Making It Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina is a cooperative effort among farmers, retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to help consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown, harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

The Boyd Foundation supporting outdoor recreational opportunities, the appreciation of wildlife, educational programs and enhancing the quality of life in Columbia, South Carolina and the Midlands at large.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina.

Family owned and operated since 1916.

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

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

♪ opening music ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ <Amanda> Well, good evening, and welcome to Making It Grow.

We are so glad that you can join us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty.

I'm a Clemson Extension agent, and as I tell my good friend and co-host Terasa Lott it's continuing education, because Terasa, who's the head of the Master Gardener Program and does all kinds of wonderful things besides helping us.

We learn so much from our guests, don't we?

<Terasa> We really do.

It is absolutely a chance for us to learn and we hope that you our viewers are learning as well.

I recently learned about an exciting effort of a Master Gardener down in Beaufort County.

He was working on his volunteer service hours and worked with the local 4-H agent there to create a song book for the Junior Master Gardener program.

So they used the tune of well known songs and then rewrote the lyrics to have to do with gardening, growing plants, nutrition, exercise.

It was the most amazing thing.

It was so inspiring to receive on a Monday morning.

<Amanda> I bet that was fun.

You think, you want to sing us one of the songs?

<Terasa> Oh, I think we better spare everyone from that.

<Amanda> Now, Terasa, I've heard you sing.

You have a lovely voice.

Um, Cory Tanner, you're the head of the hort team, which is I mean, tell Terasa, she's herding cats.

I'm afraid you do a little of that too, don't you?

<Cory> A little bit, but it's all good.

<Amanda> Yep...you had been working on a project for six, I mean, for a long time but you want to tell everybody what it is you're trying to help?

Maybe it'll help some of our people eventually.

<Cory> Sure.

Yeah.

I've been as part of my PhD work, I've been researching the muhlygrass mealybug.

That's a mouthful, but people are probably familiar with muhlygrass or pink muhlygrass, or sweet grass.

Those are all more or less synonyms for an important native landscape ornamental that's used widely throughout South Carolina in landscapes,and about five or six years ago, we discovered an insect pest on it.

It's a type of mealybug.

It's bright, white and fuzzy and gets on the foliage, and we're just trying to learn about its biology and where it's distributed in the state, and what people can do about it.

<Amanda> Okay.

You know, we like to plant natives.

and often this particular one, I see a lot on medians and all.

It looks like you can put it in harsh places and we are so glad you don't have to water it, and then now to think oh, yeah, well.

Well, we hope that um, we'll have some promising news on the horizon.

<Cory> That's right, to be continued.

<Amanda> Okay.

Christopher Burt, I have to look because you have three counties Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester, which is a lot and they're busy counties.

and um, do the master gardeners give you some help?

<Christopher> Yeah, so they are very busy counties, but I have a wonderful group of very active master gardeners who do just about everything from farmers markets to being in the office to just about everything else in between, and so no, they make my job much, much easier.

<Amanda> Yeah.

Terasa, I know that you're proud of the work they do across the state because <Terasa> Absolutely.

Unfortunately, I don't often get the opportunity to get as intimately involved with their local interaction.

So it's always nice to hear from our coordinators when they can tell us the difference that they're making.

<Amanda> Yeah.

So we're going to bring you some fun things during the show today.

Jackie McCauley from Jarrett's Jungle will be coming, a very talented and an old friend of mine.

Kirby Player from Clemson is going to come with some people from the Palmetto leaf program.

I think you'd be interested in knowing about that, and then, believe it or not Making It Grow has been on the air for 30 years.

Since I'm such a young person, of course, I haven't been on the whole time, but anyway, so we're going to start showing you some clips from back, back from the early days and that's going to be so much fun.

We're going to show you a visit where Rowland Alston goes to talk to somebody about Dahlias from 1996.

How about that?

Well, Terasa, let's do something that's a little more current.

How about Gardens of the Week?

<Terasa> Absolutely.

Gardens of The Week is your turn to shine where you get to send in some photos of what you're doing in your yard, your garden, your landscape.

Maybe you have some houseplants you'd like to show off.

Today we are going to have sort of a vegetable herb theme and we begin with Vincent Gallicchio Senior who sent the first garlic harvest of the season and what an impressive harvest, from Lauren Thomas beans, cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, broccoli, and she sent a surprise cabbage.

I always like to have garden surprises.

From Edward Pair, a close up of tomatoes on the vine.

Dwayne Salley shared a bountiful garden harvest, including purple peppers and a melon, and we wrap up with Jessica Hudson, who shared some gorgeous tomatoes from the Liberty Hill Community Garden in North Charleston.

We do thank everyone that submitted photos, I think there were close to 100 submissions.

So this is just a random sampling, I do encourage you to visit our Facebook page where you can see all of them, and when you see us make a post for call for gardens of the week, be sure to post your photos there, and you might see them show up on the air.

<Amanda> Well, Terasa, I'm glad that the gardens are providing a bounty for people, and I want to thank everybody who shares pictures with us.

<Terasa> Me too.

Always wonderful to have that fresh from the garden.

<Amanda> You've probably got some questions that we've gotten.

So is there something we can try to help someone with?

<Terasa> We are going to do our b est.

We're going to start off with an indoor house plant problem from Michael in Greenville.

Michael wrote in... powdery substance on them and the leaves are sticky.

What should I do?

And he did send a picture with that as well.

<Amanda> Hmm.

Well, you know, it's easier to ignore things in the yard (laughing) than it is in the house.

I guess you're supposed to do something about it unless it's dust and then you just ignore that.

Cory, what do you think's going on?

