Making it Grow is brought to you in part by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture Certified South Carolina Grown helps consumers identify, find, and buy South Carolina products.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina.

This family farm offers seasonal produce including over 22 varieties of peaches, additional funding provided by International Paper and the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance.

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

We are so glad that you can join us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty and I'm a Clemson Ext ension Agent and our program is a joint production between SCETV and Clemson University.

...and tonight we have a Clemson group with us, pretty much completely all together.

Terasa Lott, your day job when you're not helping us, is coordinating the master gardener program.

I think... some of them are getting back to some in person activities and things but we're still just kind of playing it with one finger in the air, kind of catching the breeze, I think.

>> That's right.

Safety, always is a priority but our master gardeners play a vital role in helping us at extension to serve the people of South Carolina.

>> Oh boy, they are invaluable.

They really are.

Cory Tanner is a horticulture agent who now is the head of the hort team.

So, you probably have a fancier titled than that, Cory, but I think that is how when I first met you were an agent and now you're trying to run us all around and keep us in line.

...we really do appreciate what you do for us.

>> ...my heart's always in being a horticulture agent, Amanda.

I think of myself that way first, but yeah I do a little bit more administrative things these days, but I enjoy being on the show and still helping people with their gardening questions.

>> Thank you so much for coming.

Mary Vargo, you are , I guess one of our brand new agents...so tell us where you are and what you did before we were lucky enough to have you join us as a horticulture agent.

>> Yeah, thank you.

I'm really happy to be here.

I just started with Extension, like you said, I am the urban horticulture agent for Greenville County and the master gardener coordinator there.

So, I'm two weeks in but I'm really loving it so far, getting to meet all the master gardeners and hopefully start building some really programs, some really helpful programs in the upstate, so looking forward to it.

So, previously...I was working as a graduate research assistant at Clemson University while I was getting my masters, and my specialty, I guess that you could say I got my thesis in is greenhouse production of annuals.

So, yeah really passionate about that area, but I'm also really passionate about cut flower production and landscaping with natives, pretty much everything, but those are my favorites.

>> Well, cut farm production is fun and there's a lot of that that's being done outdoors these days by people.

>> Absolutely, yeah so there's a lot of new growers in the upstate and around the state.

So I'm hoping that I can kind of bring them together and the deliver some really helpful programs.

>> We'll look forward together, finding out who we can go to visit.

>> Yeah, exactly.

>> I think that would be fun.

Terasa, you usually start us off with something happy before we get to problematic questions.

So, do we have some... Gardens of the Week pictures?

>> We do, Amanda.

This has been so much fun to take our virtual field trip and see what you're doing in your yards and gardens.

So, let's take a look beginning with Nancy Hanson who shared her red spider lilies, Lycoris.

They're also featured in Mitchell Williams' photograph, but in there, you'll see them in a mixed bed.

Mike Ely shared his tomatillo that is flowering, although he reported he wasn't sure if it would fully mature this fall.

Bright yellow marigolds were the subject of Teresa Kidd.

She says her "“Golden Girls"” are still showing out.

...finally, Ellen Pauly submitted what she says is her favorite variety of Sunflower, known as gold and silver.

Thanks everyone for sharing a little bit of - about what you're doing.

Don't be shy.

When you see our call for Gardens of the Week, please post your photos on our Facebook page or you're welcome to email me if that is easier.

Just make sure you use my whole first name, Terasa with an A at Clemson.edu.

>> ...Terasa, I believe that other pictures are posted during the week on our Facebook page and so...you're not making judgmental decisions.

You just pick them out, and they're all a lot of fun.

>> That's right.

We try to show them at random.

>> Thank you.

Okay.

Well, Terasa, you've got a stack of questions or you've got a list of them on your computer?

Have you got one we can start with, please?

>> I do.

We're going to try to help Pat in Beaufort, who sent a photograph, and this is what Pat said.

"“Infested sweet grass.

Extension recommended neem oil and power hosing has not been effective.

Spread from one to all twelve plants.

I hate to prune them before they bloom.

Help needed!

"” ,...with an exclamation point.

>> Boy and, you know, that was just such a sad thing this wonderful native grass, Cory, that all of a sudden started developing these problems.

So tell us about what's causing it and how you would recommend that she treat it, please.

>> Sure, yeah.

So Muhlenbergia capillaris or Muhly grass or Pink Muhly grass or sweet grass, it has several common names that people know it by.

...it's a very popular native grass.

It's really tough.

Does well in drought conditions.

Does pretty well in wetter conditions, and just a really great overall plant.

Until about 2018, we said it was relatively pest free, but in 2018, we received some samples at Clemson of this new pest.

It's like a white, almost like a cotton ball, little tiny cotton balls all over the leaves of the grass.

...it's a muhly bug.

It's a muhly bug that specializes in grasses, that this particular one had only been described from Florida before 2018.

So evidently, it's native to Florida, but probably not to South Carolina, but we don't really know how it got here, possibly on infested nursery material, and we do have evidence it was probably in South Carolina before 2018, but the first official report was recorded in 2018.

<Amanda> So, it's really disfiguring or can be.

<Cory> Yeah, so we don't know a lot about it to be honest with you.

Actually, that's part of my PhD project is working with that particular insect to learn more about it and how we can better manage it in the landscape and try to protect all this muhly grass that's planted all over South Carolina.

It mostly is an aesthetic problem, just because you have all these white clumps all over your muhly grass.

