Debby Leftovers

                                                     Great Sand Bags! No Storage/No Lines

                                            Army Worm Damage

 

                                             Bring Soil Back to Life

 

Horticulture Hotline 08/31/24

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

For the new readers of the Horticulture Hotline, my “To Do Lists” are designed to help you target a few activities in your yard and in your home that will benefit you in the future.  These lists are not designed to interfere with high school, college, or professional football games, soccer, volleyball, sunset boating, shrimping, hunting, golfing, eating chicken wings at a local sports bar, oyster roasts, collecting oysters or clams from the local waters, or watching NASCAR on the couch with closed eyes! Shopping the sales (saving money), getting a foot massage, and going to the movies should not be interfered with.  This is not designed to be a “honey do” list.

 

Debby was the guest that came and flooded the house and left. She left behind mosquitoes, flies, army worms, depleted soils, trees that need to be inspected, fungus, and water damage.

 

Mosquitoes seem to be getting a little better as the water in ditches and other places dry up, and the County has done a good job managing the population. In the northeast the elevated risk of West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) were so great, some towns were closing public parks at dusk and rescheduling public events. There have been several confirmed cases and at least one death from EEE. Scout your property for anything holding water. Cyonara RTS, Mosquito Pro RTS, Inzecto Traps (organic) and EcoVia (organic) are good products to help you manage your populations.

 

Army worms were bad before Debby and only have exploded in the aftermath. Army worm damage moves across your lawn very quickly – much faster than fungus. The grass will look brown and dry. Moths are very visible in the yard and in the shrubs or ornamental grass that borders the lawn, especially in the evening. They say each moth lays about 1000 eggs in groups of 50. These eggs become the worm that eats your grass!

Cyonara RTS, Mosquito Pro RTS, and EcoVia (organic) are good products to help you manage your populations.

 

When our landfill had to dry out after Debby, many of our trash cans became fly breeding areas. Cyonara RTS, Mosquito Pro RTS, and EcoVia (organic) are good products to help you manage your populations.

 

Nitrogen and potassium, two of the big three, nutrients (Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) leech with heavy rains. We (Possum’s) are already getting soil test back that indicate low potassium levels. Potassium is very important in a plant whether it is a grass plant, tree, or shrub. Drought stress, wear damage, cold hardiness, disease resistance, and heat tolerance are just a few things that potassium has been linked to in plants. Potassium acts as a catalyst in the plant for many reactions. Perk, SeaHume, and Cotton Burr Compost will help to replenish your soil. This is a great time to take a soil test also.

 

I was going to get some sand bags for my house and the line to get them looked a little long and I remember we sell bagged sand at Possum’s. When I got to Possum’s, I decided I would use Cotton Burr Compost bags. Another great use of Cotton Burr Compost! Now I do not have to store sand bags until the next storm (driving around I see sand bags stacked up around many houses). Cotton Burr Compost bags did a great job of protecting my house, and now I can revitalize the microorganisms and nutrients in my soil with the bags I already have at my house! By chance, one of the smartest things I have done in a while!

 

Since it is getting near planting time, Back To Natures’ Nature’s Blend has proven to do a superb job in our Lowcountry soils. The special blend of composted cotton burrs, composted cattle manure, humate and alfalfa meal has the best of gardeners coming back for more. Alfalfa contains Triacantanol, a natural growth enhancer, and is high in organic Nitrogen to get your plants growing. Nature’s Blend may also aid in the suppression and control of certain fungal diseases.

 

Here is what the late Dr. Herman Daniell had to say about his experience with the product, “The Nature’s Blend has been a superior product for my rose garden. I have had healthier bushes with more blooms since I began using this product.”

 

Many of you will also be changing out containers, hanging baskets and potted plants. If your plants are in an exposed place requiring daily watering, consider adding soil moist or other water holding gels to your soil. These gels and the use of a wetting agent like Possum’s Wetting Agent with Biostimulants can make your life much easier. If you go away for the weekend, your plants will hardly miss you.

 

Now is the time to apply preemergent products for your winter weeds.

 

Always read and follow product label.

Fall?

 

                                           College of Charleston Softball

                                                     Annual Bluegrass - most disliked

                                                     Henbit - Coming Soon

Horticulture Hotline  08/20/24

  Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

Summer is over! School traffic! Cool weather is on the way! Riverdogs! Charleston Battery! Soccer! Football! Fall fishing! Deer Hunting! Shrimping! Golfing! Volleyball! Pickleball? Time to put out your fall application of preemergent herbicide!

 

Before giving you a product name and time to put it out, I want to explain a little bit about the life cycle of the weeds you are trying to control and how preemergent products work. 

 

What you are targeting now are small seeded winter annual weeds.  These are weeds that germinate from seeds last summer, grow into plants during the winter, then flower and produce seed for the following year in early spring.  The seeds lay dormant over the summer, and then germinate late summer to begin another life cycle. 

 

Some examples of the most common winter annual weeds are annual bluegrass (Poa annua – the most disliked), chickweed, Carolina geranium, and Henbit.  The weed that we get the most complaints about is annual bluegrass.  It is the grassy weed with the white seed head in late March, early April.  If you control your winter weeds, you usually will not have to mow your grass until later. Winter weeds germinate under the canopy of your green grass and often go unnoticed. These weeds are very visible once your grass is brown and dormant. These weeds also compete with your existing turf when it tries to come out of dormancy in April. 

