Garden Questions

White Fuzzy Caterpiller

~ McArtor ~ Leave a comment
white fuzzy caterpillar
White fuzzy caterpillar on lettuce leaf

The lettuce in our garden had a long growing season due to the cool and wet weather in the early part of summer.  We had more lettuce than we could consume.  Unfortunately, lettuce can not be frozen like Kale or other thick greens.  Our lettuce plants finally started to go to seed and were very bitter, so I pulled them out a week ago.  While removing the plants, I found this white fuzzy caterpillar tunneling at the center of one green leaf lettuce plant.  I hated to disturb its home so I pulled out the whole plant and placed it in our compost bin with fuzzy still tucked inside the leafy goodness.

I did not mind a caterpillar munching on a plant that had become too bitter for us to consume, but I wonder if it will harm other crops in our garden plot.  My guess is that the caterpillar will turn into a Tiger moth, but I am not sure.  For any bug identification or garden questions, I contact The University of Maryland Extension Service, Ask a Garden Expert .   They reply with an answer to my gardening questions within a couple of days.  They are a wonderful service to the garden community.

I am waiting to see what the garden experts have to say about “snowy bear” as my son named it.   I will let you know what I find out.

Garden Info Center Helps My Semi-Dwarf Meyer Lemon Tree

~ McArtor ~ 1 Comment

Thanks to the Garden Information Center at the University of Maryland!

I emailed them my questions and in less than a week they replied with some solutions for my winter weary lemon tree.

My question:
I have a dwarf Meyer Lemon Tree. It produced over 15 lemons this fall. We brought the plant indoors and recently we noticed that the leaves started to turn yellow. Prior to that, some of the green leaves looked puckered and munched on. Do you know what causes this?

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The Garden Information Center’s answer :

The yellowing may be due to low light levels, nutrient deficiencies, and possible insect problems. During the winter the plant is dealing with low light levels and not actively growing. It is going through a rest period and older leaves may yellow and fall. You should also check for spider mites and scale insects(sucking insects) .

You should also check the root system and make sure the plant is not pot bound. You may see surface roots or roots coming from the bottom of the container hole. Repot with new potting mixture or top dress the mixture with fresh potting soil.

Do not feed the plant until the lighting improves in the late winter-spring (usually sometime in March). Provide at least four hours a day of direct sunlight. Place outdoors in bright light during the summer. Give an actively growing citrus a high potash, tomato type fertilizer every two weeks. Shorten overlong shoots of citruses by two thirds in early spring.

Looks like I need to let it rest in a sunny spot, spray it with Captain Jack organic insecticide, top dress it with more potting soil and feed it at the end of winter.
Thanks University of Maryland Agriculture Extension!

Ornamental Grass Blooming

~ McArtor ~ 3 Comments
even grass is in bloom!

Our front yard clean up began a few days ago. It is thrilling to trim off the brown foliage and find little buds sitting on branches and green shoots pushing through the dirt. In my enthusiasm, I started to clip a small ornamental grass before I saw brown conical buds on top of new green stems between the blades of grass. Despite clipping a few of the buds, the small mound of grass still exploded with fluffy blossoms a few days later.

our grass firework

I planted this tuft of ornamental grass several years ago and I do not remember its name. I can not recall it blooming in the past. My husband says it looks like a firework. Nevertheless, this year it joined the rank of early spring bloomer, along with the mini purple Irises, Crocuses and Hyacinths in our front yard.

Does anyone know the name for this cheerful ornamental grass?