Triple-digit temperatures and smoky conditions can create high pollutant levels
Ash collects on the leaves of a large lily plant. Debbie Arrington
Maybe consider wearing a facemask while gardening?
Ash on the leaves of plants is a reminder: With wildfire smoke comes fine particulate matter. That stuff can get in your lungs – as well as clog plant pores.
So far this wildfire season, we’ve been relatively lucky in Sacramento; our air quality has remained “moderate” to “unhealthy for sensitive people” instead of downright unhealthy for everyone.
We already have unhealthy heat; the National Weather Services issued a “heat advisory” for the Sacramento region through Wednesday night with highs of 107 to 112 degrees possible.
Triple-digit heat coupled with wildfire smoke can create another problem for plants: Ozone damage. It starts out as stippling – little dots all over large leaves. Or parts of leaves or petals may look like they were sun-bleached white or silver.
Ozone is what happens when wildfire ash and other pollutants get “cooked” by temperatures more than 100 degrees. It makes our eyes water and throats hurt. (Think of a real smoggy day.)
While ozone high up in the atmosphere is a good thing, ground-level ozone can be very bad. In Sacramento’s case, it can be created by a combination of wildfire ash and other pollutants (usually nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds), intensified by bright sunlight and triple-digit heat.
Ground-level ozone can prevent a plant's leaves from properly doing their job. Ozone enters the leaf's stomata and burns the leaf's tissue.
Signs of ozone damage include dark stippling and bleaching of foliage. Plants lose their vigor and stop blooming or yielding fruit. Ozone damage weakens the plant and makes it much more susceptible to pests and disease.
Some plants are more prone to ozone damage than others. Researchers at the National Park Service surveyed plants in national parks and found hundreds of species with ozone sensitivity, ranging from asters to elderberries, sycamores and yarrow. Various maple, cherry, poplar and plum trees are all on the ozone-sensitive list.
In the meantime, tackle the ash and heat with the same remedy – water. Keep plants hydrated. Wash ash and soot from leaves. And look forward to lower temperatures later this week; more normal temperatures will not only bring some relief from the heat but reduce the change of ozone damage.
Comments
0 comments have been posted.Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
Thanks to Our Sponsor!
Local News
Sites We Like
Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
Powered by California Local
