Early Winter!
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Pinching is proper when you want bushier
plants
Janet,
I was given an orange tree three years ago. It is very
healthy. I water and fertilize it regularly. It is now four feet
tall, one limb straight up and down. How do I get the tree to bush
out so it looks like a real tree? When will fruit
appear?
D.Z.
Dear D.Z.,
A general pruning rule applies -- to promote branching, prune
during active growth. After growth begins in spring, pinch the new
branches -- clip off the tips. Pay special attention to the tallest
and widest limbs. Keeping those pinched yields the best return in
breaks -- new branches lower on the plant. Citrus trees don't break
readily, so you may have to pinch several times this year, and
still not see significant results until spring 2004.
Fruit follows flower. Citrus may bloom at two to six years old,
but only if they have both adequate energy and the correct
environmental cues.
To plants, light is energy. Citrus need full sun, even in
winter. Is the light in your window equal in strength and duration
to a winter outdoors in Florida or Arizona? During winter here,
only a spot under grow lights or in a conservatory can measure up
-- if grow lights are on for 12-18 hours every day and if
supplemental lights come on in the greenhouse on overcast days.
So your tree may have enough light to produce leaves, but not
flowers.
As for environmental cues, grow the tree a bit drier and cooler
in winter, to increase the chance of bloom the following spring and
summer. I wrote in this column on December 29, 2001 about the
general care of citrus, including their need for a dry, chilly
season to stimulate fuller bloom during the next warm, moist
period. On winter nights, temperature in a professional orangery
drops into the low 50's. By day, it climbs only to the high
60's.
Janet,
You wrote about male and female shrubs. Are there male
and female trees, too?
J.V.
Dear J.V.,
Yes, indeed. Some species that have pollen-producing flowers on
one individual and seed- or fruit-forming flowers on another are
ginkgo, Kentucky coffeetree, the maple called box elder, mulberry,
persimmon, poplar, staghorn sumac, tree of heaven, white ash and
green ash. (Despite its similar common name, mountain ash is not
related to the white and green ash. Every mountain ash can produce
fruit.)
This knowledge can be used to advantage if you plan ahead and
purchase male varieties to avoid the smell of ginkgo fruit, escape
cleaning up rock-hard pods under Kentucky coffeetree or seeds from
ash and box elder, or to know that your poplar won't produce snowy,
blowing seed.
On the other hand, you'll need a male of the species within
pollinating range of a female if you want to draw birds with
mulberry fruit, provide nutritious box elder seeds to birds and
small mammals, enjoy the sight of red "horns" on a sumac or munch a
homegrown persimmon. Other things to know are that only male
varieties of ash are susceptible to ugly, stunting ash flower gall
disease, male tree of heaven flowers are malodorous, and
memory-enhancing herbal preparations comes from female ginkgo
trees, from the fruit.
Short reports
If your homegrown poinsettia seems pale and
thin..
... compared to those you see in stores, it's not a problem but
a reflection of how professional techniques differ from ours at
home.
In the greenhouse, a poinsettia's growth is governed not only by
light and water but by growth-regulating chemicals -- synthetic
versions of plant hormones applied to promote denser branching,
shorter, thicker stems and more concentrated leaf color. You
probably can't provide as much light or control its duration like a
professional can, so your plant has less energy and wouldn't
respond properly to the growth regulators even if you could obtain
them.
Be happy with the poinsettia you nurtured all year -- it's
adapted to your growing conditions, so it will remain a steady
presence. A new, greenhouse-raised plant will shine for the
holidays but will eventually have to reconfigure itself to the
lower light and drier air in your home. If you keep this year's
acquisition as a houseplant, expect it to stretch out, lighten up
and drop some lower and interior leaves.
Green thumbs up
to stepping outside on Christmas. Fill the bird feeders, admire
your evergreen collection, and take snippets of fragrant pine, fir,
arborvitae, lavender, sage or thyme indoors to refresh your holiday
decorations.
Green thumbs down
to the new age use of de-icing salt. Used to be we spread a bit
to start breaking up ice, then shoveled. Lately it's being used
sans shoveling, in quantities as if for traction. No wonder more
plants are burning!
Originally published 12/21/02
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