Gardening Q&A

 

The leaves on my lemon tree are yellow and falling off. What am I doing wrong?

The most common cause of yellow leaves on citrus is lack of nitrogen. It's an easy fix. Fertilize your citrus three or four times a year. There are fertilizers specially formulated for citrus. If your lemon tree is growing in a container, remember that you are washing nutrients out the bottom of the pot every time you water it and you must be especially diligent about fertilizing the plant. 

 

My cucumbers are bitter. Why? I certainly don't want this to happen next year.

Some varieties are bitter—it's genetics. Did you switch varieties this year? The other culprit is watering. Cucumbers need plenty of deep watering.

 

 

I'm not going to be able to get my vegetables planted as early as I would like this year. Does that mean it's too late to plant a garden?

Absolutely not! Most California gardeners can't rely on the weather to be reliably mild until late April or early May, and most crops can be planted twice during any season, anyway. If the weather is getting hot by the time you get things planted, be sure to protect the seedlings from the hot afternoon sun until they are established. I use a piece of newspaper perched on top of a stick, or try those black, plastic flats you get from the nursery. They will block enough of the sun so young seedlings don't burn.

For the last two years my tomato plants, all heirloom varieties, have just up and died before the season ends. Entire parts of the plant wilt and turn brown. What's wrong?

It could be something as simple as your plants not getting enough water and the soil needing more organic matter. On the other hand, it could be a type of wilt that affects many tomato plants, especially heirloom varieties.

If you look at the label of hybrid types, it will likely say the plant is resistant to wilts such as verticillium and tobacco mosaic. Unfortunately, although some heirloom varieties are naturally resistant, many are not. If someone who is a smoker handles your tomato plants or smokes in the garden, the tobacco mosaic can become a problem. There is no way to save the plants. Take the entire plant and toss it in the garbage; do not compost the plant.

You might try covering that part of the garden with black plastic, to let the sunshine sterilize the soil. Don't plant your tomato plants in that area for several years. Switch tomato varieties until you find ones that are resistant to the diseases, or plant hybrid tomatoes that have been bred to resist them.

I understand your frustration. It's not an easy fix.

 

 


Bearded iris

Are there any beautiful plants I can put in my sunny garden that are very low water users that maybe need only occasional watering?

Absolutely. But the key is you have to plant early, in the fall or spring, and let them get a good root system growing. The first summer or two they will need regular watering, but you can probably get away with spot watering them once or twice a week. Keep an eye on how the leaves react; if they look droopy or stressed, give the plant some water. Here are a few plants I have in my garden that get no water during the summer, drought or not: lavender cotton (Santolina chamaecyparissus), rosemary, Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas), smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria) and bearded iris. One strategy is to plant these sorts of plants farther away from the house and to keep plants that need more care and water closer to the house, thus conserving water in most of the garden while still having beautiful plants to enjoy.

My cedar tree has dozens of little seedlings beneath it. I hate to pull them out and toss them in the compost. Can I transplant them or pot them up for friends?

Yes, absolutely. I would dig them up while the ground is still moist from spring rains, so you get as much of the root system as possible. Use a planting mix that has plenty of compost in it, and you'll likely need to water the pots once a day, perhaps more when it's really hot.

  

About Pat Rubin, California Bountiful's gardening expert

For Pat Rubin, gardening is more than just dirt and plants. "It's about history, romance, adventure and people," she says. "And it should be fun."

California Bountiful's gardening columnist has lived and chronicled this fun, hands-in-the-dirt approach for years—and for additional publications including Fine Gardening, Pacific Horticulture, Christian Science Monitor, Family Circle and The Sacramento Bee. Pat has also volunteered as a Master Gardener, speaks to garden clubs and appears regularly on gardening radio shows.

Need gardening advice? Ask the expert!