FOR RELEASE THE WEEK OF APRIL 12, 1999:
Our Colorado blue spruce is shedding purplish-brown needles from its lower branches? What’s wrong and what can we do about it?
The usual suspect is the fungal disease Rhizosphaera needle cast, says Yvonne Carree, University of Idaho extension forestry associate. Spread by rain and wind, the fungus overwinters on infected needles. You may have noticed the outside needles turning a yellow-green mottled color last summer–the first sign of an infection that actually began last spring.
To control Rhizosphaera needle cast, rake up and burn–or remove–the fallen needles. Don’t compost them: your home compost pile isn’t likely to get hot enough to kill the fungal spores. Prune out and destroy infected branches and twigs; sterilize your pruning tools between trees or cuts by dipping them in–or spraying them with–methyl alcohol. Blue, winter-strength windshield-wiper fluid is your best source of methyl alcohol.
Finally, adjust your sprinkler to avoid hitting foliage and moving spores to new areas, and thin your plantings and branches to encourage good air circulation and speed drying. Drier environments are less hospitable to successful fungal infections.
If the problem continues, contact your county extension educator or Master Gardener to confirm the diagnosis. Your local lawn and garden outlets stock good, broad-spectrum fungicides, among them Daconil Weather Stick. Carree says organic fungicides work well, too. A reminder: when using any pesticide, read the product label completely before mixing and applying.
I read about a study where people were taking 2,000 IU of vitamin E daily. Is that safe?
The Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin E is 30 IU and the long-term effects of megadoses in healthy people are still very unclear, says Martha Raidl, University of Idaho extension nutrition specialist. According to Raidl, the study population took the 2,000 IU daily for only a short period of time–and under a doctor’s care.
Medical researchers do know that people using blood-thinners should avoid high levels of vitamin E, which interfere with clotting and can intensify bleeding.
If you want to make sure you’re consuming a moderate amount of vitamin E, Raidl recommends including grains, nuts and vegetable oils in your diet.
I’d like to attract more butterflies to my garden this year. What should I plant?
The key to attracting butterflies and moths is learning as much about them as you can, says Karen Strickler, University of Idaho pollination ecologist. Purple coneflower, phlox, verbena, cosmos and, of course, butterfly bush (Buddleia) are among many flowers rich in nectar for adult butterflies–but feeding the winged adults isn’t enough. "If there aren’t appropriate host plants for the caterpillars to feed on, there won’t be adults to visit the flowers," Strickler says.
Idaho gardeners can find out which butterflies they can attract, along with the preferred habitats and diets of both their adult and larval forms, by alighting on the U.S. Geological Survey’s Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center’s web site: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/id/toc.htm. That’s a lot of keystrokes, but Strickler says it’s worth it.
She also recommends the book Butterfly Gardening, created by the Xerces Society and Smithsonian Institution and published by Sierra Club Books.
Never feel obligated to fill out marketing information about your product use and preferences when mailing in a warranty card for a product, says Sandra Cann, assistant coordinator of extension family economics for the University of Idaho.
Indeed, when any companies, marketing or government agencies ask you for personal information, first find out how they’ll use it before you provide it, she says. If necessary, write them and ask specifically that they refrain from sharing your information with others or using it for promotional purposes.
To ward off those pre-approved credit offers, call the national credit bureaus at 1-888-567-8688. For more information on stopping the flow–or flood–of junk mail to your home, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s web site, www.ftc.gov/privacy.