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

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

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

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

Wesley Commons, a full service continuing care retirement community located on more than 150 wooded acres in Greenwood, South Carolina.

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

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Terasa Lott> Good evening, and welcome to another episode of Making It Grow.

I'm Terasa Lott with Clemson Extension.

And I'm so delighted that you're here with us to learn about gardening, agriculture and environmental topics in a way that we hope is both fun and educational.

Things are a little different this evening.

I'm in the host's chair, but don't worry, Amanda will be back with us soon.

Filling in for me is Hannah Mikell, an agronomy agent in Clarendon and Williamsburg counties.

Hannah, I don't know that we always explain what the term agronomy actually means.

Hannah> Yeah.

Yeah, it's a study of soil or anything living in it.

So I work a lot with different types of soils.

How water, you know, is utilized in the soil for our crops that we grow.

But primarily agronomy in this sense is, our team is made up of agents that work on corn, cotton, soybeans, sorghum, peanuts, all those types of row crops.

Terasa> So, sometimes almost synonymously, we'll say row crops.

Hannah> Yeah.

Therow crop team.

Agronomic team.

Yeah.

Terasa> Perfect.

Well, thanks for being here today.

And especially for, filling in as our <Sure.> alternate host.

Hannah> You have to let me know how I do.

Terasa> I'm sure you will do, just wonderfully.

Hannah> Why, thank you.

Terasa> And next to you is Drew Jeffers, who's joining us from Greenville.

Drew, you're a horticulture agent and master gardener coordinator.

So this time of the year, typically master gardener classes are held.

Do you have a have a class going on?

>> We have a class going on right now.

And it is, full as always and, yeah, we run that all, all through Fall and then we'll start the process all over again.

Terasa> And what are some of the things that those Master Gardener volunteers do once they've completed the class?

Drew> So the biggest thing to work on right now is, we have a demonstration garden at the Upper Mountain Science Center in Greenville.

The Master Gardener Association there does a, a big symposium every year in Greenville that it's a really big hit.

They have over 500 people that come to it every year.

And then they do a lot of community outreach, through community gardens, and just also doing just Q and A booths, at the farmers markets.

Terasa> That's right.

So they are, effectively an extension of Extension.

Drew> They are.

Terasa> Thank you, Drew and Jackie Jordan, horticulture agent and master gardener coordinator in Richland, Kershaw and Fairfield counties.

Jackie, you also have, I think, two Master Gardener classes, is that right?

>> Right.

So the Richland County Master Gardener class will start September 9th and the Kershaw County class, the 11th.

Terasa> That is a lot.

And how about one special project that, that your Master Gardeners are involved in.

Jackie> The Richland County Master Gardeners have taken on doing a lot of work at the Children's Garden at Sandhill REC, and that is a fantastic place to visit, if you have small children.

There's pollinator garden, There's a demonstration vegetable garden.

There's also a demonstration Carolina Yard at the, the located within the garden.

We have turf plots out front so you can see some of the different types of turf grasses and how they grow.

Just a really great garden to explore.

Terasa> So we encourage our viewers to, to visit if you're in the Columbia area, the, the Sandhill Children's Garden, there's a Facebook page so you can follow along.

And young children, it's a great opportunity for them to get out there, have fun, and they'll probably be learning without even knowing it.

Hannah> Mmm Hmm Terasa> And Dakota Nettles from Forest Lake Green Houses always fun to have you on the show because you generally bring exciting plants.

Dakota> I do, and thanks for having me again.

So Forest Lake Greenhouses, like we've mentioned, locally owned in Florence, South Carolina.

We grow a lot of our own stuff, mostly annuals, but we do buy in, like tropicals and, trees and shrubbery.

We also do a good bit of classes, during the Fall when we're not so busy.

Terasa> Good to know something for everyone.

And perhaps if people want a little bit of an educational opportunity, they can take advantage of that.

Dakota> Totally.

Totally.

Terasa> Awesome.

Well, Hannah, this is typically the time when I get to highlight some of what our viewers are doing in the Gardens of the Week.

Do you have some things to share with us today?

Hannah> We do.

We have some very colorful pictures this week.

Myrle Diefendorf has some tomatoes gone wild off his back patio in Central, South Carolina.

It was really overgrown.

They're, they're quite high up all the way to the windows.

And then we have Mary McDaniel.

She has an area of natural lilies on a farm in Dillon County.

<Nice> And then Sharon Enloe has a treasured 4:00 treasure for clocks given to her by her mother-in-law.

I'm not very familiar with these plants, but for clock, I was thinking.

Well, tell me about these, so our horticulturists put out 4:00 plants?

<Yes> Those are beautiful.

I love them.

And then Arlene Weeks, she has a showy red flower, a cardinal flower, which is, dependent on hummingbirds for pollination.

That's really cool.

And then Katie Miller has a gorgeous hanging basket or *Torrentia begonia and sedum in Mount Pleasant.

Terasa> Hanging baskets.

Gosh, I haven't...I guess I just don't really have a location.

But I remember growing up always having hanging baskets in upstate New York.

Hannah> Oh yeah, very southern thing.

Yeah, too.

But yeah.

What do y'all have in your hanging baskets in New York?

Terasa> You know, I can't... One time we had a Fuchsia.

And my most favorite memory of the Fuchsia is that a hummingbird made a nest.

They're such small nests, and typically, if they're high up in a tree, you're not going to see that.

So it was such an amazing opportunity to see that up close.

Hannah> Yeah, that's beautiful.

That's fun.

Terasa> We thank all of our viewers for sharing those photos.

It's always so inspirational.

And it's like a virtual field trip.

Don't be shy.

If you see a post for Gardens of the Week, go ahead and put your photos right there in the comments.

And of course, this is just a small sampling, so we encourage you to visit our Facebook page and see all of the other beautiful photos submitted there.