We don't really know how much it harms the clumps.

That'll be part of my work is to determine how harmful it is to the plant itself, but right now, the main harm is that it just makes the plant look...weird.

>> ...so she had taken some steps that had been recommended, but didn't have any more success with them.

Do you have any more suggestions?

>> So, we don't have any really, good research based data yet.

Again, part of my work moving forward will be to work on that...but we do know some steps that can be taken on muhly bugs, in general that should translate to this particular one.

...So neem oil is one possibility.

It sounded like she tried that.

So maybe try something different at this point.

A variety of insecticidal soaps, a lot of people are familiar with the brand safer and some other insecticidal soaps that are on the market might be a good solution to try, as well as horticultural oils, which we often use for ...scale insects on trees such as that.

The horticultural oils, you need to be a little bit careful with, because of temperature.

It needs to be below 95 degrees, above 70 degrees when you apply those.

...but that may be effective in smothering these pests.

...then there's some stronger chemicals that people are familiar with like acephate or orthene that can probably be used and be effective as well, perhaps bythecerin, but we honestly don't have - we like to make research based recommendations, but we don't have solid research yet on this insect to say for sure what the best course is.

...for people that have really heavily infested individual clumps.

I see that a lot in the Charleston area just like one clump of muhly grass will be really infested.

I think probably in the long run, it'll be cheaper and easier to just remove that plant and replace it.

You can get it at a home center and buy another one for 18 or 20 dollars, and just be less headache than actually using an insecticide to try to kill it.

>> Especially, if you're going to have to go down the gambit until you get to the one that's strong enough to take care of your individual product.

>> That's right.

>> So, but if you remove it, you wouldn't want to just compost it.

You'd want to actually contain it, I guess and send it out with the trash.

>> I'd probably put in a garbage bag and send it off, - that way you don't accidentally infest somebody else's plants.

>> Clemson has at Clemson HGIC, we have a really, great factsheet on grasses, in general.

<Cory> Sure.

>>...it talks about that and it lists a lot of alternatives.

So, I would encourage people to take advantage of that and to stay away from - there's one in particular, that if you travel the highways in the upstate, is really an invasive - if you want to tell people what to be careful not to plant >> Yeah, I mean there's a great selection of ornamental grasses, now.

It seems to be more coming on to the market, all the time, ...but you know I really encourage people, in general, to stick with the native species to have fewer problems.

So the things like switch grass... what we might have called broom sege but...in our native grass or gastro in the Indian grass.

There's some great native out there.

There's a couple of non-natives that have been used, but can be problematic.

Pompous grass is one that makes those huge clumps, and they don't necessarily spread or really invade too much, but it's just they're like impossible to get rid of once you planted them.

...then the other one that you're referencing, I think ... is the maiden grass, <Amanda> - miscanthus, >> Or miscanthus, which is a beautiful ornamental grass, but it re-seeds, particularly at higher elevations.

...in the upper like if you think about Highway 11, when you go to the mountains in South Carolina and above, especially in North Carolina it can be problematic.

re-seeding along roadsides.

<Amanda> I thought that the Highway Department had planted it, Then I realized that nature, unfortunately had planted it, and that means it's taking the place of something else.

>> ...I wouldn't give up on the sweet grass either, the Muhlenbergia.

So far, we've really only found that the pests that we're dealing with here are east of I-95 ...muhly grass will grow all the way into the upstate.

I would encourage people to keep using that great native plant.

Just realize that, ...if you if you end up with white cotton balls on the leaves, you might have the muhly bug.

<Amanda> We want you to get on the stick.

>> Yeah, I'll work on it.

So does everybody else.

>> Okay.

I want you to get that PhD and come up with some wonderful suggestions.

Well, Terasa have you got somebody else who could use a little help from us?

<Terasa> Let's see if we can help Mandy in Meggett.

Mandy writes, "“My canna leaves are browning.

They receive rooftop runoff and we have used overhead watering.

They are shaded from large plants in an adjacent bed.

"” ...She shared a photo and her cannas do look kind of sick.

<Amanda> Yeah, ...and that's such a... you talk about vigorous.

That's a vigorous plant, generally, ...Mary what do you think is going on here?

<Mary> Well, from looking at the pictures, I mean, it's clear that the issue here, it looks like to be over watering, looks like it's in a shady location, maybe not getting enough sun.

So, when she is watering, I don't think that area is properly drying out, maybe in between those waterings.

...overhead watering, it can sit...when you spray from overhead with the water and if you're not getting direct sun sometimes that water might sit on the leaves and cause some other kind of disease issues, but it's kind of hard to diagnose this problem just from looking at the picture, but I think there is some sort of disease going on, but what I would recommend doing is either letting the soil dry out in between watering, or removing the cannas, hacking them back once it's kind of late in the season anyways, where they're kind of, you know, not really at their best.

Or...if you really want to get to the bottom of this, I'd recommend taking a sample into your Extension office and we can send it in into Clemson for their plant disease clinic, and you can get a more concrete answer at where to go from there.

>> Okay and if they decide that they want to move them to a sunnier or better location, they got some work ahead of them, because they spread.

...when I would have to deal with them - I have a maddox and I use that, because they... >> They're kind of aggressive.

>> Yeah >> kind of hard to yank out.

- but, yeah or you can move them to a sunnier location, but it does look like there's some sort of disease going on, so maybe get to the bottom of that first, before deciding to relocate them to another location.

