Narrator> Making It Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina.

This cooperative effort among farmers, retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture helps consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown, harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

Mcleod Farms in McBee, South Carolina, family owned and operated since 1916.

This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 40 varieties of peaches.

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Additional funding provided by the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance and Boone Hall Farms.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> Well, good evening, and welcome to Making It Grow.

We're so glad that you could join us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty.

I'm a Clemson Extension horticulture agent.

And instead of being here with Terasa Lott, my usual cohort, I have Katie Collins.

And Katie, You are a water resources agent for the Pee Dee district, and, you and I used to work in the same office, and you were doing something with water then.

But I think you've been moving and expanding what you do.

So what do you do as a water resources agent?

>> Yeah.

So we kind of have a large water team spread across the state, and some of us focus more on storm water education.

So we actually have two water resources here in our office in Sumter, and Cassie focuses more on storm water education.

I'm a regional water agent, so I cover about ten counties and I cover some more, like rural and agricultural and pond topics.

So, water is well covered with Clemson throughout the state.

>> And, many people remember, when you and your sister Bridget have come to be with us.

and done fun, fun crafts for us.

And, I hope she'll come back.

>> Yeah, she loves coming on the show.

We'll have to bring her back.

>> Yeah.

So let's all give her a wave.

Hey Bridget.

Katie> Hey Bridge.

>> Get out... get out your calendar and come on back and see us.

We'd love to see you.

And Paul Thompson.

You're the horticulture agent up in York County.

And, I think you have, a new title too.

>> Granddad.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah, >> Yes.

>> Born on... March the seventh.

Everybody's happy and healthy.

And- Amanda> -a little girl?

>> A little girl.

>> Okay.

And a good sized baby.

Well, that's that's pretty exciting.

I'm real happy for y'all.

Yeah, yeah.

So what's happening in York County besides, it's growing, growing, growing, growing.

>> Well, it is growing.

you know, just about everything's leafing out right now, and, I've got, you know, I planted, there's...there's a couple of native buckeyes in the state, actually there's three.

>> Yeah, >> but, the common one, up where we are is painted buckeye, and you can find it through the woods.

And that type thing.

In the Low country, you have the, red buckeye.

And...I planted a red buckeye last year.

I had a painted buckeye already planted in my side yard.

>> I remember it was near the house, I remember, we came to see you... >> The Red Buckeye's already already out and, you know, and the flower buds are expanding and...and stuff.

And the painted buckeye because they're ten feet away from each other.

Amanda> Yeah.

>> And it's still, you know, so there, the regional adaptation of it normally the red buckeye is blooming in ...in March.

>> Yeah.

>> And the other one starts in April, so.

>> Well it did what it needed to over the, you know, thousands of years and it would be...come out at the right time and not get hurt by a late frost.

>> Right.

>> Yeah.

Okay.

And then, Goodness, Hannah Mikell, you are an agronomy agent, which is different.

because agronomy agents are field crops.

Is that right?

Okay.

>> That's correct.

Yeah.

A lot of our crops are traded on the Chicago border exchange.

So like corn, cotton, soybeans.

A lot of the crops that go into either fiber or feeding our livestock in the state, and we export a tremendous amount as well.

Amanda> Really?

So, and you... which counties are you associated with?

>>Clarendon and Williamsburg.

>> Okay.

And that's a good bit of area down there.

>> It is.

Yes.

>> ...devoted to that.

>> Yes, it's well over probably 150 to 200,000 acres of open row cropland.

Amanda> Whoa.

>> Yeah.

>> That is a lot.

Are a lot of these, people have been family farmers for a long time?

>> They are.

Yeah.

I would love to boast that we have some of the best in the state.

They are, you know, fifth, sixth generation farmers and the land has been there.

We'll have some others that will kind of come and go, in some niche markets, but, that are, kind of show themselves.

But as far as diversity goes, they've done really well to hold on to the crops they planted for several, several years.

>> And that's wonderful because we know we're losing farmland.

>> That's true.

>> at kind of a frightening rate It is wonderful that they're doing well and want to continue doing it.

Yeah.

>> Land's our number one resource right?

>> Yep.

It is.

Yeah.

Well I'm so glad that you're healthy.

Hannah> Thank you.

>> Yeah, that's just wonderful.

>> And Bill Guess, you are... you have a peculiar title.

You're at B.B.

Barns, Northeast Columbia, which is a lovely nursery to visit, but, you're not the nursery manager or anything like that.

You're the garden coach?

>> So garden coaching, I would come out to your... Amanda> Go team.

>> Oh, yeah.

Go...

I will come out to your house and we will talk about whatever it is you need to talk about.

We can... >> Come on ID plants, we can look at things that maybe aren't doing so well and how to make them do better with a little bit of garden design.

You want to spruce up an area?

I can do a little sketch and we'll pick out plants for you.

And...just being on site, I'm able to... make better decisions for you and how your landscape should look and what plants are going to work for you.

>> You have a good team though, back at the nursery, and I think if I were there and had some questions, they could probably help me a lot at the same time.

>> Absolutely.

It depends on what your questions are and how in-depth they are.

But being on site, I can answer things a little more in-depth.

We can walk around the entire yard.

You know, we have people come in.

If it's a fairly easy question, come in with a picture of it.

>> Oh, how great of you!

>> We're happy to diagnose issues like that.

But, sometimes you get the real advantage to come to your house.

>> Okay.

well, I'm so glad that you're out there coaching people when they... and a lot of people are moving down here and they don't know what's on their property because they may not be from here.

>> And we're a stop for people they want to know more about what can grow here, and who don't know.

