044 Don't Overdose Your Plants with Fertilizer. Making raisins. Plants that smell great!

Can there be too much of a good thing? Yes, indeed, if we are talking about fertilizer for your outdoor fruit and vegetable plants. In fact, too much fertilizer can actually reduce the production of fruits and vegetables. Professor Debbie Flower tells us why. Every state in the union can grow table grapes. And this month, you just might have too many grapes, waiting to be picked. Unless you are a professional bird feeder, save those grapes for yourself by making raisins. One method involves using a dehydrator. We get tips on how to do that from a Master Gardener. With all the stuff that’s happening around us these days. We need to be transported more often to our happy place. Not only is a garden the happiest place on earth (sorry Disneyland) but if you have plants that produce enticing aromas, those delightful smells can calm you and send you to a peaceful place. We help make your garden a more relaxing place with plants that are a show for the nose, fragrant plants, like that winter daphne in the picture; and plants that are a show for the ears, after all, who doesn't enjoy the sound of hummingbirds whizzing by; or bees, landing on flowers? It’s all on Episode 44 of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred, and we will do it all in under 30 minutes.

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Transcript

Farmer Fred : 0:00

Garden Basics with Farmer Fred is brought to you by smart pots the original lightweight, long lasting fabric plant container. It's made in the USA visit smart pots.com slash Fred for more information and a special discount, that's smart pots.com slash Fred.

Farmer Fred : 0:20

Welcome to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. If you're just a beginning gardener or you want good gardening information, well, you've come to the right spot.

Farmer Fred : 0:32

Can there be too much of a good thing? Yes, indeed, if we're talking about fertilizer for your plants, in fact, too much fertilizer can actually reduce your production of fruits and vegetables. Professor Debbie Flower tells us why. Every state in the Union can grow table grapes. And this month, you just might have too many grapes and they're waiting to be picked. So unless you're a professional bird feeder, you may want to save those grapes for yourself by making raisins. We get tips on how to do that from a master gardener. With all the stuff that's happening around us these days, we need to be transported more often to our happy place. Not only is a garden the happiest place on earth, (sorry, Disneyland), but if you have plants that produce enticing aromas, those delightful smells can calm you down and send you to a peaceful place. It's all on episode 44 of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred and we're gonna do it all in under 30 minutes. Let's go.

Farmer Fred : 1:33

We like to answer your garden questions here on the garden basics podcast and I always like to bring in the big guns to answer the questions here. And that would be Debbie Flower, College horticultural Professor (retired) who, who knows a lot and is willing to share it with us, and we appreciate her presence via the telephone to help us with these questions. And Debbie, Marian has a question about her string beans that are on a trellis. She said, "They're doing great except I have had only five string beans." I don't think that's doing great. She says there are flowers. She says there are flowers all over. She mentions using a fertilizer I won't mention the brand name. But in my mind, it's always a miracle anything grows with this fertilizer because there's just so much nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. In this particular water soluble fertilizer.

Debbie Flower : 2:26

,a lot of salt, and if we put too many salts, salts are charged particles. If you put two ions, plants absorb their nutrients as ions you put too many actuallya salt is something that dissolves in water. That's a definition of salt. But Plants absorb their nutrients as ions which are charged particles. And if you put too many salts, too many nutrients in the soil of that contains plant roots. Plants can't absorb the nutrients. There's so much salt that they actually The contents of their vascular system out into the soil, the whole direction of movement of water reverses and the plant puts the water out into the soil instead of absorbing it into the plant. That's a process called osmosis. If you're making a cucumber salad, sometimes the recipe will say to slice the cucumbers and put them in a bowl, add some salt, and let that mixture just sort of sit for about an hour, then you come back and you'll find that there's a puddle of water under the cucumbers. And that is the osmosis process working where the salt on the outside of the cucumber causes the water in the cucumbers to come out and you pour that off and then your salad is less mushy. That same thing can happen around plant roots with high what we call high analysis, fertilizers, fertilizers, where the numbers on the bag are double digits.

