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Wildfire brings more ozone problems



Blotchy green citrus leaves
These citrus leaves show ozone damage. (Photo
courtesy UC IPM)

Hot, smoky conditions
create high pollutant levels


Plants may be able to cope with wildfire smoke better than people. But ozone is another matter.

After prolonged exposure to two weeks of wildfire smoke, foliage on many plants in the greater Sacramento area are showing signs of ozone damage. It starts out as stippling – little dots all over large leaves. Or parts of leaves may look like they were sun-bleached white or silver.

In my Sacramento garden, I noticed it in particular on a large dahlia plant. Besides funky foliage, its vivid red petals also were bleached white at the tips. That bleaching was accompanied by a build-up of soot on its leaves.

Ozone is what happens when wildfire ash and other pollutants get “cooked” by triple-digit heat. It makes our eyes water and throats hurt. And there’s a lot of it right now.

According to Sacramento region air quality monitors, our air quality is rated “very unhealthy” for the next several days with particle levels remaining high, especially in El Dorado and Placer counties. Through at least Thursday, Sacramento is forecast to rate 250 on the Air Quality Index. (“Good” is below 50.)

While ozone high up in the atmosphere is a good thing, ground-level ozone can be dangerous. In our case, it’s 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.

Worried about the long-term effects of too much ozone, researchers and the National Park Service surveyed plants in national parks across the country and found hundreds of species with ozone sensitivity from ash and asters to sycamores and yarrow. Maple, cherry, polar and plum trees are all on the ozone-sensitive list. Find it here:
https://irma.nps.gov/NPSpecies/Reports/Systemwide/Ozone-sensitive%20Species%20by%20Park

Meanwhile, keep plants hydrated. Wash ash and soot from leaves.  Lower temperatures later this week may bring some ozone relief, too.

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Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 9

Be careful walking or working in wet soil; it compacts easily.

* Keep the irrigation turned off; the ground is plenty wet with more rain on the way.

* February serves as a wake-up call to gardeners. This month, you can transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.

* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.

* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and cauliflower – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).

* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.

* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.

* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.

* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.

* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.

* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.

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