Nighttime light can cause delay in Christmas cactus blooms
Question. I see lots of Christmas cactus in bloom at stores. Why isn’t mine even showing a bud? Answer. Store displays of Christmas and holiday cacti have been given short days during early fall to bring them into bloom. These plants need only daytime light to form buds and flowers at this time of the year. Similarly, poinsettias and kalanchoe only want the dawn to dust light. Any nighttime light from within the home, on porches or even streets can stop or delay flowering. If your Christmas cactus is in a room where it receives even flashes of nighttime light, it may not flower. It will likely flower a bit later if moved to a better nighttime light-free location.
Q. Several ixora are growing in our landscape and doing well. What type of care do they need to keep them attractive?
A. Ixora are looking good thanks to a few mild winters with minimal cold damage. These are tropical plants that love the warm to hot weather. When winters are warm, the plants can continue to flower yearround and make good growth. Your plants seem to be in a location where all their needs are being met. Many ixora are planted near sidewalks and foundations of homes where the soils become alkaline. This results in a loss of plant vigor and causes them to develop yellow leaves. Make sure the planting site is acid, similar to the conditions provided for azaleas. You might even use an azalea fertilizer to feed the plants once in March, May and October. If needed, a minor nutrient spray or soil treatment could be applied at the first hit of yellowing to supply iron and manganese.
Q. I still see tomato plants for sale. Isn’t it too late for planting?
A. Gardeners love their tomato plants, so garden centers make them available almost yearround. Should you only want plants for their foliage, they should survive until the first frost or freeze. If protected from severe cold, they could grow through spring. Regretfully, fruit production is very limited during short days and when temperatures dip below 55 degrees Fahrenheit at night. Keep the plants in full sun, as warm as possible and moist. Fertilize monthly, and you may obtain a few tomatoes.
Q. Something is clipping the edge of my bean leaves and folding them over. What is this critter, and what should I do? It is almost harvest time.
A. Just as your beans are about to produce a harvest, in comes the bean leaf roller caterpillars. Actually, this might be called a bean leaf folder, as the clipped edges collapse over the insects as they feed. These immature stages of moths start out as eggs and hatch to form the hungry lava stages. If few in number, they can probably be ignored or handpicked from the plants. Otherwise, select a natural control of Thuricide or a spinosadcontaining product usually found at independent garden centers. Follow label instructions as to the usually short waiting time before harvest. These insecticides have a low toxicity and are often used by organic growers and gardeners.
Q. I purchased two plumerias last spring and was told to remove them from the ground when the weather gets cold and replant them in spring. Have you ever heard of this before?
A. Snatching plants from the ground is usually a technique of last resort to save cold-sensitive specimens from an oncoming freeze. If the plants are that sensitive and the weather is so cold they might be damaged, it’s probably best to grow them in containers. Plumeria is cold sensitive and could freeze at 32 degrees, but locally, a covering tossed over the plants that extends to the ground plus a few outdoor lights set below can usually provide the protection needed. If they have grown tall and wide and the cold is imminent, they might be cut back and then the covers added.
Q. Banana plants in my yard are green but not producing. What type of fertilizer is going to help them produce a crop?
A. Give your bananas more time and fertilizer to help them produce their crop. Bananas require about 18 months of warm weather, from planting to fruit production. Locally cold winters often cause the plants to delay the crop. Good care during the warmer months includes keeping the soil moist and feeding with an 8-2-12 fertilizer or general garden fertilizer at least every other month, March through October. It’s also a good idea to keep a 2- to 3-inch mulch layer over the root system to prevent sandy soils from drying too quickly.
Q. We have older sweet viburnums that have started to die. Am I going to have to dig them up and replant the hedge?
A. Old viburnums develop lots of problems, and part of it may be our fault. They are often consistently sheared back to the same height and width and, over time, develop lots of dead stems. These declining portions often become infected, and the decay moves into the trunks. When this happens, the entire plant dies. It’s a little late, but periodic renewal pruning can help prevent the decline. This means cutting the plants way back every few years and removing some of the older and declining wood. This allows the hedge to rejuvenate and become full of vigorous new shoots. Regretfully, you may have to replace much of your hedge.