Field and Garden: Pumpkin weigh-off and lawn care issues

Who grew the largest pumpkin in Foster County this year?

We’ll find out when gardeners bring their entries to be weighed during The Market, Carrington City Park on Sept. 17.

The contest includes heaviest pumpkin (youth and adult divisions), the best traditional pumpkin (youth only) and the most unique pumpkin (youth only).

This year, we’ll also determine who grew the heaviest potato and heaviest onion.

I look forward to weighing your entries.

+++

NDSU Extension recommends fertilizing lawns three times a year: on Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day.

The application around Labor Day is particularly crucial.

During September and early October, grasses focus on building their root systems.

By fertilizing now, you can encourage deep root growth, strengthening the lawn for winter and ensuring a quicker green-up in spring.

Choose a winterizer fertilizer that contains both nitrogen and potash. Our lawns typically do not need phosphorus.

Look for fertilizer with an approximate ratio of 25-0-10. Apply it at a rate of about 1 pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of lawn area.

Although weed-and-feed fertilizers are convenient, they are not ideal. This is the best time to feed your lawn, but not to kill weeds.

Weed control will be better if herbicides are applied in mid to late September.

+++

Here are two lawn and garden questions that I recently received:

Q: What is causing the brown spots on the leaves of my cucumber?

Leaf spots can be caused by various pathogens.

When I showed photos of your plant to a horticultural specialist, he mentioned that identifying the specific cause is almost impossible without sending a leaf sample to a diagnostic laboratory.

At this point in the season, there’s not much that can be done to address the issue. Instead, the focus should be on reducing the likelihood of infection next year.

Make sure to rake up and remove all the diseased plant material from your garden this fall.

Next year, plant modern, disease-resistant varieties and water around the base of the plants, keeping the leaves as dry as possible.

It’s also recommended to avoid working in the garden when the plants are wet.

Fungal and bacterial diseases thrive in wet conditions, and brushing against a wet plant with your hand, a gardening tool, or even the leg of your pants can transfer diseases from a sick plant to a healthy one.

Q: Why are the leaves on my hydrangea pale green?

Iron deficiency is a common issue when hydrangeas are grown on soil with high pH.

Symptoms include yellow leaves with prominent green veins. New growth tends to be affected more than older growth.

One solution is to acidify the soil using elemental sulfur, mixed into the upper three to six inches of the soil.

Fertilizers containing iron sulfate or iron chelate can also be used. These products can either be mixed into the soil or sprayed onto the foliage of the plant.

If you have questions about your lawn or garden, please contact me in the Extension office (652-2581, jeff.gale@ndsu.edu.