Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romero’s radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer systems. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona.
QUESTION: I’m a retired occupational therapist and want to install grab bars in my shower stall. But the only ones for sale are 36 inches or 24 inches long and that’s too big for the size of my shower, so I can’t mount them horizontally. I’m also mounting them on cultured marble walls with green boards and studs behind the walls. I think the marble panels will crack and pull away. So what can I do?
ANSWER: It’s true that you do have to secure grab bars with more than that a cultured marble wall to support them. You want to secure the bar with anchor toggle bolts that go into studs. Possibly you can put more backing into the wall itself. Sometimes it’s possible to go into a room next to the bathroom and strengthen the wall that is behind the shower.
Q: We have been harvesting half of our crop of sweet potatoes. During the summer, the potato plants produced beautiful green foliage that was almost like a ground cover in our yard. So they seemed to be doing very well. But now when we pull them out of the ground, they look like long, skinny carrots. Why did this happen? Last year we had a beautiful crop.
A: It may be too early to harvest those sweet potatoes. We usually pull them out of the ground closer to Thanksgiving. Another few weeks could certainly make a difference with the plants left to harvest. Applying phosphorus to the soil also helps with root development. As many farmers will tell you, you can have a great year in a vegetable garden and then have a bad year the next time around.
Q: I have had a reverse mortgage on my home for the past seven or eight years and I’ve kept on living there. Now I’m thinking of selling the house. So what will happen to all the interest that has accrued on the mortgage during those years I remained in the house?
A: That interest was added to the mortgage balance on your home. You should be able to see that new total on your monthly statements. When you sell, the unpaid interest gets deducted from the proceeds of your sale and you can take it as a tax deduction.
Q: I’ve had a lemon tree in my yard for several years and it’s gotten to be six feet tall, but it has never produced any lemons. I fertilize it once a year with citrus fertilizer. What am I doing wrong?
A: Actually, most lemon trees have to be in the ground in your yard for several years before they bear fruit. It might take a year or so more before yours produces lemons. During that time, you want to be sure the tree gets plenty of sunshine and you need to fertilize three key times a year – Labor Day, Memorial Day and Valentine’s Day. You can fertilize now if you wish, but don’t go overboard with fertilizer just because you’ve neglected this process in the past.
Q: I have four young ash trees in my yard that were doing well, then two got brown spots on their leaves and the leaves started falling off. Not long ago, I fertilized them without watering them first. So I fed the fertilizer on dry ground. Could that be the problem?
A: It could and then the fertilizer went into the trees in a more concentrated level. Or it’s possible that the trees are just suffering a bit from our recent hot weather. However, your trees are young and will probably recover. Soon they’ll be going dormant anyway for the winter.
