Stop Blossom-End Rot Now, It's Easier Now Than Later

Too many tomatoes and bell peppers grown in home gardens are lost each year to a condition called blossom-end rot. Blossom -end rot is a disorder found on fruit near the blossom end and first appears as a darkened, sunken, leathery scar. This condition usually causes the fruit to ripen prematurely and makes it worthless.

Blossom-end rot can be caused by several factors and the severity of this condition can be compounded when two or more of these factors interact with each other. It is known that inadequate calcium levels in the fruit can cause this condition and a low soil calcium level in combination with inadequate soil can compound the situation. Severely pruned tomato plants are more prone to develop blossom-end rot than unpruned plants.

In order to control blossom-end rot, the home gardener will need to take several steps and one needs t0 start early, even before the crop is planed if his condition is to be prevented.

Steps to control blossom-end rot:

1. Test the soil early in the spring and apply dolomitic lime if needed. This should be done several weeks before planting.

2. In gardens where this condition has been severe in past seasons, also broadcast five lbs. of dolomitic lime per 100 square feet just before planting and plow the ground six(6) to eight(8) inches deep.

3. Mulch plants with black or organic mulch.

4. Apply irrigation water to keep soil uniformly moist throughout the season.

5. Apply a calcium spray, first applied when fruits are first visible can help prevent this disorder. Mix four tablespoons of calcium chloride per gallon of water. Spray plants until solution begins to run off the leaves. Three applications are recommended at seven(7) day intervals. Calcium can be obtained at your local garden center or supply store.

Do you have a garden plan for 2010?

So if you are planning to plant a garden this year in Thomas County, then let me help you out some.

Take some time to think about what has worked well for you this past year and also maybe think about trying something new.

Its time to pull soil samples if you have not yet done so. We have soil test bags in our office, just bring in a sample to transfer to the sample bag. A basic soil test [pH, P, K, Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc, Manganese] is currently $6.00.

Visit our site to find a very helpful garden calendar here:
http://www.ugaextension.com/thomas/anr/VegetableandFruitGardening.html

As always, you can contact us for more help if you need to.

Prison Vegetable Garden Harvest

Update on the Thomas County prison garden - We have started harvesting some vegetables at the Prison Garden - Squash, Cucumbers, and Peppers. We are picking squash daily, and the trellised cucumbers keep loading up...

Got the Stink?

Stink Bugs are among us, and they can do some damage if the population gets high enough.

In corn they can damage the ears. Begin scouting corn crops looking to find stink bugs.

From David Buntin, UGA Extension Entomologist:
http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/fieldcrops/gagrains/documents/Buntin_InsectControlinFieldCorn.pdf
"Ear Formation, Tasseling/Silking, and Kernel-fill Stages "
Stink bugs can cause feeding damage to small developing ears before silking. This type of feeding injury usually deforms ears into a C or boomerang shape. These ears fail to develop properly and are more susceptible to infection by corn smut fungus. Treat during the ear elongation / vegetative tassel stage (stage VT) if 1 stink bug per 2 plants is present. During pollination to blister stages (R1 – R3), stink bugs feed through the husk and damage individual kernels. Control is warranted if populations reach 1 bug per plant. Use pyrethroid insecticides if green stink bugs are prevalent. If brown stink bugs are prevalent, use methyl parathion before pollen shed (methyl parathion cannot be used during pollen shed). During pollen shed, high rates of bifenthrin or beta-cyfluthrin will provide about 75-90% control of brown stink bugs.

2009 edition of annual UGA Spring Garden Packet

Welcome to the 34th annual Spring Garden Packet. Put out each year by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, this edition has 25 feature articles written by 14 CAES faculty members, news editors and graduate and undergraduate students to provide timely, valuable gardening information.

The Gardening information can be found here.

How to start a spring vegetable garden

Local Market Gardeners' Forum on starting a spring vegetable garden

So you want to grow your own food?
Learn from the local market gardeners… how to start a spring vegetable garden

The forum will feature a panel of local market gardeners presenting an evening of practitioner tips from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, and then answering questions until 8:30 pm.

The purpose of this forum -- and related classes, forums and tours to come -- is to provide timely and useful information for the preparation, tending and and successful harvest of single-family, multi-family, neighborhood and community vegetable gardens. These programs will be designed to assist those who want to grow their own healthy food to eat.

We are fortunate to have some experienced CSA growers and market gardeners in the greater Tallahassee area willing to share their knowledge with other folks who want to grow what they eat, and eat what they grow.

Thursday, February 12th 6:00 – 8:30 pm
Leon County Extension Center
615 Paul Russell Road Tallahassee, Florida
Cost: $2.00 person, $3.00 couple
Call Genice Harris at 850‐606‐5202 to reserve a seat!

NOTE: Please note that this is at the Leon County Extension office in Tallahassee, FL and not the Thomasville - Thomas County Extension Office.
- R.J.