Ktr H Garden Line does not necessarily endorse any of the products or services advertised
on this program. Welcome to ktr H Garden Line with Skip Rictor's smell the
Crazy. Just watch him as Wood tell us so many tass. We comes
back kicking a sign. Well, good morning, Welcome to garden Line.
We are here to talk all things green and red and blue and purple and
yellow and every other color other flowers that we have around us. Garden Line
is been around for a long time. You know that you go back in
the nineteen fifties and this show was on the air. The folks familiar names
to me in the gardening world, like Dewey, Dewey competent excuse me.
You know, when I think back through the history of garden Line, there
are a lot of names that are on the plate. I think I'm maybe
the fifth or sixth host of garden Line. But the elephant in the room,
the one that just stands out in my opinion above all the others,
has been Randy. You know he was here at Randy Lemon was a host
of garden Line from twenty six twenty seven years, somewhere right in there and
really made this show what it is in many many ways, and we're really
grateful for that. I know a lot of you as listeners, Miss Randy,
lots of good relationships there. I'm as Randy going back even to her
day's when we met in college, and I also like to take a moment
every now and then remind us from where we came and that that is something
I'm certainly really grateful for and the contribution that that made to Houston horticulture.
Houston is the Greater Houston area is a amazing place when it comes to growing
plants. We certainly have challenges in the way of soil and weather and whatnot,
but there's also a lot of opportunities. You know, a lot of
folks couldn't even consider growing citrus or maybe azaleas in many parts of the most
parts of the state, but you can grow things like that here if you
prepare the soil right, take care of things, and it's just really an
opportunity. I always brag on her mom pop garden centers, but it's just
true. I mean, there's just so many really cool places with really cool
plants, and it makes it a pleasure, a lot of fun. Perhaps
this afternoon be a good time to get out and do some visiting at some
of our great garden centers that we have, are picking up supplies for gardening.
You know, fall season is just out upon us, and as fall
season hits, we're going to be in full swing with finishing our warm season
plantings, with turning into the cool season plantings, getting those planted and in
the ground. But now fall season had already started before now, but we're
in the middle of it right now in terms of this is the time to
get a lot of things planted if you want to enjoy them in September,
October, November, some cases December, and the cool season plantings will start
soon, not right away, but we're still in the big warm season.
But if you wanted something like broccoli plants, you want to grow them yourself,
now it's the time to plant those seed to be ready for that,
and it's always a good time to prepare the soil. So I would contend
that the success of your fall garden, whether it's vegetables, herbs, flowers,
whatever, is based on getting started now and doing things right to be
ready so that you can have success. You know, there are a lot
of ways in life where you just sort of get instant success. You know,
I mean instant tea if you will, which no southern or worth their
weight and salt whatever drink. But with gardening, it's not that way.
Nature is not that way. Nature develops, nature evolves and unfalls, and
it just is. It's a wonderful thing. Speaking of nature, you know
that the top organic fertilizer in terms of sales here in the Greater Houston area
is Microlife Fertilizer. They have the traditional six two four in the green bag
that has always been just a leader in terms of organics in the industry.
The six two four. If you haven't fertilized your lawn in the last couple
of months, you really ought to go ahead and just do that, and
sixty four is a good way to do that. It provides a somewhat gradual
release being an organic product. But that didn't mean you have to wait to
get some green You're gonna get some pretty quick greene from it. But that
would you know, that kind of material, when it goes into the soil,
you not only get the nutrients out of it, the big three six
two four, you get all the micronutrients as well, because it's organic matter,
organic matters filled with all the nutrients that are taken up by plants that
are needed because it's plant products that help us create those those kinds of fertilizer
products. They also have the purple bag that's the Humates Plus and that just
think of it as composted composted concentrated compost in a bag. When you do
the Humates plus, what you're basically doing is enriching the soil each time you
do it. You're enriching the microbial content each time you do it, and
it also has nutrients as well to help enhance. So you ought to go
online to Microlife Fertilizer dot com and see where you can find these products and
learn a little bit more about them. Right now, we're going to go
out to Montgomery and talk to Albert. Good morning, Albert, and today
I am going to plant some trees after this heat's over wood maybe me first
October. And I'm looking at I think it's a Schuemar oak tree and versus
a nut All oak tree. And I'd like to know the kind of the
pluses and minuses in which one you'd recommend over the other one. Okay,
is your area well drained or does it tend to hold a little water after
a rain? It's it's well drained. And do you know is your would
you call yourself clay sand or loamy or how would you describe it? Clay?
Okay, well, you could go either way. Schumart does best on
deep loamy types of soils. It will grow in a clay if but the
nut all oak does all that as well. But in addition it can put
up with wet feet for periods of time. So having a clay sometimes the
soil can you know, sometimes rains too much, and not all is adapted
to that better than Schumard. But I think based on what you described,
you probably could go either way. Okay, I generally point people to nuttall,
but you know, if you if your soil is decent, the Schumart
will be okay too. Okay, would that be a good time? After
all these seats over with October? The plan them the absolute best time to
plant any woody ornamental of the whole twelve months is in the fall, and
so October would be fine, November would be fine. I mean, you
could do it now, but it's just a little more touch and go because
the demands are so high now in the fall, there's not many demands.
So if he gets a little short on water, well, first of all,
it's not going to get short on water because it you know, the
temperatures down and the water use is down and so on. It's just an
easier time. But it's up to you. You know. Sometimes other issues,
Hey we got to get this plant in because we've got to do such
and such, they may outweigh just what's a perfect time? All right,
all right, well, thank you, Shary. You have a good day,
Albert. Thank you for the call. I appreciate that we're going to
take a break. Our phone number is seven one three two one two fifty
eight seventy four. Well, good morning, it is still dark. I'd
side by the way, look at your neighbor's house. If the lights aren't
on, go bang on the door and tell them they're missing garden line.
They will rise up and call you blessed. Not this morning, but eventually
when they realize what a favorite did for them. You know, it's all
about the soil. It's all about the soil. That is a broken record.
I'm willing to be because it's all about the soil. When I think
of soils. Nature's Way Resources has been and soils for a very long time
here. I mean they know what they're doing John Ferguson and Sunny and they
operate the place and it's just it's it's almost like a compost historical site.
John's been making originator if things like rose soil originator if things like leafmo compost
and so on. And they take their time to make things and make them
right, and that is really really important. Time is important when it comes
to soil type products. And a lot of times you go into the story
you buy some off brand thing that you open it up and it's full of
wood chips. It's that it's called soil, but it's full of wood chips
are called compost. It's full of woodchip. That's not going to happen with
Nature's Way. You know, they have their their Fungal Fridays, which is
ten percent off all their bag products and twenty percent off all bulk products that
they can deliver to of course, and they have a lot of fungal compost
on hand and that is really good rich stuff. Now they carry a wide
variety of other things. But if you're interested in getting ready for fall,
it's time to get those beds made. It's time to improve the soil,
whether it's a vegetable garden, a flower bed, a future garden site.
Maybe you're wanting to top dress your lawn at some point, leaf more compost.
They've got that on hand too. They also have one of the best
selections in eighty plants. You're in the Houston area. Now Nature's ways up
there. If you go up Interstate forty five, like you're going to Conro,
but about where fourteen eighty eight comes in, you exit across the railroad
tracks and you are there. They're open Monday through Friday, eight to five,
Saturdays eight to two, closed on Sunday. So make your plans this
coming week. Go ahead and get their materials and get ready for fall,
because it's all about the soil. Let's head out to spring and we're gonna
talk to Rich. Hello, Rich, good morning. Skip two things.
Wondering if you had a chance to look at those videos on the diesel exhaust
fluid as a source for spoon feeding nitrogen. I have not. I have
not. Okay, fair enough, I've been on the road for two weeks
now and I'm it's on my list and I'm honestly intrigued by it. But
I just well, I went to I went to Walmart. I bought a
container, and I'm going to do a little test patch in my backyard and
hopefully i'll have some data for you. I'll share. Well, I would
like that, right, will I'll share. The next thing is I have
a neighbor. His lawn is very thin because the previous owner did not thin
out trees, et cetera. We're trying to get his lawn in shape.
I'm wondering, in addition to normal fertilizer water, would I hear things like
a plank growth regulator helps to spread of stolens and that to move very quickly.
Do you have any information on that. I don't know a PGR that
it would speed up the growth of your grass. I know there's a lot
of plat growth regulators that cause things to be a little stocky or more compact.
You know, people in the nursery industry, they don't need a big,
lanky plant they're trying to sell. They want something that's compact and full
of blooms and whatnot, and they use PGRs for that. As far as
on turf, I would say and I've talked to a lot of turf specialists
over the years. I've never heard them promote anything like that for a turf
success. Okay, very good, thank you, skid. All right,
thank you for the call. I appreciate that, rich very much. You're
listening to Garden Line our number seven one three, two, one two,
five eight seven four. I talk about me cannon plants a lot. I
realize that, but I'm telling you it is just it is just a great
place to visit. I love going there, shopping beneath the big trees,
especially nice and the heat of summer. Right they have a selection of indoor
plants. It's just incredible. If you were interested in succulents, and that's
a hot item right now. People are into succulents. I mean, when
it's one hundred degrees and it won't rain, that makes your mind go towards
succulents. But people just love them little succulent gardens. I got some of
my my kids are really into succulents, and they're cool. Plants, are
easy care, and they're beautiful too. Well. They've got that. They
have a lot of native plants as well. I was thinking about one the
other day. Barbados cherry and Barbados cherry is a little native South Texas plant
may even reach into the Harris County being part of its actual native area.
It has a little crape myrtle like or crape paper like pink blossoms and it
goes all spring through fall or produces low berries that the birds just really like.
Let's think of a little cherry like fruit and other wildlife etem as well.
Barbados chair is one of those native plants that just looks good in the
landscape. And of course they're going to be a mechanic's plants. They have
those. While you're there, make sure it's sign up for their newsletter.
