Hi, I'm Chris Cooper.

Welcome to "The Family Plot:
Gardening in the Mid-South."

Thanks for joining us.

Orchids are becoming
increasingly popular as

flowering houseplants and
many orchids are easy to grow.

Today we're going to give you
some pointers on how to grow

orchids successfully.

We're also going to talk
about the fall vegetable garden,

weed control, soil testing
and what should be

planted right now.

All of that and more
is just ahead on

"The Family Plot: Gardening in
the Mid-South" so stay with us.

(female announcer)
This is a production
of WKNO - Memphis.

Production funding for

"The Family Plot: Gardening in
the Mid-South" is provided by

Good Winds Landscape
and Garden Center

in Germantown since 1943
and continuing to offer it's

plants for successful gardening
with seven greenhouses and three

acres of plants plus
comprehensive landscape

services..

[soft music]

♪♪♪

Hi, welcome to
"The Family Plot".

I'm Chris Cooper.

Joining me today
is Laurie Williams.

Laurie is the adult
education manager

at the Memphis
Botanic Garden.

And Walter Battle is here.

Walter is a U-T county
director in Haywood county.

Thanks for joining me.

Thanks for having us.

Alright, so y'all
ready for this?

Ready for this.

Alright, Laurie.

We have orchids all around us.

Walter, I know you like that.

Oh yes.

Why are orchids
intimidating though?

Well people think
they're really hard to grow.

And we might be able to
blame the Victorians on that.

Because we went out and
collected all these plants and

they stick them in
these really hot,

humid greenhouses -- no
air circulation or anything.

And the plants died.

Well so they
became hard to grow.

If you give them what they need,
they're really not hard to grow.

Okay.

The important thing is to
know what you've got though.

Because orchids grow
all over the world.

They grow in the desert.
They grow in the forest.

They grow in swamps.

And you can't grow a swamp
orchid like you would grow a

mountain orchid.

So you need to know what you're
buying or what you're getting.

And just give it what it needs.

Okay.
Now what does it need?

Let's go ahead and
talk about that.

Depending what kind it is.

Like this purple one over here,
this Vanda -- that needs bright,

bright sunshine.

Lots of sunshine.

You probably could not get that
plant to grow indoors and bloom

like that.

Wow.

Okay, now Phalaenopsis, you
can or even this Phragmipedium,

that tall pink
pinkish colored one.

That you could probably grow
indoors with some supplemental

light.

But the Vanda you would pretty
much have to have a greenhouse

for.

Wow.

So the thing they look for to
grow in their indoors is maybe a

Phalaenopsis or a Phragmipedium
or a Paphiopedilum.

Those sometimes will
do okay in a window.

Wow, look how you
spit out those names.

Pretty impressive!

Well if there's a
botanist watching,

I probably butchered them.

But you do what you can.

Well look, how about repotting?

Okay.

Let's make sure we cover that.

Yeah, that's probably the most
question I get asked the most.

Because people would get an
orchid as a gift or get one in a

big box store.

And after they're done blooming,
they probably need to be

repotted.

Orchids need to be repotted
every two years for sure.

Even if it doesn't look like
it's filled the pot because the

stuff breaks down.

This is like a bark and it
breaks down after two years.

So you end up with this kind of
mush that makes the roots rot,

okay?

So very important.

You just dump it out of it's
pot and if it's in a clay pot,

sometimes it will adhere to it
because these roots actually

cling on to trees in nature.

They're epithetic,
a lot of orchids.

They grow up in
the tops of trees.

And so they'll cling
on to this clay pot.

Well if you soak the whole thing
in water for a little while,

it'll loosen them
up a little bit.

But that's what the
plant looks like, okay?

And in nature, that
would be a tree branch.

It would be growing on
something like this.

You know and it would
just adhere to that.

So what you want to do is make
sure everything you use is going

to drain well, right?

And so the pots have
big holes in them.

And these are even
good orchid pots.

Look at that.

Big holes in the bottom.

