Fall Is The Ideal Time To Plant Trees
I will not focus on a particular species for this newsarticle but rather discuss the time to plant. Many think that when the weather begins to warm up in the spring that this is the best time to plant trees. It is alright to plant at that time, but the ideal time is the fall.
The reason and advantage to planting trees in the fall is it allows the plant to establish a root system in the new soil long before shoot growth is initiated the next spring.
Root activity takes place in relatively cool soil even though the top (shoot) is not actively growing. Also, usually less supplementary water will be required in late fall and early winter.
As with planting trees, always dig the hole the same depth as the container it is in and twice the width. Plant the tree and fill the hole half full with soil and water well and let settle so no air pockets form. After the water has settled, apply the rest of the soil to fill the hole and water well again so no air pockets form.
We do not recommend a fertilizer to be put in the hole at planting. Let the tree establish itself for a growing season before fertilizing. Water well after planting and apply 2-3 inches of mulch to the area to conserve moisture, suppress weeds and keep weed-eater and lawnmowers away from the trunk area. Keep mulch 6 inches away from trunk area of tree.
Citrus Trees
If you grow citrus trees you probably had a high infestation of white flies and aphids this year. Left uncontrolled, you had a high amount of sooty mold on the leaves this year also.
Now you need to begin scouting your trees for plant bugs appearing on the fruit. They look like large stink bugs on the fruit. If you begin to see them on the fruit, you need to spray in early morning or near dusk.
Malathion is used to control this bug. If you have very large trees, it may take 2 – 4 gallons of spray mix to control them. The plant bugs puncture the citrus resulting in dry sections when picked. Heavy infestations can cause fruit drop.
If you have pecan trees around, they are affected also.
Winterizing Lawns
We often hear this term and you see bags of fertilizer that say winterizers.
You have to be careful with that term in our area. We generally do not recommend fertilizing our warm-season grasses after September as they will be getting ready to go into dormancy in the winter months.
When we say to winterize our lawns we want to use a product with little or no nitrogen and more potash. This is sold as muriate of potash which is 0-0-60. Apply at 1 to 2 pounds of muriate per 1,000 square feet. Do not apply northern winterizers that are high in nitrogen at this time. Applying 0-0-60 enhances tolerance to a broad range of environmental stresses, including cold damage. It basically toughens up the plant tissue for winter freezes.
Question – When is the best time to plant strawberries here?
Answer – Strawberries are planted in late October and November for fruiting the following spring.
Vegetables To Plant In October
Cabbage, broccoli (transplants), mustard, turnips, collards, kale, parsley, shallots, radishes, beets, spinach, leaf lettuce, Chinese cabbage, celery, onions, Swiss chard, garlic, carrots and endive.