July 2011 Newsletter©

Tomato Table and a little

Product Knowledge

A couple of years ago in a newsletter about ‘maters’, I mentioned an alternative method of supporting tomato plants…the tomato table.  I’ve had a number of questions about it so I thought I’d mention it again.

If you plant a tomato and let it grow, it doesn’t grow up like a shrub, it sprawls out over the ground, piling up on top of itself, shading its root system and fruit.  If by nature it wants to do that, why not let it?

I make the side rails 8’ long and cut the legs 30” long with a pointed end and drive them 12” into the ground so the side rails are 18” off the ground and the two rails are 4’ apart.  Once the plants are taller than the side rails, I lay 6’ long 1” x 1” slats across the rails to support the plants.  You could use landscape timbers and concrete blocks for your side rails and the top could be dog ear fencing or hogwire, feel free to modify or improve the design.

The table holds the fruit up off the ground, the plant shades its root system which keeps the ground cooler and improves blossom set and you can get under them to fertilize, water or weed just by moving a slat or two.

While I’m thinking about it…We talked about Knock-Out® roses in February but there apparently is some misinformation still floating around out there about a white Knock-Out® rose.  There ain’t one!  The White-Out® rose is from Bill Radler, the guy that developed the Knock-Out® series of roses, but it does get some disease so it did not meet the criteria to be included as a Knock-Out®, just as the deep red ‘Home Run®’ rose he introduced is not a Knock-Out®.  Its growth and flower are similar to a Knock-Out®, but you’ll need to spray it for blackspot.  I’ve included a link below to the Conard-Pyle website if you’d like more information.

http://www.conard-pyle.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=srplants.plantDetail&plant_id=9

And now a little product knowledge…

For those of you looking for a ready-to-use nutgrass killer for the lawn, we now have a product just for you.  Ortho Nutsedge Killer comes in a 24 oz ., ready-to- spray bottle that is labeled for yellow and purple nutsedge, kyllinga, annual bluegrass, goosegrass and a wide variety of broadleaf weeds.  There are not any temperature restrictions so you can use it in this heat on all types of turfgrass.

Another product I like is ferti-lome Double Play.  It contains glyphosate (the active ingredient is Round-Up® and Kill-zall®) and prodiamine (aka Barricade®).  This gives you both pre and post emerge weed control.  It can be used around established shrubs and trees and I use it to control weeds between rocks in a pathway.  It gives you 3 months control, but at the highest rates, you may need to wait a year to replant in treated areas so only use it where you do not intend to plant anything and don’t want weeds to grow.   It’s available in both a concentrate and a ready to use formula.

Many herbicides (like Sedgehammer and Over-the-Top) tell you to add a ‘non-ionic surfactant’ to your spray.  Don’t ignore that.  It’s a spreader sticker and it makes pesticides work better.  It gives you a better coverage on the plant surface and in some cases protects the pesticide from breaking down too quickly in sunlight.  You can add it to most pesticides and it helps increase sticking, absorption and translocation.

Have you ever noticed a blue yard and you knew it was just sprayed and thought “I wish I some of that blue stuff so I could see where I’ve sprayed!”?

That’s a spray indicator and we have it if your need it.  It’s called Mark-It Blue and it’s available in a 2 oz., 8 oz. or 32 oz. bottle.

Have you ever opened a trash container and thought “somethin’ done died in here!”?  We have a product for that too.  It’s called Odor Eliminator by Monterey.  It comes in a 32 oz. ready-to-spray bottle and it eliminates organic odors from pets, smoke, dead animals, skunks, excrement and more.  It’s safe to use around pets and on pet bedding, just keep them off treated areas until it dries.  I think of it as an industrial strength febreze®.

Last month’s contest was name the flower below.

It is Torenia, commonly called wishbone flower.  It’s a good plant for shade to part shade areas and I have grown them in nearly full sun with sufficient water.  There is a trailing form and the one in the picture makes a globe shaped plant about 12” tall that is covered with blooms. 

Here is the test for this month.  Name it.

The contest ends on July 31st.  Drop by either store to enter or you can email your entry to

questions@danwestonline.com. One winner, selected from all correct entries, will receive a $25

Dan West Gift Certificate.

Thanks for shopping with us at Dan West.