Plant Care Questions - Bloomin' Blog

Lucky Bamboo With Black Water

June 1, 2009 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Ask the Expert: lucky bamboo is putting out a nasty smell like dirty aquarium water.
i have had them @5 years and they are @4′ high, curly, and now some leaves are turning yellow, and 1 stalk is drying up
Location has not changed in 5 years and I change the water several times a year, now the water is turning black
THANKS Patti

Reply:

You are getting either a fungal, algae or bacteria build up. Wash the container with hot soapy water and rinse thorughly. Fill with fresh distilled water. Wipe down all of your Dracaena sanderiana (lucky bamboo) and look for fungal lesions on the stalks. Remove any stalk that has any indication of disease. If the lesions are only in one area and you have healthy stalks above or below the lesions, you can start a new plant. I would not start the new plants in the same container.

Good luck and keep me posted.

Filed Under: Lucky Bamboo, Plant Care Questions Tagged With: Ask The Plant Expert, Dracaena sanderiana, Lucky Bamboo, Plant Care Questions

Cottony Webby Substance on Houseplant

May 29, 2009 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Cottony Cushion Scale

Ask the Expert: what is the cottony/cob webby build up?
I have a Anthirium I have had it for a few monthes and it has been doing fantastic until i discovered That i was over watering it. I have now cut down on watering it and have been keeping a very close eye on it and it seems as though over night it has some sort of web like build up in the almost dead bloom. I guess it might be dust but it really doesn’t look like it and for it to build up that fast, I just want to know if this is normal, if i should remove it, or cut the bloom off altogether. Tiffany

Spider Mite Webbing

Reply:

I am attaching pictures to help with identification. If it looks like the first picture (from Arizona Cooperative Extension) which is cottony cushion scale, you will need an insecticide that is safe for houseplants. Your local garden center should have Fetilome whitefly & mealbug killer for houseplant – or at least something similar.

The second photo (from CSU/Denver County Extension Master Gardener) is caused by a spider mite. You will need an insecticide that will get rid of spider mites. Again, your local garden center should have this product.

Hopefully your problem looks like one of these. There are many insects that can cause this problem. This ususally happens when the plant has been in a stressful situation like over-watering. Once you apply the proper insecticide and correct the water issue the plant will bounce right back.

Good Luck and keep me posted.

Filed Under: Plant Care Questions Tagged With: Anthurium, Ask The Plant Expert, Flamingo Lily, Plant Care Questions, Plants & Insects, Scale Insects, Spider Mites

Peace Lily Spadix Turning Black – Why?

May 28, 2009 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Ask the Expert: Peace lily flower turning black
I’m not sure what the technical name is for this part of the peace lily – it could be called a stamen (?).

It’s NOT the white leaf part of the flower, but comes out from the stem at the point where the flower part comes out of the stem.

The very tips of these white parts are turning black.

Why? Is the plant being over-watered? Or is something else wrong?

Thanks for your help.

Kate

Plant Expert Reply:

The protrusion from the peace lily (Spathiphyllum) “bloom” is called a spadix which is a spike with minute flowers enclosed by the spathe (the white leaf).

The answer to the black coloring depends on the age of the bloom. If the bloom is a couple of weeks old, the black color is a signal that the bloom is spent and in decline especially if the leaves are green and healthy. This is a normal process that occurs with every bloom. Simply remove the spent bloom by following the stem to the base of the plant and cut it off.

However if these are newly formed blooms, the plant is under stress. If the leaves are showing the same symptoms, you are probably over-watering them. Make sure your pot is allowing excess water to drain away from the roots. Once you correct the water issue the plant should recover.

As long as your peace lily looks healthy, I would continue to care for it as you have been.

Good luck and keep me posted.

Filed Under: Peace Lily, Plant Care Questions Tagged With: Ask The Plant Expert, Peace Lily, Plant Care Questions, Spathiphyllum

Kalanchoe Leaf Curl

May 26, 2009 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Kalanchoe daigremontiana

Ask the Expert: Mother of Thousand Plant.
I have a Mother of Thousand growing in my home, but the problem I am having is that the leaves curl. Am I watering it to much or what. Would you please give me some helpful hints. Would greatly appreciate it Thank you Patricia

Plant Expert Reply:

I assume that your plant is a Kalanchoe diagremontiana (mexican hat plant or mother of a thousand – See picture). These plants are susceptible to thrips, cyclamen mites, and leaf rollers which can all cause leaf curly. If this is the problem you will need and insecticide or miticide to get rid of the problem. Use a magnifying glass to verify that you have a insect problem. Your local garden center should have a houseplant insectide/miticide that will be safe for your Kalanchoe.

