GARDENING Questions and Answers

[fluffymoat4]

Babs - regarding Passion Flowers- according to my book on climbers (and I do mean ALL climbers) - a sparseness of flowers usually indicates that a plant is potbound and needs a larger pot. Or that the roots are partially exposed.
On a different subject we've got a Morning Glory that refused to flower all this Summer - we noticed it was doing an awful lot of growing and twining though so just ignored it. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, it began flowering and, just like the Passion Flower, the flowers, once open, only last one day! It seems to develop a new flower(s) each day now though. This is another plant that needs overwintering in the Greenhouse (or Shed).

Hope everyone finds this new THREAD useful and can add their two penn'orth.

[stevenficus]

hi mo/babs

another tell tale sign that a plant is pot bound is as well little flowering the foliage near the bottom dies back a bit where at the top of the plant it still looks quite healthy its always best to place passion flowers in larger pot annually if its a fast growing cultivar or every 2 years if more slow growing also for better and longer flowering use a high potash based fertilizer 20% or above on the active ingredients label on your feed this is the method we use at work seems to work very well good luck
steve

[BABS]

hi Steven

Thanks for the info ,I have noted it down.
I thought I had perhaps cut it back too far,and that was the reason.
the top is healthy and the bottom is as well but the leaves look like really young leaves,not like last year.
I had loads of flowers off it last year ,but not one flower this year.

BABS

[fluffymoat4]

Thanks for that Steve - I certainly will be following your advice about the fertiliser. Hopefully you can pass on some more gardening tips - I'm sure you'll improve all our gardens no end.

[marie fernandes]

HI Little Mo, sorry I have done a booboo, put a message on to BABs re the passion flower, I hadnt seen the thread about Gardening tips. Anyway perhaps you and Babs can see it on Chatting. My small plant of 2 years is like a tree now, in the ground, leaves all winter and winding up the trellis. My flowers last more than one day and I never put fertilizer on my plants. The trouble is it is becoming a nuisance strangling my clematis.

marie

[Lisa]

Hi Marie, Dont worry. I'm sorting out the Threads in the next few days - already started deleting some of the old postings yesterday but its gonna take time. You lot cant half talk !!! I should talk !!! I'm so glad you're all using and enjoying the site - just talk-away......... I will only delete the little chatting ones, and leave the more interesting ones on so anyone coming on site for the first time can see what we're all about. Just bear with me folks as its gonna take time and it should make the page-turnover a little quicker....thanks for your patience

[Lisa]

Hi Marie, Have you been getting the jokes I've been sending?

[stevenficus]

hi steve again

just a point i forgot on the fertilizer apply in spring then again 8 weeks later as for marie's plant it will flourish in the ground as the roots are not being suppressed and by the sounds of it
there must be some very fertile soil there. we use this website at work as a reference it's www.thegardenhelper.com some of the info i have posted is taken from this we find it has some good tips has some good info on softwood cuttings etc i have only been a landscape gardener for about 8 years but find it very rewarding just finished going to college last year and i have just done my nvq level 3 in horticulture i would advise anyone to try a horticulture course its very relaxing i am thinking about doing the rhs general exam but do not think i am quite ready for that yet

regards
steve from sunny gorton

[BABS]

HI STEVE

It looks like we have our very own garden adviser now,you will have to keep coming on site to help us all now you have started
Thanks for the advice ,its really welcome ,some of us ,namely me don't know much about gardening

BABS

[fluffymoat4]

Steve, thanks so much for telling us about gardenhelper.com - I have loads of books on gardening and, at 50 years old, a fair bit of experience but sometimes it'd be nice just to type in a "search" and make looking for an answer easier than trawling through books. I am off to see what the site is like and I'll hopefully catch everyone later for a "chat"? Will just post today's joke of the day before I get off. Thanks again.

