Ciscoe Morris stopped by KING 5 to talk about how to deal with fruit flies on Thursday as well as answer other viewer questions about gardening.
Dealing with fruit flies
It's amazing how fast fruit flies move in (and how annoying these embarrassing pests can be) when you bring your harvest of homegrown fruit into the kitchen. Fortunately, there are environmentally friendly ways that will rid your home of the pesky invaders.
Begin by making sure that all sink drains are clean. If possible, cover fruit in airtight containers or store it in the fridge, although it's often necessary to leave fruit such as pears and tomatoes on the counter to allow them to ripen.
Make a highly effective fruit fly trap by placing cracked and slightly over ripe tomatoes in a plastic tub. Cover the tomatoes about 1/3 deep with vinegar. Put the lid on the container and poke gazillions of pen point sized holes in the lid. Place near the fruit and replace when it gets gross.
Another simple trap consists of a bowl of sweet wine and drop just a touch of dish soap on top. Barely touch the surface of the wine at the center with your fingertip to break the surface tension. The fruit flies will be attracted by the scent of the wine, get stuck in the soap and it's good bye Charlie.
Another trap is to use apple cider vinegar. Heat up a half cup or so of apple cider vinegar and pour it into a jar -- it just needs to be deep enough for the flies to drown -- and add a drop or two of dish soap. The dish soap will break the surface tension of the liquid so the flies can't just sit on top and fly away when they're done. Roll up a piece of paper and insert it into the mouth of the jar to form a makeshift funnel and tape it in place. The flies will go into the jar to get at the vinegar but won't be able to figure out how to get out, and will drown.
For fun, supplement your fruit fly control program by growing a couple of sundews (Drosera) in your kitchen. Place the pots in a saucer filled with enough water so that the bottom quarter of the roots remain submerged. The sticky leaves secrete sweet juices that attract and then digest fruit flies (and a lot of other interesting bugs) by the gazillions.
You can also buy non-toxic fruit fly traps at Ace Hardware According to folks who have used them, they are highly effective. I've also heard, but haven't had time to test the theory, that placing a sprig of rosemary in with the fruit makes the flies go away.
Finally, to knock down populations quickly, use your vacuum cleaner hose attachment to suck the flies out of the air. This method is so much fun; you'll actually be disappointed when all the flies are gone.
Ciscoe answers viewers' questions
Viewer question: I usually only buy one tomato plant. Do I need to have two? Mine isn't producing any fruit, same with my Jalapeños. HELP!
Ciscoe: You only need one tomato or pepper to produce fruit. But you do need pollination. Next spring after you plant and flowers occur, gently shake the living tweedle out of the plant to get the pollen flying in the air. That might help.
Viewer question: Besides a fir tree is there a leafy tree that DEER will leave alone?
Ciscoe: Deer will eat almost any young conifer. One leafy tree they never eat is magnolia. But you can use the trick from Weyerhauser, four eggs in a gallon of water, stir well, and spray on your tree. It'll smell so bad neither you nor the deer will go anywhere near those plants.
Viewer question: Is it OK to cover my raised garden bed with cardboard for the winter? Hello Ciscoe and thanks for the info.
Ciscoe: Hello to you too! It's fine to cover your raised beds with cardboard. You might want to put some compost on top to hold it in place and hide it. And you can work the compost in when you take the cardboard off in the spring.
Viewer question: Looking for a native ground cover for a steep slope that needs little to no watering and is very easy to take care of.
Ciscoe: A great plant used often to cover slopes that is very drought tolerant is called mahonia repens (creeping Oregon grape). It can be a little hard to find and grows slowly at first, but eventually will be a really great and attractive ground cover.
Viewer question: What plants can I grow that are planted outside in the winter?
Ciscoe: There's a gazillion wonderful plants that grow outside. Just ask the nursery for hardy trees, shrubs, and perennials. Buy lots of them. You'll be poor but you'll be happy.
Viewer question: I'm looking into building a greenhouse. Is there a certain time of year that I should start growing vegetables in it?
Ciscoe: You can start growing even the heat loving veggies like tomato and peppers as early as December as long as there's heat in your greenhouse.
Viewer question: Morning glory....HELP!
Ciscoe: If you have morning glory in your garden it means you are bad in your last life. If you find out how to get rid of it, please tell me.
Viewer question: Cisco, my plant is a mess! (But healthy.) How do I trim or repot her? She is literally folded over the top of herself.
Ciscoe: You can trim by cutting to where a leaf comes off the main stem. But don't do it until next spring in March. Also, only transplant if the water runs right through the pot into the saucer every time you give it a drink. And if that is the case, put it in a pot that is only 1 inch bigger than the one it's in now. Use good potting soil. Do the transplant in March.
Viewer question: We are re-seeding our backyard grass! The whole 9 yards....15 yards of compost, 'tiller, lime. We haven't planted the seed yet -- any suggestions or tips on what seed to use and what to do over the winter to keep it growing and healthy?
Ciscoe: Try to find a seed mix that is 50/50 by weight fine and chewing fescue and perennial rye. It's okay if there's up to 10% blue grass, but no more than that. Just make sure the soil surface stays moist until the grass is up and growing. That should do it.
