North Shore Gardener January 2009

Photo: F. Cunningham

Jan 7: Dry ends on plants, Dracaena, Geraniums, Gardening barefoot, Clay pot question

Dry ends on plants
Q: Plants have been doing quite well over the holidays – but I guess I’ve ignored a problem. Suddenly the tips – the end needles of my Norfolk pine and also some fern leaves and the very tips of my peace lily -are beginning to dry out and get brown. Is this a bug or some other problem and what can I do to fix it? Should I cut the brown part off?

A: The leaf tips are turning brown because of a huge lack of humidity indoors in winter. The air in a heated house in the winter is very DRY - often below 20%. Your skin is probably noticing it, too – you’re using more hand lotions and moisturizing skin cream in the winter – and yet your sin feels dry. But there are no moisturizing lotions for your plants leaves. So the only cure or help, for you and your plants – is to increase the humidity in the house by adding moisture to the air with water pans, a humidifier, pebble pans beneath the plants – your plants and your skin will both feel the difference!
It’s simple: Depending on the type of heating system you have, you can dry bath and kitchen towels in front of a heating vent, or on a radiator, or on a rack near any heat source – vent an electric dryer (not a gas dryer) into the house during the winter if this is practical – a kettle or pot simmering on the stove, helps too!
Don’t try cutting off the brown ends of leaves – the cut ends will produces more brown ends and they’re still unattractive…you may have to remove the entire leaf.
Do what you can – and this problem should be over when spring – and higher humidity returns!

Dracaena
Q: This is a picture of my houseplant. I think it’s some kind of palm and I’m wondering if I can cut it in the places my fingers are pointing to. I have two small shoots coming out with, it looks like, root nubs below them. The other area is a little further up the stem and is also nubs. Can I cut it just below the nubs and put it in water or use rootone to develop roots?

A: Your houseplant is a dracaena Marginata - and it can be cut and rooted. You probably won't need a rooting hormone like Rootone - just cut it and press the piece into some damp peat or potting soil - and you should have the beginning of a tiny new plant in a few weeks.
Or if the plant is very tall and leggy, it can be air layered and rooted, producing a plant of more manageable size.

Geraniums
Q: My problem is my 4 geraniums from on my deck. I have now brought them in. They are growing well also. Now the flowers are gone. The only place I can put them is on the NE windowsill, other than in our storage room with no windows. Will they be O.K.? Do they go through a rest period? Should I water/feed them as usual?
- Pauline

.A: A northeast window will only provide enough light for mere maintenance for a geranium. Don't expect flowering in this reduced light over the winter. Geraniums are perennials in hot, somewhat dry, sunny climates - not here in New England unless given similar conditions! Reduce watering over the winter - any new growth will be thin.
After the first of the year, cut them back and allow new growth - fertilize and water when needed, but don't let them stand in water. Consider using some grow lights!

Some gardeners hold geraniums quite dry in a dark, cool cellar all winter, and then bring them back into normal sunny conditions in the early spring.
Years ago, when people had reliably cool, dark cellars and sheds, where the temps remained very cool but not freezing, and moisture was constant, gardeners would remove the plants from pots and hang the drying plants from the ceiling, replanting the remaining roots and stems in the late winter.
I think the safest way is to try to keep them live, on your windowsills, if you have the room - they won't be as beautiful as they were all summer, but you'll have a better chance of saving them!

Gardening barefoot - (he’s dreaming!)
Q: I usually garden barefoot. Are there parasites I can pick up through my feet from dirt or aged manure or cats, or is that mostly in the South or tropics?

A: Gardening barefoot is not a great idea! Yes, parasites do exist in manure - and if cats and dogs use the garden as their toilet, the danger increases! And there is always the danger of stepping on a sharp object: a stone a nail or a piece of plastic or a tool!
At least wear sandals when gardening to protect the soles of your feet. And be sure your tetanus shot is up to date each year!

Clay pot question
Q: I have a very large clay pot, unglazed, that has a crack running up and down. Is there a way of repairing the crack and still use it for flowering plants next summer? I hot-glued it on the inside last summer and it was OK but now the glue has peeled off. I hate to toss this magnificent pot. Thanks for any help you can give.
J.M.