[stevenficus]

hi tommy

i tend to agree with you we try to let nature look after it's self at work we have a few conservation areas and we tend to look after them the traditional way ie no pesticides all organic matter used but on the other hand we have quite a bit of what i call cosmetic gardening where all hedges are boxed and kept formal lawns mowed once a week etc you get the picture i prefer the traditional way my self but when the formal gardening is done it dose look very good me my self give me a field full of wildflowers any time
regards
Steve

[fluffymoat4]

All Summer long I've waited for my fuschias to bud and flower (some did, most didn't) I had a wander round the garden today and there's loads of buds on the fuschias!!!! My greenhouse is going to look mighty colourful soon when I put them all in there to over-winter. We planted some Russian Vines t'other week (Mile a Minute I think is their common name) and they've practically covered our trellis already - would really recommend this plant to anyone who wants to cover a bare wall or fence quickly. It grows to around 40 foot high but we are training it to grow up a wall and then sideways across a long length of trellis. We've put one plant at each end of the trellis so they'll grow past each other. Next year they should be full of white flowers - lucky us eh? They'll also afford us a bit more privacy in an area where we do our bar-b-q-ing. Anyone else had any problems with their fuschias this year?

[marie fernandes]

:)Hi little Mo, although I am not able to do much in the garden I have been planting some winter pansies sitting in a chair. I keep going round my small patch to see if its keeping tidy, my husband mows the two small lawns on the raised garden at the front and I have a lot of flowers and bushes in pots. Like you my fushias have almost died this year I had some in hanging baskets and also in pots, they looked stunted, with yellow and black blights on the leaves and this week just had one flower that dropped off.

My hanging baskets have got neglected because I have not been looking after them. My husband does not know a flower from a weed, but he is great at keeping the lawn tip-top.

marie

[marie fernandes]

Hi Steve, congratulations on your achievements, keep up the good work. I have started looking over my plants yesterday and I nearly fell off my crutches with shock. I have two lovely bay trees in terracotta pots at the side of the house. I have had them for about two years and they were looking healthy, bright green and lots of new shoots on top. They look to be about 2ft high from the soil. When I looked closely one had all these black marks on the leaves as if it had been sprayed with something, and as I havent used any sprays in the garden I became puzzled. Then I looked at the main stem and the branches holding the leaves. Some kind of ugly looking wart type of disease covered the tree. I was really frightened that they were some kind of insect lavae, but they seemed to be sealed under the "skin" of the trunk of the tree. Anyway couldnt see any advice in my gardening book, so I have pruned all the affected branches off. It now looks like a twig of 1ft high protruding from the soil. Help, do you think I did the right thing. I will be sorry to lose the other tree in the same way. Maybe I should spray the healthy tree. Incidentally they were next to one another in their pots.

Hope you can help, Steve.

Thanks in advance
marie

[fluffymoat4]

Hi Marie, sorry to hear about your bay tree! At first I thought it sounded like blackspot. This can run rampant quite quickly and, if left untreated, it can kill off the whole plant. I’m not familiar with the trunk problem though. Hope someone on manmates can shed some light.
Do you live in Heywood, Manchester? It’s near Bury or Bolton isn’t it? If so it’s a pity I don’t still live in the Manchester area as I could have popped round to help with your gardening. My fuchsias didn’t die – they just looked spindly and bare. Now though they’ve all thickened out like they normally do and they are FULL of buds! The 3 fuchsias that I’d kept in the shade were healthy and flowered all during the heat wave but the ones in full sun didn’t. I am beginning to think perhaps they don’t like the weather to be too hot? In my hanging baskets and wall containers this year I just had red and white begonias – both bush and trailing. We did it as a tribute to the England team – of course they lost anyway! I’ve just put 3 of my own grown geraniums into the greenhouse to over-winter, they’re still flowering away but I think we’re getting early morning frosts around here (North Yorkshire) and I don’t want to risk them dying. I’ve also put my Zantedeschia away as it’s flower has died off now. I have had this plant for around 6 years now and it’s only ever flowered twice – the first time we bought it and this year so I think this is the type of plant that LOVES hot springs and summers. We’ve done well with the weather this year haven’t we? My baskets and containers are just blooming away – the only things the early morning frosts seem to be affecting are the marigolds so far.