So we see them almost first where people will come in and tell us where they're from and ask questions about what does well here.

>> And, do you tell them good restaurants and things like that too.

>> We have all, (Amanda laughs) all kinds of conversations about sports teams and restaurants and, and, driving practices.

>> Okay...And later in the show, we're going to have, a grand time.

Dr John Nelson came down and talked about aquatic weeds, the ones that, are really problematic.

And, some of them truly, truly are.

And also, I was going to let y'all know that, I do radio for Making It Grow radio spots that you can, I think they're on our Facebook page, but also you go to SC Public Radio and they are there.

And, so maybe you'd like to do that sometime.

Well, well, well.

So, Katie, do we have some Gardens of the Week?

>> We sure do.

So, we will regularly post on the Facebook page asking for folks to send in pictures of their gardens.

And we've got a few to highlight today.

So we have some pictures from Jared.

We have a close up of the magenta flowers of an eastern redbud, which has some great wildlife, value, including serving as a host plant for one of our native butterflies.

And we have a photo from Caroline which shows a plethora of flowers on Lady Banks Rose and...Spirea?

Is that how we pronounce that?

Paul> Spirea.

>> Spirea, Thank you.

Good to have some plant experts here with me.

We've got photos from Alice Walker as well.

She's got a pot of grape hyacinth named for the urn shaped flowers that look like a bunch of grapes.

And it's not a true hyacinth.

So a little trick there in the name.

Kevin has sent us a picture of citrus in the Low country.

So he reports that his Meyer lemon and key lime trees survived the winter in their portable greenhouse, and they're now full of flower buds.

>> That's cool.

>> And Rebecca has sent us, Purple Jean.

I'm going to need pronunciation help again.

Ranunculus?

Bill> That's it.

(clapping) >> Thank you, thank you.

with paper thin layers of mauve and purple.

Gorgeous.

Amanda> Mmmm!

What a pretty description.

>> So thanks to everybody for sending in those pictures.

And when we post again, make sure you send in some pictures of your garden.

>> Yeah, we do appreciate when people do that.

And Terasa says take them this way or not that way.

I think.

>> Landscape's better, for the TV.

>> Okay.

Yeah.

Well, have you got some questions for us?

>> I sure do.

and actually, I think before we start in.

Oh, no, we're going to start with Paul.

>> Okay.

>> We have a question.

somebody has sent a photo of a plant that they saw on a walk in the woods, and they would like some help identifying it.

Paul> Okay, well, that's a, That's a perennial chickweed.

So it's a native chickweed species.

that's not, like, your common chickweed weeds that are winter edibles.

Amanda> You can't eat them.

You can't eat chickweed.

>> This plant's a lot more tame.

It's not going to come up from seed everywhere.

>> Oh!

>> The flowers are certainly a lot more showy.

It is commercially available in some nurseries now.

I did find that.

And, I wrote a blog about this last spring when I was walking through the woods and took some pictures of the perennial chickweed It's...it's a really, I've got one growing in my landscape.

It's been there for about ten years.

It never has produced any seedlings anywhere or anything like that.

And it's just a really nice early spring ephemeral, really.

>> Has it expanded a little bit?

>> It's expanded a little bit.

Yeah.

>> Okay.

Well, you have to share the blog with us and we'll put it on our Facebook page if you can find it.

>> Yeah.

It's, on the HGIC.

>> Okay.

Thank you so much.

All righty.

Well... Katie> I think Hannah has a show and tell for us.

>> I do.

Yes, I'm very happy to show it to you.

I brought some wheat, and it's kind of dirty.

...fresh out of the ground.

Right.

So we have a couple of different growth stages.

And this time of year, our wheat is starting to...to grow from about this size.

And you know, early to late March to this size and, April and then just sprout on up on us and...and really give us, a tremendous amount of, of growth and, biomass.

And so a lot of times it can be used as, feed.

So when they do harvest this in May and June, they'll harvest for feed, for grain, or in some cases if the quality is good enough and the weight is high enough, they'll actually send it for flour and have it milled.

Amanda> Come on.

>> Yeah, yeah.

>> So is this so this is a viable winter crop?

And so what does it follow usually?

>> So typically we like to plant into wheat.

corn is kind of getting late because of the, the...the harvest period is towards the end of May.

>> Sure...yeah.

>> But by the time that we are getting ready to start after corn planting and then some soybean.

We can plant soybeans into it or cotton makes it a great plant, for wheat.

Yeah.

But they it's, it's a crop that really is like I mentioned earlier, it's dictated on how much we're going to grow based off of the prices.

Right.

So it's not something that's built into our rotation as far as farmers go, but it is a, a nice additive to have, that time of year to harvest another crop.

>> And now we know it's always good to have a crop growing living roots in the soil too.

>> That's right.

You're right.

>> Okay.

looks pretty handsome.

>> It is.

You can see kind of on some of these roots how the soil sticks to it.

It almost looks like the, the root's on steroids.

Right.

It looks like it's kind of growing out.

But the healthier the soil, the healthier the root, the...the more it kind of will pull soil in and kind of have this symbiotic relationship kind of.

Right?

>> Yeah.

yeah.

>> So this past week, actually, I got a problem.

phone call.

The wheat was showing some yellowing at the bottom, and we went out there and because of the rain we've had in the spring, which we typically will have some heavy rains, right?

There is some compaction along the end rows.

And so we had this hard pan that it created for us.

The roots then are still kind of shallow at that point.

And it created this really wet environment.

So the roots just eventually start to get bacteria in them.

And they eventually sloughed off and die.

So the plant ends up turning yellow and weaker than what it should be.

>> And it's just fascinating because, they now have electron microscope pictures of all.

