Brought to you in cooperation with the Kansas State Johnson County Research and Extension Master Gardeners.   Each week we feature the most popular questions received on their "Hotline".

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Week of 3/8/04

K-State’s Horticulture Information Center publishes a newsletter that enjoys an outstanding reputation among its peer publications. It contains a wide variety of research-based articles of interest to gardeners and horticulture enthusiasts.

From time to time, particularly when its articles parallel the interests shown in questions addressed to our Hotline volunteers, we’ll pass along some of the information that the Horticulture Newsletter contains.
The present issue reminds us that onions are an unusual crop in that they grow well in cold weather. Onion bulbs form and grow bigger as the days grow longer, so if you want to grow large onions, plant them as early as the soil can be worked. If they are planted thickly in a row, some can be thinned out and used as green onions. Those that are left should be spaced four to six inches apart, and fertilized well to encourage both good top growth and bulb development. They are considered ready to dig when bulbs reach full size, depending on the variety, and the tops weaken and begin to fall over.

Another of the early crops for your vegetable garden is the cool-loving green pea that grows quickly and produces its sweet crop in abundance before the arrival of the summer heat. Depending on the variety planted, some may need to be grown on trellises, while some of the newer varieties will not. By planting several varieties you may be able to extend the harvest period over several weeks.

We often receive calls at this time of the year asking how to prevent some crabapple trees and Sweetgums from fruiting. Crabapples are relatively easy. Of course, the best way with crabapples or Sweetgum trees is to plant a non-fruiting variety. There are many, and your Extension or Outreach office will have a list of them. There is even at least one variety of Liquidambar (Sweetgum) that does not bear the bothersome fruit.
If you have a fruit-bearing crabapple variety, try spraying it with a carbaryl (Sevin) solution after the blossoms have dried on the trees, NOT during bloom, because the spray is highly toxic to honey bees. Tiny aborted apples will begin to fall in 7 to 10 days.
The same procedure may be tried with Sweetgum fruit, but good results are often difficult to obtain.  Effectiveness of some commercially available chemical fruit eliminators depends on the timing, dosage and temperature. Application of a fruit eliminator that causes Sweetgums to drop their fruit before it sets is difficult to time for it must be done when the tree is in full bloom, and this is sometimes hard to determine.

Articles submitted by Bill Latimer, Johnson County Extension Horticulture Assistant and Dennis Patton, Johnson County Extension Horticulture Agent.

Previous Weeks' Hotline Tips

* The "Hotline" is an information service of the Kansas State Johnson County Research and Extension Master Gardeners.  Research-based responses are provided by Extension Master Gardener volunteers weekdays from March 1 through October 31, from 9:00 am to 4:30pm .  To telephone, call (913) 764-6306 or visit the Extension Office at 13480 South Arapaho Drive, Olathe, Kansas.  Visit their website at www.oznet.ksu.edu/Johnson 

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