Mindy has some beautiful flower boxes on her front porch that the kitties keep digging in and pottying in, and wants to know what to do to protect her flowers and not hurt the cats. Well, first thing is don’t use mothballs, coffee grounds, or fabric softener sheets! They are very toxic to cats and highly discouraged (even though they do work). Hot pepper powder works, but is very cruel do to the fact that cats lick and clean themselves all the time. Pepper in the mouth and eyes is no fun, usually.

My In-Laws have had this problem for years and have used chicken wire on the planters after they plant the plants. Once the plants grow through you cannot see the wire, but it keeps the cat off long enough to get the plant established. Some other ideas that I have heard are as follows…(some are really good ideas)

1. Use Jacks. You know, that game we all used to play as a kid. Cats don’t like pokie things on their feet.
2. Use plastic forks. It will cost you about $1 for a big bag. Fork your own flower bed!!  Bamboo skewers look a little cleaner if you want to go that route. Once the flowers grow, they disappear anyway.
3. Nylon netting. Same concept as the chicken wire. Put it on top of the soil around the plants.
4. Mulch with stones. They can’t dig very well and don’t want to ‘go’ on stones.
5. Anything Citrus. Orange peelings, air freshener spray can be used.
6. Peat Moss. Supposedly cats don’t like it and it is good for your soil!
7. Pine Cones. Spread them around to make the cat work for his spot
8. Thorny rose cuttings. Stuck straight up in the ground works like the forks.
9. Make them an outdoor litter box. Get a bag of sand and place it somewhere out of the way, but close to your problem area and let them go to town in it. There always needs to be an alternative plan!!

Happy Cat Detering

JB is trying to grow plants from seeds and they are taking longer to sprout than the package calls for. He wants to know how to get them to germinate faster.

First off, what is germinate, or germination rate? Germinate means ‘to cause to grow‘. Germination rate is the percentage of seeds in a package to actually break shell and make a plant. On bags of grass seed you will see typically a 75-90% germination rate. That means,75-90% of the seeds in the bag will make a plant.
So how to do you get seeds to germinate faster? MOISTURE. The longer that seed stays moist, the easier it is for the root and plant to push through the shell of the seed pod. If you are trying to grow vegetable plants, the best way is to use the tray with a cover on it. That gives you the perfect little greenhouse moisture effect. I did that with my kids a few weeks ago and the seeds pushed the top off in less than a week. If you don’t have a lid, than somehow you have to get constant moisture on the top, and heat on the bottom of the soil tray.

In the yard, when planting grass seed, the same concept applies. Obviously, you cannot put a large lid over the yard, so you have to revert back to the constant moisture thing. Watering as often as possible, (twice a day at least) for short periods of time (10 mins or so) is the fastest way to get the grass seed to germinate. Once the grass is established, watering long periods (1 hour or more) less often (3 times a week) is the best way to water the yard. We will discuss that further in another blog.

Happy Planting

This is a very common problem among houseplants, and even outdoor plants. The plant starts looking light green and brown in spots and you don’t know what is wrong. A couple of things could be happening depending on the age of the plant. It could have the wrong light. You could be overwatering, which is a common problem, because when people see problems, they assume it needs more water.

When you see tiny little spider webs all the plant, that is a spider mite. The mite is extremely hard to see. It is usually a black dot about the size of the point on a pencil. This is a very simple problem to remedy. Just about any insecticidal soap will control these little guys, just read the label and look for spider mite. My favorite product is made by Fertilome, who only sells to independent dealers, not big box chains. It is called Triple Action Plus. It is an organic control of Insects, Mites, and Fungus, hence the name Triple Action. The Plus means organic. I’m sure Bayer and maybe even Ortho have a similar product, but make sure it is organic. Non-organic products you have to watch animals and children contact for a time.

If you only have one plant infected, but have multiple plants in the house, treat all of them at the same time to prevent the spread of the mite without you knowing it. One to two treatments should fully fix the problem.

What is a container? A container can be any type of pot or box that has drainage and will hold soil. Many things are planted in containers. Containers have many uses and functions.
Some common problems with container gardening are

• Overwatering
• Underwatering
• Wrong Sunlight
• Winter Maintenance

The question from Tracy was, “Can I plant a tree rose in a container or could it be planted in the ground?” The answer is both. A rose tree will survive a container or in the ground. When planted in the ground, less care will have to be taken as far as watering is concerned. Once established, watering only during hot dry seasons is necessary.

When planting in a container, you have to know the plant. Know what kind of moisture content it likes. Know where the sun is. If it gets morning sun only, less water is needed than if it gets all afternoon sun. Many people will kill a plant in a container during the winter. Why is that? Well, typically it is because they forget to water it. Because of the Eskimo concept of thermal warmth, the root system has to stay wet during freezing temperatures. If the roots are wet and freeze, that is good; If the roots are dry and freeze, that is bad.

Many people forget about sunlight when purchasing a container plant. They just want the most colorful thing they can find and put it in their container. Not taking into consideration whether the pot is under a porch or out in full sun. The rose tree wants as much sun as it can get to give the most blooms.
Watch for bug problems, and the infamous rose black spot and you will have a gorgeous plant for years to enjoy.