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Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Within the past 30-plus years, plant breeders have released blackberry varieties that lack thorns, have an upright growth habit, and produce large fruit.
Weed, disease, and insect management, as well as fertilization and pollination will be addressed.
If you wait until March or April to plant a vegetable garden, you will have missed the window for planting some of our cool-season veggies.
The sweet potato production cycle begins when sweet potatoes from the previous harvest season are planted in the spring, to produce slips for transplanting.
Seven individuals in Washington Parish recently advanced from being LMG Trainees to LMG Apprentices.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
Drift roses are groundcover roses. Like Knock Out roses, they bloom over a long period, but they remain smaller than Knock Out roses do.
Camellias are popular sources of color in fall and winter gardens in the southeastern US.
The blueberry varieties that have traditionally been planted in the Deep South are rabbiteye blueberries, with good reason.
Garlic and most types of bulb-forming onions need to be exposed to cool temperatures followed by longer days to form bulbs of the desired sizes.
To give the plant the best chance for survival, you must make sure that sufficient roots are retained when the plant is dug.
Updates for horticultural crop growers.
If you want long-term control of fire ants but also need to get rid of them quickly in one or more spots, you can take a two-step approach.
Exclusion should be the primary defense against indoor invaders of any kind.
Fall webworms feed on the leaves of many plants, with pecans, persimmons, bald cypresses, and sweetgums among the trees on which they’re most commonly observed.
Greens such as turnips, mustards, collards, and kale can be planted from mid-July through early November and again from late January through early May.
The first half of October is a good time to plant a winter cover crop in Louisiana.
Some of the plants most closely associated with the holidays are daylength sensitive. Exposure to long periods of darkness is a key to getting them to bloom.
Three highly wind-resistant species are among our most iconic Louisiana trees: bald cypress, live oak, and southern magnolia.
Mid-August through mid- to late-October is a time when many of our cool-season vegetables can be planted.
Orchids include species from a wide range of climates and with a variety of growth habits. The commonly sold Phalaenopsis orchids are relatively easy to grow.
Raised beds are often the best option for growing vegetables at home.
Here are some examples of herbaceous, summer-flowering plants that are perennial in our climate.
Like we do, plants need certain nutrients to live. It’s important that they have enough of each essential element but not an excessive amount of any one.
Plants often need supplemental nitrogen, in addition to what they would naturally be able to obtain from the soil, for optimal growth.
Complete fertilizers provide nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and are often useful. Sometimes, though, separate phosphorus and potassium sources are needed.
This article rounds out our discussion of macronutrients, or elements that plants contain in relatively large concentrations.
In most cases, micronutrient quantities naturally available in soil are sufficient, but there are situations in which micronutrient fertilization is needed.
Information about program and classes offered to become a Tangipahoa Parish Louisiana Master Gardener volunteer.
Hot temperatures restrict planting dates for some vegetables, but there are still quite a few vegetables that can be planted now and in the coming weeks.
Fire blight is a common problem of pears and apples and is sometimes seen on mayhaws, loquats, and other plants in the rose family.
There are websites that can help you find local produce.
A soil test is needed to know what your soil’s pH is and how much, if any, lime or sulfur is needed.
It’s helpful to know what poison ivy looks like.
Sedges are characterized by stems that are triangular in cross-section.
It's recommended that the warm-season turfgrasses commonly grown in Louisiana be fertilized between April and August.
Tips on staking plants, removing suckers, and avoiding blossom end rot, leaf diseases, and caterpillar damage.
April is late enough to avoid most frosts and early enough that plants are unlikely to experience excessively warm temperatures.
I’ve recently observed a variety of wildflowers blooming in my yard and neighborhood. You might have seen some of these, too.
While fall the preferred time to plant most types of tree and shrubs, planting in early spring is better than late spring or summer.
Some of the most important steps in disease management must be taken before planting.
The snap bean is another warm-season vegetable that can be planted relatively early in the year.
Sweet corn can be planted earlier than many other warm-season vegetables.
For woody plants and palms, waiting is advised.
Late winter and early spring, as the aboveground parts of plants start growing again, are good times to fertilize perennial plants in landscape beds.
If you’ve been thinking of planting a new citrus tree or have an older one that needs to be pruned or fertilized, February is a time to do these things.
Pre-emergence herbicides prevent weed seed germination.
Some products have similar trade names but contain active ingredients that have different effects.
Understanding how plants respond to pruning cuts can help you get plants to grow in the way that you desire.
A number of evergreen plants provide options for screening, depending on the desired height and width, how sunny or shady the site is, and how wet the area is.
If you’re going to use an herbicide, it’s important to do it while weeds are small.
Muscadines fruit on shoots that come from the previous season’s growth.
A primary criterion for choosing pecan varieties for yards and home orchards is resistance to pecan scab.
Composting is a way to take yard, garden, and kitchen “waste” and turn it into something useful.
Plants not suited to wet conditions often develop root rot or just don’t grow well in wet areas. Thankfully, we have options for wet spots.
Pears can be grown here, but selecting an appropriate variety is really important.
Each year, we face situations during which some of our plants could be injured by cold weather.
Mushrooms of Armillaria and Desarmillaria fungi, which cause root rot on a number of woody plants, often appear in the fall.
One way to add cheer to winter and early spring landscapes is to plant cool-season flowering plants.
Green, snow, and sugar snap peas can be planted between mid-September and January.
Muscadines are well-adapted to our climate.
It’s nice to have variety sometimes.
While native persimmons are astringent until ripe, some oriental persimmons are considered non-astringent and can be eaten while still fairly firm.
Staking is sometimes necessary but needs to be done appropriately to avoid injuring trees or predisposing them to breakage or windthrow later in life.
Fall is a good time to plant most trees and shrubs in Louisiana. It’s a good idea to soil test before making large investments in landscape plantings.
The second half of October is a good time to plant strawberries in our area.
Start watching for leaffooted bugs in August and keep a lookout for them as fruit ripens.
Figs are one of our more easy-to-grow fruit plants, although at this time of year, leaf diseases are often observed.
Roughly 99% of insects are not “pests.”
Few questions come up as frequently as those about lichens.
Sooty mold grows where insects have secreted a sugary substance called honeydew.
Scale insects can easily be mistaken for something else.
Most of our blackberry and blueberry plants have finished fruiting, so it’s time to think about pruning them and making a final fertilizer application.