Apparently roots, you know, they make sugars.

I mean, that's what plants do.

that plant stem and they can they can extrude those to the roots and can kind of tweak it and get some of these microorganisms to bring them some things, some nutrients that they need, like calcium or phosphorus or something.

>> Yeah.

>> From the soil.

I mean, that's just the most amazing thing I've ever heard of.

>> Yeah.

The farmers will even rip the soil, that hard pan that we talked about to get past that.

And then when the roots make their way down there, they can find even more.

And they call it like a mining type.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah.

Technique.

>> Yeah.

Amanda> It's just wonderful.

>> I know, it is.

>> Thank you so much for talking... telling us all about that?

Okay, well, garden coach.

(laugh) Coach us along >> We have, a what's called a ground orchid.

This is a plant that you could have for a very long time once it's established.

Sort of a shade or a, dappled sun situations.

This one's called Kate.

>> And what's the genus?

>> It's beli- Bletilla.

>> Yeah.

>> And once established, it'll be there a long time.

It can be evergreen, if we have mild winters.

It'll bloom heavily in the spring.

And then sporadically through the whole summer.

So a long bloom time on it.

>> And I think you've got one of the ferns- >> One little bloom.

Yeah, he fell off.

Right.

>> Let's put it right here and we'll get a close up >> Fell off as we came in, but they are just starting to pop out and...it's >> So you'll have kind of a heady flowering and then sporadic?

>> Sporadic spikes all through the summer and it's in the shade.

It's sort of a lower specialty plant, but it's so nice to hide in underneath your trees or just a a little splash of color and... your neighbor probably doesn't have this.

So it's kind of fun for somebody to come over and...and enjoy a plant that's a little more rare.

>> The foliage is really pretty.

>> And this is about as tall as it gets.

As this matures, it'll be more full, but it's never going to be anything that's a problem.

He just kind of minds his manners and hangs out where you put them.

>> It's just kind of fun to go and visit.

>> It's super fun.

>> Thank you so much.

It's beautiful.

We've always talking about the pollinators and the butterflies and host plants and all that.

And Doug Tallamy, who is the person who's kind of turned us on to a good bit of that, he wrote Nature's Best Hope and the Nature of Oaks is coming to Riverbank Zoo, and this is a collaboration between Wingard's Market and Riverbank Zoo.

And I just went to Brookgreen and heard him speak maybe just for the third time that my brother came down.

My brother loves to plant native plants and he told Professor Tallamy, he said, "I'm re-energized."

And, it was... we just everybody felt the reasons and the...and the ways that we can become part of Nature's Best Hope.

And so it's May the 16th in the evening at 7:00 at Riverbank Zoo.

And I was at the governor's mansion recently.

The Columbia Garden Club asked me to be an honorary member, which was quite, quite the sweet thing to do.

And I had a wonderful time there and they gave me some flowers.

So I said, Well, I'm just going to thank them for the flowers they gave me.

And they... they do a lot of work at the governor's mansion.

We in the past had gone up there.

They decorate for the holidays beautifully, but they do a lot of things there.

And, you know, you can take tours of the governor's mansion and a lot of people don't know that.

And you know, you go to South Carolina's Governor's mansion and you can look it up and find out when, you know, how to sign up for tours.

And inside the house is quite lovely with...it really is just plain beautiful.

But they have made a commitment up there to redo the grounds and it is stunningly beautiful and Governor McMaster is particularly his favorite thing is the pollinator garden.

Isn't that fun?

So he goes out there and acts like a bee and you know, gets pollen on his nose, and they've got a fruit garden, so when schoolchildren come, they can try to encourage them to eat fruits and things.

It's just the nicest thing.

And I think it's just so wonderful that when you go to the governor's mansion, which is kind of our state mansion, when you think about it, they're right with the times with pollinator gardens and backyard fruits and things.

So thank you to the Columbia Garden Club and thank you to the McMaster's for promoting pollinators and backyard fruits and all those wonderful things.

Well, okay, Katie?

>> Yes, we have got a question from the Facebook page.

So Mike Johnson messaged us and said that he has recently planted two plants they're Abutilons, and he bought them about the same time and he planted them about 20 feet apart.

And they've grown very differently.

So one is ten feet tall, seven feet wide and is really flourished and the other one, 20 feet away is only about three feet tall, and just not doing as well.

And so he's wondering what might be the issue or what he could do to solve it.

>> Well, Paul, you know, a lot of that planting things and... you've run into a lot of problems, not because...you've never done anything wrong, of course.

(All laugh) >> Yeah I've never killed a plant in my life.

(Amanda laughs) >> Have you got some thoughts about what might be going on?

>> Okay.

Well, you know, one thing is the possibility of different microclimates with different light levels.

the soil.

Your soil might be a different texture.

It might hold water differently.

But with something that's going on, you know, that long for someone to get so much larger, I would think there might be a structural problem with the root system.

Maybe at the time of planting there was a girdling root that's causing a problem.

Maybe it was planted too deeply in the ground.

But... Amanda> can the person lift it up and start looking?

>> You could.

You could.

It's certainly not going to hurt anything.

They'll probably be better to.

I mean, you could do it this time of the year, but it'd be better to do it in a dormant season where it's not quite of a shock to dig it up and replant it.

But I would definitely investigate the root system.

>> If you did decide to do it now and replant it, would you cut it back any?

>> Well, that's always been a... >> I hear different things >> That's always been a thing that, you know, people say, well you're going to dig it up?

You're getting rid of roots.

You need to cut it back.

Well, the plant will regulate itself.

So instead of you guessing how much to prune off of it, to get it in balance.