A: -I'm a saver, too! But saving a cracked clay pot is very difficult - it's easier to mend on that has broken through completely. ....then at least you have edges to glue together!
But sometimes it is possible to literally tie the pot - and keep it together!
Try using a nylon cord to bind it at the rim - I assume this is a standard shape clay flower pot - wider at the top with a rim, narrowing to a slightly narrower base - if you tie it in the body of a sloped pot, the tie will slide down! Tie it at the rim!! Or tape it-
Staples has a huge assortment of packing tape - the one I use is clear and looks like duct tape and is available in a large cutter roll for a few dollars. There are even stronger kinds of packing tape which have a fiber in them- but are more visible.
This is really a makeshift repair - but it may get you through another season if you treat the pot very gently!

This week’s dirt…………………………………………………………
Yesterday was 12th Night – it’s officially the end of the holiday season. According to custom, all greens must be out of the house today – If by chance you still have greens in the house today, you must keep them - or bad luck will follow for the entire year!
Let Mother Nature dispose of your old greenery, not the trash men:
Wreaths, trees and roping - they all have an after-life: roping and wreathes can be used as winter protection for spring bulbs and perennials buried in your garden – and the tree can be recycled as a bird feeder! Just stick it in a snow bank and hang suet blocks and peanut butter filled pinecones on it for your feathered friends – or just let it be used as shelter from the next storm –
Whatever you do - don't burn any dry greens in the stove or fireplace.
ALL pines and firs contain tars, which easily go up in the flames, coating the interior chimney walls, then igniting and causing chimney, and house and roof fires.
You may think that you have just a handful of needles and branches - and you might be tempted to burn them in a fireplace. PLEASE DON’T DO IT! It's much too dangerous. Dry pine gets out of control when burned. Flames quickly flare back into the room – and you and your home won’t stand a chance!

Jan 14: Amaryllis, Lawn damage, Winter window boxes , Rocks as mulch

Amaryllis
Q: I recently saw some leftover boxes of amaryllis bulbs on sale that were probably meant for Christmas gifts – they were the kind of bulbs that come in a cardboard box with a plastic pot and a bag of soil - but the bulbs had already sprouted although the bulbs hadn’t even been planted yet – some were even sprouting through the box! They were about half price – but I don’t want to buy them if they won’t grow – what do you think? Are they a good risk?

A: I would certainly take a chance on them! But be sure the emerging bulb tips aren’t damaged and the bulbs aren’t rotting and mushy and soft.
Before you plant the bulbs, soak them in warm water for a few hours – then plant them in a clay pot, not in the plastic pot they come with – as you probably know, amaryllis are very top heavy when in bloom and need the weight of a clay pot or they’ll tip over. Pot in a good potting soil that you have bought – not the plain dried peat that is generally supplied in the box... Place in a warm, sunny window and watch it grow.
The first thing to sprout is usually a leaf – but as the sprout continues to grow and more sprouts appear, you can tell if the sprout is a leaf or a flower: A leaf tip is well-rounded, and the flower stalk has a slight depression in the tip–
Stake the flower stalk so it doesn’t fall over and break – but if it does, recut the broken flower stem cleanly and enjoy it in a vase of water. Enjoy your bargain amaryllis – this year and for years to come. These sale bulbs can be a very good deal!

Lawn damage
Q: This might seem like a summertime problem for you, but for me it’s not. During a recent thaw, I noticed that the grass was brown in a circle in one spot near the edge of the driveway and lawn. Several days later, I noticed that several of the neighborhood dogs were frequenting this spot to do their business. How can I fix this spot? And maybe more important, how can I stop it?

A: Grass and shrub damage caused by a dog urinating on the same small spot on the lawn is not just a summertime problem!
During winter, dogs do seem to flock to the same spot, because of ease in the packed snow, as well as concentrated smell. And in winter, you can easily see offensive spots, particularly in confined areas. And you know that come spring, the grass will be dead under these spots.
Urine is almost pure nitrogen – which is a growth stimulating fertilizer – we put it on the lawn every spring. But when applied to plants at high concentrations, it burns, – whether the source is from a bag of fertilizer, or the neighbor’s dog! Sometimes you will see a ring of lush, green growth around the urine spot – this is where it has diluted with rain or snow.
What can you do right now to prevent these spots?
Train your dog to go to one a specific spot. – (Too bad you can’t train the neighbors’ dogs as well) – then protect, or rather camouflage that spot with plenty of mulch to mask the lack of grass. Dogs have to go somewhere and will return to the same spot– so make the spot your choice not theirs - and protect your lawn!