Farmer Fred : 3:56

Are you suggesting that if you use these hi Energy fertilizers that have double digit NPK in them that after fertilization you may want to water the plant again to push that fertilizer down?

Debbie Flower : 4:13

Well, you certainly don't want to apply them too often, you don't want to mix them anymore. concentrated bend the directions recommend an America we often think a little is good a lot is better. And that is not true with fertilizer. If it says a tablespoon per gallon, then don't do any more than a tablespoon per gallon. In fact, it's much better if you do less, apply it only to wet soil to water First, apply only as much as is recommended or less and apply it only as frequently as recommended on the label or less frequently. We've often new and I've often used the term "weekly, weakly", particularly for containerized plants that don't have the opportunity descend their roots long distances and collect nutrients from afar. But if you are fertilizing your vegetable garden, the same would apply there and it means fertilize every week. And do it with a very low concentration of fertilizer. So less comes less fertilizer per gallon of water then is recommended on the label. So that's the other kind of weeks w e, aka so weekly, weekly. But yes, if you've applied it and it's just haven't done any of the things recommended, absolutely. Add some water to dilute it is your goal. You don't want the fertilizer very strong.

Farmer Fred : 5:37

I'm just wondering how many people actually use the measuring device that's included in those fertilizers?

Debbie Flower : 5:42

That can be a problem. Yep. And when when the analysis is very high double digit that then you're setting yourself up for problems.

Farmer Fred : 5:52

Well, now one of the more common formulas for a water soluble synthetic fertilizer and there's one particular brand we're talking about that was used on the string beans. They're all purpose plant food has an NPK, a nitrogen phosphorus potassium content of 24-8-16. I like to see that eight, that's for sure because there's a lot of phosphorus around and it's just wasted if it doesn't get used by the plant and can end up heading for streams and other waterways where you don't want it to go. But that 24% nitrogen, I just don't understand why you would feed a plant that much nitrogen when it would be very happy with, say 5%

Debbie Flower : 6:36

right 24 it's not 30 but it's still a very, very high number. And in general, the only place I could see using something with that much nitrogen is if I were in a production greenhouse and I had scheduled to produce a plant and a very quick time. And then I would be babying that plant I would be you know the environment has to be just perfect. The pest control has to be just perfect. Because but with that much nitrogen you're gonna have lots of new growth new growth is very susceptible to many sucking insects. It's in the in the industry I could see using it but in my garden even in my containers, especially in my containers, I wouldn't use it because it would build up so fast it would cause problems with the with the plant can actually cause burning. I burned a field was in a field like corn patch

Farmer Fred : 7:26

It gets bigger every time you tell the story.

Debbie Flower : 7:29

Yeah, it's like those fish stories, right? I had a patch of corn when I lived in Oregon and I applied ammonium sulfate which is or was ammonium nitrate. I think it was I don't remember which it was ammonium nitrate is not sold anymore in the US as a fertilizer. And that is 20% nitrogen and I burned the corn and corn is a high nitrogen feeder. I saw dead stripes in the Leafs and that's what it was from. So it's very easy to damage to a plant when the analysis of nitrogen is that high in the fertilizer, I'm a little concerned about how dense this plant is. I wonder if she planted a lot of beans you know initially bean packet will say plant them two inches apart in the ground and next to the trellis, but then usually goes on to say fin them to, in this case, I would think about a foot apart. She may have just too much plant too much being planted there. And, and competition when you plant vegetable producing plants too close together, nobody will produce. And so the where we're seeing the flowers and the beans is on the end of this scrim of plants where those roots have a chance to go off in their own direction and the competition is not so tough.

