Q. Every year our lovely orange clivia blooms outdoor in our shade backyard, however the tops of the foliage are sometimes yellow and brown. What causes this discoloration of the leaves?
Georgiana Flaherty, San Jose
A. The almost certainly trigger, if the vegetation are in any other case wholesome and blooming, is an excessive amount of water. Clivia, a South African native plant, want to be simply barely moist, grown in soil with glorious drainage. Verify your irrigation and soil moisture to verify they aren’t getting an excessive amount of water.
Twice a 12 months, clivias want a relaxation interval — in winter earlier than flowering and instantly after spring blooming. Throughout these instances of relaxation, you must cease fertilizing them and water needs to be dramatically diminished to as soon as each three to 4 weeks. When new development begins to seem, you'll be able to resume your weekly watering and month-to-month fertilizing schedule.
Older foliage on the vegetation additionally will flip yellow and die because the vegetation produce new leaves. In that case, the yellowing is regular and nothing to fret about.
Clivia thrive with benign neglect. They don’t prefer to have their roots disturbed, so that they solely have to be dug out and thinned each three to 5 years. In addition they bloom finest when they're barely overcrowded.
World Bare Gardening Day
In case you’re planning to take part in World Bare Gardening Day on Might 7, the American Affiliation for Nude Recreation has some ideas. (And sure, bare gardening day is an actual factor and so is the nude recreation affiliation.)
The affiliation says along with physique acceptance and private freedom, nude gardening has different attributes together with consolation, laundry financial savings and simple private clear up with a fast dampen. The group says it’s like “dipping one’s toe in a mix Nakation Staycation,” which, as you might need guessed, is a nude trip at or close to residence.
Earlier than tending your naked bare women within the nude, listed below are some ideas on doing it safely:
- Apply sunscreen liberally
- Should you’re gardening at daybreak or nightfall, bear in mind the bug repellent
- Prune roses, bougainvillea and different thorny vegetation with warning
- Don protecting gardening gloves, hat and sun shades
- Add to your consolation by kneeling or sitting on a towel-covered gardening mat
- Get pleasure from that Vitamin D
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