What Are These White Spots?

Question: What are the white spots on my trailing ivy?

Answer: Well, they could be lots of things… A really great thing to do would be to invest in a magnifying glass (I use the word “invest” here loosely, since magnifying glasses can be bought most anywhere and are pretty cheap). It is underestimated how helpful they are to gardeners. These white spots you speak of could be aphids, which can be a gray color. They also could be spots where hard water has landed on your plant and evaporated, leaving salts and metals behind. A picture would be awesome, so I could identify it for certain, but let’s entertain my first notion: Powdery Mildew.

This is powdery mildew on squash leaves just like I had this Summer. It nearly cost me my squash harvest, until someone gave me a great tip...

I had powdery mildew (PM) outside in my backyard earlier this Summer. It appeared on the large leaves of my squash plants. These leaves were robust and had thick stems. When mature, the leaves measured a foot across or more! The mildew worked its way across the leaves, forming islands of PM in my squash patch. The leaves would turn speckled and white. Then they would yellow, wither and die.

A good friend of mine noticed this process happening and suggested a remedy that he had learned from a friend of his (as often is the case within gardening circles).

MILK!

Take one part regular cow’s milk (soy milk and other milk substitutes will not work) and dilute it with four parts water. Put this mixture in a spray bottle and spray it on the leaves of your plant. The lactic acid in the milk will kill off the powdery mildew and keep it from ravaging your plant. This past Summer, I had to spray about once a month to keep new leaves from being infected as they grew. You may not have to repeat the process as much as I did, since your ivy plant is (I assume) not growing at the same rate as a cultivated vegetable garden.

Now, since you are indoors, you should be careful about dripping and splashing. Sour milk is not a good accessory to indoor gardening! The mixture that actually falls on the leaves will not produce a smell, but you don’t want this stuff pooling under your couch. You may want to put your plant in the sink to spray it down with the milk concoction, allow it to dry, then return it to its home.

Often, I have heard that over watering is the main reason for powdery mildew. Indeed, we think of moist environments as prime areas for mold and mildew to develop. However, PM can come about even in arid environments. Even so, trailing ivy is a plant that does not like to be over watered, so cutting back on your watering regimen couldn’t hurt.

Question: My Ivy plant will have water drops on the leaves in the morning, what causes this and do I need to do something?

Water droplets on leaves can pose some problems, but the key is finding out why they are there.

Answer: Well, first we must figure out the “when, where, and how” of the water droplets.

“When”: You say it is in the morning, which leads me to believe that the droplets are simply dew. You didn’t say if the plant is inside or outside, but I’m going to assume the plant is inside. (Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be concerned. Also, if it is, indeed, outside, you have nothing to worry about.)

“Where”: Are the droplets on top of the leaves? Is something dripping on your plant? Is it splash up from over watering?

“How”: Water in the atmosphere (this atmosphere can be inside or out) vaporizes when the temperature is higher during the day. Dew is condensation that forms when the temperature falls at night. When you see these droplets in the morning, it is because the temperature has not warmed enough for the water to re-vaporize and evaporate. Also, plants use evaporation to get rid of excess water.

It’s possible that you are over-watering your plant, and the water that’s evaporating from the soil is condensing on the leaves of the plant. Dew itself is not really a problem. The concern here is that standing water on the leaves of a plant can promote fungus, mildew, or any number of other problems. It can also promote pests that like high humidity.

If there are simply a few drops on the whole of the plant, this is natural, and not going to affect the health of your ivy. Actually, it’s a good sign your plant has a healthy metabolism. The problem only arises if there are many, many droplets (especially if your plant is soggy, or dripping wet), and if the droplets don’t evaporate quickly.

You could be over watering. I would suggest not watering for several days. If you have a humidifier in the same room as the ivy, I think you should move it or the plant to an adjacent room for a while and see what happens. The humidity and temperature variance tends to increase near windows. Move it a few feet away, maybe to another table.

Question: I have two curly leaf Croton plants and one is losing its leaves. From the top to the bottom to the plant is becoming bare. It’s potted outdoors and the soil seems moist enough. New foliage seems to be coming in the same area as the fallen leaves. Why do you think it’s losing its leaves?

Answer: I see this with a lot of Crotons and the answer is light! Crotons are sun worshipers that commonly lose their leaves if not exposed to bright sun. If it gets a lot of sun, there could be a few other factors.

If the soil is kept too wet, it can cause the Croton to shed leaves. This would make sense since once the soil reached a more comfortable level of moisture, the leaves would grow back.

Also, it could have been damaged by gnawing insects, which would be normal for an outside plant, and also easy to miss, even on careful inspection.

If the leaves are growing back, then the plant has returned to favorable conditions, and there is nothing to worry about!

You should carefully examine each plants living conditions. There’s a reason why one plant is fine, and one is suffering. Maybe one is cast into a shadow for most of the day. Maybe one of them is under an eave and doesn’t receive enough rain. See what’s different, and you will find the reason your plant is not thriving.

