That's LIFE
Jason Byrd

Jason Byrd is the Lampasas County Extension agent for agriculture and natural resources. He can be reached at jhbyrd@ag.tamu.edu or P.O. Box 231, Lampasas or by phoning 556-8271, ext. 140.

Many homeowners take great pride in their lawns and landscape. In Central Texas, maintaining a great-looking lawn during the summer months can be an often daunting task, especially when it is hot and dry like this year.

Our office is often flooded with calls from homeowners battling everything from weeds, insects, fungus and other issues. Many times, these problems could have been avoided or minimized by sound management practices.

The old saying that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" rings true when it comes to lawns and landscapes.

The following management tips are offered to help all who strive for that beautiful, lush, green lawn this summer.

Using IPM in your lawn

IPM -- integrated pest management -- is a strategy for managing pests (i.e. weeds, diseases and insects) in the most economically and environmentally safe manner.

It is a systemic, information-intensive approach and is used in many areas including farms, ranches, schools, restaurants, etc. It also can be a very useful approach to managing pests in your landscape.

IPM focuses on a multi-disciplinary pest-management system using all available methods to keep pests at non-damaging levels. This means that you first need to focus on all the components for proper turf management in order to maintain a quality lawn grass. Components include proper selection, mowing, cultivation, fertilization and irrigation practices.

Remember, a dense turfgrass at a moderate- to high-quality level is the best defense against weeds, insects, and diseases, so pay close attention to your lawn and do not apply pesticides just because your neighbor is doing it.

Keep accurate records of pest infestations and previous treatments, and apply pesticides in an appropriate manner and only when needed.

Finally, make sure you properly identify the pest, purchase the correct pesticide, and apply the pesticide based on the product label recommendations.

For more detailed information on IPM, visit http://ipm.tamu.edu/overview. For more information on turf grass management, or if you are experiencing problems, contact the Texas AgriLife Extension Service office in Lampasas County.

Another hot topic, and one we get a lot of questions on this time of year, is tomatoes.

Below are some of the more common questions I have received concerning tomatoes, followed by the appropriate answer.

Q. How often should my tomatoes be fertilized?

A. It is necessary to fertilize the garden before planting tomatoes. Apply the fertilizer again when fruit first sets. From that point on, an additional fertilization (sidedress) every week to 10 days is recommended. Plants grown on sandy soils should be fertilized more frequently than those grown on heavy, clay soils. A general sidedress fertilizer recommendation is one to two tablespoons of a complete fertilizer scattered around the plant and worked into the soil. If using a fertilizer high in nitrogen such as ammonium nitrate or sulfate, reduce the rate to one tablespoon per plant.

Q. My tomato plants look great. They are dark green, vigorous and healthy. However, flowers are not forming any fruit. What is the problem?

A. Several conditions can cause tomatoes to not set fruit. Too much nitrogen fertilizer, nighttime temperatures over 70 degrees F., low temperatures below 50 degrees F., irregular watering, insects such as thrips or planting the wrong variety may result in poor fruit set. Any of these conditions can cause poor fruit set, but combinations can cause failure. If Extension-recommended varieties are used, the main reason tomato plants do not set fruit is because they are not planted where they can receive eight to 10 hours of direct sunlight daily. Any less direct sunlight will result in a spindly-growing, nonproductive plant with healthy foliage.

Q. What could cause the leaves of my tomatoes to turn brown along the edges?

A. Leaf-burn or scorch generally indicates root injury, quite often caused by heavy amounts of fertilizer applied too near the roots. This injury often results in browning and die-back of the ends and margins of the leaves. Other possible causes are root injury caused by nematodes or insects, or physical injury by cultivation. Also overwatering or underwatering, along with diseases might cause leaf-tip burn.

Q. What causes tomato leaves to curl?

A. The exact cause of tomato leaf roll is not fully known. Tomato leaf roll appears about the time of fruit setting. The leaflets of the older leaves on the lower half of the tomato plant roll upward. This gives the leaflets a cupped appearance with sometimes even the margins touching or overlapping. The overall growth of the plant does not seem to be greatly affected and yields are normal. This condition appears to be most common on staked and pruned plants. It occurs when excessive rainfall or overwatering keeps the soil too wet for too long. It is also related to intensive sunlight which causes carbohydrates to accumulate in the leaves. Some varieties of tomatoes are characteristically curled.

Q. My tomato plants are stunted and have pale yellow foliage. The root system has knots or swellings on the roots.

A. These are root knot nematodes. Varieties such as Celebrity, Better Boy and Small Fry resist this problem. If other varieties are to be grown, nematode populations must be reduced. Root knot is a species of nematode which causes galls or swellings on plant roots. It restricts the uptake of nutrients from the root system to the foliage, resulting in a yellow and stunted plant. Root knot lives in the soil and can survive on a number of weed and vegetable crops. It is best controlled by planting a solid stand (close enough for root systems to overlap) of marigolds three months before the first killing frost of fall and/or planting cereal rye (Elbon) for a winter cover crop. Cereal rye should be shredded and tilled into the soil 30 days before planting a spring crop. Nematode resistance is indicated by the letter "N" after the tomato name. Example: Celebrity VFN.

For more detailed information on tomatoes, or other garden vegetables, please visit the Texas AgriLife Extension Service Bookstore at http://agrilifebookstore.org or contact the Lampasas Extension office at (512) 556-8271.