[stevenficus]

hi marie

it sounds like a fungal problem it could be a range of things from scab/rust/oedema/ these are caused by excessive moisture via the air or the soil etc you have done right to re move them but if it happens again just remove the leaves and any wart like things that appear or it may be a pest problem like black fly you will need to apply a wash of tar oil in the winter and spray any other plants if infestation is bad do a search on the net for aphids and you should see pictures and a description of the damage you will then know if it is a pest problem or a fungal if its fungal try not to over water and keep well ventilated and remove damaged or infected foliage the third problem is pollution but i think it is not this as all trees would be affected i hope this helps you a bit as for you cutting the trees back they will return in time with a bit of tlc
regards
steve
ps
while you are on the fungal path check for scale or sooty mould on the net same applies if it is spray soaps or oils will do the trick

[marie fernandes]

:)Hi Steve, just sent you a long message, pressed the wrong key and the whole thing has just vanished. Here I go again. Will try and not be so long-winded this time.

Thanks for your advice, as its pelting down with rain at the moment here will leave it until tomorrow to get something from the gardening shop. Just h ope the other plants and bushes nearby have not be effected as well. There are a lot of ants around the area where these trees are and they were all over the effected bay tree. But I dont suppose they had anything to do with it. I have put some ant powder down and hopefully they will take it back with them to their nest.

Will let you know how I get on with this problem.

marie

PS Is your Pseudonym derived from your favourite plant?
just wondering.

[stevenficus]

hi marie

ficus benjamena was the first Latin name i had on my plant idents at college we had a fig tree at home when i was young and always like it so i thought when the same plant came up at college it was a sign for me to follow horticulture i put it in user names on websites as i know not many people will have it you may see user names of Steven(nepeta) as well on some websites this is me too nepeta was the last plant ident i did at college a bit quirky but there you go hope you get some help from the info i gave you its a bit of a minefield as there are so many pests and disease out there

all the best
steve

[stevenficus]

hi marie

i have just been reading this q&a page about bay trees have a read see if what they are saying relates to your tree they mention aphids /scale mealybugs and powdery mildew and sooty mold like i thought it might be but there may be somthing that rings a bell to you heres the link www.apinchof.com/bayqanda.htm

steve

[christine]

I HAVE A PEACE LILY WHEN THE WHITE FLOWERS COME ON DO I TAKE THEM OFF?THEY DIE ANYWAY XCHRIS

[stevenficus]

hi Christine

you can remove the flowers if you want as with cut flowers you can mix some water swell gel and put it at the bottom of a vase but to keep flowers longer on the plant try only watering once a week and just spray the soil to keep it moist the rest of the time you can also re pot into a size 10 plant pot to encourage strong roots and feed a good balanced fertilizer once every 4 weeks or what the packet recommends also the Peace Lily is known to remove the toxin thereby making it an environment friendly plant.

[marie fernandes]

:)Hi Steve, thanks for the link, I have just spent an hour running through it. I think it could be scale, and it was interesting to read that ants could be helping the problem. I have put ant powder down near where I think their nest is and also around the base of the pots containing the bay trees, but I am going to get the oil that you mention and also try spraying with a soap solution. I have no powdering substance on the trunk of the tree and the lumps or scales are close together and green and oval shaped, nothing like the pics. on the link. I am determined to get rid of these pests without losing the trees.

I thought that was very ingenious of you with your ficus name and also the nepeta. I am sure its going to bring you luck in your career.

Thanks once again.

marie.

[marie fernandes]

:)Hi little Mo, missed you yesterday. Sorry to hear about your fuchsias, I am having same trouble, but I think I have neglected my garden over the last few months, so I no one to blame but me!!

I hope the bay tree I cut to pieces will live through its trauma. I havent been outside for a couple of days to look at it, but I can see it from the window, all forlorn. Steve has given me some good advice and today went on the link he gave me its very good. None of the scaley pictures were like my pests, but it did mention ants being involved somewhere along the line, and my little patio area of flags, where we put the table and chairs out if and when we get any sun is overrun with the darned ants.

