Cultivate a shower of flowers for the holidays! Christmas cactus and Thanksgiving cactus are easy to grow if you know what you are doing. Get yours to grow and bloom to its fullest year after year. Here are the seasonal steps that you will need to know for the most beautiful display!
“Any idea what kind of plant this is? It was given to my mom and looks pretty bad. We were also wondering if it’s ok to cut all of the brownish leaves off. Will It come back with new regrowth?” Question from Donna of West Chester, Pennsylvania
Answer: You have a Japanese Sago Palm (Cycas revoluta). It looks like it is struggling. Definitely remove the brown or dying leaves.
It will regrow with good care! These prickly cycads require lots of sunlight and very well-drained soil. During the winter months, they should be watered very little. Leaf browning can be caused by underwatering or overwatering–most often overwatering. If you are watering it a lot, give it a rest for at least three weeks. It should also be in a pot with drainage holes and a bottom saucer to catch water. Good potting mix will also help keep it happy. I recommend repotting it in Black Gold All Purpose Potting Mix amended with added Perlite for drainage, if your mix looks old and depleted.
The drying leaves may also be caused by spider mites, a common pest of these cycads. Spider mites are tiny plant pests, and once you notice their damage, they are already numerous and a problem. The tops of leaves will look like they have little white spots across them. These are dead leaf cells that the mites have sucked dry. You might also see little webs on the leaves and stems of infected plants. To make sure you have mites, and to get an idea of population levels, take a clean piece of white paper, hold it beneath the leaves, then tap the leaves onto the paper. If you have mites, lots of tiny specs will fall. Eventually, they will start crawling around. These are spider mites!
If you think you have mites, remove the worst of the damaged leaves. Then spray, wash, and wipe the remaining stems and leaves thoroughly. Remove the top inch of potting soil and replace it with fresh. It also helps to wipe the container down, in case any mites have strayed. Finally, spray the plants with insecticidal soap or Neem oil. Continue to do the tap test and wipe and spray leaves as needed. In time you will overcome your mite problem.
Happy gardening!
Jessie Keith
Black Gold Horticulturist
What is the best way to plant Cyclamen? Question from Melba of Texas
Answer: It depends on whether you are planting tender, greenhouse-grown Cyclamen in pots or hardy Cyclamen in the ground. I’ll cover the planting details for both and how to get them to bloom beautifully.
Cyclamen grow best in well-drained potting mix that is kept just moist, never wet. Water them just from the base or bottom water them, by filling the pot’s saucer with water, to avoid getting the flowers and foliage wet. Plant them in a pot that’s several inches larger than the old, and gently work the plant’s roots if they are pot bound. Place several inches of Black Gold All-Purpose Potting Mix at the base of the pot, and fill in around the edges, while being sure to leave at least an inch or two at the top for watering.
Indoor cyclamen like cool indoor temperatures and bright indirect light. Feeding them with an all-purpose slow-release fertilizer will keep them flowering well.
There are several hardy cyclamen that will grow well in your Texas garden. These include the shade-loving Cyclamen hederifolium ‘Silver Arrow’ (USDA Hardiness Zones 4-8), which has pink spring flowers that appear without the foliage and silver foliage that pops up in fall. Cyclamen mirabile (USDA Hardiness Zones 6-8), is another pretty hardy cyclamen for partial sun to shade with pale pink flowers that bloom from September through December above leaves that have silver and green patterns. Both of these plants appreciate soil with high organic matter and excellent drainage. I suggest raising their planting areas and amending with Black Gold Garden Compost Blend before planting. Provide them with moderate moisture during the growing season.
I hope this helps!
Happy Cyclamen growing!
Jessie Keith
Container gardening has always been a big part of my garden. and years ago what started out as a small grouping of pots on our deck, has continued to expand. Now I have about 150 containers throughout my garden. The plant selection varies, and I am always removing something that did not perform as well as expected by adding something new. However, even with all the changes, some things remain consistent and one of the constants is my fondness for Abutilon. I cannot remember a time when I have not had at least one Abutilon in a pot.
The common name for abutilons is parlor maple or flowering maple because the leaf has a maple shape and the plants grow well indoors or outdoors. Abutilon can also be called Chinese lantern because of the pendulous, lantern shape of the flowers. Species are native throughout the subtropics and tropics worldwide and most are evergreen. Some of the prettiest are from the Americas.
