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Questions and Answers:Q. My friend tells me that in our part of Texas the smaller fruiting variety of tomato plant will give you more tomatoes overall by weight per plant than the big tomato varieties such as celebrity. Who's right? A. It is my experience that the smaller fruiting varieties such as Roma, Porter, Juliet, Cherry and Pear tomatoes will give you more tomatoes overall by weight per plant. However, picking them by the bushel would be tedious. If you want a slicing tomato, better boy, celebrity, or homestead is the way to go. For sauces and salads the little ones are best. Q. My St. Augustine grass is turning yellow in distinct round patches. The runners die and pull easily from the ground. What is it? A. This sounds like brown patch. Any lawn fungicide listed for brown patch control can stop it. Q. What are these lines of holes in my trees? A. The sapsucker is a bird that drills the holes in the tress then returns to eat the sap. During the interim insects can enter the holes causing more damage to the tree. If possible, fill the holes with pruning paint or paraffin. Q. My impatiens look bad. What did I do wrong? A. A great blooming annual for a shady area, impatiens add lots of color until the hottest part of the season. Once temperatures climb above 90 degrees they won't do much until fall when the weather cools. Q. I'm looking for an on-line resource that has local bugs with descriptions, pictures and control methods. Any suggestions? A. http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/index.html is a website put together by Texas A&M and it is full of the information you need to identify pests in your garden, home or orchard. Q. Squash bugs are destroying my squash plants. Is there anything to control them organically? A. For inorganic control, Sevin Dust seems to be the number one choice. For organic control, try putting boards or shingles around the plants under which they will congregate overnight and you can collect or poison them in the morning. Handpicking is still the most effective method of control. I have used diatomaceous earth with some success. Diatomaceous earth consists of ground diatoms that cut the bug's protective outer layer causing them to dry up. Diatoms are fossilized prehistoric organisms found in areas that were once ocean. Some folks have luck with 1 tbspn of mild dish soap in a quart of water and spraying them directly with the mixture. I do not recommend spraying the entire plants with the soapy water because there is no residual effect and it can burn your plants once the hot sun hits the plants that are covered with soap. Catnip and Tansy planted as companion plants is said to help repel the squash bug, but I've got squash plants right next to a Tansy and they bugs seem right at home. Q. I've heard that all the bees are disappearing. What is your opinion? A. As everyone knows, alarms have been going off for years when it comes to our environment. A decline in bee activity and numbers is definitely happening but no one is sure of the cause. It could be an imported disease or pest, global warming, or a natural cycle. The most important thing to remember is to do your part by using organic pest controls and being careful when and where you are applying those controls. Even organic controls can kill bees if applied at the wrong time. Q. Which plants are the best for attracting beneficial insects to my garden? A. Alyssum, dill, fennel, daisies, cosmos, clover and coneflower, including our native rudbeckia or black-eyed susan, and coreopsis as well as all our native wildflowers will attract beneficial insects that feed on pests. Many of our native flowers, such as gaillardia and sunflower also attract birds that eat grasshoppers and various other pests. Click Here to Ask Me a Gardening Question
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