Latest News From the Gilmer County Extension Agent

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Ag Forecast

By:  Eddie Ayers, County Extension Agent

Good information is the best defense against the unforeseen circumstances — like changing governmental regulations and weather patterns — that can impact agriculture. That’s why the University of Georgia’s team of agricultural economists kicks off each year with the Georgia Ag Forecast seminar series. There, they present valuable insights into what the upcoming year will hold for the state’s largest industry.

The 2016 seminar series will be held Jan. 21-29 in Carrollton, Cleveland, Bainbridge, Tifton, Alma and Macon, Georgia. Registration for the series is now open at georgiaagforecast.com.

The UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences hosts the annual seminar series, and its attendance grows every year. Nearly 1,000 producers, agribusiness representatives and community leaders attended the seminars in 2015.

“The main objective of the Ag Forecast seminar series is to provide Georgia’s producers and agribusiness leaders with information on where we think the industry is headed in the upcoming year,” said Kent Wolfe, director of the UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development. “It helps producers plan for the next year, but it’s also good for bankers and others who have businesses involved in agriculture or who will be impacted by the farm economy.”

Economists from the Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development and from the college’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics will deliver the economic outlook, which will focus on Georgia’s major commodities and the way that global markets, weather patterns and historical trends will affect those commodities.

In addition to the annual economic outlook, Wolfe and fellow UGA agricultural economist Sharon P. Kane will give a briefing on the Georgia Agriculture Tax Exemption, often referred to as “GATE,” and how it is reflected in county sales tax revenue.

The 2016 Ag Forecast sessions will be held on Thursday, Jan. 21, at the Carroll County Ag Center in Carrollton; Friday, Jan. 22, at Unicoi State Park in Cleveland; Monday, Jan. 25, at the Cloud Livestock Facility in Bainbridge; Tuesday, Jan. 26, at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center in Tifton; Wednesday, Jan. 27, at the Blueberry Warehouse in Alma; and Friday, Jan. 29, at the Georgia Farm Bureau Building in Macon.

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Don’t Eat the Mistletoe!

Mistletoe is a holiday staple, but it can also be very harmful, and not just for humans, but pets too, and, it’s incredibly damaging to trees.

Kim Coder, a professor of tree health care with the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, says that unlike Spanish moss, which grows on tree surfaces without damaging it, mistletoe is a true parasite.  Coder says the parasite works its way in, and the tree grows around it, causing structural and biological problems.

The parasite takes water from the tree, which can be quite damaging during a drought, Coder said. “You’d remove a parasitic tick from your pet, so you should remove mistletoe from your trees,” he added. This is the time of year to say ‘no’ to helping mistletoe and ‘yes’ to helping your trees.

“If left unchecked, this parasitic plant will cause stress and death to your tree,” Coder said.  There are hundreds of varieties of mistletoe that grow over a wide range of trees all over the Western Hemisphere. Just one species is found in Georgia, unlike the myriad of varieties found as you head west into Texas and beyond.

American mistletoe has big leaves about the size of your thumb and small white berries. Coder says that when pressed between your fingers, mistletoe berries have a sticky, glue-like substance inside with little strings attached to its seeds.  That glue-like substance allows seeds to stick to other surfaces, spreading the plant. Birds often transport mistletoe to other, uninfected trees, Coder says, so do your tree a favor and clean off the mistletoe before it’s too late.

Of course there’s also the “kissing under the mistletoe” holiday tradition, with its seasonal significance going back centuries and spanning several continents, so if you have the green plant with its white berries around the house, remember that just the sight of it can be particularly tempting to pets and small children, but it can make humans and pets dangerously sick.  Ingesting it can result in great digestive problems, so it’s not something to nibble on.  It doesn’t even taste good.  It may look attractive and be festive, but results from eating the plant can range from a tummy ache to seizures and for those allergic to the plant, it can be fatal, so don’t eat the mistletoe, and keep watch of small children and pets!

Merry Christmas!

 

Choosing Holiday Plants and Planters

House plants make great holiday gifts, but you should be careful to make sure the gift plant is healthy and in the right planter. Otherwise, that cheery Christmas cactus or festive fern can turn into a pot full of heartache by mid-January.  I talked with Bodie Pennisi, Horticulturist-Floriculture, and researcher on the University of Georgia’s Griffin campus, about buying house plants for Christmas and she recommends giving each plant a good check-up before buying it as a gift so let’s take a look at what that means you should be looking for.

To start with, you should purchase only healthy looking plants with medium to dark green foliage. That is unless the foliage is supposed to be a different color.  If the plant is unhealthy at the nursery, chances are it will decline and may even die soon after you purchase it.  You should avoid plants with unnaturally spotted, yellow, or brown leaves and also check under the plant’s leaves for hitchhiking pests. If you’re shopping for ferns, do not be alarmed if you see brown-colored spots or long rows of structures on the lower leaf surface as these “spots” are merely reproductive structures called spores.