As usual, we have some great segments for you to see today we're going to take our own virtual field trip or it was in person then, but virtual for you to Clemson's main campus to learn about the MANRRS Redfern Community Garden.

I also had a chance to speak with Amanda about propagation of spider plant, so sort of an old timey plant.

This one was given to me by my mother-in-law.

And you're going to learn about how you can have the gift that keeps on giving.

And finally, the horticulture team had the opportunity to have a team meeting at Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens.

So you're going to get to enjoy some sights and sounds from that trip.

But now it's time to dive into our questions.

Hannah, who can we help?

Hannah> So Xavier in Anderson, South Carolina, says, I want to put a pollinator garden out this Fall, but what perennials or shrubs do well, if I plant them right now?

Terasa> Great question.

Lots of interest in pollinators, supporting them.

And Fall is a great time to plant.

Drew, do you have some wisdom you can share?

Drew> Yeah.

So and the good thing is a lot of the plants that we would do for pollinators, things like cone flowers, black, Black-eyed Susans, one of my favorites is Anise hyssop And then there's also a Helianthus.

There's sunflowers.

There's all kinds of things you can do.

But you can also use some of the shrubs.

Vitex is a really good one.

V-I-T-E-X Terasa> The chase tree?

Drew> Yeah.

It's not a native but it is a good one for pollinators.

But they also attract beneficial insects.

So a lot of these, these plants that you buy, you can actually use them to attract good bugs or to actually fight your bad bugs.

So along with your, your pollinators.

Terasa> Yeah.

Diversity is the key, right?

We want- Drew> Biodiversity Terasa> Lots of different- Drew> Spice of life.

Terasa> I like that motto.

I have added, in my yard some button bush.

And that seems to be a favorite of the Eastern tiger swallowtail.

I see them nectaring on there frequently.

Grasses, some of our native grasses also... can be good, even if they're not necessarily providing nectar.

Some of them are can be host plants.

Jackie, I know your mom does a lot with cut flowers.

Do you do you think at all about pollinators, when you're adding...plants for the cut flower production?

Jackie> I do have a lot of pollinator plants.

So my garden started out as I was working at a garden center, and it was the rescue, the plant, garden center.

You know, there's just the one left.

I can't leave you here so I have to take you home.

Terasa> You look sad and lonely.

Jackie> So, there's a "plant us, collect us" group of plants all around.

So there's a lot of plants that work well.

We're lucky enough that the person who lives behind my mother keeps honeybees.

And so we get a lot of pollination on our a vegetable garden from her honeybees.

<Nice> But, a lot of different things.

I've got a lot of different trees and shrubs that also bring in.

So there's probably, probably one of just about almost everything.

(laughing) Drew> The thing is, the plant, everyone must plant for like, just pollinators or just, just, you know, swallowtails, plant a little bit for everything, <That's right> You know, so we'll look for birds.

We look for pollinators, a little bit for this.

And that way you create more of that ecosystem.

That kind of helps you makes, makes you, makes it takes care of itself for you.

Terasa> So, Dakota, are you are you seeing clients come in being interested in kind of what their yard can provide for wildlife?

Dakota> Oh, yeah.

We have a lot of people come in for pollinator plants.

So we like to tell them, you know plant all that you can plant really.

And like you said earlier, it can just be a host plant.

For maybe dragonflies, you have like a bog area.

Dragonflies wouldn't sit on grass.

It's not necessarily going to need a pollinator for everything, you know.

Terasa> Yeah, sure.

So like, like Drew said, diversity is the spice of life.

All right, Hannah, we're ready for another question.

Hannah> Sure.

Jennifer in Lancaster, South Carolina, says what are these brown spots in my zoysia lawn?

Terasa> Lawn questions, lawn questions.

You know, it's not that easy to maintain a healthy lawn.

There's a lot of things, like.

Hannah> We've had a lot of calls this year, even at the office in Clarendon.

And with the, I think the ample amount of rain and the amount of thatch, depending on what type of grass you've got, there's all kinds of stuff that could be brewing down there.

Oh, yeah, and Jackie Your formal education is in turf grass, so I bet you can enlighten us with what's going on.

Jackie> Sure.

So I had a chance to look at Jennifer's pictures.

And this is the beginning of dollar spot.

Dollar spot is a disease that typically happens.

We'll see it on zoysia.

Sometimes we'll see it on Bermuda but where there is a nitrogen deficiency.

And with all of the rain that we've been getting.

It's easy to develop.

Plus, this disease shows up when we have cooler temperatures.

So the rain that we got in August and all the cooler temperatures that we got in August have contributed to beginning to see this disease.

Now, most of the time we just fertilize to get it under control because this is a leaf spot disease.

And just adding nitrogen will help to help the grass to grow out of it because it's usually nitrogen deficient turf grasses that develop more dollar spot.

And it's called dollar spot because it starts off the size of a silver dollar.

And the spots just get bigger and bigger and bigger.

It doesn't kill the grass.

So your grass will come back fine.

Where we are in September, it's too late to fertilize.

But what I will encourage people to do is, as you are mowing, let those clippings lie because those clippings break down quickly.

They're 30 percent water the rest is mostly nitrogen and nutrients, and so it breaks down quickly and it will feed the grass.

And that can help to combat the deficiency that you're seeing as we head into fall dormancy.

Terasa> Isn't that wonderful?

that it almost has its own solution built into it.

Jackie> Yeah, so not everything needs a fungicide.

So a lot of times if we can do cultural things.

Now if we see, dollar spot developing in lawns and we're not seeing a lot of rain, make sure that you calibrate your sprinkler system.

You have a great video on that, on our, on our website, HGIC.

