Rick Durham, Consumer Horticulture Extension Specialist, University of Kentucky
 

Daylilies, daylilies, daylilies.

Daylilies have been spectacular this year as they are most years. The Latin name for daylily, Hemerocallis, literally means beautiful for a day. Even though each flower lasts only for a day, stems or scapes usually have many individual flowers that open over a period of several weeks. Daylily breeders are working on varieties that "rebloom" later in the season, however, don't expect the second show of flowers to be as numerous as the first. Daylilies are a great plant for the home landscape. Once established, they require little care and they hold up well in the heat of summer. They are so hardy in fact that one often sees "native" stands of daylilies along roadsides. These are not actually native but rather have escaped from cultivation. Hemerocallis is native to Europe and Asia. If you want to try some daylilies in your landscape, now is a good time to start planning since many fall seed and nursery catalogs will offer daylilies for sale.
 

Potatoes - tips for longer storage after harvest.

Enjoying fresh potatoes from the garden is a real treat. However, disappointment often sets in when home-grown potatoes are stored for any length of time. Commercially produced potatoes are usually treated with a growth regulator to delay sprouting. Such treatments are generally not available to the home owner. Here are some tips to help prolong the storage life of potatoes.

First, wait about two weeks after the vines have completely died before digging potatoes for storage. This allows the skins to toughen and results in less damage during digging. After the vines have died, lay the vines over the row or cover the row with additional soil or mulch. Bare soil will heat up rapidly and high soil temperatures may damage the potatoes. Also, any exposed potatoes will develop sun scald and/or green pigmentation.

Once dug, remove the potatoes from the field as soon as possible to avoid sunscald. Allow the potatoes to cure for about 10 days in the dark at temperatures around 60 to 65 degrees F. Then move them to a cool, dark location where temperatures will remain around 40 to 50 degrees F and the relative humidity will stay around 85%. Keeping this storage area clean and well ventilated will help prevent rotting. Inspect the stored potatoes regularly and remove any that show signs of decay. Following these guidelines should allow potatoes to be stored for 2-4 months.
 

Super Star Onion.

One of the All America Vegetable Selections for 2001 is Super Star onion. I have seen it grown in three locations this summer have been very impressed with its performance. The white bulbs can reach one pound in size and the flavor is very mild and sweet. We started seeds in the greenhouse in early spring and transplanted seedlings outdoors in mid April. By July the bulbs had reached almost full size and the tops have now started falling over, a sign of bulb maturity. The bulbs have grown right on the surface of the soil with only about one-third of the bulb submerged. There have been no indications of sunscald although other varieties of onion might not fare so well with the bulb exposed. Although I have not yet tried storing the onion, it is very firm and should do well for at least a short time in storage. The time to harvest is once at least two-thirds of the crops tops have fallen over. Pull the bulbs and remove as much dirt as possible from the surface. Do not wash the bulbs in water. Onions can be gathered together in small bunches by the tops and hung to dry, or the tops can be removed, leaving about an inch stub, and allowed to dry on a flat surface. After about 3 or 4 weeks the onions will be "cured" and can be place in an open, well ventilated container for storage. Cool, but not freezing, and dry are the best storage conditions.
 

Summer fertilization in the landscape.

In general, late summer and early fall are not the best times to apply fertilizer in the landscape. An exception would be annual flowers and vegetables. Many of these will continue to give a good show of flowers or set fruit as long as moisture and soil nutrients are abundant. Much of the initial fertilizer applied at planting has likely been used by the plants or was leached away from the root zone by rainfall or irrigation water. This is especially true for nitrogen.

A good choice of fertilizer would be ammonium nitrate which is 33% nitrogen by weight. But be careful, you don't need much fertilizer, and too much may burn the plants or cause excessive growth. For most plants apply about 5 tablespoons of ammonium nitrate per 10 square feet. Cultivate lightly or water in the fertilizer after application.

Avoid fertilizing trees and other perennial plants at this time since most perennials will soon begin to slow down their growth rate in preparation for dormancy this fall. Too much soil fertility, especially nitrogen, may encourage prolonged growth and interfere with the dormancy process.