by Taylor Vandiver | Jun 3, 2014
In a world of limited time and space, container gardens seem to make more and more sense. Poor soil and no place to put plants in the ground are no longer good excuses for not being able to enjoy the simple pleasures of gardening. Container gardening allows the individual to create gardens to fit any situation. Gardening in containers can be just as rewarding as having a full-size garden.
There are a few items to consider when you are planning your container garden. The first is the plants you intend to use. If you are planting more than one plant in the same pot be sure that all your plants meet the same requirements. The requirements you should consider are amount of light, amount of water, climate and fertilizing needs. Some other things you might want to think about when planning your container garden are height, color, and texture. A nice variation of these elements will make your container gardens more attractive and increasingly more interesting to look at.
The next step in container gardening is choosing your container. A good rule of thumb is: “Anything that holds soil and has drainage holes in the bottom may be transformed into a container garden.” It can be a pot you purchased from the local gardening center or an old bathtub you picked up off the side of the road. However, be sure that the size of the container matches the current and potential size of your plant. For vibrant plant growth, the containers must provide adequate space for roots and soil media, allowing the plant to thrive.
Colorful containers bring life to your small spaces.
Next on your list is choosing a soil for your container. Container soils need have good aeration and decent drainage, while still being able to retain enough moisture and nutrients for plant growth. When choosing what to use in containers, never use garden soil by itself. When garden soil is added to a container, both drainage and aeration are severely impeded, and the results are plants that grow poorly or not at all.
Container soils are often referred to as soilless or artificial media, because they literally contain no soil. They are commonly composed of various media such as peat moss, perlite, vermiculite, bark and coir fiber (ground coconut hulls) in a variety of mixes. When using soilless media remember t0 moisten it slightly before planting. Fill a tub with the media, add water and lightly fluff the media to dampen it. This will keep the mixture from becoming hydrophobic (unable to take up water) throughout its life in the container. When adding media to your containers, never fill the pot to the top. You should leave about a one-inch space between the top of the soil and rim of the pot. This will make watering the pot easier as it provides a place to “put water” and not have it run over the edge.
When watering your container gardens, the best time to do so is in the morning. Watering in the morning allows the leaves of your plants and soil to dry out, preventing diseases and viruses. Remember that overwatering is the most common reason for fatalities in container gardens. Check your soil by pushing your finger into the media; if the media is moist don’t water it. When it comes to fertilizing your container gardens, fertilize only as needed. Over-fertilization will result in a buildup of salts and may burn the roots of your plants. Try to fertilize your plants during the growing season, and only if needed during the dormant seasons.
The most important objective when container gardening is to be creative. Maybe, try a variety of plants in one container garden. While an nicely put together individual container can be quite impressive, think what might happen if you put several containers together in a group. Also, don’t limit your container gardens to flowers–many vegetables can be grown in a container and actually do quite well. There really is no limit to what can be done in a container!
by Taylor Vandiver | Apr 29, 2014
Now that spring has finally sprung and summer is well on its way, you may find yourself taking a stroll through your landscape and assessing damage done by late cold spells. However, it may not be a frost problem that has your plants looking worse for the wear. They could be experiencing nutritional imbalances which affect overall plant health. Most cases involving nutrition issues in plants can be linked back to the soil. Therefore, if you suspect a problem I suggest testing your soil to ascertain pH and nutrient levels. You can obtain a soil test kit at your local UF IFAS Extension office. Another way to diagnose your plant damage is to visually catalog its symptoms. Symptoms of mobile nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, tend to reveal themselves on older leaves first. Whereas, immobile nutrient symptoms (i.e. boron and calcium) will show up on newer leaves. These flow charts can help to narrow down which essential element may be lacking in your plant’s diet.
Mobile Nutrient Symptoms.
Immobile Nutrient Symptoms.
by Julie McConnell | May 2, 2013
Hydrangeas
Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) are familiar faces in the southern shade garden. Although not originally from North America, they were introduced here over 200 years ago and perform well in the climate of the Florida Panhandle. Here are some quick tips about Bigleaf Hydranges.
- Hydrangeas prefer morning sun with afternoon shade or full shade and well-drained, moist soil
- The form is a mounding shrub that can have varying heights and widths, allow for a mature size on average of 6′ x 6′
- Hydrangeas have large green leaves that may be glossy or dull and are deciduous unless the winter is very mild
- There are two main flower types:mophead and lacecap
Lacecap Hydrangea
- Mophead flowers are rounded and usually composed of sterile flowers, with a few fertile flowers
- Lacecap flowers have sterile flowers on the outer edge of the circle, with fertile flowers in the center. When fertile flowers are fertilized they may turn a different color and the sterile flowers on the outer edge may invert themselves so they appear to be hanging down
- Flowers may be white, pink, purple, or blue; flower color is influenced by soil conditions and you may see multiple colors on the same plant!
Penny Mac Hydrangea
- Bigleaf hydrangeas generally bloom on old wood, however, there are some types that will also bloom on new wood and fall into either “free-flowering” or “everblooming” categories. Free-flowering have flower buds on the tips of branches (old wood) and develop flower buds up and down the stem that flower after terminal (tip) buds flower. Everblooming hydrangeas form flower buds on the tips of both old wood and new wood and can flower throughout the season.
- If soils are sandy and infertile, add organic matter before planting
- Water as needed, especially during establishment phase (typically first year or two). Expect hydrangeas to wilt during hot summer afternoons, as with any plant check the soil moisture before irrigating to avoid overwatering
- Avoid overhead irrigation, leaf spot diseases and powdery mildew are more prevalent when foliage is wet for extended periods
- Prune after flowering, but before August when shaping is neededFor more information about long flowering hydrangea varieties see “New Hydrangeas for North and Central Florida: Bigleaf and Mountain Hydrangeas”
To learn more about influencing flower color and general care of hydrangeas read “French Hydrangea for Gardens in North and Central Florida.”
by Larry Williams | Feb 22, 2013
Fertilizing your lawn before the soil temperature is adequately warm results in waste of fertilizer and possible lawn injury.