<Amanda> Well, that sounds mighty helpful.

Thank you very much.

We were so fortunate the other day that Tony Melton came to visit with us, and as you know, Tony is our collard green expert and he talked to us about fall vegetables.

I'm here today with my good friend Tony Melton, and if you want some information on brassicas, which is a fancy name for a certain group of plants, Tony, you're the one to do it and that means the collards and the cabbages and the brussel sprouts and even now I think there's some fancy Asian members that people like Mizuna and giant red mustard and all.

Why do those plants grow in the fall?

...and they grow kind of funny.

Sometimes they're small and then they kind of shoot up.

>> Yeah, yeah.

Well, they're cool season plants.

<Amanda> Alright.

>> In other words, they grow during the cool season of the year.

They do well in the cool, instead of when it gets hot, they start to flowering and bolding, which means they grow up and put on flowers, nice, usually, pretty, yellow flower.

<Amanda> Yeah.

>> ...beautiful flowers that draw a lot of bees.

I have growers that, you know, leave them in the field, and a lot of bees will come out.

- Maynard, you know, he helps them to stay around and allows the >> - Maynard Dorr, wonderful, wonderful farmer, both he and his wife.

Yeah... >> ...So he left some grow up in the flowering and the bees come out and he had beehives and does a wonderful job with them.

...I think the country has found collards more.

...since I've been sick, I've have had to stay ...at home and all a lot.

And I never did watch...too much daytime T.V.

but a lot - of the country has found collards, too.

...and you can't beat a collard.

Collards and turnips and mustard, beets.

Oh my goodness!

That's great eating.

>> My mama said when she felt kind of puny, she wanted some Lexington County tender greens.

>> Yep.

>> - which I think is a type of mustard green, if I'm not mistaken.

>> Yep.

That's one variety.

>>... Oh, she just loved them, and we usually cook them with the little fat back and sometimes we'd put some hot pepper vinegar on them, but there are lots of ways to cook them, now.

Some people stir fry them in a wok and there are a all kinds of ways to cook them.

...but you have to start them, you can't wait until frost to start them.

You need to start them relatively early.

>> Relatively early, I usually start at the end of August towards the end of August, which is still hot.

Yeah.

You start them at seed at that time, or you can wait a little later.

You put in transplants, too.

..but they grow relatively fast and you can - and most of them you could harvest from the time they're small to the time they're big.

And daddy and mama used to crop them, like you do tobacco.

<Amanda> - take those bottom leaves off.

>> take those bottom leaves, let them grow all winter long, and keep pulling them, keep pulling them.

>> ...then you didn't have those old tough leaves that people don't want so much, you'd have them while they were still tender.

<Tony> That's right.

>> Tony, do you need to go and side dress them frequently?

>> Yes, ma'am.

They love nitrogen applications.

>> They do.

They wanted - I usually go about every three weeks with nitrogen.

...but not much at one time, because you'll kill them when you put a lot at one time.

So, you just put a little bit at a time.

Spoon feed them.

>> So you wouldn't use a complete fertilizer.

Then you'd start off using what your soil test suggested, and then you would use just a nitrogen based fertilizer?

>> Take your soil test.

...that's us county agents.

We'll repeat it, repeat it, repeat it.

Do your soil test.

Do your soil test.

- >> Well, you've come as a soil test bag during Halloween.

Yeah.

>> But, yeah, do your soil test.

Figure out which nutrients you need besides nitrogen, especially - One thing, and a lot of people don't put much, any Boron out.

You could use Boron.

You could even put it in and it don't take but a tiny little bit.

>> You told me sometimes you you just get the boron the 20 - the one that's a laundry thing, because it's hard to find a small amount for a homeowner, and that prevents the turnips and all from having the hollow hard - >> That's right.

>> Is that correct?

It only takes like a quarter teaspoon per gallons of water.

...it's just a very small amount.

Put too much, you'll kill them.

They're very - <Amanda> micro nutrient.

>> Yeah, very, very micro, very small.

>> Okay.

Now, the main test is to control the caterpillars.

>> They're getting tougher and tougher because diamondback moths - <Amanda> are showing resistance.

>> It's a little bitty one, but it is getting worse and worse and you going to need to keep something on to control - >> and that's where the scouting comes in, because you need to sometimes look underside the leaf, I believe.

Is that right?

Because they can jump up and get pretty big overnight if you just don't go out there for a while, a couple or five days - >> They can take over... >> So,that is one of the things that you really do have to keep ahead of is those - >> ...there is another new flea beetle pest that's getting all over the state worse and worse.

Yellow margin beetle.

It has just kind of just blew up.

So, now you got to use something that'll control a beetle, if they get bad, and you can see them they have fairly just like we were talking about always talking about,... you need to get out and go scouting and go look at your crop.

Yellow margin beetle is easy to tell, because it has yellow stripes down it's sides.

<Amanda> Okay.

>> ...you need to get you some type of material that'll control flea beetles.

>> ...and I want to encourage people, we have some wonderful stores that have preparations there, but you want to be sure that you're treating the right thing, and I think if you can't get in touch with your county agent, because sometimes they're busy, but we've got that wonderful HGIC, ...I mean to tell you... because you could take a picture and send it to them because the most important thing is to know what you're treating and to use the right thing and they will help you.

They'll say you can start using this.

This is the least toxic and those people at HGIC are a remarkable resource, because don't just go and ask somebody, "Well I think I had this."

