Notes for Dec. 8th Winter Wednesday Garden Chat

House Plants

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We had another good turnout for Winter Wednesday Garden Chat.
Houseplants was the topic.
Some spacific plants that were discussed were the Dracaena. 
Marty has a dracaena that is getting leggy.  Molly suggested cutting it off about 3" from the soil.  The part of the plant that is left in the soil with the roots will sprout 2 or more new shoots.  You can then stick the top part of the plant in some soil, and it will root and continue to grow.  You can also cut off part of the long stem and lay it in a tray of soil, cover it with more soil, and sooner or later little plants will appear.  Then you can cut up the stem and plant the new young plants in pots or in the ground if you live in a southern climate.

The Norfolk pine was another plant discussed.  It likes bright light, but not direct sun.  Marty's Norfolk pine is loosing some bottom branches.  Molly suggested moving it to a location with better light and cutting back on the watering.

Dracaena

This is a picture of Marty's
         Norfolk Pine
This picture was taken the
end of January.  It is looking
great now!  Guess Molly's
advise saved it!

There were lots of questions concerning moving plants from porches or outdoors to indoors for the winter.

Mars ask if it is a good time to cut back and transplant.
Molly says anytime is a good time to prune and transplant, as long as you have a place to winter them with adequate light.

Mars brought her impatiens flowerboxes in, and keeps the plants cut back, and in a bright sunny place.  They are doing well, and blooming nicely.  She said cutting her plants back when she brings them in from the porches in the fall seem to help reduce the shock they suffer.   Molly agrees that cutting them back can help with the shock.
Molly prunes and transplants in the fall when she brings her plants in too.

A major problem with bringing your plants inside from the outdoors to winter them over, is the change in light, temperature, and humidity.  It can cause a plant to drop their leaves, and generally not do well.  Molly emphisized not to overwater or over fertilize.
We then discussed fertilizers:
Raven and J2 both said they like Osmocote, a slow release six month fertilizer.   Molly said that when hot, osmocote can spill it's fertilizer.   Molly uses Nutracote fertilizer for nursery plants and any liquid fertilizer for house plants.  But, she adds she uses it very sparingly, especially in the winter.  She suggests waiting until the light gets brighter in the spring to start fertilizing your houseplants.

When you buy a plant at the nursery it is a good idea to leach it out.  Leaching refers to a process of thorough watering where a large quantity of water is washed through the soil.  An example of this is, fill the pot up ten times in a row and let the water drain out.  Leaching will help to eliminate excess fertilizer salts.  When a plant is brought into the house it needs only a fraction of the fertilizer required by a plant grown in a commercial greenhouse.  Plants that you've had in your home for some time may also benefit from leaching as they eventually accumulate salts.

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