Backyard Tomato Workshop set for May 18^th

For those of you who enjoy growing and eating home grown tomatoes, listen up.  Those of you who have trouble and problems growing tomatoes, you pay special close attention.  I’ve got a workshop just for you!   I am proud to announce that the Alabama Cooperative Extension System will be holding a Growing Backyard Tomatoes Workshop in Alexander City on Friday, May 18^th. Mark your calendars now and plan to be there because this is a great opportunity to learn everything you need to know about how to grow tomatoes.      

The Tallapoosa County Tomato Workshop will be held on the campus of Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City.  More specifically, the workshop will be held in the HEA Building. The workshop will begin with registration at 8:30 a.m. and conclude at 3:00 p.m.  Extension Agents, Specialists, and local growers will provide insights on growing America’s most popular garden vegetable.  Topics include: bed preparation, soil testing, staking and caging, transplant handling, variety selection, insect pests, disease problems, pesticide recommendations, heirloom varieties, container production, food safety and preservation, health and nutrition information and fresh use recipes.  There is a $10 fee to attend.  Participants will be provided publications, lunch, at least one tomato plant, and a T-shirt to the first 50 paid registrants. 

Registration must be made and paid by Monday, May 14^th.  Call the Tallapoosa County Extension Office at (256) 825-1050 to register or obtain more information.    

Freeze Damaged Plants

Many plants in our area got hit hard by the freeze during the first weekend in April.  The sensitive ones, like newly planted vegetable plants, died immediately while most woody ornamental plants just got severely bit back and damaged. Like most of you, I too am waiting to see what and when plants will recover and put on a second new growth.

According to Beth Babbit , Extension Area Specialist with the University of Tennessee, all of this depends on how your plant reacted to the cold night temperatures, its location in your garden, the type of plant, or its genetic fortitude. Plants that appear to be only wilted and perk back up when the sun comes out should be fine. Later in the season they may exhibit puckered or stunted leaves or may have a “sunburn” look. Few may have brown or black spots on the leaves where plant cell membranes did ruptured, killing that tissue.

Other plants like some Japanese maples, crape myrtle and bigleaf hydrangea are much more sensitive to the cold night temperatures. If you notice leaves that look water-soaked (imagine lettuce frozen in the back of the refrigerator) this tissue is dead and won’t re-hydrate. This Does Not Mean the Plant is Dead!  Adopt a wait-and-see attitude, some plants may re-leaf and bounce back just fine. Most likely all these plants will have brown and black tissue which can be removed later in the season.

So what to do now? Two words… Wait and Water. Wait to dig or remove any plant material. In a few months you will know if it will survive the summer.  For those plants that have lost all of the new leaves to the freeze it will be difficult to regenerate new leaves if there is not enough starch stored up in the root system for “ another spring”- they will need extra water for this recovery.  Water will allow wilted leaves to re-hydrate. For trees, water deeply twice weekly. Monitor your plant and if you see leaves start to droop, check the soil moisture around the roots and add more if it seems dry. Keep stressed plants mulched this summer to retain moisture around the roots.

Do Not Prune.  Pruning can stimulate excessive growth. These plants are stressed so give them time to recover. Give some plants, especially trees a year before severe pruning. Dead foliage can be carefully cut away, but this is not necessary for recovery. The trick is to not to cut too much off the plant.

Do Not Fertilize. Fertilizing now with nitrogen may cause the plant to leaf too quickly instead of giving it time to recover. Trees and shrubs should not be fertilized until next winter. If you had already fertilized, make sure plants receive ample water to use the excess fertilizer.

The damaged tissue at the tips of stems was the growing point for future growth. Tip dieback may cause your plant to look different. In most trees and shrubs you can selectively prune to redirect growth to rebuild the form of your plant (next year). The leaves manufacture a plant’s food to be stored for the next growing season.  If plants aren’t able to store enough food this year they may not make it next year. But don’t lose hope!

For more information, contact the Tallapoosa County Extension Office at 256-825-1050 or visit us online at www.aces.edu.