By nancyc on October 4, 2012
Whether you’re an avid vegetable gardener, a flower enthusiast, or just want a nice looking landscape, the secret to your success begins with your soil. Rather than simple and static, the soil is a dynamic environment. In an ideal situation, it is full of tiny plants and animals, microbial activity, and all of the organic processes that lead to healthy plant life.
Here are a few ways to tell if your soil is functioning properly, and if Monty’s Liquid Carbon Organic Soil Conditioner can help.
Look – The first step to assessing soil health is to simply look for clues. By observing what is going on at the surface you will have a good indication of what is taking place throughout your soil profile.
Key things to look for include:
- Large clods after tilling
- Cracks in the soil as it dries
- Bare patches or areas where vegetation won’t grow
- Heavy weed population
- Standing water after a rain
- Persistent “wet spots” or mud
- No, or few, earthworms, pill bugs, and other signs of healthy insects
- Heavy thatch layer or plant debris that does not decompose after a season
- Pale soil ranging from almost white to light brown. Healthy soil should be a rich brown to black.
Touch – Dig in to your soil. This is the fun part of gardening and maintaining your landscape. By actually getting your hands into the soil you can tell a lot about the make-up, tilth and texture of your soil. Good quality soil should be loose and light. In the morning when moisture will be at its peak level, dig in a few inches and grab a small handful of soil. Clench your fist around the dirt and then open your hand. What happens?
- If it falls apart into small pieces the soil is lacking enough organic matter and is tending towards a sand content that is too high.
- If it stays together in one large clod it is likely holding too much water and is primarily clay, which can lead to compaction problems and anaerobic conditions which will favor the formation of harmful bacteria.
- If it forms one central clod that breaks apart easily with slight touch or movement, is encircled by loose, separate bits of soil, you are on your way to creating an ideal environment for most plants.
Finally, if you have problems even digging into your soil at least 5-6 inches, you know that you have compaction problems that need to be addressed.
Smell – This is one that you may not have thought about, however, with a little practice your nose can tell you much about the condition of your soil. Healthy soils should smell earthy and moist, almost like well-maintained compost. If, on the other hand, what you smell is flat or non-existent, if it smells like a stagnant pond, or if it smells somewhat acrid, you know that you have situations that need to be addressed.
Gardening Practices – Some gardening practices themselves actually can be harmful to soil, especially over time. And, even beneficial gardening practices may be enhanced. If you are currently doing any of these things, consider using Monty’s Liquid Carbon to remediate, improve, or expedite your current practices.
Not all soils can be transformed into an ideal state, but they all can be improved. By observing, touching, and smelling your soil, and by analyzing your current lawn and garden activities you can begin to see where improvements can be made. By making simple, seasonal applications of Monty’s Liquid Carbon Organic Soil Conditioner, either in concentrate or with the new ready-to-spray bottle, you can maximize the potential of your soil and return it to a plant-friendly, vibrant environment.
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Posted in Advice, Ask Monty's, Flower Gardening, General Gardening, Lawns and Landscaping, Roses, Uncategorized, Vegetable Gardening Tagged compaction, compost, composting, fall gardening, fall lawn care, Fall lawn work, fertilizer, Garden, General Gardening, landscaping, leaves, Liquid Carbon, natural gardening, natural lawn care, OMRI, Organic Gardening, recommendations for lawns, soil test
By nancyc on June 9, 2012
What is the difference between plant food or fertilizer that is “OMRI Listed” and “certified organic?” Who certifies these organic products?
Rick, Eagle Mountain, Utah
Rick:
This can be confusing and maybe even redundant, but the terminology and two endorsements actually work together and maybe even simultaneously.
First, the term “certified organic” can only legally apply to food and fiber products, and not to fertilizers or plant food. Second, as mentioned in an earlier post, fertilizer companies can use the term “organic” to refer to organic — or carbon-based — content, without any verification that any or all of the ingredients meet specifications set out by the National Organic Program to be listed by OMRI (see below).
The USDA has established the guidelines to meet “organic certification,” which ensures that the end product — food or fiber — has conformed to their strict uniform standards, which are verified by independent state or private organizations. The certifications include:
- Inspections of the processing facilities
- Detailed record keeping, and
- Periodic testing to ensure that growers and handlers are meeting the standards which have been set.
The Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) provides organic certifiers, growers and manufacturers and suppliers a listing of input products for use in the production, handling and processing of goods which will comply with the National Organic Program. One example of an input product is the fertilizer used in growing a crop. It is not the fertilizer that can be certified organic, only the food or fiber produced with the fertilizer than can ultimately be certified (by the NOP). The OMRI listing generally reads, “OMRI listed for use in organic production,” and should be accompanied by the OMRI logo. Again, OMRI does not certify food or fiber (or fertilizers) as organic: OMRI works with the USDA in complying with their standards.
Monty’s is proud to have our soil conditioners OMRI listed. For those seeking to improve the condition of their soil while being in compliance with the National Organic Program, but without the labor-intensive, and often expensive, nature of other options, Monty’s Liquid Carbon Organic Soil Conditioner is a terrific product.
For additional insights on labeling, please visit our blog posts from June 6 and June 8, or visit these handy websites:
- OMRI – information that organic farmers, handlers, certifiers, and other members of the organic community might find useful.
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Posted in Advice, All Natural, Ask Monty's, General Gardening, organic, Soil Conditioning, Uncategorized, Vegetable Gardening Tagged All Natural, Ask Monty's, Certified Organic, fertilizer, Garden, General Gardening, Liquid Carbon, Monty's Plant Food, natural lawn care, NOP, OMRI, OMRI Listed, Organic Gardening, soil conditioner, tomatoes, USDA
By nancyc on June 8, 2012
In our last post we covered the plant food and fertilizer labeling terms “Organic” and “OMRI Listed.” In our next post we’ll cover the term “Certified Organic.”
Today, we’ll address the moniker “All Natural,” for which there is no regulation.
There is a growing belief as society becomes greener that natural is always better – better for individual health and for the environment. For this reason, many companies use that term to entice you into buying their product.
Using the term “all natural” is not federally regulated and is used by companies as a marketing tool. Just how “natural” a product is and how beneficial it will be is largely determined by the company itself. Rather than muddying the waters further let me explain what Monty’s means when we use the term.
Some of our products, like our Liquid Carbon Organic Soil Conditioner, are OMRI listed for use in organic production. Some, like our fertility products, are not. However, we can tell you, in full confidence, that our plant food products are naturally-sourced and derived.
How important that distinction is to you will be based on your objectives. For example, if you are hoping to sell your vegetables in a local market as an organic product, then you could definitely use our Liquid Carbon Organic Soil Conditioners but we could not recommend our plant foods to you for that purpose.
However, if you are simply looking for a product with superior performance and that is not harmful to you, your family and animals, or the environment, then you can use our naturally-derived plant food products with confidence.
I hope this helps. I know it can be a bit overwhelming. For more assurance and to help you purchase with confidence I would encourage you to develop a relationship with an independent garden center retailer so they can help guide you to products — like Monty’s Plant and Soil Products — that will help you achieve your goals.
Listed below are some handy links to OMRI, USDA and organic growing websites. Also, refer to our post from June 6, for information about the terms “organic” and “OMRI listed.” And stay tuned for our next post about the term “certified organic.”
- OMRI – information that organic farmers, handlers, certifiers, and other members of the organic community might find useful.
- USDA Organic Roots Collection – electronic collection of historic documents published before 1942 – a time before synthetic chemicals became widely used. Find state-of-the-art information and data that is still pertinent for today’s organic and sustainable agriculture.
- HowToGoOrganic.com – The Organic Trade Association offers this resource to help cultivate the growth of organic farming.
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Posted in Advice, All Natural, Ask Monty's, Flower Gardening, General Gardening, organic, Soil Conditioning, Uncategorized, Vegetable Gardening Tagged All Natural, Ask Monty's, fertilizer, General Gardening, Labeling, Liquid Carbon, Monty's Plant Food, natural gardening, NOP, OMRI, OMRI Listed, Organic Gardening, Plant Food, tomatoes, USDA
By nancyc on June 6, 2012
What is the difference between plant food or fertilizer labels that read “
Organic” and “All Natural?”
Derek, Calera, Alabama
Derek:
That is a good question and one that can be a bit confusing, so I’m going to address “Organic” in this post, “All Natural” in the next posting and “Certified Organic” in yet a third blog post. Let’s look at “organic” first. It should be understood, as your question implies that there is definitely a difference between “all natural” and “organic” when it comes to plant food or fertilizers – and especially food products. The terms are not interchangeable.
Organic fertilizers come from all-natural sources such as selected animal manures, mined rock powders, blood meal, feather meal, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, bone meal, fish extracts and seaweed by-products. Simply put, organic fertilizers are derived from animal or vegetable matter. Beyond that simple definition, though, things get a bit confusing.
