This article provides a range of gardening tips for Southern California, including advice on propagating grapevines, fig, and pomegranate trees, germinating tomato seeds indoors, and preventing petal blight in camellias. It also discusses the best time to plant azaleas and camellias.
Petal blight is a major problem for camellias, but there are ways to combat it. Now is the time to propagate grapevines, fig and pomegranate trees from cuttings. To do this, dig an eight-inch deep slit in your soil and insert a 10-16 inch terminal stem cutting with at least four buds. Make sure two buds are below the soil surface. Water the soil and close the slit tightly around the cutting. Keep the soil moist but not saturated for the next year.
Another tip is to germinate tomato seeds indoors on a sunny windowsill throughout the winter. Plant them in small clay pots or paper cups with drainage holes. You can also use peat pellets, peat pots, or peat cubes. Once the seedlings have established roots, you can transplant them into larger containers or directly into the ground. Greek oregano (Oreganum heracleoticum) is a robust perennial that grows 18 inches tall and wide. It is a pungent variety of oregano and can be substituted for marjoram in recipes, but you will need to double the quantity. This herb is best used when dry. According to Pat Walsh’s “Southern California Gardening: A month-by-month guide,” the best time to plant azaleas and camellias is when they are in bloom, as their roots are dormant at this time. Planting later can hinder growth. When azaleas and camellias finish blooming, roots start to grow actively, making planting at this time detrimental. Petal blight, a major disease for camellias, causes the edges of flowers to turn brown and eventually the whole flower turns brown, sometimes even every flower on the plant. To prevent this, cut a circle of shade cloth that matches the canopy diameter of your camellia. Then, cut from the outside of the circle to the center, where you will cut a small circle that will enclose the base of your shrub. When flowers drop, remove the shade cloth and dump the flowers in the trash. Petal blight develops when camellia blooms fall to the ground and deposit spores on the plant. When it rains or sprinkler irrigation is on, fungal spores will splash up from the ground onto the plant’s flowers. As long as your fallen camellia flowers make no contact with the earth and you continually remove them to the trash, petal blight should not be a concern.
Gardening Propagation Tomato Seeds Camellia Petal Blight Azaleas Camellias
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