The full pdf copy of this edition is available here. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE By Glenn Parsons Hello Master Gardeners and Friends, As I am sitting here writing this message, the annual plant sale is just one week away. Many of you have put several tedious hours into planning, digging and potting plants, making yard-art items, and a host of other jobs in preparation for this event. By the time you read this, the plant sale will be over and hopefully we will all be pleased with our success. As always, I have been very impressed with the dedication and hard work by many members of our group. I have spoken with many of you over the past few weeks and our conversations seem to always touch on the lack of rainfall. All things considered, it appears we gardeners are in for a very dry and hot summer. Since the development of…
Got Ants on Your Feeders? & Other Hummingbird Info
It’s so easy to keep ants off your hummingbird feeders. I often hear people say they can’t feed the hummingbirds because the ants take over the feeder. The solution is simple. Use an ant moat! An ant moat is a very small water barrier the ant has to cross before it gets to the feeder. The ants will not swim the distance of ½ inch to get to the sugar water. Some ant moats are separate from the feeder. (Imagine a spray paint can lid turned upside down with a hook on the inside and the outside.) Fill the moat with water and place the moat between the hummingbird feeder and the hook where you usually hang the feeder. My favorite feeder has the ant moat built in. This feeder is called the HummZinger and is available at the local bird stores.* This is easiest of all the feeders to…
Mycorrhizal Inoculation: Does It Benefit Plant Growth?
Mycorrhizal (pronounced my-core-RYE-zall) fungi have a mutualistic relationship with the plant roots that they colonize. The tiny strands of the fungi or mycelia extend far into the soil and become extensions of the plant’s root system. The mycelia increase the surface absorbing area of the roots by one to two orders of magnitude (10 to 100 times) thereby greatly increasing the plants ability to utilize soil nutrients and water absorption. Several miles of mycelium can be found in a thimble full of soil. According to Michael Miller, senior soil scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, “Basically, 90 percent of the world’s vascular plants belong to families that have symbiotic associations with mycorrhizal fungi.” The mycorrhizal fungi increase nutrient uptake not only by increasing the surface absorbing root area but also by chemically dissolving phosphorus, iron, and other tightly bond soil nutrients. Due to the extensive network…