By the way, they are at East eleventh Street and the Heights for those
of you who haven't been there before, or just go online to Buchanan's Plants
dot com and you can find out all about them and learn you know why
I think it's such a great place and when you visit you'll really know that
for sure. We're gonna head out now to Cyprus and we're gonna talk to
Mike. Good morning, Mike, good morning. How can we help?
Yes, I just bought a desert willow tree. And you know, I
with this heat, I just wasn't want I wanted to know when is it?
Why is it to plant it now? Or should I be waiting to
plant this? Well, I would plant it now since you bought that,
because to try to keep it adequately watered through this kind of heat. You
know, you you go away for a day or forget to water one day
or something, it's just a little more diligence required to do that. Then
to just go ahead and get it in the ground, make sure it's watered
in well, and then you know, every day or two give it a
little bit of water. It is a drought tolerant plant, but it's got
to get some roots in the ground to become what its genetic potential is,
and that's drought tolerant right now, all the roots if you planted it today
or anytime, or in that cylinder you took out of the pot, and
so there's a period of time there where it's establishing. And don't let the
drought tolerance of any any plant fool you. You've got to help those babies
along until they get established. Then there's tough. They're tough as nails.
I appreciate it. Thank you all right, Thanks Mike, appreciate that call.
Our phone number is seven one three two one two fifty eight seventy four,
seven one three two and two fifty eight seventy four. You know,
we love our feed stores here on Garden Line. And if you live up
and let's say the Magnolia direction, Magnolia area, Spring Creek Feed is your
hometown feed store. They're on twenty nine seventy eight up in Magnolia FM twenty
nine seventy eight, so there's minutes away from if you're near Grand Parkway or
Highway two forty nine, they're not too far away from you. In fact,
they are your hometown feed store. They carry the fertilizers I talk about.
They carry all the gardening supplies you would need to deal with pests or
diseases or fungal infections and things like that. Always friendly, courtious staff that.
I just love that about a business, and I love that about Spring
Creek Feed. I also think it's really cool when you drive up just check
it out. Sometimes you see what I'm talking about, really cool, big
barn looking operation. You go inside and it's a whole new world, I
mean everything you can imagine that you would need, and a lot more is
there. Do you need hay or shavings or betting They will deliver to by
the way. But spring Creek Feed on FM twenty nine seventy eight. If
you are a gardener, you're going to find what you need there. If
you've got pets or livestock, you definitely go find what you need at that
Spring Creek Feed center. Well, you are listening to garden Line and we
are here for another day of discussing all things gardening. I realize right now
you've got a cup of coffee in your hand probably and one eye open,
so we won't hit you with any yodeling music this morning, but but we
hope you're having a good time. It kind of help you ease into the
day. It's gonna be a good day for gardening. It always is a
good day for gardening. Lots of things to do this afternoon. You want
to make sure and check on your lawn. If you know we're about to
go into the fall. We'll be putting fall fertilizers down here in another two
months or so. And you know nitrofoss is nineteen four ten, that's the
silver bag that is like I would almost say it's like their prime product because
they have a bazillion options of products. I mean everything that you have that
you grow. There's a fertilizer from nitrophost for that. But Nitrofos Superturf is
a nineteen four ten mix and that nineteen four ten provides a gradual release.
So you know, we always say don't overdo the nitrogen, and this has
almost twenty percent nitrogen. Well you apply it at a different rate and it
gradually releases, so you aren't overdoing the nitrogen. And by putting on a
quality product that's got the chemistry is designed to gradually feed that lawn over time,
you avoid problems like promoting chinche books, promoting large patch or brown patch
and having to mow all the time. Look for the silver bag wherever you
shop. I don't care if it says hardwarees, if it's feed stores,
garden centers. Nitroposts is easy to find here in the greater Houston area and
it really really works well. We are about to head into a low break
here. The Nikki News network is getting prepared for. Yes, what more
news. Well, we're going to talk a little bit about Russia's space Graham,
are they growing plants and special otherwise I'm not in No, it's a
moon shot, Oh, moonshot shot. Okay, good, good, well,
here we go. Hey, thanks for listening and give us a call.
Seven one three two one two five eight seven four. Joshua gets you
on the boards. Good morning on a soon to be beautiful day for guardening.
I don't know, maybe some of you are running around out there with
headlights on to get a little bit of gardening done. While it's I don't
know, do we say cool at least cooler? Right? Cooler? It's
a good idea. I've never tried it myself, but I'm sure the neighbors
have something to talk about now, as if they did, are ready.
When it comes to a beautiful landscape, you are not going to find a
more qualified, more experience, more professionally trained group than Peerscapes. Peerscapes knows
how to put together that little plot of eden that you want. No,
No knows how to make the front of your lawn look awesome. You know,
dry by look up, look at the lawn, beautiful, gorgeous,
always always in beautiful condition. The backyard where we gather with friends and things,
they can do that. They can do hardscape, They can fix your
irrigation, they can provide walkways and rock borders. Maybe a new garden you
want to put in. Do you need a particular kind of landscape lighting?
You know, get some beautiful lights out there so those evening hours when we
tend to gather, especially during warm weather like this, or just even more
enhanced. Skip m a call. It's two eight one three seven zero five
zero six zero two eight one three seven zero fifty six or Pierce escapes dot
com. Give them a call, talk to Jason and talk to Bob or
Candice there about the ways that you want to enhance your landscape. Maybe even
go in and bring some pictures of your landscape from different areas and say,
hey, what do you think here? What would you do here? This
is something I'm thinking about. What do you think about that? Let's design
it. They know what they're doing, they'll get it right. And fall
is coming, so it's not time to delay for sure, because you want
to get everything prepared, designed and ready. First you got to design it,
and then you got to get the materials in, get the soils ready,
to get the plants in. That's all a process. So don't take
don't take any more time. If you are interested in taking your landscape up
to another level. We're gonna go out to Paarland now and talk to Archie.
Hello, Archie, morning, Chip. I'll talk to you yesterday about
the angelonia. I sent you two pictures. I don't know if you got
those are not I did? I did, Okay? And what you've got
on your angelonia or some little pierced sucking insects that are they hide underneath the
leaves and they put their mouth in and they suck on the leaves and take
out the chlorophyll and you end up with all these little specs all over the
leaves. Now, different things can do that. There's there's some little tiny
plant bugs that will do it. And that's what I think it is.
Uh, spider mites can cause somewhat a similar effect. I don't see signs
of spider mites though on your on your sample under big live boat, too
big libul Okay, Well, so your options, you know, I hate
to go out and just nuke everything. You certainly could spray. It's gonna
take more than one because these little buggers, I mean, you're not ever
almost going to see them because when you turn a leaf over, they're already
gone, just the movement, and so they drop to the ground or do
something else. So spray is a little bit of a challenge, but it
could be done. I might consider doing a good shearing of the plants.
Uh. And and then if you're going to spray, then spray after that.
Give them some fertilizer, give them some water, and get new growth
coming on. And that new growth will cover up all the old And every
new terminal on an angelonia is capable of blooming. So when you shear,
you get more blooms in the long run. Okay, because I put out
about a three pound jar of color Star just about a month ago. Yeah,
and nothing happening. Well, I mean you can see vigor on them.
I see new shoots trying to grow. But you know the nutrients that
are there in the soil. It's just the plant needs to have all these
Brazilian little bugs sucking all the life out of it. Needs to get rid
of those and you will see a good response. Color Store will give a
great push and will Malithon do uh, probably for these It probably will do.
Any kind of a product labeled, you know, for use in a
flower garden like that or there. There's just a number of different specific ingredients,
but a good insect control role product. It's probably gonna gonna work on
them. One other thing just to kind of be watching for, is this
new growth comes on. Just check it periodically and see if this is still
developing, because sometimes insects will run their course. Uh. Different things we
do can often help that process along. And you don't want to be spraying
when the culprit's already gone, right right, But I think they've been there
all summer. Oh well, I bet they have. It looks like it
based on those plants condition. The other thing you mentioned the chemical to spray
on the grass for the possible you know, take All patch. I only
found that it's Southwest Fertilizer. Ace didn't have it. And then uh,
and I saw I'm going to get some of that Monday from me. Okay,
Uh yeah, that will do it. I would probably, I believe
I'm a new schedule. We're aiming that for late September, early October,
mid October somewhere in there. As it cools off a little, that's when
take All does some reinfection. So in the especially and somewhat in the spring.
I've got a bag. If h makes plus two, should I put
that out? Oh? Yeah, it's always a good time to put that
out. You know that it's not going to cause a flush of growth.
You know, it doesn't have this boost of nitrogen to do that. It's
gonna You're gonna get the concentrated composts down in the soil and it's gonna do
good. Yeah, okay, Oh, thank you, thank you very much,
Archie. I appreciate that. Call our phone number seven one three two
one two five eight seven four seven one three two one two fifty eight seventy
four. If you are out in the Richmond area, actually, if you're
anywhere around the listening area, you need to know about enchanted gardens in Richmond.
If you're done in Richmond, it's north toward Katie. It's up that
direction. It's on FM three fifty nine, FM three fifty nine north of
Richmond toward Katie again. And in Chenny gardens is again one of those places
you go and allow some time because you are going to want to wander.
They everything you can imagine, you know, do you want succulents, do
you want color plants? Do you want vegetables, Do you want fruit?
Trees? Roses, vines? Oh, beautiful, beautiful selection of perennials.
And then there's all the blank you know, the containers, the fairy gardens,
the beautiful stuff inside their gift shops, which anytime you need a gift
to check out that gift shop you are gonna, I don't care if you
have a non gardening friend. There is some cool stuff in that gift shop
that would just be an excellent choice. Something outside the ordinary, if you
know what I'm talking about. And Channey Gardens is just the kind of place
that we like to go to. You know, the letterments have been going
there since nineteen ninety five, and you're just not going to find in anywhere
around the kind of unique product, the unique plant materials, and just the
fund environment. It's just a blast. It's one of those that I think
another reason I think Houston Chamber of Commerce ought to have a gardening tour because
we could keep people busy for three days with our wonderful places and enchanted gardens
would definitely be on that list of you gotta go see. If they have
people drive from way outside the area just to come, that's how special.