Farmer Fred : 8:45

Yeah, you were you're kind to give them 12 inches of spacing between the plants. I'm looking at the directions for one variety of green beans here and it says sow seeds about one inch deep and three inches apart when the plants are a few inches tall. All thin them to at least 18 inches apart for but that's for bush varieties and for pole beans and I'm thinking this is a pole bean, I would assume so it's certainly grown tall. All right, well that and they're saying four inches apart for pole varieties.

Debbie Flower : 9:15

So to me that's too close together. Yeah, I wouldn't do that. I don't know why they put that on the packet but four inches gives you room for a stem and two leaves and nothing more, but even pole beans branch and so that giving them space so that they can get their own nutrition and spacing plant so that if you get an insect, the beneficial insect that's going to take care of it for you can get to that insect there aren't so many hiding places. You don't trap water or moisture or dew or rain in the leaves, which can lead to fungal and bacterial diseases. spacing plants further apart. Almost always I can't think of I'm seeing almost but I can't think of a case where it doesn't lead to healthier plants all the way around.

Farmer Fred : 10:06

And again, look at the planting space that these beans are trellis along a fence. It's that typical space between a fence and a walkway of maybe 12 inches.

Debbie Flower : 10:18

Yes very little root system space. Yes.

Farmer Fred : 10:22

Right and we don't know what was there before or what may be on the other side of the fence as well that may be competing down in the soil.

Debbie Flower : 10:31

True and we don't know we see there is sun on the fence and shade on the on the concrete at the moment, but we don't know what time of day this picture is taken or what direction that plant is facing, but it could be getting tremendous amounts of heat from sun period, but also reflected sun off of the concrete and office in nearby sense, fences are less of a problem but and and that he can lead to Local temperatures being above about 86 degrees, 90 degrees and the pollen in the bean then will not be viable will not have life. And so the bean will not produce the flower may occur. But if the pollen is dead, and you will never get a green bean out of that flower.

Farmer Fred : 11:19

So maybe Marian next time maybe space the beans a little further apart, maybe try it on the fence again. But space the beans a little further apart and maybe dilute that fertilizer you're using to maybe one third of what you may have been using. Yes. Measure. Yeah. And maybe that because too much nitrogen, as we've talked about can inhibit the fruit production.

Debbie Flower : 11:47

Right. And there are certainly lots of leaves in this picture. Yeah. Yeah. Sounds good. I like your recommendations. Fred.

Farmer Fred : 11:54

Thanks. I'll send Marian a bill in the morning. Okay, but Debbie, you put us on the right track again. Thank you so much for your help.

Debbie Flower : 12:03

Oh, always My pleasure. Thank you.

Farmer Fred : 12:05

That's Debbie Flower, College horticulture Professor (retired).

Farmer Fred : 12:14

We're glad to have smart pots on board supporting the garden basics podcast. Smart pots are the original award winning fabric planter. They're sold worldwide. smart pots are proudly made 100% in the USA. I'm pretty picky about who I allowed to advertise on this program. My criteria, though, is pretty simple. It has to be a product I like; a product I use; a product I would buy again. And smart pots clicks all those boxes. They're durable. They're reusable. Smart Pots are available at independent garden centers and select Ace and true value stores nationwide. To find a store near you visit smart pots.com slash Fred. It's smart pots, the original award winning fabric planter. go to smartpots dot com slash Fred for more info and that special farmer Fred discount on your next smart pot purchase, go to smartpots.com slash Fred.

Farmer Fred : 13:13

there's several ways to reach us here at the garden basics podcast. call or text us at 916-292-8964 that's 916-292-8964 email your questions and pictures to Fred at farmerfred.com dot com or post your garden queries at the get growing with farmer Fred Facebook page or @FarmerFred on Twitter.

Farmer Fred : 13:44

We've moved on over to the grape section here at the Fair Oaks horticulture center. It's September and you know if you leave grapes out in the sun they become raisins and (Master Gardener) Catherine Barkett, you've got how many varieties of raisins here today

Catherine Barkett : 13:58

we have four varieties of raisins, Fred and we have about nine varieties.

