Stay consistent with poinsettias

We have added several poinsettias to our home for the holidays. How do I keep them alive in the new year?

Keeping poinsettias another year is easy for some gardeners but a challenge for others. Consistent care and control of pest problems is the secret. During the holidays make sure the plants have a bright light location and water to keep the soil moist.

After the holidays, move your plants outdoors into filtered sun and continue watering. Also, begin fertilizer applications. A slowrelease product is best applied at the container rate. In mid-March give your plants new containers an inch or two larger in diameter. Also, prune them to about 12 to 18 inches high.

After a foot of growth, remove 4 to 6 inches of the ends of shoots. Repeat pruning after each foot of new growth until late August.

Our mango tree was blown over a few years ago and now after Hurricane Irma is leaning again. Should I upright the tree and see if it roots down again?

Conditions in your yard may make for poorer rooting of your mango tree. A compacted soil or shallow water table could prevent deep root growth and more susceptibility to storms. Unless the tree would affect structures, vehicles or pedestrians, why not give it another chance to re-establish? Make sure the new supports are strong and secure the tree in the upright position. Leave them in place for at least a year or until the tree is again firmly anchored in the ground.

I have plants I would like to air layer. Can this procedure be used at this time of the year?

Gardeners use air layering as an almost sure method of starting new plants from older ones. It is best performed when the plants are actively growing, which may not be during the cooler months. The technique leaves the plant portions intact but encourages rooting in soil or moss surrounding the above-ground stems. Air layers might be created now for foliage plants kept in warm places but would be best delayed for most landscape plants until spring growth begins.

We are growing pineapples in containers. What should we use to fertilize the plants and how often?

Grow the biggest pineapple plants and fruits with regular feedings. Without the needed nutrients, plants have a yellowish look and produce small fruits. Some gardeners like to fertilize their container plants with a water soluble product mixed as instructed on the label every other week during the warmer months.

Perhaps the best way to fertilizer pineapple plants in containers or in the ground is with a slow-release product every few months as instructed on the label. Slow-release products continually feed the planting to produce uniform growth and timely fruit production. Fertilizer applications are normally discontinued during January and February and resumed in March.

Our Awabuki viburnum plants have been shedding their leaves at the top. Is it all right to prune them back now?

Big glossy-leaved Awabuki viburnums have lots of problems. They may grow a nice hedge and are attractive individual plants but you must fight mites, chilli thrips or downy mildew to keep them from dropping leaves. They are also one of the first of the viburnums affected by cold.

Perhaps it is best to wait until mid-February to do major trimming of Awabuki viburnums. Cut them back as needed to obtain the shape and size planting you want. Get to know the problems that likely caused the leaf loss and then keep the sprays handy. Repeat applications of natural horticultural oils or soaps can normally control the mites and thrips but preventing downy mildew is going to take a fungicide.