GB 099 Ants. Roses. Vacations vs. Your Garden
28:43 May 4, 2021
SPEAKERS
Debbie Flower, Warren Roberts, Farmer Fred
Farmer Fred 00:00
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 SmartPots.com slash Fred for more information and a special discount, that's SmartPots.com/Fred.
Farmer Fred 00:20
Welcome to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. If you're just a beginning gardener or you want good gardening information, you've come to the right spot.
Farmer Fred 00:32
Ants. They love to inhabit the soil in your outdoor potted plants, and maybe your indoor plants as well. And they aren't doing your plants any good. We have tips today for getting the ants out of your potted plants. We're talking roses as well, including the history of roses, which is only about 3000 years long. Hey, now that you're fully vaccinated and itching to take a vacation, don't forget your garden. We have suggestions and how to keep your garden looking good while you're away. It's all on episode 99 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, brought to you today by Smart Pots and Dave Wilson Nursery. And we'll do it all in under 30 minutes. Let's go.
Farmer Fred 01:19
We get emails we like to answer here on the Garden Basics podcast. And one comes in from Sarah, down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Debbie Flower is here, our favorite retired college horticultural professor. Sarah has ants. And she says, "I just discovered that a few of my fabric pots seem to have a colony of ants living in the soil. We just came out of a week of very heavy rain and the fabric plants drain well, so I'm thinking they moved inside to avoid drowning. Will they hurt my plants? They are currently in a few sweet pepper pots that don't seem to be doing much of anything. But they are also in my Cherokee purple tomato, which has a promising tomato forming. As you can imagine, that tomato is my most prized and celebrated thing in my world right now. So do those ants pose a threat?" Here's Debbie with the bad news.
Debbie Flower 02:09
I understand ants moving into pots, I've had it happen many times. And they often, when the pot gets watered, all the ants come out and climb up on the plants to stay away from the water. So I think you're thinking Sarah is right on. They moved into the pots because it was a less wet place to be. And that made for a better home. And so they're in there with their queen, and they're all organized, they have all have jobs and one of their jobs is to collect food. And so they tend to plant some insects that we don't want on our plants, insects like aphids and scale that produce something called honeydew. The aphids and scale put their mouthparts into the plant that to get the sap and the pressure inside the plant in that sap pushes it so hard into their mouths, they can't consume it all really fast. And so they have a special digestive system that lets some out untouched, and that's called honeydew. And that honeydew is Nirvana for the ants. And so they will tend the aphids and scale which we do not want on our plants. They're damaging to our plants in order to get that honeydew. So that's always my fear. When I see ants around my plants. And if they're living in the pot, they are right there. So yes, the bad news is that ants can tend to the bad insects that are potentially going to attack or are attacking your desirable plants. And boy, I would hate to see you lose that Cherokee purple tomato. So there are ant baits, most of them have boric acid or borate in them. And they you can put those baits, they're made for outside, they're made for inside there, they come in stakes. You need to follow the directions. The last ones I use said to put a little water in the hole in the stake and twist it around with a pencil or something. They're all different. So make sure you read the directions and install them per directions, but they're very effective. They also have some sugary substance like the honeydew is sugary in them, but they have a little bit of borax in them and that the ants will eat it and take some back to their queen. Borax is a drying agent. It is not harmful to your pets or you or a frog if it happens to live in there at the rates that are in that bait. And so they bring it back. The ants bring it back to their queen, the Queen has enough of it that she dries out and dies. And once the Queen dies, the colony disperses. So they'll find someplace else to go and they'll make a new Queen.
Farmer Fred 04:34
The other problem with having ants in those containers, too, are the tunnels. They're digging in. If you're trying to water those plants, the water could be running down those tunnels and out without doing your plant roots any good at all.
Debbie Flower 04:45
That's very true.
Farmer Fred 04:46
So that's one reason to get rid of them. What about using the powder form of the borate. Sometimes it's sold in containers called Roach Pruf. You could apply it to the surface. But then you have to water that container. So that's an issue. So I'm thinking the only way that would work is if you have drip irrigation, true drip in that container, would you be able to apply the borate? And the answer would be able to get to it without it basically getting wet and dissolving.
