Question: My lychee tree finished fruit this year with just a few fruits. My garden site has grown a little. How can I get more fruit and when can I prune the trees?
Answer: Like many fruitful trees, lychees may take a break from fruition and produce sparse crops for a year or two. During this break, the tree stores the food it needs to produce more fruit the following year. Moisten your fertilizer in March, May, and early October to stay healthy. Cover the trees a little during the summer with the necessary pruning. Lychee trees naturally develop a rounded habit of growth, but can increase to 40 feet tall and width. Selective pruning of the arms and legs may be necessary. Pruning now can cause new shoots to mature by winter and be ready to produce fruit in the spring. Heavy pruning can slow down fruiting for a year or two.
Q. I have a pineapple guava that has not produced fruit in about 10 years. What can I do to help fruits?
A. Pineapple guabus, also known as feijoa, becomes a creepy plant. First, you need to make sure that plants are producing flowers that can occur four or five years after the plant is planted. Plants that grow as large shrubs on small trees must be mature for us to bloom. Some varieties then self-fertilize. This means that fruits can be made without mutual pollination from another pineapple guava. Usually, other types of seeds require separate plants nearby. If you have never seen flowers, you will have to wait for the plant to mature. Moisten and fertilize in March, May, and early October. Remove any entangled branches and leave the plant somewhat open. This gives the main pollinator, usually birds, the opportunity to fly when the flowers are produced.
Q. Some cherry tomato plants survived the summer, but are not producing fruit. Do you want the plants to grow in autumn or remove them and repot them?
A.Allow these summer survivors to continue their growth, but have some alternatives handy. Tomato plants may appear ready to grow in autumn and succumb to illness or old age. It moistens the plants, maintains mulch layers, bloats each month, and grows and produces the next crop. The tomato plants start with flower flowers, and set fruits from September to October, bringing back mild weather.
Plant Doctor: Dry Winter, Spring Moon Causing Suffering on Magnolia Trees
Q. White spots exist in one of my one-sided plants. What are they, and do I need to provide control?
A. Scrape some spots listed in the e-mail photo and find Meeribug who lives with your tracking plants. These are sharp and sucking insects that can reduce your surveillance vitality. They also produce excrement that promotes the growth of soot mold bacteria. The insects may have also moved to nearby plants, but they are even more hidden among the leaves. Applying insecticide soaps will help you get better controls while the plant is still healthy. It beats individual insects and clusters to eliminate pests. You may need a repeat spray. Neem oil spray can be replaced as an alternative spray if necessary.
Q. I’ve heard that there is a chinch bug in St. Augustingras, which cannot be controlled by pesticides. Is this true?
A. Unfortunately, chinch insects gradually became resistant to pesticides. Residents and pest control companies have been switching between pesticides for years to get effective products. At this time, pest control companies are reporting small pockets of pesticide-resistant chinch bugs. What this means is that what they are available does not provide satisfactory control. Unfortunately, controls may not be available at this time. University of Florida entomologist Adam Dale suggests that pest control companies try different classes of insecticides, including biological products, for better control. The use of grass-labeled neem oil sprays could be one of these possible alternative controls. For additional information on effective, properly labeled chinch bug controls, please contact your local University of Florida Extension Office.
Q. It seems that when planting pepper seeds, it takes a long time for them to germinate. Why and how can you speed it up?
August in the gardens in Central Florida
A. If you think the peppers will take a long time, try planting parsley seeds that will take at least 21 days to sprout. However, peppers also require warm growth conditions for 7-14 days to begin growing over time. Describing the slow growth of paper covers that slows moisture into the seeds. Some gardeners report rushing the buds for three days by completely moistening the seeds before sowing and maintaining the sown container in a warm place of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit during germination.
Q. My Zinnia and Marigold are growing well, but after a few weeks of colour, most of the flowers turn brown. Do you need to remove them from the plants?
A. Many of our bedding plants are what we call self-cleaning. In other words, faded flowers deteriorate quickly or grow from new leaves and flower buds. Still, it certainly looks close to the plants in the patio or sidewalk gardens so that we look like the best if we’re what we call deadheads. This means that old flowers will be removed as they fade. Although not necessary, removing faded flowers can increase the plant’s lifespan and promote additional flowers.
Tom Maccubbin is an honorary urban gardener at the University of Florida Cooperative Expansion Services. Write him: Orlando Sentinel, PO Box 2833, Orlando, Florida. 32802. email: tomac1996@aol.com.