It is enchanted Gardens Richmond dot com is what we're talking about. Enchanted Gardens
Richmond. Go check them out. While you're there, you can pick up
all the products we recommend here on garden Line. They are open Saturdays,
Monday through Saturday eight to five thirty and on Sunday from ten am to four
pm. Hey, there's something for you to do this afternoon. It's time
for an outing. Well, we're going to take a break. Our phone
number is seven one three two one two five eight seven four. Hey,
you're listening to garden Line. I'm your host, Skip Richter, and we
are here to answer your gardening questions. Seven one three two one two five
eight seven four seven one three two and two fifty eight seventy four. You
know the sun's blazing down on our rooftops. I mean days and days and
days of blasting sunlight. Why not turn that sunlight into a little cash in
your pocket. That's what a solar panel does, right, Well, I
got a better idea than a solar panel. Having something setting on your roof.
I mean that's fine if that's what you want. What about a Brinkman
solar shingle on your roof? You heard that right a solar shingle. There's
actually a roofing shingle that's not on the roof. It's it is. It
is your roof. It's not on top of the roofs it is your roof.
Now they protect your home like shingle wood while creating electricity. They're weren't
it For twenty five years of service and you know, Brinkman's been in the
Houston area providing professional roofing services for over fifty years. They have made their
reputation here. They stand behind their workmanship. If you if you want a
regular single roof, if you want a standing scene metal roof, that's you
know, put together right there on the spot to fit your roof like a
glove. They can do that. Don't trust companies that bang on the door
claiming you've got storm damage and they're going to help you get your money from
acclaim. They fly all over the place chasing storms and then they're gone.
Brinkman's is here. Brinckman Quality dot Com is the website, the phone number
two eight one four eight zero seventy six sixty three. We're gonna head out
to Columbus, Texas now and we're going to talk to Brian. Hello,
Brian, Hey Skip, good morning, Good morning. Hey, I got
a five acre ranch out here, and I'm wanted to do a four acre
lavender field in sandy soil. Will that work? Uh? Well, sandy
is good. Lavender needs drainage. We have found lavender to be kind of
hit and mess here because our weather is so dead fluctuating. Uh, there's
a decent little lavender fields as you get over you know, Fredericksburg direction,
where there's a little bit of a little more arid climate, little less often
rainfall and good drainage. But even in those we do see some rots in
the case or you're gonna you're gonna have your job cut out for you keeping
it up. But you could grow lavender. As far as whether it'll be
economically profitable in Columbus, that I'm not able to tell you. Yeah.
I just wanted for the look and to keep the deer away. Oh okay,
Well, hey, there you go, go for it. Just be
aware there's there's many different kinds of lavender, and not all are equally susceptible
to issues that might happen. But good drainage is going to be critical.
In the sand you described ought to help with that for sure. Okay,
I appreciate it. Yeah, good luck with it. Keep us posted if
you get it planted. I'd like to hear about that. I'll send your
pictures, all right. Sounds like a deal, Thank you, Brian.
I appreciate that. You know, there's always a lot of new there's always
new plants people are planting and wanting to plant. I know right now some
people are getting into looking at pineapple, guava or for joa. Is that
how you say at for joa fahoya fajoa as a edible crop. There's some
varieties that it's been an ornamental shrub for us for a long time, but
it does produce an edible fruit, and boy, there's some superior types.
But it seems like I've been doing this for you know, well over thirty
years, and there's always something new. There's always some new thing that we're
trying out, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But hey,
that's part of the fun of gardening. If you're doing any transplanting this fall,
or even now putting in some of your vegetable transplants, your herb transplants,
you know we're going to be when it cool season kind of starts to
get in here in midfall. We'll be looking again at prime time for a
lot of the woody ornamentals and things we plant has to grow. Six twelve
six. That is a liquid fertilizer that contains of course six percent nitrogen,
twelve percent phosphorus, six percent Potassium's got that phosphorus load for developing a new
plant's root system. Now, in addition to that, you've got Medina soil
activator to stimulate biological activity. You've got humic acid in there, improoves soil
structure, improves nutrient uptake. You've got seaweed extracts in there to stimulate both
fruiting or blooming of the plant. That's a real concoction there. That is
just rocket fuel for that new transplant. You can use it for foli air
application. I like to put it in a water watering bottle watering can and
just sprinkle it right on the transplant after I put them out, and do
it again five to seven days later, again five to seven day after that.
So three applications based about a week apart or a little less, and
your plant will be well on the way. It'll be hit the ground running
as we say no't worry about burning plants with has to grow six twelve six.
Our phone number if you'd like to give us a call on Guardline is
seven one three two one two fifty eight seventy four seven one three two one
two five eight seven four. You know it's it's it's bird season. It's
always bird season. What's happening now, Well, our birds are finishing up
some molting they've been doing. They are really needing water. I mean,
it is a stressful time to be a bird out there. I mean imagine
flying around trying to find a little water to be able to drink and survive.
Take care of those birds. Put some water out for them. You
will find that that brings them in as good as a feeder does. I
mean, if birds are thirsty, they are come into that water once they
find it. And I mean it's just like a bird attractant. Not just
the compassion of hey, they're they're needing water out there, but the joy
of getting out in the morning and late afternoon those are my favorite times and
just enjoying the birds coming in. They also need food and nesting. Super
Blend from wild Birds Unlimited is the product that you need to go for right
now that all the way through August. That is a prime product for your
birds, and then they'll eat it all year. But it's a quality product.
I have some myself that I've been using. By the way, there's
a number of different wilbirds here in the Houston area. Katie Kingwood, Cyprus,
Pearland, bel Air, West Houston, Clear Lake. Go to WBU
dot com forward slash Houston and find the wild birds near you. And by
the way, they are a wealth of information as well you find I'm warning
you birding is addictive. Backyard birding, I've given you your warning, but
when you go into wild Birds it is like a Kidney Candy's store. We're
gonna take a break here pretty quick. I do want to remind you that
we're here every morning on Saturday. Every morning, we're here on Saturday,
and we're here on Sunday from six am to ten am. So tell your
neighbors about garden Line so they can listen in and enjoy that as well.
Passing by an ACE the other day, every time I walk into ACE,
I go, oh, I didn't know they carry that, because that's the
kind of store that Ace Hardware is. You got thirty nine of them to
choose from in Houston, So you pretty much throw a rock from where you
live to an ACE Hardware store. You can go online to ACE Hardware dot
com and look for the store locator and find the stores nearest to you,
putting your zip code there and it'll give you all the stores, little nice
little map, and you will be surprised if I talk about fertilizers, if
I talk about soils, if you have needs for fertilizers, pesticides, those
kind of things, They've got it all there. Ace Hardware has it all.
And you can earn money back on your purchases with the ACE Rewards program,
which I belong to. It's a really good additional thing that they offer
there at Ace Hardware. Well, we today are fortunate. We're gonna have
Luis tomorrow from Heirloom Soils come in and the eight o'clock hour, and we're
going to talk all the nerdy stuff about soils. You know how I always
say soil, soil, soil. You gotta start with the soil. We're
going to pick his brain. He's an expert on all kinds of things soils.
When I say soil, I'm including compost I'm including bed mixes, you
know, mulches that go on top of the soil. Lots of important facts
to know about. We're gon we're gonna really tease a lot of that information
out of Luis this morning, and I look forward to that. So make
sure you're listening in the eight o'clock hour, and if you have questions about
soil, anything related to bed prep or soil or mulching or new technologies in
that area, let's put Louis on the spot and let's let's Luise tell us
exactly the things we need to know, because when you get the soil right,
you have beautiful gardens. You have bountiful gardens, you have beautiful landscapes.
It's all about the soil. Hey, we're gonna take a break.
We'll be right back. Ktr H Garden Line does not necessarily endorse any of
the products or services advertised on this program. Welcome to ktr H Garden Line
with Skip Rictory. Just watching as good morning on a good Sunday morning or
gardening, whether it's walking through the yard this morning, just kind of enjoying
an early morning cup of coffee, whether it's getting out this afternoon, visiting
some garden centers. I don't know driving around. You know, you can
learn a lot about horticultures about driving around. And here's what I'm talking about.
You're sitting there, you're looking at your yard, just like, what
can I do? I don't know what to do? I don't know what
to plant here? How can I improve this? And drive around town and
you see things it's like, oh, I like the way they did that
that bed, and the way maybe they put in colladiums or some sun loving
flowers or something, and it's like that would really look good at my place.
I do that all the time. In fact, my head is often
swinging from left to right going down the road, probably when I admit that.
But that's how it is with gardeners. You know, we are we
notice plants and if you notice other people's landscapes, just really as you go
about, lots of good ideas, a lot of fun stuff. Plus I
just love it. It's a very enjoyable. Hey, maybe you have a
little piece of property and you are interested in a tractor, you know,
something to help you move multz, to help you carry some feedbags back and
forth, or maybe you're doing some fence work. Well, I've got the
deal for you. And that deal is between Cuboda Tractor and lens Down Moody.
Here in the Greater Houston area. You know, there's a several lens
Down Moodies. You're not gonna have trouble finding one close to you. But
they have a Caboda twenty five oh one. It is a hydrostatic transmission cool
cool tractor. I call it a sweet ride, and that from a horticultural
agricultural standpoint, that is absolutely true. The deal is this zero money down,
zero percent interest, eighty four months, eighty four months, seven years.
Now you're not going to do better than that. Number One, you're
getting a tractor from Lansdown which is a great company, great service, you
know, just they treat their customers right. Number two, you're getting a
Cuboda, which is an awesome tractor, especially it's twenty five l twenty five
oh one is a very nice tractor. And then on top of it all,
you're getting a deal of no down, no interest for seven years.
How do you do better than that? Now, this is gonna last forever,
So go ahead and give him a call. Landsdown Moody Tractor. That's
l M Tractor dot com. You can find the store near you. You
can get the number to swing by. Sit on one one of those L
twenty five excuse me, L twenty five, Oh ones, I came on
numbers in my head today. Sit on a L twenty five one. Find
out. Just experience what that feels like. And I know you will be
sold because they are workhorses and they do a great job. Well, we're
gonna head out now to Leake City and talk to John V. Hello,
John V. Good Morning's Kissing gardenline. Yes, yesterday was National Happy National
Honeybee Day, and yes, yes, and so basically they're says that the
wild bees advocate for them. Native bees are known as bees if facing increasing
of thestiction there's more than twenty thousand species of bees worldwide, my goodness.
