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Tips & Tricks
Sunburn
Flytraps kill Fungus Gnats (Trauermücken)
Cuttings from etoliated plants
Sunburn
Plants, which are kept
in the house in winter due to too low temperatures outside, lack sunlight.
They lose their natural shield against direct sunlight, so the gardener
must be careful when putting them outside again in spring.
Here is my recommendation:
- When you put your
plants outside again the first time in spring, make sure they are in
shadow the whole day.
- Keep them in shadow
for at least two weeks if the sun is already rather strong.
- After 2 weeks
you can start to give them direct sunlight starting in the morning hours.
Start with one hour in the morning and extent this period by steps of
one hour.
Fungus
Gnats - (german: Trauermücken)
One real annoyance
are Fungus Gnats. You take care of your plants the whole year and suddenly
those tiny flies appear and the larvae in the soil eat your plants.
One cause for Fungus Gnats is overwatering. They love moist environments
and populate your pots faster than you can think of.
- Make sure you
do not water too much. The pots should get dry
in between watering intervals.
- If you recognize
many tiny flies around your plants, you must react immediately:
- stop watering
- put some flytraps near your plants (you know, whose spiral thingies
hanging from the ceiling)
Those flytraps will kill the Fungus Gnats flies and therefore prevent them
of lying eggs with larvae into the soil again.
I was quite successful with the flytraps, but there are also some special
care-takers for Fungus Gnats - triangular yellow sticky tags, which are
stuck into the soil near the plants. The yellow color will attract the flies
and kill them.
If the plant looks rather bad after the attack, consider making a cutting
described below.
Cuttings from etoliated plants
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Etoliated young
Bryophyllum Houghton's Hybrid's
Cutting of one Bryophyllum from above
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Sometimes plants etoliate
in winter (german: pflanzen vergeilen).
Causes are too much water
in the resting period and lack of light. The plants grow too much without
growing strong stems and leaves.
Recommendations:
• Immediately decrease the amount of water when signs of etoliating
appear (growth in the rest period)
• Try to
give them more light (i.e. artificial light with a flourescence tube if
you don't have a sun-rich window - type Philips 965 or similar- those have
a near-sun spectrum)
If you have some etoliated plants in spring don't despair. Just cut a reasonable
part from the top, let it 'dry' for a few days (to prevent rotting at the
cut) and then put it into soil. Don't water too much. Start with a little
water and increase the amount up to your normal watering habbits.
With such cuttings you should get a descent plant again.
© 2003 Captain
last modified: 20-JUN-2003
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