The federal government has attempted to implement regulations on what it means to be “organic,” primarily with regard to the production of food and fiber. A fertilizer company could place the word “organic” on most any fertilizer product it chooses to, and some do. After all, as we become a much “greener” society, these types of words have great power in the marketplace. In these cases the word really has little meaning at all, and may only refer to the fact that there is organic — or carbon-based — content, without any verification that all of the ingredients meet specifications set out by the National Organic Program (see below). Therefore, the burden of proof and the task of sorting out these claims is on the government and the consumer.
Second — and this is where it gets even more confusing — is determining just how organic is “organic.” For example, a company could blend cow manure with water and claim it is organic and it would be. But the products produced by that fertilizer still may not qualify under the guidelines of the National Organic Program (NOP) instituted by the federal government. This is where the organization known as the Organic Materials Research Institute (OMRI) comes in. OMRI is an independent, non-profit institution which serves as the gatekeeper for products which meet the requirements of the NOP. Input products cannot be labeled “certified organic“: rather, OMRI uses the term “OMRI Listed” for products which may be used in the production of organic food and fiber, under the guidelines of the NOP. Furthermore, the term “certified organic” can only legally apply to food or fiber products.
Use of the term “organic” on fertilizers is generally not regulated. Some of the products listed by OMRI are not, in fact, organic. Due to a provision in their guidelines for becoming “OMRI Listed,” a non-organic product can be a listed product if no close, non-synthetic substitute exists.
Let’s try to summarize.
- Products that claim to be organic may or may not be.
- OMRI lists certain “raw materials” which may be used in the production of organic finished goods, but they do not technically certify the input products. All they do is say this material will not disqualify the end product from participation in the National Organic Program.
- The National Organic Program certifies producers and products, but only of finished goods, i.e., food and fiber.
- In the end, much of what is meant by the term organic is based on the reliability of the company making the claim.
If you are looking for a product that you can use with confidence in your lawn or garden, buy from a reputable dealer who sells products from reliable companies, and look for the “OMRI Listed” designation . Even at that, though, Caveat Emptor!
Stay tuned for our next blog post about the term “All Natural.” In the meantime, here are some handy links:
- OMRI – information that organic farmers, handlers, certifiers, and other members of the organic community might find useful.
- USDA Organic Roots Collection – electronic collection of historic documents published before 1942 – a time before synthetic chemicals became widely used. Find state-of-the-art information and data that is still pertinent for today’s organic and sustainable agriculture.
- HowToGoOrganic.com – The Organic Trade Association offers this resource to help cultivate the growth of organic farming.
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Posted in All Natural, Ask Monty's, General Gardening, organic, Soil Conditioning, Vegetable Gardening Tagged All Natural, Ask Monty's, Certified Organic, General Gardening, labelling, Labels, Liquid Carbon, National Organic Program, natural gardening, natural lawn care, NOP, OMRI, Organic Gardening, tomatoes, USDA
By Dennis on August 2, 2011
When I was much younger, though not raised on a farm, I was raised by a momma who was. And that is the next best thing I suppose. It was from her that I learned to speak “country’ with the ease of a local using words and phrases like “on the halves,” “mess of beans,” and “good soakin’ rain.” While other kids were watching Saturday Morning Cartoons, I was up around daybreak and headed out to a local farmer’s field she had discovered that week to pick green beans, or whatever was in season “on the halves”…now for you city-folk that means that you pick the beans for the farmer for free, in return you get to keep half of what you pick. It is kind of a rural barter system that has worked for generations. Then throughout the week, while other kids got to just watch their TV shows in the evening, my mom believed that our TV was somehow mystically powered by the sound of snapping beans, shelling peas, shucking corn or whatever else was in season at the time. She would give us a bucket full of the crop d’jour and we could keep watching TV as long as we were working on those crops. If we stopped, the TV was turned off…and we had to finish working our vegetables anyway. I am sure that I complained about it, you’ll have to ask momma. But I also know that I did it and looking back on it, it was not a bad existence. The real pay off came not only from a good work ethic, but from the tastes and smells of our country kitchen right in the middle of a Dallas suburb.
In addition to pickin on the halves at area farms momma also always raised a small garden of her own. It was from there that I learned the joy of “volunteer” crops. Volunteer crops are plants that come up on their own. You didn’t plant them, didn’t plan on them, they were just God’s little extras.