And so I would want to do is I know you had talked earlier this
summer about going to Dayton, Texas for the certification classes for being becoming a
beekeeper. Yeah, yeah, and so I just wanted to know, like
what kind of like throughout the year, what kind of season, and what
kind of setup do we do for each season for the bees? Okay,
well it depends on the bees. You're going after From a standpoint of all
bees, minimizing pesticide use is important. Planting plants that attract them, to
supply them with the pollen and the nectar that they need, and to also
help you with your pollination. By the way, any time is a good
time to be adding those kinds of things to the landscape, and so that
would be important. You can go out to the bee sup b supplies a
great place. I brag on it all the time. The first time I
was there, my jaw was dropped most of the time just looking at all
their supplies and products. But anything we do to enhance our habitat around our
house for bees is going to be very helpful. And honey bees are very
important. I mean they are like amazing. You just think about momentlessness like
farm animals that are providing us with lots of good services and with good food
too in the process. So those are planting for bees and probably the one
thing that I would recommend people think about and do more because we can select
plants for that. Oh that's a wonderful. Yeah. Because I was thinking
for a job may trail on chardine, I thought it would be nice to
be able to have people come with me to get trained so they can have
them in there. They're garden is too. Yeah, and it's it's really
not even a certification, it's just education. So if you want to be
a beekeeper and have some boxes in the backyard, for some people it's like,
oh no, that's these are going to attack me. No, they're
not a good, well kept hive. Not only do you get the honey
out of it, but you get the services of those bees. And then
just to go out there for a tour is awesome. What's a month out
there at Dayton at the supply you can go out and get a cool tour.
I was amazed at all the knowledge that they have, of all the
product that they have. I mean, like that tour you get to try
six different kinds of honey I had. I had a heck of a good
time out there when I went, Yeah, well, wonderful planet for a
September, then that will be great. Oh absolutely, Yeah. Just give
him a call, make sure that you know when you're you're going, you
know when they're going to have it, and arrange and if anyone's listening and
has a bigger group, then you want to go out there, give him
a call because they do it once a month, but they may be able
to schedule a tour if your group is large enough for a time that's convenient
for both you and that they're able to accommodate. But anyway, just so,
since we're talking about B supporting, the website is the B supply dot
com. Bb supply dot com to check out. Hey, John V,
thanks for that question. I hope you enjoy it if you get a chance
to go out there. Oh yes, have a wonderful Sunday to all of
you. Thank you, all right, thank you very much, appreciate that
call. Let's see. Yeah, that boy, that is so cool.
I you know, I always brag on our feed stores, and a feed
store that is a place I just love to go visit is Grimes County Feed.
Grimes County Feed is up there in Grimes County. So if you think
about Navasota and College Station and then put another point off to the right to
make a triangle, that's where it is. To be more specific, I
mean, we can give you the details. Two miles west of F two
forty four on State Highway thirty out in Carlos, Texas. And you know
all the communities out there, lots of wonderful low communities, the Kingwood and
Merewood subdivisions. They're your backyard feed store. If you live in bead Eyes
or Iola or Shiro or Richards or Anderson, any of those places, they're
your backyard feed store. Now. They have ten percent off all tree hugger
sprinklers in stock. They have a great supply of fertilizers, and they're having
let's say, they just finished their customer appreciation Week, which was really a
lot of fun. But the roy family has lived in Northern Grimes County for
the last twenty years. In its personal service, for example, you get
Chris's business card, it's got his personal cell phone on it. So this
isn't a company that like, go away, we're about to close. This
is a company that sticks with you, not only in the sale, but
after the sale, to make you have success. That's what they're about at
Grimes County Feed and that's why they stock up like they do you on the
materials that are most important for you as a gardener, as well as anyone
who's interested in feed, feed supplies, animal supplies. We're going to take
a break. Our phone number is seven one three two, one, two,
five, eight seven four. Give Josh a coult. We'll get you
on the board and talk to you right after we talk to Ralph in Paarland.
When we come back. It's well, good morning on a beautiful day
for gardening. Lovely out there. I always like when the sun comes up
and got that early morning sunlight. I don't know, It's just a peaceful
time of day, good time to be out in the backyard, enjoying the
sounds of birds, feeling the general breeze at a time when temperatures are not
so blazing hot. If you haven't fertilized your lawn in the last couple of
months, you ought to consider sweet green from nitrofoss. Sweet green is one
of the highest concentrations of nitrogen in a organic fertilizer that you're going to find.
It's eleven percent, so it's eleven zero four fertilizer. It is a
molasses based fertilizer. So what does that mean, Well, it means that
they start with molasses. They have some microbial activity in that molasses. Anytime
you have sugar, microbes are going to be happy about that, and that
combination creates that organic nutrient blend that is just excellent for your lawns. That
low phosphorus, a low middle number is really important for a lawn because most
lawns have too much of that already. If you haven't a soil tests done,
I'd assume you have plenty of phosphorus, but sol tests it's a way
to know for sure. But sweet green, it smells fresh. It's really
popular by the way, this year they have stalked up on it, so
because last year the popularity of it was through the roof, and so now
you're going to be able to find it. You just go to all the
places we get nitro FoST products. That would be feed stores, that would
be hardware stores, that would be home mom and pop garden centers that we
brag about so much here on Garden Line. Sweet Green from Nitrofists is an
excellent product for a natural way of fertilizing and a gradual release that will provide
you with what you need right now as we prepare for the next application of
fertilizers, as we move into fall to get our launch ready over the winter,
we're gonna head out and out to pair Land and talk to Ralph.
Hello, Ralph, good morning. I've got a question about eagles and holly.
I planted it three or four years ago. It had a few berries,
and when I planted it birds got on ourselthing. But anyway, it
blooms every year, but I never get a Berri's hoorn. Is it one
of these plants that I have to have another one with it? Yes?
Yeah, Holly's in general are separate male and female plants, and so it's
one of that groups of plants that's that way. So eagle Stunt is capable
of putting on beautiful berries, a lot of them. But you've got to
have some mail holly nearby and nail pollinator kind. And I don't know where
you got yours, but wherever you got it, that you could go in
if they know what they're talking about and just ask them, you know what,
it would be a good mail holly that you guys carry. That would
be a partner for eagle Stun. All right, okay, I appreciate it,
all right, thank you for the call. I appreciate that, Ralph.
Yeah, hollies are a great plant. A couple of tips, since
we're talking about hollies, a couple of thoughts about that. Hollies need a
little extra TLC when you're getting them going, I'd say for the first two
years you don't want them to lock for water. Now, once they're well
established, it's not it's not a worry. I mean, it's not like
they're prima donnas. You got to sit there every day and squore them when
they scream, I gotta have water. Now. They're they're tough plants,
they are, but early if you let them get dry, we see some
considerable problems. Hollies don't wilt, so you look out and go, oh,
I need to water my holly. They're suffering and they're not showing it,
and so you got to take care of them early on. The growth
rate is often slow to medium on a holly in general, but proper care
they can become a beautiful plant. And they're being an evergreen, you get
the year round benefits like we're talking about berries, for example, visiting with
Ralph, the evergreen foliage and then the berries. So if you need to
screen of view, there's hollies of ever size. There's just a lot of
options out there that are worth considering. But just know that with that particular
kind of plant, the early first two years of care and adequate moisture.
Consistent adequate moisture is very important, and after that you are off to the
races. I love love holly plants. So we're still doing summer lawn fertilizing
as needed, and we're about to do our fall fertilization. We put a
different kind of fertilizer down in the fall, one that's beefier and the potassium
content a little much less in the nitrogen content. But in order to fertilize
properly, you know, I talk about a lot of good fertilizers, and
boy do we ever have an abundance here on garden Line to choose from.
But really the best fertilizer for your soil depends on what's in your soil,
right. You know. We could say that something is a tomato fertilizer,
for example, and the blend in there is good for tomatoes. But let's
just say your phosphorus was through the roof high or almost none, which is
rare. Then you would need to fertilize accordingly to what your soil says.
So if you go out to Southwest Fertilizer, Bob has got a soil probe
out there that he will loan you out. You have to leave him a
deposit because those things, like many things, tend to sprout legs and walk
off. But it's free to use. Just go in and get it.
It'll allow you to take a proper soil test, which is a vertical core
of soil from the top of the soil down six inches deep. Take a
bunch of cores, mix them together, and send them to the soil lab
for analysis. That is something you should do about every three to five years
because just periodically checking on things, you know, as we add nutrients and
as plants use nutrient it varies, that really works well. Of course,
you know, you would expect that kind of customer service, community service from
Bob out of Southwest Fertilizer. They've been around since what nineteen fifty five,
or actually they may have been around longer than that. I need to ask
Bob of that. I think it's been nineteen fifty five they actually went in.
They're serving the community. They have every product you can imagine. If
they don't have it, you don't need it, whether it's fertilizer, pesticides,
even tools. They've got to an amazing eighty foot long wall of tools.
Southwest Fertilizer dot Com is the website. The location down in Southwest Houston
is corner of Bissinette and Renwick. But just go to Southwest Fertilizer dot com.
When you walk in there, you're gonna walk out with everything you need
for your lawn and for your garden. We're gonna head out now to let's
see pair Land and talk to Kevin. Hello, Kevin, Hey, good
morning. All right. So I've planned at some roses, all kinds of
different varietals. After the twenty one freeze that killed everything. They've been doing
very well. Use the medina has to grow fertilizer on them, and I
mean they've been great, lots of pretty flowers. Now they've just kind of
gotten all these different kind of crazy off shoots and kind of going every which
way. When is it good time to thrown them back? Or should I
wait? I'm not a rose expert. I just wanted to get something to
replace the it did plants that I had. Okay, yeah, good question.