And then this one is
even a homemade orchid pot.

You see it's got the bottom
broken out for those of us that

don't have large budgets.

And just this I add to my garden
soil because it's nice composty

stuff now, kind of
broken down a little bit.

And so what I would do if we
have enough time is prune off

anything that's not
nice and white lookin'.

You know these are
kind of old roots.

See how that ones just sort of..

And all that's gonna
do is rot in the soil.

So any of these that are
kind of brown and squishy,

I would take off, okay?

And then just put
it back in the pot.

And it's okay if you bury some
of these but it's also okay if

some of them hang out.

Again, this grows in
the tops of trees.

And so that's it's nature.

And then you would just
put your new mix in there.

You can get this.

Some of the big box
stores are carrying it now.

Good nurseries have it.

The orchid guys told me
their favorite website is

repotme-dot-com
for ordering stuff.

And I looked it up
before I came today.

They have 27 different
orchid potting mixes.

So again, know
Repotme-dot-com.

How about that?

And so know what you got so
you'll know what to use because

some like sphagnum
moss a little better.

Some of them like this bark mix.

This has a little bit
of volcanic rock in it,

that blown up volcanic rock.

And that's really
all there is to it, okay?

This has been soaked
overnight before I used it.

It's not a dry mix that
you're putting it in to.

And then more orchids are
probably killed by overwatering

than anything.

People think they need
lots and lots of water.

And so they keep watering them.

Well what happens is the roots
start to rot down below this

soil.

Well, this mix.

And then the leaves
start to shrivel.

So people water them more
because they think they need,

you know, because
they're shriveling.

But it's actually because
there's no roots to hold the

water up.

I've done that.
I will admit to that.

I went to one of the big box
stores and bought an orchid.

And yeah, that's what happened.

That's what happens.

Overwatering it.

Really not much to it.

I mean that took me, what?

-- less than a minute.

Didn't take long at all.

Not too bad.

Now there's another thing you
can do with orchids that's kind

of fun too.

If you'll hand me that one.

Again, in nature
they cling to bark.

And so this is a piece of cork
bark but you can also use drift

wood -- works really good.

And what I've done is
soak some sphagnum moss.

And you just..

If I had fishing line, I
woudl go ahead and do this.

But we really
don't have the time.

This is just to
protect the roots.

The plant doesn't need this.

But when I wrap it
with fishing line,

I would cut those roots.

And so I'm just going to pack
that around it and then just tie

it on there with
fishing line, okay?

Now the bad news about it is the
birds like this to make their

nests.

So all summer long
they pull and pull.

Yeah, they'll pull on it.

So what happened was I went out
to get this plant this morning

and it was laying on the ground.

The birds had
loosened so much of the mix,

the fishing line couldn't
even hold it in anymore.

That's why I decided I'd
bring this one just to show.

But just wrap it to protect it
and then just hang it outside.

I hang it under my trees.

And then you can just hit
it with your water wand.

Now in the winter, this is a
problem because it's indoors and

you can't just water it
with your water wand.

So what I do with my big orchids
that are on rafts like this,

I take them in to my shower
once a week and shower them.

Once a week?

Once a week.

How long?

Uh, just run the water on
them enough to get it moist.

And then I let them drain for a
couple of hours before I hang

them back up in
the greenhouse area.

How about that?

Yeah.

Now let me ask you about I've
heard people using ice cubes.

Have you heard that before?

Yeah and it's okay.

It's a little bit of
shock to the roots.

You know you go from a nice 80
degree greenhouse and all of

sudden there's ice
cold water on your roots.

But it doesn't
usually kill them.

Okay.

But it's, you know, I mist them.
It's just a little bit easier.

So you just mist it.

And then how often
would you mist it?

All winter long.

I don't really water
my orchids much at all.

I mist them.
But I mist them quite a bit.

I mist them until this, this
little sheath on this root turns

light green.

That means its absorbed water.

This is kind of like a sponge
and it's absorbed enough water

that the plant can
then take it up.