What you want in that tree, is that plant to do is grow a root system that it wants... you want it to put all of its energy of regrowing the roots.

Amanda> Okay.

>> If you prune back the top and you prune back too much, it's going to put the energy in regrowing shoots instead of all the energy to regrowing roots.

So if you have some dieback or the roots aren't enough to support, then as things go, then you can prune them out.

Amanda> Okay.

>> But you want the foliage You want as much foliage on there to create the root system.

>> Okay.

A lot of people are planting.

This is the time of year to plant.

You can get your garden coach to come out and help you or ask for help from your Clemson Extension agent and Doug Tallamy's always telling us to plant oak trees and other trees as well, native species that support that are, you know, the larval food crops.

And I think I've heard you talk about people who want to tidy up this tree as soon as they plant it, because it might have had some branches lower coming out.

What's the deal on that?

What are you supposed to do?

>> Well, I'll see a lot of trees that are have a very small trunk caliper.

And the reason is when a producer limbs up a tree, so it looks like a tree instead of a bush and take away all those low branches, those low branches would develop that trunk caliper much faster if left on.

>> So did they send their Photosynthates into that- >> Photosynthates are going to be used closest to where their produced.

>> Really.

>> You know, it's not like what's produced at the top of the tree is going to go go down to help that trunk.

You know those branches are directly feeding that trunk.

You won't need a stake to hold up the tree because you've got a thicker, sturdier trunk.

So those lower limbs need to be managed, not allowed to get too big by kind of subordinating or heading them back, but you leave them on there until they reach a size maybe as big as your thumb.

>> Okay.

>> And, you know, you're not cutting them all off at once.

You're cutting... if the large one that starts getting too large.

Cut it off.

But you're leaving those in there until you really get a good trunk caliper of two inches or more.

>> And so that early growth can determine the strength of the tree throughout its life, I guess.

>> Right.

>> Okay.

Okay.

>> So if you want to try to not blow over in a hurricane, maybe you should have a stronger tree.

Paul> You know, you take the bamboo stake away, it moves like this.

>> And the other thing is people just truss them up on those stakes.

>> Right.

>> And- >> -and they need to move.

They to move.

It actually helps develop a stronger root system and also trunk caliper.

>> Okay.

Well, thank you, Paul.

That's nice to get reminders of the best management practices.

Okay.

Hannah, have you ever seen some competition between plants- Hannah> For sure.

Right!

>> Things like we were talking about.

>> For sure.

Yeah.

When we plant corn, especially right now, this time of year, we're planting it, even in some cases with very large planters.

And we know exactly how many inches apart each seed is.

Amanda> Yes.

>> And so within 30 minutes to an hour, the ground moisture has then been absorbed by the seed.

And it started its travel of the root going down and the sprouts coming up.

Right.

So within- >> That quickly?

>> It is.

Yep.

It swells.

You know, like my grandmother used to say you start okra seed.

before you go to soak?

Amanda> Yeah >> And so that's kind of the premise there.

So you're you're starting with adequate ground moisture, you've got your fertilizer and everything down.

So it's ready to go.

But if one germinates, let's say it gets disturbed by a deer walking by and it compacts the top layer just on that one, but the ones next to it are still in the same path of upward growth, That one that's weaker then becomes almost like a weed.

It's then competing for something else that is the stronger plants actually need.

So it's...it it becomes like almost a less desirable plant in some cases.

>> So because it's probably not going to produce the finished product that you can harvest.

>> Correct.

If it...now... if it very well still could, but it will be so delayed that by the time you go to harvest or moisture we want to be at a certain level and it will be a little lagging behind.

>> Well, but if you got 100 or 500 acres, I don't think you you're not going to walk around and look for those, are you.

>> No, no, no, no, no.

You don't >> It's just a fun fact.

>> It is.

It is.

Yes.

And talking about the...the growth like the photosynthesis that go into that small area, I had no idea.

But it makes perfectly good sense when you think about the corn ear leaf.

So as long as we protect the corn ear leaf, that is going to be all of the nutrients that go into the actual cob of the corn, right?

So we spray fungicides to make sure there's no, nothing creeping up in the bottom leaves through our corn.

So as long as we protect that corn ear leaf through corn field and doe and milk stage for corn, we're good to go.

So I've never thought about that, but it makes perfectly good sense.

>> So plants have some similarities >> They do.

>> Corn has some similarities with trees.

How about that!

It is kind of fun.

(Amanda laughs) Okay, Bill what have you got for us now?

>> This is Fatshedera.

So this is where... >>Oh, that's so pretty >> So, fatsia is a small shade tree.

>> Yeah!

>> With big leaves... Amanda> Whoa!

>> -really nice big leaves.

And they crossed it with ivy.

So ivy is Hedera, so it's Fatshedera Fatsia and Hedera- >> Okay.

>> -together, >> Etc.. >> It's about a this will grow to maybe five, six feet.

It likes it in the shade.

It doesn't have a support system.

It doesn't... it's not a tree anymore.

So it will need a, a stake or something to grow on.

But it fits in really well, like a front door situation where you've got a little nook that's in the shade and you just need something in there to fill in.

And these bright variegation in the leaves shows up so well in the shade.

It grows really fast.

It really doesn't have any issues Amanda> None that I've ever heard of.

>> or pests that attack it and the leaves will get bigger than they are right now.

They'll get up to six, seven, eight inches around.

And it's just kind of a neat thing to slip in to a shade area and without really any care after planting.

>> Yeah, well and back to what you said, Paul, this has a stake on it.

and so we want to be real careful not to have it wrapped with tape, so, Both> so tight.

Amanda> Yeah.

