Question:
My roses are thriving, but some of the stems are excessively long and leggy. I prefer bushier plants. Is there a way I can prune them more effectively?Answer:
- I wouldn’t say you’re pruning them incorrectly. You just need to prune the bushes a bit more aggressively after each flush of flowers.
- However, before you do that, you need to identify whether the long canes are part of the desired variety or rogue or sucker growth. Hybrid Tea, Grandiflora, and Floribunda varieties are budded onto a second variety called the rootstock.
- It’s common for roses to produce rogue or sucker growth, which are shoots that develop below the bud union or off the surface roots.
- The bud union is the knot-like structure found at the base of the bush. These vigorous shoots grow rapidly into long, leggy branches and produce small, cherry-red flowers.
- To eliminate this growth, you should prune back the other shoots while removing the rogue or sucker growth.
- Many rose pruning books instruct you to prune back to the second set of five leaves, but I tend to ignore this point and prune to shape the bushes, especially the sides, so the plants don’t merge into one another.
- We often plant our roses a bit too close together, so we lower the tops to keep them from growing too tall. This should be a standard practice throughout the growing season when you remove the spent flowers.
- Additionally, make your cuts where there is an outside bud. All the buds are located where the leaf blade attaches to the stem. At this time of the year, don’t leave the plant without leaves, as the green stems will burn in the afternoon sun.
- Continue feeding your plants with organic rose food monthly throughout the fall. Water the plants the day before fertilizing and immediately afterward to prevent fertilizer burn.
- It’s not too late to mulch your plants to conserve moisture, as there are plenty of warm days ahead. A two-inch layer of mulch should be spread a foot beyond the drip line of each plant.
- This extra attention will reward you with two or more flushes of flowers between now and the New Year
Question:
My potato plants are showing some yellowing leaves. Should I start harvesting them now?Answer:
- You are getting very close to harvest time. But you’ll need to wait until the foliage turns yellow to harvest. Also, I would stop watering the plants now.
- When harvesting potatoes, gently raise the tubers and wash or brush off the soil.
- Be careful with potatoes: only the tuber is edible. All the other vegetative parts are poisonous, including the young shoots off the potatoes themselves.