How to improve sandy soil for gardening
roots are not happy.
Next time, grow your plants in good potting soil and supplement it with composted manure if you wish. Also, choose one product to fertilize your plants and not a regimen of a number of nutrients. Too much of any combination of products can cause nutrient imbalances and the symptoms noted. Many like to select a specific tomato fertilizer and others use a general container product.
All grow great tomatoes.
My 3-year-old orange tree is loaded with fruits that are causing the limbs to bend way down. Do I have to pick off some of the fruits to prevent damage to the tree?
Such a bumper crop can harm your tree by causing limb breakage, but it is difficult to remove the fruits. If it was my tree, I would prop up the limbs until harvest time. Then in early February do the needed pruning to reduce the spread of the tree and give the limbs more time to enlarge and strengthen. Most likely, next year’s crop is going to be a lot lighter, as trees often get into an every other year heavy bearing habit.
Our mango tree has a good crop this year that should ripen soon. Do I continue to fertilize the tree with fruits present?
Mango trees like regular feedings usually in late February, June and early October. If you skipped the June feeding, then apply a light application of mango or citrus fertilizer now. Then resume the normal feeding schedule in early October. If the tree has adequate water, the fertilizer can only help fruit production
Our pineapple plant has a large fruit that is starting to turn orange. What do we do with the old plant after we remove the fruit? Can we root the top?
Saved pineapple plants can give another harvest within a year with good care, including water and fertilizer. Once the fruit is removed, the parent plant sends out shoots to bear the next harvest. Some shoots may have already formed and could flower and fruit next year. Fertilize monthly with a garden product March through October. Water when the soil begins to dry. Root the top of the fruits to expand the planting and produce even more pineapples.
What appears to be a fungal leaf spot is developing on our hydrangea plants. What should we do?
Hydrangeas are fungal bait in Florida and often one reason they decline. Make sure your plants are growing in an airy spot with morning sun and afternoon shade or a full day of filtered sun. Then try to keep the foliage dry when watering. You cannot control the rains and this wetting of the foliage may encourage fungal growth at any time. Keep a general fungicide labeled for leaf spots handy and apply when the leaf spots are first noted. Then make repeat applications during damp weather, following label instructions.
Our hibiscus is flowering but starting to grow too tall for the site. When should it be pruned?
Several winters without cold damage have left many shrubs growing out of bounds. It is hard to prune a shrub with blooms, but sometimes you have to do at least a little trimming. Ideally mid-February toward the end of the cold weather is the best time to do major pruning. At this time, you can remove the cold damage and reshape the shrubs. During the summer, while most plants are flowering, you might consider doing a little grooming.
Perhaps all you need to do at this time is remove out-of-bounds shoots that affect other plants, hibiscus care or visitors enjoying your landscape. By only removing these few shoots, you can keep as many of the flowering stems as possible. Then, if Mother Nature does not do the pruning next winter, you should reshape and reduce the hibiscus as needed.