So you really probably would want to use like a piece of string or something that just is going to hold, you know, keep it from flopping over, but not in any way girdle it.

>> He has a stronger stem than an ivy, but not a strong enough stem like a Fatsia.

So just...just kind of helping it along a little bit.

Amanda> And it has no potential like ivy to be invasive or as horrible as ivy is?

>> No... Amanda> It's own plant.

Bill> It's going up mostly and it goes to about five or six feet and that's it.

So it's...it's not going to take over the yard.

>> Okay.

Okay.

Well, the color of the leaves is just beautiful.

And since it can be in the shade, it could certainly brighten its spot.

Couldn't it, >> Absolutely.

And this one, this particular one is called Angyo Star.

There is a green one.

But again, if we're in those dark situations, a dark green leaf just kind of fades into the background.

This variegation is just a great pop in the shade.

>> All right.

That is fun.

Thanks a lot.

Okay.

Ooh, that's heavy.

>> He's heavy.

>> Katie, what else can we help somebody with?

Katie> We have a question from Nancy right here in Sumter.

Amanda> Okay.

>> And she is wondering what some of the most common pests for corn are.

And Hannah, if you have any best practices for preventing or treating them.

Hannah> Sure.

Yeah.

So like you asked me earlier about what we like to grow in inside of our wheat, right?

So whenever we harvest our wheat, there's been insects out there that have been feeding on our wheat, unbeknownst to us.

And a lot of times in our Hederos where we have like some low growing shrubs and those are typically going to be our stink bugs.

And so once our wheat gets harvested, we have this transition period where they're lacking nutrients, they need something to feed on and they're going to move right on over into our corn.

And in some cases, you'll see early seasoning where they're feeding down at the base as the corn starts to come out.

When it's about knee high, the ear leaf, which is what we want to protect.

Right, right, right.

It is right at ground level.

So they can go in there and pierce at the ground level and create some damage and they also love to feed on those tassels as they come out.

So and then the silk.

And so they'll eat mainly the silk, but they it's so fragile and soft and it's so succulent almost for them.

They stick their... their little piercing.

Amanda> Proboscis?

>> Yes.

Proboscis.

I didn't know if... >> I think that's what it is.

>>I didn't want to be too technical, but, you know, we they do that and they start to feed on it.

Well everyone- >> -on a silk?

>> Oh, yeah.

>> Come on.

>> So some of the silk- I'm just going to blow your mind here.

If the silk cannot get the pollen, then what, what fertilizes the kernel?

Nothing.

>> Because each kernel has its own piece of silk that goes to it.

So if you get an ear of corn and it's got some black spots in it those are the ones that the silk.

something happened to it.

>> Gosh, Pete!

I can't believe they can stick their little... >> Beak.

>> Beak into this.

Tap the silk of a corn.

>> I know.

And in some cases they'll have like a, like a bacteria and it'll cause >> Oh no!

It gets worse?

>> Yeah.

It's really funky looking.

It almost produces like this, this weird looking fungus on the ear and it'll curve out like a horseshoe.

And then it has these giant kernels that blow up like a mushroom looking thing It's actually a delicacy in other countries... >> I was going to say- Paul> You're talking about smut.

Corn smut.

Hannah> Yeah.

Amanda> I think some people love to eat that.

I mean- Hannah> -They do.

Amanda> Have you ever had it?

>> No, I have not.

>> Paul, you've tried a lot of things.

Paul> No, but you can buy it in a Hispanic grocery store.

Yeah.

Amanda> Well, I want to try it.

>> I think you can add the inoculate to the ear itself.

I've never done this And so... >> I just grew a variety behind the office one year and I ended up with corn smut, and that's the last time I planted corn in the office.

>> Yeah.

Yeah, it could have been stink bugs.

>> But, yeah, it's.

I mean, it's like eating a mushroom.

I mean.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I bet you John Nelson has had it because he goes to stores that offer different types of things from different countries and all and he loves to try things I'll have to call him up and ask him how it was and you put salt and pepper on it and butter.

>> But, but to answer Nancy's question, I think stink bugs are going to be like one of our main concerns.

We've done a great job with technology.

There's so much that the corn can now withstand that that we've been almost eliminated from our environment.

But, but we've been able to suppress it.

So that it's not a huge issue for us right now, like Corn Earworm and a few other ones.

So.

Amanda> But stink bugs are very hard to control, if I'm not mistaken.

>> They are.

There's pesky little buggers.

Yeah, there's counts that we have thresholds that we need to meet.

So when we do try to control them, we're able to do it in the most efficient manner, the most economical way possible.

>> Okay.

Goodness.

Goodness.

>> Yeah.

>> Okay.

Bill, I think you got good heavens, we're going to play checkers or what's going on.

Bill> Yes, with a little chessboard.

This is a moss.

This is a Scotch moss.

Amanda> I'm going to >> An Irish moss.

It's like the conditions are just like any moss that you would think of.

Sort of a...shady.

Amanda> I'm going to take my shoes off and walk on it.

>> It's so soft.

You definitely want to reach out and touch it.

You want to get a hold of it.

Shade.

It does not like to dry out.

I like to put it sort of under layer, like you have a standard tree that you have in a container.

You can put this in and it will cover the whole base of the tree and it sometimes we'll go over the edge a little bit.

You can see how it kind of comes over the edge, ummm... and it does come in these two different colors.

So if you combine them, you'll get a little bit more interest.

And this is just me taking two flats that came in and...checker boarding them into, into this.

Amanda> That is fun.

Hannah> You know, it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland, like the whole garden theme.

Amanda> It does, yeah.

>> Very "cartoon-ish".

I love that.

>> Gosh.

