Will we see periodical cicadas in Georgia this year? Guest post by N.C. Hinkle

Remember the great periodical cicada emergence we had here in Georgia back in 2011 – the “Great Southern Brood”?  The Northeast is having its own periodical cicada emergence this year, but unfortunately it is highly unlikely that we will see much of Brood II here in Georgia this year.  

2011 Periodical Cicada                     PHOTO/ N.C. Hinkle

Information from a 1988 publication hints that periodical cicadas may show up in the very northeastern corner of the state, so Rabun, Townes, Union, White and Habersham counties may see periodical cicadas, but it’s doubtful they’ll show up anywhere else in the state. 

It looks like our next periodical cicada emergence will be in 2017, with anticipated Brood VI cicadas showing up possibly in the northern third of the state.  Brood X will show up in 2021 and “the Great Southern Brood,” (the one that was such a hit in 2011) will return in 2024.

If you want to view the distribution maps for yourself, there are some good ones at

http://www.cicadamania.com/where.html

Of course, by late June we’ll have our annual “dog day” cicadas popping out around the state.  They’re 50% larger than the periodical cicadas, but are green and lack the bright red eyes.  And they certainly don’t occur in numbers like the periodical cicadas.  Nevertheless, we’ll hear them singing in the trees every afternoon, providing a lovely backdrop to our summer activities.

 _____________

N. C. Hinkle, Ph.D.

Professor

Dept. of Entomology

Univ. of Georgia

National Strawberry Month!

May is National Strawberry Month, and even though this spring's cool weather has delayed fruit production by a week or two, locally grown berries are beginning to show up at farmers markets.

For those of us who buy more of this very perishable fruit than we can readily use, UGA's Family and Consumer Sciences  "Strawberries" brochure offers some helpful tips.

For storage:
"Remove strawberries from their original container and discard any spoiled or moldy berries. Arrange them in a single layer, top with a paper towel and store loosely covered in the refrigerator. Do not remove caps or wash until ready to serve."

For dry pack freezing:
"Spread a single layer of fruit on shallow tray and freeze. When frozen, pack strawberries into a container, seal and freeze."

People who celebrate strawberries for more than just one month by growing their own can find helpful gardening information in UGA's Home Garden Strawberries publication. To make sure that the gardener actually gets to harvest the fruits of his or her labor, protecting the crop from birds by covering it with either netting or another row-cover is a good idea.

Those who are hoping to pick their own berries by the bushel can check the website that lists Atlanta-area U-Pick Farms to locate a farm in easy driving distance. The website doesn't display well in every browser; if the list of farms by county isn't visible near the top of the screen, keep scrolling down until it appears. The list is updated periodically, but not regularly, so it's a good idea to call any farms in advance before visiting, to make sure berries are currently available.

Another source of information about U-Pick Farms is Georgia Department of Agriculture's Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin. Its next "Pick Your Own" special section is scheduled for May 15.

Upcoming Events

Through the Garden Gate
Saturday, May 11, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The 2013 Tour and Plant Sale of the Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County. Tour gardens are all within four miles of the Marietta Square. Garden Faire and Plant Sale will be at the Cobb Water Office, at 662 South Cobb Drive. Advance tickets for the tour are $15, at the Cobb County Cooperative Extension office or online through the website of the Cobb County Master Gardeners. Day of tour tickets are $20. Entry to the Garden Faire and Plant sale is free. For information, map, and descriptions of the tour gardens, see the Cobb Master Gardeners' website, or call 770-528-4070.

Spreader and Sprayer Calibration Class

Saturday, May 25, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Calibration Class for lawn care equipment, at the Cobb County Extension Training Room and outside. Hands-on workshop teaching residential customers how to properly use fertilizer spreaders and chemical sprayers accurately to treat their landscapes. Taught by Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent Neil Tarver. Call 770-528-4070 for additional information or to register.

Canning Class: Jelly and Jam

Tuesday, May 28, 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. Hands-on canning class for jellies and jams, taught by Cobb County Cooperative Extension’s Family and Consumer Sciences agent Cindee Sweda. Class will be at 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060. Cost is $10, payable in cash, check (made out to Cobb County 4-H Club), or money order. Pre-registration is required. Call 770-528-4070 for additional information.

Problems in the Vegetable Patch

Thursday, June 6, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Learn to identify and control some of the insect-pests and diseases that are common in Cobb County vegetable gardens. Class taught by horticulture staff member Amy Whitney in the second floor classroom of Cobb County Cooperative Extension, 678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060. Register by calling 770-528-4070.

