Garden Talk: Christmas trees selling fast in Saskatchewan

Jill and Rick Van Duyvendyk answer all your gardening questions in Garden Talk on 650 CKOM and 980 CJME every Sunday morning from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Here are a selection of questions and answers from the Dec. 1 show:

https://iono.fm/e/1507906

NOTE: There was no live Nov. 24 Garden Talk show because of the weekend snowstorm.

Q: Should I wait until Dec. 14 to buy a live Christmas tree this year because they are included in the GST tax break legislation?

A: Live Christmas trees in Saskatchewan are usually sold out at garden centres by Dec. 6 or 7. There may be some at tree stands left or grocery stores. Garden centres are only allowed to purchase an allocated amount of trees because of the supply being affected by past drought and wildfires.

For the past five or six years, Dutch Growers has only been able to order the same amount, and only has Fraser firs this year, there are no balsam firs. Those trees come from Quebec.

Also, inspectors are coming in and checking the trees and making sure that everything’s in compliance and there’s no transfer of bugs or diseases. There’s a spotted lantern fly problem in the United States, so Canada is watching that to make sure we’re not transporting those in trucks.

A lot of people are also making a Grinch tree using a cypress and putting a heavy ornament on the top to make them droop over.

Read more:

• Garden Talk: How can I stop deer eating my cedars?
• Garden Talk: Protect your trees from pests over winter
• Garden Talk: Indoor grow room plantings can breathe life into winter

Q: How can I get my Christmas cactus to flower? I put it outside for the summer and brought it in before the frost but it has no buds or blooms on it.

A: You can try moving it into a cooler room or a dark room for about three or four days and then move it back out into the light. Sometimes just giving a little bit of a cold burst or changing the light conditions can stress it enough to make buds. The other thing you can do is transplant it because ruffling the roots can also force it to bloom.

The other key to success with Christmas cactus is to fertilize them when they’re in their actively growing stage with the green leaves stop fertilizing them once you get buds and blooms. It slows down that growing process so the blooms will last longer.

See Dutch Growers guide to holiday cactus care, including Christmas cactus, here.

Q: My new potatoes are starting to grow eyes, is there a way to stop that? They’re being stored in a cool, dark spot in the garage.

A: Storage in a cool, dark place is good but it needs to be dry and not humid as well. If there’s snow melting off your car in the garage all the time, then you’re gonna have lots of humidity. You can remove the eyes and the potatoes will produce more later. Just make sure you don’t break them off so that they’re taking chunks of the potato out as well.

Q: I planted five amaryllis bulbs about a month ago and they only have green leaves. How long should it take for the flower stem to appear?

A: To get amaryllis to bloom you should take the bulbs out of the pots and store them in a cold storage area as they need a dormant period of about four to six weeks before they will re-bloom. If they didn’t go through a cold storage period you might get a flower spike but might only get small flowers on it. If that happens let them die back down and then put them back into a cold storage again.

One way is in summer to put them outside, especially near the near the end of August, when temperatures at night are cooler, but don’t let them freeze.

Q: Can keep summer bulbs in an empty fridge in the basement? How do I keep them from picking up moisture and mold if I do that?

A: Keep them at about three to five degrees in a paper or mesh bag. You can add dry sawdust or something like that in the bag if you’re having trouble with moisture. You can also use a bulb dust. As long as the bulbs are clean and all the soil has been taken off them you’re not gonna have rotting issues. Absorbents like silica gel can also keep moisture down.

Q: My globe cedars are they’re totally covered in snow from the last two snow storms. Is it a good idea to leave them covered for the winter?

A: Globe cedars mostly won’t spread apart like other cedars. If there’s a good snow cover on them ready, the plants are almost being propped up by the snow that feel in them as well as on them. If there’s a heavy wet snow all at once that can be a problem for cedars and flop  them over, but if it the snow builds up slowly, there’s enough snow in the interior of the plant that it basically supports it.

For taller cedars in heavy, wet snowfalls, go out while it is snowing, and give them a good shake to relieve the branches of snow buildup. You tie them up old nylons or something like that so they don’t spread out, too.

Q: My gardenia was outside all summer until late in the fall. I moved it to a heated shed about 18 degrees and it started developing buds. Do I need to do anything other than watering it?

A: Gardenia is a tropical plant that gets beautiful, glossy leaves and a white, really fragrant flower. When you bring them in for the winter, they’ll usually drop a substantial amount of their leaves because of our reduced daylight hours. That’s normal.

If it has developed some buds, all you need to do is decrease the watering. If you want it to keep actively growing, you’ll need to supplement it with a grow light as it needs about 10 to 12 hours of daylight  to stay green.

The other thing to watch for is spider mites, aphids and mealy bugs on a regular basis, around every two weeks  so that you can get the bugs at an early stage. If you have one aphid, it can turn into 1,000 within a couple days.

Potatoes can split in the ground for a number of reasons. (Submitted)

Q: What causes my potatoes to almost split in half in the ground?

A: Sometimes splitting like that can happen when you have hard, compact soil. Don’t amend the soil too much in an area where you’re growing root crops, but your soil can’t be super hard, either. Inconsistent watering or too much compost can also split them. Just because the potatoes are  split doesn’t mean they’re bad, just cut off the hard parts and eat them.

Q: How do I get rid of fungus gnats? We moved some outdoor plants indoors, and we’ve been inundated with gnats.

A: Use nematodes like Pot Poppers, or you can use a slice of potato. Put it on the soil and  leave it for a day or two, then lift it up and have a little spoon ready because when you pick it up, there will be a whole bunch of little maggots on the bottom of the potato. Throw away the potato and scoop up the ones that are on the surface, then put another slice on, but it’s a slow process. Nematodes go down into the soil and hunt for the gnats.

The other thing that you can do is to increase airflow in the area. Adult gnats don’t like it so if you can keep the adult ones away, you can interrupt their life cycle. Just don’t blow them into another room with more plants.

Q: What causes the leaves to fall off the lime tree I brought inside for the winter?

A: It is completely normal. The key to success is not to change your watering even though you’ve seen the leaves drop. Test the soil with a  finger about two inches down and water if dry. If the water goes through the plant, let it soak it up from the bottom. One thing with having citrus in Saskatchewan is that they’re not a very pretty plant in the winter, and you just have to be okay with that.

You might actually get fruit in the winter though, because when the plant is stressed it can start getting buds on it. That’s also normal. If you want it to get more leaves on it, then use a grow light on a timer for about 10 to 12 hour hours. If you’re planning on letting it drop its leaves, don’t fertilize it too much.

These questions and answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.

Read more:

• Garden Talk: How can I stop deer eating my cedars?
• Garden Talk: Protect your trees from pests over winter
• Garden Talk: Indoor grow room plantings can breathe life into winter