So just calibrate make sure you're only delivering an inch a week because sometimes we'll see dollar spots develop in zoysia lawns where people are watering every day or even every other day.

Terasa> And they're kind of flushing, I guess, the nutrients out of the soil.

Yeah.

Hannah> We have a tremendous amount of centipede, so I've never heard fertilize centipede.

Is that one of the ones that we don't need to fertilize for like a dollar spot or.

Jackie> No.

Centipede really likes very little.

<Yeah> Centipede likes less than a pound of nitrogen.

One.

Maybe... you're pushing it with over really 1 pound of nitrogen per a thousand square feet per year.

<Yeah.> Whereas things like Zoysia is 2 to 3 pounds of nitrogen per one thousand square feet per year, and even Bermuda is like four or more, <Oh, wow.> pounds of nitrogen per one thousand square feet per year.

So all different requirements <Yeah.> So you have to match your lawn with your site conditions and your expectations.

Terasa> One of the reasons why we encourage folks to get their soil tested, because it's going to talk specifically about your soil and then what it is you're trying to grow.

If you have zoysia or centipede.

And so you're getting the recommendations that are specific to that.

And you know, I would be remiss if I didn't talk about water quality.

So that, that middle number, if we're talking centipede, it is often going to be recommended like a 15-0-15.

That zero in the middle meaning no phosphorus.

So there's a cute little saying don't pee on your lawn.

So, excess phosphorus is, contributes to water quality issues, especially in freshwater bodies of water.

So we don't want to apply it if we don't need it.

Hannah> No, we see a lot of that in agriculture when we have lagoon waste samples that are brought in for testing for DHEC, but they're pumping all that lagoon water out on fields nearby that they rotate through.

We have phosphorus buildups there, chicken litter, will have phosphorus buildups, but on a homeowner basis, a lot of people that have waterfowl around their small ponds.

That can really creep up.

So you have to watch it, especially.

Terasa> Some of our soils are just naturally high in phosphorus.

So, I could talk about that all day.

But I know our viewers are excited to see what you might have brought with you, Dakota.

Dakota> Okay, so I brought these really fun peppers.

Terasa> That is fun.

Dakota> Got two different colors here.

You've got Sangria which is, a green leaf with orange and red peppers and then this Purple Flash, everyone loves this.

It's got that deep, deep color for contrast.

Terasa> Now they're called ornamental peppers.

Are they technically edible?

Dakota> So they aren't toxic.

And so you could eat them.

You could ingest them, but they're not grown for taste.

They're grown for ornamental purposes.

Like to look at.

So it's not going to taste really good.

Terasa> Now I imagine we see these in the fall because it just kind of reminds you of the fall season, especially Halloween.

It makes me think of Halloween.

But we really could plant these or put them out a lot earlier.

Right?

Dakota> You could, you could.

So the heat really doesn't bother them that much.

You could have them during summer.

They're not going to make our winters.

But any other time of the year is perfectly fine.

Terasa> And that's why I, I was thinking maybe put them out a little earlier.

Don't wait until, you know, October <Yeah, yeah> to get the most life out of them that you can.

Because frost is going to... are they...

They're sensitive to frost.

Dakota> They are going to be sensitive to frost.

Yes.

Terasa> But what's a fun color that you can add?

Would you recommend, like putting them in a pot together?

How large are they going to get?

Dakota> So the peppers are going to be around depending on the variety of pepper.

It could differ a little bit, but around 18 inches is the mature size.

<Okay.> It's probably going to depend on the pot, as well.

If you keep it in this little tiny pot, it's not going to reach quite that size.

But if you put it in a bigger pot like this one, it'll reach its full potential.

<Okay> So they're great for containers.

You can do them for landscaping if you like that kind of look, but really great for containers.

Terasa> And now not a perennial, but if planted in the ground, I bet you'd get some reseeding.

Dakota> You know, I'm actually not 100 percent sure, but they do, put off these little blooms.

So I bet, if you let them go to seed, they would, they'd seed for you, and you might have some come up in Spring.

Terasa> Well, thanks Dakota for sharing these ornamental peppers.

I absolutely love the, the variety of the colors, and I hope maybe you have a new idea for some Fall containers.

Next, we're going to travel to Clemson's main campus with Extension agent Carmen Ketron and learn about a transformative process going on there with a bright young gentleman looking to address food insecurity.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> Hello, I'm Carmen Ketron, with Clemson Extension in the Darlington and Florence offices.

But today I'm here in the beautiful Clemson University campus.

We're right here at the MANRRS Redfern Community Garden, right next to the Redfern Community Wellness Center.

And right at the entrance of the wonderful Ag Quad on Clemson's campus.

And today, I'm here with Isaiah Barton, <Hey> A recent graduate of Clemson University.

Congratulations.

>> Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Carmen> Yeah.

So tell me about the garden.

Isaiah> The MANRRS Redfern Community Garden started as a barren wasteland, here in the middle of campus.

Sorry, near the middle of the campus.

And it has been transformed by me, with some help, to a oasis of fresh produce.

Carmen> I love it, and it's very very pretty and wonderfully, diverse with all your plantings.

Tell me how the MANRRS chapter got involved and then how you took it, and then was able to, I guess, take an internship and parlay that into placemaking.

Isaiah> So I've been a member of MANRRS Clemson's chapter of MANRRS since me coming in 2022.

So it's a whole acronym, but I try to keep it condensed so MANRRS being an agricultural based organization, I wanted to put on for that because I saw and felt the lack of agricultural spaces and, you know, learning opportunities here on campus and also with my own brand as well, Infinite Seeds Academy, which is a garden implementation and gardening education.

And so with me trying to couple those two together into one initiative, the MANRRS Redfern Community Garden was born.

Carmen> Oh, I love it.

Now, were the beds here?

Did you get it started?

Did you build everything ground up?