Debbie Flower 05:17
Boy, I don't know enough about the borate to do that, you could try just putting it on the surface. I know you've used it on the surface of piled mulch, that where the ants move and they do like that open texture and leave it for a little bit and the ants die or move out so I think he could do it certainly worth a try. The boric acid or Roach Pruf is not very expensive. It's available at your garden center. And it comes in a usually round bottle. Usually there's it's white, and there's some red on the label. And Roach Pruf is one brand. Put it on the surface. And if you'd hand watering, water it in and see what happens, see if the ants. It won't happen immediately. It's not like a contact pesticide where it touches the ant, the ant falls over, and dies immediately. It takes how long, two weeks?
Farmer Fred 06:04
Yeah, it takes a couple of weeks. Be patient with that, right? What I might try is watering that container thoroughly. And then sprinkling the roach Pruf or the borate on top of the soil because that soaking may force the ants up. And then they realize oh boy, we're in the restaurant now. And right now they stay there and really cover themselves in it.
Debbie Flower 06:25
Right The boric acid itself will not be eaten by the ants, but it will cover their bodies and it causes them to dehydrate.
Farmer Fred 06:33
You know, another thing too, we've been saying all along is oh yeah, you can find these borate ant control products very commonly. It's not as common as it used to be. It's amazing the number of ant baits that have synthetic ingredients on shelves. And so you really have to read those small print labels to make sure it says something about borax or borate or orthoborate to make sure it has it in it. If it's a word that you can't pronounce, keep looking.
Debbie Flower 07:05
So there's always an active ingredient section on the label that's by law could be on the front, it could be on the back. And it'll list the active ingredient, which as Fred just listed, the ones you want to look for. And it might have more than one if it has a second one. And as Fred said, If you can't pronounce it, it's a synthetic and then it will say not inert ingredients and that'll be the majority of what's in there. But you don't want that second can't pronounce word you just want borate, orthoborate, borax, and then inner ingredients.
Farmer Fred 07:33
There are also liquid boric acid products available that you can put in refillable containers usually diluted with water and you could put those outside those fabric containers to attract the ants. Yes.
Debbie Flower 07:46
And you might then see a line of them crawling down the pot if you can visualize ants on a black fabric pot.
Farmer Fred 07:53
But they come in colors now.
Debbie Flower 07:55
Oh, the fabric pots. Yes. How cool is that? So you can see the answer may be climbing down or out the drain holes or something and they'll feed it that bait station like pigs at a trough that it's just the best thing since sliced bread for them. And then they take it back to the queen and if you really want the ants to move out, you've got to get that Queen.
Farmer Fred 08:15
Go to smart pots.com slash Fred to see all the colors available in fabric pots.
Farmer Fred 08:22
Sarah, we hope that helps. Yeah, you don't want to ants in those containers. Good luck. Debbie, thanks so much.
Debbie Flower 08:27
It's a pleasure.