Close up of cold injured lawn grass blades
Lawn cold injury from too early fertilizer application
Despite the fact that you can easily force your lawn to turn green early with many of the high nitrogen fertilizers, it’s a false sense of accomplishment. That new green growth is dependent on the availability of other elements, some of which are poorly available under cool soil temperatures. Iron, for example, is not readily available while the soil is still cool. This is exactly what happens when your lawn begins to turn bright yellow after being fertilized too early. In other words you’ve induced or caused a nutrient deficiency by fertilizing too early. It’s simply a matter of the soil being to cool to allow the roots to take in the needed iron to support the new growth that you’ve caused from fertilizing too soon.
There are other needed nutrients, such as potassium, which are not readily available under cool soil temperatures. As a result, some of these fertilizer elements leach below the root area before grass-roots are in a position to use them. As a result of fertilizing too early, you’re wasting fertilizer and money that’s washing away and not being used by your lawn. Waiting to fertilize during more favorable soil temperatures allows for more efficient use of the fertilizer and less waste.
In order for our lawn grasses to efficiently use fertilizer, consistently warmer nights are required. So why not wait until mid April to fertilize? You’ll waste less fertilizer, save money and have a healthier lawn in the process. It’s a win, win, win situation.
by Blake Thaxton | Aug 6, 2012
It seems Northwest Florida sure dodged a bullet when Tropical Storm Debbie decided to head east. The citizens and structures may have dodged the bullet but the plant life had unseen pressures on it. All of the plants in the coastal region of Northwest Florida have some salt tolerance associated with them if they are surviving, and we can see that by the way our plants have been shaped by salt spray on our barrier islands.
The far west counties of Florida were on the “dry side” of the Tropical Storm causing some plants to be damaged that may usually be unharmed by the salt spray. For example X Cupressocypris leylandii or Leyland Cypress is a moderately tolerant plant to salinity. I examined some Leyland Cypress in Santa Rosa County that had damage solely on the side facing Escambia Bay. The property’s owner thought that it must be some kind of disease considering that it had never been harmed by salt spray before in the previous six years since being planted. On further examination, I noticed that there was an azalea in the next yard with brown foliage and a Trumpet Vine in the top of the Leyland Cypress that also had damage to its foliage. This made me curious to whether or not salt spray is more damaging on the dry side of a T.S.
After some research on the matter, it was apparent that it was salt spray damage. With the winds being steady from the north east on this particular property and extremely dry weather accompanied with the “dry side” of T.S. Debbie, the salt spray had some devastating effects to some landscape plants. It was a perfect combination to wreck havoc on the Leyland Cypress planting. Without the large amounts of rainfall, the plant’s foliage does not have the opportunity for the salt to be washed off. The salt accumulates on the leaves and even for a moderately tolerant plant such as Leyland Cypress; the foliage begins to brown or “burn”. This eventually causes necrosis or tissue death.
If you have experienced “burnt” looking foliage on some of your less tolerant plants after T.S. Debbie, it may not be a disease like you may have suspected. It could be the unfortunate effects of the “dry side” of the storm and a heavy salt accumulation.
For more information and comments, please email Santa Rosa County Extension Agent Blake Thaxton at bthaxton@ufl.edu.
by Matthew Orwat | May 10, 2012
Spider mites and thier "webbing" on a Blush Noisette Rose. Photo Credits: Matthew J. Orwat
Spring is rapidly turning into an early summer. As heat increases so will the incidence of spider mites on ornamental shrubs.
The first indicating factor of damage is a yellow mottling on the leaves of the plant, which is caused by the piercing and sucking mouthparts of the spider mite. As they feed they damage leaf tissue, eventually disfiguring the leaves and causing complete abscission. Additionally, fine webbing will be noticed on the stems and leaves on which the mites will lay their eggs. Although the most obvious damage to the plant is disfigurement, this leaf damage weakens the plant and may lead to eventual death of plants already weakened by other insects or diseases.
Scouting and rapid action is necessary to prevent spider mite damage, since the spider mite life cycle ranges from 5-20 days. The optimum temperature for development of spider mite infestations is 80 ° F.
Spraying broad spectrum insecticides might seem like a good solution, but these insecticides will eliminate the numerous natural predatory insect species which feed on spider mites. The popular insecticide, Carbaryl, has been shown to actually increase mite populations in some studies. One simple, non-toxic solution for spider mite control is to use a forceful stream of water to wash off spider mites and their web-like structures. This would need to be carefully performed to reach all affected parts of the plant, particularly the undersides of the leaves. Repeating this process several times will achieve reasonable mite control. Additional low-toxicity methods include the application of insecticidal soaps and high grade horticultural oils. These need to be applied carefully, since application of these products in high temperatures can damage certain shrub species. Please consult your labels carefully.
As a last resort, if insecticides are needed, the most narrow-spectrum product possible needs to be selected. It is also advisable to rotate insecticides, since mites are known to develop resistance to a particular product when used alone.
For a table of available miticides or to learn more please cosult “Selected Miticide Use for Ornamantal Plants” and “Twospotted Spider Mite”
Submitted by Matthew J. Orwat, Washington County Horticulture Extension Agent
Spider mite leaf damage on a Blush Noisette Rose. Photo Credits: Matthew J. Orwat
Spider mites and thier "webbing" on a Blush Noisette Rose. Photo Credits: Matthew J. Orwat
