Episode 213: three quick jobs to help your houseplants
Transcript
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Only got five minutes to give your houseplants a lift this weekend? I suggest three jobs that will only take minutes to complete, plus I answer a question about ferns.
On The Ledge sowalong: Thanks for all your onoing efforts to join my project growing houseplants from seed! If you are new to the #OTLsowalong, it’s the podcast’s annual project to get everyone growing houseplants from seed - you check out all the past sowalong episodes here.
Three five-minute jobs to help your houseplants today… remember, R-P-M!
ROTATE
Turning the pot a little every few days or weeks helps plants to grow evenly rather than leaning over. (Some plants may not be suitable for this: they just have a ‘right’ and a ‘wrong’ side, and that’s ok.)
PRUNE
Remember the four Xs the first things to remove from your plant are: dead, damaged, diseased and crossing.
Step back and look at the overall shape of the plant: cut back where growth is going in the wrong direction, or is uneven. Snip, then step back and look - this avoids pruning disasters! Remember that pruning stimulates growth: this is why spring is a good time to start.
Smaller plants can be placed on a ‘lazy susan’ so you can rotate the pot effortlessly as you work.
Healthy plant material you remove can be propagated.
Hygiene is important: sterilise your scissors, snips or pruning knife between plants. You can use Citrox, wash with hot soapy water, or run through a naked flame.
In plants with clear nodes such as most aroids, cut just above a node so that you aren’t left with any ‘dieback’.
Remember to deadhead flowering plants too.
MULCH
If you have really large pots, top dressing is an alternative to repotting: scape away the old potting mix carefully without damaging roots, and replace with fresh.
Top up potting mix into pots where the level has dropped, making sure that you don’t raise the level higher than it was originally ie just bring it back to where it should be.
Inorganic mulches such as sand, grit, stones or expanded clay pebbles (leca) added to pots can help stop problems with ‘soil splash’ when watering from above: it will also stop a dip in the substrate forming, if you water a little too enthusiastically!
Mulching may also help to seal in some moisture in plants that seem to dry out too quickly.
Mulching will not stop fungus gnats but may slightly reduce their ability to lay eggs (you’ll need to combine this with other defences.) It may also look more attractive than bare soil.
If you choose to mulch with newly bought expanded clay pebbles, rinse them of sediment before use.
One of Emily’s fasciated ferns.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Emily’s ferns are branching in unexpected ways - what’s going on? The likely cause is fasciation, which is the distortion of a plant’s parts - flowers, stems, leaves - caused by changes to the plant’s growing point, known as the apical meristem. It is often found in ferns but also cacti, Eupborbias and foxgloves are often affected. Fasciation can be the result of several different factors, including bacteria, viruses and physical damage from pests or other causes.
Sometimes, fasciation is actively encouraged by growers because it makes a more interesting plant form - ferns and cacti that are called ‘cristate’ are a result of fasciation. I suspect that some of Emily’s ferns may be fasciating naturally, but some are probably the result of deliberate breeding.
There isn’t much Emily can do about this issue: cutting off the fronds may work, or the new fronds may just grow back the same.
Want to ask me a question? Email ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com. The more information you can include, the better - pictures of your plant, details of your location and how long you have had the plant are always useful to help solve your issue!
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CREDITS
This week's show featured the tracks Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops, The Road We Use To Travel When We Were Kids by Komiku and Plantation by Jason Shaw.