Farmer Fred 08:33
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Farmer Fred 09:32
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Farmer Fred 10:20
For many of us full vaccination means that very soon we are going to be traveling again. We'll be visiting friends and family that we haven't seen in over a year. If you're thinking of rushing out the front door in the near future or during the hot summer months ahead, be sure to plan ahead to ensure that your garden will thrive while you're away. Your garden is always hard at work, it doesn't get a vacation. It's growing leaves, food, and flowers and your lawn doesn't know you're away either. It's going to keep growing. If you plan on being away for an extended period during the coming warm weather months, a little garden labor now and some judicious irrigation planning will ensure a healthy yard when you return. Here are some tips for before you go on vacation. Plants in containers can suffer if the soil is allowed to dry out and that can be in as little as 24 hours during a heatwave. To help ensure that doesn't happen, raise those pots off of the hot concrete surfaces. Use a plant stand or strips of wood. Outdoor potted plants and hanging plants should be moved to cooler shady areas or areas such as the north or east side of your house or beneath a patio cover before you leave. Placing plants close together can help keep those containers cooler as well. Add a few inches of mulch if there's room in the top of the container that'll help preserve moisture for your favorite outdoor potted plants. hook up a battery operated timer to a faucet, install a drip system or micro sprayers in those containers and make sure it works. Be sure to water the soil around your garden plants deeply the day before you leave. A few inches of compost or mulch on top of the soil will help keep the area from drying out prematurely. For more blossoms to welcome you when you get home, snip off the faded flowers or the dead rose blooms before going on vacation. Another group that doesn't go on vacations, slugs and snails, they'll be nibbling on your plants while you're gone. Apply a granular snail killer product that contains iron phosphate as the active ingredient. Don't invite trouble with an overgrown front yard lawn. Mow and trim the front lawn the day before you leave. If you're going to be away for an extended period of time, have a friend or neighbor mow your front lawn and also keep an eye out for any malfunctioning sprinklers, if you have an irrigation system. Don't fertilize the lawn or garden before you leave. That extra nitrogen will just force a spurt of growth on the plants and that will require more water. Run the automatic irrigation system manually during the day before you leave to check that everything is working properly. Repair any broken or damaged sprinklers, as well as sprayers and drip lines. And don't forget about your indoor garden as well. Before you leave on that vacation, water all your houseplants thoroughly. Place the plants out of direct sunlight. And this will help the plants retain moisture while you're away. And by the way, have fun.
Farmer Fred 13:19
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. Plus you’ll find more information about how to get in touch with us. Leave an audio question without making a phone call via Speakpipe, at speak pipe dot com slash gardenbasics. it’s easy, give it a try. And you just might hear your voice on the Garden Basics podcast! If you’re listening to us via Apple podcasts, put your question in the Ratings and Reviews section. Text us the question and pictures, or leave us your question at: 916-292-8964.916-292-8964. E-mail: fred@farmerfred.com . If you tell us where you’re from, that will help us greatly to accurately answer your garden questions. Because all gardening is local. In the show notes you’ll find links to all our social media outlets, including facebook, instagram, twitter, and youtube. Also, a link to the farmerfred.com website. And thanks for listening.
Farmer Fred 14:42
Here on the Garden Basics podcast we like to answer your garden questions. Recently, Holly wrote in with a picture to the Get Growing with Farmer Fred Facebook page and left this for Debbie. So I guess Debbie will be answering the question. Debbie Flower, retired college horticultural professor is with us. Holly asks Debbie, any idea what's causing this mutation? By the way, it just occurred to me that she might be referring to master rosarian Debbie Arrington but I feel you're qualified to to answer this as well, Debbie Flower.
Debbie Flower 15:18
Oh no. Debbie Arrington definitely knows her roses, yes.
Farmer Fred 15:21
And any idea what's causing this mutation and the picture is of a very distorted red rose flower.
Debbie Flower 15:30
It's a red rose flower. And then in the center, there are some green parts. And I suspect what's happening is something called proliferation, or bull heading, and it is a mutation. It happens typically just to the first roses that appear on a plant in spring. Its cause is not well known, not understood. But once that is, you deadhead, meaning you remove the spent flower of the rose, the next set of roses that come up on that plant will probably not have the problem. Some cultivars, or types of roses are more prone to this problem than others. But it typically only happens in spring. Now, one thing to maybe understand is that flowers are modified leaves, and they've been modified in nature to attract the pollinator. And sometimes we'll see green come up in the middle of a flower. And that's just one of those petals that didn't get modified, it just came out as a leaf. But in bull heading and proliferation, it's the cells, they're called the apical cells, the apex is the tip. So the cells at the tip of the branch or the tip of the flower, continue to divide and make more petals and more petals and more petals, and you can end up with actually multiple flowers within the same flower, it's usually two, sometimes you end up with three flowers, each flower has around it, what's called the sepals, or the other modified leaves that protect it when it's in bud. And so you get this mishmash of colorful petals, and then green petals if you have a third flower in the same head, so don't panic, it's not a big deal. If you don't like the look of it, cut that flower off, you don't need to cut the branch, the branch should produce regular looking roses after that one has been removed. And the cause is, as I said, the cause is unknown. Some people think it's physical damage, possibly by an insect, or it's due to temperature, which is the one I would favor or a virus. If it happens over and over and over and over again, on that plant, it's more likely to be a virus, but realize that roses live very happily with viruses in their system. And it isn't something to worry about.