And these are kind of a shrub type rose. I bought shrub type
roses for the front, and then I got a couple of that, you
know, I don't know, long stem ones you know, for the back.
Okay, they're they're all kind of small, but the ones in the
fun are definitely starting that shrub. Okay, So for those shrubs, you
want to give them a shearing back by about a third uh in late August
or early September in order to well follow that with fertilizing them and watering the
fertilizer in. I even scratched my fertilizer into the surface about an inch,
you know, just kind of raking over it in the soil, because that
way it when you watered in, it dissolves the materials, or in the
case of an organic fertilizer, it's stimulating that microbial activity that will break that
fertilizer down and release the nutrients. And with that that light shearing and the
fertilizing and then watering, you'll set yourself up for a really good show in
October when roses really come on strong again. Okay, yeah, I appreciate
the help. Right now, they just need a break from this blazing heat
and for you to make sure they don't get too dry or definitely not stay
soggy wet either. All right, thank you, yes, sir, you
take care, you take care. Yeah, taking care of our plants is
important, and during this heat, it's really tough. You know, the
folks had affordable tree Martin and his wife Joe. I talk about him all
the time. They are our premier tree care service for Garden Line Radio,
and there's a reason for that. They number one. They do what they
say they're going to do at a reasonable price, so you don't have to
wonder whether they're going to show up. When you ask them to come,
they'll tell you and then they'll be there. That's the kind of business they
are. They've had employees with him for fifteen to twenty years. I mean,
these are experienced folks. These are knowledgeable folks. When you make a
phone call, Martin or Joe will answer. And by the way, that
phone number seven one, three, six nine nine, twenty six sixty three.
Now's the time to get out there and get some deep root watering done
to really fill that soil of volume. The little sprinklers that you put on
your lawn don't do trees a whole lot of good. I mean, unless
you just run it and run it and run it to get us soaking.
With a deep root watering, you can get the water right down to where
the roots are. You can make sure your trees have the resiliency to get
through this time. It's also time to be looking at storms. You know,
storms come and they're welcome to the greater Houston area. I mean,
we are down in Hurricane Alley here. They could do the trimming you need
done. If there's any weak branch structures, they can fix that. You
just it's always better to prepare things rather than to react to things. Okay,
so prepare for the storms that are coming rather than Okay, Martin,
the storm just split my tree all apart. Could you come take it away?
That's not what we're after. They know how to take care of your
trees and do it in a way that really helps your tree to thrive.
Trees are so valuable to the value of your home. And just like you
go outside now and have a beautiful shade tree on one hundred degree day,
Boy, that's worth something. A tree that shades the west wall of your
home and cuts down on heat and just that radiant heat that comes in in
the evenings or shades over your roof, those are all important affordable tree and
Martin, they know how to take care of your trees and they will be
honest with you, they will be direct with you, and they will do
what they say they're going to do at a very very reasonable price. We're
gonna have to take a little break here for the news quickly. I will
be back. Our number is seven one three, two one two five eight
seven four in David and Lake Jackson. When we come back, you will
be the first up. Good Sunday morning, on a great day for gardening.
You're listening to garden Line. I'm your host, Skip Ricter and let's
taught gardening. We're gonna start by going straight out to David and Lake Jackson.
David, thanks for hanging on. How can we help? Good Sunday
morning. I've got fallen up on the conversation about Holly's. Okay, I
have a Tunny's holly, actually two that are very well established. I don't
know how old they are, but they're twelve to fifteen foot tall, about
ten foot in diameter or so. But they're I don't know, twenty plus
years old. But they've started growing shooters is what I call them, or
new growth from the roots, and they're fairly can be fairly far out from
the trunk too. So I was wondering what causes that and what to do
about it. It often happens like if you try to cut one of them
down and then you'll start seeing these little things pop up. But it'll even
happen while the tree is growing without it being cut down. But it's just
it's just the fact that that particular kind of holly has the ability to send
up sprouts from the roots, rich suckers or something along those lines, and
you just have to cut them out and remove them. You definitely don't want
to spray them because they're attached to the mother plant. And so yeah,
that's just a factor with some hollies. Oh goodness. Okay, Well there's
like dozens and dozens of them, oh boy, wow. Yeah, and
you never had that problem before. Well, it's just, you know,
it's been that way for a little while. We just have we have cut
them, actually have gone through and we needing them, uh huh and taking
them down. But then if you don't stay on top of it, then
yeah, they get pretty wooty, and then there's other vegetation things you don't
want to weeded around it. So that is to be it's been that way.
I just used a sharp shovel, uh David and gone in you know
between the up shoot coming out of the ground and the mother plant and just
shoved it in the ground to cut that loose and then grabbed it and kind
of drug it, pulled it out with the root. I mean, you
kind of figure out how to do it. But just tiny, tiny,
even like a six think that nicks is how they start. Yeah, when
they when they get started. There are sometimes people will use a ground cloth.
I'm not a fan of groundcloth at all, but they'll use that covered
with some kind of a multuay to be able to just block them out that
way, like is done with some of the live oaks that tend to really
sucker bad around the base. Any soil disturbance that you do where you're cutting
roots and things. Though, it also is going to stimulate new growth and
time of those kind of things. So it's just part of the trade off.
This must be not a real stiff holly or is it is? Like
it it's very stiff. You get into it, it'll pricky pretty well.
Okay. So that nice bread card deep forest green okay, with the little
pointers on it. Okay that yeah, that's like there's a dwarf version of
that one to call rotunda that stays real compact, and boy, they are
versatile. They are versatile plants. Yeah, if any, if any listeners
have daughters, this is one of the top five plants to put underneath their
bedroom window. It is. It will make sure that I love the plant.
I've amazed how much shade they can take too. You know. I
think of plants like that should be out in the sun, but they'll put
up with quite a bit of shade. Dude, real, real tough.
The only thing you don't want to do is have to get in there and
prune hand brune on it or something, because you will get blood. Yeah,
you got some long sleeves for sure. Yep, that's right. But
they're a good plant. Yeah. So if we want to if we just
get tired of dealing with it, and we go to cut it down and
pull it out. I mean, the trunk on this thing's probably for four
inches at least, right, it's great to make to kill all of it.
Besides, you just cut it down because the roofs will just continue to
go. Yep. Well, if you decide to get rid of any woody
plant, if you when you cut it down. If you dab that cut
surface with a product containing tricloper, it's t r I c l O P
y R. So if you go into a garden center and something says it's
like poison ivy, poison oak killer, that's going to have triclo peer in
it, and you don't have to dilute it a lot. You just just
dab it right on that fresh cut. Don't wait the day after you cut
it. Cut it right. Then it'll soak inn and it'll go a long
way toward killing it. And it's just a matter of how big is the
plant and everything as to whether you need one or two applications to do that.
Oh, I'm sure Lake Hardware down here has it. Oh yeah,
they're going to have more than one product that has triclipar in it, that's
for sure. Okay, all right, Well, I'm gonna keep looking at
if anybody else has tips and ideas. One of the thoughts I had David
was maybe a plant growth regulator. There are things you can spray that kind
of regulate plants. Maybe that would help minimize it. But I just don't
think that's going to be worth your time in trouble. But maybe there's another
solution out there we can figure out. I'll keep my eyes open. Okay,
all right, thank you, sir. Appreciate that call. You're listening
to Garden Line. We're here to answer your gardening questions, but that would
require you giving us a call seven one three two one two five eight seven
four. I just want to remind you, first of all that we are
going to have Louis Tomorrow, Louis Chamorrow from Heirloom Soils in for the eight
o'clock hour, and we're going to pick his brain on all things related to
soils, mulches, compost bed mixes. You know, we talk about things
like leafmode composts, and we talk about things like you know, fungo composts
and materials mixes that are used for container plants, and all those kinds of
blends you know you want to put in a herb garden or vegetable garden.
The kinds of blends we need. We're going to pick his brain about that.
So if you have any questions, this is your chance to ask the
man. Heirloom Soils produce a lot of products, a lot of quality products
that are available in a lot of places. So here you can pick the
brain and the guy who knows all about it, and we're going to do
just that at eight o'clock during the eight o'clock hour, So stick around,
get check up a questions ready for us, and give us a call.
You know, I talk about fertilizing your lawn, and I talk about soil
test, and I'll talk about the importance of nutrients and everything like that.
We also mentioned a product called azamite, and some of you may be a
little confused. What is azamite? Is that fertilizer? Well, let's put
I don't think think of it as a fertilizer, even though it's you're putting
it on for its nutrients. But it's not like an NPK at fifteen five,
ten sixty four or those kinds of products. It's the micros. It's
those trace elements that are so important. And when you put down trace elements,
what you're doing is you're loading the bank account of the soil with the
many things that are essential for plant growth but are just needed in very small
amounts. And if you haven't done an azomite application this year, now is
a fine time to do it. I mean, you can do it at
anytime. Often people will just fertilize and then azamite. Don't put them in
the same bind. The particle size is a little different. I prefer to
do the fertilizing and then following with the azamite. It just makes it easier
to get it all out evenly like you want. But it works really well.
You can use it in your lawn. I use it in my vegetable
gardens because I want the things that I grow and eat to have the full
package of nutrients, because we need a whole lot of nutrients. Plants do,
but we do too for our own bodies. Asamite can provide just that.
You can go to azamite Texas dot com if you want to find out
more information and just see what we're talking about when we brag on asmite.
Well it's here. It is time for another break seven one three, two,
one two fifty eight seventy four. Give Josh a call and he will
get you on the boards for when we come right back. Well, welcome
back to garden Line. We are continuing on with your gardening questions, and
I don't know if you tips and tricks that I might offer here and there.
For example, you need to return your grass clippings when you mow.
Did you know that grass clippings contain the perfect blend of nutrients for grass?
How can we say that? We'll think about this for the plant to make
a grass blade. At clipping, it takes all the important big nutrients like
nitrogen, phosphors, potassium, the secondary nutrients like sulfur, magnesium, calcium,
and all those trace elements. You think of something as obscure as zinc
or molebdanum or manganese or those kinds of things. It takes that too,
and in that clipping those nutrients are there because otherwise it couldn't have grown.
These are essential for plant growth, even though you didn't trace amounts are essential.
So when you return the clippings, you're fertilizing. Now that doesn't mean
you don't also fertilize. It just means you're taking the nutrients your fertilizer put
you put down that have now grown clippings, and you're returning them to decompose
them to the lawn. That's how nature does it, and it makes sense.
So if you don't, if you bag your clippings, if you don't
mulch and return them to the lawn. You're gonna need to double your fertilizer
applications in order to be able to make up for what you just paid somebody
to haul away because you didn't want to you wanted to bag your clippings.
So there's a little tip of the week. Hope that makes sense and and
hope it helps. Speaking of tips, we are in the season when we
tend to get hurricanes coming through, and you know when you have a storm,
the fly by nighters are going to be banging on the door saying we're
going to replace your roof, and we know how well they'll be gone and
you'll be left hold in the bag. That's just kind of how that works.
Instead called Brinkman Roofing. They've been here fifty years. They were a
twenty twenty two Better Business Bureau Pinnacle Award winner. That means those two facts
both mean customer service. You don't get there without customer service, without a
good product, quality workmanship. And I guarantee that if anything goes wrong,
they'll be back to take a look at that because they want you to have
success. That's how they have success by creating happy customers. That's how it
works in business. And boy Brinkman gets it well. Brinkman Quality dot Com
two eight one four rado seven six sixty three. Do you need shingles?
Do you want their new uh solar shingles? Do you want a metal roof,
a standing sea metal roof that they put together right on your property.
They can do it all commercial residential Brinkman two eight one four eight seven six
six zero. We're gonna head out and nowt to clear Lake and talk to
Theodore. Hey Theodore, Yes, sir, good morning. How are you.
I'm well, thank you? Yes, I have a quick question.
I'm growing in avocado tree plant uh and a planet about two months ago and
it's it looks like just keeps growing straight up as it normal or that I
had to trim it and and and keep it down to tours. It's not
going to break. Uh. You can you can trim it down it when
you trim where we're like you have one shoot going up and when you cut
it off, so you come down six inches or so from the end and
cut it, you're going to have several shoots to come out. And that
that is branching. You don't want to do that so much that it's just
this thick bush, but you can't do some training. But early on avocado,
as is the case with many of our trees and plants like the Chinese
elm, is this way. They just are lanky teenagers when they're young,
and and then the full little better. Just remember this though, Theodore avocado
is a cold sensitive species, so we're kind of marginal here on. Sometimes
we have cold, it'll kill them back. And I was just gonna say
I'd avoid pruning this late at this point. I would just wait because let's
say in September you pruned and you got all this fresh, new succulent growth,
and then we get a good hard freeze in late November, early December
or something that would be a disaster. So I would avoid those stimulating process
of pruning. Once we get past about the first of August really, and
when we come out of next year, then do some of your pruning and
training. Okay, okay, now, and of course it is it right
now? I have it inside? That is that a times turn that I
have to take it outside? Well, that would be yeah, that may
be one reason why it's kind of lanky. It's because we never can have
enough light inside for you know, could be happy. So yeah, I
would put it out. Let it get good sunlight. Just watch that it
doesn't go into droughtstus being out in the heats. But and I probably wouldn't
move it like suddenly from indoors to full sun outdoors. I might put it
in a little morning sun and the rest of the because even the shadiest spot
outdoors is brighter than most indoor environments. And so you know, gradually,
oh, let's say, over the next three or four weeks, working into
full sun. Okay, perfect, all right, okay, well, thank
you, you bet, thank you. Good luck with that avocado hurt.
Yeah. Avocados, boy, they're so good, aren't they good? And
we have the avocados that will grow here. You know. It's not the
black, bumpy, fruited thing you buy in the store, you know,
like hass avocado, that kind of thing. It's a thin skinned, a
greenish avocado, but very very high quality. Many good varieties do well here.
It's a lot of fun and it wants to be a giant tree.
And you just have to accept when you plan it that every now and then
a winner's going to come through and it's gonna kill it back considerably. It's
just part of the deal. But we can grow and fruit and produce avocados
here in the Houston area. I talk about lawns a lot, talk about
lawn fertilizing a lot, and when when I think about a good quality,
slow release fertilizer for your lawn, turf Star fits that bill. Turf Star
by Nelson and the particular product slow and Easy. It's a twin two two
ten. It's got a I love that ratio of nutrients. You know,
it's like a very low phosphorus, plenty of nitrogen, medium potassium. That's
the way you go about it. And the technology in all Nelson products is
such that it provides what your lawn needs gradually over time. It provides a
good, let's just say, technologically advanced designed way of releasing those nutrients over
time for optimum growth. And Nelson's turf Star is you know, they have
a wide line of it. Bruce's Brew is in eighteen four nine. It's
more of an immediate release kind of product, but very appropriate year round however
you want to fertilize. They've got their feather Light it's an eighteen two eight,
and of course with Nelson's you've got color Star Nutrostar, turf Star and
their organic Nature Star fertilizers all available widely available through garden centers here and there
later Houston area. It's a quality product that gives quality results, and that's
what we're looking for. You know, don't be a person who let me
how do I say this? Don't be a person that just looks at what
you think is the cheapest product available. I mean, we all want to
save money. We don't want to waste money. But when whether you're talking
about a plant from a garden center, whether you're talking about a fertilizer product,
whether you're talking even about certain pest disease and weed control, you want
to get the one that works, because that's the cheapest product there is.
I mean, if you put something down like I was just talking about Nelson
sturf Star, you put something down and it gradually feeds for months and months,
A good quality mix like that, that's worth it. There are a
lot of really cheap products that immediately release. You get a flush of growth,
You get chitchbugs get excited enough to cross Interstate forty five to come to
your yard. The brown patch, large patch of the fall goes crazy.
You get to mow a lot because you've created flushes of growth and then it
all washes away when it get a gully washer rain. That's why we avoid
that. That's why we go to quality garden centers where they know what they're
talking about. So when we buy it, we take it home and it
does well. That is what we're looking for. We're looking for places that
give us advice, that direct us properly to go to someplace and they don't
know what they're talking about, and they grab something off the shelf and they
absolutely don't know what they're talking about, and they sell it to you to
go home. You've spent time, you've spent money, and you may not
have accomplished anything. So, I mean, this is a big broad statement
I'm making, but what I'm just saying is the cheapest product may well not
be the most economical product that there is. Whether it's a plant but it's
fertilizer, whether it's oh my gosh, mulch and composts. There is a
lot of trash out there on the market. You know, to open a
bag of something that says it's composting, it as wood chunks in it.
That's not what you're looking for and with each kind of plant, with this
kind of bad, you're gonna use different kinds of products. And hey,
we're gonna be back in just a minute with Louis Tomorrow from Heirloom Source to
talk about just that KTRH Garden Line does not necessarily endorse any of the products
or services advertised on this program. Welcome to KTRH Garden Line with Skip Rictor.
It's so crazy just watching as so many pleas to come. Well,
good Sunday morning. You are listening to garden Line. Thanks to Louis for
coming in. We got kind of already about all kinds of things soil,
because soil is where it all starts. Well, thank you for those of
you who hold had been holding on our number seven one three two one two
fifty eight seventy four. Let's head out to Jersey Village and we're going to
talk to Michelle. Good morning, Michelle get Marie Skid, thank you so
much for taking my call. You're bad. So I'm into Jersey Village area
and we live in town homes which are in pretty close proximity of each other.
We all have crepe myrtles that are close to the street. I feel
blessed because I haven't experienced this problem, but I'm calling on behalf of four
of my neighbors, the crepe myrtles, and it seems like this happened like
within a period of two days. All of a sudden, the crepe myrtles
of their branches have turned all brown. Okay, not the whole tree,
but like a good, good chunks of the tree. Best I can tell
is maybe something like I read about it, like a crape mortal blight.
I don't know of anything like that. The heat, the demands, the
stresses. We are seeing crepe myrtles that are that are turning brown around the
edges and in some case lose the whole leaves. I would first start with
soil moisture and just dig down four or five inches, feel the soil around
them, and just kind of get a feel for that, because that's the
most likely thing. There's not some major crape myrtle disease. It just blights
and kills the whole bush. We don't okay that problem. So I think
it's going to be a combination of water related because even if water is moderately
there, the demands are so high they have trouble pumping it fast enough to
cool the plant to do all the things the plant needs to do function wise.
And so I think that's probably a lot of what you're dealing with.
Oh okay, well, thank you so much. All right, well,
thank you. I appreciate that call. Thanks for being patient with us today.
UH. Let's go out to Jim and clear Lake. Hey, Jim,
I understand you got a question as well. Yeah, I'm I'm about
ready to do some landscaping here. I've suffered some root rod on my isalia
on the front. Uh and UH. I had to pull one plant last
year, and now the other two are not looking good, and so I'd
like to start over, but I don't want to start with soil that may
have some problems with whatever type of damaging UH and UH systemic product. What
would you suggest that I do after I pulled these other three bushes out and
cleaning up that soil. Good question. There's not a whole lot to do
at that point, but I would get a good quality bed mix that is
does well with acid loving plants and build it up a little bit, get
some fresh soil in there, and then that also helps the drainage and most
azalia root rots are related to saggy conditions. There's even the main diseases we
deal with on azalias and the roots actually have spores that swim like a tadpole
and literally through the soil. So when you provide a wet, saggy condition,
it proliferates that kind of a disease. So I would say that would
be the number one goal. Create a bed where you cannot overwater, I
mean, where drainage is excellent, put in some good fresh soil and then
get some good healthy plants to go in and by the time you get all
that set up, it'll be time to plant azalias this fall okay, So
just a soil amendment and add possibly the airline hairloom soils to what I've got.
Yeah, do I need to as set fallow for some period of time.
No, No, that's not gonna accomplish anything. These things are persistent
and so you know, time is not really the fix of it. But
yeah, a good quality soil for air or for airline, for acid loving
plants, it is what you're looking for. And getting those beds up,
depending on your site and how low it lies in the type of clay or
whatever you have, blue get them up high enough so they drain well and
then then you're ready to go with the new planting. All right, well,
I appreciate that, Thank you very much. Yeah, thank you.
I appreciate that call very much. For those of you out here who haven't
put down your lawn fertilizer for mid to late summer, that would be an
option to put down Sweet Green. Sweet Greens a nitrofist product. It's a
molasses based product, and due to a combination of the molasses and microbial activity
in the production of this product, you end up with a very high nitrogen
organic material. It's eleven zero four and it smells great too. By the
way, just put it down about ten pounds per thousand square feets about what
you need, and you will see a very distinct improvement in your lawn.
Because it's still summertime. You have to walk outside to know that. And
we will be doing our fall fertilizations later on, but now it would be
a good time to put on something like a nitrifice product. Call Sweet Green.
Let's go out to Bay Town and we're gonna visit with Bruce. Bruce,
you get the award for patiently hanging on. Thank you. Thank you.
Louisa's such a valuable resource. I learned a lot listening to him and
to you, Well good. I've I've got a bottle brush at my house,
and this is the third one that I've planted. They go in all
the preparations there. They're properly watered, in my opinion, and they do
absolutely great for about three years, and then they begin to die out and
within the year's time they're they're dead top to bottom. I've got them in
two different locations and had this problem with him, and I'm wondering if it's
a root and Inmato or perhaps a root rot. There are other shrubs they're
about Japanese clear in that area. They're doing terrific okay, but bottom Broche,
as much as I like, it seems to be a challenge. That's
interesting. You know, I can't know for sure if there's a root right
on them or not. I assume that if your other shrubs are doing okay
like that, you probably are not creating a very soggy, continually saggy condition
that would lead to root rod issues, So I would lean away from that
being the thing I tell a bottlebrush they're very cool, sensitive and we had
the February twenty three freeze, we had the December freeze this past December twenty
two, and that hammered a lot of those kind of plants. And then
you throw in last summer's heat and drought this summer's heat and drought. I
think there's a lot of things like that that could be a play which we're
not in control of. So just keeping the soil adequately moist, putting a
good quality soil in the bed that they're going to grow in, those are
within your power. The only other thing is if one starts to die,
you could go ahead and take a sample before it's dead, send it up
to the plant clinic and get the definitive answer if there is a root disease
it's affecting it. I think that's a longer shot. I don't think that's
the most likely thing going on, but it is something that's available. Well.
Thanks, that's good advice, Kip, And how'll follow that all right,
sir? Well, good luck with those bottlebrush are great plants, good
for pollinators too, by the way, and beautiful. Yeah, thank you,
yes, sir, thank you for the call. I appreciate that very
much. Thanks a lot if you're looking for a quality garden center, one
where you go and I mean everything from gift shops to vegetables, herbs,
flowers, trees. They sell fruit trees year around. That's Arbourgate Nursery up
in Tumble. Arbourgate is on twenty nine twenty just about a mile and a
half west of two forty nine in Tumble, and they have ever kind of
plant that you can imagine. I mean the stock of annuals and perennials and
everything is always amazing at Arbourgate. The place always looks beautiful. It's a
place you always want to take friends when they visit from town just to see
it because they don't have anything like that in their hometown, that's for sure.
Now. The Arbogate one two three completely Easy system is a food that's
a four four three organic food. It's got calcium added to it as well,
and it feeds all your plants that you know you're putting a flowerbed,
shrubbed, vegetable. It's great for all of that. There's a soil for
almost anything you can imagine because it contains a quality mix. It's got the
microbes in it, it's got even some expanded shale in it as we're talking
about earlier, and then compost complete that is their organic compost complete step three,
compost complete again more of the expanded shale. Two different kinds of compost
microbially just rocket fuel for your plants and your gardens. Organic food complete,
Organic soil complete, Organic compost complete one two three completely easy. Right up
there at Arburgate in Tumball. Well we are see we've been talking soil all
day. I guess we're gonna shift around and talk about a lot of other
things going forward. Our number seven one three, two one two five eight
seven four seven one three two one two fifty eight seventy four. I was
I got on my weekly email from water my Yard this past week and it
was I think it said I needed point nine inches was essentially an inch of
water. The thing about water my Yard two things. Number One, it's
free, and there are not a lot of things that are quality that are
free. And this is because you can go to the water my yard dot
org website and sign up for free. You just give them your location.
They find the nearest weather station to you. Do you know there's little weather
stations all throughout this area. I mean I'm not talking about big I'm just
on a little weather see. It could be on a golf course or someplace.
They measure solar already, sun intensity, humidity, windspeed, all the
stuff that makes plants use water, and they shoot you exactly what you need
via email to water your yard that week. I've had weeks where it said
you need point four inches of water this week. They're at the Apple app
Store, They're at Google Play Water. My yard is free and it works.
It's designed by an M extension Agrilife engineers and they have created the perfect
tool that, again is free. I don't know how to do much better
than that. I don't know how you do much better than that. I
have a shrub that I need to put out in the landscape, and in
fact, if I can ever quit traveling around and sitting here on the radio,
I need to get it planted. But when I do, I've already
purchased my tree hugger sprinklers. That's the little thing that goes around a shrub.
It could be a tree, a shrub, a bush or rose bush
whatever. You hook it up to the garden hose. You got low valve
there so you can make it just put on a little bit of water for
that newly planted shrubs can find roots system and then as it grows, you
just turn it up more and more until you water a very large area.
It gets your plants through drought, It gets your plants through the transition of
heat related stresses while they're trying to get roots systems in. It just makes
sense not just keeping them alive, but having them thrive. That's tree Hugger
Sprinklers. You can go to tree Hugger Sprinklers dot com and find out more
information and where you can buy them, which is most places that I talk
about here on Garden Line. And with that we'll turn it over to the
Nikki News Network NNN for the latest. Well, good morning on a beautiful
Sunday morning. Gosh, it just looks great out there. Looking forward to
getting out this afternoon. There are so many good things you can do in
an afternoon here in Houston, Texas. When you've got the kind of garden
centers we have, when you have the kind of suppliers we have. We
would talking about soil this morning. I'm talking about fertilizing this morning, getting
ready, getting your lawn ready, getting your garden beds ready planting things right
now and he's still time you can be planting things. It's a little stressful,
a little tough for things touch and go, but you can do it.
You can do it anytime of the year you want. Here in this
area where we have an almost three sixty five growing season, and I guess
in some ways we do have a three sixty five. If you need any
kind of a supply, I'll tell you what's near you that we'll provide that,
and that is Ace Hardware. There's thirty nine of them here in the
Houston area. You can go to Ace Hardware dot com and go to their
store locator, put in your zip code, find the stores near you.
It's easy to find them. I recommend fertilizers, and if I do,
they're going to have them an Ace Hardware. We talk about soil mixes.
We're talking about to airloom a minute ago as an example. They've got that
and more at Ace Hardware stores. The products you need to control insects,
diseases and pests, the things you need for outdoor living and making that outdoor
place a beautiful place to sit and enjoy. And by the way, the
weather is going to break here and we're gonna want to be spending more time
outdoors. You can provide everything from barbeque in to you know, just outdoor
lounging and enjoyable, just any kind of encouterment you might need for that outdoor
setting. You're gonna find it there at ACE Hardware, as well as everything
else you'd find at an Ace Hardware store, which is quality products and good
service. And I always I'm glad to walk into a place that's going to
treat me right, know what they're talking about, and help me find what
I need. We're going to go out now to Lakewood Estates and talk to
Maureen. Well, hello, Maureen, Hello, let me just get away
from my radio. All right. My question is this is my season ever
to grow okra. And I have so much okra and I'm picking it as
fast as I can. Okay, but now I have all different sizes.
So I went online and looked at whatever I could produce recipe wise, and
so I know I can do some small sizes in the oven. That's good,
I know, because I love soup, so I can put them in
the soup. Yes, But is there a point where I should say this
is like a stone, because I do come into those, I can't cut
it. I throw them out. No, he's what else. Here's what
I do. I've just been the pod. If you've been the pod about
a third away back from the end, and if it doesn't just snap into
that is too mature of a pod. If you have a little like almost
woody strings holding the thing together, when you try to bend it, it
just collapses. Ye that throw it away. There's life's too short for eating
bad okra. And I just didn't believe that this would happen. So go
ahead. Well it grows fast. And here's the deal. It's not the
size of the pod. People talk about that, but it's not. It's
the age of the pod. About three days after it is the bloom has
fallen off, maybe four days, but about three days after the bloom is
fallen off, you need to be picking that pod. Now, you're not
going to keep track of ever pot on the plant, but as you regularly
harvest, you're going to be able to kind of get a feel for what
you're doing. Another thing you need to do with okra if you haven't,
if you got a barbecue pit, just take a pod. Yes I do,
I do smear a little olive oil on each side, sprinkle it with
sea salt, put it on the pit two minutes on one side, flip
it over two minutes on the other, and it will be a non slimy,
delicious okra for you. It's just yet, Okay, no problem with
that to enjoy ore. Okay, my last question, I've had to put
a shirt on in order to pick my variety. Yes, it seems that
there's something prickly, yes, all over the leaves, and I come in
and it's irritating. So what else can I do beside I watch it off.
Yeah, but I'm thinking I should maybe wear gloves than a long sleeved
shirt. Definitely, a long sleeved shirt. Gloves, definitely, because they
are itchy. That's just part of the deal with yeah planning. Your plants
are close together that you're having to rub through them and it's hitting your neck
and everything. You don't do that. So that's about what you do,
is you just dress right and make sure when you plant them you give yourself
enough space to get in there and do the work. Okay. Okay,
love your show. Everybody wants to talk to you. That's a good sign.
Well, thank you. I appreciate marine, appreciate your call. You
take care for sure. If you are looking for a tree for your landscape
right now, Verdant Tree Farm has got a great selection in stock now.
They are the place to go for palm trees. I mean that is,
they just have everything you need in the way up a palm tree. Lots
of good quality varieties, and they know how to grow them. They know
what to do with them. When it comes to other trees though, they
are also a great place to go. They have trees up to l seven
hundred gallons in size. Have you on a real big instant impact. Go
on line to Verdant Treefarm dot com Verdant or I should say Verdant Verdant Treefarm
dot com Verdant means green. On one of these days, I'm gonna learn
how to pronounce it and just check them out. There's two locations, oh
actually three. Now there's the Barker Cyples location in West Houston down on Broadway
Street in pair Land they have a location. And now in the Heights where
Yale and I ten come together, there's another d location. Take some pictures
of your place, walk in there, tell them, hey, I'm looking
for a flowering tree for here. I'm looking for a shade tree for here.
What do you got? What do you think? And they will help
guide you. You can picture tree out on spot, they'll tag it,
they'll bring it to you. They'll plant it properly, which is critical.
They know what they're doing. That's all Verdant Tree Farm. I am going
to now head up to rich Mend and talk to James. Hey, James,
how are you today? I'm doing fine about yourself. I'm doing good.
Listen. We got about a minute, so let's see if we can
do it. If not, I'll hold you over after break. Okay.
I've got an oak tree in my front yard, and the roots or push
every time I planted the pile a little dirt up and put mulch and planted
some print meals around it, and they always die. Yeah, I'll put
gerber daisies in and they didn't last, right, So what I'm wanting to
do? And the roots are pushing the blocks up that I landscaped around it,
Yes, some of them moved those out. Yes, a larger circle
around the root, the root line. And I was wondering, what's the
best way for me to put flowers on top of bad there, and yeah,
James, I don't want to kill I don't want to kill the flowers,
right right, Well, I found it almost impossible to put a little
flower bed around a tree as it gets older because the roots are so big
and there's so many that the soil is basically all wood and very very source
space for roots to grow and thrive. And in addition to being the competition
with the tree pulling water and the tree pulling nutrients and the shade from the
tree, it's just a challenge. And I would go to a shade loving
groundcover, and that could be things like and Asian jasmine. It could be
there's a lot of great native sedges, there's a cast iron plan, a
lot of things that will grow there, and just move the flower bed a
little bit further out. I'm gonna have to take a break. If you
want to hang around, I'll come right back to you. But thank you
for the question, and thank you for holding. If you would like to
hold seven one three, two one two fifty eight seventy four, let's get
on the board and we'll talk to you as well as James when we come
back. All right, good morning, good Sunday morning. Thank you for
listening to garden Line. We love visiting with you about all kinds of things
gardening. We want you to have success and the key to success, as
I say all the time, a green thumb is an informed thumb. A
brown thumb is an uninformed thumb. That's the only difference. And we're here
to inform, advise, suggest, give you the tools you need to have
a beautiful garden and a bountiful landscape. That's what we love to do here.
If you happen to live out in the Kingwood area, you were fortunate
because you have two outstanding garden centers. That's Warren Southern Gardens and Kingwood Garden
Center. Both of them are well worth a visit now right now out there,
a house plants are a big item they you know, of course,
they have all the kinds of plants we need. But are you looking for
some hard to find exotic house plants. Maybe you know our intour home can
be transformed into a cool oasis of tranquility when we have houseplants. It just
gives you a different feeling and a lot of people can attest to that.
Silken scientific research by the way, that are being around plants, it just
has effects on us in many, many positive ways. They also have a
compost sale going on. Three bags of heirloom soil the aged leaf compost and
you get one free. Sounds like a twenty five percent deal. Compost is
always needed. Aged leaf mold compost is the cadillac of the group. And
buy three bags get one free. What a good deal. If you're looking
for a vine, rangoon creeper, I don't know if you've ever seen it
before, go look it up. Rangoon creeper. It is a quite vigorous
vine annual. It tends to be an annual in our areas, but it
can return in a protected spot. They just have an outstanding selection out there
as well in Kingwo. You know the thing I like about it is the
blooms are a combination of pink and almost light pink whitish and then red and
they change or is the age little clusters of flowers. Go look at it
up online. You I can't describe it on the air. You'll see what
I'm talking about. But Rangoon creeper this far south is a plant that you
can take through year after year with a little mulching of the base of the
plant now Kingwood Garden Center. Their gift shop is loaded now with Halloween and
fall decore. It is beautiful and all the things you want to do for
your decorating for autumn, you know, to create that enchanting scene of autumn.
You've got it there, I mean captivating fall decore at the Kingwood Garden
Center's gift shop coming up. Let's see we are nope that do that one.
I was about to talk about a program they just had. I hope
you didn't. Hope you got to go to it last night August nineteenth,
on soil prep. But I love going to those garden centers, love walking
around, love seeing what they have, and they always have good quality stuff.
They also they haven't folks that are trained. They know what they're talking
about, and that is so important. If you have my lie for Nelson
plant food jars, they have the filling station there to fill them up.
Save a little few bucks and also save on putting plastic out there in the
landscape. Just another another good thing. So if you live out there in
New Caney, if you live in Porter Valley, Ranch, Ambelatasca, Seda,
Kingwood, these are your hometown garden centers that is Warren Southern Gardens on
North Park Drive, Kingwood Garden Center on Stone Hollow Drive. Both are open
seven days a week. Hey, now you got some fun trip to do
this afternoon to get out and about. Well, let's go to Annie in
the Woodlands. How's things going this morning? Annie? It's very hot I'm
here this morning. Well, good morning. Yeah. My question for you
is not so much about plants, but all of the different products that we
use for our plants, you know, like the insect and side of Stokes,
which would sponge, asides the Noh's color star granules, mastedral dust,
zipples dust or whatever that's called. You know, I store an these stuff
in my garage. Okay my garage, he says, is you know it
could be out there, right, I mean we're talking about year after year.
Yeah, what is the shelf life and what how does that affect?
Yeah, there's there's not a good, one size fits all answer on that
one. But I can tell you this. If it's a pesticide, especially
like a synthetic typesticide or a organic maybe that would have the potential of living
organisms in it, like a BT product or something like that, they are
not going to do well in terms of shelf life when it comes to that
kind of storage. Temperatures and so they don't like light, and they don't
like the heat. The heat hot temperature are are freezing cold for that matter.
I put a lot of that kind of stuff in a little cabinet we
have on the little mudroom going out to the garage in order to have a
little bit of a better break for them. When it comes to fertilizers,
those are pretty resilient. I mean, yes, over time there is some
decline, but in general I consider those pretty resilient. Now, I don't
know, four years in the garage of storage, Yeah, that's probably stretching
things. But in general, it's just a little bit of warm temperature in
and of itself for most of those is not going to be a problem.
Now, if you have microbial content and it gets hot enough, a lot
of our organics and even some of the others have some microbial content there.
I would avoid, you know, that excess. It's still going to be
a good fertilizer, but you can at certain temperatures start to shut down that
microbe. Okay, I don't know if that's I was most concerned about I'm
most concerned about some of these, you know, models of different things.
Yeah, not so much. The bags of soil or composts or low or
anything like that. Are masquito gulfs? Are they affected as for a year
or two? Well, I know the devil's in the details on that question.
So how hot, how long? Mosquito dunks are BT, which is
an organic compound that is a strain of BT that kills mosquito larvae. And
so I would put anything like that indoors. I would just store it indoors.
I mean, you know, if you had some super toxic compound or
whatever they didn't want in the house, that would be different. But the
heat doesn't do those bottled products any good. Alrighty, right right, thanks
you so much. All right, any appreciate you got. Thanks for the
call. I hope that helps. Speaking of bottled products, the product I
use for fertilizing in my house plants is a Microlife Biomatrix that's an orange label.
The nutrient content is seven to one three, which means seven percent nitrogen,
one percent phosphors, three percent potassium. Anytime you see three numbers on
a fertilizer bag, it's the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium in that
order. This product has beneficial microbes in it. So again, you know,
we're talking about storing something in blazing heat for an extended period time.
I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't do it. I keep it in the
house. I keep it under the sink in the house as a matter of
fact. And when I water house plants, I put some of that the
right amount into water and just water. With that water, it works super
super well. And all those beneficial microbes are also helpful for the soil because
roots need microbes. There's a relationship there that is very essential, and we
want to not destroy it, but even enhance it in order for our plants
to do their best. You know, house plants are basically foliage plants for
the most part, So that's seven percent nitrogen. That's a good level to
help keep them healthy and green and good beautiful vegetation. Now, outdoors,
that would be the Ocean Harvest Blue label. That's a four two three fish
based fertilizer. I again mix it in water and water with it. You
can also mix it up and use it as a folior spray. It's not
gonna burn your plants. Just just follow the label. It works super well.
I like to use it outdoor because being fish based, there's a slight
odor to it. But we've known for a long time that fish based fertilizers
are rocket fuel for plants, very very very helpful for plants. So Harvest
label, Ocean Harvest Blue label, Biomatrix Orange label. Those are the two
I think you should have on hand. You can get them from Microlife.
You know, Microlife fertilizers are available on a lot of places. If you
go online to Microlife Fertilizer dot com you can find out the different places that
they have and you can buy it. And that is in most of the
places I talk about here on garden Line. Well, you've been listening to
a good show today because we had a great guest today. We've got a
lot of good information. You know, on guarden Line we are here every
Saturday and Sunday six am to ten am, so that's eight hours a weekend
that you can call in and get gardening advice or just listening for gardening advice.
I hope you tell your friends about it. We always love to have
more listeners, more interest in the show. You have people that live somewhere.
I'd had a call from Georgia today. I'm crying out loud coming in.
Tell your friends and neighbors about garden Line. If you miss a show,
you can hear us by podcast. Whether you have the iHeartMedia podcast app
or some other podcast app. Search for garden Line here in Houston, Texas,
and you can listen to past shows. Maybe you heard me say those
two fertilizers just a minute ago, and you go, what was that?
I didn't write it down? We go listen to the past. Sure you
can hear that. You hear me give advice to people and recommend things.
Another good reason I love podcasts because gosh, these past two weeks I have
driven all over Texas for various sort of culture of and boy, I listened
all wins. Your time is education time for me when I hit somewhere because
of all the great podcasts that we can listen to. Thank you for being
a listener to Gardenline. We look forward to talking to you again next Saturday morning.