<Cory> Sounds like he has mealybugs, I'm becoming quite familiar with that group of insects, but mealybugs are a common problem, especially in greenhouses and indoor escapes, they're very difficult pests to manage.

There in the family related or not the family, but they're related to aphids and other piercing sucking insects that people might be familiar with, but they do.

Their bodies are coded in this white, waxy mealy substance and sometimes leaves residue on plants, that looks bad, but the majority of the damage they do is feeding on the sap of the plants.

So they're sucking the sap from the leaves, and then actually that gets excreted as a product known as honeydew, and lands on the surface of the leaves and other things.

and that's the sticky substance that they're experiencing on the leaves of the honeydew and if left for a long time that honeydew will grow city mold, which is a black mold.

>> and the beat goes on.

<Cory> It just gets worse and worse.

It's they're fairly difficult to manage.

One of the big problems with mealy bugs is they tend to get down in the leaf, you know, under the leaves and in difficult to reach places.

So it's hard to hit them with something like a soap solution that would normally be something that's less damage and you can try things like safer soap or neem oil, some of those less toxic insecticides.

<Amanda> Especially if you're going to do something that's in the house, <Cory> Especially in the house.

If it's more severe than that, you know, obviously you always with any plant really you have the option to discard the plant entirely and purchase a new one.

Sometimes that's the easiest strategy honestly, but if you if it's something - people have problems with mealy bugs on orchids a lot.

<Amanda> Oh, no, you wouldn't.

I mean,.. orchids are expensive <Cory> It's expensive and that sort of thing, or maybe they have, you know, it's a family plant or something that you want to save.

So trying the insecticidal soaps, neem oils is one strategy or you can take the plant outside if the weather's conducive, and treat it with something stronger.

Some of the systemic insecticides are very, very effective against mealybugs.

Something like Dinotefuran, for instance.

<Amanda> So systemic means that it's going to go into the plant, and then so you don't have to touch the animal, the insect itself.

It's going to feed on the insecticide... <Cory> Sometimes with these, we call them cryptic species because they tend to hide for these pests that tend to hide under leaves under bark, it can be really hard to treat them with a contact insecticide.

So systemics if you want to go that route sometimes are the best strategy, but you know, as with anything follow the label, Especially with systemics, because it can be a little bit more tricky to apply those correctly, and also, just watch what...plant species use those on.

<Amanda> Okay.

>> Make sure that they're compatible.

<Amanda> Oh, because some of them you'll say, if you put it on the wrong thing, it might kill it <Cory> Potentially could damage it.

Right.

<Amanda> Yeah, okay.

Well, I'm hope they get it under control.

<Cory> Yeah.

Absolutely.

<Amanda> Well, Terasa, what else is someone dealing with?

<Terasa> Well, we have another problem.

but we're going to move to an outdoor problem from Shannon in Hollywood who says I've been working on these native plant pollinator beds, but unfortunately, both my coreopsis and monarda have some fungus on them.

What can be done to avoid hurting pollinators?

<Amanda> Okay.

Well, Christopher, obviously, she doesn't want to treat this with something that's going to hurt the insects that come to it.

<Amanda> What do you recommend?

<Christopher> So interesting.

So this looks like powdery mildew, and unfortunately, several of our native species are prone to getting powdery mildew, especially kind of towards the middle to late summer.

Those plants get a little bit stressed, especially if you haven't had any rain or even sometimes too much rain, and unfortunately, it can be a difficult one to control because it's very ubiquitous, and so a lot of times, there's kind of two things you can do.

A. you can select cultivars of these species that are going to be resistant.

<Amanda> So are these two plants particularly susceptible to this?

<Christopher> Yeah, so monarda, or bee balm, is particularly very resistant or very susceptible to it, but so as coreopsis leaves certain species of it, and so you can select cultivars that have been, again bred in order to still be beneficial, but have a whole lot more resistance to it, because unfortunately, when you start trying to treat, then you are starting to get into, you know, lots of different chemicals.

One of the things you can do especially with the coreopsis is cut it back when it's done blooming.

That'll kind of force it to reflush.

You're not going to get rid of the disease, but you are of course going to encourage it to kind of put on new growth.

<Amanda> Have some new growth.

<Christopher> Exactly and a lot of times get it to reflower.

<Amanda> Well, is it going to kill the plants or just be unsightly or <Amanda> So it's unlikely to kill the plants, both of these plants again, being native, they're also a little bit aggressive, especially the monarda.

...likes to put out runners, throw out lots of seeds.

So you're not really going to lose the plant, thankfully.

Unfortunately, though, if allowed to kind of completely consume it, you will see a whole lot fewer flowers, you will see kind of a whole lot less vigor.

<Amanda> Okay.

All right, but those are two nice plants, and I think you'd want to keep them in the garden if you could.

All right, well, thank you so very much.

As I said, Jackie McCauley is an old friend and she just does remarkable things and she was kind enough to come down here and show us some of her wonderful talents.

♪ ♪ <Amanda> I'm with my friend Jackie Macaulay from Jarrett's Jungle out on Sunset Boulevard and you, as the term "jungle" implies, you specialize in - >> Houseplants and plants that come from tropical rainforests - <Amanda> Okay.

>> - which I would love to visit someday, and never have.

<Amanda> Well, let's do it vicariously.

>> There you go.

<Amanda> So you're going to show us something that can be done just using greens.

Green is a color, I guess.

<Jackie> Yes, and it's using different textures and different colors of your houseplants so that you could actually leave it together for a very long time.

Six months to a year I would imagine would be a good time.

You do have to water it.

<Amanda> Yes.

Okay.

<Jackie> Don't forget to water it.

