15
If I get your question right, should you pinch the buds of the basil plant before they flower in order to maximize leaf production?
Answer yes. If you don't trim the buds off, then they will flower, growing up into a tall stalk on your basil plant and producing a tower of seeds. Producing seeds will become Basil plant's "Job 1", and it will neglect leaf ...
13
I would suggest a slightly different approach:
Make cuttings from the top(s), that way you will get smaller and compact plants (that you can then prune before they get long and leggy) and with a bit of luck see new growth from the bottom of the old one as well. And it won’t matter if not.
For shaping, note that basil will always favor the tops / ends of the ...
12
It won't digest live plant matter. Venus flytraps secrete the enzymes phosphatase, proteinase, nuclease and amylase. These enzymes target insect prey, which have high levels of protein. They do not digest plant matter. When a leaf closes on a bug, it (the bug) will often secrete chemicals such as uric acid, which keep the leaf closed. Otherwise (such as if ...
11
Cut off all dead wood at the base, leaving just the live stems - you don't need to do anything to the roots. You might, though, want to consider replacing the plant - it'll look pretty ugly once the dead stuff has been removed. This plant doesn't regenerate from old wood, so you won't get any new growth other than on the two existing live stems.
11
Every bud can become a shoot/branch. If you don't want branches where buds appear (like on the trunk close to the ground), just rub them off. If you've waited so long that they are now shoots that you don't want, remove them with your pruner. That's all there is to it.
Fruit trees are frequently grafted to roots of a different variety, or even a different ...
11
If you cut the root you will damage the leaves that are fed by that root. That root also provides structural stability.
A better idea is to rebuild or remove the retaining wall in that area. The root will only get bigger and they can move quite large stones and interlock.
10
The only time you usually remove leaves which are slightly damaged or part dead is if the plant is highly ornamental and it's detracting from its appearance, or the leaf is damaged by some kind of infection or invader. Otherwise, just wait for the leaf to shrivel and fall off naturally, or remove it when it's at that stage.
10
Oh my goodness. Do you understand the treasure you have? Find a master pruner to create a covered walkway! How wonderful. If you destroy this tree I will haunt you when I am dead! (Grins). That tree should not be getting taller at all. Weeping trees are two trees grafted together; a prostrate variety of the same species grafted on top of an upright ...
10
Sunspot is a relatively "short" variety that only grows to 4 feet. Autumn beauty will grow to about 6 feet. The Mexican sunflower Tithonia diversifolia (which is not really a sunflower at all, though it looks similar) grows from 6 to 10 feet tall.
I think your plants are just doing what they do, and you chose the wrong plants to grow if you have ...
9
No, don't cut this one back,it'll ruin its structure, and anyway, they bleed like crazy if you cut them. The thing to remember about any Ficus is they're fussy - they absolutely hate a change in conditions, and in particular, a draught. Indoors, most will drop leaves when the seasons change, so in spring and again in autumn, and mostly because the heating ...
9
You definitely need to do some pruning. Before you start pruning a tree, you should find all of the graft points. Since you have multi-graft trees, there should be one graft at the point where each main branch comes off of the trunk. As you are pruning, keep in mind that if you cut a grafted branch off or cut it back so close to this graft that it will have ...
9
The white patches mostly appear to be one of the lichens rather than fungal mycelium - the fact that they're under the moss isn't unusual, and no treatment is required. Moss and lichens often occur together on old trees, but it is true that weak, very old or diseased trees tend to have more lichen growth on them. Even if there is some fungal mycelium in ...
9
You can also prune when it freezes, without problems. I do that regularly under snow and have never had a problem. It is also done regularly in my region.
Just:
don't prune too much early: wait a few weeks until after the last leaves fall, in order to let the starch to reach the roots.
if your region could have a strong freeze (less than -15° C, 5° F), ...
8
Many apples fruit from multi-year-old "spurs" - specialized branches that mostly grow the clusters of flower buds. It sounds to me like you may have accidentally pruned a lot of your fruiting spurs off with the water sprouts and other extra branches.
8
What is cascade style and what are the basic steps involved?
Cascade style is where your tree trails down over the side of its pot. The overall most basic shape of a bonsai is a triangle, in order for your bonsai to maintain a nice shape you should be able to shape the tree around the idea of a triangle from the viewing side. The viewing side is the side of ...
