Plant Q & A Texas A&M

Kumquats Q&A


Q. What good are kumquats? My neighbor has one, but he doesn’t seem to use the fruit.

A. Kumquat fruit is different but tasty. You eat the whole fruit, peeling and all. The pulp is bland but the skin is tart. I believe they are also used in salads and other recipes. I grow kumquats in half whiskey barrels. They grow to 3.5 feet tall in the barrel and produce fruit every year. The evergreen foliage is attractive, especially when in bloom and covered with the oblong 1.5-inch fruit. Kumquats are also more cold tolerant than satsumas.

Q. When can we plant grass seed? We built a new house, and there is no lawn. The lawn area is shaded by great trees.

A. Bermuda grass and Buffalo grass are the two lawn species that work well by seed. The problem is that they do not tolerate shade. St. Augustine grass has the most shade tolerance, but it must be sodded. Buffalo and Bermuda grass will germinate when the soil and air is warm, about May 1. There are several good groundcovers for shade, including Asiatic jasmine, liriope, monkey grass and dwarf ruellia.

Q. We are excited about growing our first vegetable garden. What can we plant now? Where can we find information about tomatoes and other vegetables?

A. The website plantanswers.com has lots of information on growing vegetables. You could also purchase a book as a resource. Texas vegetables books are available by Sam Cotner, Greg Grant and Bill Adams and Tom LeRoy.

Q. I cleaned out an old shed on our property. The floor under the junk that I removed was crawling with scorpions. How dangerous are they? Is there some way to control them?

A. Scorpions can inflict a painful sting, but they only usually bite when you put your hand on one while digging around in the shed. Don’t leave any footwear in the shed where they can hide and bite you when you put your boots on. Scorpions eat spiders. Clean up the shed and spray it with an insecticide. If there are no insects or spiders, there will be no scorpions.

Q. Which fruit can we grow without a spray program? Which roses?

A. Blackberries, pomegranate, oriental persimmon, figs, pears and loquats do not need to be sprayed for diseases or insects. Most of the old-fashioned roses and the modern, tough roses bloom well without a spray program. Consider Knockout, Belinda’s Dream, Katy Road, Martha Gonzales, Butterfly and Mrs. Dudley Cross.

CALVIN R. Finch, Ph.D. is a Horticulturist and Director of Texas A&M Water Conservation and Techno



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