COLUMN: GARDENING: Pick fruit early if Green June beetles are a problem

We are receiving a lot of phone calls on the Green June beetle that I wrote about last week. Most of the damage will be seen on fruit that is beginning to mature. Pick the fruit a bit early and let it ripen off of the tree if this insect is a problem for your garden. Picking apples before they are ripe will not work on apples since they need the tree for proper ripening. If you have any other questions on the Green June beetle or any other gardening-related topic call our Master Gardeners at 257-5555.

Avoid any heavy pruning this time of year. Wait until winter. Any pruning that substantially reduces the canopy and exposes the trunk and branches is a no-no this time of year. Plants that can be damaged by the intense sunlight need all the protection we can give them. Just because they are desert plants does not mean you can prune them either.

Trees like palo verde will burn easily now if their tender branches and trunk are exposed.

Question: My agave fell over. It just died overnight.

Answer: This is probably the agave weevil. If you were to dig up the plant as soon as it died, you would see the root filled with holes and small insect larvae inside the root. The insect larvae feed on the inside of the plant and root system and kill it when there are enough numbers to cause extensive damage.

Usually, a drenching of the soil surrounding the root with an insecticide, or spreading insecticide granules, will kill the insects and save the plant. Try drenching the root area with neem, which is safe for all mammals. Watch for adults crawling around the plant. These are quarter inch, dark-colored weevils. This is a good indicator for the presence of the weevil.

Q: I have a problem with my okra. The plants were normal and full of blooms, but did not set fruit. Eventually the blooms dropped off.

A: Your okra could have shed it flowers for a number of reasons, but most likely irregular watering. Though okra revels in summer heat, dry periods affect fruit set and development. Keep your plants well-watered and maintain a two- to three-inch layer of compost mulch around the plants.

When planted from seed, okra needs about 60 days of midsummer weather to produce a crop. Okra cultivars differ in height, pod color, prominence of pod ridges and presence of spines. Okra will produce large flowers about two months after planting. The okra pods will be ready to pick three to four days later.

Harvest the pods when they are 3 to 4 inches long. The seed pods should be refrigerated immediately following harvest. If the okra gets too large, it will be tough and stringy. Pick the okra every one to two days or yields will be decreased.

Mulch the plants to keep the soil moist between irrigations. Okra that is too mature can be dried, cured and used in flower arrangements.

Okra is very sensitive to frost.

Q: Can I cut my hollyhocks back? They are very tall and out of control.

A: I wouldn't cut them back. This will remove the blossoms and most of the leaves. Hollyhocks can range in height from 4 to 8 feet or more. Hollyhocks are tall plants with most of the blossoms growing on the upper half of the stalk. They are filled in with leaves on the lower portion, but the leaves can be rather scraggly by mid summer. I would suggest using shorter plants in front to cover the lower portion. Some may grow so tall they may need to be tied up, a reason to place them against some sort of supporting structure out of the late afternoon sun.

While hollyhocks are biennial so they don't begin blooming until the second year, each plant will live three or four years. Take the seed heads off when they are ripe, break them open and scatter on the ground, pressing in lightly.

They will reseed themselves.

Q: When do I pick my pears?

A: This tree fruit is one of the odd ones when it comes to picking, and it will do you well to remember that. Pears must be picked early, before they ripen on the tree or they will never have an appealing texture. Or they will rot on the tree before you decide to pick them.

Have you ever had a pear that had a gritty texture to it when you ate it? That gritty texture is due to a certain type of cells found far into the interior of the fruit called stone cells. When I was in school we called them sclerenchyma cells. Mature sclerenchyma cells are dead cells that have heavily thickened walls. Such cells occur in many different forms, but two main types occur: fibres and sclereids. Sclereids occur in leaves and fruits and constitute the hard shell of nuts and the outer hard coat of many seeds. I know this sounds too weird to be true, but if you pick pears while they are still green, the sclerenchyma cells, or stone cells, wont develop nearly as much and pears will have a buttery texture instead of gritty.

When to pick them? If your immature pear is a green pear, wait until you see a slight change in the color of the fruit from lime green to a yellow green. Or you can harvest a pear, cut it open and look at the seeds and flesh next to the core. This is where stone cells mature. You will see a band of flesh a different color from the outer flesh. Harvest pears before this band turns yellow. Seeds should be dark brown, though.

Q: When are my apples ripe?

A: One of the easiest ways is to pick one and taste it. It should be sweet.

The idea is to keep this fruit on the tree as long as possible without letting the fruit over mature. Cut the apple open. The seeds should be dark brown and fully mature. As the fruit over matures, the sugars will begin to ferment and the fruit will rot. As the fruit becomes mature, the sugar content and the fruit's particular flavor will increase to a maximum.

Although I don't have any research to support this idea, I would try to pick the fruit on a cool day or after a cooler period of time. It makes sense that this gives the fruit a better chance to accumulate sugars. High night time temperatures "burn" up accumulated sugars quickly and reduce the stored sugars. This holds true for any fruit appreciated for its sugar content.

Unlike peaches and other fruit that can ripen off of the tree, apples and some other fruit can't. Pears, for instance, have to be picked green and allowed to ripen off the tree to keep that gritty texture of the flesh from becoming so pronounced. A: In this climate, this is a fact of life for roses at this time of year. Heat is the major reason for their poor condition. I do believe that high nighttime temperatures contribute as much or more to rose problems as the high day time temperatures and direct light. Roses need protection from late afternoon sun, amended soil in the root at the time of planting, good drainage, mulched around the roots, a good fertilizer program, proper pruning and attention to its pest problems. The No. 1 problem we see with roses is lack of attention by the owners. The next two tie for second and they are planting in the wrong location and bad irrigation practices. Roses need six hours of morning or early afternoon sun each day and protection from late afternoon heat and sun. They need a well-prepared soil at the time of planting and an organic mulch that will decompose and add organic matter to the soil. Not a rock mulch.They need drainage from irrigation water. As soon as the evening temperatures get comfortable, begin a light fertilizer program with them to bring them back to health. Use a fertilizer made for roses if you don't have a favorite that you've discovered. These plants require attention and cannot be treated like a landscape shrub. If you do treat them this way, you won't be happy with them.

Bob Morris is a horticulture specialist with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.