The sizes, shapes, and colors of Abutilon flowers are quite variable. Some flowers are bell-shaped and face downward, while others are more open and face outward. Their blooming season is long, and once they begin to flower, they will continue to do so throughout the summer and into winter, if you bring them indoors. They come in shades of red, pink, yellow, white and/or orange. South American species are specially adapted for hummingbird and bat pollination.
The large, open, 2-inch flowers of Abutilon ‘Moonchimes’ are a delicate primrose yellow. The compact plants reach 2 to 3 feet and have dark green foliage. This is a lovely variety for summer containers.
My all-time favorite Abutilon is ‘Red Tiger’. The flowers on ‘Red Tiger’ almost look like a stained glass piece. The yellow flowers have scarlet-red veining, and the design is so intricate that it almost does not look real. It is definitely a conversation piece in the home or summer garden. If you have not grown Abutilon and are going to try one plant, this would be my choice!
The cultivar ‘Souvenir de Bonn’ has leaves that are edged in cream and pendulous, orange, bell-shaped flowers. This is a reliably good bloomer, and with the contrasting leave color, it makes an outstanding container plant. I suggest giving this one some protection from the hot summer sun.
The leaves of Abutilon pictum ‘Thompsonii’ are green flecked with yellow patterns. This is a vigorous species that originates from Brazil can reach 6 feet, where hardy. Its orange flowers veined with red are no less beautiful and stand out against its unique leaves.
Abutilon megapotamicum is sometimes referred to as ‘Trailing Abutilon’ because, with pruning, it can be kept almost prostrate. The flowers are small but abundant and have large, red calyces and yellow petals. If left to grow where hardy, without trimming, this Brazilian native can reach up to 8 feet and is in constant bloom.
The Abutilon cultivar ‘Nabob’ has always performed well in my garden. It is tall, reaching 8 to 10 feet, where hardy, with very dark red flowers that attract hummingbirds. The leaves are very dark green.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, Abutilon is not reliably winter hardy, but if the winter is mild, the plants will often survive as perennials and new shoots will emerge from the ground in the spring. Most survive in USDA Hardiness Zones 8-10. I would not consider outdoor potted plants as winter hardy, so I treat them as annuals if they are not brought indoors. And, if they survive winter, then that is a pleasant spring surprise.
Abutilon is fast growing and new shoots will be in bloom by summer. My pots get varying degrees of sun and shade. Some get full sun all day, and others receive full shade and some a mix of sun and shade. I have found that Abutilons seem to be very adaptable and thrive in full or partial sun, but they do not want to be in full shade. For pots in full sun, I plant them in Black Gold Waterhold Cocoblend Potting Mix because it is excellent for retaining moisture on a hot summer day. For pots in a partially sunny location, I plant them in Black Gold Natural & Organic Potting Mix.
Abutilons are very easy to start from cuttings and that is an easy way to carry over plants from year to year. Take new tip cuttings, dip them in rooting hormone, place them in a moist potting mix, and they will root in no time. Pot them up and keep them indoors in bright, indirect light to keep them happy while they winter over. Whether in indoor containers or in the ground, abutilons make superb blooming plants.
When garden plants are outdoors, pest populations are generally lower or more diffuse due to natural predators, harsher weather, and more host plants. But, once you bring plants indoors, all of that changes. Predators are gone, climate conditions are good, and the pests that enter your home have just a few plants to feed on. This means hungry pest populations will explode on your house plants, causing damage and wreckage along the way.
It is essential to start an integrated pest management (IPM) program as soon as pests are spotted. But, each pest and its management is different. Here we detail some of the worst house plant pests and how to tackle them indoors.
Aphids fly in from the outdoors or enter on infested house plants. They suck the juices from tender stems and leaves, leaving a trail of sticky honeydew that sometimes attracts ants. (Click here to learn how to manage unwanted ants in gardens.) Thankfully, they are easy to manage. Simply wash and wipe aphids away from leaves and stems with a warm, moist cloth, and then spray any remaining aphids off with tap water. Let plants dry, and then spray again with an OMRI Listed insecticidal soap. Check your pot’s topsoil to make sure any wayward aphids are not hanging out in wait to reinfest plants. Continue these practices, and your aphid problems will be gone in no time.