And then I'll water them
maybe two or three times in the

winter.

Summer is a different story.

They go outsdoors and everybody
gets watered quite a bit.

Okay, all yours go outdoors?

Everybody goes outdoors.

Okay, then how often would
you water them outdoors?

When this gets dry.

You want to let
it get pretty dry.

So on a real humid day,
it may not need water.

But on a hot,
really hot, dry day,

it will probably
need to be watered,

oh, every couple of days.

Okay.

Now again, the
light requirement.

So it depends on
what kind of orchid?

High light, low light, yep.
So it just kind of depends.

Low light.
So away from a window.

Wouldn't want it
in a south window, no.

It would probably burn.

And you can tell if it's burned
a lot of times because where the

leaf bends like this,
there will be a spot.

And it's basically
sunburn just like people do.

That's what happened to mine.

[laughter]

I overwatered it and
put it next to a window that got

too much light.

Yep, give them what they
need and they'll grow fine.

Alright.

I didn't have that
soil mix either though.

I think it came
with something else.

Well yeah, some people
use a gravel almost.

When I went in our greenhouse to
see what we had to bring today,

this is like just a
clay pellet almost.

And they had taken some wire
tubes and basically loaded it

with this.

And the orchid is
growing all within this stuff.

It's just in this long
cylinder of pea gravel.

Well let me ask you
about fertilizer.

Mhm, they say weekly, weakly.

So you fertilize them weekly
and you use a real weak strength

fertilizer, okay?

And again, you need to know
what you got to know when to

fertilize and
that kind of stuff.

In the winter, some plants
you don't even water during the

winter.

Dendrobium you basically don't
water from November 'til March.

Drops all of it's leaves off.

When it starts to
put leaves out again,

you start watering it again.

A weak fertilizer.
So..

Maybe..
Well you don't want blue water.

You know people hit their
orchids with blue water and

that's way too too strong.

In nature, you don't get all
your fertilizer once a month.

You know you think about it, you
get it just gently over time.

And so that's what you
want to do with the orchids.

So there's an
orchid society in town.

Right.

How active are they?

Meet every month at
the botanic gardens,

Sunday afternoons 2:00 to 4:00.

And if any of your viewers
have questions about orchids,

there is someone
there that can answer it.

These people have been
growing orchids for a long time.

Wow.
So have you!

Yeah actually but I don't
do it full time anymore.

So I've kind of gotten a little.

I've forgotten an awful
lot of what I've learned.

So you can ask Laurie
about orchids as well.

She can help you out.

Well and there's an
orchid show and sale in May.

It's around Mother's Day.

It's the 16th and 17th.

16th, 17th and 18th this year.

And they actually do
a judged orchid show.

And there will be some
phenomenal orchids there.

It's put on by the
orchid society here in town.

And then you can also buy.

They'll have a lot of vendors
that have fairly affordable

orchids.

Alright, well there ya have it.
Thanks Laurie.

There are a number of gardening
events going on in the next

couple of weeks.

Here are just a few
that might interest you.

♪♪♪

Alright Laurie, thanks again for
that information about orchids.

Did you like that Walter?

Oh, now that was great.
Learned a lot!

Learned a lot.

Alright, so let's talk about
crops here for a second Walter.

What are some of the crops
that are being harvested at this

point?

At this point right now
we're wrapping up cucumbers,

snap beans, summer squash, okra.

Those are some of
the things that, you know,

are kind of playing out right
now at this time of year.

Okay.

And okra will grow
for a while, won't it?

Oh, yeah.

That's right, all
the way up to frost.

All the way up to frost, okay.

Now is this the time of
year to do a soil test?

And if it is, then why is that?

Well because yes, this is
the best time to do it.

And the reason being, it takes
lime or calcium about four to

six months before it's broken
down where the plants can take

it up as a nutrient.

So if you put
your lime down now,

it kinda gives enough time to
be ready by next spring so to

speak.

And also we like to have people
soil test right now because

usually come March, we'll get
a back up at the soils lab.

