Best times to plant watermelon seeds
Question: We would like to grow a watermelon. Is there still time to start the planting?
Answer: You have missed the good planting weather, but just for fun, stick a few seeds or transplants in the ground. Watermelons need about 100 days of warm weather to produce an edible melon. If the warm, late fall and winter weather of recent years continues, you may get a watermelon for Christmas. The best times to sow seeds for watermelons are early March and early August.
Q: Nearby morning glories are growing among my roses and look so nice when they are both in bloom. Do I let the vines grow or remove them?
A: No matter how attractive this combination may be, it is not a healthy companionship for the roses.
All vining plants compete for foliage sites when mixed with trees, shrubs and perennials. Do your
roses a favor and send the vines up a trellis, maybe to the side or in back of the planting.
Q: I could not resist purchasing five small, bright yellow mums. Where would you plant them for best growth and flowering?
A: Mums, which is short for chrysanthemums, are often available in pint-size containers. They are cute but not going to make much of a display unless they are spaced with the outer blooms just about touching. They are best used in containers clustered together to use where color is needed. Resist spacing them out in the
garden where they offer limited eye appeal. Good garden displays are made from gallon-size or larger mums spaced with the plants almost touching.
Regretfully, mums only flower for a short period of time due to the early fall heat. If cut back after the first blooms fade, they can produce more flowers for the late fall and winter months. A good time to buy mums is late October and November, when the weather is cool and the blooms last longer.
Q: One of my rose bushes is receiving too much shade. Is now a good time to move it to a sunnier spot?
A: Delay this move until the cooler weather to be most successful. Hot weather is no time to move rose bushes unless it is necessary. If you must move the plant, cut it back to about 2 feet tall and wide and make the move. Thoroughly moisten the soil the day before transplanting and try to get an intact ball of soil with the roots. Increase your success by transplanting to a container, where you control the water and sunlight. Keep the plant in the filtered sun for a month or more, then gradually move into full sun. When cool weather arrives, add this reestablished rose to the flower garden.
Q: Boring insects are affecting my butternut squash. Is there a companion plant that would be a deterrent and natural control?
A: Seldom do companion plants keep away the bad bugs in Florida gardens. Some may seem to work by providing food for the bugs for a while, but then they move over to the desired crops. Others offer an unappetizing fragrance to us, but you cannot fool the bugs. But there is good news: Two natural sprays are available and both are often labeled for use in organic vegetable gardens.
Select either Thuricideor a spinosad-containing product to control the larva stages of moths feeding on squash plants and fruits. Follow the label instructions. Both products are normally available from independent garden centers.
Q: I planted a small lemon tree a year ago. When does it need pruning?
A: Give your tree several years to grow before major pruning may be needed to reshape the trees. During the early years, do no more than remove shoots from below the graft, tip back errant shoots and thin congested limbs, if needed. Allow your trees to gain in size to eventually bear a good crop of lemons.
Q: I have a very mature holiday cactus in a 10-inch diameter container that appears quite root-bound. Should I repot it into a 12-inch container now or wait until spring?
A: Holiday cactus prefer a cramped lifestyle, so it’s good to keep them a bit root-bound. Probably it’s best to delay this transplant job until spring. At this is the time of the year, growth has slowed and the plants should soon initiate the flowering process. During the fall and winter months, stop all feedings by midSeptember and only water when the surface soil feels dry to the touch. Keep your plant out of the nighttime light and you should have flowers for the holidays.
Q: A poinsettia is growing well in my landscape but was planted near a nighttime light. Remind me when to cover the plant and what to use as fertilizer?
A: It’s lights out at dusk and back on at dawn starting in mid-October for your poinsettia plantings. All they want is natural daylight. Being faithful with the coverings should reward you with colorful poinsettias by early December. The covers are usually not needed once the plants show their colorful bracts. Continue to feed the plants with monthly applications of a general landscape fertilizer or use a slowrelease product as instructed on the label.
Tom MacCubbin is an urban horticulturist emeritus with the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service. Write him: Orlando Sentinel, P.O. Box 2833, Orlando FL 32802. Email: TomMac1996@aol.com.
Blog with Tom at OrlandoSentinel.com/tomdigs.