Farmer Fred : 14:03

Exactly. And many are seedless. Some have seeds, and I would hope that these raisins are seedless.

Catherine Barkett : 14:08

The ones we have are seedless, but you can make raisins out of grapes with seeds. Imagine putting them into an oatmeal raisin cookie, it just adds a little crunch.

Farmer Fred : 14:18

So you can bite into them.

Catherine Barkett : 14:20

Yes, yes, absolutely.

Farmer Fred : 14:22

So how did you make these raisins?

Catherine Barkett : 14:24

Well, you know, raisins can be made in three ways. The sun is a wonderful way to make raisins. And the industry itself actually puts the raisin clusters out on big paper trays in between the rows, or they let them dry right on the vine. And if people come up, they can see that starting to happen here on the Thompson seedless where some of the clusters are drying into raisins on the vine,

Farmer Fred : 14:48

but we should also point out that all of those raisins are in bags to keep them from the birds.

Catherine Barkett : 14:53

Exactly. The third way you can make raisins is to use a mechanical device like a dehydrator and we have one here To show people and you can, you can fit a lot of raisins in the big ones and you in here's the process you go through. You pick the grapes, make sure they're ripe. And then you wash them underwater, you don't put them in a pot of water because if you do that, any bacteria or anything that's on the grape itself will still be in that water. So you want the water to go on through and wash everything off. You take the little stems off if they're sticking on and then you do what's called checking and checking is when you plunge the grapes into hot water for 30 to 60 seconds or you can go a little longer they're very forgiving, and then you plunge them into ice water. Isn't that called blanching. It doesn't actually blanch the the grapes, they might get a tiny bit lighter but you can't really see that. But what it does for grapes is it splits the skin and then they dry much more evenly and faster.

Farmer Fred : 15:57

That would be easier than cutting them in half.

Catherine Barkett : 16:00

Yeah, and cutting them in half. I tried that and you get a really flat raisin and you want some depth to it, some chewiness then you let those dry on paper towels and you put them in your dehydrator and you turn them on to a temperature of 135 and it takes 24 to 48 hours, maybe even a little longer in my dehydrator. Now, people's ovens or dehydrators might differ a little bit.

Farmer Fred : 16:24

So many things that you put in the dehydrator will start off at a higher temperature and then after an hour or two you drop it to a lower temperature but this is a constant 135

Catherine Barkett : 16:32

That's correct. It's low and slow. Yeah.

Farmer Fred : 16:34

And then how do you store them?

Catherine Barkett : 16:36

you store them in the freezer and I'm glad you asked that because the freezer has a pasteurizing effect where it will continue to make sure that no bacteria enter that that raisin and it will be healthy.

Farmer Fred : 16:49

Would you put it in vacuum sealed bags?

Catherine Barkett : 16:51

I do, yeah or ziplocks try to you know stuff the ziplocks really full

Farmer Fred : 16:56

probably in increments that the family will eat on a regular basis.

Catherine Barkett : 17:01

you know when I made the this suffering Suffolk Red we call it raisins at home. I could not keep them on the counter. I was filling a bowl an hour practically and my boys just loved them.

Farmer Fred : 17:15

Well, yeah, they're teenagers.

Catherine Barkett : 17:18

right. and they're sweet. They are sweet. And you'll find you'll find a lot of variety in the raisins themselves.

Farmer Fred : 17:25

What varieties make for the best raisins?

Catherine Barkett : 17:28

Well, I agree with you, that's most people like seedless. And the bigger the berry, the bigger the raisin. If you get, you're probably familiar with the xante currant that people use at Christmas time to put in fruit cakes and things. That's a little tiny raisin and so that can be used to but I prefer the larger ones. And really, they all make excellent raisins. It doesn't matter what you have.

Farmer Fred : 17:54

I'm going to nail you down on this. name some names here of some big grapes that we can grow here that make good grapes.

