Radio Show Recap
A week full of cooler, rainy weather is getting the planting season off to a good start. This week, Angelo shares tips for getting tropical plants ready to move back outdoors, including Hibiscus and Bougainvillea. He also talks about prepping containers for the planting season and starting seeds indoors. PLUS, he answers caller questions like “is it too early to apply GrubEx”, and “my raspberry bush is starting to produce leaves, can I still prune it”?
Prepping Tropicals to Move Outdoors
Late March/Early April is a great time to address tropicals and houseplants indoors to prep them for the growing season. For tropical plants, remove them from their containers and inspect their roots. Trim up to 2″ off the base of the plant and score the sides. Remove any roots thicker than a pencil and replant in a larger pot with fresh soil. Water and feed with Osmocote. Get them acclimated to the outdoors by taking them out on cool days above 45 degrees with no chance of frost.
- Tropical Hibiscus – Cut back 1/2 way. Prune out old, thick wood to open up room for more branching and flowers.
- Oleander – Cut back 1/2 way. Prune out inside branches and old wood to encourage new growth on the outside.
- Bougainvillea – Cut back 1/2 way and thin out old branches.
SHOP Products
- SHOP Bonide Orchard Spray or Fruit Tree Plant Guard for Fruit Trees
- SHOP Holly-tone & Iron-tone to fertilize Evergreens
- SHOP Plant-tone & Iron-tone to fertilize Boxwoods & deciduous trees and shrubs
- SHOP Bulb-tone to fertilize emerging spring bulbs
- SHOP MoleMax to control Moles & Voles
- SHOP RepelsAll to get rid of Chipmunks and other nuisance animals.
- SHOP Home Defense Max to keep bugs and insects out