As a general rule the science behind this phenomenon is this, you raise a crop in year one, say corn for example. At some point during the year one of the kernels fall off of the cob either through the action of animals or harvest and lays there on the ground all winter. In year two, as spring comes and you work the ground you accidentally cover up the seed with soil. That’s all it takes. Soon as the soil warms in the spring, the seed germinates and VIOLA! You now have a plant that you were not counting on…a volunteer plant. Mostly these volunteer plants came up roughly in the area where they were planted the previous year. But sometimes crops would come up in unexpected places or even from plants that you had never planted. Those were the mysteries, the ones that made you scratch your head and say, “Now where on earth did THAT come from?”
I didn’t understand it then, but momma was always so excited by these extra blessings. I saw them as a nuisance. It was the corn stalk that I had to work around when trying to cultivate the beans. And may the Lord have mercy on you if you uprooted one of momma’s volunteer plants cause it was “in the way.”
Flash forward 25+ years. Now I am the one with the garden out back, pickin on the halves, and teachin my kids the value of shuckin corn. And this year, I built a retaining wall to hold a new flower bed in the front of our house. I planted perennials, annuals, and some ground cover so that it could grow and develop into a great flower bed and add some color to the front of our house and our otherwise unremarkable landscape. The one thing I did not plant was a tomato.
Imagine my surprise, then, when in early June, a small plant began to emerge right next to one of my purple pansies. I was about to uproot it along with the other weeds when it occurred to me, “That looks like a tomato plant.” I honestly have no idea where it came from; apparently it was in the leavings as a bird flew overhead and left a deposit. I was about to uproot it, but then the guilt and shame and my momma’s voice rang in my head and I didn’t dare.
I thought, “Okay, we’ll see what this does. Who knows, we may get four or five tomatoes off of it. It will be a great conversation piece and I can teach my kids about volunteer crops.”
This is one plant; one volunteer tomato plant.
6 weeks later and a few applications of Monty’s as I was spraying my flowers and it now OWNS my flower bed! What I expected to be a small plant about two feet tall and spindly has far surpassed any of the cultivated and staked tomatoes out in my garden. This plant is at least 10 feet long, about 6 feet across, and 2.5 to three feet tall. It has grown from its place in the center of the flower bed to where it is over-spilling my retaining wall on three sides and hanging over my porch on the fourth. It, quite simply is massive, and full of fruit. (mostly cherry tomatoes).
This volunteer tomato plant has overgrown the boundaries of my retaining wall flower bed and is spilling over the wall an about two feet out into my yard.
I knew that Tennessee, my current home, is nicknamed the Volunteer State. I thought it had something to do with the historical nature of the residents to volunteer for battle when the country needed it. Now I am beginning to suspect it may be due to their vegetables.
This volunteer tomato plant is the most productive plant I have this season. It came up on its own and has been left largely alone, jsut to see what it would do. Who knew?
Whatever the reason, the biggest, healthiest, and most productive tomato plant I have this season is a little plant that somehow mysteriously ended up in my flower bed. It is just a little something extra for a gardener who is just trying to learn and to put into practice all of those lessons I was taught following behind my mom with a bushel basket as we picked beans on the halves.
The lesson here for the rest of you. Listen to my mom. If it “comes up volunteer, leave it alone;” nature may be waiting to surprise you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going in to add a fresh sliced tomato to my sandwich and enjoy my lunch with a little extra blessing on the side.
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Posted in Advice, General Gardening, Vegetable Gardening Tagged 2-15-15, Garden, General Gardening, landscaping, Monty's 2-15-15, Monty's Plant Food, monty's plant food company, natural gardening, natural lawn care, Organic Gardening, tomato, tomatoes, volunteer plants
By Dennis on July 14, 2011
A friend of mine from high school just reached out to me on my personal FB account and asked for some advice on controlling squash bugs because he had seen some of my posts related to my vegetable garden. I wrote him a response back, but then thought some of you may have the same questions. So, I am reposting the letter I sent to him in hopes that you may benefit.
Hey Don,
Yeah I garden. Like a fool! It is kinda part of my job and part hobby. My kids accuse me of being one of those people who when asked what time it is, teach people how to build a watch. So, forgive me if I get long-winded.
First, I am not sure what stage your squash bugs are, if they are still in the nymph stage or are full blown adults. If they are full grown adults, control with chemicals is difficult, if not impossible.
Either way it is going to be work AND tedious.
