Desert Blooms

Southwest Yard & Garden | September 23, 2017 Question: What are the beautiful golden strands that show up from nowhere, and seem to attack the goatheads? Can they be moved from one patch to another where it is not growing yet? B. Stanley, Chaparral, NM Dodder strands on puncturevine (credit: Dr. Beck) Dodder forming mats on weedy roadside (credit: J. French, NMSU Extension Plant Pathology Specialist)   Answer: In order to fully address your question, I have consulted with NMSU Weed Specialist, Dr. Leslie Beck. Those golden strands are from a climbing parasitic plant commonly known as dodder of the genus Cuscuta .  It is a close relative of morningglory and the dreaded field bindweed, which are all in the plant family Convolvulaceae. You may have seen time-lapse video footage of vine tips making slow, circular, swaying motions as a way of searching for sturdy branch to climb. Dodder grows in a similar way. Dodder germinates from seed in the soil during t

Southwest Yard & Garden | September 16, 2017   Question:  How can you get rid of those awful, nasty goatheads? Last year it seems I was able to control them but this year they are so plentiful that I must seek help. HELP! "Cute" yellow flowers and compound leaves of puncture vine. Photo from Quay County Cooperative Extension Service Foliage and sprawling stems of puncturevine. Photo from  Sandoval County Master Gardeners Spiny puncturevinePhoto from  Quay County Cooperative Extension Service J. Melcher, Tularosa, Otero County, NM Answer:  You are not the only one with a goathead problem this season.  I have received several pleas this month for extra information about these persistent and painful weeds. Stepping on a goathead can be very distressing and provoke the use of colorful language along with prolonged limping. Once the environmental conditions are just right they ‘grow like gangbusters’ and are very difficult to control. Before you attack, l

Southwest Yard and Garden: Fall Webworms Fall webworms wiggling in their web. (Boomerang video credit: Lucas Herndon) Question: What are these caterpillar-filled white web masses on branches of my apple and walnut trees? And what should I do to control them? - Gardener in Sierra County       Answer: From your photos, it looks like you have a broadleaf tree pest that is common at this time of year: fall webworms ( Hyphantria cunea ).  These fall webworms make white nets shaped like bags covering branch tips and if you get close enough you can see those caterpillars hanging out inside.  The larvae of fall webworms look like fuzzy one-inch caterpillars. They spin the silken webs and live communally, munching on leaf tissues within the web before dropping down to the ground to pupate in soil litter and emerge as moths in a few weeks. The adult moths mate and usually lay eggs on the underside of leaves which then hatch in the spring. Adult fall webworms are dec

  For my first Southwest Yard and Garden column I’m answering the first  question I received as the new NMSU Extension Horticulture Specialist. Question : What is this white coating on the leaves of my chokecherry tree and what you would recommend to get rid of it?                                                             -via Colfax County Ag Agent, Boe Lopez   Answer : The likely culprit for those symptoms at this time of year in New Mexico is powdery mildew. Powdery mildew is a commonly occurring fungal disease across the country. Warm temperatures combined with high humidity in the plant canopy create the perfect conditions for the fungal spores to germinate and infection to spread. Therefore, the monsoon season provides ideal conditions for a powdery mildew outbreak in New Mexico.  I once noticed the symptoms on rose leaves and buds earlier in the summer, but it turned out a nearby sprinkler head was spraying too high, unnecessarily causing higher hum

My name is Marisa Thompson and I am the Extension Horticulture Specialist for New Mexico State University.   Dr. Marisa Y. Thompson NMSU Extension Horticulture Specialist at August 15, 2017 FIELD DAY for the Los Lunas Agricultural Science Center  I'm based at the Los Lunas Agricultural Science Center , approximately 30 miles south of Albuquerque. Agricultural fields and cranes just outside the Los Lunas Agricultural Science Center in February, 2017. My position is divided between two departments at NMSU: 75% Extension (Extension Plant Sciences) and 25% Research (Plant & Environmental Sciences). The mission of Extension Plant Sciences is to extend research-based knowledge and technology that  will enable producers, clientele, and citizens to improve the quality of their lives and enhance  the agricultural, economic, environmental, and social well-being of New Mexicans. The department of Plant & Environmental Sciences has a mission to provide