Create a controlled environment anywhere in your home with a few easy modifications to a simple cabinet. Carl Johnson, our horticulture intern, walks us through the process.
house plants
Propagating a Few Houseplants
By Carol Quish
January is my time to pay more attention to my houseplants. Crowded pots need dividing and give me the opportunity to share plants with friends. Some folks even sell their newly propagated plants on social media sites hopefully for enough money to cover the potting soil and pots. If you are using old pot, wash them with a 10% bleach and water solution to eliminate any old plant diseases. Use fresh potting soil. I buy a larger bag from my local independent garden center. Woodland Gardens near me sells their own bagged mix I love. It is well draining and I have great success with it. Well draining is key to keep the roots from being too wet and giving opportunity for root rot diseases to invade.
Pots need to have drainage holes in the bottom to allow excess water to drain into a saucer or dish. Always poor off any water from the saucer after watering. Never let the pot sit in water or the dreaded root rot can happen.
Use a bowl to hydrate the dry potting mix from the bag. Give it a few minutes to soak the water, then spoon or trowel it into the pot being used as the home for the new plant. Fill the pot to within a 1/4 inch of the top lip of the pot. This ensures good air movement over the surface of the soil and leaves just enough space so that the water will run out of the planter over its edge.
Holiday Plant Care
Did you receive a plant during this holiday season? Poinsettia, holiday cactus and rosemary trees are filling the shelves in greenhouses, grocery stores and even big box stores appealing to the giver to gift a plant lover on their list. While they are beautiful plants, they will need the correct care to keep them that way and in good health.
The familiar red foliage of the poinsettia plant are modified leaves called bracts. They surround the actual small, yellow flower at the center of the red bracts. Once the pollen from the flowers are shed, the bracts are dropped from the plant. Chose plants with little to no pollen for the bracts to be retained for a longer length of time. Plant breeders are developing different colored bracts, including variegated, offering many options than just red. Read more…
Article by Carol Quish of the UConn Home and Garden Center
10 Tips for the February Gardener
1. Visit our booth at the 2014 CT Flower and Garden Show, Feb 20-23 in Hartford. Bring ½ cup of soil for a free pH test and your garden questions for free advice.
2. When buying houseplants in winter, be sure to wrap them well for the trip home and, if possible warm up the car. This prevents the foliage from freezing and protects tropicals from drafts.
3. Provide houseplants with increased humidity; mist often or place plants over a tray of moist pebbles.
4. Continue to clean leaves of large and smooth leaved houseplants like dracaena, philodendron, ficus etc.
5. Clean clay pots by soaking overnight in a solution of 1-gallon water and 1 cup of vinegar. Scrub to remove deposits. Repeat if necessary.
6. Avoid the use of sodium salts to melt snow, as it is toxic to most plants. Use sawdust, sand or cat litter instead.
7. Keep bird feeders filled throughout winter.
8. Check on winter plant protection; add mulch and adjust plant stakes as necessary.
9. Check your stored plants such as fuchsias and geraniums. Usually they need a light watering once a week depending on their storage temperature.
10. If you grow currants, remove all trunks that are over 3 years old on a mild day.
Watering Houseplants
By Dawn Pettinelli, Manager, Soil Nutrient Analysis Laboratory
Watering seems like such a simple but many are surprised to know that improper watering is the main cause of houseplant demise. Excess water will drain away in outdoor garden soils. However, houseplants are confined to a container and excess water remains in the saucer or cachepot unless removed. This causes the potting medium to remain saturated and displaces necessary oxygen, resulting in root death or deterioration, meaning roots will take up less water and the plant appears wilted.
Proper watering techniques will promote healthy root growth. Instead of watering plants by the calendar, check them frequently to evaluate their moisture needs. Stick your finger into the potting mix and feel for moisture about an inch below the surface. If the planting medium feels dry, give the plant a thorough deep watering. Light watering encourages poor root growth. Keep in mind that plants will dry out faster when temperatures are higher and when exposed to heat sources, as is often the case during the winter months. Apply enough water so that after about a minute, excess water will be observed seeping out of the drainage holes. Empty saucers or cachepots containing water within an hour or so of watering.
When the rooting medium is excessively dry, it pulls away from the pot and water will run rapidly down the sides of the pot into the saucer without saturating the root zone. To rewet the potting mix and the roots, submerge the whole pot in a sink or pail full of water until air bubbles stop appearing. Then let the pot drain well before returning it to its regular site.
Plants with thick or waxy leaves or plants with few leaves will require less water than plants with many, soft, lush leaves. Size and type of container influences the amount and frequency of watering. Unglazed clay pots dry out quicker than plastic or glazed pots. Plants in too small a container need to be watered more often and should be transplanted in to a larger pot. Plants growing in pots too big for their root system struggle using all the water the large amount of potting medium can hold and often exhibit symptoms of overwatering.
Double potting or covering the potting soil with a thin layer of organic mulch can help reduce water loss through evaporation. Normally, tap water is used to water houseplants. Water at room temperature is preferable. Chemicals present in municipal water sources may cause injury to houseplants. Filling the watering can and letting the water sit a day or so before using will often allow any harmful chemicals to dissipate causes the injury. Use of water softeners can be another problem in houseplants. Some tips to remember, collect water from outdoor taps, which are often not connected to the water softener, or even the downspout of the rain gutter, or consider purchasing bottled water. Try a self-watering container or wick watering system if you are a forgetful waterer at times. The better you accommodate your plants’ needs, the healthier they will be.
10 Tips for the December Gardener
This morning’s winter weather reminds us to check in on our gardens and house plants as well. Here are some helpful tips for your winter gardening needs:
- Tap the evergreen branches gently to remove snow and prevent the branches from breaking.
- Check fruits, vegetables, corms and tubers that you have in storage. Sort out any that show signs of disease and dispose of them.
- Houseplants may need to be watered more often when the heating system is on.
- Amaryllis bulbs may be started now. If they are established bulbs in old pots, two inches of soil should be removed from the surface and replaced with a good, rich mixture.
- Deck the Beds – For those who have a real Christmas tree, recycle it after the holidays are through. Cut off branches and use them as insulation over perennials. In the spring, chip or shred the branches to create mulch or add to the compost pile.
- Although many see it as a safer alternative to salt, resist using fertilizer to melt ice. This creates nitrogen runoff issues that could damage local bodies of water. Try using calcium chloride, sand or kitty litter instead.
- Continue to harvest Brussels sprouts. They’ll typically keep even when buried in snow drifts.
- Display poinsettias away from heat sources and cold drafts. Keep soil consistently moist, but not soggy. Poinsettias that dry out droop dramatically and drop their flowers.
- Don’t walk on frozen grass, especially if there is no snow cover. Without the protection of snow, grass blades are easily broken causing die-back in your lawn.
- If you have friends or family that like to garden, think of gardening gifts for the holidays. Books, gloves, hand tools, weather instruments, and fancy pots are some fun ideas to consider!