Isaiah> No, I did not.

So there were actually four bids here existing already.

Ground zero, I call it.

The zero, one, two and three.

And so those are the only ones here.

These were broken down, actually, and they were rebuilt by the construction workers who had this whole area from these flowers over here to all the way to this left side blocked off.

And so they rebuilt it once they left, which I'm grateful for, because I didn't have to do it.

But everything else that you see, I added myself, so.

Carmen> Oh, that's wonderful.

And the diversity of plants is fascinating.

I love walking up on a garden and being able to never see the same thing twice.

Can you tell me about how you guys chose the plants?

What they're for?

Where they go after they're harvested?

Isaiah> Not only is it my personal preference, but because it is a space to help fight food insecurity here on campus and within the surrounding area.

I chose edible plants specifically, and so things like produce like tomatoes, cucumbers, fan favorites, you know, potatoes, sweet potatoes, you know, you're in the South and herbs as well to, to go with those, those vegetables as well.

Carmen> Oh, because we have to get the flavor in.

Isaiah> Yes, of course.

Carmen> Now, I am seeing some lemon thyme.

I'm seeing a lot of sage.

What are your favorite things that are in the garden right now?

Isaiah> Some of my favorite things in the garden right now?

I can always say the sunflowers, the sunflowers, just... and these are the big ones.

I think they're the mammoth kind.

They're, they're bigger than me.

I'm about six foot, six one and they tower over me.

Other than that, I will say Comfrey.

It's a great medicinal herb, but also it has a lot of practical use in an organic garden, as well.

And another fan favorite for me right now is Egyptian walking onions.

Yes.

Carmen> Very cool.

I like that you're working in the perennial edibles.

<Yes.> Carmen> That's fun.

Isaiah> Yes.

I'm not a fan of annuals because it's one year and they're gone.

You know, all that work for what.

Carmen> Exactly.

And that's kind of nice because it's like kind of a set it and forget it.

So your legacy can live on like that.

Isaiah> Exactly.

Carmen> But with your academy and then with you just, I guess bringing this produce to the students, making it available, how did people react?

Isaiah> It...honestly, it almost grew too fast because once there was actually something to look at, it wasn't just dirt or baby plants coming out of the ground.

Once things were blooming, it took off from there.

And so then I started donating the produce to our on campus for student - by student food bank called Paw Pantry.

Carmen> But since you have graduated, how are we keeping it sustainable?

How is it being maintained?

Isaiah> Yes.

So, I'm now rooted in Columbia, South Carolina, as a landscape designer installer for First Priority Landscaping Solutions and Garden Center, and also growing my brand, as well, with Infinite Seeds Academy.

And now I pass the pitchfork off to Sebastian, horticulture major, who is still intertwined with MANRRS very heavily.

And so we have Clemson's chapter of MANRRS supporting the garden full on now and we also have community members and 4-H as well, supporting the garden.

Carmen> Now, if people on campus were wanting to help or hang out or just enjoy the garden, is it open to everybody?

Can they come volunteer?

Isaiah> Yes.

So I would recommend either messaging Sebastian directly or the Instagram.

There's two Instagrams again to message.

There's RCG Clemson and there's CU.MANRRS.

And those are the Instagrams for our Clemson chapter of MANRRS.

And then also the garden page specifically.

Carmen> But I have noticed one of the best things that you, that you can do in this garden is you can just come through and kind of feel, touch, smell.

<Yeah> It's very, it has a lot of sensory aspects to it.

So everyone's encouraged to do that.

Isaiah> Yes of course.

Touch, smell, look just take it all in.

Experiential learning is part of the reason I started this space, because learning from experience for me is the best way that I learned.

So I see that working with other people, as well.

So Carmen> That is so true, I love that.

Well, thank you so much for having us over.

I might help myself to a couple of the herbs.

Isaiah> Please do.

Carmen> I'm very excited.

But if you want, Go Tigers?

Isaiah> Go Tigers.

Carmen> One, two, three.

Both> Go Tigers!

♪ ♪ Terasa> Such passion shared by "Zay", in that endeavor to, to transform what was a barren space into one that is productive, fighting food insecurity and so wonderful to hear that it will continue, even though he has graduated, it will continue on under new leadership.

Always, gives you hope for the future when you see things like that going on.

Speaking of hope for the future, how is the corn crop looking this year?

Hannah> Yeah.

Well, so, last year it was very, I don't know.

It was very scarce.

We had, went through a major drought last year.

This year we've had ample rain.

We had those million dollar rains, they like, they like to say in the Spring or early Spring, like late Spring, early Summer, all the way through tassel and cornfield.

We did turn off a little dry, but it has really made for an excellent corn crop.

Terasa> Fantastic.

>> Yes.

So, our county dry land average in Clarendon last year was really, really low, well low...for what you would ever need to make a crop off of this year it's like double that almost.

Terasa> And if I, if I remember correctly, I've heard you and some of our other agents, Jonathan Croft talking about, yield contest.

Hannah> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Terasa> What is that all about?

Hannah> So it's a great way for the growers to get out and see some of their high yielding farms that they, they do over maybe thousands of acres that they do farm.

They, they fertilize in order to produce a really high yielding, bushels per acre.

So typically our irrigated corn is, you know, around 200 or 220.

But if we fertilize for a little bit higher, it's a 1 to 1 point 1 to 1 ratio for bushels per acre over fertilizer for nitrogen.

And so our higher yields would be closer to 300.

And so that's bragging rights.

Right?

You're doing fairly well.

So there's a national corn contest that we enter every year that some of our growers do.

And they kind of brag on certain varieties that they're buying from our dealers.

And, and kind of touting what their practices are.

And in doing that, I go out and measure, a certain part of the field that they're already cutting in.

