Q: I'm an newbie gardener who's attempting to develop grapes. I planted two vines. One was flourishing and the opposite was not trying pretty much as good. Now they each look practically lifeless. It doesn’t assist that I needed to depart their care in another person’s palms for every week.
My essential questions are: What are they speculated to appear like in our winter? I stay in Santa Clarita. Are my vines lifeless or simply going dormant? How a lot ought to I be watering them now? I used to be watering twice per week with about 1.5-2 gallons water. That is the primary winter I’ve had the vines.
A: Grapes are deciduous, so they are going to look lifeless within the winter even when they’re nonetheless alive. When you bend a department and it doesn’t snap, the plant remains to be alive. If it snaps, that specific department is lifeless, however the primary vine should be alive. Wait till spring to see if buds seem.
Dormant vines gained’t take a lot water, however they shouldn’t be left to dry out utterly. Winter rain ought to provide sufficient water, however a modest quantity of water could also be wanted if there’s no rain. The vines shouldn't sit in water or mud for any prolonged time period.
Q: I used to be unaware the vast majority of the vegetation masking my hillside, which I believed have been nice for hillside stabilization, are literally invasive. Wouldn't it be advisable to take away them (principally ice vegetation and ivy) and replant native species as a substitute? Would eradicating invasive ones trigger erosion to my hillside, and would new vegetation survive given the previous invasive plant roots might regrow and maybe overtake the brand new native varieties?
A: When replanting a hillside for stabilization, I'd suggest eradicating a number of vegetation at a time so the brand new vegetation have time to determine. Eradicating the previous roots ought to assist the brand new vegetation set up sooner, so it’s well worth the bother.
Q: You talked about killing slugs with ammonia water. I regarded it up and was not capable of finding it talked about for pest management. Do you make this? It doesn’t appear secure round pets. Are you able to elaborate on it a little bit?
A: Positive! When hand-picking snails (or slugs), the usual recommendation is to drop them right into a container of salt water. We used to do that, however then we ended up with a can stuffed with lifeless snails and thick, slimy salt water. We didn’t need to pour it into the compost bin, and we couldn’t pour it out round any of our vegetation as a result of excessive salt focus.
After we clear, we pour the soiled ammonia water onto considered one of our bushes, since diluted ammonia is an effective fertilizer. We determined to attempt utilizing ammonia that was not as diluted after we did our subsequent snail assortment. It labored like a appeal! All we did was add extra water, then dump the can into the compost bin. It’s not accessible to our pets and secure for the vegetation.