<Amanda> So what have you got to start with?

<Jackie> Well, I've got the basket, is once again lined with a nice cellophane liner, and then I put newspaper in to keep the plants from slipping around.

<Amanda> Okay.

<Jackie> Sometimes you might need to build one up a little higher, because it's too short.

<Amanda> All right.

<Jackie> So we're starting out with this little dwarf peace lily called Wallisii.

It doesn't get big, like regular peace lilies, so it's going to stay low.

Then this is just a decorative ivy.

It's not like the ivy that's a weed in your yard.

These have been hothouse grown, and they're a much slower, less vigorous kind of plant, <Amanda> But fine in this situation.

<Jackie> Yes, and they do very well in low light if you don't overwater them.

<Amanda> Okay.

<Jackie> So this one is going to be a basket that's not going to take a lot of care, really.

<Amanda> What is this interesting fellow?

<Jackie> This is a Watermelon Peperomia <Amanda> Watermelon Peperomia!

<Jackie> - because the leaves look kind of like a watermelon.

They get big too, you know, these are just mere babies here.

<Amanda> Okay.

<Jackie> But I like to work in either groups of twos or threes.

This is another Peperomia, the silver one, and it's a ripple type of Peperomia.

<Amanda> It's beautiful!

<Jackie> Notice how it's got these ripples in the leaves.

<Amanda>Look at all the textures that we've got!

That's fun!

<Jackie> The people who have pet lizards and stuff, they love those because they won't drink out of a dish but they will drink off of the plant, and that happens in the rainforest too.

<Amanda> Really?

So then you can put these in the terrariums that have your animals in them?

<Jackie> You sure can.

<Amanda> Isn't that fun?

<Jackie> And this is a little Calathea, a very good lower light plant, it has nice color.

<Amanda> Gosh, look at that beautiful gloss too!

<Jackie> Nice textures, and then this one is a hybrid.

I'm not sure, oh, Fusion White is what they call it.

Propagation is prohibited on this one, so you have to just enjoy it while it's there, <Amanda> Not divide it and give it away.

<Jackie> Yeah, you're not supposed to, because somebody worked very hard to develop it, and you don't want to step on their toes.

<Amanda> Now, you often use a little Spanish moss.

So are we going to tuck in a little bit?

<Jackie> Yeah, we're going to tuck in a little Spanish moss.

How do y'all think that looks?

Does it look okay?

<Amanda> I think it's lovely!

<Jackie> It's got good texture, and so this will probably need water weekly, but if something in this turns out to be wet, you should not water it, and you can use, you can use a way to feel it with your fingers, or you can go by the color of the soil, and another thing that I do tell my customers sometimes is to use a pencil that's been sharpened, and stick it down into the dirt, and it's kind of like checking a cake.

If it comes out moist, if the wood part turns moist and has dirt on it, then it's definitely moist and don't water it, because some of these plants, they're not going to be in really great light, they're not going to grow a lot, but they are going to live and survive for many, many months for you to enjoy so that you don't have to worry about that, you know, table in your living room or your dining room.

You can just leave something like this there.

You can easily put this in a bowl or a nice ceramic dish if...baskets don't go.

<Amanda> And so, how much light does this one need?

<Jackie> Well, if it got filtered light for two to three hours a day, it would thrive.

<Amanda> Isn't that wonderful?

<Jackie> A lot of things like the Peperomia and the Calatheas will actually do poorly if they're in bright, too bright a light.

<Amanda> So this is something that I could have in almost any place in my house as long as it's not going to get in front of a really sunny window, and it'll be there and it's almost like a house plant.

>> Well, yes.

<Amanda> It'll be there for a year.

<Jackie> But it's a combination of things so that you have a lot of things... <Amanda> That's a lot more fun than just having a pot sitting on a shelf.

<Jackie> Right, it looks so much better, so much classier, and you can use things like pine cones or lichens or fresh moss to liven it up, a piece of driftwood.

Kind of whatever you wanted to do with it if you wanted to dress it up.

<Amanda> Well, I'm really pleased with the way it looks and I think it would be a lot of fun to have that sitting in our house.

Thank you so much for coming up from Jarrett's Jungle and doing this for us.

<Jackie> You're welcome, I enjoyed it.

Thank you.

♪ <Amanda> Well, hats, hats, hats, hats.

Hats are always fun, except in the middle of summer, there's not so much out there.

but I did find some stuff, I found some Cestrum, which can be a little bit aggressive.

but it's a nice, that's what the yellow one is.

and um, but it's nice, because it doesn't require anything except to run out there and cut it back, and it usually has some flowers on it and some coneflowers.

They're always delightful, and some Chinese abelia.

Chinese abelia, Terasa, I've just found to be a wonderful plant.

It's big, and it has a fragrance, and again, if you just like something that's always there for cutting, it always is and it never has any problems in the world, which is kind of a nice thing to have, isn't it?

<Terasa> It's kind of rare to not have any problems.

<Amanda> Yes.

No problems.

You just cut it back every now and then.

Anyway, so I have a long drive to work and I enjoy it.

and I see things on the side of the road, and today I had to stop.

and of course, there was a ditch in the way in it to step over the ditch and then the tree was too tall.

but I finally managed, huh, thank goodness to get this limb down, because it's full of the fall webworms and even I've been seeing these even starting in mid July, and suppose to be in the fall Terasa, but you know, everything's changing so dramatically, and anyway, so um, oh my goodness.

and here's a Japanese beetle that got caught in here too, but anyway, I thought I'd pull them out and show you so... they go to the ends of the trees and make a web so that they can feed without being bothered, and so I'm going to try to pull this out and show you some of these caterpillars that are in here.