What if the damage has already been done?
Flush browning or yellow spots with water if you get the chance within 3-4 hours. Remember that urine is almost pure nitrogen and in that concentration, burns the lawn. Chemicals neutralizers, like Wizz Away, will neutralize the spot, - but do nothing to repel stray dogs from the area. You can repel dogs with various commercial repellant sprays such as Liquid Fence, or Natural Dog Repel, made with lemon grass – or try a homemade scent repellant of ammonia, vinegar or alcohol soaked cotton balls placed in the area – different dogs are repelled by different scents, so keep trying!

Want to get to the root of the problem? Some vets say that giving a dog one-tablespoon of V8 tomato juice cocktail twice a day with meals seems to neutralize the urine! Don’t know why it’s V-8 that works and why plain tomato juice wouldn’t work – but V-8 is what I’m told to use! And have a talk with the dog’s owners – the dogs should not be running around without a leash.

Winter window boxes
Q: My big – but empty-window boxes in the front of the house look so lonely now – what can I do that’s not expensive – to make them look better until spring?

A: Nothing lonelier than an empty window box in January as the winds howl and the snow falls!
With luck, last fall you emptied the box – if not, you’ll have to bring it in to a garage of cellar where the temps are above freezing and let it thaw out before you start to fill it. If the box is empty fill it with sand – or cheap packaged top soil.
Stuff the box with evergreens – they will last through the rest of the winter. The greens can be cut from your yard – or sometimes a nursery has bunches of greens for sale. You can add a bit of color with a few branches of colored berries – or even a plastic or fabric artificial flower or two. In the next month or two, you can add some pussy willows or witch hazel or forsythia to the greens.
Soak the sand or soil – it will freeze when you place the box outdoors again and hold everything in place, as well as providing a trace of moisture for the evergreen branches …and you’ll have a no care, no worry window boxes till the real flowers return.

This week’s dirt…………………………………………………………
Gardening on the windowsill – check supplies!
Be sure you have the following supplies for indoor gardening this winter:

Pots - a few pots – one of your plants is sure to need repotting over the winter – the cat night knock a plant off the shelf and you’ll need to repot it in a hurry.

Soil – a bag of potting soil – buy a bag full. Don’t reuse soil from other potted plants – but do save used soil to put in the garden this spring.

A spray bottle of bug killer – sold premixed in a spray bottle for general use indoors. “What bugs?” you may say? “I don’t have bugs!” But you surely brought some in before the weather turned cold…..and they’ll love your warm house! Don’t let them multiply!

A general fertilizer for houseplants – your plants will be resting, not growing much over the winter – but some may need a dose of half-strength fertilizer. Come early spring, plants will spring into life and growth and will be begging for food as they begin to grow again. Be ready a weekly meal of Miracle Gro!
And very soon it will be time to start seeds for the garden – more about that in the coming weeks!

Jan 21: Snow removal from shrubs and trees, Birdhouse placement, Scale on orchid, Plant ID

Snow removal from shrubs and trees
Q: With all the ice and snow we’re having this winter I always am worried about the weight of wet snow and particularly the layers of ice that freeze on the shrubs and trees. Should I attempt to remove it or is ice like a blanket of protection from the cold like snow is on the plants on the ground? Thanks!

A: The winter certainly has been wicked! A light fluffy layer of snow does indeed act as a blanket. Fluffy snow can be gently/carefully brushed off of lower shrubs and trees with your hands or a broom or even a leaf rake. Don’t attempt to climb up on a ladder to perform this chore – it’s far too dangerous – use a long-handled brush or rake and stay grounded.
When it comes to layers /coating of ice, or wet, heavy snow, it’s a different matter: Leave it alone! Attempting to crack the ice off of the branches will damage the branches - leave it alone until it melts naturally. Yes, wind will also damage an ice covered tree or shrub, but there is nothing you can do about it.

Birdhouse placement
Q: We were given a beautiful Victorian birdhouse for Christmas. When is the proper time to put it outside?

