"Actively
Promoting Friendship Through Gardens"
General Hints and Tips
These hints and tips have been accumulated over time from our Club's open forums. At these forums members quiz a panel of our more experienced members. All members at the meeting can contribute to the answers and solutions.
Citrus
Q. Cause of distorted “wart” like lumps on a lemon?
A. If this is just an isolated specimen of the fruit, and the inside is OK – don’t worry!
Q. My citrus is not holding fruit.
A. Could be due to uneven watering, the drought, or incorrect fertilising. Several options were suggested.
Location
Q. Moving house from Mangerton to North Beach – 2 potted camellia trees (pink) are losing leaves – Why?
A. Salt spray may be a factor, but ASPECT is the main thing to consider. Less sunlight, more or less shade – try to replicate the former position or aspect.
Weeds and Pests
Q. How to cope with Oxalis and Wandering Jew?
A. It is hard work to get rid of, but WD40 is good for cracks in pavement etc. For Oxalis, brush the leaves with 50/50 Round-Up
Q. How to eliminate Asparagus Fern in well-established ferns.
A. Cut it right back. Cut the core of the plant right into the tap root. The little ‘bulbs’ don’t grow!
Q. How to cope with Mosquitoes? Will Citronella Oil hurt plants?
A. NO. (A ‘recipe’ which was not well-received, was Hang some meat or fish-skin in an area remote from your barbecue). The suggestion caused much laughter.
Q. What can you do to get rid of Onion Weed?
A. drop of sewing machine oil down the centre will work, though it may be painstaking to apply.
Q. My Hollyhocks are being “munched” what spray can I use?
A. Pyrethrum or Garlic spray.
Q. My neighbour has a small English Box hedge that the cat keeps urinating on and killing, how can she stop the cat from doing this?
(Many suggestions were muttered!!)
A. A suggestion was to try using coffee grounds or a small amount of naphthalene crystals sprinkled around the base of the plants.
Mulches and Fertilising
Q. What is the best mulch one can buy?
A. Lupin Straw, Lucerne and Pea straw, they are full of Nitrogen – buy the chopped variety as this breaks down very quickly into the soil and doesn’t blow away. Mushroom compost has too much lime. Horse manure is best added to the compost bin – let it rot, as “stable manure” usually has sawdust, and/or rice husks from the stable floor, and some chemicals from the fodder – but if you leave it for 2 to 3 months, it is good.
Q. Cow Manure – where do you get it?
A. Buy it by the bag, from Nurseries or Produce Stores. It may be used straight on the garden or in compost. But to cope with any weeds it contains, leave the bag in the hot sun and the weeds will die
Pruning, Planting and Cuttings
Q. Roses – Ground-cover roses, when is the right time to strike cuttings?
A. (Here the Panel had differing opinions or advice). Some said – NOW. Others said leave until roses stop blooming – use hardwood cuttings – so it would be July.
Q. Can you layer these ground-cover roses?
A. Yes. Scrape the underneath to the cambium layer about ˝ inch long then peg them down.
Q. How to get bromeliads to flower?
A. They only flower at certain times of the year. They need water in the top of the plant. They need dappled light – under trees is good.
Q I have a 30-year old grape vine that has Black grapes, but many of the grapes don’t ripen or only half the bunch does, they are also quite small.
A. The plant could have grown from a seedling and not being a grafted vine could have reverted to its original form. It may need pruning or a different fertiliser.
Q. I don’t have much success growing plants from seed, so I need tips on how to grow plants from seed.
A. If the seed is very fine mix with small amount of dry sand and sprinkle over the seed raising mix like sprinkling salt and pepper. Don’t fertilise until the first pair of green leaves appear. Make sure you are planting at the right time of the year. Don’t give them too much water. Protect them from the elements.
Q. Roses – What food do you give them at this time of year?
A. A member recommended “Sudden Impact”. They should really have already been pruned, staked if needed, fertilised and mulched. Recommendation water, feed, water, mulch, water. Foliar food during the drought is more beneficial. Feed once a month 1 part food to 9 parts water. Don’t use on native plants.
Miscellaneous questions
Q. What sort of plant is this? A specimen was held up for inspection.
A. Plant identified as a Tradescantia, a purple variety of Wandering Jew.
Q. What sort of flower is this, it’s a climber and how can I propagate it? A purple flower was held up with small amount of foliage attached.
A. It’s a type of Tibouchina, the climbing scrambling variety. Propagation is by green-wood, or semi-ripe cuttings in late spring or summer.
Q. How can I get some vigorous growth on my passionfruit?
A. Passionfruit needs full sun, plenty of old manure. Check new growth that it’s not from below the graft if grafted plant. To remove this growth, tear it off. Do not cut it off or it will grow again. If grown in a pot use a large pot, make sure it has good drainage and roots don’t grow through hole and take root in the ground.
Q. What is the variety name of Orange Clivias?
A. Noblisse.
General Tips
- Use cake covers to protect seedlings.
- It is NOT economical to buy cheap Closing-Down Sale plants.
- Compost, let grass clippings, kitchen scraps rot for at least 2 months.
- Use a variety of fertilisers to give different quantities of trace elements and to give the plant some nutritional variety.
- Foliar food was not recommended for furry leafed plants.
- Compost can be left in a drum with water to rot, dilute mixture with more water and use as a foliar food spray.
- Native plants need 70% sand, more silica makes it water repellent.
- Hairy plants are more tolerant to heat and cold.
- Garden lime is good for killing many fungus diseases of plants.
- Seaweed products have potassium and high levels will encourage plants to flower but they will be all flower and no leaf, as nitrogen is lacking.
- Grow strawberries in hanging pots, they do better and do not have a snail problem, but birds maybe a problem.
- And to get rid of stink bugs from your Citrus trees, spray with Lime Sulphate in August when they are in the “paper stage” before maturity.