Controlling nymphs and eggs. Get a bucket of soapy water. 2-3 drops of any household dish soap in a gallon bucket is sufficient. Walk around to the plants and look under the leaves (particularly those with damage) and look for eggs/nymphs. Squash the eggs with your hands; knock the nymphs into the bucket of water, they will die quickly. This process is made a bit more difficult because the nymphs will tend to scatter quickly when threatened. At this stage, the bugs are easiest to control.
Controlling adults – Sevin (I use liquid Sevin, but usually only once a year when insects are at their peak, and it is my ‘nuclear option’ so I can control things as organically as possible.) will control some of them but it will also kill bees, lady bugs, and other beneficial. For this reason spray only when the flowers are closed (early morning, late evening) to limit impact on pollinators.
The best control methods are:
- Keep as much plant debris cleaned up, remove dead leaves from the plant and make the environment as inhospitable as possible for them.
- Lay a shingle or piece of wood next to each plant in the evening. As night falls, the squash bugs will congregate under the object as a hiding/nesting spot. Then in the morning you can go and turn the wood/shingle over and easily collect the adults and either squash them by hand (they will stink similar to stink bugs) or knock them into a bucket of soapy water.
- Keep the plants well watered and well fertilized (this time of year use a low-to moderate N fertilizer with higher levels of P & K; Monty’s 2-15-15 or Monty’s 4-15-12 are excellent and easy options). This will accomplish several things:
- Insects are opportunists. If you have ever watch an animal show on the discovery network, you know that the lion will cut the weak or the lame out from the herd because they are easier to bring catch and bring down. Same thing. Insects will attack your weakest plants first. I don’t know how they know this, but they do. (This is also a chance to learn from the bugs, they are telling you stuff about your garden. So keeping them well fed, and well watered will keep them strong and make them less vulnerable.
- High Brix levels, the measurement of the amount of sugars in a plants also seem to deter insects. Don’t know why, just know in side by side studies that I have done, those plants with higher brix have less insect damage.
- Squash plants grow very quickly and can easily grow past any damage done by a squash bug. Making sure they are healthy, well fertilized and well watered will help this.
My favorite control method is to do nothing. That’s right. I said do nothing. Here’s why. Once the plants are up and growing normally (controlling the bugs in the early stages of plant growth is imperative), there is not much the bugs can do to stop them. The bugs tend to feed on the leaves, not the fruit – especially until the end of the season when the leaves are starting to wilt naturally. By then I have enough squash put up to get me through the winter anyway, so any fruit I harvest after that is just gravy. Squash plants grow so rapidly that the impact of any one or even several bugs is going to be minimal and is easy for the plants to keep up with. Squash bugs have sucking/piercing mouth parts. Because fo this, they do not eat away your leaves like caterpillars or beetles do. These wounds will kill the leaves in the immediate area, so they will look spotty, but unless your plants are very small or your infestation is extremely large they just can’t do enough damage to prvent the flow of enough nutrients to impede plant/fruit development. Basically, the work required for complete control, for the benefits, attained just isn’t worth it to me.
So to summarize, your options are:
- Scout and control manually with a bucket of soapy water.
- Lay out a shingle or piece of wood each evening, collect and destroy the adults in the morning.
- Use sevin or other labeled control as a nuclear option, use it in the evening or early morning once the flowers have closed to limit the impact on beneficial insects and pollinators like honeybees.
- Keep them well-fed (fertilized), watered, and generally healthy.
OR
- Do nothing once your plants are matured. They won’t eat much, really
BTW…I don’t know if you do this or not…but I have found out this season that the male flowers from the squash plant are delicious! Harvest one or two this evening and enjoy a squash blossom quesadilla or dip them in a relleno batter and fry them. (You can also stuff them like a stuff bell pepper, roll them and either bake them, or dip them in batter and fry them.
Happy growing, and enjoy the NM sunshine, I know your squash are!
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Posted in Advice, General Gardening, Vegetable Gardening Tagged 2-15-15, controlling squash bugs, Garden, General Gardening, insect control, Monty's 2-15-15, Monty's 4-15-12, Monty's Plant Food, monty's plant food company, natural gardening, natural insect control, Organic Gardening, Squash bugs, summer squash
By Dennis on July 11, 2011
Ask Monty’s: “I planted an awesome hosta bed under my old oak trees in a section of my yard and then dropped in some coneflowers behind them to add some color and height. The first year everything was pretty well on their way to settling in and growing well. The second year the coneflowers did okay, but this third year the hostas were outstanding and the coneflowers appeared to have all died, except for one lonely clump trying to hang on. What happened here?
