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Today's sunlight
will last 10 hours and 30 minutes; tomorrow's, 10 hours and 31
minutes. Tonight's temperate will bottom out at 48 degrees. The
temperature of the soil six inches below the surface will
average 63 degrees today.
The length of a day and its temperatures are usually a mere
curiosity to humans. Plants, however, respond to them in very
precise and predictable ways, completely indifferent to the
wants and whims of a gardener. Beginning gardeners, unaware of
the "rules" of the game, may challenge nature by planting at the
wrong season or in the wrong climate. In a battle of nature
versus the gardener, nature almost always will prevail.
Understanding nature's signals and submitting to them, rather
than fighting against them, is the sign of a mature and
experienced gardener.
The month of March in our coastal garden is ripe with
opportunity and is an active time for a gardener. A few
subtleties of timing, however, can make your experience more
successful.
In the vegetable garden, it is almost time to set out tomato
transplants — but not yet. The soil is still too cool. More
important, tomatoes set into the garden now will not produce
fruit any sooner than those set out a month from now, so why
rush? Tomato fruit will not set until night temperatures stay
above 55 degrees for at least two nights in a row. While you're
waiting, plant a quick crop of loose-leaf lettuce. You'll
harvest the lettuce just in time for the perfect tomato planting
time.
Annual flowering plants don't need to set fruit, so night
temperatures are not quite as important. Instead, gardening
success with these plants will be more dependant upon soil and
air temperatures. Spring flowers that I find ideal to plant
right now in our still cool soil include petunias, pansies and
violas, bacopa, nemesia, snapdragons, lobelia, ageratum, cosmos
and schizanthus.
Impatiens and begonias need warmer soil than March affords,
although thousands of gardeners will push the rules and plant
them early. Not much harm will be done by planting now, but they
will tend to languish and sulk in the still too-cool soil. The
same is true for verbena, dahlia and marigold. Don't even
consider coleus, zinnia, gomphrena and lisianthus for another
month or two, as they need even warmer soil.
Gladiolus, tuberous begonias, perennial dahlias, most lilies and
a few other plants that grow from bulbs, corms, rhizomes and
other underground organs should be started right now. The lower
air temperatures and the mild soil temperatures are perfect for
their initiation of roots, followed by foliage and ultimately
flowers.
Start feeding citrus and avocadoes right away. Citruses,
especially, are heavy users of nitrogen and micronutrients.
So-called minor elements, such as iron, zinc and manganese, are
often absent from synthetic fertilizers — another reason why I
recommend organic nutrition. While you're at it, be sure to
apply fertilizer to most potted plants. The soil of potted
plants will warm considerably earlier than that of the ground,
requiring more and earlier nutrition, and resulting in an
earlier season of foliage and flowers.
If you've been pinching the tips of your fuchsia over the past
three months, as I've recommended, it's time to stop. Your
pinching diligence has developed a very full plant with lots of
growth tips. Now, stop pinching, feed it with a balanced
fertilizer and let it bloom. It will be spectacular in about six
weeks, with hundreds of blooms.
If you've been considering removing some of your thirsty exotic
plants and replacing them with native plants, it's too late.
California natives are perfectly evolved to grow quickly during
the rainy season, then slow down or stop growing during the dry
summer months. Planted now, toward the end of their growing
cycle, they will not have a chance to root and establish
themselves. Mark you calendar and start making plans to do your
native planting this fall or early winter.
During March, you can still convert portions of your garden to a
low-maintenance, thirst-quenched "California friendly" plant
palette. Other than our native plants, many low-water choices
can be added now. Check with a knowledgeable nursery
horticulturist for specific recommendations.
Following Orange County's coldest winter in nearly 20 years,
many gardeners are eager to replace their frozen plants with new
ones. Hibiscus, bougainvillea, lantana, cuphea, carissa and
dozens of others were likely damaged in your garden. In spite of
your eagerness, these are tropical plants that need warm soil,
long days and higher temperatures to grow. This is not the time
to plant tropicals; wait a couple more months.
Those are some "rules." In nature it's hard to cheat. Abide by
nature's rules and you'll have a more successful and rewarding
garden.
ASK RON
I have a grapefruit tree that my father started 25 years ago
from a fat Harry & David fruit seed. It is now about 20 feet
tall. About three years ago, it simply exploded, producing well
over 100 rather seedy fruit. But ever since then it has had
very, very few blossoms and fruit; maybe five or so. What do you
think? Can I bring it back into flower, or has it simply turned
into an ornamental?
DAVE BLACK
This is the pitfall of growing a hybrid plant from a seed — you
do not get a carbon copy of the mother plant. Almost always, the
seed progeny is an inferior and undesirable plant. Citrus
hybrids, as well as avocado and many other plants, can only be
reproduced by vegetative means; cuttings, grafting or layering.
There is probably nothing culturally that you can do to make
this plant behave any differently. It is the genetics of the
grapefruit. Enjoy your shade tree.
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