So you'd need a tree that gave...that had... had a pretty good canopy Bill> or a shade tree.

It's something you want to be in shade also.

Amanda> Yeah.

Gosh.

And just keep it moist?

Bill> Keep it moist and he'll creep.

During the summer, I mean, this is a four and a half inch pot.

It could be 8 to 10 inches around by the end of the summer.

Sometimes it'll winter over.

Sometimes it doesn't.

Kind of depends on where it is.

>> But that's okay.

Both> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bill> But you've gotten your enjoyment out of it.

Amanda> I would say so.

Golly, Pete So you could get...bring that little grandbaby down and she could walk on it That's where her first footsteps could be.

Bill> Super tactile.

>> That'll be kind of fun.

Okay.

We love to go boating and fishing in South Carolina and unfortunately, there's some aquatic weeds that can get in our way.

And Dr. John Nelson came and talked about them, we're going to, maybe gave some ideas of what we could do to avoid spreading them.

I'm here with Dr. John Nelson, my former professor at University of South Carolina and longtime curator of the A.C. Moore Herbarium up there and still out collecting plants all the time.

>> I love doing it.

And in fact, I got to do some this morning before I showed up here at the studio.

>> Okay John, we have so many wonderful waterways in South Carolina.

We are blessed.

People love to boat, fish, swim.

I love to swim- >> That's right.

I think there's boating and swimming and fishing are really high on recreational aspects of the state.

So there's a lot of money in these things and that's good for our economy.

There's a downside to some of the aspects of this recreational offering that we do have, which comes from the presence of introduced weeds, especially in aquatic plants that really aren't supposed to be here, but for whatever reason are now with us and they don't seem to be going away.

>> What problems do some of them cause?

>> Well, there's a good many different problems.

I tell you, if you are a fisherman and you go out to a pond and it's covered with water hyacinth you're not going to be doing much fishing.

Same thing if you want to be paddling a kayak around or even a motorized boat.

Lots of problems with... >> Oh, they get caught up in everything.

>> Right.

I mean, the physical obstruction of having these things.

And then the plants wrapping around propellers and- It's a real mess.

>> So they can be pretty dense.

>> That's one of the big problems, is some of these plants are so good at reproducing vegetatively, they can produce thousands and thousands of individuals in a very short time.

And that really kind of clogs up a number of very otherwise easy to navigate waterways.

>> Yeah.

I mean, if you're in your kayak and you've got all of this junk stuck on you- >> Yeah, right.

It's...It's not easy.

>> Well, let's see what we can learn about these and talk about what's being done to try to keep them under control.

Okay.

>> Let me say before we start looking at these herbarium specimens, we only have...

I think we have six things in here to look at, which is just the tip of the iceberg I'm afraid that there are dozens and dozens of aquatic or wetland, aquatic species that are a very big problem.

And some of these are actually illegal to transport as state law or even federal law.

Some of these are just really serious pests.

The first one we've got is one that a lot of people know about Hydrilla, and it's...that's the genus name and it's also this common name.

So we call this Hydrilla.

It's a real funny looking plant.

It's got rhizomes that are found down.

They go down at the bottom of the pond or- >> Whoa, hold on at the bottom?

John> Yeah, yeah.

And then it'll make these.

Actually, they're rather handsome, I think, series of branches with these whorled leaves.

Now, the thing about these leaves is that the mid rib is a little bit prickly- Amanda> Whew!

John> and when you get into a (John laughs) a big place, if you happen to be swimming around in this stuff, you will feel it.

That it's very prickly and kind of, kind of awful thing to be feeling, at least whenever that's happened to me.

but it is a flowering plant and it produces male and female flowers.

It's a little bit complicated.

>> On the same?

>> Sometimes on the same plant but more often on different plants.

>> Does it stand up above the water at all?

>> No, no.

It's really usually, usually I say submersed and just below the water's surface.

So it doesn't really break the surface too much.

I'll guess you could find it that way, especially if it's stranded on the edge of a pond or something.

Amanda> So like the Santee Cooper Lakes are they shallow enough that it would be found there?

John> Oh Sure.

Amanda> They could be from the bottom, and come all the way up?

>> Right.

>> Really?

John>...now this is the... you haven't asked me where did this thing come from?

Amanda> Oh!

Well, where did- >> -Well, I think my research...

I found out that it has actually showed up, first of all, in North America, as far as we know in Florida, and this is back in the 50s >> Florida is kind of the gateway for a lot of exotics John>That's right.

Yeah.

And a lot of these things.

>> Not on purpose.

I mean, they find it more than we... >> A lot of those pest plants are like funneled up north through Florida.

But as an aquarium plant, this is just a wonderful thing to have.

The problem is and we presume in Florida somebody like threw this stuff out from their aquarium into a creek or something and boom, it just went everywhere.

>> Whoa!

John> So.

>> Just from that simple- John> And you've got to think that, that was maybe not just one episode, but people are still doing that.

It's not like there was only one instance of that happening.

Anyway, when these little plants get, the stems get broken up, each little piece can start up a new plant.

(both laugh) >> Gosh!

This is...real... John> So it is a mess.

Let's look at the next one.

And like I said, these.

>> There's some flowers.

I see a flower.

John> These specimens were kindly donated by the curator of the herbarium, Dr. Brown, so.

>> Dr. Herrick Brown.

>> We're taking good care them.

Amanda> Yeah.

John> This one looks like Hydrilla, a little bit.

>> It does kind of.

John> It's got these kind of whorled leaves again, dark green and kind of pretty It looks, feathery.

It looks like it would make a great aquarium plant, too.

And it does.

It also- >> It has flowers.

>> And this one has flowers.

