Horticulture Hotline 02/25/19
By Bill Lamson-Scribner
This week I put out fungicide, post emergent weed killer,
and preemergent weed preventer on my mother’s yard. I only got to the post
emergent weed killer for my yard. Where I drive around the fungus has gone
crazy in lawns. If your grass has blotches of different shades of brown instead
of a uniform brown color, you could have fungus attacking your turf. All these
warm, high humidity days have been perfect for fungus. As your grass is “greening
up” or “in transition”, it is especially susceptible to disease.
Certain foods or other items just go together. Vanilla ice
cream and pecan pie (hot apple pie, hot brownies, hot chocolate chip cookies, a
bowl…) and a topping of whipped cream go well together. Wines with certain
foods or champagne with dessert are common pairings. Oysters and beer on a cool
evening. March Madness Basketball and chicken wings go great together.
Hamburgers and hotdogs on the Fourth of July are a National tradition. I’m sure
you get the idea. In landscaping and pest control there are some products that
do much better when paired with another product or two.
Right now as the lawn, shrubs, and trees are emerging into
another growing season, a combination of SeaHume, Cotton Burr Compost (or
Flower Amendment) and Black Castings will give your yard a nice organic
nutritional boost (unlike a Red Bull, Randy). These products alone will do
great things for your grass, trees, and shrubs; however, if you combine them,
look out. Some people will use them across their whole yard, others will target
weak plants, weak turf, just their front yard or their favorite tree or plant.
SeaHume G is a combination product of its own. Seaweed and
humic acid are two great products that go great together. The Seaweed is full
of minor nutrients, amino acids, gibberellins, and many other plant nutrients.
The Seaweed also feeds the microorganisms in the soil, helps the plant grow
deep roots. Deep roots help with compaction, drought tolerance, wear tolerance
and they give the plant the ability to gather more nutrients because the roots
cover more area. The humic acid in SeaHume G helps create a rich, fertile, soil
structure by modifying physical and chemical properties of the soil. Humic acid
helps root growth and makes nutrients that are tied up in the soil available to
the plant.
Cotton Burr Compost is very high in nutrition (some other
composts are good filler but add little nutritional value). Plants and turf
love it. Cotton Burr Compost provides a great ‘hotel’ for microorganisms in the
soil. One of the biggest benefits of Cotton Burr Compost is that it lasts up to
and in many cases over 2 years in the soil. Most other organic amendments are
decomposed in 30 days or so depending on the microorganisms in the soil.
Black Castings are Mother Nature’s purest form of natural
organic slow release plant food produced by earthworms. Black Castings are full
of beneficial microbial populations and the food to support good soil biology.
They enhance plant growth and stress recovery (wear, insect, disease, cold
damage). Black Castings will make fertilizer work better and in many cases, you
can reduce the amount of fertilizer applied.
Possum’s Wetting Agent is the whip cream, helping water
penetrate the ground better, so you use less water and less water runs off into
our storm water drains, lakes, rivers, creeks, ditches and other bodies of
water. Your water will stay on your property better.
The cherry on top would include SeaHume liquid and its many
attributes.
Whether you are after fleas, roaches, or bedbugs, the use of
a growth regulator with an adulticide will increase your success by breaking up
the life cycle of the pest. Another
great pairing.
Try this cocktail or sundae, I think you and your plants and
your grass will love it!! Your pest will hate it!!
Always read, understand and follow product label. The
product label is a Federal Law.
