Noisy, harmless cicadas don’t hang around long

By Walter Reeves

Q: This week I heard a sound coming from the woods that sounded like a fan running with a bearing that needs oil. It is loud enough that you can hear it from several hundred yards. Any ideas?
— Marty Wilson, Madison

A: I’m pretty certain you’re hearing the rasping screech of periodical cicadas. They have been emerging for more than a week in Middle Georgia.

Few are seen in Atlanta because our landscapes have been so disrupted over the past 100 years that the periodical cicada population is minuscule.

These cicadas live underground for 13 years, then hatch for a couple of weeks. After leaving their soil cells, they molt out of their translucent skin and climb trees to make mating calls by rubbing their wings.

When thousands are calling at the same time, the noise is quite loud. They are harmless and will disappear in a week or so.

Q: My brother’s home had many pine trees around it that were snapped at varying heights by the recent tornadoes. Will these trees have to be taken down or is there any way they can survive?
— David Batchelor, e-mail

A: They will have to be taken down. Pines don’t re-sprout new limbs like broad-leafed hardwood trees. However, if the slowly decaying trunks don’t pose a hazard to nearby objects, they could be left in place to provide habitat for woodpeckers.

Q: Do you have any tips for growing giant pumpkins? A friend sent me and other people packets of his giant pumpkin seeds as a Christmas gift. We are all going to compete and decide the winner at year’s end. — Cate Bowman, Sandy Springs

A: There are four key tips for growing giant pumpkins: full sunshine, regular fertilizing and watering, managing pests and removing all but a few of the fruit.

You can wait until mid-May, when soil temperatures are very warm, to plant your seed.

Remember that the vines spread to cover a big area. I’ve posted a collection of pumpkin-growing tips at xrl.us
/giantpumpkin.

Q: Where can I buy the floating row cover for vine borer moth prevention? — Tom McGrath, Atlanta

A: Call your local nursery; I’ve see it recently at several of them. Also called “freeze cloth,” this lightweight material can be draped over young squash plants to prevent vine borer moths from laying eggs on plant stems. Remove the cover when female flowers appear.

Q: If using 10-10-10 fertilizer, what is the correct amount to use when planting a tomato?
— Fred and Faye Harris,
e-mail

A: You don’t need much, perhaps a teaspoon of 10-10-10 at planting. When the plant starts setting fruit, apply three tablespoons per plant.

Repeat every four to six weeks thereafter throughout the growing season. Sprinkle the fertilizer six inches from the plant’s stem to avoid fertilizer burn.

Q: I purchased a Butterfly Japanese maple tree last fall. However, there are a few leaves sprouting that do not look like its normal delicate pale green leaves trimmed in cream and pink. They are big and green. — Randolyn Friedlander, e-mail

A: “Butterfly” Japanese maple is beautiful but the variegated leaves can sometimes revert to solid green. If you do nothing, eventually the green leaves and branches will take over the tree. Clip them off whenever you notice them.

Listen to Walter Reeves 
6-10 a.m. Saturdays on AM 750 and 95.5 FM News-Talk WSB. Visit his website, www.walterreeves.com, or join his Facebook Fan Page at xrl.us/wrfacebook for more garden tips.