So, there's one Yeah, so he's very active and actively eating a lot and has a lot of frass which is the nice word for insect poop, which is why had to put these paper towels down, and Cory we used to, and you know, and I still do, tell people, you know, it used to be that there really happened in the fall when the trees are getting ready to lose the leaves anyway, but now things are changing so dramatically.

<Cory> You know, the last few years they've been earlier and earlier, it seems like, and so that's an interesting observation for sure.

You know, we certainly associate them probably most commonly with pecan trees.

<Amanda> I have a lot say <Cory> They tend to really, really like that species, but you see them also in the roadsides, I believe you have a percent in there that its on.

So there are a few other species wild cherry...the few others that we see them on, but, you know, it's one of those things that it doesn't look great, but really, on a mature tree, they don't do much harm at all.

So most of the time, they can just be left alone, or if you really don't like them, just pruning them out, pruning out that the ends of that branch, unlike the Eastern tint caterpillar that we get in the spring that forms down in the branch crotch, you can't really bring that one out, but this one you can prune out very easily.

If it bothers you and it but it's unless it's on a young tree that you're worried about it totally defoliating it's usually not worth bothering with.

<Amanda> Well, and especially...people, sometimes they want to get a ladder out and go up in their pecan...

I'm like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

First of all, you don't ever want to get on a ladder out in the yard unless somebody's holding it.

Preferably somebody else should be on the ladder if it's necessary, but also, if you if you prune it out, um, don't leave it on the ground, because then they'll just walk back up the tree.

So you can, you can step on it.

You know, if you want to do you know, like 1001 footstep if you're depending how big your foot is, or put it in the trash and send it off that way.

I don't think burning is a good idea because you're not supposed to have backyard fires and things like that.

Anyway, so I thought that was worth stepping over the ditch for and I will move it out of the way.

Well, let's go to something that's a little less messy and has to do with education, and that is when Kirby Player from Clemson came down to talk about the Palmetto Leaf Program.

<Amanda> We want to learn today about the Palmetto Leaf program at Clemson University, and we are so happy today to have a group that can explain it to us.

Kirby Player, you are the chairman of this program, and we will come back and learn a lot more about it from you.

But I want to introduce the current and former graduates that you have.

Herb Nicholson, you are a forester, I believe <Herb> Yes, ma'am.

<Amanda> And tell me where you are and with what company you're associated.

<Herb> I work for a Domtar Paper Company in Bennettsville.

<Amanda> Okay.

<Herb> And I'm a procurement forester, and I buy pulp wood and sawmill residual chips from our suppliers in North and South Carolina.

<Amanda> Okay, and across both states?

<Herb> Yes, ma'am.

<Amanda> All right.

And then, Keisha, you're a produce safety coordinator?

<Keisha> Yes, ma'am.

<Amanda> And what area do you and what does it and so tell me, are you visiting farmers and making sure that what comes to our markets has been handled appropriately?

<Keisha> Yes, so I work for Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, so I actually serve South Carolina, where I live here in Lexington, and North Carolina farmers.

So I go out to their farms, review what they're doing, for practices, making sure they're doing good food safety practices.

I write their food safety plans for their operation, and then I also get them ready for any kind of audits they're getting ready to face, as well.

Ashleigh Goza, you didn't have to come too far today.

I think you're right up in Mayesville, and you are from a farming family.

<Ashleigh> Yes, ma'am, that's correct.

So I have a wholesale container nursery now on our family farm.

And I do finish product material in a two quart to a five gallon container size.

<Amanda> Those five gallons get kind of heavy by the end of the day, don't they?

<Ashleigh> They do get a little heavy.

That's why I said I will not go any larger than a five gallon because I have to pick them up, yes.

(laughter) <Amanda> Well, now, Kirby, we're going to come back to you and actually learn what the Palmetto LEAF program is all about.

<Kirby> Thank you so much, Amanda, for having us here today.

Yes, Palmetto LEAF stands for Leadership for the Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, here in the state of South Carolina, It's goals and purpose is to equip current and future leaders for these vital industries.

Understanding that in South Carolina we are a smaller state, and that aspect of production agriculture, production forestry is dependent upon high quality natural resources, how we use our soil, how we use our water, as well as understanding our neighbors in industry, residential areas.

It's the beauty of South Carolina and that cultural richness that comes from our industries that make South Carolina such a meaningful destination, a beautiful place to live and work.

These leaders, as we train them, will be part of ensuring that fabric stays in place in the future.

We have had two classes already, Cohort One and Two, and we're working toward building Cohort Three now, for those future leaders.

<Amanda> I'm going to come back and get some more information about the program itself, but first, let's talk to some of the participants.

So, Herb, we're going to start with you.

Are you seeing, one of the things, I imagine, that foresters run into and people who are growing timber is trying to explain to people that this is a renewable resource.

I think there's probably some PR involved in what you do.

<Herb> Absolutely.

That's an ongoing battle that foresters face.

I feel like as a profession, we don't do a great job of explaining what we do and telling the story, and it's something we could definitely be better at.

One of the things that's really helped me is realizing that others across the AG and Natural Resources spectrum are facing similar challenges to what we do in forestry as far as that encroachment between the land where we produce our products and the public or the, you know, the urban sprawl, I guess, is what you'd say.

We all are facing that same problem, same issue with land possibly not being in production anymore.

<Amanda> Okay, well, thanks.

And we'll come back to you later.

And then, Keisha, if you're able to help other people understand how carefully people are, what is involved, that probably encourages people to purchase locally produced food, which I think is critically important.

<Keisha> Yes, we always want to push to shop local and to visit and support your local farmers.