Get a definite diagnosis and be sure that you get the right product and read that label.

>> That's what it goes back to.

Knowledge is power.

>> Yes.

Knowledge is power.

It will give you the power to do a better job and a lot of people are worried about the environment today, and just ... throwing stuff out there.

...That's not good for the environment.

You need to know what's going on and even if you're not as much concerned about environment you need to be.

<Amanda> Yeah, we need to.

>> We need to know... what's happening in this world to keep this world going and keep it, keep things not getting damaged.

>> Yes.

>> - because when you spray something wrong your damaging.

>> Tony, one thing I haven't had much luck with is sugar snap peas and those and I love them.

I can't quite figure out when you're supposed to plant them.

>> Yeah, when you cool down, you can start planting them, actually in September.

<Amanda> Oh, you could?

>> Yeah - and you can plant them of all the way up to - we usually recommended that - the best time would be somewhere around the time of December, January, February- >> Make a planting then?

>> Make a planting, then.

...I could start early?

>> You could start early.

Sometimes what's going to happen there's, flowers are sensitive to cold.

So you lose those first flowers.

<Amanda> I see.

>> ...you just keep letting them put on.

Get them to plant.

Foliage is good.

They say they're so there so small.

Most of them are.

Let them grow, and they'll keep putting on, and even though the flowers get killed, more flowers will come on.

<Amanda> Okay.

Okay.

That's good to know.

>> Yep,... we're - We should be - more concerned.

Let's get a crop - It's important to get a crop.

Basically, if you want some beautiful, wonderful peas to eat, get a good crop and homeowners get some extra seed.

There's seed... <Amanda> Seed's so cheap, compared to - >> Yeah.

The only thing I hated with this COVID, lately is farmers are having trouble getting seed sometimes.

>> Because there's been an explosion in home gardening.

>> That's right.

>> Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, and the farmers are the ones who feed us all.

>> So, I guess they need to be at the top of - at the front of the line.

>> Top of the list, but usually they're up here buying the seed that are more expensive that you are using heavily good crop.

If we go ahead and grow some of those normal peas, that've been around for years and years and years - <Amanda> They'll taste good.

>> They'll taste good.

Yes.

>> Okay, well thanks for all the tips.

>> Yes, ma'am.

>> It was a joy to have Tony with us.

I know you were so happy to see him.

...stay tuned next week, he's going to come back and tell us some really wonderful stories about what life was like growing up.

Tony Melton has had quite a full life and he certainly has added a great deal of joy to ours.

...well, let's see Teresa, I know somebody else probably would like a little advice.

So, who do you think we can help?

>> This one comes in from Allen in Dacusville.

Allen would like to know, "How do I deal with water oak seedlings "in my flower borders?"

<Amanda> Ewwww.

Boy they sure can seed them.

Cory, have you ever run across?

You think you've been so tidy with your yard ...all of a sudden you go, "My lord, look at this tree that's in the middle of my flower bed."

>> Yes, ma'am.

...oaks are great trees.

I love oak trees, white oak's my favorite by far, but they do produce seeds.

We call them acorns.

...they sometimes some years they produce a lot, and so this year it seems like there's a lot of water oak seedlings and I do have several in my yard and happened to be performing this chore here recently, but...oak trees make tap roots, especially when they're young and when those seeds germinate, they send a root straight down, first off.

That's the first thing that they do before they put up in any stems or leaves, they're putting down roots.

...once those roots get down there, especially in the clay soil of the upstate, they can be really difficult to get out.

...so I try to stay on top of it and I try to pull it when they're small.

Right!

So, this size is pretty good.

This one still has the acorn attached, but we don't have much of a tap root here, a few inches, and if you've got a little bit of soil moisture, a day or two after a rain, you can pull these up by hand.

<Amanda> You might need a glove.

>> You might need a glove.

You can use tools or tools pullers and things that can- to help people is up, and so you know the squirrels and the chipmunks up in my neck of the woods do a great job of planting these in my flower beds and so each spring ... you get a big flush of oak seedlings, and so then their a pest because of they're a weed, because they're growing someplace you don't want them and so getting rid of them can be a challenge, but it's a lot easier to do it when they're this size, than when they get to be like this.

<Amanda> Good Lord.

>> So, when you miss one for a year or two, this is where the - this is a swell line.

So, everything here is that tap root.

That little bitty tap root that started out like that becomes this, and so you will not pull this out of the ground by hand.

You'll need a tool.

They make some pretty good weed pullers.

There's a few different brands out there that they're kind of like a lever.

<Amanda> Sure, that clamp the, and that's what I use.

It clamps the stem and then you rock back on it.

...and again if you've got some soil, moisture will pull it out.

Probably, about half the time for me, It breaks off.

...then when it breaks off ...I can't get that root up, so it's kind of stuck.

Every now and then I'll use like a spading fork or something to loosen up the soil and try to get it out.

That's just a lot of work, too.

...but I also want to point out that if you don't - if you just cut them off like with the lawn mower, or with pruners, you end up with - but you don't get that root out or use an herbicide, it's just going to grow back.

So, this one, you see last year, I cut it off in the flower bed ...sometimes when I'm out there doing other things and I can't pull it, I just cut it off because I don't want to look at it, then it sprouts back.

...all this is just one season's growth.

<Amanda> Good heavens.

