Panhandle Plantings-A new column by Master Gardener Val Ford
March – the one month of the year when lawn fertilization is appropriate regardless of what type of grass you have. It's nirvana for husbands!
Bahia, Centipede and St. Augustine are the predominate lawngrasses used in North Florida, and all three will benefit this month from an application of a complete fertilizer (defined at equal applications of potassium (K) and nitrogen (N) with no, or minimal, phosphorus (P) included). With another six months of lawn care to come, plan ahead to make sure that you don’t exceed the University of Florida recommended total N application for a calendar year (Bahia: 2-3 lbs/1000 ft²; Centipede: 1-2 lbs/1000 ft²; and St. Augustine: 2-4 lbs/1000 ft²), as this is the root of many disease and insect problems later in the season, not to mention serious thatch build-up.
Somewhere between March 1 and 15, we’ll see our last frost. The risk-takers will begin setting out tender annual ornamentals and warm-season vegetable transplants about this time. Those of a more cautious bent should probably wait until after mid-month, the Ides.
As soil and air temperatures begin to rise, this is the last call for cool-season vegetables – collards, mustard, beets, carrots, lettuces, radishes and English peas. Warmer temperatures herald the true beginning of warm-season vegetable gardening – the time when the chance of chill injury (40°-50°F air temperatures) is past and soil temperatures reach 70°F for optimum seed germination. March is your first chance to set out those seedlings that have been sitting in the living room window – okra, sweet potatoes, southern peas, sweet corn, cantaloupes, lima beans, bush and pole beans, pumpkins, summer squash, watermelon and tomatoes.
As we approach our most intensive gardening season, we must keep in mind that we’re barreling headlong into our most challenging gardening period as well – late spring and summer -- and along with them come bugs and diseases enough to boggle the mind and frustrate a saint. Here’s a suggestion to help you cope – DDIS – Distance Diagnostic and Identification System. This is a formalized system for the Internet transmission of pictures and data about a problem or question to the appropriate Univ. of Fla. experts around the state. Turnaround time is about one week. All of this is offered free to the public through the UF Extension Service in your county. Phone your local Extension Office for more information, or if you have Internet access, the DDIS Web site is at http://ddis.ifas.ufl.edu.
Words of wisdom: You know you’re a Florida gardener if . . . it took many years and many burned plants to finally figure out that spring in Florida is January, February and March.
Val Ford is a Holmes County Master Gardener. She is a three-time recipient of the Florida MG Award for Written Mass Communications for the weekly DeFuniak Springs Herald "Gardeners’ Dirt" column. If you have gardening questions or problems, contact your local County Extension Office, or Val at Flsnowflake7592@aol.com.
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