I remember going into a neighborhood to diagnose a lawn problem in Crestview during spring a number of years ago. The centipedegrass lawn was in a state of decline. This was the front yard of the original model home for the neighborhood. The original owner sold the house and moved. The new owner, not familiar with North Florida lawns, was dissatisfied with the condition of his front yard.
All of the residents in this neighborhood were new to Florida.
At the time of my visit, the neighborhood was approximately ten-years-old. The original owner of the home was new to Florida, as well. He had only lived in the home for about two years before selling the house and moving to another state.
The original homeowner purchased the model home when the neighborhood was new and became the neighborhood lawn guru.
Imagine this situation… the entire neighborhood was new, everyone living in the neighborhood was new to Florida, not having a clue how to correctly maintain their new centipedegrass lawns.
Centipedegrass decline. Credit: Larry Williams
A sure way to kill a centipedegrass lawn is to be a little heavy handed with nitrogen. The natural color of a healthy centipedegrass lawn is light green, almost a crabapple green. The original homeowner was fertilizing his lawn as if it were a bermudagrass or fescuegrass lawn. Centipedegrass will not put up with this. As a result of “overdosing” his lawn with nitrogen, the lawn took on an unnatural dark green color. Short-term (two to three years), centipedegrass will appear to respond nicely to too much nitrogen. But after several years, irregular areas within a centipedegrass lawn will turn bright yellow in spring, followed by turning brown and dying back to bare ground as a result of too much nitrogen. The condition is called centipedegrass decline.
Healthy centipedegrass lawn with correct light green color. Credit: Dr. Bryan Unruh
I heard a minister ask the question, “Does the person you’re following know where he is going?” This was in reference to a parable found in the Bible in Matthew 15:14 where Jesus stated, “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” This expression has many implications but basically is a caution about the dangers of following a leader who is clueless.
Unfortunately, this self-appointed lawn guru was clueless as to how to correctly manage a centipedegrass lawn. A few years following his overdoing it with fertilizer and then moving, his former lawn began to die in patches, progressively followed by other neighborhood lawns doing the same, almost like a domino effect. Who you choose to follow is important.
In case you missed it, you can watch our last session of Gardening in the Panhandle LIVE! that aired on October 12th by visiting our YouTube Playlist with all the past episodes of our gardening webinars.
We had a great conversation about herbs and cool season edible plants last month and this article compiles the links shared by the expert panel in the episode. Thanks for watching!
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s been hot outside. Like really, scorching, hellacious, dog days hot. In this weather pattern we’ve been in, it’s hard to make yourself do non-essential stuff outside that doesn’t involve swimming and so our gardens go by the wayside. In my opinion, that’s totally okay! Give yourself a rest from the garden and landscape chores for the next couple of weeks and get your fall gameplan ready. The following are some things to think about over the next few weeks to prepare yourself for the coming cooler weather!
Soil testing in centipedegrass. Photo courtesy of Daniel Leonard.
Get your soil tested. If you’re an in-ground vegetable gardener or just like to have an attractive lawn/landscape, performing a simple soil test can offer either peace of mind that your soil’s pH and fertility is good or give you a nudge to schedule some needed amendments. Though I don’t recommend fertilizing lawn grass this late and there’s no need to fertilize the garden before it gets planted in mid-late September, you can certainly begin to source and price fertilizer for the appropriate time based on your test results. However, now IS the perfect time to get lime out in a vegetable garden if your pH has sunk beneath the recommended 6.5. Lime takes weeks to months to begin to alter soil chemistry so the sooner the better if it is needed!
Order seeds. While I love to support local farm stores and plant nurseries, you are limited with the vegetable and flower varieties you can plant by what they have in stock. I enjoy trying new/improved and heirloom plant varieties each year and, most of the time, these can only be found by ordering online. For the latest in vegetable and cut flower varieties with a nice mix of heirloom cultivars thrown in also, I can recommend Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Seed Savers Exchange, and other similar purveyors – all of these are great places to look. Continue to purchase your more common standbys through local outlets but, this year get different and try new things by ordering online!
Develop a garden/landscape plan. I doubt there’s a gardener amongst us who wouldn’t like to rearrange things a bit outside. Maybe you planted your lettuce a little too closely together last year, you’ve been dreaming of installing a new flower bed, or you really want to do a full garden/landscape renovation. The best way to be successful at any of these things is to get outside (or at least look out from behind a window in the A/C), take stock of what is already there, the space that is or might be available, research what plants or varieties might do well in your yard/garden (your local UF/IFAS Extension office is a great resource for this), and begin to sketch your ideas out. This planning step WILL save you time and money by ensuring you don’t purchase too many plants, by picking plants that will do well, and ensuring you install everything at the correct time.