Pruning, Planting, Fertilizing

Such a busy time of year for the great outdoors here in Cobb County! Vegetable gardeners will have begun planting their summer crops within the last week or so; seedlings are coming up; early-flowering shrubs like azaleas will need to have any pruning done very soon; and the warm-season lawns (Bermudagrass, Centipede, Zoysia, St. Augustine) should have any needed fertilizers applied within the next several weeks.

Zucchini seedlings emerging.                               PHOTO/Amy Whitney

Vegetable gardeners who would like to verify that planting time is now for most of the summer crops can check UGA's Vegetable Planting Chart. The planting dates on the chart are for middle-Georgia, so the dates should be adjusted by a week or two for Cobb County.

With regard to pruning the azaleas, UGA's Frank Watson reports in the 25 April issue of FACES that azaleas should be pruned "now, after they have bloomed, to allow the plants to prepare for blooming next year."

Watson's article explains the two pruning techniques typically applied to azaleas - thinning cuts and heading cuts:

"Thinning refers to the complete removal of branches back to another branch or main trunk. Thinning is used to remove leggy branches that extend beyond the canopy of the plant, to reduce the size of the plant or to remove any damaged or diseased wood. Thinning can be done any time of the year without significant impact on flowering, growth or cold hardiness

"Heading refers to the cutting back of a branch, not necessarily to a side branch. Vigorous new shoots will emerge within 6 inches of the pruning cut. Heading is usually done with three goals in mind: to reduce the size of the plant, to increase the number of branches or to rejuvenate old, overgrown plants. Severe pruning of old, overgrown plants to within 6 to 12 inches of ground level is a common type of heading."

For more information, refer to Watson's article "Azalea Bloom Show is Over so It's Time to Prune and read UGA's "Selecting and Growing Azaleas."

Radon Testing for Your Home

While we are all indoors avoiding the Great Pollen Release that occurs every spring, one task that should be done here in Cobb County homes, if it hasn't been done before, is testing the indoor air for radon.

UGA's Family and Consumer Sciences division has posted this information about radon on its website:

"Radon is the second leading cause of Lung Cancer in the USA, after tobacco smoke. It kills nearly 22,000 people each year, more than 800 of them in Georgia. Radon is an odorless, invisible and tasteless gas released by the natural decay of uranium in our soils and rocks that easily enters our homes through the foundations and well water."

UGA's radon webpage (linked above) includes a video that explains the testing procedure.

The EPA's map of radon zones shows Georgia's highest risk counties in red:

Homes in all three color zones have been found to have elevated radon levels, which means that it's a good idea for all homes in Georgia to be tested. However, Cobb County homes are at greater risk of radon contamination than those in much of the rest of the state.

The EPA recommends that you fix your home if it is found to have a radon level of 4 pCi/L or more. Georgia's Department of Community Affairs has posted a chart showing that, in Cobb County, about 10% of homes tested have an indoor radon level above the threshold of 4 pCi/L.

Information about how to fix the problem, if one exists, is on the EPA website via the linked pdf "Consumer's Guide to Radon Reduction."

A radon test kit can be purchased for $8 $10 (as of 2016) at the Cobb County Cooperative Extension office in Marietta (call 770-528-4070 for details).

From Your Garden to Your Table

Cobb County Cooperative Extension's April 2 "From Your Garden to Your Table" presentation was such a popular success that it is being offered a second time.

The upcoming garden-to-table event will be held in the second-floor classroom of the Cooperative Extension Office (678 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, 30060) on Thursday, April 25, 2013, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., with sign-in beginning at 6:00 p.m. Preregistration is required (call Cobb County Cooperative Extension at 770-528-4070), and the cost is $10, payable at the door as cash, check (made out to Cobb County 4-H) or money order.

The evening event will feature tips and instruction for both growing food in your home garden and for preserving the harvest through canning and freezing.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Green Industry Update

Cobb County Cooperative Extension's next Green Industry Update is scheduled for Tuesday, April 30, 2013, at the Cobb County Water Lab (662 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, GA, 30060). The event qualifies for re-certification credits in categories 21, 23, 24, 27 (3 hours), Private (2 hours), and ISA (2.75 hours).

The event will be moderated by Jamie Cint of the Cobb Water System, and it is sponsored by Ecologel Solutions, LLC.