 

A couple of weeds that are not annual weeds that are visible at the same time are Dollar weed and Florida Betony (rattlesnake or artichoke weed).  These weeds require different control methods since they are not coming up from seed. 

 

Preemergent products do what their name implies.  These products kill the weeds seed before it can emerge from the ground.  By killing the weed before it emerges from the ground, you are making your life a lot easier.  Killing weeds after they emerge (post-emergent) is much harder on you and your grass. 

 

Be careful to read and follow product labels so that you do not over-apply products.  Since a lot of people put out preemergent products as a granular, be careful not to overlap too much or you can damage your turf. 

 

Now is the time to put out preemergent products (two weeks before the soil temperatures are ready for winter weeds to germinate).  There is an organic product, Corn Gluten that received rave reviews from the people that tried it.  Various fertilizers such as; 15-00-15, 15-00-05, 00-00-07, and 23-00-08 combined with preemergent will give your lawn and shrubs (don’t forget the shrubs!) one last feeding for the year while controlling the weeds.  Usually, you will want to come back with another preemergent in 6-10 weeks depending on the products you use and the weather conditions. If you plan to plant ryegrass, make sure you understand about the rates to use and timing.

Mosquitoes have been crazy bad! At Possum’s we can help, so you can enjoy the outside in the Lowcountry.

 

Always read, understand, and follow product labels.

 

Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply. Possum’s has three locations 481 Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511). Bring your questions to a Possum’s location, or visit us at possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to “The Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, or listen to the replay of Saturday’s show, Sundays from 11:00 to noon on 1250 WTMA (The Big Talker). The Horticulture Hotline is available 24 / 7 at possumsupply.com. 

 

 

 

 

Debby

 

                                                      The Grass Muncher - Army Worm

                                               Easy to Use - Effective and Economical

                                            Bring the soil back to life - SeaHume!

Horticulture Hotline 08/07/24

By Bill Lamson-Scribner       

 

“Oh, a storm is threat’ning

My very life today

If I don’t get some shelter

Oh yeah, I’m gonna fade away”                    

Gimme Shelter  -  The Rolling Stones

Song writers: Keith Richards / Mick Jagger

 

With the type of storm Debby was (is), I think of a few things right away that should be done in the aftermath of the major rain event. Army worms, mosquitoes, fire ants, fertilizer, fungus, and for some people, salt intrusion should all be addressed.

 

Army worms were getting bad before the storm. The storm came up through northern Florida, which is the main overwintering / breeding grounds of army worms. Rainy and cloudy weather prevent birds and wasps (natural predators) from eating the army worm. A single moth can lay up to 1000 eggs. When these eggs hatch, you have 1000 hungry worms eating your grass. If you have a hundred moths, that is 100,000 hungry caterpillar looking worms eating your grass. Look for areas of your grass that appeared to have been mowed with a dull mower blade and bite marks out of individual leaf blades.

 

Mosquitoes were also getting bad before the storm. Not only are they a nuisance, they are a Public Health concern. Just think of how many new breeding areas were created with all the rain we had.

 

Fire ants are also a Public Health issue. Be careful cleaning out ditches because there might be ants or even snakes in the ditches!

 

With over 10 inches of rain, many of the nutrients in the soil leached out of the soil profile. Now would be a great time to test your soil (Possum’s does soil testing) and get a baseline of where it is. If you think you have salt issues from flooding, request a sodium test. SeaHume G (organic) will provide many minor nutrients, bio-stimulants, and carbon to the depleted soil. Since it is so close to preemergent, I would use a 15-00-15 or a 23-00-08 with 0.19% Dimension.

 

Protect your grass from fungus by applying Strobe Pro G or T-Methyl. Fungicides work best if used before you have a fungus (like the flu shot for us). Walking around, I am already seeing fungus pop up. The grass is slowing down (light hours) and the fungus takes advantage of that, especially with the nutrients stripped from the grass.

 

Salt was the biggest issue with flooding the last few years, and it appears that for many of you, salt is going to be a main issue again. Gypsum, Salt Free, Excell, SeaHume G, ProMag and a soil test that test for Sodium provide the road map for the recovery of your landscape. You would want to take a soil test first so you know where your starting point is, then you could immediately apply products to mitigate the salt damage (keep track of what you use and at what rates so when your soil test results come back you will know what you have already applied). At Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply we can help you through this process and help you with directions on taking a soil test and using these products.    

 

Cyonara RTS and Mosquito Pro RTS will protect you from army worms, mosquitoes, and fire ants as well as many other pest (roaches, chinch bugs, …). With the potential issues out there, I really like the Mosquito Pro because it has growth regulators that help break up the life cycle of the insects. We can help you with organic options as well.

 

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

 

Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply. Possum’s has three locations 481 Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511). Bring your questions to a Possum’s location, or visit us at possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to “The Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, or listen to the replay of Saturday’s show, Sundays from 11:00 to noon on 1250 WTMA (The Big Talker). The Horticulture Hotline is available 24 / 7 at possumsupply.com.