They need our support more than ever, especially in these trying times.

So we love to make sure that they don't get lost in the industry and get kind of pushed back as things kind of grow.

A lot of our farmers are older and so it's just teaching them some good food safety practices and helping them break into those new markets that they're looking for.

<Amanda> How has meeting people from other aspects of the agricultural industry sometimes helped you in your work?

<Keisha> It's helped me connect my farmers to other people that they need in the industry, and it's helped me understand more about what my fellow colleagues do and kind of tap into that industry.

With my work, I stay pretty focused, and zoned in what I'm doing, so it's nice to break away and learn different aspects of agriculture and how I can be a support to them and they can be a support to me.

<Amanda> Okay, and then, Ashleigh, your family, you're from a family that did traditionally farm at one point, but you are now...doing, you're growing woody ornamentals.

<Ashleigh> Yes, ma'am, that's correct.

So my family was in conventional row crop farming for four generations, and I went to Clemson, got a degree in horticulture, and then I've been in the horticulture industry in South Carolina for the last 26 years.

I came back to our family farm in 2017 and started my own container production nursery.

<Amanda> So, how have you found this program useful to you?

And what have you really taken out of it?

<Ashleigh> Well, I'll have to reiterate what Keisha and Herb have said.

It's given us an opportunity to really understand different sectors of agriculture and how we have common concerns.

We have common policy issues that we need to be addressing and to develop these relationships across the sectors is just a huge benefit for our leadership potential in the future, where all of our industries are going to have to work together to combat situations that are on the horizon.

<Amanda> Well, there are pressures that are coming.

<Ashleigh> There are, yeah.

<Amanda> And so, I think y'all take, Tell me a little bit, Herb, about how the program's been organized as you are experiencing it.

<Herb> One of the facets of the program that I've really enjoyed is the AMPLOS Growth Project, which is a 12 month project or a program that we've been through, and it's self-paced, and it's really to make us kind of look inside ourselves a little bit, a little introspectively, to see how we could further, you know, better ourselves professionally and personally.

It was really good.

It talked about, you know, goal setting, even the importance of positive self-talk.

Like, you see maybe some athletes do on the field, you know, you always thought maybe they were just kind of talking to themselves and didn't really understand why, but they're actually talking themselves up.

Then, you know, we were able to develop our own vision and mission statement for ourselves.

So I did some really neat things that we got to do to kind of, you know, look at ourselves and improve.

<Amanda> Okay, and then, Keisha, you all take trips to places that where people are doing things differently from you are, and I don't know, perhaps you organized a trip to show people what it is you do in your work.

Has that been a positive and enriching experience?

And what, is there anything you remember particular?

It's just kind of like, golly, you know, when the whole drive home, I just had no idea.

<Keisha> Every time we take a trip, I come home like very Chatty Cathy and just tell, tell my whole family what we've been doing and showing them pictures.

One of my favorite things we did was went to Clemson to do the robotic milking machine.

That was pretty awesome.

<Amanda> That's pretty amazing.

<Keisha> Yes, that's pretty innovative, and then you get to hang out with a bunch of beautiful cows all day.

So that's not a bad day by any means.

(laughter) But yes, Kirby has established some beautiful places for us to go to: Oyster farms in Charleston, going to the Chick-Fil-A headquarters in Atlanta, even meeting Coach Dabo Sweeney, and having him talk to us about leadership and the importance of that from his team and his perspective.

So it has just been very impactful to not only get to talk about agriculture and all of these things in the environment, but then actually get to go see what people are doing all over the state.

<Amanda> Now, you have actually completed the program, and I believe y'all continue to get together occasionally, but when you think back on what happened and what you learned, what are the main things that stand out in your mind?

<Ashleigh> Meeting the diverse group that we had, where they represented the different sectors of AG and you really got to understand more about the other sectors that I wouldn't have an opportunity to do as well.

We tend to just focus on our community relationships with those that are in the AG industry, and this has just given us a great statewide network.

So I really did enjoy it and I found it to be very invaluable.

<Amanda> Kirby, as we do know, there are going to be challenges that we're facing.

We have a very aging group of actual farmer farmers.

So do you think that these people are going to be our lobbyists in such a sense?

I mean, our environment is under pressure.

Tell me how you really feel that they can do best to help preserve this important part of South Carolina's life?

<Kirby> Amanda, we are seeking to create advocates out of every P LEAF graduate to help them understand what it means to be a servant leader to the industry.

Not only do we by building relationships and networking among the cohorts, we expose them to our civic leaders with the hopes and ideas that one day they will pursue such an office to serve.

In fact, during our cohorts, we've had several that have been elected to local offices, as well as giving them the opportunity to understand what it means to advocate to legislators, to county council, city council, as well as just to their neighbors, that they will be a positive representative for our industries that, as was stated a little earlier, is sometimes misunderstood, because we believe that each P LEAF graduate has the opportunity to lead.

And our definition for leadership within the program comes from Dr. John Maxwell: Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.

So it's our desire that P LEAF graduates will positively influence and be advocates for our vital life sustaining industries that are represented in P LEAF.

<Amanda> Kirby, I am sure that you are always interested in finding new people who would be good, I think, even like for people to perhaps refer people who they think might be a good member of your class.

And so can people talk to you about this if they're interested?

<Kirby> Yes, Amanda, we are always looking for current and aspiring leaders that are 28 years old and above are available for the program.

And please reach out to me.

It may be they that are interested or someone they know, a neighbor, a child, a colleague.

Please reach out, and we would love to share more details with them about Palmetto Leadership for the Environment, Agriculture and Forestry.