>> Because, I left all this tap root in the ground.

and so if you don't get it out if it breaks off or you cut it off, the best recommendation to prevent this from happening and regrowing is to use an herbicide, a concentrated, a brush killer or glyphosate painted directly on that cut stem, while it's still fresh and most the time that'll kill this tap root, and you can be done with that, - that individual, but I keep some little 50 cent paintbrushes from the hardware store around, so I can - just when I finish wrap everything up, and dispose of it properly.

<Cory> Yeah.

I'll use a little squirt bottle sometimes too, and kind of keep it there with me so I can squirt a little bit on that one - <Amanda> Do remind people that they're supposed to read the directions and - >> Right.

<Amanda> Some herbicides want you to wear glasses or protective equipment.

>> Anytime you're using a pesticide of any kind, read that label and find out what the safety precautions are.

It'll tell you on there what type of protective equipment you need to wear.

It's always a good idea to wear eye protection and gloves, any time you're using a pesticide of any kind, even if it doesn't necessarily specify it on the label.

That's just a good idea to protect your hands and your eyes.

- but yeah, it's - oak seedlings can be a pain, but there are ways to deal with them.

<Amanda> ...water oak's, not really a great oak to me.

<Cory> No, on the - in the spectrum of oaks, it's probably not one of the favorites, but it's a good tree.

...they grow fairly fast.

They produce a lot of shea.

They produce a lot of acorns - <Amanda> which is good - >> good for the wildlife, ...but they don't - they're not one of our longer lived oaks.

They tend to have problems with decay.

...and they tend to break... in ice storms and wind storms but it's still a good tree.

<Amanda> Well, any shade tree after a hot summer - how many times do we say, "I'm going to go look for a "shade tree?"

>> That's right.

>> Okay.

Thank you.

Terasa, sometimes we find someone whose really been working real hard in their garden, at least they've got several places that look decent.

Do we have a spotlight gardens, this week?

>> We do.

...today's spotlight, I think is someone that you know.

This is Ruth Ann and Wes Bigger from Sumter They shared an assortment of close ups including a pink flowered begonia, an orange flowered canna Bengal Tiger, Turk's cap which is a member of the mallow family and zinnias, complete with a Gulf fritillary.

It's really too bad, we can't enjoy fragrance through our broadcast.

As Ruth Ann reports, her tea olive which is Osmanthus fragrans 'Fudingzhu' can be enjoyed as soon as you reach the driveway even though the plant is located, she says at least 50 yards away... and finally a Swan planter perfectly suited for Sumter, which is of course home to Swan Lake, Iris Gardens and Ruth Ann is very active in the master gardener programs, I know you had run ins - happy run ins with her, and she puts out a first class newsletter, too.

>> Indeed.

>> Thank you so, very, very much.

Well, Terasa, what - what's something somebody else would like to know?

>> We've got an insect question from Greg in Greens Sea.

Greg says, "I heard honey bees are often transported long distances for commercial pollination.

Does this affect the health of the bees.

<Amanda> Well, I know how I feel after long trip sometimes, but we're fortunate because we have Ben Powell who's our state apiculturist.

... we happened to be talking to him the other day ... this is one of the things that he gave us some information about, so let's see what Ben thinks about this situation.

Ben, a lot of ... our agriculture products rely on people who are beekeepers packing up their bees on trucks I guess, and driving them from Timbuktu to Timbuktu.

Road trips make me tired.

What does that do to the bees and, ...also I guess when they get somewhere, that means they're just having one food source and you think that a balanced diet might be for people is more positive.

How does all this affect our honey bees?

Our European honeybees?

>> Well that's actually a really good question, because it's a very dynamic answer.

...there's a lot of factors that play there.

...in the basic form, migrating honey bees actually does not do much detriment to the bees themselves, the colony.

Bees are highly adaptable.

They're generalists and being that they've got thousands of individuals in there that can search the world around them and find food and then come back and tell their sisters where the food is, when you move a bee colony to a new location they actually are pretty good about finding that food and using it, and - which makes the practice of migratory or trans-locating bees actually a good thing for the bees, because - Let's say our nectar source is dried up in one location, and there's another nectar source in a new location, we can move the bees there.

The problem is now we have turned that adaptable trait of the bees into an agricultural trait, and we take bees to large mono cultural stands of agricultural crops to pollinate those crops.

Best example, almonds out in California - and it takes over three million bee colonies to pollinate the almond crop, which means that it takes bees from all over the entire nation to go to the almonds to adequately pollinate it.

That means you're bringing bees from every location and every different management type and style and you're putting them in one location, which now means there's a good chance of diseases and pests getting transferred.

>> Are there new diseases and new pests that these bees then sometimes exchange?

>> Yes.

Well, anytime something new gets introduced in a process like migrating them to there is going to make it worse.

We had a mite might come in back in the late 80s called the Varroa mite, and the Varroa mite has become the single biggest problem for honey bee colonies nationwide and it is definitely transferred when beekeepers come together.

>> ...that's the one, that I think you have to treat, because it's it is like a blood - like ticks, I mean it's very, very detrimental.

I think it's on the brood if I'm not mistaken, but I mean - and there's some people that are reluctant to even treat it I believe.

>> Right.

..it's as much about the diseases that mite vectors that causes the problem for the bees.

So, we got to keep our mite numbers down, so that we keep the disease load down in the bees.

>> So, that mite is almost like a mosquito or something that can carry and transmit other diseases, with it.

>> That's right.

That's right.

...we also have a few diseases that are highly infectious.