The thing about this one is that the leaves are a little bit larger than what we found in Hydrilla.

And they don't have those prickly prickles on them.

So if you feel this one, in it's favor that if you feel this one, it's relatively smooth and it does make flowers, it being a flowering plant and of course, the flowers will be produced close enough to the surface that they can break the surface so they'll be on long stalks.

>> It can be thick enough that you would see lots and lots of these little flowers.

>> Thousands.

>> Come on >> If these things are...in a... you could see this stuff for one thing, and they, where the Broad River and the Saluda River come together just... >> Right there!

>> That's outside of my neighborhood, and there would be tons of flowers.

They're real pretty too, >> It almost looks like a carpet.

>> Sort of, you know, and it sometimes is actually mixed up with Hydrilla in the same place.

Amanda> Oh Lord.

>> But this is another one.

Like...like I was saying earlier that some of these things have been popular for aquariums, but this plant is a native apparently to Brazil.

And who knows how it actually got into this part of the world.

Amanda> But it is here.

John> Okay, well, let's look at another one, which is a really cool one and a real pretty one, too.

And this one grows here in Sumter County.

And this one is called Uruguayan Water Primrose.

Amanda> My goodness.

John> And this is a plant that can grow on solid ground, but it likes to be in a really wet place, like on the edge of a pond.

>> Okay.

>> And it can crawl around on the mud and it makes roots everywhere.

And then it will send up fairly weak stems, gorgeous flowers, when it does bloom.

>> I can see there, apparently, if the colors stay true, the beautiful- John> And the petals fall off pretty quickly.

But they'll leave the... the calyx will sort of a star- like calyx after the petals have fallen off >> All these nice features.

John> So this is a Ludwigia Hexapetala which is also an import from South America.

Let me point out that there are some other species in this genus, Ludwigia, that are native and are wonderful to have.

And just because it's Ludwigia, doesn't mean that you have to, like, get jittery about anything that's in this genus, because this is another reason we have botanists.

Botanists- >> Are some of the other ones aquatic as well?

>> Right.

Yeah, but not, not terrible like this one.

Amanda> Well behaved?

John> Pretty well behaved.

Okay, here's one that everybody knows about, I think.

And this is...alligator weed.

and this is...again And this is common all over the state.

>> And it looks like it'd be.

hard to- >> maybe not quiet in the mountains, but it is a another import- >> -A larger range than actual alligators?

(both laugh) >> At least right now.

>> Right.

Yeah.

Let's see.

Okay.

>> But this is another plant that can grow on relatively solid ground.

but it really likes to be at the edge of a pond.

And if you've ever tried to, like, get your boat through this stuff, it's a mess.

Moreover this will cover up small ponds and just be a total nightmare if you're trying to go fishing.

>> Yeah, well, and also, there's no sunlight that can go into the pond.

>> That's in that- >> clothing and it's a light.

>> And we didn't point that out earlier, but you're right.

And so what that does, it includes the other native species that should be there, the other aquatic plants that aren't there aren't nearly as aggressive.

So this one also, even though it makes flowers and they're sort of attractive.

You'll see this blooming in the summer coming up.

That they're in the axle of the leaves of the node.

They're in opposite leaves.

Two at each node.

There will be a long stalk with the head of little white flowers.

They're very chaffey and white.

That's not just one flower.

It's several flowers.

>> Like an asteraceae or something.

>> Sort of.

Yeah.

And so it doesn't seem to make seeds.

It doesn't go away in the winter.

It might be knocked back, it'll be knocked back, become quiescent.

Yeah, but when it warms up, boy, it's happy to start it all over again and start blooming.

And as far as I know, there aren't any wildlife species that appreciate this as a useful plant.

So alligator weed, you know, it's there's nothing there's really nothing good about it around here.

I mean, it's native someplace, but not here.

Okay, let's look at this one, which is maybe one of the most beautiful aquatic plants there is.

Amanda> And guess what?

People will try to buy it whenever they get time.

John> That's right.

And it's called water hyacinth.

And this is not native either.

This is also from South America.

Now, this is in the same family as the plants that we like to call pickerel weed, which are native.

And they're very beautiful and they have purple flowers that are very attractive.

They also bloom in the summer, but water hyacinth is an import that floats.

This is a floater, floater and it is really cool the way it does it.

It's got a rosette or a cluster of leaves down on the base of the plant which are filled with this what we called aerenchyma that is, the tissues are nothing but cells that surround air.

>> Whoa.

>> So a very spongy.

And of course, they float like- So it has... its own inner tubes.

>> Yeah, it's got an inner tube.

(laughing) >> What a clever plant.

(laughing) John> Yeah.

Like one of those water noodle things, a pool noodle.

Anyway, when it gets ready to bloom, of course, it will send up a flower stalk between all of these bright, green leaves.

And the flower stalk, of course, will have a bunch of flowers on it.

The flowers only last one day before they turn into sort of mush.

And they're actually kind of hard to make a specimen of, which is pretty obvious here.

And they also make connections between plants.

Look at this.

it's sort of a of an aquatic stolen.

So these things are going crazy, like making babies all the time and making a map It's all held together.

Can imagine how difficult it would be like, dealing with this thick, thick mat of stuff.

You see this in a lot of- Amanda> I mean you can't fish in it.

You can't fence in your line out to any of this stuff and bring it in.

>> And unfortunately, a lot of people are vexed with having, having their ponds or something clogged up with this stuff.

They've got to spend a lot of money getting rid of this, this sort of stuff.

There's a lot of different horror stories going on in various ways.

>> This is just... this is beautiful.

