NEIGHBORHOOD GARDEN FOR
JANUARY 21, 2017
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PLANT BASICS PART #1
BY GEORGE EDGAR
When I answer the phone
for Backyard Farmer, or answer questions about plant problems at the
garden center, or answer a question for someone at church, I can usually
put the question into one of three categories: 1.
“HOW do I ……?” For example, “How
do I prune my tomatoes?” Or “How do I or can I prune my Lilac,
Forsythia, or Raspberries?” 2.
“WHEN do I …….?” For example,
"When do I prune my Lilac, Forsythia, or Raspberries?” Or "When do I put
Grub Control on my lawn?” Or “When do I spray my roses for blackspot?” 3.
“WHY is this or that happening to
my plant?” For example, “Why don’t I have as many tomatoes as I did last
year? Or “Why are my pine tree needles turning brown and falling off?” The answers for categories
1 and 2 on “How” and “When” comes from experience or should come from
University based research. The answers to the “Why” questions usually
takes some inquiry about cultural practices. Cultural practice means
“How are you taking care of the plant in question?” One big problem is
the person usually does not know the kind of plant, let alone the
variety. If you are a regular reader of our articles you know that there
are different plant families and within them are different varieties or
cultivars. Some plants require more care or different care than other
plants. This is why you need to keep the tag that came with a plant or
write it down someplace so if you have problems you can find answers
much faster. However, if I don’t know what a plant is I try to determine
what the plant is from the description, a picture, or a sample, and then
try to answer the question. Regardless of the plant, I
usually ask about the 5 basic needs of a plant in order to see what may
be affecting plant growth and development. How the person has been
taking care of the plant in question makes a difference. 1. SOIL Soil is one of the most
important elements a plant needs in order to start, grow, develop, and
reproduce. An old saying is, “When starting a plant or garden, for every
dollar spent 90 cents should be spent on soil, and 10 cents on the plant
material. I usually ask “What kind
of soil is the plant in? If a houseplant, is it in the proper kind of
potting soil? If outside is it hard clay soil that holds the moisture
and does not let the water drain and then dries to a hard crust or have
you added organic matter so the roots of the plant can grow?” Clay soil
has very few air pockets which are important. Plants do not grow in the
soil, but the roots grow in the air pockets between the soil particles.
If you have hard clay, there are very few air pockets. Compaction makes
this worse and the main source of compaction in our yard and garden is
from traffic by pets, kids, adults, bicycles and even lawnmowers,
especially riding mowers. Don’t walk on wet soil. If you have sand, the
particles are farther apart and the water drains too fast so the plant
does not get enough. If a plant is in a container the same holds true.
However, some plants like CACTUS will drown in regular potting
mix and needs lots of sand. I will continue this
article about “Plant Basics” next week in Part #2. A reminder, if you
have not put on your second application of Wilt-stop or Wilt-pruf now is
a good time. Have a good week and stay warm. Copyright 2017 |