One of them is called American foulbrood.

it's so infectious that when there's an outbreak of it, there's actually laws across the states to quarantine those bees and destroy those bees so that it doesn't spread to other apiaries, and we have an apiary inspection program in South Carolina, as well as, every other state to monitor the transfer of diseases and pests like that.

>> So, if I have what, how many hives would see people who do this professionally, might have that they might move across the country, following the migration of crops that need pollinating, Ben?

>> Oh...

thousands...I know of several beekeepers that overwinter in South Carolina, because we have such great pollen sources, the bees do really well in our early spring and they build them up here so that they can send them to California and then move them up to Washington State and then over to Michigan and Vermont and then back around, and that process of moving those bees all the way around, means that they're exposed to diseases and pests as they translocate.

So, do you think that this is one of the reasons for the colony collapse disorder?

Or are they just vaguely - >> I wouldn't say it's the cause, but it probably is exacerbating it.

It's definitely accelerating the transfer of diseases and pests.

>> ...but at the same time for agriculture, it is a necessity for the way that we practice agriculture in our country.

<< It truly is.

The almond crop in California supplies the - I don't remember the exact numbers, but the vast majority of almonds for the entire world.

>> Well , I might just say as a South Carolinian, we say ...eat locally, pecans I believe, are wind pollinated and don't require a whole lot of water either.

So, maybe we can just encourage people to eat a lot of South Carolina pecans, and thank how good they are.

>> Personally, I kind of like pecans better, anyway.

>> I do too.

Okay, so this is just a part of agriculture that is ingrained and it's going to continue, and we just have to hope that ...our inspectors and rely on our inspectors to try to make the practice be as safe as possible for those invaluable honey bees >>...this is why we engage our beekeepers as hard as we do to try to teach them about these things so that they can mitigate these problems in their own apiaries.

>> Well, I think we're fortunate to have you I know you really enjoy talking with the beekeepers and have gone - made efforts to have interactions with them more that if you're available, they can call and talk to you anytime.

We are fortunate and we thank you for what you're doing, Ben.

>> Thank you.

I appreciate the opportunity.

>> I thought that was really interesting to learn and to hear that we have people who are looking after and inspecting these bees before they go to different places, as well.

They are very, very important to agriculture in our country.

I was looking for a hat ...

I have a Chinese Iberia, which is what...this is, and it's just been one of the best things, I've ever had in my yard, if you need something to cut, I can cut on it for about three months and the bees love it, Terasa, which is nice because,...it's nice you have something taken up lot of space to think that the bees are going like it, and then I had to some fern and 'ta da ta da' Poke sallet Annie is all over the road sides right now.

...I got some on my shirt and some on my leg and on my arms - I don't have any - I may have some in my hair too but anyway, I do like poke berries, and the birds like them.

Yeah.

>> They'll happily plant them for you.

They certainly will.

Yes, they will.

Alright, well Terasa.

What else can we try to help somebody with?

>> Well, speaking of planting Libby in Piedmont, said I'd like to start saving Zinnia seeds.

Can you give me some tips on the process?

<Amanda> Aha!

Well, I know you really are interested in flowers and cut flowers and also, do you have some good ideas on how to save these?

<Libby> Yeah, absolutely.

...you got to get them out there or you got to start saving them before either the birds get them or you know the seed heads will start drying up and then you kind of forget, "Okay,, what Zinnia with that?"

...am I saving some form or variety that maybe I didn't like so much?

So a trick to sort of avoid that and get the seed you want, for next year would be, actually as the flower starts maturing you can check it before taking off the plant, of course, but you can pull one of these petals right off, and if the seed is green, it'll have this green look to it, and if you press it with your finger like this, to kind of give it a little bit of a touch, and it doesn't bend, it means there's an embryo inside that seed.

It's been fertilized.

So, yeah, if it's it was early enough in the season, you could take this off, use your fingernail, or a knife or so, put a little slint, in it and then re-plant it, and it'll grow, but since it's so late in the season, and what I'm doing is I'm just going through making sure they have an embryo in some of those seeds.

...popping them off, drying them off and then storing them in a fridge or freezer for next year.

>> So, if you do that, then you don't have to cut it and bring the seed out, - when you plant it, it'll naturally by that time - >> Yeah, correct.

So, if you at the green seed stage, that seed coat is impermeable to water, so you got to let it dry down for next year.

Yeah, so if you were planting it, let's say we were earlier in the year, and you wanted to collect some seed and go ahead and start a new batch of Zinnias, you just take care your nail or something, put a slit in there...plant the seed and you should have some germination going on.

<Amanda> I keep some of those little Ziploc bags and put them in there and Tony Melton taught me that if you put a straw in it - <Libby> How perfect.

>> Then it gets the air out.

Apparently, it's a better condition for saving them for some reason.

<Libby> Yeah...I know ...Do that.

That's a good idea <Amanda> They're not a lot of reasons for straws, and we try - it's good - >> So do turtles.

Yeah <Amanda> ...Thank you so much.

That was really something.

Alright, Ms. Terasa, so what can we do now?

<Terasa> How about we go to Columbia where Frank needs help.

Frank says, "Could you do a "segment," - hopefully he'll be okay with just asking a question, but, Could you do a segment on when to mulch versus bag lawn clippings?

I'm in Columbia, my lawn is mostly centipede, but some Bermuda and my most difficult weed is chamber bitter.

Thank you.

<Amanda> Alright.

