtail. The four hermit crabs are fine I guess – they’re nocturnal. They do need a bath (yes, every 10 to 14 days they need to clean out their shells) so we’ll see how they’re doing tonight. We’re sorry to say Henry the Madagascar hissing cockroach is no longer with us but is helping to fertilize the west side garden. But, Lightning the praying mantis is doing great. She joined us in September and is a hoot. She loves to eat grasshoppers and crickets so we buy the latter for her now that the former aren’t available in the fields. She has a voracious appetite! And our latest acquisition is Thunder the iguana. Thankfully, s/he is a vegetarian (but will eat crickets too) and seems to prefer lettuce over apples and oranges. Whatever.

The interior plants are doing quite well and yes, a few of the orchids are still in bloom. I bring in plants from home for class every Tuesday and Thursday during fall semester and usually don’t have to worry about not having enough! I’ve built up a catalog of info and pictures if anyone out there is interested.

*Upcoming Events

-Rocky Mountain Regional Turfgrass Association Conference and Trade Show, December 7-9, 2004, Holiday Inn – DIA (I-70 and Chambers Road), Denver, Colorado. Contact: RMRTA at 303-770-2220 or web site www.rmrta.org.

-ProGreen Expo, January 10-14, 2005, Colorado Convention Center, Denver. Contact: http://www.progreenexpo.com/index.htm.

-Wyoming Groundskeepers and Growers Association Conference, January 26-28, 2005, Parkway Plaza Hotel, Casper. Contact: WGGA at 307-234-7583, IIIwishes@msn.com, or www.wgga.org.

-National Agricultural Plastics Congress, March 5-8, 2005, Charleston, South Carolina. Contact: American Society for Plasticulture 814-238-7045 or info@plasticulture.org or http://www.plasticulture.org/05CongRegistration.htm.

-Wyoming State Master Gardener Conference, April 14-16, 2005, Parkway Plaza Hotel, Casper. (No contact information currently available.)

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Glen Whipple, Director, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071.

Persons seeking admission, employment, or access to programs of the University of Wyoming shall be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, political belief, veteran status, sexual orientation, or marital or familial status. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication or program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact their local UW CES office. To file a complaint, write the UW Employment Practices/Affirmative Action Office, University of Wyoming, P.O. Box 3434, Laramie, WY 82071-3434.

Where brand names are used, no endorsement is implied.

Karen L. Panter, Ph.D.
Extension Horticulture Specialist
Department of Plant Sciences
University of Wyoming