<Amanda> Well, if this group is an example of the quality people and their ability to speak and articulate the importance of this, I think it sounds like y'all are doing a great job.

I want to thank you so much.

<Kirby> Well, we thank you and thank you for Making It Grow to share about our program.

<Amanda> It's always nice to see our friend Kirby Player who does so many important things for Clemson and we appreciate him and his guest.

Well, Terasa, what else is happening in the hot outdoor summers of South Carolina?

<Terasa> We have a person who is wondering, why.

so a little bit of problem solving Suzanne and Anderson said, and she sent a pic, and indeed, it doesn't look like it came back, as we would like it to.

<Amanda> Oh, goodness.

and as you said Cory, this is a native that we just thought was so wonderful for people to use in their landscape, and now, there are problems which apparently, this viewer is now experiencing?

<Cory> Well, I look at a lot of muhly grass these days, and I've noticed this, particularly in the upper parts of the state, so it doesn't surprise me that the question is from Anderson, but muhly grasses are native to the coastal plain, pretty much from like, Connecticut, Delaware, all the way over to Texas, but close to the coast, but we've started using it more inland because it is such a usually trouble free plant.

but it's marginally cold hardy, and we've had some weird, we've had some weird winters.

Most people will probably remember that cold snap we had right before Christmas this year, really statewide - <Amanda> was called the plumber.

<Cory> Yeah, it was pretty, pretty significant, and I think that probably did these particular muhly grasses in I think a complicating factor might be that they were pruned too early.

I'm not sure when they pruned the ones in this plant in this picture, but really, for an ornamental grass like that, we recommend cutting them, if you cut them back at all.

They don't necessarily - <Amanda> It's not necessary.

<Cory> It's not necessary.

They don't have to be cut back, but if you do cut them back, we will recommend waiting until the worst of the cold is over.

So like February, March timeframe, before new growth starts, you want to cut it back before it starts putting out new leaves, but at the end of winter, and I suspect that these might have been cut back before that freeze that we had in December, and that exposed that crown to more cold damage and caused a lot of them to die, and like I said, she's not alone.

This has happened, I've seen it, particularly in the upper parts of the state, pretty widespread.

<Amanda> So people worried that if they don't cut it back, that it's going to be unsightly, but actually imagine that the new growth comes and the old growth just kind of disintegrates over time.

So you're going to end up with the same beautiful looking plant.

You just don't have to cut it back.

<Cory> That's correct.

Yes, and so cutting it back's not necessary.

It's just an aesthetic thing, if some people like the cleaner look without that older foliage, but really what muhly grasses, what we're after is that fall bloom, you know, those bright pink or purple flower spikes that happen in the fall, and so you want to make sure that whatever you're doing doesn't impede that bloom in the fall.

So keeping them healthy and either not pruning them back or waiting till the end of winter to cut them back.

<Amanda> Or yeah, like you said, I mean, to me, there's always something else you can do.

<Cory> Sure >> If that pruning isn't necessary, but of course it's just whatever people want to do again.

It's like cutting back your crape myrtles.

(laughs) <Cory> Something like that.

(laughing continues) <Amanda> Alrighty, Terasa.

<Terasa> Well as we progress into summer, some things start to look a little ragged and it seems like Bob and Beaufort is experiencing that.

He said my roses have looked exceptional up to this point, but until the past month, and now they're looking rough, what can be done to rejuvenate them.

<Amanda> Oh, gosh.

Um, you know, even when people are, you know, providing water as necessary and all those kind of things.

It's just hard to make it through a South Carolina summer.

<Terasa> I look rough after a few hours out in the summer heat.

I mean, imagine just having to be planted in one place.

<Amanda> Christopher, I think you try to grow roses, or new babies trying to take care of roses.

Have you - do you think you can put the baby aside for a minute?

<Christopher> Yeah, and I've got a rose to demonstrate on mostly to make it fairly easy.

So roses respond extremely well to pruning.

That's kind of the nice thing about them.

Unfortunately, they have a myriad of issues, disease, insect, you name it, and so unfortunately, one of the things we can do is actually go through, prune it back and kind of refresh it.

They respond really well to pruning.

They tend to put on new growths they tend to bloom better.

One of the big things to first keep in mind is don't prune it too late.

So a lot of times kind of that mid summer range is perfectly fine to go through, give it a good haircut, fertilize it and water it appropriately.

You want to make sure though, if it starts to get into late summer, now especially if you get into early fall, don't prune it too close to the first frost because as I said, you're going to get that new growth response.

but when you are pruning one of the big things to do, and you make a cut, you always want to look at the center of that cut, and so a lot of times when you have a branch that starts to die off that pith, that center of that trunk is actually going to start to decay.

You'll start to get some necrosis in there, and so you want to make sure when you make the cut that it is completely white, and so if you get a cut, and it's going to be at all brown, then you want to go further down that branch until you get it to where it's completely white, and you can see that there, and if that one's not thick enough, you can see this one here as well.

So you want it to be that nice green around it, <Amanda> and all the way through all the way through.

<Christopher>-and so generally, when you go through, you want to you want to open up that canopy, so get any crossing branches, but just take it down really until you've got nice, good healthy trunks, nice, good healthy canes, and then allow that then to start to regrow and refresh.

<Amanda> So you don't have to worry, it's got stored reserves, so you don't have to worry about leaving half of it green, when you cut it back, you can cut it back, and it will flush out.

So don't feel like, "Oh my goodness, I've cut all the leaves and things back", it's got stored reserve so it will flush <Christopher> Exactly.

...and it responds very well to that, and so a lot of times when you cut a rose, most people are going to say, "Well, you're doing it way too much."