Chevy – Topeka, Kansas
Chevy: You sort of lucked out getting those coneflowers to bloom at all. The fact that your hostas are doing so well tells me the area is quite shaded –a hosta environment that they thrive in. Coneflowers are a true wildflower and grow best in full sunny, well drained soil. Your coneflowers are sun lovers and shade is not the place for them.
Ask Monty’s: “I didn’t get around to planting my turnips this spring and was wondering if it’s too late to plant them now in July?”
Deann – Wiota, Wisconsin
Deann: The one nice thing about turnips is that about the time other vegetables in your garden are winding down, turnips are turning out tasty tops and yummy meaty bulbs. While often planted in the spring, if you want a winter crop they are best sowed in July or early August. Late plantings are also less susceptible to turnip root maggot damage too. If you decided to plant both a spring and summer turnip patch next year, they do make good companions for onions and peas in the garden, so keep that in mind. But back to your question – plant those turnips now!
Ask Monty’s: “I planted broccoli from seeds this year and it seemed to take forever for anything to come up. The seeds were so small it was impossible to keep from getting them too thick in the furrows. It was a nightmare and now they’ve all grown up and I’ve started pulling them out so there is more room between them to develop. I don’t think I’ll ever plant them again?”
Stephanie – Nappanee, Indiana
Stephanie: Don’t give up on your broccoli endeavors yet! Wait until you taste that first fresh head and realize how much your effort paid off. But yes, planting by seed directly into the ground is a test of patience for those little, bitty seeds like radishes, carrots and celery as well to name a few. If a person has the room, sowing the seeds inside in early spring in trays gives you a major head start and gives the little plants a good head start after you’ve weeded out the ones that got too close together. You can also buy seed strips that have the seeds on a biodegradable material and, pre-spaced that you just lay down in the furrow, cover with dirt and wait for them to come up. They’re a little pricey, but definitely easier. Since I only plant for small family usage, I do buy the plants already started in the spring from my local greenhouse. They come in four or six packs with a good head start, so putting them directly in the soil where they need to be is a lot less stressful for me. I’m not much for seed starting either, but have to have that broccoli in my garden!
One last note on broccoli, don’t expect to see them with the large softball sized heads that you see in the grocery store. Those are grown by farmers and usually with a volume of chemicals and fertilizers that you, as a home gardener, would neither want, need, afford, or be able to attain. The heads will be smaller, but sweeter and, overall, better than their mass produced-counterparts. Plant your heads plants in the ground about two per week until you’ve planted the deisred number or have filled your row. By doing this you will extend your growing season and have fresh-from-the-garden broccoli for several weeks. If doing that requires too much patience, then you can plant them all at once, just be prepared to preserve them. Borccoli do well in the freezer if they are par-boiled for about 2 minutes, run under cool water, dried as well as possible then cut into florets and frozen in zip-top baggies.
Oh, and don’t forget, like the turnips and other veggies metnioned above…broccoli and cauliflower can start going in the ground in the last third of July in the far Northern US through late August in the Deep South (check with local county agents for exact timing) for wonderful fresh fall veg crops.
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Posted in Advice, Ask Monty's, General Gardening, Vegetable Gardening Tagged Ask Monty's, fall gardening, Garden, General Gardening, Monty's Plant Food, monty's plant food company, Organic Gardening
By Dennis on May 26, 2011
Ask Monty’s: “How do you know when to harvest asparagus and leaf lettuce, spring’s earliest producers? I never have been quite sure.”
Susan – Joplin, Missouri
Susan: You can usually begin harvesting your asparagus spears when they are 6-8 inches in length. Snap them off at ground level when picking them. Stop harvesting them about 4-6 weeks after the first initial harvest so the plants can produce foliage and food for themselves. Once the asparagus emerge you can spray with Monty’s 8-16-8 for vigorous growth, additionally toward the end of the season, use Monty’s 2-15-15 to help them store energy in the roots so that they can propagate and emerge healthy next season.
Leaf lettuce is best picked when the outer leaves have reached about 4 inches in height. Let the younger, inner leaves to grow further which will allow you to have lettuce through most of the summer if you pick it right and keep it well watered. Don’t forget to spray it at least once a week with Monty’s 8-16-8. This will stimulate vigorous growth. As an additional benefit, if you are one who chosses to use pesticides or herbicides, they can easily be mixed with Monty’s products for no-fuss, one step application.
