It's that time of year again... when fungus gnat populations are on the rise. If you have a plant in an account with fungus gnats, put it on a water starvation diet. I can't stress enough how important this step is to eliminating gnats. Gnats breed in moist conditions. If you eliminate the ideal environment for [...]
From a tropical plant's point of view, winter is just an all-around bad thing. It is cold, far beyond what a tropical plant prefers. It is dark for too long within each twenty-four hour day. The heated indoor air is too dry, lacking needed humidity for proper growth. And, the air is stagnant, there are no [...]
After detecting an infestation and correctly identifying the pest follow a pest control plan using I PM strategies that are the least harmful to the applicator, the target plant and the surrounding environment. The following 10-step approach is designed to implement pest control measures according to their relative toxicity levels. Cultural/Physical Controls Whenever possible, start with [...]
As autumn arrives bringing gold, yellow, orange, and red hues in deciduous trees outdoors, we need to reflect the season in our indoor color displays. Indoors there are many great plants to use for seasonal plantings highlighting fall colors as our theme: orange or yellow Kalanchoes, crotons, peppers, orange Guzmania bromeliads, Jerusalem cherry, and of course [...]
When the seasons change it time to be on the lookout for surprise pest attacks. This can especially happen on plants you have come to know well and trust to be pest-free. They can sneak up on us at any time and give us a surprise attack. It's just a pest-filled world, and we have to [...]
Question: How do I know when to turn a plant or not? Sometimes you say to turn a plant a 14 turn every week other times you tell me that you had to turn my plants in an account because "they were facing the wall". Answer: It's best to always have the prettiest side of the [...]
Symptom Possible Causes Take a Closer Look For no apparent reason, the plant is drooping Too much lightToo much water High temperature Kept in draft Is the foliage too pale or warm?Is the soil sour smelling? Does the foliage have black edges? Are there no roots, making the plant easy to remove from the soil? [...]
Neem oil is pressed from the seed of the neem tree (Azadirachtin indica). Native to the dry forests of eastern India, Pakistan and Burma, this tree is known by several names including "village pharmacy," "cornucopia," "wonder tree," and "the veritable gold mine." Neem leaves, stems, seeds and oil have been used for medicinal purposes and pest [...]
Mealybug are active in the spring To some Spring means the scent of spring bulbs wafting through the air, to others it means lovely bird songs, but to those of us in horticulture, Spring means it’s insect season. Spring finds us with populations exploding of various insects and mites on our plant friends. As [...]
After treating your Majesty palm, it's important to dispose of pesticides safely That darn Ficus just wouldn’t let you keep the mealy under control with hand squishing. Every week it has shed leaves and now it has stopped drinking its water. After two months, you are so tired of battling the ever growing numbers [...]