8
According to Wayne K. Clatterbuck in the article Tree Wounds on the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Tree Care Kit:
Research indicates that wound dressings (materials such as tar or paint) do not prevent decay and may even interfere with wound closure. Wound dressings can have the following detrimental effects:
Prevent drying and encourage fungal growth
...
8
It's certainly possible to spread some fungal infections on gardening gloves and tools you may have used. Given you're wearing rubber gloves, after handling diseased plant material, its sensible to go indoors and wash your gloved hands, in a similar manner to that you would use if you weren't wearing gloves, in between healthy and non healthy plants; the ...
8
It would seem the scion is at the base of your plant, as shown in the second picture. Therefore, the branch you're concerned about is not a sucker because it doesn't arise from below the scion, or graft, or from below soil level. It might be a watersprout, although it doesn't look overly vigorous, and you will know whether its growing much faster than the ...
8
Pruning the branch back hard/heavily is about the only thing that will keep the crotch from splitting, aside from guy wiring it to other parts of the tree. For all practical intents, that joint will never get stronger. However, there is no reason to wait until next season. You can remove the branch anytime during the growing season (trees naturally ...
8
Allow the side shoots to grow.
Bush beans are bred to be bushy, so by removing them you're fighting the plants' natural growth habit. The side shoots also carry leaves, which will provide more energy for making baby beans, and flowers, which will turn into those baby beans.
The typical spacing that I've seen for bush beans is 6" between plants in a row, so ...
8
Lavender is a plant that can get straggly if it's not pruned, but it's a small perennial shrub, so its needs are very different from basil which is an herbaceous annual.
Essentially, you allow lavender to grow until it's reached the size you want for the place you've planted it. Then, every year after that, you cut it back by about ⅓ of its size; it ...
8
You may be right - the grafted part died back, the rootstock took over, and the only part that's left of the original grafted lemon is at the bottom. It shouldn't be thorny - the thorny parts will be off the rootstock, which might be sour lemon or some other citrus rootstock, hard to say, but growth off the stock might very well be thorny. If the leaves on ...
8
I think the grouping would look more logical if it were made on the way the trees set fruit: stone fruit trees (plum, apricot) are the early bloomers, while the trees with fruits that contain seeds (apple and pear) are the late bloomers.
One thing important when pruning is that different species form their flower buds the previous year, while others form ...
8
You can certainly try to, but you will face at least two significant problems:
Apical dominance - if you cut out the leader (the strongest shoot right at the top of the tree) this will trigger other shoots to try to take over the job of stretching upwards. Several shoots might try to become the leader, but there will be a constant stretch upwards so it is a ...
8
The cut is fine but the tree has or will have issues. You can see that there is already interior decay in the heartwood of the tree. As stormy indicates water will enter the wound and decay will continue.
Do not put tar on the wound or do anything else. Research has shown further action with sealants is harmful to the tree as this answer indicates.
On ...
7
We've grown Autumn Bliss for years - it's a great variety!
Yes, you should be able to prune now. Once a cane has fruited and you have taken all the fruit you want from it, cut it down to near the ground. It will not fruit properly again, and will probably die on its own over the winter anyway, so you aren't really losing anything, especially once the new ...
7
You don't say where you are growing your cucumbers. (IE, greenhouse, outside, covered bed, etc.) If you could give more information it would be helpful.
The kind of intense pruning you are talking about is generally only done for cucumbers being grown intensively, and especially those grown in greenhouses where growing space is very expensive and diseases ...
7
First year canes grow.
Second year canes develop side shoots with flower buds.
Third year canes may develop side shoots in a lot less quantity (diminished crop), but in domesticated Raspberries usually die. Removal is the best policy.
Unless you're dealing with wild black cap Rasberries, this is the standard growth cycle.
You can propagate by letting the ...
7
That is called pollarding. It is a pruning system that promotes uniform yearly growth, in dense heads over the tree. You basically cut the branch ends at a certain diameter, and remove all smaller growth. Then on a yearly to almost a 20 year basis, remove the shoots that form, at the base. the result is the formation of these clublike heads, which grow in ...
7
The living part.
You want the cut end to heal, which means that it has to be living. Also, if the branch is dying because of infection, you don't want to leave that part of the branch attached for the infection to spread.
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible