Florida Plant Care -- Winterizing
Prepare Early for Healthy Plants in Winter
In warm climates such as South Florida, there's no better time to get your plants ready and healthy for winter than in the summer and early fall.
Summer and early fall in Florida and other warm weather climates are the times to work on your landscape plantings to ensure they’re in tip-top shape when the temperatures finally do drop. Here are some things you can do now -- when water and fertilizers are being quickly drawn up into plants – to encourage healthy growth for colorful winter plants.
Plant care starts with cutting back early
Hard cut backs should have been done by September to woody ornamentals such as hibiscus, ixora, bougainvillea and oleander. Although the plants look bare, this cut will produce multiple branches. Dwarf hibiscus should also be cut back, and for the best results, trim 1 or 2 additional times – but more lightly – for a full and thick planting. Growth retardants should also be applied in summer. Bud formations take approximately 6 to 8 weeks after treatment. Good timing will result in gorgeous flowers in the fall.
Yellow leaves and nutrient deficiencies
Excessive yellow, or chlorotic, leaves that drop from hibiscus usually mean you have a spider mite infestation. The backs of the leaves will have a grayish appearance with minute red spots. When the “spot” moves, it indicates small insects, which will cause extensive damage if not controlled.
Nutrient deficiencies are easier to correct. The most common sign of a nutrient deficiency in palms – such as queens, royals, roebelenii, paurotis and archontophoenix – is frizzle top. Apply manganese sulfate (MnSo4) on a monthly basis to promote healthy new growth from the center of the tree. MnSo4 should not be confused with magnesium sulfate (MgSo4, or epsom salt).
Chlorotic leaves on ixora, dwarf nora grant and maui are another micronutrient deficiency usually caused by a lack of iron. When iron or other nutrients gets bound up in the high pH soils, like South Florida soils, it becomes unavailable to the plants and yellowing sets in.
Correcting a 'yellowing' condition can only be done during the warmer temperatures. In ornamentals like ixoras, you start with a hard cut back in the spring to produce a flush of new leaves. Applications of iron and manganese, either in a solid or liquid form (both of which stain), are necessary. If the ixora leaves are green and your plant is well fed, the leaves will not go chlorotic or get “blood spot” during cooler months. If the leaves are chlorotic in November, they will stay that color throughout the winter. The growth rate of a plant sharply decreases once night temperatures reach 55 degrees.
Plug production
Adequate planning for winter annuals is a must for “a good show” as they say at Disney World. Larger plantings require that you contract with local nurseries to order plugs (small seedlings) before June 15th. This guarantees you will be able to grow the plugs in 4- to 6-inch pots, and they will be available for your planting date. Plug production can take up to 26 weeks, while 4-inch flower production takes another 6 to16 weeks, depending on the annual.
Be aware that after May 1st for begonias and June 15th for impatiens, these specialty items – if contract grown – will be ready too late for a planting window of October–November. The only recourse is to have your grower check the weekly overages. Cancellations of the most popular colors and plants are often available, in limited quantities. Ordering flowers from several different nurseries may achieve the quantities needed, though size, height and quality often vary and may not give your beds the desired look.
