May Tips & Events for Santa Clara County |
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“Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.”
~Sigmund Freud
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Quiz: What Are These Bumps on My Tree? |
On this plum tree, you can see clusters of odd-looking bumps at the tip of the branch. You are likely to find more than one cluster on your tree, showing up where the buds form. What are these and do you need to worry about them?
Photo credit: Ying Chen
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Growing Great Peppers and Tomatoes |
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Here are some top tips for getting great results with your peppers and tomatoes.
- Plant them in full sun, which means at least 8 hours. It takes a lot of energy to produce large fruits like peppers and tomatoes. How do plants get that energy? Via photosynthesis using sunshine. So give them your sunniest spot.
- Wait until the soil and air temperatures are warm before planting. May 1 is a good rule of thumb. Cold conditions can damage plants or make them prone to diseases.
- Provide supports. Indeterminate tomatoes can reach 6+ feet and some peppers can get heavy enough to break a branch.
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In late spring and early summer, when the weather is sufficiently warm and moist, you may start seeing some black or brown leaves, fruits, or branches on your tree, accompanied by a light tan ooze. This might be fire blight. It is a bacterial disease that apples and pears are most susceptible to. It is spread by insects, rain, or pruning. The bacteria enter through the blossoms and travel down the tree. If left unchecked, fire blight can enter the trunk and kill the entire tree. Prune infected branches back to healthy wood, at least eight inches below visible damage. If the inside of the branch is discolored, you need to cut back still further. Clean pruning tools between cuts so as not to spread the infection. Planting varieties that are less prone to fire blight is helpful. Always promptly clean up fallen fruit and leaves.
Photo: Tree shoots killed by fire blight, by Jack Kelly Clark, UC
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Have you seen lines of ants scurrying along tree trunks, plants, edging, or even in your house? They’re probably Argentine ants, the most common species in California. These pests are attracted to the sweet honeydew excrement that is produced by aphids, mealybugs, and soft scale insects. They love this honeydew so much that they actually protect scales and aphids, increasing their population. What to do? Reduce their food source by managing honeydew-producing insects. Band tree trunks with sticky substances like Tanglefoot. Buy ant bait that comes pre-packaged as ant stakes or in small containers. Ants bring the bait back to their nests and feed it to others who die. Good luck!
Photo: Argentine ants on avocado tree, by Ying Chen
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Will Vinegar Kill My Weeds? |
Vinegar can work as a weed killer, but its effectiveness is limited. Household white vinegar (5% acetic acid) is too weak to kill anything other than tiny seedlings. Stronger horticultural vinegars with 20% acetic acid provide better weed control but typically only for annual, not perennial, weeds. And the higher concentration can be dangerous—including skin burns and eye injury—if not handled carefully. For comprehensive guidance on weed management in landscapes, refer to the University of California’s Weed Management in Landscapes recommendations.
Photo: Little mallow weed, by Jack Kelly Clark, UC
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Photo: Arborist wood chip mulch, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources |
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Free Wood Chips from Arborists Make Good Mulch |
You probably already know the benefits of mulch—it suppresses weeds, regulates soil temperature, and if organic, decomposes over time to enrich soil. Did you also know you can find free wood chip mulch from local arborists by searching online? (Try searching for “free wood chips near me.”) These wood chips are among the best mulch choices for trees and shrubs. Unlike the uniform texture of some other mulches, arborist wood chips include bark, wood, and leaves that resist compaction and host a variety of microbes. There are other good mulch choices, depending on where you use it. And spring is the ideal time to renew your mulch as it has probably decomposed with winter rains. Add new mulch to reach a depth of 3–4 inches.
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Quiz Answer: Plum Bud Galls |
These are galls formed by a microscopic pest called plum bud gall mite. You won’t be able to see them without magnification, but their feeding causes the galls to form on the tree. These galls are made up of different chambers and these chambers can be filled with a large population of mites. The mites are primarily dispersed by wind but can be spread by insects, birds, and infected budwood. Heavy infestation can weaken trees, reduce yields, and in some cases, cause the death of the tree. If you suspect that your tree is affected by these mites, you should avoid moving budwood off your property to keep from spreading the pest. Because they are a new pest, options for managing them are still being developed. However, targeted pesticide application can be very effective when applied in the spring season during bud break when mites emerge from infected galls. |
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Photo: Eriophyid mite appearance under magnification, by Eric Erbe, digital colorization by Chris Pooley (USDA, ARS, EMU). |
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No plant clinic in May.
Growing Culinary Herbs, Saturday, May 11, 10 am–noon, McClellan Ranch Preserve, Community Garden, 22221 McClellan Road, Cupertino
Tomato Talk, Saturday, May 11, 11 am–noon, Santa Clara Central Park Library, 2635 Homestead Road, Santa Clara
Growing Peppers !, Saturday, May 25, 10:30 am–noon, Garden to Table Silicon Valley, 200 W. Taylor Street, San Jose
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Check our calendar for the latest schedule of events. Videos of many past presentations are also available.
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University of California Master Gardener volunteers promote sustainable gardening practices and provide research-based horticultural information to home gardeners. Visit our website for more information including:
Have a gardening question? Ask us. We’re here to help!
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