Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list inclu...
Jill and Rick Van Duyvendyk answer all your gardening questions in Garden Talk on 650 CKOM and 980 CJME every Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Here are some questions and answers from the Nov. 30 show:
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- Garden Talk: What do I need to know about snow melt products and salt?
- Garden Talk: What do I need to know about grow lights?
- Garden Talk: Tips to help your Christmas cactus bloom
These questions and answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q: How do I choose and care for a poinsettia?
A: The red part of a poinsettia is actually the leaves and the flower is the yellow centre of the stem that looks almost like little berries. When those open up, that’s when your plant is actually blooming.
Choose a nice healthy plant that is full right to the base so you know it’s been spaced properly when it’s been growing. A lot of them will have a ring around the edge of them just to hold up the weight of the plant because they’re in such a small pot.
Many poinsettia are sold in foil wrap that goes up and around the plant. Pull that back from the plant because poinsettia give off ethylene gas and if that gets trapped in the bottom of the plant the leaves are going to start dropping.
Poinsettia do not like to be cold, they are native to Mexico. They like to dry out slightly between waterings and then have thorough waterings in between. And they don’t like their feet to be wet so if they are sitting in a pot without a hole in it or in a foil sleeve, make sure you empty any excess water out.
When buying a poinsettia, take a bed sheet and wrap your plant in that before you take it out to the car. If they give you a plastic bag, wrap it in the bed sheet and then throw the plastic bag over top of it.
A lot of times you can’t even get the car pulled close enough to the store to be able to quickly put it in, and when it’s below -10 C just running it from the store to the car, you’re going to see damage on the plant.
Read more about year-round care for a poinsettia on the Dutch Growers website.
Q: How do I care for multiple amaryllis bulbs planted in one pot?
A: Make sure they are not ones with the wax on them, all the bulbs feel nice and firm and leave about an inch, or at least a half an inch, in between each bulb.
You’re better to underwater rather than overwater amaryllis. If you overwater the leaves can turn limp and a little bit yellow. Most of the time, the bulbs have so much moisture in them. That’s why they coat them in wax, because the bulb has enough moisture in it to sustain the life and the growth of that bulb.
When you’re planting the bulbs in soil, some of the moisture will leaching out into the soil, so add some water when you’re planting them. Water to keep the soil a little bit moist, but it should be quite dry in between watering.
An Easter cactus with brown spots on the leaves. (Submitted)
Q: What is causing my Easter cactus (pictured above) to drop its leaves and develop dead spots on the side of the leaves and stems?
A: It looks like the soil is quite dark, so maybe it’s being overwatered. Although it is right next to a window, if it’s a north facing window, it might not be getting enough light.
It looks like it’s quite an old cactus and it’s got some nice woody growth on it so you can do some light trimming now. Trim some of the tips out and some of the leaves don’t look good. That might promote some new growth and blooms on it. Do most of your pruning around February or March.
It might have a fungal disease, which means something’s happening down in the root. It can infect other cactuses in the house because they are spread by spores so if you have any airflow it might spread. Move it away from any others ones and pinch off any affected leaves and discard them. Make sure you wash your hands afterwards.
They don’t have a huge root system on them, but have a look at it and clean out if there’s any mold or anything like that growing in the bottom of the pot then put in some fresh soil.
Q: Can I prune a Japanese maple bonsai tree right now?
A: Absolutely. It’s a better time to prune it as soon as you bring it into the house rather than pruning it in the spring because it’s gone a bit dormant.
An asparagus fern. (Submitted)
Q: Should I cut off these stringy things on my asparagus fern (pictured above)?
A: Asparagus ferns sends out those shoots as a way of reproducing itself. You can take the babies off or just take them off. They’ll also shoot off these spikes if the plant is stressed. It likes bright indirect light but with the light changes in the winter, you could have it fairly close to a south or west window, and it’s not going to do any harm because the windows will filter the light.
Q: Is it better to put a green plant cover over a rose or cover it with snow?
A: Cover it with snow. One thing about the green plant covers is what happens is that if the snow doesn’t cover it totally, the frost goes through it and gets into the unprotected soil and goes into the roots.
If you do use any kind of green cover or burlap, leave it six inches off the ground so that the snow can go and cover the soil and protect the roots. When temperatures get to -40 C, you want the snow to go right to the stem.
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