Secret Products

Four “secret” products that have proven to be useful; however, not everyone talks about:

4. Dog Rocks – a great product from “Down Under” that neutralizes dog and cat urine, so you do not have dead areas in your grass. It is crazy, but these rocks from Australia work great! Many dogs will urinate in the same area, killing the grass, and opening the area up for weed attack (often times the more salt tolerate Bermuda grass – sometimes called joint grass – that is very hard to control).

Your neighbor who is using Dog Rocks might be in your backyard for a few “shrimp on the barbi”, and might comment about the urine spots killing your grass. Then, take a sip of his oil can Foster’s Lager, and never mention the Dog Rocks. Competition between neighbors is alive and well.

3. Nitrile disposable gloves – similar to what Doctors use. The people that buy these gloves use them all the time for everything. They are nitrile, so no latex issues and are resistant to most chemicals. Spreading fertilizer, spraying control products, painting, cleaning up after a pet, changing diapers, putting fuel in mower or car, carrying out trash, cleaning the house, changing the oil in a mower or vehicle, and carrying in the Christmas Tree are just a couple of uses for these gloves. The gloves are very inexpensive; however, not many people know about them.

The same neighbor that uses the Dog Rocks reaches out to shake your hand that is covered with paint, then pulls back his hand and says, ”doing a little painting today, Ol’Sport?”

2. This same neighbor notices a box of name brand Fipronil spot treatment for your dog’s fleas and ticks on the counter (another good time to wear the disposable gloves while applying control products to your animals). Of course, he does not mention that be buys Prefurred Plus and Prefurred One (a post patent – generic product) for one half to one third the cost.

1. Neem oil. Most people have heard of horticultural oils for insect control; however, not everyone has heard of Neem oil. They work very similar on insects, but Neem oil also controls certain fungi as well. Powdery Mildew on Crepe Myrtles, Dogwoods, and Roses can be a big issue in the Lowcountry. Lucky for us, this disease usually only lasts for a short period of time, making it a perfect candidate for this organic product.

Brown Patch / Large Patch and other Yard Happenings

Another cool, rainy, overcast, and nasty weekend in the Lowcountry, and the fungus just loves these conditions. I saw fungus Sunday afternoon in places I have never seen fungus before. Unfortunately, looking at the 10 day weather forecast, indicates that the conditions that favor fungus development are going to be with us for at least 10 more days.

Last week I wrote about large patch / brown patch fungus. If you missed the article or want to review it after this weekend’s rain, you can go to possumsupply.com and look under the Horticulture Hotline tab.

This Spring has been the worst for lawn fungus I can remember. If you decide not to treat with a fungicide, your grass will thin out and opportunistic weeds will move in to fill in the bare spots. If you want a weed free lawn, you will then have to treat the weeds, assuming a product will be labeled to treat them, and grow the grass back in. Instead of going through all that, it is probably best to use a “professional strength” systemic fungicide like Disarm or Cleary’s 3336.

Here is a list of a few other things going on in the yard:

Soil tested?  Custom Program written? Apply the products that your soil needs instead of guessing. Doing soil tests are cheaper and provide better results than random applications. Why do you think sport’s turf managers soil test?

Huge fleshy leaves on new growth of camellias and azaleas? Leaf gall? Remove infected leaves and destroy. Loves this weather too!

Fertilize daffodils and spray them with Mighty Plant for bigger bulbs next year. Leave the leaves (foliage) to collect sunlight to refurbish bulb for next year.

Adult mole crickets are mating – manage them. Lebanon Insect Control

Fire ants are starting to forage – manage them.  Lebanon Insect Control, Baits.

Grubs are near the surface – manage them.  Lebanon Insect Control, Grub X

Prune azaleas, camellias and other spring flowering plants after they bloom? Wait on Gardenias for now.

Is Powdery mildew attacking roses, crepe myrtles, dogwoods?  Neem PY (organic), Honor Guard.

Fertilized Palm Trees with 07-00-09 (the most awesome Palm Fertilizer)?

Get a “jump” on fleas this year. Lebanon Insect Control, Bug Blaster outside. Precor 2000, Inverted Carpet Spray, Alpine Flea Insecticide with IGR or Ultracide all have an adulticide as well as a growth regulator and are labeled for indoor use. Prefurred Plus or Bio Spot to apply to pet.

Large Patch / Brown Patch The Conditions are Right

The cool moist spring has been great for extending the bloom period on azaleas and dogwoods; however, turf fungus seems to be thriving in these conditions.

Large Patch or Brown Patch fungus loves these weather conditions. Temperatures in the high 50’s to low 60’s and moisture make conditions real favorable for Large Patch or Brown Patch fungus. We have had plenty of these conditions making the fungus environment perfect for the spread of this disease.

Since it is very difficult to control night time temperatures, you can put your efforts into doing other cultural things to help minimize the disease. Large Patch or Brown Patch fungus likes wet, heavy thatch, improper nutrition, and/or compacted soils.   Culturally you need to manage your irrigation system, raise any low areas, and correct drainage problems.  Reducing thatch, maintaining proper fertility levels, and aerating to alleviate compaction, will also help control Large Patch or Brown Patch fungus.

Certain organic products have shown to increase microorganisms in the soil that compete with plant pathogenic fungus in the soil. At Possum’s we get good feedback from Nature’s Blend, SeaHume, Crab Shell, Corn Gluten, Cotton Burr Compost, and some of the Roots products. These products are not fungicides; however, people that use them report back to us that they notice less fungus in the yards that they apply these products.

