Early Peach Lives Up to Its Name

QUESTION: Our Early Elberta Peach is really living up to its name this year. Fruit has been ripening and falling off the tree since mid-June. It doesn’t normally start ripening until a week or two after the 4th of July holiday. It doesn’t taste quite right, but do you think I can use it for jam anyway?

Also, two of my Gardenia plants turned black and died practically overnight. I have others nearby. Is there a disease that might be causing the problem? If so, what can I do to prevent it from spreading?

ANSWER: With respect to your peaches, it’s been a strange year so far for fruit. This happens from time to time, but it’s always a disappointment. Santa Rosa plums don’t usually hit their peak until about the 4th of July in our garden, but the 1995 crop came on before Father’s Day and is gone now.

Our early nectarines were two to three weeks earlier than usual this year, and our mid-season nectarines--which should come on in mid-July about the same time as your Early Elberta peach--are ripening now. The sad accompaniment to this early ripening is a lack of flavor. The fruit is bland, or even sour. It just doesn’t taste right. Even so, we went ahead and made some freezer jam, using the recipes on the pectin package. I must say, the jam is delicious! It’s quite OK to use this fruit in preserves and other recipes.

Gardening hint: Prune back some of the long or high growth on your fruit tree right after the fruit ripens. That will allow summer growth to produce more fruiting wood lower on the tree for next year’s crop--which hopefully will be back to normal!

With respect to your Gardenias, I know of no regular disease that would cause this rapid blackening of the leaves and quick death of the plants. I have seen this happen when gophers sneak in from underground and in one or two nights eat the roots right up to the trunk (believe it or not!); but usually the top of the plant leans or falls over, and tell-tale soil mounds are visible nearby.

Other possible causes for the rapid demise of your Gardenia plants come to mind:

1--Gardenia do not adapt to adobe soils. They do best in soils high in organic matter. (Since your other plants are doing OK, this is probably not a concern to you.)

2--Perhaps a sprinkler became clogged and the plants in the spot did not get enough water. Gardenias require careful attention to watering.

3--Application of too much plant food is rapidly toxic to Gardenias.

4--Gardenias, like Camellias, are sensitive to the depth at which they are planted. If planted deeper than they were in the original container (or if they settle in after a while), they may sulk and then die fairly quickly.

5--Gardenia do not like to have the soil cultivated around their roots. Perhaps one of these factors may be the cause of death for your two plants. I would replace them if this happened in my garden. But first I would check the sprinkler system and repair it if necessary. Water the ground well a few times before replanting (particularly if over-fertilization was the problem). And be careful to keep the top of the new root ball just above ground level.

What’s Wrong With Curly Tomato Leaves?

Q: My tomato plant is growing well and has already set some fruit, but the leaves are curled and look strange. Is there anything wrong with it?

A: As long as your plant is growing well, you can rest assured that this in only a normal trait of certain tomato selections. it does not harm production. Excessive moisture tends to accentuate this trait in varieties that are prone to it.

Should Side Shoots Be Trimmed Off Corn

Q: We planted corn in our garden this year. Several of the plants have one or two side shoots. Should we take the side shots off? Also, how will we know when the ears are ready to harvest?

A: No, the side shoots (or suckers) are quite beneficial and should never be removed. As a rule the ears are usually ready to harvest about three weeks after the silks start to show. Once you pick it, be sure to eat it right away. Come to think of it, if you taste some while you are picking it, you’ll want to eat it right away. Fresh, home-grown corn is so good, it may not even make it to the table.

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More on Eugenia psyllids: These unwanted creatures were inadvertently brought in from Australia in 1988 and quickly began ruining coastal plantings of the popular Eugenia bush. UC researchers have released thousands of the psyllid’s natural predator, a tiny Tamarixia wasp (non-threatening to humans) in several coastal areas of the state where the psyllids are causing the most damage. And these beneficial insects are making a wonderful difference.

Mary Bianchi, San Luis Obispo County horticulture farm adviser who is assisting with the Tamarixia project, recommends that home owners with psyllid problems should still use gardening practices that discourage flushes of new growth on Eugenias, such as minimal watering and feeding, for example. Bianchi says that continuous applications of Mavrik (fluvalinate) and Orthene are still effective in controlling psyllids where they remain a major nuisance.

But in this instance and at this point, it appears that Eugenia psyllids may actually become a problem of the past, kept under control by Mother Nature herself (with a little encouragement from some dedicated California researchers).

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Correction: In last week’s column, I answered a question about control of dandelions in the lawn. Barbara Alvarez wrote to say that the active ingredient in Ortho’s “Weed-B-Gon” is actually a chemical called “2, 4-d,” and not glyphosphate as I had written. It’s true, and I goofed. Thanks Barbara.

Anyway, products that contain “2, 4-d” are actually better to use than glyphosphate for control of dandelions in turfgrass lawns. The reason is that “2, 4-d” kills only broad-leaf weeds and plants; it has no adverse effect on the lawn itself. Glyphosphate, on the other hand, dispatches any kind of plant it hits and will kill the lawn area around the dandelion as well as the dandelion itself. This serves as a reminder for all of us to thoroughly read the labels on all pesticides and herbicides each time we go to use them--and follow the directions carefully.

It’s also wise to spray in the morning or evening when the air is relatively calm, since even drifting mists from either of these two products could also kill certain other desirable plants as well.

For easy-care instructions to help you get great roses with a minimum of trouble, order my special video, “The Care and Pruning of Your Roses.” Send a check or money order for $18.99 (made out to Jack Christensen) to Rose Care Video, P.O. Box 1231, Ontario, Calif. 91762-0231. Allow two-three weeks for delivery.