FOR RELEASE THE WEEK OF MAY 21, 2000:
I’ve had problems with bolting lettuce in the past so planted the most bolt-resistant varieties I could find. What else can I do to minimize bolting?
Bolting—or premature seeding—produces an undesirable seed stalk and embitters the flavor of lettuce. As you probably already know, it occurs mainly in response to high temperature, says University of Idaho extension educator Stu Parkinson.
If you’ve selected bolt-resistant varieties and planted early to take advantage of cool temperatures, then the only things left to do are to avoid conditions that stress the plant—primarily drought—and harvest while the lettuce is young and tender, Parkinson says.
I’ve bought a new computer to replace my old one and would like to set the old one out in the trash. My wife claims this is environmentally unfriendly behavior. Is she right?
Afraid so, says Heather Cataldo, program coordinator for Idaho GEMStars. Cataldo, an expert in pollution prevention, says sending discarded computer equipment to the landfill should be your last choice. "Avoid this at all costs," she advises.
A recent Carnegie Mellon University study projects that 150 million old personal computers and workstations will be choking landfills by the year 2005—and, according to Cataldo, they’re far from harmless.
The plastic covers of computers contain carcinogenic brominate flame retardants, and five to eight pounds of lead shield video monitor viewers from radiation. Soldering in circuit boards is also laced with lead, and the circuitry itself includes trace amounts of cadmium and mercury. Incinerating computers sends heavy metals into the airstreams and leaves them behind in ash.
"Try to donate your computer to a local school, church or library—or pay to have it shipped to a specialized recycler who will break it down into scrap and grind up leftover plastic for recycling," Cataldo suggests. Some communities across the U.S. are organizing drop-off days for discarded PCs or electronic equipment—like hazardous waste disposal days.
For more information on specialized recyclers, request a copy of the Idaho Recycling Directory from the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality at 373-0502 or write the agency at 1410 N. Hilton, Boise, ID 83706.
Our Japanese maple occasionally produces seedlings. Given the price of this species in local nurseries, I wonder if it would be worthwhile to try to grow out the seedlings into small trees. How long would it take? What kind of formative pruning should I do?
Given tender loving care and a good site—USDA Zone 5 to 8, dappled shade and protection from wind—your Japanese maple or Acer palmatum seedling should grow 10-15 feet tall in a decade, says Dan Barney, University of Idaho extension horticulturist.
You can train this slow-growing plant to a single trunk or several stems—with one, three or five trunks making the most pleasing displays. You can even keep it small and train it as bonsai, Barney says.
"A book could literally be written on propagating Japanese maples," he says. Home gardeners, for example, can collect seeds when they are green or red and still on the tree, but not yet dried. "If you plant them outdoors immediately after you collect them, they will germinate over a five-year period," says Barney.
You can also germinate dried Japanese maple seeds by soaking them for two days in 110 degree Fahrenheit water, putting them into a plastic bag filled with moist peat moss, setting the bag into a 40 degree Fahrenheit refrigerator for 90-150 days (don’t let them freeze), and then planting the seeds in pots or in the garden.
I do quite a bit of woodworking and, as a result, generate sawdust—mostly from my table saw. I have been wondering if there is any benefit in adding sawdust to the garden and tilling it in. Ronald R. Smith, Idaho Falls
"Sawdust is organic matter, and because the soils of southern Idaho are very low in organic matter, anything that we can do to help increase it is to our benefit," says Wayne Jones, University of Idaho extension educator.
However, there is one drawback to using sawdust to build up soil organic matter. Because it is mostly cellulose and therefore slow to break down, sawdust requires large amounts of nitrogen to complete the decomposition process. As they break down sawdust, microbes take nitrogen from the soil. Eventually, they return that nitrogen, but in the intervening year or so you will probably need to add extra nitrogen to give your plants enough on which to thrive.