No, I don’t mean tips on browning your plants.   Or that roast for dinner.

I got an email from Karen saying that her variegated leaf peace lily has leaves that are getting brown at the tips.  She wants to know if she is giving too much water, too little water or what. 

There could be several things that create brown tips in a peace lily.  Hard water, letting the soil get too dry, keeping the soil too moist, not enough light and/or too much fertilizer.  If it turns out to be your water, use filtered, distilled or rain water.  Wait until the leaves just begin to wilt, or just a bit before that to water.  Give it lots of light, but make it indirect for the best results.  If you fertilize, make sure it is at half strength and give it only when the plant is vigorously growing.  Do that every 2 to 3 weeks from Spring to Fall and once a month during winter.  They like to be somewhat rootbound, so don’t repot the plant unless it is very rootbound. A large potwith too much room will increase the risk of root rot, which could also cause browning leaf tips.

Peace lilies are one of the easiest houseplants to grow indoors, but it can still have some problems, including the aforementioned tip browning.  They are a native to Central and South America.  The Peace Lily’s botanical name is Spathyphyllum, where the Greek work “spathi” (meaning sword) refers to the shape of the leaves.  Although, I have seen some that don’t have the straight and narrow leaves. 

A lot of people grow it for its foliage, but the flowers are beautiful, too.  The large white “petal” is actually just a bract that encloses the true flower.  This bract is the hood, or backdrop for the column of tiny, close-set flowers.

There are hundreds of varieties on the market with variations on the foliage… dark green, glossy, long and narrow, long and wide, and variegated.  It can be one to two feet to three feet or taller.  Boy, the cats would love that!  Of course, they are the reason we don’t have too many house plants.  Too much of a buffet for them.

The peace lily prefers moderate light levels but will tolerate low light, too.  This makes it a good choice for offices and hospitals.

It is also pretty forgiving when dealing with watering needs.  It typically does well with once-a-week watering, especially during the winter months.  If it droops between waterings, give it a thorough watering and should perk up quickly.  However, this may indicate that you may have to water more often due to the size of the plant, the type of soil mix in the pot and the amount of light it is receiving.  While in bloom, water it more frequently, but don’t over water or leave it in standing water. 

Peace lilies can survive a long time (barring any hungry cats) and may not always re-bloom.  Sometimes the plant variety is to blame if it was developed for its form and foliage.  It could be inadequate light levels, or too much sunlight.  Even though they tolerate low light levels, they bloom best with at least moderately bright conditions and too much sun may cause sunburn.  it may also be the wrong temperature.  Peace lilies typically bloom the best if they are at cool temperatures (from 60 to 65 degrees) for a few months and then warm up to 70 to 75 degrees.  As opposed to humans, who, mainly, do best at 70… at least Iowans in the middle of winter think, anyway!

Dig it!

Posted under General

Ah, Amaryllis.  A beautiful bulb that brightens up the gloomy days of winter.  They are native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas.

My mom gets them every year and then lets them die back and tosses them out.  Growing up, I thought that is what you did with Amaryllis.  Little did I know that you can get them to bloom again.  It takes a little work, but you can certainly have that beautiful bloom again next winter.

When your Amaryllis is finished blooming, cut the stalk back to an inch or so above the bulb.  Try not to damage the leaves since the bulb will need those to store food for next season’s blooms.  Put the plant in a sunny window and give it some water when the surface of the soil is nearly dry.  And give it a houseplant fertilizer every 2 to 4 weeks.

You can move the Amaryllis outdoors in late May or early July, but make sure you harden it off.  This means putting it in a shady, protected area for 2 to 3 days and then gradually exposing it to a few hours of direct sunlight.  If it goes directly into the sunlight for the full day the plant may get burned.  Once it is hardened, put the plant in partial to full sun.  Dig a hole and set the entire pot into the ground.  The bulb likes to be root bound, so growing the whole summer in the pot will be fine.  Water the plant during dry weather and go ahead and fertilize the Amaryllis once or twice a month with a complete plant food through July.

This is a nice grouping.