These insect usually take over a plant when it is in stress. Keep you Kalanchoe evenly moist at all times. Do not keep it soggy this will cause root rot.

Good luck and keep me posted.

Filed Under: Plant Care Questions Tagged With: Ask The Plant Expert, Kalanchoe, Kalanchoe daigremontiana, Plant Care Questions, Plants & Insects

Magnolia Is Dying Why?

May 26, 2009 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Ask the Expert: Magnolia Tree….leaves brown and dry
I live in PA. I have a Magnolia Tree that is about 5 years old. Last year it got a few flowers. However, this year it looks dead. All of the leaves are brown and hard. We put holly tone fertilizer in the ground. A few branches (on the lower half) of leaves turned really green after a week, but the rest still look dead and brown. The leaves were never spotted and I do not see anything growing on the trunk. Someone mentioned that there is some kind of worm that gets in the top of the tree trunk and kills the tree…is that a possibility? If so, what is that called? Thank you for any advice. Kelly

Plant Expert Reply:

They could be referring to scale or magnolia borers. If you had either there would be signs of it still on the tree in the form of things that looked liked raise bumps or oozing places on the stems or trunks.

Magnolias are susceptible to a few pests and diseases such as baterical leaf spot, magnolia boreres, spot anthracnose, canker, dieback, butt rot, powdery mildew, anthracnose, fungal spots, snails, weevils, scale insects, planthoppers, and thrips.

I believe in your case dieback is probably the culprit. Dieback is cuased by a freezing injury to the plant. This usually occurs when the winter has extreme flutuation in the winter temperatures and condition. The tips or tops of plants usually are effect by dieback. You will need to prune out all of the dead limbs and branches.

It could be a result of anthracnose, fungal or bacterial problems. However, normally fungua will present themselves with discoloration on the leaves, trunk or branches. Since you didn’t see any of these signs, dieback seems to be the isssue.

If it was insect damage, you would see evidence of the insects. Again since there is no evidence of insects, dieback seems to be the problem.

I would take one more careful look at all parts of the tree. If you see anything out of the ordinary, send me a picture and I will identify what it is. In the mean time, you will still need to trim out the dead. Cut branches back until you find live green wood.

Good luck and keep me posted.

Filed Under: Plant Care Questions Tagged With: Ask The Plant Expert, Fungus, Magnolia, Plant Care Questions, Plant Diseases, Plants & Insects

Need Help Pruning A Cock-eyed Hibiscus

May 26, 2009 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Hibiscus

Ask the Expert: cock-eyed hibiscus
I asked a question last year and you answered it so well that I thought I’d bring you another!

My Grandma gave me what looked like two twigs stuck in a pot a year ago. Now that I’ve learned it’s a hibiscus (this is a hibiscus, right!?), I’ve also learned what an indoor hibiscus should look like. Here are some attached pictures – it seems as though the whole hibiscus was pruned back to a few inches above the soil a couple of years ago. You can see that two large branches have shot off maybe 30 inches at angles, and more branches are coming out of the other stumps rather suddenly with the spring weather. I’ve been reading up on proper hibiscus pruning and I understand the concept, but my Hibiscus is such an odd duck that I don’t know where to start. How do I get this thing to straighten up when it doesn’t seem to have a real “trunk” anymore?

thanks for your time!

-_meghan

Reply:

Happy To help as always.

I am having trouble loading the pictures you sent. But, I think I can answer your question without them. The main plant is a hibiscus. It looks as if a few of the other leaves close to outer edge of the pot are something else.

As for the hibiscus, I would try to bring it a more bushy shape. To do this you will need to cut off a large portion of each stalk. Make your cut right above the set of leaves closest to the bottom of the plant. By doing this you will encourage the plant to produce lateral growth instead of height. Do this only on the two long woody stalks. On the small green stalk coming from the based of the plant, pinch the very top leaves from the stalk. Again this will encourage growth in thickness before height. The more you pinch or trim the hibiscus the fuller the plant will be. We do this with hibiscus at our nursery all the time. You can manipulate the plant to look any way you want depending on how you prune it.

Keep me posted and let me know if you have any other questions.

