March Home, Yard, and Garden Calendar

Rosie Lerner, Purdue Extension Consumer Horticulture Specialist

HOME (Indoor plants and activities)
Begin fertilizing houseplants as new growth appears. Keep spent leaves and flowers removed to improve appearance and encourage more blooms.

Start garden seeds indoors for transplanting outdoors later in spring.

Check stored bulbs and produce for decay; discard damaged items.

Prune, repot and clean houseplants as needed.

YARD (Lawns, woody ornamentals and fruits)
Prune trees and shrubs, except those that bloom early in spring, while plants are still dormant.

Plant new trees and shrubs as soon as soil dries enough to be worked. Plant bare-root plants before they leaf out.

Fertilize woody plants before new growth begins, but after soil temperatures have reached 40 F - it might be several weeks early this year, given the mild winter.

Remove winter coverings from roses as soon as new growth begins. Prune and fertilize as needed.

Apply superior oil spray to control scale insects and mites when tips of leaves start to protrude from buds.

GARDEN (Flowers, vegetables and small fruits)
Plant cool-season vegetables and flowers as soon as the ground has dried enough to work. Do NOT work the soil while it is wet; wait until it crumbles in your hand. If the soil forms a solid ball when squeezed, it's still too wet.

Gradually harden off transplants by setting them outdoors during the daytime for about a week before planting.

Follow last fall's soil test recommendations for fertilizer and pH adjustment. It's not too late to test soil if you missed last year.

Start seeds of warm-season vegetables and flowers indoors; in northern and central Indiana, wait until the end of March or early April. Transplant to the garden after danger of frost is past.

Watch for blooms of early spring bulbs, such as daffodils, squill, crocus, dwarf iris and snowdrops.

Remove old asparagus and rhubarb tops, and sidedress the plants with nitrogen or manure. Plant or transplant asparagus, rhubarb and small fruit plants.

Remove winter mulch from strawberry beds as soon as new growth begins, but keep the mulch nearby to protect against frost and freezes.

Remove weak, diseased or damaged canes from raspberry plants before new growth begins. Remove old fruiting canes if not removed last year, and shorten remaining canes if necessary.

Prune grapevines.

New Vegetable Varieties in 2012

What better way to scratch your gardening itch this winter than to page through garden catalogs or surf websites with the promise of mouth-watering produce for the coming growing season! Here's a look at just a few of the new vegetable seed offerings for 2012. Try a few alongside your old standby favorites so that you can compare performance in your garden. See the full list here.

Corn and Soybean Export Progress

In December 2011, the USDA judged total corn production prospects in Argentina and Brazil at 3.54 billion bushels. That forecast was reduced by 120 million bushels in January and by an additional 160 million bushels earlier this month. All of the reduction has been for the Argentine crop. Similarly, combined soybean production in those two countries was forecast at 4.67 billion bushels in December, but was reduced by 90 million bushels in January and an additional 165 million bushels earlier this month.

Total precipitation has been well below average in southern Brazil since late January, suggesting that production there may fall short of the current forecast. Prospects for much smaller South American crops than initially forecast have raised expectations for stronger export demand for U.S. corn and soybeans during the remainder of the 2011-12 marketing year and in the first half of the 2012-13 marketing year. Over the past two months, the USDA has raised the U.S. corn export forecast for the current year by 100 million bushels, to a total of 1.7 billion bushels. The forecast is still 100 million bushels below the initial forecast made in May 2011 and 135 million less than exports of a year ago. The forecast of U.S. soybean exports during the current year has declined steadily from the initial forecast of 1.54 billion bushels to the current forecast of 1.275 billion bushels, 226 million less than exported last year. <Read More>

Mild Winter Effects on Alfalfa and Hay Fields

The current mild winter has many wondering what effect this will have on pest populations in a variety of home and agricultural situations.  Dr. Lee Townsend of the University of Kentucky addressed this concern as it relates to hay and pasture production in the February 14th issue of the Kentucky Pest News.  The full newsletter and Dr. Townsend's article are available here. 