About mid-September dig up the pot, clean it off and bring it indoors, placing it in a sunny window. 

Now, in order for it to bloom, the Amaryllis bulb must be exposed to temperatures of 50 to 55 degrees for a minimum of 8 to 10 weeks.  You can do this by inducing dormancy and storing the dormant bulb in that 50 to 55 degree range.  To get that dormancy going, place the plant in a cool, semi-dark location in late September and don’t water it.  Cut off the leaves when they turn brown and then put the bulb in a dark, cool place for 8 to 10 weeks.

After you have met the cooling requirement, you can start the growth cycle again by repotting the bulb (in a pot about 1 to 2 inches wider than the diameter of the bulb) in fresh soil, watering and placing in a well-lit 70-75 degree location.  Keep the potting soil moist, but not wet, until growth appears.

If you don’t want to induce the dormancy period, you can just place the whole plant in a well-lit, cool location (50-55 degrees) in the fall.  Keep the amaryllis as a green plant until early to mid-winter and then move to a warmer (70-75 degree) location.

When the Amaryllis blooms move away from full sun so that the blooms last a little longer.  And if your amaryllis fails to bloom, it may not have been able to store enough food reserves in their bulbs in spring and summer… or they were not exposed to the cool temperatures for the right length of time.

I hope you enjoy your blooms!  And if you have any questions that you want answered regarding your garden… email me at eloan@kwwl.com and I’ll try to answer them.

Dig it!

Posted under General

I am almost 100% positive that everyone is sick of winter.  That is usually the case right about now, but this year is even worse.  I have been waiting to spring to arrive… and it finally has!  Well, not exactly… but the seeds are in the stores!

My favorite part of the winter!

This means that you can start seedlings and get a sign of spring in your home!  At least I hope you can.  I can’t.  I have four cats.  They’ll eat everything.  It’s like a new spring salad for them. 

If you are going to start seeds indoors, you may want to follow the guidelines I found here…It was published at the beginning of March last year, so you may have to wait a little bit, but it gives some nice guidelines about lighting and potting requirements. 

I love looking at all the packets and thinking about what I want to grow for the upcoming growing season.  I went in looking for some zinnias.  I ended up with a lot more than the two I was looking for.  After the trip to the store… I think I’ll plant radishes and turnips this year.  I got some carrot seeds, too.  I haven’t grown those since I was a kid.  Dwayne wants to try growing beets, so I have some of those.  We are going to try fennel as well.  And then I bought even more flowers!  Celosia, Bachelor Button, Aster and Sunflower.  I love Sunflowers.  We plant them, let them grow and then leave them up for the birds to pick at all winter.

There are always new varieties of vegetables and flowers each year.

Yum. Cucumbers! This one is called Raider F1.

And I got some flower seeds.  I got a heads-up about a couple of new zinnias this year (Thanks Stephen!).  Purple! 

Violet Queen Giant Zinnia

Lavender Gem Giant Zinnia

I can’t wait to try them out!  I’ll have to plant them near some marigolds.  That will set off the color nicely.  Or maybe even my daisies.  That will look great, too.  Of course, I found a green zinnia called “Envy” that will look terrific by them, too.  All sorts of choices… and lots of time until spring to plan.

Got anything you want me to cover for my next The Dirt segment on the Thursday Today in Iowa show?  Send me an email at eloan@kwwl.com and I’ll see what I can find out for you!

Dig it!

Posted under General

…although some have feathers and scales….

Nobody believes the meteorologist, but they rely on that fuzzy brown rodent in Pennsylvania to tell them if winter is finally over.  Well, I’m just as excited to find out what Phil says about the upcoming end to (what seems to be) a never-ending winter.  However, he is not the only non-human forecaster.  When you do a search you find out that there are a lot of them out there.

Punxsutawney Phil

This will be Tutor's first year for prognostication. He is located in Oxford, Michigan.

Agua Fria Freddy is one of the non-furry prognosticators. Not surprisingly, he is in Arizona.

Posted under General, Humor / Fun, Myths