Filed Under: Plant Care Questions Tagged With: Ask The Plant Expert, Hibiscus, Plant Care Questions, Pruning

Small Leaves Sprouting On Peace Lily

May 18, 2009 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Ask the Expert: Small leaves on my peace lilly received a peace lily as a gift leaves where large. but now that the new leaves are growing in they are very small. It has been repotted recently. Mike

Reply:

If your peace lily (Spathipyllum) leaves are small, fully-formed and healthy, you have nothing to worry about. This may be a result of the transplanting shock and larger leaves will occur later. However if the leaves are small and deformed, you have a problem and we will need to determine the cause which could be wither fungal or over-exposure to fluoride. If the leaves are deformed, send me a photos of the leaves and the plant. I will try to diagnose it and help you with a remedy.

Filed Under: Plant Care Questions Tagged With: Ask The Plant Expert, Peace Lily, Plant Care Questions, Spathiphyllum

Transplanting Lucky Bamboo

May 15, 2009 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Ask the Expert: How do I transplant
I bought a lucky Bamboo plant years ago. It came in a small glass jar, over the years it has grown extremly tall, now its 32 inches high with not many leaves near the bottom.I see the roots are growning like crazy. I just bought a 7″ square glass vase to repot it in. How can I get the leaves to grow near the bottom of the plant? And how do I transfer it to the glass vase? do I need potting soil? or just put all the roots and stones on the bottom of the vase?I really would hate to lose this plant. I would like it to fill out near the stalks. Cathy

Reply:

Transplanting lucky bamboo from one container filled with water to another container filled with water is fairly easy. Clean your new container before you begin. Now add your lucky bamboo stems and gently place the pebbles or rocks from the original container around them. I suggest cleaning the pebbles before you place them in the new container. You may need to add more pebbles. Once you have the pebbles and stems in the new vase fill with water. Try to keep about the same water level as you had in the original container.

As for leaves, lucky bamboo usually only has leaf growth from the top. At this point the only way to get leaves on the bottom would be to cut the stem off at the point you want leaves and encourage new leaf growth. The top that you cut off can be a start for a new plant.

You might want to read Turning Your Lucky Bamboo Into A New Plant.

Good Luck and keep me posted.

Filed Under: Lucky Bamboo, Plant Care Questions Tagged With: Ask The Plant Expert, Dracaena sanderiana, Lucky Bamboo, Plant Care Questions

Planting In An Enclosed Three Season Porch

May 15, 2009 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Ask the Expert: finding plants for an inside garden
We have a garden on the porch which is an enclosed 3 season porch and we live in the NorthEast. All the previous plants have either died or never flower anymore due to lack of sunlight (even though we have windows entirely around the porch) and we hand water the garden but we need to find plants that would be happy with a drier soil. The garden has been filled nicely with good soil and was originally an outside garden before we enclosed the patio. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Lora

Reply:

I assume you want plants that will remain all year long. This makes it a little more difficult, if the 3 season porch is not heated during the winter. If your garden has enough depth to it, you can plant the following: hosta, liriope spicata, english Ivy, pachysandra terminalis, vinca minor vines. These plants will give you great foliage with staying power and some will even bloom. For more blooms try: aquilegia, astilbe, dianthus, spotted dead nettles, snowdrops, bleeding heart. Most of these plants will tolerate low light and drier soil.

I would also try planting New Guinea impatiens, annual impatiens and begonias. These should be fine for three out of the four seasons.

I recommend dropping by your local garden center and nursery (not a box store) and discussing this with them. They are your best source for regional plants that will work with your situation. In fact, I’m sure they will be able to suggested and provide plants that I may not be familiar with.

Good luck and keep me posted. As you create your new garden I would love to see pictures and learn which plants you choose.

If you need a name of a reputable garden center in your area, let me know and I’ll try to help.

Filed Under: Plant Care Questions Tagged With: Ask The Plant Expert, Flower Suggestions, Northeast Plants, Plant Care Questions, Plant Suggestions

Why Pink Honeysuckle Won’t Bloom

May 14, 2009 by Jamie Jamison Adams

Pink Honeysuckle

Ask the Expert: Why my pink honeysuckle won’t bloom?
A friend of mine gave me a cutting of his mother’s pink honeysuckle last summer. It has gotten huge, but has not bloomed. I have it in a pot right now because I can’t decide where to plant it. Could this by why it is not blooming? Emily

Reply:

I believe the particular type of honeysuckle you have is Lonicera x bella. If this is the case it won’t bloom until summer. Leaving it in a pot should not keep it from blooming. However, I would try to find a place for it as soon as possible. It will go through a slight transplant shock when planted and it would be better to this before it starts blooming.

Filed Under: Plant Care Questions Tagged With: Ask The Plant Expert, Honeysuckle, Lonicera, Lonicera x bella, Plant Care Questions

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