Carefully judge Internet information before using

Angela O'Callaghan

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008 | midnight

Angela O'Callaghan

When trying to grow anything, especially when confronting the challenges of the Mojave Desert, good information is critical.

We all rely on others for answers to certain problems. Textbooks may not be the best place to find immediate, practical help to get something in the ground and keep it alive. There are times when books, whether texts or written for the home gardener, do not have what you are looking for. You might not have access to the Master Gardener help line on a weekend, or if your phone is lost.

Many materials are on the Internet. There are so many Web sites with so much information, but not all of it is reliable. Not all materials on the Internet are screened for accuracy before they are posted. Just because you could find it with Google does not mean it is absolutely correct. And even though information may be correct, it is not necessarily useful.

The Internet is a very cosmopolitan tool. You might see guidance on plants that is perfectly helpful for gardeners in Minneapolis, Miami, Manila that will not help to grow anything in the desert southwest.

For instance, if you look up "gardening" on the Internet, you will find millions of sites, and a good number of them will be from England. England has a terrific horticultural tradition: wonderful gardens and the world's premier flower show. It also has over 40 inches of rainfall every year, and the temperatures never go much above 80 desgress. Much of the country has decent tillable soil, and the soil tends to be on the acidic side. Does that sound even remotely like the Las Vegas Valley? Or Caliente or Tonopah, for that matter?

Obviously, what might be very useful to someone in one climate is useless here.

I have found that many sites are from commercial enterprises. These often have very good gardening information. On the other hand, quite a few of them are as interested in selling a product as in educating the general public. This only makes sense; they are in business. Your own common sense must keep you from making a gospel out of something that is basically an advertisement.

If you are interested in something particular, some of the more popular plants and flowers have societies with Web sites that end in ".org" and type "begonia society" in your search engine and you will get 12,000 results.

The best information on the Internet is usually research-based, and that is where good commercial sites, and even garden clubs sites, get their materials.

When you type your search criteria into the engine, be as limiting as you can. Otherwise, 7 million hits for "gardening" or 12 million for "gardens" will appear. Look for the sites that are from universities in the general southwest area. I am not saying to ignore the others, but the information you get from the ".edu" sites is more likely to have been reviewed and based on actual research.

As temperatures get too chilly for planting, now is a good time to use your computer to dig up information for the spring.

Angela O’Callaghan is the area specialist in social horticulture for the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. She can be reached c/o the Home News, 2360 Corporate Circle, Third Floor, Henderson, NV 89074, or TheNews@hbcpub.com.