Home > Communications > [image: Communications] Disaster Information Resources Series [Image: Disaster Information Resources] These publications are designed to help Louisiana residents recover from floods, storms, extended power outages and other stressful, dangerous events. Horticulture Hints Newsletter [Image: Horticulture Hints] A quarterly newsletter from the Horticulture Division of the LSU AgCenter's School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences. Louisiana 4-H Museum hunting for items (Distributed 10/13/08) The Louisiana 4-H Foundation is conducting a “scavenger hunt” in a quest to find memorabilia for display in the new Louisiana 4-H Museum in Mansura. Harvest brings more bad news for La. cotton industry (Distributed 10/13/08) Cotton harvest is wrapping up across Louisiana, and the situation is not good, according to industry observers.  more articles... Dividing perennials helps plants bloom better (Audio 10/13/08) Many of our perennials grow from clumps. The clumps become larger and larger each year and may need to be divided. This segment of Get It Growing has advice for Louisiana gardeners about dividing perennials. (Runtime: 60 seconds) Fertilize carefully in fall (Audio 10/13/08) Gardeners must be careful about what they fertilize this time of the year. Nitrogen can stimulate plants that need to start preparing and shutting down for winter. (Runtime: 60 seconds) Prepare flower beds for cool-season plants (Audio 10/13/08) As the weather cools in October, many of the warm-season bedding plants in Louisiana gardens begin fading. Gardeners can pull those plants out and start preparing their flower beds for cool-season bedding plants. But they should decide what they want before going to the nursery. (Runtime: 60 seconds) Scale insects can infest a variety of plants (Audio 10/13/08) Gardeners should be on the lookout for scale insects in their landscapes. These insects often are under a protective covering and don't move, so it’s easy to overlook them. Camellias and gardenias are commonly infested with scale insects. (Runtime: 60 seconds) Fall pruning should be selective (Audio 10/13/08) Gardeners should be cautious when pruning in the fall. Pruning shrubs now can encourage new growth, and that new growth won't have time to harden off before winter starts. (Runtime: 60 seconds) Soybean losses large in some areas (Radio News 10/13/08) The outlook for soybeans across the state is mixed. Some fields saw little damage from the hurricanes Gustav and Ike; others saw more. LSU AgCenter soybean specialist Dr. Ronnie Levy says it is still hard to determine exactly how much damage the storms did to the crop. (Runtime: 60 seconds) La. cotton growers, industry struggling (Radio News 10/13/08) The 2008 cotton crop was an expensive crop to grow. High fuel and fertilizer costs were couple with high seed costs. LSU AgCenter cotton specialist Dr. Sandy Stewart says Louisiana cotton growers and the industry are struggling. (Runtime: 60 seconds) Yields low in La. cotton fields (Radio News 10/13/08) The cotton harvest is wrapping up across Louisiana, and LSU AgCenter cotton specialist Dr. Sandy Stewart says the situation is not good. Yields are down significantly. Growers are harvesting around 500 pounds to the acre, when, in an average year, a grower would get closer to 900 pounds. (Runtime: 60 seconds) Diseases affect some soybean fields (Radio News 10/13/08) Some soybean farmers have dealt with any array of problems this year. Green bean syndrome, an issue where beans stay green and don’t mature, has shown up in some fields. LSU AgCenter soybean specialist Dr. Ronnie Levy explains. (Runtime: 60 seconds) Economist offers advice during financial crisis (Radio News 10/13/08) The economic crisis has left many Americans uncertain and worried about their financial futures. Looking at the crisis from an historical perspective, an LSU AgCenter family economist says individuals shouldn’t panic. (Runtime: 60 seconds) More...