If you dug up the daffodils to divide or replant and find that the daffodils have rotten at the bottom even though it was not a particularly wet season, then probably they are suffering from basal rot, a fungus disease so called because it spreads from the bases of many bulbs and corms, including those of...
Read more »

It is very difficult to root cuttings of bay (Laurus nobilis) even in weeks. There have been cases when even after 12 months roots have not formed -and this slow rooting is the main reason why the plants are so expensive. So patience is the key. If you follow this procedure to the letter you...
Read more »

Bedding plants are any plants set out to give bright colour in a bed for a particular season. The ones you see in spring are mostly annuals – they grow from seed, flower and die all in the same year. But there are also some biennials (plants with a two-year life cycle), and some...
Read more »

While repotting cactus if you observe that some roots have a white, ash-like material on them, with patches of it in the compost then it could be the root aphid, a sap-sucking insect like greenfly but living in the soil and feeding on plant roots. It can multiply considerably without detection until the plants...
Read more »

Initially, you should realise that altering the existing soil condition is not a once-for-all operation, and that the ground will need regular attention to keep it sufficiently acid for the plants to continue to thrive. Growing acid-loving plants in a chalky or limestone district is difficult, in many cases such plants will fail, partly because of...
Read more »

Sweetening a soil is another way of saying reducing its acidity. It has three benefits. First, lowered acidity increases the range of plants you can grow. The nearer a soil is to neutral the greater the number of different plants that will flourish in it. Next, as the soil becomes less acid, some of...
Read more »