February Gardening Tips For Zones 10 - 11 . . . .

Gardening Tips For Zones 10 – 11 :

With our remarkable and pleasant weather, we need to have a good pest plan in place. The effectiveness of both, insecticidal soaps and horticultural oils, are enhanced by adding isopropyl alcohol  to their mix.  Add ½ cup of alcohol to a quart of your insecticidal soap mix.  For your horticultural oil mix, add 1 cup of alcohol to ½ teaspoon of oil to 2 quarts of water.  (The alcohol kills the insect, usually on contact.)

Insecticidal soaps are a contact insecticide, so spray the underside of leaves as well as the tops. 

The hort oil smothers unseen young and eggs, and will linger on the plant material longer than the insecticidal soap may.  Care needs to be taken when applying a hort oil during warm to hot weather.  You can fry the plant material, and that is not our goal.  Consider applying in the early evening, when temperatures have dropped slightly.  A heavy dew may help dissipate the oil overnight.   Keep close watch.

A gardener’s keen observation is the best defense, and tool, that we can have.

Reapply, if needed, following a rain.  

Adding a strong garlic mix (garlic tea for the soap, and garlic oil added to the hort oil) may prove to have additional benefits in controlling pests, without harming beneficial insects.

Continue to clean off soil from your garden tools.  Applying linseed oil to wooden handles will help preserve them.  Safely store your tools when you are done with them.

Clean pots for your spring plantings.

 

Vegetables:

Direct sow cool-season vegetables.

Continue to plant peppers, sweet corn, tomatoes, and other aboveground crops.

Plant asparagus and artichoke roots.

If you have saved vegetable seeds from your past seasons’ bounties, be aware that different varieties of vegetables stay viable for different lengths of time.  (Last year’s seeds should perform well for you.)

Onion, spinach, parsnips are typically good for 1 to 2 years. Corn, okra, and peppers last up to 3 years.  Beans, broccoli, carrots, kohlrabi and pea seeds last 3 to 5 years.  Beets, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, pumpkin, squash, and tomato may last 4 to 6 years.

The success of your saved seeds depends on how you have stored them.  A cool, dark, dry location will keep the seeds in a dormant state plus resist mold and mildew.

On mild days, prune berries, brambles, grapes.

Plant new grapes vines.

If your strawberries did not perform well last season, you may need to consider renovating the bed, to allow the younger plants to take over.  Snip the runners (also known as ‘sisters.’) and come up with a plan for relocating them and for fertilizing (2 ½ pounds per 100 square feet).  Remember to keep them watered during hot, dry weather.

Each strawberry plant will typically produce about a quart of strawberries per year.  Plant a minimum of 6 to 7 plants per person. (30 to 35 strawberry plants should feed a family of five.)   If you plan on freezing your strawberries, plant at least 10 plants per person.  February is our last month for planting strawberries.

 

Flowers:

If starting your next season’s bachelor’s buttons, liatris, nasturtiums, and poppies from seed, sow the seeds in a light soil, rich in compost and in full sun, lightly covering the seeds with soil.

Gaillardia is a self-seeding, daisy-like, native wildflower with scarlet and yellow petals. Barely cover the seeds in a bed with full to partial sun.  

Salt and drought tolerant, you can plant the Spanish Bayonet anytime. I would suggest doing this when the plants are young and small.  Provide a sandy and dry area, far away from pedestrian traffic.

Blooming, here, all year long, Blue Daze, is a moderately fast grower, preferring a well drained location.   When mulching, keep the mulch away from the plant stalks to reduce the threat of fungus.  For the best color, plant in full sun.  The flowers fold up in the middle of the day, so strolling around your garden in the morning will delight you.

Trees:

Typically, container grown trees can be planted at any time of year.

February is about the last month to get your new tangerine trees in to the ground. Dig the hole twice as wide as the root ball, but no deeper.  Create a berm, and keep mulch and other plant material 2 -3 feet away from the trunk.  Water daily for the first few weeks, then feed 4 -6 weeks after planting (always water following a feeding). 

Prune to remove lower limbs on your citrus, if they are interfering maintenance tasks.  They will grow vigorously in the following months.

Do not fertilize established citrus in the winter.

Soak the pots of your container grown citrus to help remove salts from fertilizer.

 

Lawns:

To minimize turf stress, do not over water or over fertilize.

If you have an irrigation system, check your irrigation heads for silk blockages.  Typically, it is easily cleaned, by rinsing or blowing out the debris. Use care when pulling the irrigation heads out of the ground.  When in doubt, consult a professional.