Orchids as houseplants?

Orchids are becoming increasingly popular as houseplants. One orchid you are likely to encounter is the Phalaenopsis, or moth orchid. It gets its name from the shape of the flower that resembles a moth in flight.

Moth orchids thrive in medium light. A window with southern exposure is ideal. You will notice that the pot is filled with a bark-type potting mix. In nature, these plants grow on trees, so they need a potting medium that is light and well drained—regular potting soil is not appropriate. The roots are fleshy and covered with a white spongy material. They may grow into the potting mix, around the pot or simply out into the air. This is natural and healthy for the plant. 

Water plants thoroughly once the soil has become light and dry. Allow some water to flow through the pot at each watering—be sure to remove the inner pot to the sink when you are watering and allow the pot to thoroughly drain before you place it back into the outer (often decorative) pot. You may also water by placing a few ice cubes on the surface of the potting medium a couple of times each week, just be sure that the plant does not sit in water for more than a few hours. Liquid fertilizer can be applied with the water every two or three applications—follow label directions for how to dilute the fertilizer.

Plants may flower for many months, and individual flowers may last for several weeks. Do not cut the flower stalk back after flowers fade because in a few months it may branch to form additional flowers. Small plantlets may arise on the flower stalk. These plantlets can be potted up, but they will need to grow for a couple of years before they will flower.

For more information on orchids and other houseplants, please contact the Hardin County Cooperative Extension Service by phone: 270.765.4121, email: Amy.Aldenderfer@uky.edu or on the web: www.hardinhort.org..

New Classes for 2013

Here are some upcoming classes that are happening at the Hardin County Extension Office:

Gardener’s Toolbox Series

Winter 2013

Build a Bluebird House - January 16th OR 17th

Another returning favorite! The Eastern Bluebird male scouts a nesting site in early February.  Come and make a cozy home for the bird that eats destructive insects in the garden.  Limited to 30 on each day.

Vegetable Gardening 101 - January 31st

Start with the beginning.  This class will get you started on your first vegetable garden.  We will discuss gardening in containers, square foot gardening, and how to plan a garden for yourself and your family.

How to Grow: Asparagus - February 5th

This early-season vegetable is a delight to eat and easy to grow.  Find out the tricks and tips on growing a perennial favorite in your garden.

Beginning Organic Methods for Vegetable Growers - February 21st

New and Usual Plants for KY Gardens - FREE - March 7th

New plants are being introduced every year.  Come to this lecture about what new plants are on the market and may be grown in your backyard.

How to Grow: Peaches -  March 19th - COST:$25

Have you eaten a fresh peach, just picked?  You can grow these trees in your backyard.  We’ll talk about varieties, pruning and pest control. 

Payment for each of the Gardener’s Toolbox classes are required TWO WEEKS prior to the class date.  You will be registered on a first pay, first registered basis.

Cancellations will be fully refunded TWO WEEKS prior to the class date. Please let us know as early as possible if you have to cancel, we probably have others on a wait list.

The “How to Grow” classes are an hour long discussion on growing conditions, nutrients, and varieties on a particular group of food plants.

HOW TO GROW Classes:  If you would like to attend the class but do NOT want the supplies, there is the option of not paying the class supply fee.  Please notify the front desk when registering.

All Classes are held at the Hardin County Extension Office

beginning at 6:00 p.m.

All Classes are $5 each, unless otherwise noted.

You can register by clicking here.

Poinsettias for the holidays

Poinsettias for the holidays (Printed in the News Enterprise and Hardin County Independent)

Amy Aldenderfer, County Extension Agent for Horticulture

      Traditional red and green colors are well represented in the flowers available for the holidays. Poinsettias, the most popular and spectacular holiday flowers, can combine both these colors.

      The poinsettia was named for Joel Robert Poinsett, an amateur botanist and the first United States ambassador to Mexico.  He became fascinated with these native plants and sent poinsettias home to Greenville, S. C., in 1825. Although Poinsett later was war secretary under President Martin Van Buren, he is better known for the plant named after him.

      The Aztecs cultivated poinsettias for medicinal purposes and as a dye.  Missionaries to Mexico used the brightly colored plants in nativity processions, possibly beginning the holiday connection that continues today.

      Poinsettias are the most popular potted plant grown in the United States, with annual sales exceeding 70 million plants. In Kentucky, some tobacco greenhouse operators have learned how to grow poinsettias. More than 60 varieties and 500,000 plants are grown and sold in Kentucky each year.

      The three to six bloom red poinsettia is the most frequently used, but several other sizes, shapes and colors are available. Colors range from creamy white to yellow through shades of pink to the traditional red.  The colorful plant parts often referred to as "flowers" actually are modified leaves called "bracts." The yellow centers are really the "flowers."  Some poinsettias have marbled pink and white bracts; others may have pink flecks on red.  Poinsettia bracts are very long lasting, providing a nice decorative plant for the holiday season.

      Consumers can buy miniatures as well as poinsettia trees and hanging baskets.

      The poinsettia is not poisonous to people or pets, but is classified as a non-edible plant material.

      Extensive university research and laboratory testing have proven that poinsettias are not poisonous. One scientific study concluded that no toxicity occurred at ingestion levels much higher than those likely to take place in a home. The main information resource for most poison control centers states that a 50-pound child would have to ingest more than 500 poinsettia leaves to surpass an experimental dose.

