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  1. RickF

    Rose pest identification...

    A friend of mine has a fair amount of rose bushes in her yard and some of them are exhibiting what you see in the attached photo -- some sort of mildew like stuff on the leaves. If it matters, these bushes are sprinkled with sprinklers (not drip) and not sure if that has any impact on whether...
  2. RickF

    Question regarding drip irrigation of blueberries..

    yeah.. I went around and ripped out most of them yesterday.. I've got a few that are fine for the time being and have zero chance of being stepped on but will probably need to check them from time to time..
  3. RickF

    Question regarding drip irrigation of blueberries..

    Thanks.. I've been running it for either 20 or 25 mins daily with nothing but drip. I do need to replace some of my 1/4" soaker hoses as they just don't seem to be a solution for the long haul -- they come off their barbed connectors way too easily. Perhaps this is why the local irrigation...
  4. RickF

    Question regarding drip irrigation of blueberries..

    Maybe I need to run it for more like 20-30 minutes .. I just chose 7 mins arbitrarily.. I'll try that as I'd really prefer not to run any sprinklers out here even if they are drip based (low volume) due to water evaporation out here in the desert.. Thanks.. I'll keep you posted!
  5. RickF

    Question regarding drip irrigation of blueberries..

    Ok.. I'm not sure if this is the correct forum as none seemed quite right but here goes.. My blueberries in my front yard are all hooked up for drip using the 1/4" soaker lines in a circle config around each plant. I run it daily for 7 minutes currently at about 5am. I'm not convinced that...
  6. RickF

    Name this spider?!

    Yes, you did!!!! That's the critter alright! Never heard of one and scary to think that the one I ran across was a small one.. Can't imaging one being 6" across! Yikes!! Thanks much!!
  7. RickF

    Name this spider?!

    I'm just as stumped -- I will say that those two front "arms" never moved -- it was like they were fixed in place -- not flexible. It made it rather amusing to watch him walk thru the yard -- almost like the steering in one of those 3 wheeled motorcycles with the two front wheels and the...
  8. RickF

    Name this spider?!

    Ok.. While checking out the late night creatures in my front yard I ran across this thing running rapidly across my concrete walkway but couldn't get a photo til he was roaming around my wood chips so this image is far from great but is all I have. This spider was at least 2 inches long with...
  9. RickF

    Who or what is eating the leaves on my Marion (black) Berries??

    ok..Just an update after my evening viewing -- I found a very slender 1" (perhaps) long worm that was a similar shade to the foliage and blended in very well.. I applied the above mentioned pyrethrin stuff and we'll see how things go.. I also put some on my two sunflowers which are just recently...
  10. RickF

    Who or what is eating the leaves on my Marion (black) Berries??

    I don't believe I've seen anything like that around here.. Lord willing, I'll be applying some of the above Pyrethrum after the sun goes down tonight and see how that fares. I do see little poops on some of the leaves here and there... I'll be checking the leaves later tonight with a...
  11. RickF

    Who or what is eating the leaves on my Marion (black) Berries??

    Not to my knowledge.. But, I did just see a very small pale green grass hopper on one of them.. I'm going to go out and get Pyrethrum and give that a try.. I've got some insecticidal oil (natural) that I used last year but it didn't do well on these plants -- almost like it suffocates them slowly..
  12. RickF

    Who or what is eating the leaves on my Marion (black) Berries??

    No snails here .. Way too hot.. I've lived here a year and 3 months and never seen one..
  13. RickF

    Who or what is eating the leaves on my Marion (black) Berries??

    Ok.. So you've seen my blackberries before and they're doing quite well despite the heat here in the high desert of So-Cal.. It's gonna be a toasty 99F here today -- providing shade goes a long way to help these plants survive here. Regardless, something is coming at night and having a vast...
  14. RickF

    Blackberry vine question..

    cool. Thanks for the link..
  15. RickF

    Blackberry vine question..

    Thanks.. I'll follow your suggestion. I do know that last summer these same two vines did in fact have a couple of berries.. I'll also say that the new cane growth coming out this season is very much like the wild canes that I see in the Pacific NW on wild blackberry plants -- specifically...
  16. RickF

    Blackberry vine question..

    Ok.. So this is year 2 of my blackberries in my front yard planter. Last year they caned as expected and grew 8-12 feet before the desert winds damaged some of them due to not having them sufficiently tied down to the trellis. Regardless, there are new branches coming out of the ground that...
  17. RickF

    Difficult soil.. prep?

    Thanks.. I dug some pretty deep holes in the aforementioned raised planter and didn't seem to find any caliche at least beyond about 2' down and drainage seemed vastly better. We'll see.. I'll have to do some toying around in the first holes I dug.. As long as I dont sleep walk outside and fall...
  18. RickF

    Difficult soil.. prep?

    apparently I missed a post or two in the middle. Doh.. Anyway, the apples I've chosen are fine for this climate. Considering I'm in the northern corner of Los Angeles county, we had plenty of nights in the mid to high 20's this year and tons of hours in the low 30s. Regardless, I am considering...
  19. RickF

    Difficult soil.. prep?

    I'm very tempted to build a raised bed/box for each -- perhaps about 18"-24" tall above the ground and build drains in all 4 sides of the box to allow drainage that way... I should also note that I'd probably build the box extra large -- instead of it being perhaps 2' on each side, perhaps it...
  20. RickF

    Difficult soil.. prep?

    Thanks for that Collector! I did find some references to having that in the valley in which I live. I did find this reference that seems to give some possible options including the use of elemental sulfur to the soil to help with iron availability and to improve drainage. I found the...
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