Q: We grow tomatoes in a little raised bed and have always used garden lime in the past. I keep hearing about using gypsum for calcium, but I worry that it will make the soil more acid. Sylvia Adcock Gilbreath, e-mail
A: Gypsum (calcium sulfate) is actually a neutral salt and therefore has little effect on soil pH. Since regular applications of lime might raise pH more than needed, I advise powdering a two inch by two inch piece of gypsum wallboard (Sheetrock, etc) and mixing with the soil to prevent blossom end rot on tomatoes.
Q: I have an opportunity to get some trilliums from a friend in Pennsylvania. When would be the best time to dig them and how would they be best shipped? Yvonne Godwin, e-mail
A: First, make absolutely sure that the friend owns the plants. Gathering wild trilliums is illegal in some places. The best time to transplant is after they bloom, just as the leaves are beginning to droop. This allows them to be found before the leaves disappear for the summer. Trillium roots form a thick bulb, which may be several inches below the soil surface. Tell your friend to use a spading fork to dig the bulbs and err on the side of deeper digging rather than shallow. Dust each one with sulfur to combat disease. Put them in slightly damp peat moss and place in plastic bags. Ship in a cardboard box bearing a warning to keep away from heat. Plant in a wooded area, in loose soil, such that the bulb is covered by two inches of dirt.
Q: My husband has an extensive bonsai collection which necessitates his using a fungicide spray, which takes two hours to accomplish. He then has to do the same with an insecticide. Could he mix the two together and spray simultaneously? Gloria Dugger, Senoia
A: Farmers and landscapers commonly mix insecticides and fungicides in the same tank but they have manufacturer's guidelines about which products can be mixed and which can not.
In your situation I'd call the manufacturer's number on the product labels and ask. If they don't know, do a few trials on inexpensive test plants before you commit to using the mix on your entire crop.
Q: How many different kinds of weeds do we have in north Georgia. Give me your best guesstimation. Jimbo Lacey, e-mail
A: Since my definition of a weed is "a plant that makes a gardener unhappy", there are thousands of potential weeds in GA. Some people admire Northern sea oats as an ornamental grass; I pull it out by the handful when it gets in my hosta bed. I love the yellow flowers on green ‘n' gold chrysoganum, but when it trespasses into my ferns I dig it out and put it in my compost pile. I curse the day I planted lemon balm near my ajuga. My best guesstimation of weed numbers is that every plant has the potential to displease a gardener.
Q: My wife and I have had several red bell pepper plants that after a few days have died. Is there a step/technique that we are overlooking with them? Mike Robinson, e-mail
A: My best advice is to wait until mid-May to plant them. Peppers seem to grow much better in warm soil. If you plant them when soil is cool, they just sit there and become food for bugs and root disease.
Listen to Walter Reeves Saturday mornings on AM 750 and 95.5 FM News-Talk WSB. Visit his website, www.walterreeves.com, or join his Facebook Fan Page at xrl.us/wrfacebook for more garden tips.