Farmer Fred 17:52
And as far as temperature goes, I imagine a late frost after the flower started forming might be a possibility, too.
Debbie Flower 18:01
Yes, flower buds are some of the parts of the plant that are most sensitive to cold. And so if you do get a late frost, and we had some very cold nights there for in March, while that flower is forming in the bud, then that can cause the problem. Yes.
Farmer Fred 18:18
How would you differentiate what you have been describing from glyphosate damage, roundup damage, if somebody was using a weed killer around their roses, and some of the drift caught on to one of those buds? How would that damage look different?
Debbie Flower 18:35
The times I have seen glyphosate damage on plants, it causes parts to become thinner and more strappy. It would not just be on the flower, it would be on the leaves as well. So you wouldn't just have a distorted flower, you'd have distorted leaves. And if it blew in from a spring application while the plant was actively growing, it would be on one side whatever side that was that received the glyphosate through the wind, and so it would be flowers and leaves and they would be if they received it while it was in the bud. If the glyphosate came into the plant while the plant was in the flower bud then the petals would likely be very thin and long. If it came while the plant already had leaves and flowers on it, they would become distorted, twisted, and the leaves would be as well.
Farmer Fred 19:24
So there you go. Basically, don't worry too much about it. And I guess if you don't like it just cut off the flower head. Yes. All right. Debbie Flower. Thanks so much for your help, answering questions here on Garden Basics.
Debbie Flower 19:36
You're welcome, Fred.
Farmer Fred 19:40
Every week we like to talk with Warren Roberts. He is the superintendent emeritus of the UC Davis Arboretum. And he always has an interesting plant for us a plant that you could find throughout much of the United States, if not all of the United States. It might be a plant that's putting on a show now as well. And Warren, I think about Now the plant you're about to talk about is doing its thing. Coast to coast, maybe not in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan yet. But soon.
Warren Roberts 20:11
Yes, well, I thought we could talk about roses. And I think that that's very brave of me. Because there's so much information, a few observations that I have a little bit of information about, about the genus. It's a genus of woody shrubs, sometimes clambering shrubs, there are about 45 species in Europe. And most of those, you can have any color you want in a flower, as long as it's pink, with a few exceptions. There are about 100 species total. A lot of them in China, us and North America, California has I think about nine or 10 species native to the state. They were grown, cultivated. Oh, let's see, I think they've been cultivated for at least 3000 years, in both China and the Chinese area. And in Europe, famous in the Roman Empire and there are about 30,000 named selections available. Mostly what we see of roses in our garden are hybrids. The most important group of hybrids are crosses between the European species and the Mediterranean species, and the ones from China. Now, that didn't really start happening until the 1700s. When Europeans went to China, especially the port of Canton, I think it's called Guangdong now, but at any rate, there were not very many kinds of roses. There were some climbing roses like the Banks rose. And then there were some things there were six different shrub roses, and those were brought back to Europe and crossed with the hybridized with the the local, European and Mediterranean natives to produce what we have today. We think of this as the garden rose in Europe before the introduction of the Chinese roses. All roses were pretty much deciduous things as they drop their leaves in the cool season. And they really only bloom in the spring with very few exceptions. When they did, the fragrance was amazing. And some of those roses are still grown today. For the perfume. The Chinese roses didn't have so much fragrance, they had a nice fragrance, tea-like, people said. So that's why they're called tea roses, hybrid teas and so on. But they had things that the European roses didn't have. One was pure red, what we think of as blood red or ruby red. That color just was not in European roses. And then they tended to be blooming, have a long blooming period and some of them in bloom, a little bit at least, all year. That was amazing to European horticulturalists in those years. It's still amazing. Let's see Oh, the disease resistance was pretty good. Some of them didn't have too many prickles. It turns out that roses don't really have thorns, they have prickles. Technically, a thorn is like a short stem whereas a prickle is an outgrowth from the outer surface of the bark of the shrub. Roses then entered a whole new phase of popularity. Roses were not exceedingly popular in China, because of the Fung Shui. You don't want to have something in the garden that will wound you. And roses can do that. As a little kid I loved rose flowers. I didn't like the bush, because embracing a rose bush is almost the definition of unrequited love. France was an important area of rose breeding. And then in unusual places, like in the French Empire, there was an island out in the middle of the Indian Ocean that was called () and I think they grew sugarcane there at the lower elevations and then the owners live up higher on the mountain where it was cooler, and they grew shrubs, and it was there that a Chinese rose hybridized with a damask rose. So by the way, you had the all the good characteristics of the Chinese Rose and the fragrance of the Mediterranean roses. And that group of roses are called the bourbon rose. It is my favorite Rose, is one in that group and it's called Madame Isaac Pereire, it has a somewhat complex history. But Madame Isaac Pereire is usually how you hear it pronounced here. I have one that's gone about 18 feet up into a shrub so it can get big. But it is to my nose, the most fragrant of roses. That's of course, debatable, but it really has a strong fragrance.
Farmer Fred 24:56
We should probably point out that the rose is also the national flower of the United States.
Warren Roberts 25:02
Ah, yes. And the national flower in the United States, probably not based on the native North American species, but on these hybrids. One of the reasons I like roses is they have almost no disease problems, in California. Oh, yes. The thing is, we don't have summer rains. So there's diseases that plague literally roses in other parts of the country like black spot, and those are rare or unknown here in California. And it's one reason a lot of the cultivation of roses for selling the plant is done in California because if you surface irrigate, then you don't have the diseases. Sprinkler irrigation, though, then you have to make sure that you do that so that it dries immediately.
Farmer Fred 25:04
You have a personal history with roses. Because where you grew up isn't too far from where roses are grown as a commercial crop.
Warren Roberts 26:02
Yes, especially the town of Wasco, California, which is in Kern County. For the soil. There is sandy, well drained and fertile. When I was a kid in that area they grew cotton and then potatoes, but now it's roses. And if you go by this time of year, there are fields and fields of bright colored roses. Kind of like the tulips in Holland or Northwest Washington, California is, is a good place for roses and all kinds of ways.
Farmer Fred 26:33
Roses. It's the national flower. It's an easy to grow plant, you can put as much love or as much indifference to it as you want and it will still bloom. We can witness around here the roses that the forty-niners brought with them back in the 1800s and planted, that are still alive in the foothills, that have been neglected for decades.
Warren Roberts 26:53
Yes, in fact, the larger the rosebush is, the more flowers it produces. I had a rose called Mon Cheri, which is a hybrid tea I believe, and I've let it get up to about 15 feet tall. The thing to do, that I do, I prune out the dead branches. And otherwise I want the flowers in the garden to enjoy from the house or while you're in the garden. If you want long stem roses, well then, there are different ways of pruning the roses to produce that. But I just like to look out at my so I can do see right now and looking out and seeing Mon Cherie in full bloom.
Farmer Fred 27:32
Roses. Everybody should have a rose. I mean, really, and don't forget you can make tea out of the rose hips.
Warren Roberts 27:38
So it's a food too. Yes. In fact, this rose petal jam from the eastern Mediterranean, which is a delight.
Farmer Fred 27:45
Warren Roberts is the superintendent emeritus of the UC Davis Arboretum, you ought to visit the UC Davis Arboretum. You can even visit them online, at arboretum.uc davis.edu where you can read about their Arboretum and all the plants there and next time you're in the Davis, California area, you ought to come by and pay it a visit and you won't have to pay much, because it's free. Warren Roberts, always a pleasure. The plan of the week this week, the rose Thank you Warren.
Warren Roberts 28:12
Thank you Fred.
Farmer Fred 28:16
Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday and is brought to you by Smart Pots. It’s available just about anywhere podcasts are handed out. And that includes Apple podcasts, I Heart Radio, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Podcast Addict, CastBox and Google podcasts. And for Northern California gardeners, check out this podcast: the Green Acres Garden Podcast with Farmer Fred, also available wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for listening, subscribing and leaving comments. We appreciate it.