A lot of times you're not doing it enough, you can be pretty severe with it.

Just remember if you do have a grafted rose, don't go too close to that graft, <Amanda> Thank you.

<Christopher> So you're going to see it's going to look like a knot in the trunk.

That's where the graft union is.

Just don't go too close to that.

You want to leave enough of that scion to allow that to regrow.

<Amanda> Okay, okay, because whatever the stock was, well, it would have been a blackberry, but it may not be the beautiful rose you went through a lot of trouble for.

<Christopher> Exactly.

<Amanda> Thank you so much.

All right.

Well, Terasa?

<Terasa> Sometimes we receive emails and the person doesn't always let us know where they're from.

So this is from Jean.

I don't know exactly where in the state she is, but she sent us a picture and said this is happening to some of our blackberries.

So white spots on the blackberry.

My husband thinks it's sun scald, but I want to make sure it isn't some kind of fungus.

So let's see if we can help Jean out.

<Amanda> Okay.

Gosh, when I was little, Terasa, we had a place out in the country, and they would send us out to pick blackberries, and we wouldn't want to do it because we're going to get that wonderful blackberry cobbler.

Boy, picking blackberries can be kind of an art form.

(laughter) Well, Cory, what do you think is going on here, I hope it's nothing too serious.

So they can have cobbler too.

<Cory> Based on that picture, it looks like sun scald.

Of course, you know, our sun can be quite intense.

and some of us can sun scald as well.

So that happens fairly common in blackberries under certain environmental conditions, hot, dry, you know, full sun exposure.

So a lot of times we'll see that on the berries that are on the south side of the bush, kind of always receiving a lot of direct sunlight, usually it's only on the berries that are most sun exposed.

So if you've got foliage that shades the other berries, those won't be as, as badly damaged.

The main preventative thing is just to make sure those berries stay well watered in order for <Amanda> That will help?

>> Well, anytime a plant needs to cool itself.

It needs to have access to water, and so that will help reduce the - hopefully reduce some of that sun scald.

<Amanda> Well, and I mean, it's just as the weather changes, those berries may not be ones that you'd want to enjoy, but hopefully there'll be some fresh ones coming on.

<Cory> I'm not sure if the viewer shared if it was a wild blackberry or one that they're growing but there is some differences in the different cultivars that are available as far as tolerance to sun scald and another physiological disorder called White Drupelet disease.

So it may be that it's just a variety specific thing, or it could just be the conditions at the time that it was damaged, <Amanda> But they're generally pretty easy, aren't they, and once you have them you have them?

<Cory> They're fairly easy.

Yeah, I mean, They're up there with blueberries as far as some of our easier fruit crops to grow and produce.

<Amanda> Alright, well thank you so much.

Well, as I said earlier, it is a 30th anniversary.

We're going to show you some, what you think are fun and also entertaining and informative clips from the past and we're going to now go to the Dahlia man with Rowland Alston doing the interview.

♪ ♪ <Rowland Alston> what does an oral surgeon transplanted from Cincinnati, Ohio and a Dahlia have in common?

Well quite a bit.

We're near the town of Campobello in northern Spartanburg County with Dr. Bob Kiessling.

Bob, how'd you get interested in Dahlia's?

<Bob> Well, my mother grew them and I thought she's was the only one in the United States that grew them and then we saw in the paper where they were having a Dahlia show in Cincinnati and we went to it and went in one of the rooms and they were just like in Florida, so they were so beautiful.

So we started raising in ourselves and started showing them.

<Rowland> Well, you're actually a Dahlia farmer, because you produce these plants for seeds and really ship them all over the world.

<Bob> Yes, we do.

We don't ship them to Europe anymore.

It's so hard to do, but we do all over the United States especially.

<Rowland> Well, let's talk about some of the cultural practices because I know many South Carolina gardeners have Dahlia's in their backyard.

Give us some ideas on soil fertility.

<Bob> Well, Dahlias will grow on anything, any kind of soil there is they like clay soil good, which is good down here.

They don't need a lot of fertilizer, They need water, but they don't like to have wet feet.

They need good drainage, and that's about all.

<Rowland> Well tell us how you get a new variety.

<Bob> Well, the bees do it mostly.

You can hand pollinate them, and we get to collect seed in the fall, and we also do try Dahlias out experiment from other Dahlia growers all over the world.

They want to see how they grow here in northern South Carolina.

and if they're real good, we put them on the market, and if they're not real good, we don't, but we have varieties right now from England, Japan, all over Canada, and Pennsylvania, and different places like that we try.

Also, we're commercial growers, so we sell plants, roots, and seeds, and we collect five to 10,000 seeds a year here, which is fortunate because the most places they get frost early and they can't collect it as much.

<Rowland> Bob how you develop a new variety?

<Bob> The only way you can develop a new variety is by pollinating the Dahlias which the bumble bees are doing now, and later on the honey bees will be here.

Yates Johnson brings out honey bee box and hives and we pollinate them and we have honey bees here all the time in the fall, and that's the only way you can get a new variety.

If you plant the roots from a certain variety, it'll be the same every year, but if you plan to take the seeds, it could be a completely different Dahlia altogether.

<Rowland> You mentioned your Showcase garden.

You've got a showcase inside your home just full of trophies.

<Bob> Yes, we for 30 years we showed Dahlias all over the United States, but right now we're just showing them mainly in the south, and I'm just taking my new varieties now to get them scored so we can put them on the market.

<Rowland> Pest are always a problem from the mountains to the coast in South Carolina.

Many pests bother Dahlias?

<Bob> There's not too many up north here.

There is farther down where it's drier and everything.