Catherine Barkett : 18:00

Well the Thompson seedless is the number one growing Raisin in California and California is the raisin capital of the world. I like to say particularly the Fresno area. But the 80% of raisins are Thompson seedless, so that's definitely a good one. We haven't tried the sweet Scarlet but it's an excellent, sweet red grape and I think that would make a super raisin. And the reason we haven't tried it is it's new for us. Just a third year so we have a fresh cluster.

Farmer Fred : 18:29

Two other popular homegrown varieties in our area are Ruby and Flame. Do they make good raisins?

Catherine Barkett : 18:35

Excellent, they're excellent raisins. We have four here for people to try. Let's see what what they are. We have the summer royal, Thomcord, The Muscat and the black emerald.

Farmer Fred : 18:50

I would think the muscat would have the seed.

Catherine Barkett : 18:53

Muscat does have a seed.

Farmer Fred : 18:54

Well, I got a taste of raisin that has a seed in it.

Catherine Barkett : 18:57

Good. Try that.

Farmer Fred : 18:58

Do you have any one of those, please? Just pour it my hand and let's see what happens. If I start choking. I know who to sue. I don't taste any seed.

Catherine Barkett : 19:09

What happened? Well, sometimes the seed pretty much dries up in there with the raisin and particularly if it had an insignificant seed, the thomcord doesn't have seeds. Try the black Emerald.

Farmer Fred : 19:21

All right, the black Emerald. Black Emerald. Very tasty. It is good.

Catherine Barkett : 19:25

And I forgot to mention when people ask me how do you know when they're ready when the raisins are ready? You do it by feel? Of course you can taste as well but I feel they have a nice little rubbery feel. They're not hard yet.

Farmer Fred : 19:39

Okay. It's hard would be too late. Yes. What would be what would be too soon?

Catherine Barkett : 19:43

Too soon as if they stick to your fingers when you touch them. There's still a lot of oozing of the juices coming out.

Farmer Fred : 19:49

All right, but again, that was at 135 for 24 hours or a bit more.

Catherine Barkett : 19:54

Yes, in my dehydrator. It takes 48.

Farmer Fred : 19:57

all right. There you go something to attract ants. No, but it's it's grapes that you make into raisins and it's a tasty treat and keep them in the freezer. Bring them out and you've got a year round treat.

Catherine Barkett : 20:09

Exactly. Put them in your kids lunches if they last that long.

Farmer Fred : 20:14

Or your breakfast cereal. That's right, excellent. (Master Gardener) Katherine Barkett has given us the lowdown on raisins here at the Fair Oaks horticulture center. Thanks for a few minutes of your time.

Catherine Barkett : 20:22

Thank you, Fred.

Farmer Fred : 20:29

The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast has a lot of information posted at each episode. transcripts links to any products or books mentioned during the show and other helpful links for even more information. Plus, you can listen to just the portions of the show that interest you. It's been divided into easily accessible chapters and you'll find more information about how to get in touch with us. We have links to all our social media outlets, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Also a link to the farmer fred.com website. That's where You can find out more information about the radio shows. You remember radio right now is the place where you access the podcast doesn't have that information. You can find it all at our home. podcaster buzzsprout buzzsprout.com just look for the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast you'll find a link to it in the show notes.

