Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Garden Minute - Winter Injury



2/28/2017

This is Jason Lamb with your Gardening Minute.

Winter injury is a common problem here in New Mexico that most often effects pine trees. During the first week of January we had relatively high temperatures during the day at about 60 degree and then received below zero temperatures at night. This large temperature swing has affected our pine trees in here in Quay County. 

Winter Injury is cause by the weather. Warm days followed by extremely cold nights freeze deep into the ground locking up available nutrients and moisture. Most trees will recover but not until spring. 

Trees that show signs of winter injury have pliable branches on the new growth and the needles are brown and dying but the base of the needles are still green in color. 

There is not much that home owners can do about Winter Injury. Water the tree around the dripline of the tree during these winter months about once a week. Don’t fertilize as it will do more damage to the tree at this time.  Don’t prune off dead branches yet or cut down the tree because some of the trees will make it to the spring. 

From more information about Winter Injury please contact us at the Cooperative Extension Office at 461-0562.  This has been your Gardening Minute with Jason Lamb your Quay County Ag. Extension Agent. Where are programs are open to everyone.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Garden Minute - Pruning Roses



Feb. 15th, 2017

This is Jason Lamb with your Gardening Minute.
Roses are one of the most popular garden plants and it’s time to think about pruning your roses.

Pruning improves the quality of the blooms, regulates the size and shape of the plant, and removes diseased and damaged parts. There is always a question about how much to cut back a rose bush. The time and amount to prune depends on the type of rose, variety, location, and vigor. Hybrid tea roses should be pruned in late winter or about two weeks before the last freeze.

Pruning roses higher will produce more flowers early, while shorter pruning produces fewer but bigger flowers later. The basic technique for most pruning is to cut at a 45-degree angle, 1/4-inch above the nearest outward-facing bud with the higher point above the bud. First remove any dead, broken, damaged, or blotched canes. Roses prefer full sun, so pruning should be done in a bowl shape to maximize the sunlight on the plant.

Floribundas and Climbing roses should be pruned less, only topping the plants to promote vigorous growth.

From more information about pruning roses please contact us at the Cooperative Extension Office at 461-0562.  This has been your Gardening Minute with Jason Lamb your Quay County Ag. Extension Agent. Where are programs are open to everyone.

Friday, February 3, 2017

Garden Minute - Pecan Weevil



Feb. 3rd, 2017

This is Jason Lamb with your Gardening Minute.

Recently the New Mexico Department of Agriculture has quarantined four towns, Clovis, Hobbs, Roswell, and Artesia in Eastern New Mexico for 60 days because of the Pecan Weevil found in several residential trees. Currently we have not identified any pecan weevils here is Quay County.

The Pecan Weevil adults emerge in late summer and can feed on immature nuts and then lay their eggs. Once the larva hatch they can do the most damage. Larva are a creamy white, legless grub with reddish-brown heads that drills into a pecan shell making a bb sized hole and will consume the nutmeat.

The pecan weevil could be devastating to the New Mexico pecan industry which is the third largest in the US and produces 40 million in revenue to our state’s economy annually.

If you have a pecan tree here in Quay County and find pecans with bb sized holes in them please bring them to the Extension office for positive identification. There are several ways in which we can still harvest and sell your pecans and keep this pest from getting established here in Quay County.    
  
From more information about the Pecan Weevil please contact us at the Cooperative Extension Office at 461-0562.  We will be hosting a “Beef Producers Workshop” on February 22 at the Tucumcari Convention Center. This has been your Gardening Minute with Jason Lamb your Quay County Ag. Extension Agent. Where are programs are open to everyone.