Fungus gnats can fly into homes or enter via infested plants or open potting mix bags. They breed on moist soils and their larvae damage roots and spread plant diseases. Truly they are everywhere soil, algae, fungus, and plant material can be found. Once indoors, populations explode because most gardeners don’t understand how to stop them or how they enter the home. But, don’t despair! Follow the simple cultural guidelines in this video (click here to watch) to easily stop fungus gnats from breeding in your house plants.
Whiteflies are sucking insects that remove the juices from leaves and stems. They can cause terrible damage to plants, leading to leaf drop and general decline. Without management, the undersides of leaves will become covered with clouds of tiny white flies and clusters of their small, round, white egg masses.
If you have an infestation, remove the worst of the white-fly-covered leaves, especially those with lots of egg masses, and bag them for trash disposal. Then spray, wash, and wipe the remaining stems and leaves thoroughly. Make sure no more egg masses remain. Finally, spray the plants with insecticidal soap or Neem oil. (Click here for an overview of horticultural oils for organic insect control.) Continue to check for whiteflies and wipe and spray leaves as needed.
These are tiny plant pests, and once you notice their damage, they are numerous and have already become a large problem. You will notice the damage when the tops of leaves look like they have little white spots across them. These are dead leaf cells that the mites have sucked dry. You might also see little webs on the leaves and tender stems of infected plants.
To see if you have mites, take a clean piece of white paper, hold it beneath the leaves, then tap the leaves onto the paper. If you have mites, lots of tiny specs will fall, and eventually, they will start crawling around. These are spider mites!
As with aphids and whiteflies, always clean plants before treating them. Remove the worst of the damaged leaves. Then spray, wash, and wipe the remaining stems and leaves thoroughly. Remove the top inch of potting soil and replace it with fresh. (We recommend using Black Gold All Purpose Potting Mix.) It also helps to wipe the container down, in case any mites have strayed. Finally, spray the plants with insecticidal soap or Neem oil. Continue to do the tap test and wipe and spray leaves as needed. In time you will overcome your spider mite problem.
Mealybug infestations are hard to manage because these pests travel and spread as crawlers. Crawlers are the nearly invisible nymphs that hatch from the pest’s egg masses and “crawl” several feet to quickly infest other plants. You can’t always see these crawlers, so to manage them, you have to clean plants, containers, and surrounding surfaces when you see an infestation.
Mealybugs are soft, white, and feed on the juices of plant leaves and stems, particularly in the crevices between leaves and stems. They produce copious crawlers, so the sooner you notice mealybugs, the better.
To remove mealybugs, start by cleaning your plant, its pot, and all surfaces surrounding the plant. Remove the top two inches of potting soil and replace it with fresh. Finally, spray the plants. One of the best mealybug sprays is a 10-25% solution of isopropyl alcohol. Fill a spray bottle with 1/4 cup of isopropyl alcohol and 2/4 cup water and shake to combine. When treating plants with this solution, keep them out of direct sunlight because it can cause leaf burn in the bright sun. You can also treat plants with insecticidal soap or Neem oil. Repeat spray treatments until plants are mealybug-free.
Another method to stop crawlers is to loop stems surrounding infected areas with double-sided tape traps. As the crawlers hatch and begin crawling, they will get stuck on the tape and die. You can also surround pot edges with double-sided tape to keep crawlers from moving beyond an infected plant.
Armored scale is tough, a pain to remove, and many different species attack many different plants. Like mealybugs, they are sucking insects that produce crawlers. Their chief damage is the removal of water and nutrients from stems and leaves, which will slow growth and cause general decline. Severe infestations can even kill a plant.
Armored scale insects have tough, plate-like coverings to protect the insects underneath. Most have several generations a year when plants are actively growing. Simply washing or spraying these tough, slow-moving pests won’t do a lot of damage. What helps is to scrape or pick them off, without doing damage to stems. Badly infected stems should be completely cut off. Then wash plants down with insecticidal soap.
It also helps to spray plants with dormant oil spray in late winter or early spring, and then again in early summer, when crawlers are most active. Double-sided tape traps should also be applied, as suggested with mealybugs. Monitor your plants regularly to stay on top of any scale infestation and repeat management steps as needed.
Flying indoor plant pests are attracted to yellow sticky traps, which can be purchased at most garden centers. Placing them around house plants is a great way to determine pest types and population numbers in the home. They also capture flying adults. It’s just one more way to stay on top of difficult house plant pests.
