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July 24 Sorry… Event Cancelled

Coming Soon


Our annual Tomato Tasting Experience will be Sunday September 7 from 12 to 2. That’s in almost 100 days. Why am I telling you now? I am telling you now because you still have time to put in tomatoes to enter our contests. You even have time to grow tomatoes from seed. 

Everyone is always in such a hurry to plant tomatoes in the spring. We start getting calls in January! A little known secret is that June tomatoes are often times more successful than March tomatoes.  In June the days are long and the soil is warm.  I try to plant a few tomatoes every month from March until September. In September I put in the “cool season” tomatoes.

Normally no matter when I plant I get my first ripe tomatoes around the 4th of July. This year I planted the cool season Stupice in April and it’s ready now. I will remember to plant more next spring.

We are growing tomatoes for the tasting at the growing grounds. We have over 40 kinds. Armando is having to guard the seedlings from squirrels. They are a big problem this year. Judi and I are growing tomatoes in our gardens to bring as well. We are focusing on heirlooms. Judi is growing the larger varieties and I am growing the smaller ones. Hopefully Steve Goto will bring a lot in as well. One year we had almost 100 kinds. My stomach didn’t feel too well afterwards but maybe that was from the chile peppers Steve brought for the chile tasting.

The tomato tasting is a lot of fun. We line up the tomatoes and you rate them for us. It’s great to see the results of everyone’s favorites and helps us to choose what to plant next year. We also encourage every one to bring in their tomatoes as well. We have prizes in different categories such as largest, smallest, most colorful, weirdest looking and most perfect looking.

Mark your calendars and plant some tomatoes. Hope to see you there!

D

Thoughts on Water

The question we get asked most in the nursery is “how often should I water this plant? The problems we most often see in the nursery are often associated with over or under watering.

For a long time I have wanted to write a handout on watering but it’s a daunting task. There are so many things to take into consideration. What are the water requirements of the plant? Is the plant in a pot or in the ground? What watering system is being used? What type of soil do you have? How old is the plant? How many hours of sun does it receive? What is the temperature and wind situation on that given day? What month is it? Sometimes when people ask me how often to water their container plants I’m afraid I sound condescending when I say, “water a dry pot but do not water a wet pot”. In fact that is exactly how we try to water all the plants we have in the nursery.

For today I am confining my thoughts to landscape plants in the ground. Fortunately the Sunset Western Garden Book and two of my favorite websites Native Sons and San Marcos Growers are full of great information.

We always tell people to water even drought tolerant plants until they are established. But what does this really mean? Sunset says, “This may be a single season for a perennial, up to 2 to 5 years for a tree.” Sunset lists the water requirements for every plant. It’s important to group plants with similar requirements together.

 Native Sons gives good advice for our area the Central Coast. These recommendations apply to the dry (no rain) months of the year.

Regular Water = weekly, or every 3-4 days if it’s very hot or windy.

Moderate Water = every 10 to 14 days depending on climatic conditions

Occasional = Every 3-4 weeks

Infrequent= DEEP water every 4-6 weeks in summer.

I would also like to stress the importance of deep water for our trees, shrubs and other permanent landscape plants. Deep watering encourages deep roots, which allow the plants to go for longer periods between watering. Shallow watering keeps roots close to the surface. They are unable to cope during hot, windy periods.

Another thing I’d  like to mention is watering systems. Drip and other water saving systems do help to save water. They may be great on established plants. On new plantings we want you to be able to flood the entire root zone. Sometimes basin watering to start a plant may be best. It is also important that any system you are using can be adjusted for the needs of different groups of plants.

 Thanks for helping me clarify my thoughts. There will be more to follow. Take care and don’t forget to water yourself,  D

Preventing Fungal Disease on Roses

Many of us in Santa Barbara have problems with fungus.  We see diseases such as  Rust, Blackspot and especially Powdery Mildew.

Powdery Mildew loves warm days and cool damp nights, pretty typical south coast weather, spring to fall.

 The best control is preventative: plant in full sun with good air circulation. Modern roses with glossy foliage seem to be more resistant.

 We recommend a preventative spraying program to prevent disease especially if you have had problems in the past. The use of a hose end or other sprayer that allows you to direct under and over the leaves is best. Do not spray in the heat of the day.

Three products we like are Organicide, Neem Oil (Rose Defense) and Paraffinic Oil (Year Round and All Seasons). These products smother fungal spores as well as as sucking insects such as aphids.

 Organicide is derived from sesame oil. Neem oil is formulated from the Azadirachtin Tree.  The “ultrafine” type Paraffinic oils form a barrier, coating the leaves so fungal spores don’t settle.

 Of course this advice is not just for roses. If you had trouble last year with other plants ornamentals or edibles, preventative spraying may be a good idea for you. 

Have a great week!

Hi 

Happy March

Hi everyone

It’s raining, it’s pouring… It’s wet and it’s cold.  It’s great to get some rain though.

 Today I wanted to remind everyone about the dangers of tramping around on and working with wet soil. We are all anxious to get back in the garden. Resist the urge. Working wet soil (especially clay soil) compacts it and ruins structure for a long time. The earth is very saturated and we need to give it a break.

I am especially frustrated because I still need to finish spraying my roses and I haven’t even started on my fruit trees yet. Which reminds me, if you dormant sprayed right before the rain you will have do it again.

 I am going to use this time as an opportunity to organize my garage and garden shed. Maybe I will sharpen and clean my tools. I also need to go through my garden products and see what I should eliminate and what I should purchase. For a reward I can redo my patio containers on the veranda. We do have a lot of beautiful color in stock. Of course sitting in front of the fire with a book is another alternative.

 It’s pretty quiet at the nursery during the rain. We use the time to clean, redo and organize.

Hope to see you all soon, D