Astronomy

Night Sky this Week

Venus cannot be missed in the western sky and get brighter as the “evening star” is the brightest object in the night sky beside the moon in the night sky this week. Venus sets around 12:07 AM. It is as high above the western horizon and will start to set earlier each day.

Mars, the red planet, is much dimmer than Venus to the upper left of Venus. Mars sets around 12:19 AM this week. Venus along with the dimmer Mars, dominates the western skies after sunset.

Jupiter, which rises after Saturn around 3:14 AM, is the brightest object in the early morning sky except for the moon.

Farther to Jupiter’s upper right is Saturn rising around 1:01 AM in the constellation Aquarius. It is easy to spot in the southeast a few hours before sunrise since there are no bright stars around the planet.

On Thursday and Friday, the waxing moon slides through Scorpius the scorpion. Scorpius is one of the constellations that look like what is supposed to be, a scorpion. Scorpius sits on top of the southern horizon through the summer months. The Sumerians were the first to see these stars as a scorpion over 5000 years ago. The Greeks told the story of the scorpion stinging Orion the hunter. So, as Orion sets the scorpion rises chasing the hunter across the skies. The red star that makes up the heart of Scorpius is called Antares the super-giant red star. If you were to place Antares in our solar system, the outer diameter would be beyond Mar’s orbit.

Looking southwest the Summer Triangle is rising with three of the brightest summer stars: Vega (the Lyre), Deneb (the swan), and Altair (the Eagle). These three stars shine even with the moon close by.

Through the week of June 30th.

Garden hacks, Garden Pests, Shade Trees and Shrubs

This Week in the Landscape

Where to look out for this week in the landscape: deadhead your spent flower heads, especially the ones in containers to keep them bushy and flowering. Fertilize every couple of weeks in those containers because of the limited root area. I like to use a water-soluble fertilizer like Miracle-Gro.

In your pine and spruce trees, you should be seeing new growth (candles) at the tips of the branches. If not, the branch is dead and should be removed. A lot of tops broke out of the trees last winter. Hopefully, there is a branch pointing upward to become the leader. If not, you may have to create a branch going upward by tying a stick or broken broom handle to the branch and trunk. Same way with young broken fruit and shade trees. For large pine or spruce trees, you might just wait to see what happens.

There have been a lot of herbicide injuries showing up in tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. Do not use grass clipping as mulch until after the 3rd mowing if you used a Weed and Feed product. The plant may grow out of it, however, if the plant just looks too bad for wear, you still have time to replace it with a short-growing variety. Another reason the tomato leaves may curl is aphids which you can see underneath the curled leaf.

Cabbage caterpillars will be showing up soon damaging the Cole crops along with cucumber beetles on vine crops. Use a pyrethrum or Sevin spray when do see the damage.

Garden Pests

What is Happening to My Tomato Leaves

Last week there were a lot of questions about what is happening to my tomato leaves. To me, it seems that tomato diseases have become more prevalent due to warmer springs and longer dew times.

One is an early blight which was showing earlier this year. It looks like dark brown spots or blotches surrounded by a yellow color affecting older leaves gradually moving up the plant. If not treated this fungus knocks the plant down quickly. Treat with a garden fungicide to protect the non-affected leaves. Remove the affected leaves. There is a late blight that occurs later in the summer which is more virulent.

Septoria leaf spot is another fungus that looks like early blight. The dark spots are smaller and more round with yellow coloration between the spots. Again, a garden fungicide will protect the new leaves.

If your newer leaves are curling and becoming distorted, twisted, and curled now without any spots, it may be herbicide injury. It is common now with spraying weeds and using weed and feed products with 2,4-D or Dicamba in the product. On a warm, windy day, sprays with 2,4-D can vaporize and be carried by the wind for a long way. If the plant is not too badly damaged, it may outgrow this effect. If the plant is too badly damaged, it may be quicker to replant within a short day producing tomato plants. Never mulch with treated grass clippings until you have mowed at least 3 times.

Later on, there will be a leaf curl where the leaves curl upward making the plant look sick. This is a response to the foliage growing faster than the roots. Water uptake is insufficient, making the leaves curl upward to reduce transpiration. This condition will stop as the plant foliage catches up to the root growth. To reduce plant transpiration, keep even soil moisture and mulch to keep the soil cool. Heirloom tomatoes are more prone to this than hybrid tomatoes. Some areas call this summer blight, even though there is no disease cause.

To prevent or lessen the fungus, use crop rotation, grow the tomatoes at one end of the garden, and switch to the other end of the garden the following year. Remove all old plant debris from the area this fall. Most importantly, do not overhead water. This splashes the spores onto non-affected leaves. Use a drip form of irrigation. If you have to water overhead, water in the early morning. Remove affected leaves and discard. Use plastic or organic mulch on the soil to prevent the splashing of spores.

Use fungicides to prevent the new leaves from getting infected. An all-purpose garden fungicide will work making sure that blights and Septoria are listed on the product. Some types are Daconil, Serenade (which is a biological fungicide), Mancozeb Flowable (a fungicide with Zinc). Follow the directions and reapply every 10 days and after a rain.