Since the grass is coming out of dormancy so slow, a systemic control product like Cleary’s 3336 and Disarm might be a good idea to get you through the next month or so as long as conditions are favorable for the disease.

Being a soil borne disease, you know that it will reoccur in the same areas year after year.  If the base of a leaf blade with Large Patch is moved from one part of the yard to another (lawn mower), this can begin a new infection area; however, these are not spores flying through the air.  As a soil borne fungus, if you map the areas that you have the disease, you can concentrate your control efforts (dollars) into a smaller area, putting less control products into the environment.  If your yard is 5,000 sq ft usually you might have a few infected areas which might total approx. 500 ft.  Instead of buying control products to treat 5,000 sq ft, you can concentrate your efforts into the 500 ft (i.e. 10% of your total yard).  If Large Patch was an air borne fungus with spores, you would have had to treat the entire yard because air borne fungus spreads a lot quicker than soil borne fungus.

Great Products For Topdressing Your Landscape

As the night time temperatures warm up and the grass starts to actively grow, aerating should be considered for the health of your whole landscape. While you have the holes open in your yard, there are many products that you can add to that root zone area that will benefit your turf, trees, and shrubs.

Aerating reduces compaction, reduces thatch, increases oxygen movement to the roots, brings beneficial microorganisms to the surface, cuts runners, and allows better penetration of water, fertilizers, or control products into the soil.

Right after aerating, while the holes are open, is a good time to add SeaHume G, BGK 7500, products containing mycorrhiza, Crab Shell, Mule Mix and/or Cotton Burr Compost.  Even if you are not aerating, these products are great to add to your lawn and beds.

·        SeaHume G is a bio-stimulant humic acid product that will help your roots grow, soften up the soil, feed beneficial micro-organisms in the soil, make nutrients that are in the soil more available to the plants, and keep fertilizer from leaching.

·        SeaHume G also contains 10% cold water seaweed. The seaweed also acts as a bio-stimulant and is a source of over 60 minor elements, amino acids, and natural chelating agents.

·        BGK 7500 is a granular organic product that has thatch eating bacteria mix in with a 03-03-03 fertilizer. BGK 7500 is also fortified with 6% humic acid.

·        04-04-04 Bolster and other products that contain mycorrhiza. By applying these products while the roots are exposed, the mycorrhiza can attach to the roots quickly. These friendly fungi will help the plant absorb water and nutrients from the soil while competing with bad fungus in the soil.

·        Crab Shell by Neptune’s Harvest will increase the chitin eating bacteria in the soil. These bacteria will help control nematodes and fungus. I would definitely use this product in areas that I have problems with large / brown patch.

·        Mule Mix can last about 20 years in the soil and help manage moisture.  This is a clay product that has been super-heated until it pops!  This makes this product sterile as well as turns it into a little capillary.  This capillary holds water and then releases it as the plant needs it.  This product is used on baseball infields to manage the moisture levels in clay; otherwise the clay would be rock hard or moist and slimy. Mule Mix will also keep fertilizer and water from leaching in sandy soils. Mule Mix is great for wet or dry areas.

·        Cotton Burr Compost will add water holding capabilities to the soil by adding organic matter to the soil.  Cotton Burr Compost will soften up clay as well as giving sandy soil nutrient holding capacity.  Cotton Burr Compost is very high in nutrition and will also help increase populations of beneficial organisms in the soil.

All the above products will help conserve moisture as well.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Fleas

What an interesting winter we had in the Lowcountry! The temperatures never got super cold. I never drained my well (every year for the past 17 years, I have drained my well). The night time temperatures seem to stay in the high thirties and the day time temperatures stayed around the high fifties. In the past, we would get more peaks and valleys (some temperatures freezing in the low to mid-twenties and in March maybe a few days in the eighties).

Fleas love moisture! With the winter we had and the rain that came with it, I’m thinking fleas are going to be extra bad this year. I do not have to have a crystal ball or be a genius to figure this out. I have three stores, and I can look at how many flea control products that we have sold all winter. Knowing that the weather also favors flea population growth, I can go out on a limb (a Horticulture pun) and predict that fleas are going to be bad this year.

Prefurred One or Prefurred Plus are post patented Fipronil products that you apply directly to your dog or cat every 30 days. Being a “generic”, the price has dropped significantly (customers tell us 30 to 50 percent off). Petcor, Biospot or a flea collar will also protect your animal.

Be proactive and treat the house with a product that contains a growth regulator. Precor 2000, Ultracide, I G regulator, IC3 (National Organics Program compliant but no growth regulator) and Alpine Flea Insecticide are a few good products for use in the house. If you apply these products before you have an issue, your success will be much greater and will save you from all the vacuuming, washing of beds and the sleepless nights with a scratching pet.

Treat your yard and bed areas with IC3 (National Organics Program compliant), Essentria G (National Organics Program compliant), Bug Blasters, or Sevin.

By treating the family pet, the home and the yard proactively, you should have good success against the flea. If this sounds like too much work or something you would rather have a professional tackle, there are many good Pest Management Professionals in the area.

If you are thinking about aerating this spring, while you have the holes open in your lawn, some good additives are: SeaHume G, 04-04-04 Bolster, Mule Mix, BGK 7500, Crab Shell and / or Cotton Burr Compost. Get the full benefit from the aeration!

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.