Soybean Export and Acreage Prospects Support Prices

Among the major crops, the corn market has received the lion’s share of attention over the past two months. The attention has been the result of the surprising USDA December 1 stocks estimate, adverse weather conditions in South America, the demise of the ethanol blenders’ tax credit, and prospects for small year-ending stocks. The soybean market, however, has become the focus of more attention in recent weeks.

While corn prices have declined marginally since the first of the year, soybean prices, particularly for the 2012 crop, have increased. The strength in the soybean market is being generated by deteriorating crop prospects in South America and expectations for fewer planted acres in the U.S. this year. In last week’s WASDE report, the USDA lowered the projected size of the 2012 South American crop by 215 million bushels, or 4.3 percent. That reduction comes on the heels of a 90 million bushel reduction last month. At 4.765 billion bushels, that crop is now expected to be 4.6 percent smaller than the 2011 crop and 3.4 percent smaller than the 2010 crop. While the USDA lowered the forecast of South American soybean exports by 105 million bushels, the projection of U.S. exports was not increased. Instead, both projected world imports and projected South American stocks were reduced. Nearly half of the 80 million bushel reduction in projected world imports was for China, reflecting lower than expected imports in the last quarter of the 2011 calendar year. <Read More>

Winter Warm Spell Confuses Landscape and Garden Plants

Larry Caplan, Vanderburgh County Extension Horticulture Educator

I knew this warm spell of the past week was going to be a problem. Sometimes, I hate to be right.

Temperatures in the 50s and 60s have caused a lot of bulbs, perennials, and flowering plants to begin to emerge from the soil and bud out. In my garden, I’ve got crocus and daffodil in bloom. The buds on my lilacs are swelling; I’ve had reports of bud swell on peaches and other fruit trees, especially closer to the Ohio River.

According to the Weather Channel website (http://www.weather.com/weather/ ), our overnight temperatures will be dropping below freezing this week. According to the 10 day forecast for Evansville, we can expect overnight temperatures in the 20s starting Wednesday night, and continuing through Sunday night. The most recent prediction on this site is for a low of 20 degrees on Friday night.

Temperatures this low are going to cause damage to any exposed leaves and blooms. Expect to see daffodil foliage killed back to the ground, along with any other perennial plants that started to sprout. Fortunately, the soil is pretty warm, so the bulbs and perennials themselves shouldn’t be killed: they will sprout back out again, and may even bloom this spring.

Shrubs like azalea, lilac, and shadblow are in a very sensitive stage of development, as are crabapples, peaches, and ornamental cherries. As long as the buds haven’t opened, or at least, not show more than a little bit of a green tip, I expect that freeze damage to the blooms will be minor. If peaches, which are probably the most sensitive of our fruit crops, are still in the swollen bud stage, then a temperature of 18 degrees will only kill about 10% of the blooms…hardly noticeable. But if the peach flowers are showing any pink, then the same 18 degree low will wipe out 90% of the blooms.

Strawberries may be badly hurt. It never really got cold this winter, so the plants never really got into full dormancy. Check your garden: if you see any new green leaves, or (worse yet) any blooms, then a drop in temperature below 28 degrees is going to devastate them. If you still have your straw, plan on covering the plants deeply late afternoon, before the temperature drops. Remove the straw in the morning, after the temperature gets above freezing. Looking at the forecast, we’ll be doing this all week.

I’ve seen roses actually leafing out already. Roses produce their flower buds on new growth, so if some of the new shoots get frozen, the plant will simply sprout some more shoots and go on to bloom later in the season. However, a drop to 20 degrees, as predicted, could do more than blast some leaves and shoots: large portions of the plant could be killed back. It is most important to protect the graft union (a swollen section on the lower trunk, where your pretty rose branches, the scion, are grafted onto a root stock). If the graft union is damaged, then the plant will sprout from the roots, giving you a poor quality “wild rose”, which will look nothing like the plant you bought. Mound the base of the plant with wood chips, shredded leaves, or straw to a depth of 18 - 24 inches.