Because you have all the farmers
and everybody else sending,

you know, lab samples --
I mean, soil samples in.

So just kind of
keep everything quick.

Right.
And I always tell people.

I know they've heard
it from me before.

Why guess, soil test.

That's right.

Before you throw
anything out there,

you need to know the
nutritional value of your soils.

That's right, that's right.

So first things first.
Get it tested.

Seven dollars.

A Seven dollar
investment of your money.

That's right, that's right.

So we definitely
want you to do that.

And it also keeps us
from polluting as well.

Sure.

Because we're not
putting extra, you know,

nitrates and phosphates and
all that in to the ground.

Yeah, because most
people think,

"Yeah, fertilizer --
more is better."

But that's not the case.

That's not the case.

So you have to think
down stream, you know.

Especially the fertilizers are
getting down in soil drains and

things like that.

So you gotta be careful because
there's fish down there at the

end.

Okay, so what about
planting a cover crop?

More people are
doing that these days.

Yeah, so and it's being
practiced quite a lot.

Even on big scale agriculture,
we're practicing that.

And the reason being, it
keeps the soil intact.

You know, because we
do have, you know,

highly eroded soils
here in the Mid-South.

And also by planting
some type of legume crop,

it will fix
nitrogen in to the soil.

And it will also help build
organic matter for the soil next

year.

So it's kind of a
win-win all the way around.

And there are several crops
that we're looking at now at

planting.

I mean it used to pretty
much clover but now radishes.

People are using those.

And there is a lot of research
out there that is suggesting

plant a
combination of all of that.

Wow.

And you can really build.

Within seven years, you can
really build up layers of top

soil.

Okay, so what do you do?

Do you till those
cover crops under?

Yes, just till them under.

And for those who want to use
some type of burn down herbicide

application, you would
burn it down and then,

of course, still, you
know, till it under.

Wow, makes for some good soil!

Yeah.

Good organic matter.

Okay, now what
about weed control?

Everybody has a question
about weed control in gardens.

Right Laurie?

[laughter]

Well you know really
weed control is year round now

if you really think about it.

And what I would do in
the garden right now is,

you know, obviously
besides cleaning it up,

go out there and just spray a
non-selective herbicide such as,

you know, glyphosate
which is sold as RoundUp.

And just kill
everything off, so to speak.

And also that will prevent grass
seeds and things like that from

germinating next year, you know,
because you would just kill it

off before it can form seeds.

And then put down some type of
pre-emergent that will contain

trifluralin.

And just make you
have a good, clean,

you know, bed to plant
in come next spring.

You'll be ready to go.

You'll be able to have
weed gain, so to speak.

But you know what
somebody's telling me?

You know what Chris?
I don't want to use a herbicide.

Yes.

Is there something
else that they can do?

Well in warmer temperatures,
you can use corn gluten meal.

And that will serve as a, I
guess a per-emergent type of

herbicide.

And of course you
can always, you know,

chop and till.

You know so it's
just kind of how you,

you know,
preference, so to speak.

Yeah, that would
be the hard way.

[laughter]

Yes.

Alright now what
about the freeze dates?

Yeah, we get that
question a lot.

Okay, big day to remember here
in the Mid-South is November 13.

November 13th.

Now hopefully that
won't be on a Friday.

I don't know about that.

But according to the Tennessee
Department of Agriculture,

on November 13th
according to their records,

you have like a 50%
chance of a freeze.

So you would
adjust your planting,

you know, on that date.

And obviously on
the seed packages,

it will kind of tell you how
long it's gonna take before that

crop matures and all that.

So you'll kind of
adjust it to that date.

But kind of
remember November 13th.

There's a 50% chance.

Fifty-percent chance!

Yes, of a freeze
according to records now.

Now I'm not a weatherman.

Okay but you're
playing one now, right?

That's right.

Alright, are you
writing that down?

-- November 13th.

I'm gonna remember that one.

Okay.

Alright, what about other
cultural practices that we can

perform now?

