It’s time for garden questions and answers again! Remember, send
your questions to me via e-mail at: ga********@jp*.net.
”
Or you can send questions by mail in care of this newspaper.
Please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you want a
personal response.
And now, on with this month’s garden questions and answers.
It’s time for garden questions and answers again! Remember, send your questions to me via e-mail at: ga********@jp*.net.” Or you can send questions by mail in care of this newspaper. Please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you want a personal response.
And now, on with this month’s garden questions and answers.
Q. I know it’s difficult to get poinsettias to bloom again for next season’s holidays – putting them in closets and stuff. However, what are the chances of them growing well if I just plant them? – P.L., Hollister, via e-mail.
Well, you have the closet thing down. It is indeed difficult to ever get your leftover poinsettias to bloom again next season. That’s because they require 12 hours of darkness a day for a minimum of three months to get them to bloom again. This requires diligence, such as placing them in a closet or under a large box, and then remembering to take them out, etc.
But I’m sorry to tell you that simply planting them outdoors is signing a death warrant. That’s because they’ll just freeze and die. You may have a slight chance of them surviving if you can keep them alive indoors until all danger of frost is past. Then, let’s say, at the end of March or sometime in April, go ahead and plant them in a somewhat protected spot outdoors. If you’re lucky, they’ll grow and get established before next winter and be strong enough to survive outdoors if we have a very mild winter.
However, they’ll never bloom again unless you go through that whole darkness thing.
Q. I just moved into a house and, what I thought was a very attractive groundcover in the front flower bed, turns out to be mint. I know how invasive mint is. What is the safest and surest way of eradicating it before the mint chokes out everything in the flower bed and starts in on the lawn? — J.J., Gilroy, via e-mail.
The surest method of eradication is to spray a contact weed killer, such as Roundup or Finale. Both are systemic herbicides that kill by inhibiting enzymatic action in the plant (or weed) cells. Basically, they prevent food production, and the plant starves and dies. Once it is absorbed by the
leaves, glyphosate spreads throughout the leaves, roots and stems by systemic action. I would hold off on spraying, though, until it both warms up and dries up. Rain will just wash the solution off, and it also works best in warm weather.
Q. I have a dwarf Robertson naval orange tree that I neglected to water part of last summer. It ended up dropping a large portion of its fruit. Then, I began watering and the tree blossomed and tiny, new fruit formed. Will these fruits mature or did I stunt the tree forever? – Q.M., Morgan Hill, via e-mail.
You’re lucky because citrus fruits are very forgiving, and you don’t even have to say you’re sorry. Plants start over each season, so there will be no carry-over problems from last year. The present oranges will mature and be edible, but they may not reach their normal size because of the shorter growing season this time around.
Q. I have an old rose bush in my garden. It recently has gotten some sort of disease with white stuff all over it. When I touch the leaves, the white stuff falls off. What can I do? – D.V., Morgan Hill.
Blame powdery mildew. These diseases are caused by fungi that appears as white or gray circular patches on leaves. Most modern roses are more resistant to this disease than old-timers. Pick off and destroy infected leaves and flowers. You can also spray with products, such as Doo-spray, sulfur, copper soap fungicide and even baking soda mixtures.
Q. We have several sago palms in front of our house, and the outer leaves turn yellow. The ones closer to the house are fine. Can you tell me what the problem is and what kind of fertilizer I can give it? – B.H., Gilroy.
It sounds like your sago palms are getting sunburn! That’s why the outer ones are turning yellow, but the ones closer to the house are fine. I’m willing to bet that the ones closer to the house are somewhat shaded. Also, sago palms tend to die from the bottom up, so keep them looking good by cutting off the dead fronds as they die.
There’s not much you can do about the yellowing leaves. You can try to keep your sago palms healthier by fertilizing with Ironite or liquid iron. This will help some on yellow leaves, but won’t be cure-all.
