Christmas trees are coming!!! - Nov 27, 2015
Dear Gardening Friends,
It’s been a difficult week for gardeners with another scorcher during the week and more hot weather forecast. Some of your plants will have dried out during the heat. When the potting mix runs out of water the roots get burnt and the plant can’t take up water. This causes the plants leaves to turn yellow and then brown and then they fall off.
Inexperienced gardeners think the best way to fix sick plants is to add fertiliser!!!!
Fertiliser is salt, so this just does even more damage to the poor sick roots. The best option is to nurse your plants back to life with Seasol. This plant tonic encourages your plant to grow new roots. You can apply it with water at least twice a week. Your plant will respond with fresh new growth within weeks.
Pot bound plants will be the first to suffer during hot weather. It’s the potting mix that holds the water. The more potting mix, the more water the pot will hold. Small pots hold less potting mix so these are always the first plants to die. If you have small pots move these to shady spots.
If you have plants that are pot bound then the potting mix has been replaced by roots. So that’s why the water just runs out the bottom of these plants when you water them
Solution?
Repot these plants into bigger pots or take them out of the pots and cut 20% of the roots off and then put it back in the same pot using Tim’s Best Potting Mix. Saucers can also help pot bound plants survive the heat. Wettasoil all your pot plants and gardens now. Mulch your pots with Sugarcane.
If you just don’t have the time or the energy to repot your plants then at least drought proof them by topdressing with IGC Planting Compost. This amazing product contains a wetting agent, Seaweed, Compost and a slow release fertiliser. When you mulch your pot plants with this product it absorbs the water and releases it slowly into the potting mix. It stops the water from just running out the bottom. It’s a quick fix that will help your plants survive the heat. A bag costs just $13.99 and you will be able to topdress at least 5 big pots!
Our Fresh Cut Christmas trees are arriving on Saturday the 5th of December. We get deliveries almost every day leading up to Christmas.
Our Christmas trees are grown on a farm in the Southern Highlands and they are transported during the night so they arrive fresh for you.
They have been hand pruned for 3 years until they are the perfect Christmas tree shape. Each tree has its own personality. A fresh cut Christmas tree will make your house "smell like Christmas".
Bring an old sheet to wrap your tree in so your car stays clean. A delivery service is available. We give you a free brochure on how to care for your Christmas tree. Follow the instructions and your tree will still be green on Christmas day. Trees cost $59.99.
NSW Christmas Bush has arrived. This Australian native plant has become a popular Christmas present because of the beautiful red Christmas bells. They are covered in these bright red bells throughout the Christmas period and they make a great table decoration. Some people with limited space use them as their Christmas tree.
We have some beauties this year and they are at least a metre high for just $29.99. Gardeners are having great success growing them in big pots using Native Potting Mix.
You should be starting to pick tomatoes now. If you have the larger fruiting varieties pick the fruit as they turn yellow and then bring them inside to ripen so they they don't get stung by fruit fly
One of our garden club members has been raving about how good his Tim’s Italian tomato tastes. This unusual pear shaped tomato is as sweet as honey. It has less seeds than commercial varieties and more flesh so that’s why it tastes so good. We still have seedlings if you would like to try this amazing tomato.
Some gardeners are having trouble growing tomatoes this year. The leaves are turning yellow and the new growth is distorted. This problem is caused by Two Spotted Mites. These tiny sap sucking insects sit under the leaves. They are almost naked to the eye.
Plants that are grown near covered verandas, up against brick walls or under the eaves of the house are most affected. If the nursery where you buy your seedlings has covered roofs nearby then the plants are often already infested when you buy them.
Solution?
Spray under and over the leaves with Pestoil or Eco-oil. You have to hit the insect to kill it. These sprays are non poisonous so they are safe to use.
Pig has gone Hawaiian this week despite his fear of pineapples!
I hope your plants have survived the heat.
Happy Gardening
Tim