Bring it inside soon, since Croton can’t stand cold. Inspect the leaves VERY carefully. Make sure there are no hitchhikers hiding in the leaves, and on the soil. You should place it next to a strong light so it can keep its beautiful leaves through the Winter.

These are Croton planted outdoors - In Venezuela.

Question: If you “botch” a transplant and cut or break a significant amount of a plant’s roots, should you: pro-actively trim foliage; trim foliage as it appears to die off; or leave it the heck alone (after transplanting, of course)?
Specifically asking about capsicum annuum, but curious if the instructions would be nearly universal.
The plant in question is already dead; I’m looking for future instruction. (I left the foliage alone.)

Answer: Yikes! That’s an unfortunate accident. The plant you our speaking of is a pepper plant.

Capsicum Anuum, a jalapeno plant.

When transplanting a potted plant, great care should be taken not to damage the roots. They are the most important part of the plant! You could grow back many plants if you cut off the leaves and stems, but the same is not true if you cut off the roots. My advice would be to just do your best to continue potting it, and water it well. Make sure the pot is well drained. The plant may be able to bounce back. Don’t cut back foliage if yuo have accidentally cut off sections of the root. This is uneccesary and causes more stress to the plant. If there is a natural foliage die off, it is probably because the plant is now having trouble transporting nutrients. Pinch off dead matter as it happens.

It’s not really possible to extend this advice to all plants. Some plants can be reproduced by snipping off a few leaves, some can stand being split in half, some can die if you cut them at all. most plants are different. My advice here is that plants with fruit meant to transport seeds by being eaten can generally stand a bit of rough handling.

Argiope Aurantia!

If anyone remembers the crazy picture I put up of the mystery item I found in my house-bound Croton, I finally have an answer for you! This beautiful black and yellow garden spider is what layed that fabulous egg sack. I got a hold of one of the Entomology professors at the Ohio State University. He took a look at my pictures and immediately recognized it as the egg case of the common black and yellow garden spider, Argiope Aurantia. I was really excited when he told me this. That’s what I was hoping it was.

I was also really glad I didn’t bring it inside.

These spiders are harmless, even if they bite. The females are the brightly colored of the two sexes, with the male looking similar in shape, but being much smaller, and a drab brown. The females get pretty big. I found one walking around in my garden a few weeks ago. The one I saw was almost two inches across, with her legs out as she walked. She was beautiful, with black and yellow striped legs, and a yellow spotted black abdomen. The cephalothorax (the front body section, with the eyes, mouth and legs attached to it), is white.

These spiders build a web every morning, and every night they tear it down and eat it! It’s thought that they get nutrients from the web. When you see those beautiful webs with a spiral design on them, it’s an argiope aurantia web. They like to make zigzag designs in their webs, which has earned them the nickname “writing spiders”. Maybe these zigzags stabilize their web, or possibly make them more visible to birds so they don’t fly through and ruin them.

I’m glad to have a backyard that is able to support a healthy habitat for different species. I took the egg sack out of the plant VERY CAREFULLY. I didn’t want to tear it. For several reasons. I actually had to use a knife to cut through the silk because it was so strong I couldn’t tear it. The “Bug Doc” as he’s known, told me that if steel and spider’s silk were spun into a strand of the same thickness, the spider’s silk would be stronger!

I put the sack in a dish of cotton balls and put it out in the garage. It’s a drafty, detached garage that just serves as a garden shed. if you ask me, it’s a good place to house helpful spiders. If the sack hatches, and the spiders populate my yard, I might not have such a bad mosquito problem next year.

A carpet of Fall leaves is natural compost, and a winter blanket for your yard.

I remember when my parents used to make my little brother and I rake the yard as kids. We would gather all the dead leaves from under the tall sycamores into little piles, then scrape and push all the little piles together until we had one gigantic mound of leaves. Then we would jump into the pile, throwing leaves all over the freshly raked yard. Jumping from higher and higher vantage points, we would play a game kind of like HORSE, where each one tries to one-up the leap the other one just made by climbing further into the tree. (”I’m going to jump out of the tree house!” “Oh yeah? Well, I’m going to jump from the top of the tree!”) It’s a good thing my mother kept a close eye on us…

After we had our fill of throwing and leaping, my dad would come out and we would bag up all the leaves and put them out to the curb, by the garbage. The city where I grew up didn’t have a yard waste collection program. For years and years, people burned their leaves, but in the suburbs, this is a no-no. Modern waste collection services have contracts with companies that will compost your yard waste. I urge you to join the gardening DIY revolution, and keep all those leaves and twigs for yourself. You will soon see that even the die-off of vegetation in the Fall is a gift of nature’s bounty. You may even end up asking your neighbors for their leaves.

Composting is still possible in many parts of the US, but as Fall begins to pass us by, and Winter picks up speed, the temperature drops drastically. Temperature affects composting directly, and the bacteria that break down organic waste stop all work when the mercury dips below freezing. There are alternatives for the use of leaves and other waste in a post-freezing climate.

My compost bin is full to heaping. Not all the things in there are fully decomposed, there are eggshells, and bits of things from dinner the past few days that haven’t had a chance to rot away into soil yet. But Not to worry, they will go to good use.

When your plants have died off, and all that’s left is the brown remnants of this Summer’s harvest and flowers, that is the time to spread your compost. Areas that are mulched will need new mulch spread on them next year, if you still want that uniform look.

I have a tiny patch in my yard that I will use as an example. It’s an area about 3 feet by one foot. This year, it was just a little patch up against my fence along one side of my yard. There was a gap in the day lillies, and the few things I tried to plant there didn’t take. I laid down a big fat pile of compost (right on top of the grass). Pushed edging materials up against it (big rocks I found in my yard). And spread mulch over top of it. I planted a few perennials there and the tiny flower patch has looked awesome all Summer. Well, now the flowers have gone to seed, and it’s time to cover it up for winter.

I stabbed it with a garden spade and turned over the dirt. I mixed it with some compost, then took some semi-composted leaves and spread a thick layer over top of the area. This is like putting a blanket over your dirt for the fall. The vegetation underneath will go dormant, but will remain uncompacted, and when the spring thaw comes around next year, there will be plenty of organic matter to refertilize the soil. All you need to do next year is mix it in.

I found this cacoon in my croton as I went to bring it inside! Or could it be an egg sac?

I’m not really sure what to do.

This could be a number of things... Always inspect your plants before bringing them inside!

It’s about an inch from top to bottom. Light brown or tan in color. It looks papery, but I didn’t actually touch it. It’s not attached to the plant, it’s suspended by silk strands going in every direction, which are in turn attached to the stems and leaves.

I need to bring my plant inside soon. Croton don’t tolerate temperatures far below 50 degrees or so. I don’t wish to disturb this little creature. I wonder how I could remove it and put it somewhere safe for the Winter (somewhere OUTSIDE). My curiosity is piqued. I really want to know what this is. Could it be a praying mantis egg case? That would be really cool. Maybe a moth’s cacoon?

Looks like I’ve got about a week to figure this out, with the way the weather’s going.

If anyone has any idea what this could be, or knows someone who could identify it for me, please let me know.

You know cold weather is around the corner when the bugs start their yearly exodus from the garden. There is a little spider taking up residence in one of my cupboards. He’s just too fast, I can’t catch him!

I only hope the first few light frosts kill off the smaller pests, like spider mites and tiny gnats. I’ve begun bathing some of my house plants but I’m nervous I’m going to bring in hitch hikers.

A beautiful field of Goldenrod.

The last day of summer has passed, but fall is finally here!

Beautiful foliage, pumpkin picking, mums in full bloom. Every gardener delights in the harvest season. Since the warm weather is coming to an end, the next few weeks Ask Ivy will concentrate on how to winterize your plants. I will be sharing steps to reintroduce your plants to an indoor environment, how to batten down the hatches on your patio containers, how to put your garden down for a long winter’s nap, and many other tips for preparing for cold weather.

Fall is a busy season for farmers and gardeners alike. There is much to celebrate and much to prepare for.

It’s important to check which USDA zone you live in. This is a good guide to when frost will hit in your area. I live in USDA zone 5, so it’s likely that the first frost won’t hit til late October, but weather is not an exact science, and there are always exceptions. In this case, it’s best to guess conservatively so you don’t risk losing that ficus you put out on the patio, or the palm that’s been sitting on the deck.

Most outdoor, in-ground plants can handle temperatures slightly below freezing, so don’t worry about leaving those pumpkins on the vine until just before Halloween. However, if you have tropical plants hanging around your property in containers, we are steadily approaching the time to bring them inside. (Sorry, Croton, it had to happen sometime.)

I like to push my luck a bit, and let the tropicals soak up the last bit of sunshine while I prepare an area for them. When you collect plants all summer, it’s easy to forget how much space they will need once you bring them in. It may be wise to set up a table or open back shelf in front of a window that can be a designated plant area. Otherwise, you may find them taking over your home!

Place a lamp near the plants. A desk lamp sharing a shelf with them is a good idea. A floor lamp nearby won’t hurt. The daylight is limited in the winter, and many tropical plants will reach a state of dormancy. They will suspend growth until sunlight is plentiful again.

My best advice is to set this area up now, so once you have cleaned up the plants, they will have a safe, well-lit area to call home til April or so, and your counter tops and tables will remain uncluttered for the fall feasts ahead!

I’ve been putting coffee grounds into my house plants. They like the extra boost the ground beans provide to the soil, but I’ve noticed that the coffee tends to become compacted on the surface, inhibiting evaporation, and hindering proper water absorption.

To remedy this, I just broke up the soil on top of my house plants and added a bit of compost from outside.

I lost track of how many times my peace lillies have bloomed this Summer!