Well I think a real good one
obviously would be just to clean

your garden up, so to speak.

You know just get rid of all
that old crop residue in regards

to peach trees and things
like that, mummified fruits.

Just get rid of all that because
disease will just harbor on its

stuff and just be there
next year waiting to attack.

I also like to, you know, mow
the grass around my garden area.

Because you know insects
will over winter on that grass.

So you kinda get
everything cleaned up real good.

That just helps a lot.

Okay.

It goes a long way.

So keep everything clean.
Practice good sanitation.

Yes and you know
some areas are..

You know I like to just till the
stuff in to the soil and just

let it compost and be
ready for next year.

But you know some places
will permit you to burn,

you know, if you live out in the
county or something in some of

the counties.

You can burn some of that
old corp residue that may have

disease on it.

And it will just
kind of help a lot.

Okay.

And I'm pretty sure y'all
can do that in Haywood County.

Oh yes.
That's what I'm saying.

We can do it out in the county.

There's some things we can do
that you can't do in the city.

If I can get away with it.

Isn't that something?

I don't think we can
get away with that here.

No, no, no, no.
They're not gonna tolerate that.

Okay.

So those are
cultural practices though.

And those are important.

Yeah, it is.

They're very important.

So we do those things
and we'll be just fine.

You'll be fine.

Alright, well
appreciate that Walter.

Alright, here's
our Q and A session.

Okay.

Ms. Laurie you jump
in there with us,

okay?

Alright, here's
our first question.

It's a viewer e-mail
from Jack in Bartlett.

He writes, Hi Chris and friends.

I really enjoy your show and
hope to see you for many years

to come.

Pretty good!
Thank you, Mr. Jack, for that.

My question is when is the best
time to prune back my roses and

what are the best
practices with pruning?

Walter, you want to
help out with that?

Well yes, let me say this.

Traditionally, um, March was
kind of the best time to prune

what we call the bush
roses, so to speak.

Of course I know now with these
newer cultivars you can kind of

prune anytime you
want to, I believe.

And I've always was told to
counterprune back like a third

of the plant, maybe.

Now there are some
other tips, you now,

maybe I don't know.

I just know March was kind
of the time traditionally.

Right.

You know I always tell people
just prune your roses back when

the Forsynthias are in bloom.

You know that's
gonna be early spring,

you know, in this
area for the most part.

Anything that's
diseased, take it out.

Crossing, take it out.

You want to open up the middle
and let sunlight get down in

there.

And that allows for
good air circulation.

Now if you have any canes in
there smaller than the diameter

of a pencil, you want
to get that out as well.

Okay.

Once you do all of those, get
rid of of course old leaves and

things like that because
they may harbor some of those

diseases we talked about.

Well and sterilizing your
pruners too in between clamps is

a real good idea.

Take an alcohol swab out
there with ya in between plants.

It's good.

Yeah, that's a real good idea.

I mean those are some
of your good practices.

And here again, when
your forsynthias in bloom,

that's when I
prune back my roses.

Because I do have roses at home.
So that's what I do.

Yeah?

And I think they're pretty good.
Not too bad.

Alright, and then
also, you know,

put down mulch too, you know,
usually in the springtime once I

finish pruning.

Seems to help out somewhat.

Okay, so there you
have it Mr. Jack.

Thank you for that question.
Here's our next one.

Can you grow apricot trees
here in the Mid-South with much

success?

What do you think
about that Walter?

Well I do know that apricots
come from the Mediterranean.

But they require about a
thousand hours of temperatures

below 45 degrees.

So they do require
some type of chilling.

I think it helps them, you know,
set fruit and develop buds and

all that.

And you know sometimes we
have those mild winters.

I don't know if we
really get there.

And most of the apricot
production in this country,

I would probably say 90%
of it's in California.

Evidentally their climate works.

So I would have to
say probably no.

I also know that they
require dry springs.

And we really don't get a lot
of dry springs around here.

We get dry summers
but not dry springs.