Ask Monty’s: “In early spring, if I don’t watch my garden or flower beds closely, young grasshoppers and even crickets almost strip my young plants beyond repair. I have been using a regular insecticide on them, but is there an organic approach to repelling them? It’s a reoccurring problem for me.”
Dexter – Granite Falls, Washington
Dexter: These little devils can indeed strip crops incredibly fast. Grasshoppers alone are responsible for consuming 25% of the available foliage in the western half of the U.S. each year! There is an organic product on the market that literally infects grasshoppers with a naturally occurring disease that is much like a bad case of grasshopper flu. The disease is called Nosema locustae and it infects over 90 species of grasshoppers and crickets. The best part is that pets, people, plants and other insects are not affected by it. You can find this product in gardening catalogs and garden centers and it is sold as Semasporte Bait or NoLo Bait. It has a very short shelf life of only about eight weeks, so if you store it in the refrigerator it will keep up to five months, so buy only what you need. You can also talk to your local independent garden center, they may have some insecticidal soaps that will do the tricks. A mild solution of JOY dish soap sprayed on the foliage helps with many insects, it may help with your crickets and hoppers as well.
One last thought, evidence indicates that Monty’s foliar fertility products will elevate brix levels (the measure of sugar in a plant). Anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that elevated brix levels may help deter insects. We also know that insects tend to be opportunistic. That is, they tend to prey on plants that are weak or stressed. Think of them like a cheetah, they cull the weak out of the herd and in an odd way by doing so they are protecting the strength of the overall herd of antelope. So one way to address the insect problem is to make sure your plants are the healthiest in the neighborhood, this will tend to cause the insects to move on to more susceptible prey. They key to plant health can be summarized in three words. Fertility, Fertility, Fertility.
Ask Monty’s: “I have a love/hate relationship with my Calla Lily. Sometimes it looks fabulous and other times I just about kill it. It seems like when it starts blooming, and I fertilize it, it takes an immediate turn for the worse. I do not understand this. Am I giving it too much, although I follow the fertilizer instructions to the tee?”
Tessa -Portland, Oregon
Tessa: You should never feed a Calla Lily when it is in bloom, which is the opposite of most plants, I know. A good quality, healthy Calla Lily just simply doesn’t need it. If you just can’t resist, go with a low nitrogen, high phosphorous, high potassium fertilizer. this will decrease the nitrogen available for growth and increase those nutrients needed to support bloom and root health. We recommended Monty’s 2-15-15.
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Posted in Advice, Ask Monty's, Flower Gardening, Vegetable Gardening Tagged 2-15-15, Ask Monty's, Asparagus, Calla Lily, Crickets, Garden, General Gardening, Grasshoppers, Lettuce, monty's, Monty's 8-16-8, Monty's Plant Food, monty's plant food company, natural gardening, Organic Gardening
By Dennis on April 11, 2011
Ask Monty’s:
“Every year I plant petunias and they never seem to do more than just make it through the summer. How can you fail at growing petunias?”
Alyce
Detroit, Michigan
Alyce:
Annuals need lots of water with being outside and braving the elements. Petunias love the sun and appreciate a little shade, but watering them daily is what they need the most. They should also be routinely deadheaded to keep them lush and healthy looking. By doing it before they get leggy, they seem to respond better. Don’t forget a little fertilizer every couple of weeks or so too. Make your petunias part of your daily garden maintenance walk and you’ll get much better results.
Ask Monty’s:
“You often talk about lining clay and porous pots with plastic bags to retain moisture for outside potted plants. Do you think newspapers would work too?”
Greg, Pete and Scott
Morton, Washington
Greg, Pete and Scott:
Excellent, more natural idea gentlemen! Newspapers may dry out a little faster than plastic, but will definitely serve the same purpose. When cleaning your pots out in the fall you can dump everything into your compost pile and not have to worry about taking the plastic bags out too. And, your newspaper liners may well be on their way to decomposing by that time. Make sure you’re using the actual newspaper and not those colored enameled sheets that are often inserted into newspapers for advertising and such. They do not break down the same way newspapers do.
Ask Monty’s:
“There is a greenish, flakey growth showing up on my redbud trees. What could it be and how do I get rid of it?”
Iris
Gladston, New Jersey
Iris:
There is a type of combination of fungus and algae that physically intertwines to become an entirely new growth called lichen. It can also grow on stones or shrubs too. It’s a very primitive plant species, absorbing water and nutrients from the air. There is nothing harmful about it as they are not a parasite and do not cause disease, so don’t worry about it being part of your redbud tree.