That plant you mention - Zantedeschia, is that how you spell it, I looked it up - is it the Peace Lily. Chris was asking about that.
I have had two in the past and disposed of them, I think wrongly when they didnt flower for a couple of years, I was left with a very dull clump of large leaves, so decided to whizz them. They are lovely when they flower, but quickly turn yellow and die. Anyway mine did.

By the way my daughter lives in Hebden Bridge, are you anywhere near there? I call it Heathcliffe country. All the walkers pass her place going to the Pike. She had lots of marigolds and she was going to use them to make some cream from a recipe that Lis gave me, but the sheep got to all the marigolds and had a feast. She was very disappointed. She has just given me a large pot with about six strawberry plants in as she says the sheep are eating all her strawberry plants as well.

Bye for now.

marie

[fluffymoat4]

Hi Marie, No my Zantedeschia is also known as the Arum Lily not the Peace Lily as in Chris’s case. Also mine is an outdoor plant, Chris is referring to an indoor plant. I too have a peace lily (indoors) and it’s thrived since I no longer over-water it!! I just leave the white flowers alone and they bloom for a couple of weeks at a time. I seem to get more blooms throughout summer when I am regularly feeding it. I’ve recently put my “sleeping” Zantedeschia in the Greenhouse to overwinter.
Oooh – on a totally different subject, not long since brought my washing in and, guess what, it’s just begun to rain!!! Good timing or what?
Marie – I live just outside the Selby area (between York and Castleford), not near Hebden bridge. How are you today??
Just realised - you've gone! Bye for now then - perhaps see you later? I hope to be back online 8pm onwards (hubby in France for two days - whoopee!)

[Lisa]

Hi Marie, Can I pass on a tip for getting rid of ANTS (humanely)? Get some BORAX mix one teas p o o n with a little sugar and mix to a pastewith a little water. Put the paste on the flat lid of a cottage cheese carton (or similar, so the ants can crawl onto it easily). The ants are attracted to the sweet paste and take it back to the nest where they feed it to the Queen - she becomes sterile and cant produce eggs, so the ants desert the nest. My neighbour spent £££'s on ant-powder, to no avail, until I gave her the recipe. She tried it, reluctantly , and she's never had ants since........worth a try ? Its humane, environmentally friendly and keeps Lisa happy

[christine]

thanks steven,its the plant i have ,but somebody told me to take the flowers off,they stop the plant from growingxxchris

[stevenficus]

hi Christine

try this web page it might help with your peace Lilly i still think it will grow even if you remove the flowers but this page may give you a few tips hope this helps good luck with your peace Lilly i think they are a lovely houseplant
www.spaths.com/culture.asp?genus_id=7

Steve

[fluffymoat4]

stevenficus said:

hi Christine

try this web page it might help with your peace Lilly i still think it will grow even if you remove the flowers but this page may give you a few tips hope this helps good luck with your peace Lilly i think they are a lovely houseplant
www.spaths.com/culture.asp?genus_id=7

Steve

Steve - surely you meant to say "I still think it will grow even if you LEAVE the flowers on" I only say this because my peace lily has grown like topsy over the last few years and I have never removed the flowers (until they die away of course) - all I've needed to do is re-pot once every year or more. I keep it on a windowsill that allows lots of light but very little sun (sun scorches it's leaves). It also seems to like the company of other plants? Doesn't seem to matter what type the other plants are - just having company seems to make it happier!

[marie fernandes]

:)Hi Lisa will try your recipe for the ants. Incidentally I do spend a lot on the ant powder every year but never see any results.

Thanks so much.
marie

[stevenficus]

hi mo
your right its another instance of my mind saying something and my fingers typing something completely different i had misinterpreted Christine's first email about her peace Lilly i thought she wanted to remove the flowers but her second email put me right as some one had told her to remove the flowers as they stop the plant from growing. what i meant to say was i think the plant will grow just as good with the flowers on ihave been working in the greenhouse all day at work think the greenhouse gases must have got to me today with all the typing errors ha ha
regards Steve