I don’t think you’ll need to cover your shrubs with sheets, but if you do, be sure to use a cloth sheet, and not a plastic tarp. Heat leaches right through the plastic, and any foliage touching it will be frosted. Don’t lay the sheet over your daffodils – you’ll wind up breaking the stems off. The sheets will only protect your plants down to a temperature of 25 to 26 degrees; much below that, and you may still get injury. If the sheet hangs all the way down to the warm ground, you may be able to withstand a colder overnight temperature as all the warm air is kept around the plant.

BTW: Please DO NOT refer to the cold snap this week as a “late frost.” Our average last frost of the year is the first or second week of April for the southwestern corner of Indiana. It’s SUPPOSED to be this cold!

Good luck!

Corn Market Remains Unsettled

The 2011-12 corn marketing year is approaching the half-way point. At this time of year, prospects for marketing year consumption and ending stocks are often fairly clear and the market begins to focus more on new crop prospects.

This year, consumption, stocks, and price prospects are far from clear. There is considerable uncertainty about the pace of consumption for the rest of year in each of the major categories. If anything, the uncertainty outlined two weeks ago has intensified. The surprisingly small estimates of feed and residual use during the last half of the 2010-11 and first quarter of the 2011-12 marketing years had created expectations of a “correction” to be revealed in upcoming USDA Grain Stocks reports. Now, the on-going year-over-year decline in broiler production, prospects for fewer numbers of cattle on feed later in the year, and the relatively mild winter weather to date point to some slowdown in feed use, whatever the pace actually is. <Read More>

Farmland Assessments Rise Again

Here comes this column topic again: property taxes on farmland are increasing. The base rate for the assessment of an acre of farmland was $1,290 for taxes in 2011. It will be $1,500 per acre for taxes in 2012. And the state's Department of Local Government Finance has announced the base rate will be $1,630 for taxes in 2013.

Farmland is assessed starting with this base rate. It is multiplied by a soil productivity factor, which varies from about 0.5 to 1.3, based on soil type. Some acreage is adjusted by an influence factor, a percentage reduction that accounts for factors such as frequent flooding. The result is the assessed value of farmland. That assessment times the property tax rate, less any credits, is the tax bill.

The base rate is adjusted each year with a formula. The DLGF offers the details on its website, at http://www.in.gov/dlgf/7016.htm. It's complicated, but three of its features tell the story. <Read More>

These Insects Rob for Food, Not Money

Robber fly

Human history has had its share of infamous robbers. In the United States, Jesse James, Bonnie and Clyde, and John Dillinger come to mind. England was home to Robin Hood and Dick Turpin; individuals who it is said sometimes helped themselves to the money of others.

In the interest of full disclosure, to my knowledge, the English outlaw Dick Turpin is not one of my ancestors. While being related to a legendary robber might not seem to be a good thing, in this case, it does have its perks. People with the surname Turpin are sometimes given a free drink at Dick Turpin British pubs!

 Robber fly eating Japanese beetle

The insect world also harbors a band of robbers. Called robber flies, these insects are just as ruthless as robbers of the human kind. But robbers of the insect kind are after food, not money.  <Read More>


Weekly Outlook - Cattle Producers Show Surprise Interest in Expansion

While beef supplies will be very short for several more years, the USDA’s Cattle report indicated that the very early stages of beef cattle expansion has begun as beef heifer retention has increased a modest one percent. However, the big picture is that beef cow numbers dropped 3 percent last year and this will mean a smaller calf crop in 2012 that will keep cattle slaughter small for 2013 and 2014. If producers follow through with more heifer retention in 2012 and 2013, slaughter supplies will decline over the next two years and increase finished cattle prices even more.

There have been two dominate drivers of cow numbers in recent years. The first was the dramatic increases in feed prices after calendar year 2007. The beef industry could not pass higher feed costs on to consumers in 2008 and 2009, but rather had to suffer negative margins. Poor returns led to liquidation of beef cows that has continued into the current report. The second large driver was the drought in the southern Plains in recent years that caused further liquidation of cows due to lack of pasture and forages. <Read More>