As the outdoor gardening
season winds down, it’s time to gather those plants you need to winter over and
bring them back indoors, to a garage or greenhouse for the winter.
Your
Helper #1 spent the better part of this great Sunday afternoon moving our
outdoor potted “trees” and big plants into the greenhouse.
And, as you can see, our Master
Gardener has
already prepared her cuttings for propagation to use next spring.
For the smaller plants she often
trims up the plant once it is moved into its winter space. However:
1.
Several weeks before bringing them in, spray them
with an insecticide such as Neem Oil * and
separate from other plants. (if you are not familiar with it, Neem Oil is worth understanding and is very useful)
2.
Three to four days before bringing in, spray again to
kill off
any insects that may have just arrived.
3. Check if the plants need repotting. If so, invert the
pot, tap
the rim against a hard surface, and turn the plant out. You can
also squeeze a plastic pot to loosen up the root ball.
If roots are growing through the drainage hole and wrapped
around the root ball, or bulging up at the rim it’s time to repot. This will
allow for greater height and increased width growth. If you choose not
to move them into a larger container (one size larger pot), gently comb out any
tangled roots, trim roots, and refresh the soil. (Restricting the pot size will
have a dwarfing effect on the plant.)
Often plants have a growth spurt after being moved back
inside to a
warmer climate. Do not add fertilizer to encourage this growth.
Let the
plant acclimate to the lower light and humidity levels. Growth will
become slower, allowing the plant to rest for the winter. Start fertilizing
again in the spring. Only water plants sparingly
through the winter months.
* Neem Oil is derived by pressing the seed kernels of the
neem tree. It is very bitter with a garlic/sulfur smell. A single seed may
contain up to 50 percent oil
by weight. Neem oil has been used for hundreds of
years in controlling plant pests and diseases. Many researches have shown that
the spray solution of
neem oil helps to control common pests like white flies,
aphids, scales, mealy bugs, spider mites, locusts, thrips, and Japanese
beetles, etc. Neem oil also works as a fungicide and helps control powdery
mildew. Some people have also experienced good results with neem oil spray on
black spot.
Orchid owners use pure neem oil spray to control pests like
mealybugs, spider mites, etc. One of the main ingredients in neem seed oil is
Azadirachtin that works as an insect growth regulator, thus preventing the
larval stage to molt into an adult. As neem is very bitter in taste, it also
works as an antifeedant thus making the leaves sprayed with it very distasteful
for the bugs to eat, and the bugs choose to starve themselves than eat the
leaves treated with neem.
Neem oil is bio-degradable and has proven to be
non-toxic to mammals, birds, bees or earthworms. It breaks
down easily and quickly. Neem has also proven to be not harmful to adult
beneficial insects, since it primarily affects only plant sap-sucking insects,
which feed upon the treated plants. However it is recommended that care should
be taken not to spray neem oil solution when honey bees and the larvae of
beneficials like ladybugs, etc. are present. Neem oil spray like any other oil
spray can also burn leaves if sprayed in sun.
