Question: For the last two years, I have planted root crops, including carrots, radishes and beets, and most of these vegetables are small, twisted and inappropriate when I remove them. I have tried different varieties that result are almost the same. What causes this?
Answer: There may be several possible causes of this quite common problem. Seedlings are the most common cause of this problem, especially with carrots, onions and radishes.
It is great to sow these plants densely to ensure equal to a equal space in the row, but after germination, you should remove the sprouts as the overflowed sprouts will compete for water, nutrients and space, which often causes stunned or distorted growth.
Other possible causes are compacted or heavy soils when growing on the ground, or too shallow bed or cache growing in beds or containers. Whatever the reason, these “ugly vegetables” are perfectly edible.
Stunning and inappropriate root crops such as carrots are usually caused by overflow.
Q: I have terrible deer pressure in my landscape, and I also violate the rabbit, so for many of my plants I constantly apply wildlife repellents. I have a lot of pollinated plants to attract bees and butterflies, and I wonder if these repellents are harmful to bees and other pollinators.
A: Most wild animal repellents contain capsaicin, which is the compound that makes the pepper taste hot. Studies have been conducted to determine whether the capsaicin is harmful to the bees, and it has been concluded that it does not risk bees or other pollinators.
Some wildlife repellents contain predator urine, especially coyott urine, which repels deer. I have not seen any research on whether the repellents based on urine -based repellents are a risk to bees and other pollinators.
Cl.: Last summer we planted eight arborvitae as a living fence. This winter and early spring, we noticed that three of these shrubs turned to brown and now orange. What causes this and will the affected plants recover?
Many arborvitae in the Great Columbus died due to the lack of drought last summer with a lack of soil moisture.
A: Arborvitae is a shrub widely used as a hedge, screen or live fence in a home landscape. This spring, I noticed a lot of brown and orange arborvitae around the Great Columbus, Ohio.
Although there are several different insects that attack arborvitae – especially Bagan and Scalp – lesions from these insects usually occur after a couple of infection seasons. Bag bags are also quite noticeable hanging from the affected arborvitae branches.
I think many of these plants were killed by a lack of moisture associated with the humid conditions we experienced last summer in Ohio.
Arborvites require an even amount of soil moisture to grow and flourish. They really suffer when they are under stress due to drought. Usually newly transplanted shrubs need frequent watering during the first season, and this is especially true for rainfall.
Arborvites, which have become completely brown or orange, will not recover and will have to be replaced and well -watered!
Editor’s Note: Mike Hogan, an OSU extension educator for agriculture and natural resources in Franklin County, will answer garden and home landscapes, which are provided by Columbus Dispatch readers. Send your questions email;
This article initially appeared at Columbus Dispatch: Ask Expert: Set Miss to Base Basics