Aphids and red spider mites are bad down there which can be taken care of by spraying.

We don't spray a lot because we don't have a lot of pest.

<Rowland> I believe you told me earlier that you had a virus in some of your Dahlia's is a while back.

<Bob> Yes, the head of Clemson's plant pathology and viral department came out here with Edmund Taylor, who is a good friend and helped us on this and they found only two viruses in my whole patch and Clemson, one of them was named Madame de Rosa from South Africa, and it's a great Dahlia.

In fact, we won two national shows with it, and Clemson got rid of it.

Now I've got virus free Madame de Rosa here in my farm.

<Rowland> Well good.

Well, tell us about the trellis or so called trellis that you have here.

Dahlia's need some help in standing up I believe.

<Bob> Yes, we usually in our show garden, we use reinforcement rods, but out in the field with we've got five to 10,000 Dahlias here all the time and can't stake all of them up individually.

I can't work that hard, so we use nylon rope that doesn't stretch and place the stakes about every 10 or 15 feet rather than put two to a stake like most people would in a small garden.

<Rowland> Bob, the retired County Extension agent from Marlboro County, Ray Smith used to always tell everyone to be sure to plant your spring vegetable garden two weeks after the last frost.

When do you plant Dahlias?

<Bob> Well that's about right here for Dahlias, too.

That's a good time to plant Dahlias, but they'll bloom.

They're starting to bloom now and they'll bloom till frost, which I don't think any other flower blooms as much as a Dahlia.

<Rowland> Well, let's talk about some of your varieties because I believe you make some selections out here and you got one you're particularly proud of, and I really don't blame you.

<Bob> Yes, that is Jessica.

We introduced it, the first year we were here, and now it's number one as a cut flower and also as a show Dahlia all over the United States and all over Europe, too, and Japan likes it a lot.

<Rowland> Jessica is also number one in your family too.

<Bob> Yeah, one of my granddaughter's is named Jessica who lives in Florida now.

<Rowland> Bob, how about some of your other varieties?

I know when you breed Dahlias there are certain things you look for, you were talking earlier about some of the characteristics.

What do you look for in the flower, when you're making selections?

<Bob> Well, you want to you want a very deep bloom and a 45 degree angle.

and the color is important.

It shouldn't have a gray in it and just according to what you think could beautiful and other people think so too, but we grow mainly for show Dahlias.

We do have some cut flower varieties that floral people like a lot, but we grow mainly for show Dahlias.

<Rowland> Well, Bob turning the clock back if you had a choice between medicine and Dahlias, which one would you take?

<Bob> I'd take them both, just like I did.

We are very happy.

<Rowland> Thank you so much for being with us, and good luck with your Dahlia farm.

<Bob> Thank you very much.

♪ ♪ ♪ <Amanda> I hope you enjoyed that and we'll be bringing you more little clips from the past, as we go on celebrating this 30th anniversary year.

Well, Terasa, is there another question, we might be able to squeeze in?

<Terasa> I hope that we have some advice for Alex in Loris who apparently is dealing with some pesky biting insects.

She says the mosquitoes are particularly bad now I've been hearing about these plants that repel them.

What plants can help?

Or do they even really repel mosquitoes?

<Amanda> Ah!

(laughs) Well, I think Christopher some of them can be you know, attractive or pleasant to smell, but I'm just, I mean, I just have to use insecticide, because at my house, they're so bad.

<Christopher> Yeah.

So unfortunately, there are a lot of plants that are marketed this way citronella plants, lemongrass, things like that, and there is some, you know, efficacy to those plants, as far as do they actually repel.

The problem is, it's such a small area that the mosquitoes avoid, unless you're sitting in a bundle of lemongrass, it's really not going to do a whole lot.

<Amanda> Even if I had a hat, made out of it on my head, I think my ankles would still be bit to death.

<Christopher> Exactly.

So one of the things that you can actually do, and a lot of the herbs that we grow rosemary, lavender, things like that do have a lot of oils in them, and then those oils are especially expressed when you cut or bruise them, and so one of the things that you can do is if you do have these plants around if you want to increase their kind of spread, is actually to go through and do some, some light pruning, and kind of crush up those leaves after you prune them, and just leave them sitting around in it and it releases those oils.

It's not going to work nearly as well necessarily.

It's just using your standard bug spray, but it does have a lot more effect than just having the plant sitting next to you.

<Amanda> Well, and Cory, I found something for when we're sitting on the porch that hunters use a Thermacell, and I found that way better, because I don't mind putting spray on I just you know, I mean, I know it's been approved, and I do it as you're supposed to, but if I've been working in the yard and had a shower, and I want to come in, I don't want to put spray on again, the Thermacell seems to give us a fairly nice area where we can - a couple of people can sit around.

Have you had any experience with those?

<Cory> Sure.

Yeah, I've used them.

They work very well, as long as the wind is calm.

So if there's too much of a breeze - what it does is it actually vaporizes a very small amount of insecticide and it creates like a bubble.

I think standard is about 15 feet or so.

<Amanda> Okay, and it's not unpleasant smelling?

<Cory> It's not unpleasant, it's just the mosquitoes don't like to fly into that area.

<Amanda> Okay.

All right.

Well, thank you so much.

Thank both of you, and thank you all for being with us.

I hope you'll join us next Tuesday.

We'll be back to see you then.

Night, night.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Making It Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina is a cooperative effort among farmers, retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to help consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown, harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

The Boyd Foundation supporting outdoor recreational opportunities, the appreciation of wildlife, educational programs and enhancing the quality of life in Columbia, South Carolina and the Midlands at large.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina.

Family owned and operated since 1916.

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

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