Yeah, that's when we get our
rainfall for the most part.

Something else too about
apricot trees is this.

The current varities
that are out there,

they bloom too early
for us in this area.

In January or something, is it?

Yes, it's too early.

So our spring frost
would just take them out.

Right.

So you're not gonna be able to
grow apricot trees with much

success here.

You always do find that one
person though that will say well

my uncle do one.

So you know you may
have that out there.

But no.

But for the most
part, I wouldn't.

Because they, again,
they bloom -- yeah, January.

Just too early for
us around this area.

Because we will have a frost
and it will definitely take them

out.

That's for sure.

Alright, here's
our next question.

What are these little tan
furry caterpillars eating my oak

leaves?

We've had several people come to
the extension office with bags

of these caterpillars.

Okay.

They're the Pale Tussock
caterpillars which turn in to

the Pale Tussock moth.

Okay.

What they're doing,
they're eating your oak leaves.

They're also eating
your Sycamore leaves.

This is the fall, okay.
So let's make this easy.

The leaves are dropping anyway.

That's right.

You're fine.
I think it'll be fine.

There's no need, in my
opinion, to go out and spray,

you know, B-T or something like
that when this is the fall and

the leaves are
gonna drop anyway.

So it's not gonna
stress the tree out.

Right.

Now if you see this
problem in the spring,

then yes, especially when the
leaves are coming back out.

Then I would use a
B-T product, Dipel,

Javelin to control
these caterpillars.

But this time of the year, no.

Are they worse this
year than normal?

We've seen more this year
than we have in years past.

Now I don't know if that's
because of the weather pattern

or not.

Yeah.

But yeah, we've had several
people come in to the office.

You know these are getting in
to my house or I've seen them on

the sidewalk and the
carport and things like that.

But yeah, we've
seen more this year.

But here again, it's fall.

They're gonna
drop leaves anyway.

They're gonna drop leaves
anyway and you'll be fine, okay?

Now here's our next question.

What is the best pre-emerge to
use to control winter weeds?

What do you think Walt?

Well I really like, like I said,
the trifluralin products because

they give you, like, a
three month control.

So if you kind of
think in October,

well, you know, you
look right around January,

probably it begins to play out.

And you know a lot of people
start preparing potato ground

come February.

So it kind of gets
you through the winter.

That's probably the
best products to use.

I think Preen probably makes
a product that will carry you

through.

And Preen actually
contains trifluralin.

That's right, that's right.
It contains it.

And they have an organic Preen
now that actually contains the

corn gluten meal which you
actually mentioned earlier.

Mhm.

So you can use those.

There's another -- Pendimethalin
you know is the active

ingredient that you can use
to control some of your winter

weeds that are definitely
going to be out there.

That's right, that's right.

And Dimension is another
product that you can use.

It contains Dithiopyr
which actually controls,

you know, broadleaf
weeds, winter weeds.

So yeah, so that's
probably what I would just use.

And most of them come
in a granular form.

That's right.

So just get it out there.

Water it in or let
Mother Nature water it in.

It forms that barrier, you know,
right there at the soil level.

So once those seeds
start to geriminate,

it hits that barrier,
that chemical barrier,

inhibits the formation of roots.

No roots, no shoots, no weeds.

That's right.

So you know that
pretty much knocks it out.

Alright, so you won't have
any weeds, Ms. Laurie.

You need to do that!

I need to do that badly.

You need to do that!

But if you do, I think
you'll be just fine.

And timing is critical.

That's right.

Make sure you put it
down at the right time.

Read the label.
Don't put out too much.

More, you know, is
not always better.

And you'll be just fine.
Thank y'all for that.

Okay, that's all we
have time for today.

Don't forget you can send a
letter or an e-mail with your

gardening questions.

The mailing address is on the
screen and the e-mail is address

is Familyplot-at-wkno-dot-org.

I'm Chris Cooper.

Thanks for watching and be sure
to join us next time for

"The Family Plot:
Gardening in the Mid-South".

Be safe!

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