So when they see those numbers start to bump up higher and higher on the combine, they're like, They'll call and say, hey, Hannah, we got something we want you to come check.

And so it's a acre and a quarter that we go out and we measure it with this little walking wheel, so metal wheel and click, click, click.

You've probably seen people around town measuring for like water pipes and that kind of stuff.

This is the same thing.

We measure for it and they've got so many rows that they're combining with, maybe an eight row header.

And as they cut that corn, we start off empty and we measure the acre and a quarter, and then it calculates how many bushels per acre we've measured.

And that's how that's the qualifications that go into the contest.

Terasa> This is a national Hannah> It's a national contest.

Yeah.

We've had several, great entries from South Carolina in the past, and we look forward to a really good year this year with all the rain that we've had.

Terasa> Sending them well wishes.

<Yeah.> Well, do you have another question lined up for us?

We usually have more than, Hannah> We sure do.

more than plenty of questions.

Hannah> We always have a lot of them.

Yes.

So we talked about brown spots and some Zoysia lawn, We've done some show and tell, but now from Ms Geraldine in Due West, South Carolina: There are webs all over my trees.

Are these bag worms?

And do I need to spray them?

Terasa> I think I might have an idea what this is.

Something that's very cyclical in nature, we kind of get these things every year.

Drew> That sounds like fall web worms to me.

Hannah> Fall webworms.

Drew> So Fall web worms, usually, you can tell them if the webbing is on the end of the branches.

it's usually Fall web worms.

If it's at the crux of the trees.

And usually in Spring, that's usually tent, Eastern tent caterpillar.

Hannah> Are these like on spruce trees, or they're on any tree Drew> They're on, They're usually on like any of the deciduous trees.

<Okay.> Usually maples, oaks.

Other ones as well.

But if, if, if the webbing was like, on a conifer, we'd be looking at spider mites.

But, but this is more probably Eastern tent, excuse me, Fall web worm.

The good thing is, Geraldine, you don't need anything, except a pair pruners or a broomstick just literally mess up the nest or prune it out.

That's all you need to do.

They make great fish bait.

Terasa> Or bird food.

Drew> Yeah.

Or Chicken feed.

Everybody grows chickens now.

Terasa> Yeah, it's not pretty to look at, but ultimately, I mean, it can defoliate the tree, but it's not going to cause any measurable harm, right?

Drew> It will be extremely rare for you to have to have a really high infestation for it to kill a tree.

So Terasa> Just kind of see what you can break up with your, your broomstick or your pruners and but be careful by all means.

If you're outside on a ladder, we want you to be safe.

Drew> Yeah.

Terasa> All right.

Do we have another question lined up?

Hannah> Ms. Kim from Winnsboro, South Carolina, says, she's sending a picture of her, parsley leaf, she's wanting to know what's happening with them.

Terasa> Goodness.

Well, I'm glad we have a picture.

Sometimes we get questions with just some words, and it's really hard to take those words and, and imagine what's going on.

Jackie, what do you think?

Jackie> Well, when you look at the leaves, you see all these little pinpricks of lighter color throughout.

That indicates that we've got a piercing, sucking insect feeding on the leaves.

And I was kind of torn because as I looked at this, I was thinking it could be thrips, or it could be spider mites, because both of them do that really light coloration.

Terasa> Stippling, we call it.

Is that what we call it?

Jackie> So I would say look at the underside of the leaves to see if you notice anything.

Thrips are really tiny yellow look like little grains of rice sometimes.

Spider mites are harder to see.

Sometimes you do get some webbing.

If you take a piece of white paper, she could lightly tap.

And if it looks like somebody sprinkled pepper and the pepper is moving, that's spider mites.

Thrips are harder to control, but I would say use an insecticidal soap on there.

Just spray down the undersides of the leaves.

She has to do a couple of treatments 3 to 5 days apart, and it should be under control.

Hannah> Would imidacloprid help with that at all?

Jackie> It could but I don't, if she's growing the parsley for eating, <Yeah> I don't know that she'd want to, but you could.

Drew> Well, I'll just point out something.

If it was spider mites, Imidacloprid will actually make the spider mite problem worse.

Hannah> Okay.

That's really good to know.

Wow.

When I think of cotton and corn, all that, that we see spider mites in, I sometimes will, we try to hit it with all we can just because if it flares in a really, really large area, it could be astronomically bad for our industry.

But when we do scout for thrips, we take a Styrofoam cup like a coffee cup and we put, like the top of the leaf or wherever we think is in there to shake the leaf around.

And those, thrips cling to it.

<Okay.> It's really easy to see.

Jackie> That's a good one too though.

Hannah> Static electricity Jackie> Sit out there with a paper, with paper or a cup?

<Yeah.> (all laugh) Terasa> And then your neighbors will be thinking, what in the world what is going on?

You know, I like tidbits of trivia or useless knowledge is what my husband calls it.

But thrips is funny to me because it's never like, it's one thrips or lots of thrips.

It always has an "S" on it.

Jackie> Oh, yeah.

That's true.

Terasa> Yeah.

Anyway, just file that away.

If you're ever at trivia, you never know when they might ask that question.

All right.

Dakota, what are you, what are you going to share with us next?

So I have this really beautiful blooming plant here.

This is a melampodium.

And it's got these really bright flowers, bright yellow flowers and large, large foliage.

Terasa> That is gorgeous.

I love the contrast between the the yellow flowers and the foliage.

Now, tell me a little bit more.

Does it have a common name other than melampodium?

Dakota> So some people call them butter daisies, which I think is really cute.

I love that name.

And these will get about 12 to 18 inches tall.

I'd say it's more of a container plant.

It has a mounding habit.

<Okay.> Yeah.

Terasa> What kind of conditions is it going to like?

Full sun, part shade?

Dakota> So this plant can tolerate, partial sun.

