Rick Durham, Consumer Horticulture Extension Specialist, University of Kentucky
 

Successful transplanting.

If you've bought flower or vegetable transplants to go into the yard or garden, be aware that weather conditions when you plant these may affect their success at becoming established in their new home.

Before being planted in their permanent location, transplants should be hardened off by placing them for a few days in a sunny location protected from high wind. Also reduce watering during hardening off, almost to the point the plants wilt. But apply a little water during the day as severe wilting occurs. Hardening off will make the plants tougher and more suited to growth in the yard or garden.

When transplanting, choose a calm, overcast day over a sunny day or windy day. Under cloudy conditions, transplants loose less water and recover more quickly from the natural stresses of transplanting. If you can't wait for an overcast day, try transplanting late in the afternoon when the sun is not so bright, temperatures begin to cool, and water evaporation is not as great. Keep plants well watered after transplanting and remember to apply a layer of mulch to help conserve soil moisture and reduce weed growth.
 

Fireflies--a blessing to the landscape.

Fireflies, lightning bugs, glowworms. These are beetles that light up the night sky, or sometimes soil, during warm summer nights. The flashing light is a homing beacon for the opposite sex. And to prevent confusion, each species of fire fly has its own specific signal to attract a mate.

This season I've seen lots of fireflies, my children delight in chasing them down, holding them for a few minutes, then releasing them unharmed. Should I be concerned that there are so many lightning bugs in my yard and landscape?

Absolutely not! The larvae of fireflies, called glowworms when they are luminescent, have a great apatite for several pests in the garden. The larvae live mostly underground but often emerge at night to forage for food. A typical menu for a firefly larvae would be slugs, snails, and caterpillars including cutworms. So when you see these insects lighting up your garden, thank your lucky stars that they are there.
 

Can plants wilt from too much water?

You've probably heard it before, too much water is more damaging to a plant than too little! Is this true? Can too much water actually cause damage, even wilting of a plant? Let's be realistic, a moderate amount of water is what most plants need, keep them too dry and they fail to thrive, if they are too wet they may succumb to root damage or disease. Keeping soils too wet will also deprive a plant's roots of needed oxygen.

A plant's root system needs three important components provided by the soil. These are moisture, nutrients, and air. The moisture and nutrients we all understand, but why does a plant's roots need air? A plant's root system respires, or more specifically, its cells carry out respiration, just like animal cells do. Oxygen is required for respiration and carbon dioxide is given off. Without adequate air space in the soil, roots will soon deplete the soil of oxygen, carbon dioxide builds up, and this combination will slow down respiration. When respiration slows, other plant processes slow as well, including the plant's ability to transport water, so wilting may occur. The well meaning gardener may heap coals on the fire by applying more water to the seemingly parched plant.

Another factor comes into play as well. When plants are under stress such as during drought, flooding, or even insect or diseases attach, they often release hormones that alter plant growth. One such hormone is ethylene. An over watered or flooded root system will trigger the plant to release ethylene that then causes the foliage to droop and eventually fall off if the stress is not removed. This drooping of foliage is called epinasty and sometimes looks like the plant is not getting enough water. Actually the culprit is too much water.

So what can be done to alleviate this problem of roots not getting enough air? The problem is especially severe in compacted soils where the natural air spaces present in the soil have collapsed. This may have been caused by heavy traffic on the soil or cultivation of the soil when wet. Heavy clay soils are particularly prone to compaction.

To reduce compaction and increase air space in the soil, cultivation is a must. Breaking up the compacted soil into smaller aggregates will improve aeration. Incorporation of organic matter such as compost, leaf litter, or potting mix, will also help to reduce compaction. At the same time that aeration is improved, water drainage is also improved. And organic matter also helps the soil to retain nutrients.

So, if you have compacted soil, or you want to avoid compacted soil, one solution is to incorporate organic matter in the soil. Once planted, keep plants mulched with 2-3 inches of an organic material to continually replenish the organic matter in the soil. And the next time you see a wilting plant, check the soil to see if it is really dry before watering.
 

Other things to do in May and June.

• It is very important to follow a home fruit spray program to ensure quality fruit at the end of the season. Also, the first sprays in April and May are generally the most important. By controlling insects and disease early, there is less likelihood of additional generations of pests later in the season. Spray schedules are available from you county extension agent. Just ask for ID-21, Disease and Insect Control Programs for Homegrown Fruit in Kentucky Including Organic Alternatives.
• Thin apple and peach fruit when the fruit is still relatively small or within about 3 weeks of full bloom. Thinning has several advantages: mature fruit will be larger, chances of limb breakage will decrease, and trees will have sufficient energy to develop buds for next year's flowers and fruit.
• Protect new transplants from cutworms by placing a cardboard collar around the base of the stem. Cardboard rolls from wrapping paper, paper towels, or bathroom tissue work well, or you can make your by cutting strips of cardboard and stapling the ends together. A tube two to three inches long and surrounding the plant at soil level will usually deter cutworms from feeding.
• When transplanting, ensure that plants are set at about the same depth that they were previously growing. An exception is tomatoes. Tomatoes will form roots on any part of the stem that contacts the soil. Tomato transplants can be set very deep, or dig a trench several inches deep and lay the transplants down on their sides. Only the growing tip and a few leaves need to remain above the soil surface. Pinch off any leaves that will be covered by soil. Tomatoes planted in this way will quickly establish a good root system and will be less susceptible to fluctuations in soil moisture.
• Spring and early summer flowering perennials can be divided and transplanted once the flowers have faded.