Viewer question: Why are some of my plants dying and my pumpkin zucchini and yellow squash get this white powdery look on their leaves?
Ciscoe: It's the end of the season and squash and other plants tend to get powdery mildew this time of year. When you pull them out, make sure you remove all the infected foliage. Next year, make sure your plants get adequate water. That will hold off the powdery mildew until the end of the season.
If you notice powdery mildew just starting, spray with a mix of 2 tsps of baking soda in a quart of water with about 4 drops of dish detergent. It won't work if the whole plant is already covered with powdery mildew.
Viewer question: I lost 2 out of 4 rather large and established Heathers this summer. We watered in the evening or morning and most of our landscape survived the hotter temps. These guys simply started turning dark gray or nearly black one day. What could have happened Ciscoe?
Ciscoe: If the drainage wasn't that great, they may have died of root rot from overwatering. Only water once or twice a week at the most, even in the hottest weather. They have great heathers that have fantastic winter color for replacements.
Viewer question: Why is my "Ruben" (his name) turning brown on the ends of his new growth leaves? This is a new thing for him, I don't know what to do...please help!
Ciscoe: Your spathliphylum may be root bound. If the water flows right through every time you water it, that's a sign it's quite root bound. Try to water just enough to keep it alive this winter and transplant next spring. If on the other hand doesn't have any drainage holes, it could be getting overwatered. Make sure you talk nice to it but don't bore it. Good luck!
Viewer question: Roots coming through the ground from my big leaf maple are ruining my lawn. Do I just bury them with topsoil/mulch and re-seed?
Ciscoe: You can cut the roots as long as your 2/3rds of the way from the trunk out to the end of the branches. Only cut a few every year and cut them clean or they could have problems. New roots will grow, but it will be a while before they break your lawn mower. Don't cover them with soil; it could kill your tree.
Viewer question: The leaves on my tomato plants are turning yellow. Do I leave the tomatoes to ripen for do I pull them off?
Ciscoe: Pull them off once the fall rains start because they'll crack and rot after that. Stop watering and cut off all new growth. That'll help ripen the tomatoes that are on there.
Viewer question: How much is too much watering? Many of my melons roots rotted.
Ciscoe: You want to keep the soil under your melons evenly moist but not soggy. So water as often as necessary to achieve that goal. It could be you need to mix compost with your soil to improve its structure and drainage capabilities.
Viewer question: I'm noticing a new crop of moss in shady sections of my lawn. Is now a good time to apply moss killer?
Ciscoe: Right now is a great time to apply moss control. However, you need to rake out the moss first before you apply the moss control. I recommend renting a power dethatching rake because if you rake it out by hand, you'll look like a Seahawks that got left in the game too long by the time you get done.
Viewer question: Bamboo...HELP!!! Other than concrete the whole backyard.
Ciscoe: Hire day laborers to dig it out. If it's coming from a neighbor's garden, there is a product called bamboo barrier for sale at bamboo nurseries that will keep it from moving back into your garden. But keep an eye on the barrier because bamboo roots jump over it too reinvade your garden. Just cut the invaders and it'll keep your garden bamboo free.
Viewer question: Cisco, I am thinking of getting a Venus Fly Trap (not a joke, genuinely interested) for my office. How difficult would it be to take care of indoors? Tips? Thanks!
Ciscoe: It's really fun to grow a Venus Fly Trap! It's all about light and humidity. Keep it in a saucer filled 1/3 of the way up with distilled water. And keep it in as bright light as possible. Don't let kids feed it hamburger. That's how I murdered mine when I was a kid.
Viewer question: I bought a Passion Vine a few years ago. Last winter it didn't die back and it grew like crazy and sent vines up all over my porch, I had to rescue my table and chair from its grip! It's thrived all summer and has outgrown my small 4' trellis. When can I go nuts cutting this thing back? I noticed it sent shooters under my lawn into the neighbors' yard!
Ciscoe: You can prune it practically to the ground when new growth starts in spring. You might not get quite as many flowers, but it won't hurt the plant.
Viewer question: I am wondering how often we should organically spray our fruit trees for bugs and diseases, throughout the year.
Ciscoe: Generally, fruit trees don't need spraying in the winter time. If you notice little black bumps on the end of the branches in February, you could do a horticultural oil spray. The bumps are aphid eggs and the spray will do them in.
Avoid having to spray for disease by buying only disease resistant trees. The master gardeners can give you a list.
If you already have diseases, check with the master gardeners about when to spray because timing has to be perfect for it to be effective.
Viewer question: Grass has brown dead areas. Do we put soil down then seed or visa versa?
Ciscoe: Rent an aerator machine and punch 9,000,000,542 holes in your lawn and rake the seed into the holes. Seed sitting on sod rarely survives after it germinates, but the seed in the holes will survive and thrive. Apply an organic lawn food and keep the area moist, and your lawn will soon look like a golf course.
Viewer question: Should I wait to mulch for the winter until we've had more rain?
Ciscoe: No, you can mulch anytime. The rain should go right through the mulch. And you can do it when the weather isn't so miserable.