But with that being said, it needs at least 4 to 6 hours to be able to bloom.

It wants to be in direct sunlight.

And then not a whole lot of water for this guy.

Terasa> Not a whole lot.

Okay, that might be appealing to some folks, who maybe don't have a lot of time to spend on watering.

They want kind of a "set it and forget it" sort of a thing.

Dakota> Oh, yeah.

We have a lot of people asking for plants that are not going to take up too much of their time when watering, so this is a great one for that.

Terasa> Now, would you, so sometimes people ask about like companion plants or what would you put in a container.

We talked about the ornamental peppers.

Would this, would you want to include it in the same pot or not really?

Dakota> So, it really depends on the size of the pot.

If the peppers are going to get, quite large.

But based on watering and light needs, they, they would go perfect together.

They, neither one of them want a whole lot of water and they'll both do, full direct sunlight.

Terasa> Nice.

Dakota> Yeah.

Terasa> I always love hearing about the perspective from somebody who works in a nursery.

Maybe you've tried a lot of options and you can give some good advice on what works and which one doesn't Dakota> Oh yeah, some things work.

Some things don't.

The funniest thing is just to experiment.

Terasa> Trial and error.

Dakota> Yeah.

That's right.

Terasa> Hannah, did I hear that you took a field trip with some kids, recently?

Hannah> I did, yeah.

So, a good friend of mine, Mary Margaret McCaskill, she used to be the 4-H Agent, now a teacher, in Clarendon County, but she has two girls that I've seen grow up.

And occasionally I will snag them and we'll go out and do some scouting and, enjoy that.

I think it gives them a glimpse into agriculture, something they might not have been exposed to previously.

I know that sometimes you like to take your kids along to work, but, it's almost like a little bit of job shadowing.

So I had them come out and, they were kind of shy at first, but I was like, oh, okay, we're going to go look at this wheat.

And it was, late, late for wheat to be out.

But we looked at some corn and all of this was, growing and, and really, you know, lush scenery for them.

That's something that they never get to go into, actually, you drive past these fields, right?

But you never get to wander around and see what's going on.

<That's right.> So while we were out there, we kind of looked around.

We saw a bunch of deer tracks.

We saw some deer feeding in cotton.

And then occasionally, I would regurgitate.

I would have them regurgitate everything I told them, and I... and they were shy and I said, okay, well, how about...

I have this little puppet in the car?

My daughter had a little, stuffed puppet, you know, you put your hand in and I said, let's do, our own Making It Grow.

And I had them stand out there and they would talk with the little puppet, and then we would pick wheat and show it to them.

And, it was wonderful.

It was a good learning experience for them.

And it was, good for me to be able to share with younger people and kind of see how what I was saying, if it was making sense to them by seeing them interact with like the little puppet and I got some cool footage with them and shared it with their mom, I think they enjoyed it.

Terasa> Oh!

well, thank you for sharing that with us.

That sounds like a great experience.

I could imagine myself being, being little and having that opportunity and just being so amazed with that up close view that you don't normally get to see.

Hannah> Yeah, it was cool.

I enjoyed it.

Terasa> Thank you.

Now is the time that you're going to learn with us about how to propagate spider plants.

And one thing I can tell you is, it's very easy.

Let's see.

Amanda> Terasa, you know, I don't do house plants because my house isn't, acclimated for house plants.

They wouldn't be happy.

Terasa> I understand.

Amanda> Yeah, but, but this is one that you got from from Eddie's mother, your husband's mother.

And, you've had great success propagating it.

Terasa> I really have.

It can't get any easier.

So this is a spider plant.

<All right.> Chlorophytum comosum is the scientific name native to South Africa, coastal areas of South Africa.

But it makes a great house plant because it, it appreciates temperatures no lower than 55 and no higher than 80.

So I know it wouldn't do well in your house.

Amanda> And indirect light I guess since you don't have to put it outside or anything.

Terasa> Moderate in direct light, but in all honesty it will tolerate almost anything.

So if you're new to the world of houseplants, this will be a good, good one to start with.

Amanda> All right.

Okay.

Well let's see how we might get one.

You've got some that you had already propagated.

And this one's how old?

Terasa> You know, my mother-in-law passed away about two years ago.

So this was part of the original plant.

And then I've potted up all that you see over there, so various stages, so less than two years.

But other than that I can't give you exact time frame.

Amanda> So it's a pretty fast growing plant.

Terasa> It really is.

Amanda> Do you feed it a lot?

Terasa> I don't I do use just a fertilizer that you can mix in with <water> when I irrigate.

And in terms of water let the top dry out.

So you want that top inch to dry out in between watering.

Amanda> The digital method of testing.

Terasa> That's right.

You don't even need any fancy tools.

Amanda> Yeah okay.

Terasa> It does make pretty little flowers They're not super showy <That's nice.

Yeah.> star shaped flower.

<Yeah.> So it gets the name from these little plantlets, kind of looks like spiders, kind of hanging from the plant.

So <It does> Look nice on a hanging basket, Amanda> They're graceful.

Terasa> They are graceful.

Amanda> They're graceful.

Terasa> It is so easy.

All you have to do is.

Amanda> Now you've got just plain old potting soil.

Terasa> I do.

That's an indoor potting mix.

Okay.

Yeah.

Amanda> Fairly loose.

Yeah.

Terasa> I wanted to keep things a little neat, so I just put it in the pot all ready.

<Okay> And I prefer pots that have drainage, but also have like a saucer attached at the bottom I know.

Amanda> Yeah.

It's just a lot easier.

Terasa> It's just easier.

Don't have to look for something.

Don't have to worry about the finish on wherever I put it.

<on the table.> So all I did was.

Amanda> You just want to be sure that it's not going to be sitting in water too long.

Terasa> Yes.