So, take advantage of the heat, stay inside, and work up your garden gameplan together this August – fall is just around the corner. For help with soil testing, recommendations on plant varieties to purchase, or working up a garden/landscape plan tailored to you, contact your local UF/IFAS County Extension Office. Stay cool and happy gardening!
Fertilization is a subject that throws many a gardener for a loop. It can be confusing, and we in the professional horticulture world understand. This topic will almost always be approached from the prospective of nitrogen. So why does nitrogen get so much attention? What is its role in plant growth? Nitrogen is the primary driver of protein synthesis, plant metabolism, energy creation, and is the structural component in chlorophyll. These are all extremely important functions leaving little doubt as to why it’s so critical. Your plants use this resource abundantly for healthy growth. The reason it gets so much attention is owing to its frangibility in the soil. Nitrogen goes through changes once applied to soils and is readily lost to the environment. For this reason, nitrogen application needs to be timed appropriately, and your cultural practices need to be such that encourage plant uptake over losses to the environment. Fear not my friends, this article will bolster your insight into the wonderful world of nitrogen, and have your plants growing strong and healthy.
The What and Why of Nitrogen
Nitrogen is one of three macronutrients identified in every fertilizer bag as the first of three numbers. This standardized NPK labeling refers to the amount of this nutrient in the bag by percentage of total weight. Application rates should be based on this number, and how much nitrogen you’ll need to cover a specified area. which number you use is based on the equipment you have to apply more so than the plant requirements.
UF/IFAS Photo: Dan Culbert
Nitrogen can be natural or man made. Natural sources come in the form of composts, manures, and through atmospheric deposition. The later of these sources means rain, which washes nitrogen out of the atmosphere and into your soils. Man made sources conversely come in bags and are the result of a combustion process developed by Fritz Haber, and Carl Bosch circa 1910. Either way, nitrogen will be in the form of ammonia, nitrate, ammonium, or urea. Knowing this is important as it will dictate application methodologies. For instance, urea applied to the surface will escape into the atmosphere if not incorporated into your garden.
UF/IFAS photo: T.W. Shaddox
Nitrogen type will also affect soil pH. This is especially important with ammonia-based fertilizers as residual acidity from them may lower pH. Applying the correct type will mitigate large unwanted changes in soil. Why are we concerned with soil pH? It speaks to nutrient availability and, thus how well your plants grow. It can be overwhelming, but with soil testing and a call to your extension office, it’s easy to identify the appropriate fertilizers for your application.
Reactions in Soils
Soil is often considered inert, holding plants in place while providing a pantry full of the nutrients they crave. Nothing is further from the truth. Soil is a living entity with its own physical and chemical properties. The addition of anything, including irrigation, affects these properties.
Nitrogen takes two forms in your soil aside from nitrogen source. Inorganic nitrogen is converted from soil organic matter in a process known as mineralization or added from bagged fertilizers and is available for plant uptake. Organic nitrogen is unavailable for plant uptake and will be present in the natural forms listed in the previous section. Both are susceptible to the nitrogen cycle and may be lost to the environment. This happens as water passes through soil (leaching), erosion, runoff, or is lost to the atmosphere through volatilization and may have negative effects on surrounding water bodies.
UF/IFAS Photo
To mitigate these risks through responsible fertilizer application, irrigation management, and landscape design. Apply fertilizers when plant uptake is favorable, and only to the level required by your plants. This will be during heavy vegetative growth periods such as initial installation. Irrigate as dictated by your plant life vs on a timer. Watering is a vital practice, but often overdone. Keep water levels enough to avoid plant stress but not excessive. Doing so reduces leaching potential and will keep your plants healthier. Finally, design your landscape with Florida Friendly Landscaping principles. Integrate diverse plant life, including turfgrasses and landscaped beds. The goal here is to allow enough plant life to absorb excess storm water, and support local pollinator populations.
Nitrogen is a critical piece of your fertilizer routine. It’s important to understand how it reacts with both your plants and your soils. A little knowledge can go a long way to keeping your plants healthy while mitigating risks from over fertilization. For more information, see this Ask IFAS document, or contact your local extension agent for additional information on this and any topic regarding your gardens and more.
Would you like to make money off your land? Are you looking to diversify your current plans on your property? Jackson County is hosting a fruit and vegetable meeting on January 26, 2023, and this just may be the perfect way to start off your new year!
Photo by Molly Jameson.
When thinking about what it means to be successful in planting your garden or having fruit trees, often the first thing that comes to mind is a healthy quality crop. This starts with the health of your soil. We will have two specialists that cover soil health and the benefit of adding cover crops to your rotation during the off season. The second thing that might come to mind when wanting to be successful is how to start? how much time do I have to devote to gardening? and how much do I want to do? This meeting will also have a specialist coming to Marianna to cover how to get started on a property with a specialty crop. Even though this information may be geared towards new farmers, it could also be very useful to new land owners and community residents just wanting to do more on their property. You may find that you have so much extra produce that you want to have a little fruit stand!
There will also be a session on the importance of drip irrigation, fertigation and how to implement these practices. Drip irrigation will not only save you money in the long run with the use of less water, but it is also much better for overall plant health by reducing pest and disease problems. Fertigation is the process of adding soil amendments, water amendments and other water-soluble products into an irrigation system. This process can be both beneficial to the plants and cut back on the time it would take to fertilize by hand.
The next session on specialty vegetable and fruit crops will teach about the various exciting specialty crop opportunities in the Tri-State area such as artichokes, blackberries, Seminole pumpkins, and more. Finally, the meeting will also cover cucurbit disease updates and will be extremely useful if you already have a field or garden of watermelons, cucumbers, or squash! Come with questions! CEUs will be offered as well if you are a homeowner that holds a pesticide license.
Organic matter is the “glue” that will hold your soil together. Photo by John Edwards.
While, the audience for this conference is primarily small to medium sized, diversified cucurbit and vegetable producers in the tri-state region including the counties in the Panhandle, Alabama, and Georgia, the residential community is welcome to attend and will truly benefit with learning about soil health, cover crops, fertigation, drip irrigation, and specialty crops. The conference will be held at the Jackson County Extension Office in the Peanut Hall. We are planning a full morning with educational sessions and lunch to follow.
This meeting will be $5 at the door and pre-registration is highly encouraged. Please call our office at 850-482-9620 to reserve your seat and if you have any questions.
Tri-State Fruit and Vegetable Meeting
Thursday, January 26, 2023, 8:00 am- 1:00 pm at the Jackson County Agriculture Offices Auditorium, 2741 Penn Ave., Marianna.
Yay, we are halfway through with August and our summer is winding down! This is the perfect time to start prepping for that fall garden. Growing a productive fall vegetable garden requires thoughtful planning and good cultural practices. This process consists of selecting a site, planning the garden, preparing the soil, choosing the seeds and plants, planting a crop, and nurturing the plants until harvest time. In the Florida Panhandle it can be a challenge to get cool season crops started; there is a balance in starting them early enough to allow them to mature (50-60 days) before a hard frost and getting them through the end of a hot summer.
August and September are the main planting times for a fall garden. There are several cool-season crops and a final crop of warm-season vegetables that can be planted. Some good warm season crops are lima beans, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes. Going into September it will be a good time to establish strawberry plants. Some good vegetables to start growing just around the corner are broccoli, carrots, cabbage, collards, mustard, and Swiss chard. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/NorthFloridaGardeningCalendar Herbs that do well are cilantro, parsley, and lemongrass. Mint, oregano, and thyme should be planted in containers as they tend to spread. Mexican tarragon, mint, rosemary, and basil will also do well in September. See Herbs: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic_herbs
Transplants from the local garden center will get the garden off to a fast start while seeds will offer more varieties to choose from. It is also important to think about your location. A vegetable garden can be in the ground, a raised bed, or even grown in containers. Your plants will need more than just a place to grow. They will also need sunlight, water, air, soil, fertilizer, and care. Most vegetables require at least 8 hours of sunlight. Keep an eye out for pest problems such as insects, diseases and weeds because they will continue to flourish in warm temperatures and high humidity. To help conserve soil moisture a layer of newspaper and mulch can be placed between the rows. Mulch also aids in weed control.
Raised beds are an excellent way to get started with gardening. Photo by Molly Jameson.
The result of a beautiful, successful vegetable garden is fresh produce to eat, share with neighbors, family, and friends and even the possibility to sell your harvest. With patience and practice your gardening skills will improve every year! Follow the above few tips and you will be well on your way to a great harvest! For more information about starting a fall garden or any other horticultural or agricultural topic, contact your local UF/IFAS County Extension Office. Happy Gardening