Farmer Fred : 21:26

Finally, during these, shall we say uncertain times, let the garden be your natural Valium, a place for you to go to relax and joy and smile. an Oasis filled with tasty treats and eye catching flowers. But don't ignore making your other senses happy as well. And I mean your nose and your ears. Really, a show for the nose? Well, let's talk about that. The familiar aroma of a fragrant flower or a crushed leaf of a fragrant plant can transport you back in time. It's an instant vacation to your happy place. Put those fragrant plants where you will enjoy them the most. Maybe right outside your front door or your backyard patio. I'm sure you're familiar with fragrant roses and among the fragrant roses try the David Austin line of roses. Many of you may have gardenias with their perfume like aroma every spring and summer. Well, here are some shows for the nose you may not be aware of. All of these will do well here in California. And if you have a mild climate where you live, I bet many of these will do well there, too. Star Jasmine. It's not a true Jasmine. But it's a popular evergreen twining vine. It's most noted for the fragrance of its small white flowers in the spring. It can be used against a trellis or as a spreading groundcover it does well with afternoon shade and regular water and star Jasmine are very attractive to bees. Now just to make sure there was no confusion. The botanical name for Star Jasmine is a real tongue twister. Tricky low spermine I can't even say it. true. Low sperma jazz Benoit ease. I'll say that again. Cuz it's fun. trachelospermum jasminoides. one of my favorite shows for the nose is the banana shrub. Now I'm not talking about a banana plant that grows something you peel and eat. the banana shrub is actually in the Magnolia family. the botanical name is Magnolia Figo. It's an evergreen shrub. It has small yet very fragrant pink or cream colored flowers during mid spring. And why is it called a banana shrub? Well, one whiff, and you just might be reminded of the aroma of Juicy Fruit gum which has kind of a banana scent to it. One of my favorite plants for a shady area, especially right outside the door is Winter Daphne, Daphne odora. This evergreen shrub solves two vexing garden problems. It's a plant that thrives in full shade, and produces fragrant blooms in the dead of winter. Winter Daphne. it'll do well in milder areas of the west and the south. A plant that does well anywhere is tuberose. the blooms of this perennial tuber, which is a native Mexico will fill your backyard with a heady scent during summer evenings. It has grass like leaves that can get to three feet tall, but the white tubular flowers which are clustered at the top have this delightful aroma. It's a good choice for containers so you can move it indoors if it gets too cold and then set it back out when the weather gets warmer. The tuberose needs regular water to look its best. Another one with a name that describes it all: sweet box. It's an evergreen shrub for shady areas sweet boxes that it's most fragrant during late winter and early spring. And the botanical name for sweet box is sarcococca. there's plenty more shows for the nose that I don't have time to talk about, like winter sweet, white evening primrose, flowering tobacco or sweet Olive, but don't forget the evergreen shrubs and herbs that can provide enticing aroma when their leaves are crushed, and that includes sweetbay, rosemary, and cilantro. Now what's this about a garden show for the ears? I don't know about you but whenever I hear the buzzing of a bumblebee or a native bee, or the quick wing flapping of hummingbirds, I get a big smile. And I bet you will too. by the way, to attract native bees to your yard, just put in native plants. Among the general plants that bees like the list includes catnip, oregano, cosmos, rosemary, lavender, sunflowers bottlebrush, and a lot more. Hummingbird attractive plants are everywhere. They love any plant with tubular shaped flowers. My favorite right now is the flowering maple, the abutilon, which thrives in the warmer areas of most of the Sunbelt states. Other Hummingbird attractive plants include lavender hibiscus, just about any variety of sage, bottlebrush, the butterfly bush, citrus plants, the flowering crab apple tree like Santana, aloe vera, begonias, fuchsias, Columbine, coral bells, day lilies, gladiolas, impatiens, hollyhock, the Peruvian Lily also known as the alstromeria, petunias, snapdragons, zinnias, trumpet vine, Morning Glory, ... well you get the idea. hummingbirds like a lot of plants. More information and links about the garden plants that are a show for the nose and the ears is available in today's show description for the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. You better believe it. a garden is a treat for your eyes. But don't forget about pleasing your nose and ears, too, when you walk out into the yard. Be sure to leave a comment or rating of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred wherever you get your podcasts and please share it with your garden friends. I appreciate it.

Farmer Fred : 26:48

garden basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday and it's available just about anywhere podcasts are handed out and that includes Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, I Heart Radio, overcast, Spotify, stitcher, tune in, and hey Alexa, play the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, Would you please? Thank you for listening, subscribing and leaving comments.