A: Be sure the birdhouse is meant to be used outdoors – many of the beautiful, decorative houses sold are meant solely for indoor decoration – not for actual use as birdie condos! Inquire about the safely of the paint and weather resistant construction from the manufacturer.
Birdhouses should be placed outdoors as early as possible. Although many birds won’t be arriving for a few months, many breeds send scouts ahead of the main migration – they’re looking for good safe homes – high on poles or trees or tucked into corners of the house, near good food, either home grown in gardens or in feeders or both! -, and good water supply for the rest of the flock who will be arriving soon.
Don’t be too worried if your new birdhouse is not occupied immediately – birdies are suspicious and leery of any change – and your beautiful bird house is a strange new structure in the neighborhood. It can take time, as long as a season or two, for birdies to find and accept a new dwelling that suddenly has appeared in the neighborhood.

Scale on orchid
Q: I have been growing some orchids and doing fairly well with them. The other day when I was watering them I saw what looks like scale only it is brown. Is it? I wiped all the leaves down with alcohol and then I ran warm water over the leaves, but I don't think I got rid of all the scale. How often should I repeat the alcohol rub down? Also how often should you repot an orchid and what should I use?
L.P.

A: Sorry about the bugs! From the description, it certainly could be scale – it appears in several color but brouwn and green are the most common - it's one of the most difficult "bugs" to get rid of –and it’s quite contagious! Scale is built like tiny armored vehicles - sort of like a turtle with a protective shell over it, making them almost impervious to the sprays needed to smother them!

The old fingernail scrape and alcohol - followed by a thorough water rinse - works well for orchids with sturdy leaves, like phalaenopsis, some vandas, cattleyas - but not as well with the more delicate leaf types. Can you identify the type of orchids that are infected?

And oil emulsion spray works well (Ced-O-Flora is an old respected one, but cannot be used on fuzzy leaves like African violets but is OK on most orchid foliage - test first, if you have any doubts)- it literally smothers the bug - and the sprays get into the cracks and crevices of the plant that you would never see. Horticultural soap sprays are also good and a bit milder - Safer's makes a good pre-mixed soap spray.

All de-bugging should be done repeatedly to catch the critter in all stages of life - repeat every week to ten days until you're sure they're completely gone.

Repotting the orchid:
What you plant your orchid in depends on the type of orchid you're planting - terrestrial orchids are different from epiphytic - so let me know! Orchids are potted in everything from coir fiber and fern fiber to chipped coconut shells, to various bark mulches - and sometimes even in soil! Drainage is very important - are you growing on the windowsill or in a greenhouse?
Let me have a bit more information and I'll try to help!

Plant ID
Q: First, I'm always reading your articles in the Salem News. Very helpful.
So, I can't seem to find my plant in my plant books. Hope I can describe it well enough for you.
It has a bunch leaves that look like palm leaves, the younger plants only have 4 or 5 and the older plants have 10+. They grow in a pot like a fan. I don't know if maybe they once were outdoor plants. Once a year usually in the spring one stem will poke up off one of the leaves and grow about a foot above the plant. Then, a little orchard or iris like flower will bloom for a little while. When it dies I take what's left of it (think tiny roots) and plant it. There I go with another plant. I have quite a few now and would like to give them away but I need a name. They originally came from an elderly couple in Ct. They had lots and lots in their window. Naturally I had to start growing them, now I'm overrun.....Help.
If you can give me a little to go on I'll look it up on the computer. Thanks if you can reply via e-mail. If you need a photo I can mail one to you (won't have the flower on it), I'm not too great with the computer so that's not an option. Thanks for help.
Gail, Danvers

A: Your letter was forwarded from the office today - thank you so much for the pictures!!
I think you have a "Walking Iris" - Neomarica gracilis (you will find it easily on the internet)
It is grown only as a houseplant in our climate zone, but is widely used as sort of a ground cover in the South. It spreads rapidly by bending the blooming stem to the ground, where it blooms, bends over and takes root - and "walks" across your garden! In pots indoors, you can encourage it to do the same thing by allowing the blooming and bending stem to root in another pot of soil!!
Incidentally, a leading mail-order grower is offering “Walking Iris” for sale as a houseplant for about $20.for a small pot! So it would be a very desirable plant as a gift!

