Dear Neil: Is it a good idea to use fertilizer in the summer with all the heat? That depends on the plant species involved and the vigor of the specimen you’re growing. Many types of southwestern plants do their very best growing when it’s really hot. Plants like lantana, bermudagrass, and Boston ferns, just to cite three that many of us have in our landscapes, thrive in the heat.
If we water them up to standards, they will quickly use up available nutrients. That doesn’t mean that we should over-feed them, but it just means that when we begin to notice that their growth is slowing and leaf color is turning less than rich green, then it’s probably time to consider feeding them. Of course, that is tempered by other factors.
Plants that have been planted or transplanted recently may need time to get adjusted. Water curtailments may mean that we don’t want to encourage vigorous new growth at the moment. Common sense needs to prevail.
Dear Neil: A friend has not had much success with her peppers, tomatoes, or beans. She recently sent me this photo of her beans’ roots and my first thought was “nematodes.” If not, what are they? They look like the nodules of nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
Those are the rich benefits of plants in the legume family. They’re able to convert nitrogen from the air (in the soil air spaces) into nutrition the plants are able to utilize. As they die and break down, they release the nutrients and enrich the soil.
I worry a lot more about that e.
