Caring for Bare Root Plants

By Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin

Persimmon ‘Nikita’s Gift’

Your bare root plants are ready to go into the garden as soon as you receive them. If you can’t plant immediately, store in a cool location or refrigerator for up to 1-2 weeks. Make sure the roots never dry out and don’t let the plants freeze. Temperatures above 50° will cause the plants to start budding out.

Prior to planting, soak the roots in water for 30 minutes to 12 hours. Fruiting plants need a full sun location with rich, fertile soil. Dig a hole that’s 2-3 times larger than the root ball. This increased room allows you to spread the roots out laterally on all sides. You can add compost to the planting hole but don’t add any chemical fertilizer into the hole as this can burn the roots. Back fill the hole with rich garden soil and tamp down well so the plant is secure. Make sure the entire root system is underground and the plant should be at the same depth in the soil where it was grown before. (You can see this on the stem.) If it is a grafted plant, the graft union needs to be above the soil. It helps to leave a small reservoir for water on top of the planting hole. This can also be filled with mulch to keep down weeds and reduce soil moisture evaporation.

Water well once your bare root plant is in the garden. Continue to water a couple of times a week if the soil is dry. It’s helpful to stake the young plant for support as it grows. If you are planting grape vines, these will need a trellis, arbor or fence for support since the vines can reach several feet long.
Start fertilizing 2-3 weeks after planting. You can apply liquid or granular fertilizer but make sure to stop the fertilization program by mid-August so the plant can harden off for the winter.

Remove any weeds growing around the base of the plant since these will compete with plants for water and nutrients.

To grow the strongest plants, it’s best to pinch off fruit for the first year or two to allow plants to grow vigorously and become strong so they have more fruiting potential for their lifetime.

For more information, call Logee’s Customer Service 888-330-8038. Or go to our website http://www.logees.com/care

How to Grow and Flower Indestructible Hoyas

By Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin

Giant Wax Plant

The genus hoya, commonly called Wax Plant, is a large group of mostly climbing or trailing vines, or sometimes shrubs native to tropical Asia, the Pacific Islands and Australia.

Native Habitat:
They are most often found growing as epiphytes in tropical forests where they climb up into or hang from the branches amongst the mix of other epiphytic plants. As they often grow lower in the canopy, as well as at the tops of the tress, they have a great adaption to varying light levels.

Hoyas as Indoor Plants:
Hoyas are famous as indoor houseplants because they can tolerate very dry conditions. This comes from their epiphytic nature where they can go through a dry season with little, if any, rain for months at a time, surviving on the air moisture and dew at night. When given favorable growing conditions, they will flower with a wide variety of colors and flower sizes from the tiny ¼” in diameter for each flower to the giants up to 4” in diameter per flower. The blooms often form clusters or umbels of many flowers although some are singular. Some hoya flowers have a waxy appearance; others are fragrant.

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The Joy and Ease of Growing Air Plants

By Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin

Spanish Moss

Tillandsias, or air plants, are easy to grow and add dimension, color and texture to any gardening space. With over 730 species in the Tillandsia genus, they are mostly native to Central and South America. Also known as epiphytes, tillandsias thrive without soil and attach to other plants or trees. They are in the Bromeliad family. Some grow in the desert but the ones we are focusing on are generally found in the understory of a tropical forest. Nutrients and water are absorbed through the leaves. The thin leaved tillandsias are usually in the rain forest and the thicker leaved ones grow in drier habitats. The roots, which are limited, are used to stabilize the plants on trees or other structures rather than to access water and nutrients.

Some like the Spanish moss are rootless. Spanish moss is an air plant but it is an exception to the tropical Tillandsias. Spanish moss can be grown outside in the North where temperatures dip down into the teens. With a limited root system, Spanish moss derives its nutrients and moisture from the air.

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How to Care for Grafted Plants and Understand their Special Needs

By Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin

Grafted Blood Orange

It is important to understand how grafted plants are grown. Grafting is one way to propagate plants by joining two plants together to become a stronger, healthier plant. Although it is a little more complicated and time consuming than other propagation methods (like seeds or cuttings), it does solve some of the issues of reproducing particular cultivars that are grown for ornamental or agricultural uses. Logee’s sells many grafted plants including: adeniums, citrus, avocado, mango, persimmon, PawPaws, sapodilla and many more.

The Process of Grafting:
The grafting process involves taking two parts of a plant: the root system, or the understock, and the vegetative portion, or the scion. When two plants are closely related (the same genus or the same plant family), the root system (often a seedling or other specialty root system) and the vegetative portion (a twig or bud of a named variety) can be brought together to form a grafted union and create a new plant. Once the union takes, it allows the flow of water and nutrients through the vascular system of both pieces. This in turn joins the plant together and creates one plant.

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Growing Begonia ‘Autumn Ember’ p.p.a.f. (Begonia rhizomatous hybrid)

By Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin

Begonias are some of the easiest plants to grow in containers in a home environment. Our newest hybrid, ‘Autumn Ember’ has taken the begonia world by storm with its brilliant orange leaves. This rhizomatous begonia hybrid is a cross between Begonia ‘Marmaduke’ and Begonia ‘Angel Glow.’ Selected out of a group of seedlings, ‘Autumn Ember’ shows the brightest orange coloring, especially when they are newly emerging as juvenile leaves. When grown with other begonias, ‘Autumn Ember’ literally glows in comparison and when seen from afar, the mass of orange leaves catches the attention of all who gaze upon it.