This week’s dirt…………………………………………………………
Have pity on your poor plants! Your windowsill may be too cold and drafty during sub-zero weather!
Most houseplants are tropicals. And those seeds you’ll be starting are very tender, too. Our drafty New England windowsills can be close to freezing, particularly at night! Check the temperatures on your windowsills – you’ll be surprised at the variance:
What to do:
Block those drafts with a rolled towel or rolled newspaper at the sills – secure with tape!
Don’t allow any foliage to touch the glass on these super-cold days and nights!
Relocate plants away from windows for a few cold weeks – a temporary move to a warmer spot with a little less light is better than a frigid window and frozen leaves.

Jan 28: Pussy willow rooting – and auxins, Avocado growing

Pussy willow rooting – and auxins
Q: I have enjoyed reading our column in the Salem News for many years.
We had to cut our pussy willow tree down to make room for an attached garage (happy about the garage, but sad about the tree) It was a place where birds and squirrels fed and played.
I want to return my yard to a mini nature preserve as soon as construction is finished. Will probably plant a mature tree in our yard to replace the old tree.
We took cuttings from the tree for sentimental reasons. The pussy willow branches are in a bucket of water in our basement. I am happy to see that they're sprouting roots! We didn't use hormones (should we have?)
Do you have any tips on care of the bucket of rooting branches until spring, and any tips to plant in the ground?
Thanks for your help
K., Beverly

A: Yes, willow branches root very easily and your branches will provide you with lots of new willow trees for your yard - how wonderful it is that you had the foresight to save them!
Save the rooted branches near a window with average to bright light and cool, but not freezing temperatures until time to plant in the spring – Unless you removed all the roots of your willow tree, you might find a sprout appearing over the next years! They're very hardy and prolific trees – so plant with care – roots will seek out water sources, including underground pipes and water mains.
Let me know how your plans develop for your wildlife sanctuary after your construction ends – it should be a wonderful project over the next years!

Whatever you do, save the water in the rooting bucket because “willow water” has almost magical qualities:
Willow branches contains auxin, a natural rooting hormone – so the saved water is useful for rooting other plants, as well as for spraying on new cuttings and pouring around other newly started plants to give them a boost -
Gather end pieces of willow branches in Jan and Feb and soak them in water – do it before late February -once buds start to develop on the willow, the auxin has been used up for the year, and will not be in a concentrate useful for your rooting stock. – But you can take cuttings in Jan/Feb, and store in Ziploc bags in the freezer for later spring use on later cuttings and seedlings. And it’s not just willows that produce auxins – but many of our local trees or shrubs have a high concentration of auxin at the ends of the branches in early spring. Branch cuttings can also be rooted in perlite, peat moss and sand, or vermiculite. Then use your auxin water to spray the leaves of cuttings after planting them in the rooting mix.
Very soft tissue cuttings of coleus, fuchsias or geraniums may not form a protective film on the cut end, so dipping the ends in the 'auxinated' water will work fine.
Heavier cuttings of older wood from geraniums or pelargoniums and most houseplants can be misted or sprayed with the auxin water. Misting with auxin is not a replacement for intermittent misting of cuttings buy spraying two or three times with auxin water during the first week of starting your cuttings in the root media, and some bottom heat should be enough to generate good roots
Once rooting begins, water your cuttings with the willow water, and save enough for their first drink after potting.

Avocado growing
Q: I’ve always wanted to grow an avocado – and finally I have the time to do it now at the holidays are over. What do I do besides buying an avocado at the market? Then what’s next?

A: A great time to start an avocado plant since avocados are in season – and they make large, attractive inexpensive houseplants – but don’t expect the tree to ever grow avocados! They seldom, if ever, bloom and fruit indoors unless they’re grown under artificial lights.

Most of the avocados we get are from Florida, California or South America – the Florida ones seem to be easiest to grow. Mexican varieties are smaller than the US cultivated avocados, usually about 6-10 ounces and glossy green. The West Indian varieties are enormous, weighing as much as 3 pounds. Various varieties of avocados ripen nearly year-round: right now you’ll find the Hass or the Lamb Hass varieties in the market – it has a green skin that turns black when ripe and is widely cultivated for the commercial market. Avocados are picked green and ripened off the tree – it takes about a week at room temperature to ripen – placing in a paper bag seems to speed up the ripening process – and some cooks swear they can ripen them faster by wrapping the avocado in foil for a few days. The flesh is delicious - soft and buttery when ripe. and is deep green near the skin, becoming yellowish nearer the single large, inedible ovoid seed – but it’s the seed we’re interested in! It will produce your tropical tree-.

