High Elevation Gardening Web Log "Blog"

The Coconino County Master Gardener Program, in conjunction with the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, sponsors the Master Gardener Hotline. This is a free information service for area home gardeners. Master Gardener volunteers are available to answer your garden and urban horticulture questions and concerns.

This year the hotline will operate from April 1 through September 30. You can leave a message anytime, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our voice mail center will record your questions and information.

When calling the hotline, please state your name and phone number clearly, and leave your question or provide an explanation of your problem. Then let us know when the best time to return your call is. A Master Gardener volunteer will research your problem and return your call.

The hotline phone number is (928) 774-1868 ext. 19. You can leave a message at any time and a Master Gardener volunteer will return your call within 72 hours.

Master Gardeners are volunteers that receive training in basic botany, soils, vegetable gardening, insect pests, plant damage diagnosis, pruning, fruit trees, Xeriscape, urban forestry, and much, much more. Once Master Gardeners complete their training, they then volunteer their services to their community in gardening activities by answering garden questions, conducting garden programs, working on community beautification projects and other activities related to gardening. Answering hotline calls helps them fulfill their volunteer requirements.

The 2007 Master Gardener class is in full swing and is busy completing coursework and requirements to become certified Master Gardeners. While they finish, members of the 2006 class have volunteered to take your calls.

Not all questions or problems have an easy answer but Master Gardeners will make every attempt to help. They have been introduced to a variety of gardens problems, but they also have access to the helpful Arizona Master Gardener manual as well useful internet sites. Links to gardening information can be provided and written material can also be sent about many gardening questions.

Last year the most common call that we received on the hotline concerned grasshoppers. Last summer grasshopper populations were out of control. If you want to minimize grasshopper damage this year, spring is the time start as the best time to control grasshoppers is when they are small and vulnerable. Adult grasshoppers are virtually impossible to control.

A long-term biological control is the use of the protozoan Nosema locustae, a naturally occurring spore that only infects grasshoppers. The disease is slow-acting and works to reduce the population but can take up to a year to affect grasshopper populations. To be effective, it must be applied when grasshoppers are young.

Grasshopper baits containing carbaryl can also be used and are most effective on the nymph population. Unlike insecticidal sprays, baits are less likely to harm beneficial insects.

You can also work to reduce grasshopper numbers by encouraging predators to visit your garden. Disturbing grasshopper breeding areas can also help but is often impractical as breeding sites are usually not on your property. You can also try the ‘picking and squashing’ method. It’s time consuming but really effective as squashed grasshoppers don’t breed.

By Hattie Braun
The author is a Master Gardener program coordinator for Coconino County Cooperative Extension. If you have a gardening question, call the Master Gardener hotline at 774-1868 ext. 19 or visit our Web site: highelevationgardening.arizona.edu.