You should also remove the plant from the pot and examine the root system. Healthy roots generally are and should be visible along the outside of the soil ball and should have an earthy smell.  Unhealthy roots may smell foul.  Black, brown or discolored roots are typically signs of problems. But some plants, like Dracaenas, have roots with colors other than white.

Attractive planters can enhance the decorative value of the plants. Consider the following when selecting a planter: the plant’s needs; the needs of the individual and the environment; cost and availability; strength and durability; drainage and weight.  The style, shape and size of the container should complement the plant. Small containers are best for small slow-growing plants and larger containers are better suited for fast-growing ones. Containers can be terra cotta, clay, plastic or ceramic.

Terra cotta pots, made of fired clay, are some of the most popular choices, with designs ranging from plain to ornate.  Plants perform very well in terra cotta pots, as the porous surface allows good air exchange between the plant roots and the environment.  Non-terra cotta clay containers range from gray to brown in color, depending on the clay type. Clay pots can be glazed or unglazed.  The glazed pots restrict air exchange, but offer more design choices.  Unglazed pots evaporate water faster, and plants in them may need more frequent watering.  Disadvantages of clay containers include the fact that they are fragile, can break and tend to be heavy (especially large pots.)

Plastic pots range from very simple to quite elaborate. They are constructed of materials like polyethylene, polyurethane, recycled plastic and fiberglass.  Their advantages include being lightweight as well as chip- and break-resistant. Air exchange and water evaporation rates are generally lower in plastic containers compared with clay containers. Plants in plastic pots will not dry out as quickly as plants in clay pots, increasing the danger of over-watering.

In general, planters either have drainage holes or don’t have drainage holes. Do not allow plants in containers with drainage holes to sit in saucers filled with water, unless the plant is suspended above the water level by a layer of rocks.  Containers without drainage holes work well for plants such as the Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum), which needs plenty of water, but they should not be used for cacti and succulents.

If you reuse containers, clean them by washing out any old compost, chemical or paint residues. Sterilize the container by placing it in a 10 percent bleach solution and rinse well. For more information on choosing plants and planters this holiday season, contact me at the Gilmer County Extension office.

 

Beware of Amazing Fruits

Many nurseries and markets offer exotic fruits and vegetables with seemingly extraordinary characteristics but before purchasing unknown fruits, there are a few rules to follow to avoid disappointment and wasted money.

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  A good example of this is the advertisement to grow tomatoes and potatoes in one single planting.  Rule number one, read advertisements closely.  It might say “one single planting” and not “one single plant.”  Pictures are usually illustrations that indicate performance under optimal conditions. Do you see that nothing unusual is being said?  What we have here is a normal tomato planted very close to a normal potato.

The second rule is to find out if a particular fruit crop will survive the winter.  Although Georgia winters are not typically harsh, many species have tropical origins and will not tolerate cold temperatures.  Other fruits require special care to avoid winter injury.  Nurseries may claim that they have a particular variety of fruit that is quite hardy, for example a bush cherry or hardy kiwi, but these “varieties” are actually different species which differ in fruit quality and size from their commercially-grown cousins.

The third rule is to be wary if a plant has a different growth habit than you would normally expect.  A “blueberry tree” does not produce blueberries, and it is not even closely related to wild or cultivated blueberries; however the fruits are edible and make a delicious pie, but do not expect them to taste like blueberries. And the “tomato tree” is not in the same genus as the cultivated tomato.  Although it may be billed as producing 60 pounds of “tomatoes” per plant, this would occur only under tropical conditions because the plant will be injured if night temperatures fall below 50 degrees F.

Fourth, question some of the terms used to describe fruit plants, especially if those words are in quotation marks.  One example would be the use of the term “ever bearing” to describe raspberries and strawberries that produce two crops per year. Scientists have recently developed true ever bearing strawberries such as “Tribute” and “Tristar” which they call “day neutral” but do not expect “ever bearing” strawberries such as “Ozark Beauty” and “ever bearing” raspberries such as “Heritage” to bear fruit continuously throughout the year.  Ever bearing fruits usually produce a moderate crop in summer and then again in the fall.

Be suspicious of claims that say fruits can be grown from seeds.  Plants from seeds will likely not resemble the parent, and are usually inferior.  One exception would be Alpine strawberries, sometimes called “fraises des bois” which produce small, tasty strawberries and can be started from seed. Otherwise, learn about the care and culture of a plant before you purchase it.  Many fruits require pollen from another variety for fruit set, and the varieties must flower at the same time.  Also, be sure the soil pH is appropriate before you purchase plants.  And know the limitations of the rootstock of dwarf fruit trees.  Some require exacting soil characteristics, and most dwarf rootstocks reduce the hardiness of the tree. Growing exotic fruits and vegetables can be rewarding and challenging but by asking a few questions and doing a little research you can avoid the disappointment associated with unfulfilled expectations from exaggerated and misleading claims.

For more information, contact me at the Gilmer County Extension office.

By:  Eddie Ayers, County Extension Agent

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