Yeah.

That's right.

That's right.

So I just snipped it and it's hard to see, but the plant has already formed some very tiny little root structures.

And all we need to do is- Amanda> I mean, they just look like little bumps almost.

It's not like a root or anything you can really see.

Terasa> That's right.

If we let it grow up a little bit more on the plant, it would... Amanda> But you said they don't care.

Terasa> They really don't.

So we're just going to put that in there, like that.

Amanda> Well this is relatively easy.

Terasa> That's right.

I don't do propagation except this because, I mean, you really can't mess up.

So we could find another one if we wanted to.

but that pot's I think enough for two.

So we're just going to snip it.

<Okay.> Apparently my snippers are not very sharp.

And then again, the digital method here, no tools required.

Just put it down in there.

Cover it up a little bit, give it some security.

and we'll give it a little bit of water and voila.

Amanda> You know, it's quite cute looking like, it might be fun if you were doing something wanted something tiny just for a few days to fill it up, because they're just they're just kind of precious looking, don't you think?

Terasa> They really are.

Amanda>Kinda, sorta.

Yeah, yeah, Terasa> I think you can see I've put 2 or 3 in the different in the different pots.

So the one on the end is going to be the youngest.

And I would expect probably a few months this one will be about the size of the one on the, on the end, you know.

Amanda> This little fellow down here.

<Yeah.

Yeah> That's pretty fast growing.

<It really is.> Yeah.

And just indirect light.

Terasa> Moderate indirect light.

Let it dry out in between waterings.

They are a little sensitive to fluoride.

So if water is fluoridated.

<Really?> I suspect that's why I have a little bit of tip burn on some of the leaves.

Amanda> My goodness.

Terasa> So - Amanda> So, what if you have that.

Terasa> You could use rainwater if you catch it from outside or something like that.

Amanda> A jug of bottled water from the store if you needed to.

Terasa> I do use my tap water.

And you just have to learn to deal with some imperfections.

Amanda> Yes, yes.

Well, it makes up for it with ease.

And really, it's a lovely plant.

Well, thank you so much.

Terasa> You're welcome.

I think that if you'd like one, I could give it to you.

But I don't know if it would survive, especially, in the wintertime.

Amanda> Well, it's been pretty hot in the house, too.

Terasa> It has been.

Amanda>Yeah, it's been real hot.

Anyway, but, you know, summer won't last forever, right?

Terasa> That's true, but I love having... it feels like we something to remember my mother-in-law by, and, then I can keep potting it up and giving it to others, if they'd like to try starting a new house plant.

Terasa> Plants can hold such treasured memories, as you saw with that spider plant which was originally inherited from my mother-in-law.

And I just absolutely love that I am able to not only keep it for myself, but then share it with others for them to create memories, as well.

Let's dive back into the questions.

Hannah> Sure.

Yeah, we have Mr.

R.D., He's from Duncan, South Carolina.

He's asking, what's the best time to divide and replant my daylilies and are they getting too crowded?

Terasa> That's a great question because I, another Clemson faculty member gave me some daylilies a number of years ago, and they have proliferated.

So, Drew, when, when should you divide them?

Drew> So, yeah.

So in general, perennials like daylilies, you want to divide those every 3 to 5 years.

So, depending on how big they're growing.

So if they're getting pretty big clumps, like, say, about a foot or two foot wide in diameter, it's time to divide them.

And the easiest way to do it is actually get you a bucket or a trough of water, and then submerge the rhizomes after you dig them up, submerge the rhizomes.

That's the roots down there the little structures, and swish them around in the water.

And that'll actually help you to tease out those roots and separate them without breaking them, so you don't have to risk injuring the roots.

So then to replant them, you can divide them into certain little fans.

You can do a single fan or a double fan.

I usually double them up, just to kind of just depending on how big you want the next year's clump to be.

Hannah> What is this fan you're talking about?

Drew> Oh, sorry.

The, So, in the rhizome, you're going to have the two little, leaves that come out that look like grass or monocytes.

Hannah> Okay.

Drew> So, they're going to come out.

That's what we call a fan.

So and usually I trim the fan to about 2 or 3 inches Hannah> And you're doing this, this time of year?

Drew> This time of year.

Hannah> Okay.

Drew> Now is a perfect time of year to do it.

So it's, anytime in the Fall or late Summer or early Fall is the best time to do it.

You could do it in the Spring, but now is the better time.

And what you want to do is when you dig the hole to replant the new, the new fans, the divided plants, you want to have the rhizome just below the soil.

<Okay.> And then, if the, especially if the, the soils loose, you want to take the fan.

I know this sounds weird, like wiggle it a little bit and just bring it gently, just barely up to the surface where that soil is just barely covering that top of that rhizome.

Terasa>So we don't want it too deep.

It's- Drew>-You don't want it too deep.

<Yeah, yeah.> Hannah> Well, if it was too deep, let's say that people who have planted daylilies like me, and they didn't really they were not very successful.

Like maybe the stand wasn't great or like the germination just didn't happen for me, what, is that, because I planted them too deep, and they were too moist and they rotted?

Drew> Possibly.

But now the good thing is daylilies are very forgiving.

So daylilies are a very forgiving plant.

So usually if you do, if you make a mistake like that, you put them too deep or anything like that, usually they're going to recover pretty well.

They usually they're pretty, pretty hardy plants.

We used to, when I worked my internship in Saint Louis, at the Botanical Garden years ago, we had this great daylily dig.

And for a week, solid that's all we did was dig daylilies.

Hannah> Wow!

<So> That sounds very strenuous (laughing) Drew> It's a lot of fun.

(laughing) Terasa> When it comes to daylilies, there's a lot of variety, different colors, you know, different flower forms, whether it's going to bloom once or it's going to be a repeat bloomer.