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Posted in Advice, Ask Monty's, Flower Gardening, General Gardening, Lawns and Landscaping Tagged Ask Monty's, Clay Pots, Fungus, Garden, General Gardening, landscaping, Lichens, Monty's Plant Food, monty's plant food company, Organic Gardening, Petunias, Potted Plants, recommendations for lawns, Terra Cotts Pots
By Dennis on April 5, 2011
Earthworms. Just the sound of them can make guys happy and girls squeamish. I remember chasing the neighborhood girls through the yard with an earth worm dangling from my fingers as I threatened to throw it on them. Well, time has moved on, I no longer chase girls through the neighborhood, and I have found a greater use for earthworms (yes, even besides bait).
Earthworms serve two functions for me in my garden and flower beds.
First they are the proverbial “canary in a coal mine”. Simply by their presence they let me know that everything is okay. Even before I ship my soil off to be tested, I can be relatively certain that I have a reasonable amount of organic matter and that my pH is neither too acidic or too alkaline if i see earthworms wriggling about.
Secondly, they help me till and fertilize. The tunnels they create beneath the soil provide channels for air and water to move through the soil profile. The air is necessary for good nitrogen and CO2 exchange with the air…yes Virginia, plants can get nitrogen from the air (it is a two step process involving nitrogen fixing bacteria and nitrifying bacteria in the soil, but good aeration makes it possible).
For the most part, the tunnels are not created by simply squeezing through the soil but by them actually consuming the soil and other decaying organic matter laying in the soil. As with all living things, what they consume is partly used in their own bodies what is unused is eliminated through effluent material (casts). Earthworm Casts are high in nitrogen, phosphates, and potash. Consider this if you have just 10 earthworms in a square foot of soil you will have 800 lbs of earthworms per acre. The worms will provide you with 40 tons of castings annually which will equal 1 lb of actual N, 12 lbs of phosphorous, 28.5 lbs of potash, 36 lbs of magnesium, and 200 lbs of calcium. Earthworm castings also improve the water holding capacity of your soil, reduce erosion, and improve nutrient availability. One earthworm can digest up to 36 tons of soil per year according to the US Soil Conservation Offices.
Worms are great indicators of the overall health of your soil, especially in terms of biological activity. If you have earthworms, chances are that you also have all of the beneficial microbes and bacteria that make for healthy soil and strong plants. So how do you check for earth worms. Grab a shovel and lets go out to the garden:
Be sure the soil has warmed to at least 55 degrees, and that it is at least somewhat moist, but not soaking wet.
- Dig a hole one foot across and one foot deep. Place the soil on a tarp or piece of cardboard.
- Sift through the soil with your hands as you place it back into the hole, counting the earthworms as you go.
If you find at least ten worms, your soil is in pretty good shape. Less than that indicates that there may not be enough organic matter in your soil to support a healthy worm population, or that your soil is too acidic or alkaline.
If you do find fewer worms than what you had hoped for, how can you encourage higher populations.
1. Keep the soil evenly moist. Too much water and they will flee their burrows, too little and they will dry out and die. Evenly moist soil should feel like a wrung out sponge.
2. Add up to 3 inches of organic mulch over the surface of your garden. If you are buying it, this can get expensive. However there are affordable and free composts available, if you are willing to look.
3. Add NON-PROTEIN food scraps to your compost. things like produce trimmings, coffee grounds, and tea bags work great.
4. Be careful about the amount and the kinds of pesticides and chemicals you apply. Broad spectrum pesticides can also reduce your earthworm (and other beneficials) populations. When possible opt for natural remedies that are targeted to specific pests.
5. Use compost or manure teas for fertility. Chemical fertilizers increase the acidity and salt content of soil which repels earthworms. Monty’s offers a complete line-up of fertility products that are very low in salt and are all naturally derived products that will not effect the pH of your soil. This makes these products an ideal choice for fertilizers (without the hassle and malodorous nature of the compost teas and manure teas.)
6. Use Monty’s Liquid Carbon to create a favorable soil environment that will help create a favorable environment for all soil microbes and organic material.
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Posted in Advice, General Gardening Tagged beefits of worms to garden, earthworms, Garden, General Gardening, Liquid Carbon, monty's, Monty's 2-15-15, Monty's 4-15-12, Monty's 8-16-8, Monty's Plant Food, monty's plant food company, natural gardening, natural lawn care, Organic Gardening, worm casts, worms
