Growing Gardens

with Julia Hancock

Perk up indoor plants

February is the perfect month for attending to houseplants, a job that can be done in a cool shady spot on the verandah. If your plants are looking somewhat the worse for wear, the first thing to do is check them for signs of pests and diseases.

Any plant that is suffering from stress caused by sour potting mix, over- or under-watering, lack of fertiliser, heat or air conditioning will become more vulnerable to attack from undesirable elements. Symptoms to look out for include the following:

If a cloud of tiny flies billow out from a plant as you touch or walk past it, then you've got fungus gnats. These hatch out in moist potting mix and can be treated by immersing the pot and spraying the foliage in a solution of pyrethrum insecticide.

Does your plant have white fluffy stuff where the leaves join the stems? If so, mealy bug has moved in. This insect thrives in the moist humidity that collects in crevices of indoor plants and a serious infestation will eventually kill its host. Unfortunately there are no organic cures for mealy bug so the only solution is to spray with Confidor.

Another pernicious pest affecting house plants is scale, which appears as small lumps (either white, brown, pink or black) that form colonies on stems, on the underside of leaves and along the midribs. Irrespective of what kind of scale you've got, the treatment is the same. Spray with white oil or PestOil as directed on the label. It may be necessary to spray more than once as successive generations hatch.

As far as diseases are concerned, fungal infections such as grey mould and powdery mildew are the main culprits. Simply remove infected plant material and either spray with a fungicide or use a solution of seaweed fertiliser on a fortnightly basis - applying to both the potting mix and the above-ground parts.

Lismore Garden Club News

If you give your roses a summer pruning now you'll be rewarded with lots more flowers. Prune around 20 to 30cm off the top of the bush, fertilise with well rotted manure or complete rose food, deep water and mulch.

Potplants need to be watered every 2 or 3 days in this hot weather. Remember, they should be fed once a fortnight with a good liquid fertiliser. Have you noticed the increased number of butterflies around the garden this summer? It's a sure sign of a healthy environment.

The hot summer sun will scorch your lawn if you cut it too low. Then the weeds will move in where the lawn dies off. So, lift the mower one slot before cutting the lawn next time. Before long, it will be greener and healthier looking.

There is nothing to compare with home-grown beans. They must be steamed (not boiled to death) until just tender. In our beautiful climate they can be grown from around mid-September right through to the end of March. The best way to have a continuous supply is to plant a few seeds each fortnight. They are easy to grow - simply make a trench in prepared soil, dust with dolomite, add some blood and bone or animal manure with a light sprinkle of sulphate of potash. Back fill the trench and push in two seeds every 15cm and water in. Do not water again until seedlings appear.

Gardening Tip

To encourage butterflies to your garden, plant shrubs like Buddlega, Pentas and Giesha Girl.

Happy Gardening
Ron Burns.