37June 22, 2017

The heat and humidity along with very strong sun has gotten many plants to grow at a rapid rate. This is the time where your plants are in need of being fertilized on a regular schedule. This is especially important for plants that are being grown in any type of container. Warm sunny weather usually means that you have to water your containerized plants one or more times per day. Water will leach the fertilizer out of the soil. If you are not replacing the fertilizer, your plants are going to suffer. Flowerbeds and vegetable gardens that are planted in the ground will need to be fertilized too. Once you find a fertilizer that you like, just be sure to follow the directions on the label. The label will tell you how often you need to be fertilizing your plants.

t has become obvious that the slugs loved the rainy spell that we had. So many different plants have holes in their leaves. The cuts in the leaves are usually smooth, not ragged around the holes. Many people will tell me that they never see slugs feeding on their plants. The reason for this is that slugs feed at night. Once the sun sets, they leave their home and head for your plants. If you go outside with a flashlight about 10 PM, you will see slugs on your plants, if it is slugs feeding on your plants. Insecticides will not kill slugs because slugs are not insects. Slugs are related to clams. You will need to use a slug bait to kill the slugs. The slug bait is applied to the ground near the base of your plants. The slugs eat the slug bait and quickly die. If you see smooth edge holes in your plants, you may have to content with slugs.

Ants still remain a problem for many people. You should treat for ants both inside and outside if you see ants coming into your home or if you see the ants making a home in your lawn or gardens. This year, for the first time in many years, people have come in with issues with ants making a home in their flowerpots. No matter where the ants are, there are both organic and synthetic products that will control the ant problem.

I have had some people questioning why their hydrangeas are not blooming yet. The reason may be as simple as the weather. All the rain and cool weather we had earlier in the season would slow down the production of flowers. If you have not fertilized the hydrangeas, that may be part of the problem too. Any plant needs a certain amount of food in order to produce or open their flowers. Generally speaking, many hydrangeas produce their flowers on the growth that came up last year. If that growth was killed off during the winter or the growth was pruned back last fall or this spring, then you would have no flower buds for this year. There are some varieties that will produce flowers on last year’s growth and on this year’s growth. If you have one of this type of hydrangeas, you just have to be a bit more patient for this years growth to produce flower buds.

Now I have a favor to ask. If you have a problem with your plants, please take a sample of the leaves or needles of the plant and immediately put the sample in a clear plastic bag. I don’t know how may times I have been brought in a dried out sample that has sat on the counter at home or on the dashboard of the car for days on end. Also please don’t bring in just photos of the plant. As good as the photos may be, you cannot see the details of the leaf or needles and with photos you definitely cannot turn over the leaves to look at the underside of the leaf. If you just bring in pictures and not leaf samples, I am not going to be able to help you out.

Well, that’s all for this week. I’ll talk to you again next week.