The cost is $10 per person at the door. The schedule is as follows:

8:30-8:50           Registration

8:50-9:00           Ecologel Solutions: Hydretain Root Zone Moisture Manager 

9:00-9:50           Landscaping and Pesticide Safety: Perils and Pitfalls                                

                          Dr. Bruce Gillett – Retired Neurologist and Cobb Master Gardener

9:50-10:00        Break with Q and A

10:00-10:50       Spring Tree Care: Maintenance, Feeding and Pesticide Treatments

                   Joe Burgess – Georgia Forestry Commission Senior Forester District 1

10:50-11:00      Break with Q and A

11:00-11:50      Water Efficiency in the Landscape and Preventing Pesticide Contamination 

                  Kathy Nguyen – Cobb County Water System Senior Project Manager

11:50-12:00      Evaluation and Re-certification Forms

To preregister: email  emily.harper@cobbcounty.org  or call 770-528-4070.

Upcoming Events

Vegetable Garden Seminar
Saturday, April 6, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Daylong seminar hosted by Douglas County Cooperative Extension includes the topics Bee Basics, Gardening Overview, The Secret is in the Soil, Garden Testimonies, Time Management, Limited Space Gardening, and Preserving and Storing the Harvest. Cobb County Cooperative Extension staff member Amy Whitney will be speaking about gardening. Lithia Springs United Methodist Church, Fellowship Hall, 3711 Temple Street, Lithia Springs, GA, 30122. For information, see webpage for event. Call 770-948-5429 to register. $10 fee includes presentations, handouts, "giveaways," light lunch and refreshments, and a donation to LSUMC for the use of their facility.

Cobb County Cooperative Extension Open House
Tuesday, April 9, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Free! Drop by to see what Cooperative Extension has to offer you. The day will include a plant doctor clinic (bring your plants and weeds for diagnosis!), bedbugs and other displays, container gardening demonstration, raised bed planting demonstration, information about canning, money management, healthy snacks, Restaurant Inspection scores, and 4-H club and its activities.678 South Cobb Drive (shares a parking lot with the Main Tag office), Marietta, 30060. Call 770-528-4070 or check www.cobbextension.com for more information.

Ikebana: Japanese Flower Arranging
Tuesday, April 9, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. Presented by Donna Scott at the South Cobb Regional Library on Clay Road in Mableton, as part of the ongoing Gardeners Night Out presentation series of Cobb County Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County.

Starting Your Spring Garden
Tuesday, April 9, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. The second in the 2013 series of classes sponsored by The Green Meadows Preserve Community Garden. Presented by Cobb County Cooperative Extension staff member Amy Whitney, who will provide gardeners with the basics of what, how, when and where to plant in the areas available to them. Event will take place at the smaller Parks and Recreation building near the Boots Ward Recreation Center at Lost Mountain Park, 4845 Dallas Hwy.

Tomatoes: From the Turtle to the Table
Friday, April 12, noon to 1:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. Presented by Cobb County Master Gardener Renae Lemon at the County Water Lab at 662 S. Cobb Drive (the smaller brick building at the back of the property), as part of the ongoing Lunch & Learn presentation series of Cobb County Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County. Renae will tell all you need to know about growing tomatoes.

Algae Control in Ponds
Wednesday, April 17, 8:30 a.m. - noon. Instructed by UGA Aquaculture Specialist Dr. Gary Burtle, at Cobb County Cooperative Extension, 678 South Cobb Dr. in Marietta. The workshop will present information about the composition of scum and blooms seen in ponds, their causes, and ways to control or reduce their intensity. Participants are welcome to bring water samples for identification of algal species or water analysis. Re-certification credits: Category 26 Aquatic Pest Control - 3 credits; Private Applicator License - 2 credits.Cost $5 at the door; refreshments provided. Seating is limited. Preregister by calling 770-528-4070.

Through the Garden Gate
Saturday, May 11, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The 2013 Tour and Plant Sale of the Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County. Tour gardens are all within four miles of the Marietta Square. Garden Faire and Plant Sale will be at the Cobb Water Office, at 662 South Cobb Drive. Advance tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the Cobb County Cooperative Extension office or online through the website of the Cobb Master Gardeners; Day-of-tour tickets are $20. For more information, including map and descriptions of the tour gardens, see the Cobb Master Gardeners' website, or call 770-528-4070.