Get set to grow a large houseplant for about $1:
Buy the avocado – cost at the market: about a dollar! Eat the avocado in a salad or make guacamole (A trivial fact: Americans consume the most avocados on Superbowl Sunday!! –You can bet it’s for guacamole!)
Save the seed! Clean it well under running water. Pierce the seed with three toothpicks about halfway down the side and suspend it in a glass of water – pointed end up – put in a warm place – a dim place is fine as long as it’s warm. You could also use a hyacinth vase, which is shaped to suspend a bulb, with the flat end in water, and pointed end up. Never let the end of the seed become dry, or it will die. Set the glass with the seed in a warm place – and keep your fingers crossed: some seeds never germinate! Give the seed at least 6 weeks to show signs of life:
First the seed will begin to split, and then the tiny root will begin to grow downward into the water from the flat end. Then a sprout will begin to grow up into the air from the pointed end and two tiny leaves will appear. Success!
Some growers skip the water -and prefer to start the seed in a good soil mixture, keeping the soil evenly moist and warm.
If you grow in water, once the seed sprouts, get it into a large pot with good potting soil as soon as possible - and begin fertilizing with a half strength general house plant fertilizer. Keep it evenly moist – and feed regularly. Don’t hesitate to prune the tall sprout several times the first year, beginning when the shoot is about a foot high to encourage branching. An avocado tree can get very tall – I have one that is about 20 years old and stands over 15 feet high. Late winter is the time to prune an adult tree, when necessary, to maintain size. In winter, give the plant as much sun as you possibly can. And when summer comes, you will want to gradually take the tree out to the deck or porch in full sun where it will give you a touch of the tropics – and all for just the cost of that delicious avocado!
When you bring the plant indoors in the fall, be prepared for the tree to shed leaves – it’s a deciduous tree and will recover if it’s given plenty of light and fertilized regularly – they’re hungry trees. Have fun this winter – or any time, growing your new houseplant for about a dollar!
Hint: It’s a great project for the kids, but takes a lot of waiting time! Not for the impatient!

This week’s dirt…………………………………………………………
Groundhog Day Feb 2! Can spring be far behind? 7 weeks ‘till spring –

Groundhog Day! It’s Candlemas Day, too!

“Candlemas Day! Candlemas Day! Half our wood and half our hay!”
-This is an old proverb - and it refers to the fact that winter is now half over – and you should still have “half of your firewood left to warm you and half of your hay left to feed your animals” ‘till winter’s over.
Candlemas Day replaced a pagan candlelight ceremony celebrating the return of light and longer days and the reinvigoration of the fields. Days are noticeably lighter now and getting longer.

In Scotland, and in much of northern England until the 18th century, Candlemas was one of the traditional “Quarter Days” when quarterly rents were due for payment, as well as the day or term for various other business transactions, including the hiring of servants.

In the United Kingdom, good weather at Candlemas is taken to indicate severe winter weather later:
"If Candlemas Day is clear and bright, winter will have another bite.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain, winter is gone and will not come again."

In France, Candlemas is celebrated with crepes, which must be eaten only after eight p.m. If the cook can flip a crêpe with one hand, while holding a coin in the other hand, the family is assured of prosperity throughout the coming year.

In certain regions of Mexico, this is the day in which the baby Jesus of each household is taken up from the nativity scene and dressed up in various colorful, whimsical outfits.

Sailors are often reluctant to set sail on Candlemas Day, believing that any voyage begun on the day will end in disaster — given the frequency of severe storms in February, that’s often true:
“If Candlemas is mild and pure, Winter will be long for sure.
When it storms and snows on Candlemas Day, Spring is not far away.
If it's bright and clear, Spring is not yet near.”

But how do we celebrate?
In the U.S. and Canada, Candlemas evolved into Groundhog Day celebrated on the same date, February 2.
It is thought to be the date that bear and wolves emerge from hibernation to check out the weather, and if they choose to return to their lairs on this day, it means that severe weather will continue for another forty days at least.
But we all know that no matter what animal emerges on that day, and no matter what they see, spring will inevitably arrive about 6 weeks later!