Well, Cory since you have a big vegetable garden, you still have some traditional horticulture aspects to your garden in your yard.

What do you do?

>> Sure, so yeah I have a little bit.

Lawn's mostly centipede with some other stuff mixed in, but yeah I mean mowing prices are... it seems like such a simple thing but there could be a little bit of complexity to it really.

...what I was taught years ago at Clemson was cut it high and let it lie.

...and so that means mow the grass, a little bit higher than you probably think it should be on the higher range of the species, whether you know, and each type of grass... like to be cut at ... a different height.

So, it's important to know that, but cut it at the higher limit and then let those clippings fall on the ground.

So, I very rarely recommend bagging lawn clippings, only if it's a way over grown and you just got all that excess that you need to get out of there or in other certain situations would I really recommend bagging the clippings.

Now, we do generally recommend for your warm season grasses the one that turns brown in the winter is to, right before they green up in the spring, you can't it's not required, but you can go in and almost scalp the lawn and remove a lot of that old dead grass material, and if you want to bag it then, that can be a helpful thing.

There is a common thought that bagging a particular weedy lawn, if you have a lot of weed seeds, that bagging can collect those - a lot of those seeds and help you get rid of them.

It probably does help a little bit, but it's not going to eliminate your weed problem.

So, you shouldn't really consider that as a as a weed management technique necessarily.

Ideally, we don't want the weeds to get mature enough that they ever produce seed, but I know that's good - >> I don't think there are many ideals - ideal lawn people.

>> That's right.

>>...Adam Gore tells us that...I think he's getting - I think he's working on a doctorate, as well, and his is in turf grass.

...That sometimes if you - feel like you've got a grass that's got a lot of thatch that the first, he'll go in there before it starts before it really greens up, and do the scalping and that can help them with thatch control, right and getting some weed seeds out and so... he says that he then disposes of those, but if I'm not mistaken, as you say if you just let him generally come back that they can add up to a fourth of the nitrogen requirement, I believe for certain type lawns.

>> Right, there's a lot.

I mean...most of us fertilize our lawns.

There's a lot of nutrients in that leaf material that if you bag it and put by the curb you're just wasting that, those nutrients that you've paid money to put on the lawn.

So, I recommend just letting those, lay and and decompose and release those nutrients back - Thatch sometimes can be a problem in lawns, but it's generally a problem when you over fertilize.

...so over fertilization, putting too much fertility, and promotes too much vegetative growth and as that dies and decays and builds over time, that's... how your thatch layers build up.

>> Okay, alright.

Thank you so very, very much.

>> You're welcome.

The South Carolina State Fair is coming up and we're really excited that they're back in business this year and we spoke with Nancy Smith who is the manager of the South Carolina State Fair and she gave us a lot of very important and useful and fun information.

I have the pleasure of speaking with my fellows Calhoun County friend, Nancy Smith, who's the general manager of the South Carolina State Fair.

Nancy, the fair is a fascinating time of year that people look forward to and last year you did a wonderful job with the drive through, but this year, the fair is back.

>> The fair is back and it's so nice to be with you, Amanda.

Thank you so much yes the theme of the fair this year is, "It's your moment."

If your movement is the move from the agricultural side to come and see the cows and the pigs and chickens or maybe the honor of entering something in our competitive exhibits, or maybe the pucker of that lemonade, or the dunk of that corn dog.

We will be here October the 13th through the 24th, this year and this will be our one 152nd year.

>> ...I want to remind people that we call it the South Carolina State Fair, but actually y'all are nonprofit organization.

>> That's a great point.

We are - I think our name is maybe, sometimes is a common misconception.

We're the South Carolina State Fair.

We're a 501-C3, not for profit organization and we are continuing to give back to education for all of those wonderful scholarships that we offer for students throughout the state of South Carolina.

>> ...you give it to seniors and the scholarships are awarded to people who are going to school within our state.

>> Yes.

We get 300 thousand dollars in scholarships to graduating seniors that will be attending an state school or university, and as you said they are rewarded throughout the state, so it's a great representation of all those wonderful minds throughout the state.

>> Nancy, I know that I always feel very safe at the state fair and I know if I get lost, all I have to do is have my children meet me at the rocket, but safety is a particular factor.

So, let's talk about what you do normally and then what you are doing this year, because sadly we are still in the midst of a pandemic.

>> Yes, we are, and as you said Amanda, safety is always a top priority for the South Carolina State Fair, and we will again this year be having a large contingent of law enforcement on the ground.

We have some updated metal detector technology, this year and one thing that we've really done that we are pretty excited about, I guess if you can be excited about that, is we've instituted a clear bag policy, many, you know the football stadiums and other folks around are doing the same thing.

We have instituted a clear bag policy, this year...in hopes that will, you know, help people to get through the gates more quickly.

... it would be - offer them a more pleasant experience in coming through the lines at the South Carolina State Fair, but we know that just not only from that side of the safety coin, but also as you mentioned from COVID safety, we are ...following all of the CDC recommendations and the strategies ... to prevent the transmission of COVID as much as we can, following all of the local agencies, as well and we're really concentrating this year on trying to offer limited contact payment options.

So, we're encouraging people to visit our website or a participating Circle K store, where they can obtain discount tickets, admission tickets and ride tickets in advance, and by doing so, you can save big with that, but we're really encouraging folks to do that, and of course along with that, we will have...much more signage throughout the fairgrounds, anything to do with cleaning, additional cleaning protocols.

