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It’s not too late to fertilize fruit trees

Q: Is it too late to fertilize my nectarine tree with buds starting to form? Fertilizer instructions advise to apply it in early February before buds appear.

Two applications of olive spray work better than one

Q: We have seven large olive trees on our property. In the past, we used two different local tree services to spray our trees to minimize the amount of olive production. One company told us we needed two applications in early spring, and the other said we only needed one. Both came at a very high cost, and the results left much to be desired. Every day we had to sweep up hundreds of olives. Do you have any suggestions as to what might work and the timing of when the trees should be sprayed?

Lawns shouldn’t be watered at night during hot months

Hot weather favors lawn diseases common here. Now is an optimum time for controlling lawn diseases before they in get into full swing. If your lawn had disease in the past, now is a good time to apply a fungicide. Fungicides are primarily preventive and work best when they are applied before the disease rears its ugly head.

April is best time in desert to deploy pheromone traps

I was reading about your use of pheromone traps for insect control in fruit trees. Which traps do you use, and when do you put them out?

Clean tools when pruning Canary Island date palms in Las Vegas

Canary palms are susceptible to a disease called Fusarium that can contaminate the soil in the planting hole and prevent you from planting a new one in that spot.

Temperature, irrigation troubles can hamper kumquats

Q: This last year we have had very little fruit on our kumquat, although the tree had been ample with fruit before. The tree appears to be healthy, just no fruit. The only difference I can think of is that in previous years I covered the tree whenever the temperature was below freezing.

Older fig trees require more water

Question: I have one black mission and one white fig planted six years ago. The second crop of figs are small and easily fall off. I’m guessing they get 6 gallons every other day during the heat. Both trees grow very rapidly and are very healthy. What can be done to increase fig growth?

More expansive root system will help saguaro

Q: I have a saguaro cactus with three big arms growing from it leaning toward the west. On the east is my house; it shades the cactus from the morning sun. I also have been watering on the house side of the saguaro, the upslope side, and letting the water run downhill into the roots. I water about three or four times a year and water very slowly.