      Some people have skin sensitivity to the white milky sap produced when a part of the plant is broken or injured. Ingesting a plant part may cause some discomfort.  Active young children, who are apt to put just about anything in their mouths, and curious cats might choke on fibrous poinsettia foliage.  Therefore it is a good practice to put poinsettias and all other non-edible plants out of children's and pets' reach.

      Poinsettias will remain beautiful far beyond the holiday season when cared for properly. Keep these tips in mind.

·         Choose a plant with small, tightly clustered yellow buds in the center and crisp, bright, undamaged foliage.

·         At home, put the poinsettia in a room with bright, natural light.  Ideally, plant foliage should be exposed to direct sunlight one or more hours daily.

·         Avoid locations where there are drafts and close heat sources. Do not put the plant on top of a television set or near a radiator.

·         Water the plant when the soil becomes dry; drooping leaves may indicate it needs watering. Be sure to discard excess water in the drip saucer.

·         If you want to keep a poinsettia after the holiday season, fertilize it with ordinary houseplant fertilizer a few weeks after buying it.

      For more information on indoor gardening, contact the Hardin County Cooperative Extension Service by phone: 270.765.4121, email: Amy.Aldenderfer@uky.edu or on the web: www.hardinhort.org. Educational programs of the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability or national origin.

Topping Trees Bad Practice

Topping damages hundreds of trees each year in Kentucky. Many people are unaware of the detrimental effects of topping. Trees are subjected to a number of stresses during their lifetime. Topping is also a form of stress, but it is a stress that can be avoided.

Topping involves drastic removal or cutting back of large branches in mature trees leaving stubs. Topping can make a tree hazardous and reduce its life. This practice is frequently the result of trying to manage trees incorrectly planted under power lines or too close to structures.  Site selection must always be considered before planting in order to provide the tree with sufficient room to grow.

Some homeowners believe that stimulation of new growth associated with topping is actually beneficial to the tree. Although the tree appears rejuvenated with new foliage and branches, this only serves to mask the real damage.

Trees are mistakenly topped, under the best of intentions, to remove potentially hazardous dead and diseased branches. Unfortunately, topping indiscriminately removes healthy and unhealthy limbs. Problem limbs are best removed by selective pruning instead of topping.

In some situations, removing large limbs may be necessary; however, correct pruning alternatives such as proper early training, selective thinning out of branches and limbs, or whole tree removal should be considered and adopted.

Removing much of the tree canopy upsets the crown-to-root ratio and cause serious interruption of the tree's food supply and exposes bark to the sun. A 20-year-old tree has developed 20 years worth of leaf surface area. This leaf surface is needed to manufacture sufficient food to feed and support 20 years worth of branches, trunks and roots.

Removing the tree's normal canopy suddenly exposes bark to the sun's direct rays, often scalding newly exposed outer bark. Serve sun scald will cause the bark to split and obstruct the flow of nutrients. Topping not only cuts off a major portion of the tree's food-making potential, it also severely depletes the tree's stored reserves. It is an open invitation for the tree's slow starvation.

Large branch stubs left from topping seldom close or callus. Nutrients are no longer transported to large stubs and that part of the tree becomes unable to seal off the injury. This leaves stubs vulnerable to insect invasion and fungal decay. Once decay has begun in a branch stub, it may spread into the main trunk, ultimately killing the tree.

Topping removes all existing buds that would ordinarily produce normal sturdy branches and instead stimulates regrowth of dense, upright branches just below the pruning cut. The watersprouts or suckers that result from topping are not well integrated into the wood of the tree and because of their weak connections and vulnerability frequently break.  Large limbs then fall creating a dangerous situation that must be remedied by tree removal. 

Since watersprout regrowth is generally rapid and vigorous, a topped tree often will grow back to its original height faster and denser than a tree that has been properly pruned or thinned. This makes topping, at best, only a temporary solution to oversized trees.

Some tree species such as sugar maple, oak and beech do not readily produce watersprouts. Without the resulting foliage, a bare trunk results and the tree quickly dies. Deteriorating branch stubs, along with weak sucker growth, make topped trees highly vulnerable to wind and ice damage.

From an aesthetic aspect, topping disfigures the tree. Unsightly branch stubs, conspicuous pruning cuts and a broom-like branch growth replace its natural beauty and form.

Unfortunately, even some "knowledgeable" tree services indiscriminately top trees. Avoid patronizing companies that advocate topping.

Here is a list of trees for small spaces, under 25 feet tall: Trident Maple, Flame Maple, Box Elder Maple, small Japanese Maple cultivars, Tatarian Maple, Autumn Brilliance® Serviceberry, Fringe Tree, Kousa Dogwood, Winter King Hawthorn, Leprechaun™ Ash, Amur Maackia, various cultivars of flowering crabapple, Leonard Messel Magnolia, Star Magnolia, Snow Fountains® Cherry, Snow Goose Cherry, Weeping Yoshino Cherry, Ivory Silk® Tree Lilac, and various weeping tree varieties.      

     For more information, contact the Hardin County Cooperative Extension Service at 270.765.4121, email:  Amy.Aldenderfer@uky.edu by webpage: www.hardinext.org and on Facebook. 

Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability or national origin.