Growth Habit:
Medium-sized leaves spread by rhizomes and can be pinched to create a well-branched bushy form. The color intensity of the leaves depends on the amount of light. In the wintertime, we have noticed there is no green at all, and believe it is the quality of light at that time that turns the leaves orange. The older leaves will eventually fade and soften in color.

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Grow Coffee, Tea, Chocolate and Other Popular Beverage Plants

By Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin

Roselle Jamaican Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa)

Popular beverages, such as Coffee (Coffea Arabica), Tea (Camellia sinensis), and Cocoa (Theobroma cacao), are world renown and easy plants to grow and harvest. A couple more plants that we recommend adding to your favorite beverage list are Yerba Mate’ (Ilex paraguariensis) much like green tea loaded with anti-oxidants, and Roselle Hibiscus Tea (Hibiscus sabdariffa), which is high in Vitamin C.

Let’s start with a well-known plant like coffee. The enjoyment and ritual around a morning cup of coffee has become an obsession, and now people drink coffee throughout the day. Growing your own coffee beans is fun and easy for the gardener.

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Check out our video on growing your own coffee and  Visit our You Tube channel for more great video’s on growing all types of tasty tropical treats!

How to Grow your own Coffee 

The Best Kept Secret for Fragrance- The Rare and Easy-to-Grow Tree Lily

By Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin

Introduction: Tree Lily is a wonderfully fragrant shrub from the Dominican Republic that draws attention for its fragrance and form. The 10” white pendulous blooms hang from its lateral branches and emit a rich nighttime fragrance. A member of the Rubiaceae family, it is related to the well-known gardenia and coffee plants.

Blooms: Tree Lily blooms intermittently from spring to fall and plants begin to flower at a young age when only 2’ tall or less. Blooms appear on the lateral branches of mature growth with flowers lasting for up to a week.

Light Level: One of the nicest features about this plant for container gardeners is its adaptation to lower light levels, since it prefers partial sun or even bright, indirect light. Give it some direct sun but not high noon sun.

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Six Easy-to-Grow Colorful Blooming Plants to Enliven your Indoor Space

By Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin

Abutilon ‘Red Tiger’ (Abutilon hybrid)

As we prepare for winter and the colder days ahead, there are some colorful plants that can help ease the transition from one season to the next. While your outdoor plants are going to sleep for the winter, these indoor beauties are just waking up and putting on a festive floral show.
Some of our most colorful and favorite everblooming plants are:

1- Cape Primrose (Streptocarpus)- Most of our Cape Primroses will bloom 12 months of the year and several varieties, like our ‘Purple Panda,’ have outstanding two-toned flowers. Plus, their long velvety leaves are welcome greenery to the contrasting fall colors outside. Our newest variety, called ‘Roulette Cherry,’ has flowers that majestically rise above the foliage on elegant flower stems. Give these beauties partial sun to bright indirect light and do not get water on their leaves and they will delight your senses year-round.

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The Beautiful Desert Rose- How to Grow and Flower Adeniums

By Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin

Desert Rose ‘Red’ (Adenium obesum)

 

Adeniums are well-loved for their gorgeous flowers and their bulbous, caudiciform trunks. They are highly sought after plants and can remain a manageable size for years making them valuable container plants.

History
Adeniums are arid land plants native to sub-Saharan Africa and although there are several species, Adenium obesum is the one that’s frequently grown as an ornamental. The common name is Desert Rose and when plants are in bloom, they create a spectacular floral display.

Ornamental Beauty
When grown from seed, the plant forms a caudex, or swollen base or trunk, and this adds to its ornamental beauty. In recent years, much hybridization has been done creating a diverse range of flower colors and interesting floral forms. In order to propagate these hybrids, the mother plant is grafted onto a seedling, thus giving the plant a full, attractive caudex as well as a wide array of flowers in various colors, sizes and shapes.

Temperatures
Because they can tolerate dry conditions, adeniums are well suited for the home environment being able to tolerate quite a bit of neglect. Keep temperatures high, preferably above 60˙F, although they can take it a bit cooler if grown very dry. Really the hotter, the better, so a 70˙F or higher air temperature is best.

Light
In their native habitat, adeniums grow in full sun so they need good light to thrive. Direct sunlight is preferable, especially when they are in their active growth phase during the summer months.

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Grow The Largest Flower in The World- Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus titanum) A Plant Geek’s Biggest Challenge!

By Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin

The Corpse Flower, Amorphophallus titanum, is a single inflorescence that reaches an astounding height of 6-9’ tall. It only flowers once every 7-8 years and only 3-5 blooming events, from plants grown in cultivation, happen worldwide each year. This rare plant is for plant geeks who want a challenge and will be committed to nearly a decade of nurturing and pampering this rare and attractive giant.

Origin
Corpse Flower was first found in the tropical forests of Sumatra where even there, it is rare in its native habitat. It is a member of the Aroid family and also known as the Titan Arum.

About the Bloom
The bloom is magnificent with its frilly-edged maroon petal completely circling the center spadix. It’s known as the Corpse Flower because of the raunchy smelling odor, similar to rotten meat, when in full bloom. However, this does attract the pollinators like flies and beetles in the wild. In cultivation, hand pollination is required. A beautiful seed stalk forms after the flower is pollinated…

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