GARDENING: Sequestrene 138 can help fruit trees, grapes

Calling all fruit growers. We want to work with you. Having trouble pruning those grapes and fruit trees? Want some place to sell that extra fruit you produce? For more information, call our Master Gardener hot line at 257-5555. or e-mail me at Extremehort@aol.com.

Question: On Dec. 20 I applied KEREX Sequestrene 138 Fe Super Iron Concentrate (Lawn & Garden) around the trunks of my fruit trees and grapes because I didn't find Organo's Kerex as you had recommended. Is it OK? Now is the time to spray dormant oil on all fruit plants, but I am not sure how exactly I must do it.

In my garden shed I have Ortho Volck Oil Spray Concentrate (dormant season killer), Lilly Miller Polysul Summer and Dormant Concentrate (lime sulfur), and Monterrey Liquid -- Cop Copper fungicide. Do I need mixed dormant oil and lime sulfur or not? I would like to be sure how because I have opposite information about this application.

Answer: Regarding the Kerex, as long as it says Sequestrene 138 it is exactly the same thing as Organo's that I recommended. I don't normally recommend a specific product, but in the past Organo was the only company that put Sequestrene 138 into a home and garden product. I am glad there are other alternatives now. Make sure this 138 is watered into the soil because this fertilizer is sensitive to light and light will destroy it and make it inactive. If the problem was iron, this will fix it. If it is not iron, the leaves will be yellow again. Then we must look at either manganese or zinc, but 95 percent of the time it is iron.

I really don't believe in applying pesticides unless it is necessary in backyard operations, but the oil is a good thing to apply to suppress aphids, mites and some others. You will apply this some time just before bud break in the spring. The oil suffocates the insects so the temperatures must be warm for this to happen. So pick a nice warm day before bud break to apply it.

You cannot mix the lime sulfur and oil together before applying it. They must be applied separately. In looking this up evidently there can be a problem with toxicity to some plants when oils and sulfur pesticides are mixed together. The lime sulfur is less important than the oil because we really do not see as many disease problems on grapes here.

One of the best ways to prevent bunch rot is to remove leaves from around the bunches to improve air movement as they enlarge. Try to remove those leaves that might stop air, but leave the leaves that shade the bunches to prevent damage from the sun. The copper fungicide is a good thing to have in your shed if you need it. Maybe you won't. Let me know if you have been experiencing some disease problems where this might be necessary and then I can tell you when and how to use it.

The copper fungicide is used primarily for shothole fungus, which is typically only a problem on peaches and apricots. This application is usually made in the fall for prevention the following year.

I would be very interested to know which fruits you are growing, and other readers as well, and how they are doing. I would also invite you and any of my readers out to our Master Gardener fruit orchard in North Las Vegas to see what we are doing out there. Come out and chat with us, have a cup of coffee and share with us your experiences. We have about one acre of many different fruits and grapes, and are expanding to include another half acre.

We meet out there every Tuesday from about 7:30 a.m. to about noon. We are located on North Decatur Boulevard, about five miles north of Craig Road near the corner of Horse and Decatur across the street from a new water pumping station.

Q: We have 10 dwarf mock orange shrubs that are about 6 years old and are beginning to overgrow their area. How aggressively can I prune them without harming them? When is the best time for their pruning before the heat of next spring and summer? I've noticed that they are very water sensitive. Last spring we were not able to increase their watering during the unusually early spring heat and we lost two. What can we do to avoid the same this spring? Increase the watering before the hint of heat appears?

A: Yes, they are very sensitive to drought and a watering can't be missed during times of heat or you will see scorched leaves and possibly dieback if this happens. And because this is an evergreen, the damage will stay for a long time.

The other problem you will have in pruning them is that recovery from pruning is slow. There are two approaches you can do if you want to rein them back. First is you can take them back severely and let them just regrow from interior wood. There are no buds typically back inside the plant because of shading, so they have to create new buds inside before they can regrow, and growth is quite slow.

You would do this just before new growth in the spring. Then follow it with a fertilizer to stimulate new growth.

The next way is to randomly remove about one third of the growth to the inside, reducing its size, and leave about two thirds remaining. The new light that enters the inside of the plant will start new growth in the wood in the interior this spring. As this new growth starts in the interior, you can cut the remaining back, which will force more energy into the growth that has already started. This is less shocking to the shrub but more work for you.

In the first case you would just cut everything back to a place several inches beyond where you want the maximum spread to be. Cut them to a crotch of the stems inside the plant. In the spring, remove any growth that is too fast and destroys that compact form.

The second way to prune is to remove one third of the stems to a crotch deep into the interior of the shrub. You can do this anytime but it would be best just prior to new growth in the spring. This may look funny for a while until recovery starts. As before, follow pruning with your favorite fertilizer to stimulate new growth.

Bob Morris is a horticulture specialist with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.

Q: Are the preservatives used for cut flowers really effective or can I use things like aspirin in place of them?

A:The commercial preservatives do work. Homemade preservatives work almost as well, but they should be trying to accomplish the same things as the commercial preservatives. The commercial preservatives try to accomplish two things for the cut flowers -- supply a food source since the flowers have been removed from the roots and the rest of the plant, and secondly prevent the growth of bacteria, which is the primary reason cut flower life ends so quickly. Homemade ingredients such as aspirin won't accomplish this.

You can make your own preservative by mixing an equal amount of warm water with lemonade or lemon-lime soft drink. To this add about one teaspoon of chlorine bleach. The lemonade acts as the sugar source and helps to lower the water's pH and the chlorine keeps bacteria from developing. The water should be changed every other day.

Cut-flower life is extended if they are kept in a cool location, away from heat or air conditioning vents and away from direct sunlight.

Other tips to encourage longevity of cut flowers include recutting the flower stems when you receive them and before making the arrangement. Remove all the lower leaves from the stems if they will be submerged; this helps cut down on the development of bacteria. Use warm water when filling the vase. Warm water contains fewer air bubbles than cold water. Air bubbles can get trapped in the stems and block the uptake of water to the upper leaves and flowers. And add a floral preservative.


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