So, I think some people, they just fill their garden with different day lilies.

Hannah> Yeah.

I have another follow up question on this.

If you don't mind, while the specialists are here.

<Okay> The those tuber type plants, those flowers, are they all the same?

You plant them all the same?

Because I have, like, gladiolas and irises.

What, what are they?

Are they on top or below?

Drew> So, like with Iris, you want to plant them just on top of the soil surface, like barely in the soil.

Gladiolus six inches or is it eight?

Jackie> Three times the size of the bulb, <Yeah> should be the depth.

Hannah> Oh, okay.

Drew> But Iris...are the one that you always want to put on top.

Hannah> Okay, okay.

Thank you all very much.

Terasa> So much to know.

So much to know.

All right.

Do we have another question for our panelists?

Hannah> I think we're going to go to maybe some show and tell.

Terasa> Ah!

Jackie, I saw brought in some mushrooms.

Jackie> I do.

You'll be interested in this.

So this time of year we get a lot of calls about mushrooms in the lawn.

And a lot of people are concerned that they're seeing a fungus.

There's a disease called fairy ring, and it is associated with mushrooms.

Although the mushrooms show up when we get cool, wet weather, as we typically do in fall.

Just because you're seeing mushrooms, doesn't mean that you have fairy ring, Fairy ring, would show up.

There'd be signs of it throughout the year.

So you would actually see a greening, and you get this thin circle of green, and it will grow each year because the fungus that is in the soil is feeding on organic matter, and it's actually sending the nitrogen to the grass.

And so that nitrogen is getting that darker green color.

Terasa> Jackie, let me interrupt.

I want to make sure our viewers at home can get a good.

Yeah.

So if you could just move the glass.

There you go.

Jackie> So other mushrooms are coming up because again, organic matter in the soil not necessarily fairy ring.

So the best thing to do is just go out there and pull them up, because on the underneath you'll actually get spores.

Hannah> Oh, I see them.

Jackie> From the mushrooms, and when it comes to identifying mushrooms, you'll actually they'll take a white piece of paper and they'll put it down flat and they'll bounce the mushrooms, Hannah> Do you need a sheet of paper?

Jackie> to get the spores Hannah> You want to try it?

Will it not show up on the green?

Jackie> Probably not show up as well on the green, but they'll... Terasa> We get the idea.

<Yeah.> Jackie> Do it like that and they'll get the spores.

And the spore print will be how they identify the mushroom.

So you don't ever want to just eat a wild mushroom without knowing what it is.

And I know a lot of people get concerned because the mushrooms will show up in their dogs or be on the yard.

They don't know if they're poisonous or not, and they'll ask us if there's anything that they could put on their lawn.

And unfortunately, that fungus is deeper in the soil than a fungicide can get into the soil.

So the best thing is just to pick them up, put them in a plastic bag and throw them out.

Terasa> That's right.

And in general, I mean, they're decomposers.

So they're actually doing us a favor, right?

They're breaking down organic material, making it re-available.

So, but people ask for identifications all the time and that spore print is sometimes needed.

And in fungi is a whole nother, grouping.

Right, and separate from plants.

Hannah> So much to know.

Terasa> Very complicated.

But speaking of plants, what do you have to share with us, Dakota?

Dakota> So I have this beautiful cone flower.

And cone flower is a lovely fall plant.

It's going to be on our base is perennial for you, meaning it's going to lose all of its flower and stalk and usually the leaves too and die down underground in the Spring.

When the temperature is right, it'll pop back up for you, and it's usually Spring through Summer.

And then even a good bit through Fall.

They'll bloom until it gets real, real cold.

Terasa> So, echinacea.

Now, the, the straight species we would see has sort of a lavender, I guess you'd say, Echinacea purpurea.

So kind of a purple, purple cone flower.

This is red.

So we know that this is not the straight species.

Dakota> Correct.

This is going to be something that a grower has bred.

The purple cone flower, the purple echinacea that we all know and love is, the one that is native here to South Carolina.

Terasa> Right.

Yeah.

Right.

So, there are some varieties, as well.

I've seen white, out there.

This one's called sombrero, I believe.

But then there are some that are maybe a mix of kind of southwestern colors, like a red, orange - Dakota> Orange.

They even have, some pinks too.

So there's a bunch of different colors that you can get a cone flower.

Now, these days it's really, really exciting to see.

Terasa> And if you're looking for, texture in your garden these leaves, are very scratchy.

Dakota> Yeah, I got some - Terasa> There's a, there's a better way to describe them, a more scientific way.

<Yeah, yeah.> Well, thanks Dakota, it was fun to, to see this red version of our well known echinacea.

Dakota> Yeah.

It was really nice to be here.

Thanks for having me again.

Terasa> Hope to see you soon on another episode.

Hannah, Thanks for, for filling in for me.

And appreciate the perspective that you bring in from the agronomy side, that could be the same or different from what residential growers might be experiencing.

Hannah> Yeah, it's always a little different, but at least I get to spend time in the office too, as well.

And and meet some of the homeowners that come in.

It's always very interesting.

<Good> Thank you very much.

And Drew and Jackie, always appreciate having having the two of you here.

Even though you're both horticulture agents, you both bring with you your own sets of expertise.

<Thank you> And we're going to end the show with a visit from the horticulture team to Riverbanks Zoo and Garden.

This was a team meeting, and although I didn't get to be there.

Or you either, you can see now what they got to experience.

And we thank all of the agents and other Hort team members who shared their video clips that contributed to this montage.

So let's end the show with the sights and sounds of Riverbanks Zoo and Garden.

(Melodic music) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (music fades) Narrator> "Making It Grow" is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina.

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

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

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

Wesley Commons, a full service continuing care retirement community located on more than 150 wooded acres in Greenwood, South Carolina.

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