Si Pak Tani

by Penney Adams With our recent hot weather and watering restrictions, your plants can get stressed and that is when we often see summertime pests in our Steamboat gardens. You may remember basic plant pathology from your high school biology class. If not, here are the basics: The roots of the plant gather nutrients and water from the soil which travels up the xylem and allows the shoot to grow and develop foliage. The leaves gather sunlight turning it into sugar molecules (photosynthesis), which feeds the plant via the phloem. This sugary liquid is called plant sap. Aphids Aphids are tiny insects that love plant sap. Typically 2mm in length with a soft pear shaped body, long antennae and two short cornicles protruding from their hind end, they are often found in groups on the underside of leaves. They can range greatly in color as there are over 350 different species. They eat the plant sap which can result in leaf curling, yellowing or stunting.   Most aphids like new plant growt...

by Jackie Buratovich When my parents left my childhood home, with its rich sandy loam and lovingly tended orchards and vineyards, for a postage stamp lot on a golf course, Dad planted a dwarf Meyer Lemon in a large pot and placed it in an area of dappled sun and, whenever I’d visit, that darn thing was covered in fruit.   I couldn’t get enough of the slightly sweet tangy flavor in ice tea, water and heavenly desserts.   Then I toured a friends’ greenhouse in the Reno Nevada area – elevation about 4,500 feet - and was surprised to find a mature Meyer Lemon tree covered in bright yellow fruit.   My friend said it was practically trouble free and produced consistently.   She too, loves the unusually sweet fruit, especially in mid-winter. That did it! The first major botanic purchase I made when we moved into our rustic solar home was – you got it – a dwarf Meyer Lemon tree.   The little thing came wrapped in burlap with bare roots and a couple of strong branches. ...

by Yvette Henson Earlier this year, March 22, I wrote an article for this blog about season extension and our High Altitude Season Extension research trials in the San Miguel Basin (San Miguel and West Montrose Counties in SW Colorado).   In that article, I said I would post a follow up article about the different crops we have grown under covers and how they have performed.   This is that article.   We have been conducting season extension trials since 2011.   Our raised bed trial beds are located in Telluride at 8750’ elevation.   Telluride has about a 60 day frost-free growing season from mid to late June till the end of August/early September. In the previous blog post I gave a summary of what we have learned about growing under the different season extension covers that we chose and best uses for each cover based on how crops perform grown under them.   The materials we chose for our covers are (left to right, in the above photo):  Agribon Ag30, a...

Hutan mempunyai manfaat penting bagi kehidupan, yaitu adanya hasil hutan berupa kayu dan bukan kayu. Menurut Suharisno (2008), jumlah dari semua kelompok Hasil Hutan Bukan Kayu (HHBK) sebanyak 557 jenis. Namun, yang sudah berkembang dan mendapat perhatian dari pemerintah maupun pengusaha masih terbatas pada sepuluh jenis yang merupakan HHBK unggulan nasional, yaitu: gondorukem, bambu, arang, kemiri, getah jelutung, gambir, sutera alam, lebah, madu, gaharu, dan rotan. Hasil Hutan Bukan Kayu (HHBK) mempunyai kontribusi penting bagi pembangunan berkelanjutan, yaitu kelestarian hutan untuk generasi yang akan datang. Getah pinus merupakan salah satu HHBK yang dapat diolah menjadi gondorukem dan terpentin. Berdasarkan FAO (2010), Indonesia berada di urutan terbesar ke dua setelah Cina dalam perdagangan getah pinus internasional. Produksi getah dari Cina sebesar 430.000 ton(60% dari total produksi di dunia) sedangkan Indonesia menghasilkan 69.000 ton (10% dari total produksi di dun...

“My mom put up lots of fruits and vegetables but never showed me how,” my friend said wistfully as she helped me prepare peaches for the canner.  “Even my in-laws canned but always said it was too much work and I wouldn’t want to do it.”  I put that sentiment in the same disappointing category as not sharing the European language my parents spoke at home when I was growing up because they didn’t want us to start school “sounding foreign.”  Fortunately, we were a 4H family and food preservation was just what everyone did in summer and fall.  There were community packing/processing plants that welcomed the public and even provided “seconds” (blemished or off-size fruits) for pennies that we peeled, cut, and placed into cans for their facility to safely process.  The local 4H food preservation instructor let my city-raised mother join us kids to learn the art and science of preserving nature’s bounty for the lean times.  Too much work, you say?   Yep, it ...

Bawang merah merupakan tanaman yang banyak membutuhkan hara, baik pada masa pertumbuhan vegetatif atau juga saat pembentukan, pembesaran dan pematangan umbi. Pemupukan yang dilakukan harus tepat jenis, tepat waktu, tepat cara dan tepat kombinasi. Pemupukan yang tepat juga merupakan salah satu cara penting untuk meningkatkan ketahanan tanaman terhadap serangan hama dan patogen penyebab penyakit pada tanaman bawang merah. CARA YANG TEPAT PEMUPUKAN PADA BUDIDAYA TANAMAN BAWANG MERAH Tanaman bawang merah banyak menyerap unsur hara makro dari dalam tanah seperti Nitrogen (N), Phosphor (P) dan Kalium (K). Namun unsur-unsur tersebut tidak selalu tersedia di dalam tanah disebabkan sistem budi daya yang terus-menerus dilakukan. Dalam budi daya bawang merah, diperlukan pemupukan sebanyak tiga kali. Yaitu pada saat pengolahan lahan dan pemeliharaan tanaman. Pemupukan Pertama atau Pemupukan Dasar Tanaman Bawang Merah CARA YANG TEPAT PEMUPUKAN PADA BUDIDAYA TANAMAN BAWANG MERAH Pemupukan pertama di...