We do a great job, I think.

We've gotten a lot of compliments on our grounds being the cleanliness of our grounds, the cleanliness of our restroom facilities, which we all know is very important, and our folks in that area will be doing an extra special job of that and we're also very fortunate to partner with our North American Midway Entertainment.

Those folks provide your rides for you, when you come to the fair, and they have instituted a position of our pandemic supervisor at the beginning of COVID they did that, so they're really taking all of this very seriously, and they've also retained the services of a well known physician, who directs them accordingly regarding all of the safety protocols with COVID and they will be doing extra sanitization, as well in that area.

So, just want people to know that we are taking safety into consideration from all aspects because there are a lot of moving parts that go along with your South Carolina State Fair.

>> ...let's remind people of personal responsibility that the most important thing they can do is to get their vaccination, and that masks are certainly, strongly encouraged.

>> Absolutely, we know the best way to protect yourself against COVID 19 is to get out there and get that vaccine - and masks are strongly encouraged, because we want people to be able to come and have a safe time at your fair.

>> Well, let's talk about fun at the fair, because that's what the fair is really all about, and my favorite thing of course is the horticulture displays, which are just beautiful and Clemson Extension people will be there and a McLeod Farms will be there, and we'll have flowers.

We'll have camellias and roses, Ikebana, just fascinating things there.

A art exhibit, Nancy that is beyond compare.

I just think you should be so proud of the people who choose to participate in your beautiful art exhibit, then you've got cooking and crafting.

- The things that people can do with their hands and something that I think is fun is the Heritage Village.

Tell us a little bit about that.

>> Yes, well, you know, fairs are unique because we get to go visit other fairs and see how they do things and I say - it's always a compliment when you kind of copy what other fairs have done and bring it back to yours.

...we do have a little bit of a spacious space issue at South Carolina State Fair, so we created a couple years ago, a new area in Hampton Plaza called Heritage Village and fair's roots are in agriculture and we're excited to always do everything that we can to keep that very important aspect of the fair alive, so Heritage Village is really just doing that, is growing a little bit, each year.

It's coming back to the roots.

...first of all, the biggest thing I think in Heritage Village is just a walk through heritage museum of how you know America was made and all of the historical aspects of it, in addition to that, you can watch a bowl turner, turning some wooden bowls there.

We have a potter on hand there.

You can watch her turning all of that.

...we have a tin smith.

Just all kinds of things - and a broom and leather making, leather works area there, a little bit of all that.

So, Heritage Village you can come and see some demonstrations and ask some questions and learn some great things about the history of agriculture and more.

>> ...then, of course, 4-H and FFA we will have children presenting their animals that they are so proud of and then...in addition to that, the wonderful chicken displays and the rabbits that are just my absolute favorite, and I think Columbia's own very own Chicken Man, Ernest Lee will also be there.

So, we have to remember that, that really is kind of the whole reason agriculture is why this and the children who are the future agriculturists of this state will be there and showing their skills and their - ...and also their presentation skills.

It is such a wonderful way for them to gain confidence and learn how to interact with the public.

>> Absolutely, I think one of my favorite things is watching the rabbit and the poultry showmanship; and you know watching the kids that are in line, that are up next, you know, you can tell they're reading their notes and they're getting their rabbit or their chicken ready, but I think that's one thing that when you come to the fair and you see that and you know...they're learning a lot of responsibility, by being able to do that and it's just great to see the young kids.

We're growing the future of agriculture and growing our young folks, so that's one of the great things, and those folks that were not able to come, even though the drive through fair was good last year, the kids really missed that.

They were not able to bring their animals and we're very much looking forward to having them this year.

>> Well, I just think that you've done a remarkable job making this as safe as possible so that we can come and enjoy how many years now?

>> 152.

We're in our 152nd year this year, Amanda.

>> ...remind me of the dates,, once more please.

>> It's your South Carolina State Fair October the 13th through the 24th and the theme - Don't forget the theme, this year.

It's, "It's your moment!

"; and I think that's more appropriate this year than ever, because it's your moment to come and find whatever it is you like at your South Carolina State Fair and enjoy it.

>> Well, I'm certainly looking forward to seeing you and thank you for giving all this wonderful information to us.

>> Thank you so much and we look forward to seeing you at the fair.

>> The fair committee is to be commended for all the efforts that they have made to make this a safe and enjoyable experience.

Always be sure to follow all the posted rules that they have there.

...Cory I believe the Clemson is going to be at the fair again.

Yes ma'am.

Clemson Extension will have a booth there, like we've done every other year, except 2020, so look forward to seeing everybody there, and there'll be more than just horticulture agent there.

So, livestock, forestry, agronomy, you know all of our different disciplines, 4-H, of course.

>> Health agents, too, I think.

>>That's right, rural health.

Absolutely, yep.

So bring your questions to the folks at the state fair.

>> Alrighty, and corn mazes are opening all over the state.

The corn maze at McBee's opened and this year the theme is Tony trivia, Tony Melton trivia.

So, it might be how many steps from Tony's house to the out house, there were back when he was a young fellow.

Anyway, night night.

We sure enjoyed being with you and we look forward to seeing you next week right here on Making It Grow.

♪ ♪ Making it Grow is brought to you in part by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture Certified South Carolina Grown helps consumers identify, find, and buy South Carolina products, McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina.

This family farm offers seasonal produce including over 22 varieties of peaches, additional funding provided by International Paper and the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance.