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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-05-09, Page 16Fertilize rust trees or high quality yields or lt e • Yes...We have Gold Star room air conditioners some models remote control Gold Star 10,000 BTU only $44900 May 1 to May 31 Save $50.00 • see store for details Cooljust Got &isle!' fk KG ELECTRONICS 4 Panasonic. jk-0711 ARP 192 Josephine St., Wingham 357-4173 http://stratfordweb.com/kge/ Repairs to all makes & models TV, VCR, stereo, microwave, satellite & antennae In-home services available 4 IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR AN OUTDOOR POWER PRODUCT THAT COMES COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED AND TESTED BEFORE YOU TAKE DELIVERY, AND, IS EASY TO BUY, ...YOUR CHOICE IS EASY. Whitei OUTDOOR . It's a fact. White Outdoor dealers will always glue you that little bit extra. Whether it's expert advice when you need it, or simply ensuring that the product you buy will be completely assembled and tested before you take delivery. And he'll always make it easy for you to buy White. In fact, he has two low interest finance plans to choose from... right now. Your choice is a simple one. DOV4 YOU'LL PAY ttcotati FittANCitig OILY 4.8%, 24 W1f4114 MAKIN %V 0#4 35 0040 flt4ANCi White* BERT'S SERVICE OUTDOOR 482-3800 246 Matilda St. Clinton So, see your White Outdoor dealer... today! YOU GET MORE WITH WHITE OUTDOOR... Bring in your lawn & garden equipment for a Spring Tune Up Now. Helpful tips to help you prevent pests, disease Nothing is worse than watching your hard work in the garden change from bright coloured flowers to yellow and brown wilting stems. To help prevent this from happening to you, here are a few tips to keep your garden healthy from gardening experts. • Invest time and material into topnotch soil. Good soil will ensure health- ier plants that are better able to ward off pests and disease. Work in plenty of sphagnum peat moss or compost - you'll be glad you did. • Water your garden in the morning instead of the evening. This allOws the plants to dry off quickly, preventing many fungal diseases. • Mulch with grass clippings, wood chips or other mulches as much as pos- sible. This will reduce the watering and weeding and prevent soil-borne pathogens from splashing onto plants during watering and rain. • Whenever possible, seek out disease resistant varieties of your favourite plants. Many tomatoes, for example, are bred to be resistant to blight and wilt disease. • Don't allow your plants to get too dry. This stresses them, and stressed plants attract pests and disease. , • Look at your plants daily. Get in the habit of taking a morning or evening 'stroll around the garden. Most problems can be stopped easily if detected early. • Pinch off diseased plant parts. This will often slow or even stop thelproh- lem. • Give plants the right light. Too much sun or too much shade stresses plants, making them more susceptible to problems. • Choose the right plants.' Pick plants that are well-suited to your region. Don't try to climatize fussy exotic plants that don't do well without exten- sive spraying, feeding, watering or other care. • Keep your garden well weeded. Not only will it look better, but plants that have to compete for sun, water and nutrients are more likely to get dis- eases and pests. Some common pests and diseases include: Aphids: Tiny green, yellow: or black insects that cluster on a plant's soli • stems, new leaves or flowers. Symptoms include curled leaves, stunted new growth and a sticky 'honeydew' on plants. Can often be seen by looking closely. Mealybugs: Clusters of these insects form white cotton-like masses on stems and leaf axils. If the infestation is heavy, growth is slowed and plant parts die. Scales: Hard, round or oval shell-like insects that adhere tightly to stems and leaf undersides. Cause stunted and distorted growth. Spider Mites: Tiny spiders -that form on leaf undersides and branch tips. Cause yellow or pale speckled foliage. Powdery Mildew: Powder-like white or gray areas that appear on tops of leaves. This fungus can be scraped off with your fingernail. Fusarium Wilt: Cause stunted, yellowing plants. infected stems, if cut open, will have black streaks. Blight: Includes several fungal diseases that include sudden and wide- spread wilting and browning. a. (61* it 04'4- • • , t, , • • - CLASSIFIEDS PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 9. 2001. When you are planning a fertiliza- tion program for fruit trees, your goal should be high yields of high-quality fruit for the life of your trees. It is possible to obtain above-normal yields for one year,. but succeeding crops could suffer as a result. While it is very important that nutrients be present in large enough quantities for the best tree growth and fruit production. the ratios of these nutrients is even more impor- tant. For example. fruit from trees with access to too much nitrogen and too little potash would be poorly coloured and have poor storage qual- ities. There are 13 essential nutrient ele- ments that come from the soil, and three elements that come from the air and water. A deficiency of. one of those essential nutrients will result in poor growth and perhaps even pre- cipitate the death of the tree. Nitrogen Most of the tree growth takes place in a six-to-eight-week period in the spring and early summer. Fruit buds for the following year are already formed before mid-July. For this rea- son, nitrogen requirements are high in the early part of the season since nitrogen stimulates growth and espe- cially fruit set. Too much nitrogen late in the sea- son may result in large poorly- coloured fruit that does not store .well. It may also cause increased winter injury of trees. Phosphorus Phosphorus deficiency is rare in fruit trees. since trees are better able to utilize soil phosphorus than other -plants. Phosphorus is. however. essential' for tree growth and fruit production. Potassium Fruit trees are heavy potassium feeders, and potassium deficiency is very common in fruit trees. Signs of deficiency are small (eaves which rend to curl. As the deficiency becomes more extreme, the edges of the leaves look scorched. Potassium increases hardiness and. disease resistance. Because it helps carry sugars within the tree, adequate potassium levels mean sweeter fruit. Calcium Trees may show calcium deficien- cy even though the soil in which they grow is 'high in calcium. Calcium avail;:ble to the tree through its root system sometimes moves too slowly through the tree. Calcium sprays are often recom- mended as a corrective measure. A deficiency of calcium will show up as bitter pit in apples. They will not store well. Magnesium After nitrogen and potassium, magnesium is the most common deficiency found in orchards. Apples deficient in magnesium will be small and immature in appearance. On some varieties, the fruit will drop prematurely. Micronutrients Other essential nutrients. micronu- trients such as iron. borob, zinc, cop- per. manganese, molybdenum and chlorine, are required in very minute amounts and are usually obtained from the soil. Fertilizing Testing the soil in which your fruit trees grow is the most reliable way to understand the nutrients available and the fertilizer needs. If it is not possible to do a soil test, use a fertil- izer-with a 1-1-2 ratio. A common tomato fertiliZer, such as 7-11-17, provides a good ratio for fruit trees. Make the first of two applications of this fertilizer in April. Punch holes under the drip line (the line around the tree where rain would drip from the branches/foliage) every 12 inch- es. The holes should be about nine inches deep. Pour fertilizer evenly into each hole according to this rule of thumb: one pound of fertilizer for every inch of diameter of trunk. Thus, a tree with a five-inch diam- eter trunk would require a total of five pounds of 7-I 1-17 divided even- ly among the punched holes. Top up the holes with sand or com- post. Repeat again before June I, at half the rate (i.e. half 4 pound of 7- 11-17 for each inch of diameter in the trunk.