Hi everyone – Here we are again, almost halfway through the weekend and still all of those unfinished jobs in the garden to be done. That’s nothing to worry about though, as they’ll still be there next weekend as garden jobs are very patient and don’t mind waiting. The only ones that do get a bit impatient are the weeds which still continue to grow and can eventually take over if not controlled.
Brian – It looks just like you and me today so on with the discussion.
That second plant I mentioned that you said you got from my old mate John is probably Ae. ‘Burgundy’; I say probably as we won’t know for sure until it flowers, but the foliage looks like that of Ae. ‘Burgundy’ and I know that John did have that plant.
xNeophytum ‘Gary Hendrix’ is like most brom’s and will look good in a clump. The only thing you have to watch out for is that the new pups have space to grow. To help with this, as soon as the old Mother plant starts to die and only if the pups are of sufficient size, cut the old plant away to create more space. While it’s left there the the pups will keep sucking all the “goodness” out of it until it just looks like an unsightly bit of dead grass. If it’s starting to die and there are already multiple pups, it’s unlikely it will produce any more so its life is over anyway.
I don’t know Neo. 'Scarlet Manooka' and can’t find it on either of the bromeliad photo indices so it isn’t registered. What do you know about it and do you have a picture of it coloured up?
To answer your question about fresh mulch, there are some things you need to be aware of; firstly as new mulch starts to decompose it will generate heat (which is sometimes quite considerable) and for this reason it needs to be kept clear of the actual garden plants as it can burn them.
The second thing is that it will create “nitrogen drawdown”, simply put; this means it will draw the nitrogen from the garden soil beneath it during the breaking down process.
In 2009, Angus Stewart, from Gardening Australia explained it this way:
“Most gardeners are familiar with the benefits of mulch:
It saves water, prevents weed growth and keeps soil temperature even. But Angus reckons there’s a major pitfall with the mulches which are commonly used in our gardens. As soon as you put woody materials such as sawdust, bark and woodchip onto the soil surface, micro-organisms, fungi and bacteria actually try to compost them. To do that, they need to draw nutrients out of the soil. This is called nitrogen drawdown, because nitrogen is the major nutrient they need.
This results in a competition for nutrients between plant roots and the mulch that’s sitting on top.
A much more in depth explanation can be found at: http://www.landscapegardeningplants.com/articles/mulch.html
When receiving plants in the mail, there are several things you can do to rejuvenate the plant and safeguard your collection.
Initially I soak the whole plant for a few hours in a bucket of water in which a cup of raw sugar has been dissolved, this will quickly re-hydrate the plant.
Next is the inspection and treatment for possible problems. At this point different growers follow different approaches; some can’t be bothered to take any precautions or quarantining a plant and just add it immediately to their collection.
Others will quarantine a plant and adopt the “watch and wait” method to see if any problems develop and then treat accordingly.
Personally I like to take the preventative route and although not an advocate of spraying poisonous substances over my whole collection on a regular basis like some growers do, have no problem treating new individual plants with a systemic insecticide as a precaution.
The main problem to look for around the roots, is “Root Mealy Bug”, this is an insect which does its damage beneath the surface instead of above it, and are similar to the Mealy Bug we sometimes see which are usually covered in a white woolly substance. Root Mealy Bug may attack any roots but prefer the dryer areas of the mix just below the level of the soil, especially where the root and the stem meet. Although they occur throughout the roots, they are most obvious along the edges, and can also appear on the inside walls of the pot and even if they can’t be seen, evidence of their presence is often seen by a fine white coloured web on the inside of the pot. Root Mealy Bugs are sap feeders and it is this that causes the problem as they continue to do their damage to the plant beneath the surface of the mix and out of sight.
When I treat a new plant, it doesn’t matter whether it is infested with Root Mealy Bug, Scale or any other insect or not, all plants get the same precautionary treatment because even if there are no insects visible, there can still be eggs which need to be dealt with as well. I remove as much of the old potting mix as possible and then thoroughly hose the whole plant. I then mix up a reliable systemic insecticide in a container large enough to accommodate the whole plant and completely immerse it for at least a half hour.
I then allow it to air dry after which I repot the plant in my own fresh damp potting mix. I then put it in a quarantined area separate from my other plants for about a month and if no problems are apparent after that time it is moved in with the other plants.
During the quarantine period the plant is moved initially to a semi shaded area where it will remain for a week and then the light is gradually increased during the quarantine period. Usually you don’t know under what light levels the plant was previously grown although leaf colour is a good indicator with light green leaves suggesting high light and very dark green leaves suggesting low light, but far better to increase the light gradually to be on the safe side.
That’s it for another day and today’s pic’s are: Pic.1 Neo.’Rain Cloud, Pic.2 Racinae fraserii, Pic.3 Neo. ‘Tangerine’ x ‘Mon Petite’, Pic.4 An Aechmea totem with a plant of Ae ‘Burgundy’ in the garden at the base and Pic.5 Neo. ‘Thunderbird’ x Self.
All the best, Nev
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