John> And this is the last one, and this is... >> But they're I mean, covered at the herbarium with other specimens of invasive aquatic plants?

John> Right.

Like I said Amanda> It's just a sample.

John> We only brought in six and there are plenty of other other species.

This one is it's got a nice name, water, lettuce.

>> Oh, how lovely.

(both laugh) John> Because the leaves do look sort of like lettuce.

And the scientific name is Pistia Stratiotes.

>> Stratiotes?

>> This is actually a plant that floats and it very readily makes again, the little stolons that can like makes lots of babies and a big bunch of roots underneath the plant, easily clogging up waterways.

And, you know, the surface of a pond is pretty.

And it...it has a place in your aquarium as long as it doesn't get out.

So I guess I didn't say that the if you feel it.

and we're not supposed to feel the specimen.

They're sort of fuzzy.

It's kind of unusual for an aquatic plant to be fuzzy, but they are.

And it is a plant that is sort of more or less related to Jack in the pulpit.

>> Come on.

>> Oh yeah.

It's got tiny little flowers in the botanists have determined that it's, it belongs in the same family as Jack and the pulpit and Philodendron.

>> John, I would imagine that places like Santee Cooper that...that are in charge of these lakes must spend millions and millions of dollars trying to keep these under control because this is such very important recreation species John> Right.

And I don't think it's restricted to Santee-Cooper.

But, you know, Amanda, there is plenty of information out there for the public if you're a boat owner or, you know, a recreational aquatic person, please check out the information that Clemson has on aquatic plant species, as well as DNR.

>> Yes.

>> I know they have a lot to tell the public and to pay attention for one thing about carrying aquatic weeds from one water body to another one.

This is one of the one of the worst aspects of getting these things moved around.

And we were talking about how easy it is for portions of these plants to break off and get snagged on to your boat someplace.

>> And they just reproduce vegetatively and there they go John> In the next place that you put your boat so that if you are taking your boat home, be sure you do an inspection before you go off into another boating experience and make sure it's a clean boat.

>> Okay.

And I will say that while you're out there boating, you can take a bag and you can collect floating litter at the same time.

John> That would be a nice thing to do.

>> Yeah.

I mean, that's Let's all, you know, it's not somebody else's job.

It's all of our jobs.

>> You know, Amanda, you've told me that if everybody would just pick up one piece of litter, there wouldn't be any litter.

Amanda> Well, it'd be a lot less wouldn't there?

(laughing) And I do that.

I do pick a particular area.

John> So do I.

>> I love my state.

John> I do, too.

>> I want it to stay as beautiful as it can be.

John> It's a great state.

>> Thanks for telling us all this today.

>> It's been a lot of fun, Amanda.

Amanda> Katie, I would think as a water resources person, you all probably deal with aquatic weeds somewhat too, don't you?

Katie> Yeah, absolutely.

Especially this time of year.

We get a lot of calls from pond owners that are having issues in their own small ponds with a lot of these aquatic weeds.

And so we talk a lot about how to manage those with different options and making sure you're not transferring it from one water body to another.

>> I remember people bringing in water in a big old mason jar with some weeds in it, and I think that y'all, they could, the Extension offices can help provide identification for them.

>> Yes.

Yeah.

So one thing is, you know, a lot of plants, depending on the species, it's going to respond differently to different herbicides.

So that's always our first step is identifying what aquatic weed they have so that we can help them determine if there's biological or control methods, or cultural control methods, or if they are using an herbicide.

What might work best for it?

Amanda> Okay, When we were little, we had a pond that we swam in and it was just heavenly and my good friend Mary Desportes has a pond now, but she has something in it.

So when you come out, you're kind of covered with this stuff and you have to get the hose and get it off you, so.

But it's still fun to swim in ponds.

Yeah, I do like to swim in ponds.

Paul, I was coming over and the whole way over it was just everywhere, everywhere, everywhere.

And so this isn't an aquatic weed, but it sure is an invasive weed.

And you want to talk some about this horrible thing that some, that's still being sold and people still plant?

Paul> Yeah, the either...either one of the Oriental wisterias, is either the Japanese or Chinese wisteria species.

Definitely, problematic in its ability to, you know, persist very invasive.

Climbs up trees.

Can cause problems of girdling I've actually, it's no longer there, but I recall driving by a live oak tree in West Ashley right after you cross from downtown Charleston on the left hand side and the wisteria vine, it was flattened.

>> Whoa.

>> It was about this wide and you know, only about this thick, but just wrapping around the trunk of that tree.

And but it's really just the fact it's very invasive it won't produce seeds that can germinate, doesn't even need those seeds.

It seems to be able to grow like kudzu.

So it's not something that we want to plant.

We do have native species that are not as Amanda> -Showy, maybe?

Paul> Vigorous.

They don't bloom until after the leaves come out.

So you do enjoy the blooms a little bit later.

They'll never be impacted by the frost, and they sporadically bloom through the growing season.

So it's not just once and done.

>> Okay.

That would be nice.

>> Yeah.

Okay.

It's a smaller kind of rounder flower cluster.

Amanda> Okay.

And I had some in my yard and I cut it off at the base and I had some, a herbicide that was approved for me to use.

I got a paintbrush and put a little bit on.

Paul> Right.

>> Yeah.

>> A little stump treatment.

You can get rid of problematic trees and stuff that way too.

Amanda> And I know it's silly because it's everywhere, but at least I got it out of my yard.

Paul> Yeah.

Amanda> Okay.

Well, thank you all so very, very much.

Thanks for filling in for us.

I just can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

And I thank you at home for being with us.

And we hope we'll see you next week.

Night night.

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This cooperative effort among farmers, retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture helps consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown, harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

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