Gardening Tips

Preparing for Spring on CRIS Radio

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CRIS Radio: Focal Point 2/21/2025

Heather Zidack from the UConn Home & Garden Education Center talks to host, Stephen Thal, about climate change in the garden, houseplants, seed starting and more!

Transcript

Transcript 

00:00:01 Stephen Thal 

Hi, welcome to another segment on focal Point. This is Stephen Thal and I'm your host for today's program. 

We're going to be learning a lot about getting ready for the spring when we realize the weather is still not quite ready for spring flowers, but we want to get everybody thinking about it. So when the time comes, they'll have some ammunition and be prepared to get in there and get their hands dirty. 

00:00:31 Stephen Thal 

To help us understand that we have Heather from the plant and science program at the University of Connecticut. Welcome back Heather. 

00:00:41 Heather Zidack 

Hi Stephen. Thanks for having me back! 

00:00:43 Stephen Thal 

Yeah, it's great because you gave everybody some spirits to think about and encouragement. One of the things that we've been reading about lately is about climate control. And we were curious, you know, as we look around the country, different things are happening. People can't seem to explain why the weather has changed so drastically, and we're sure that this will impact the way we think about our flowers and the way we want to put a garden in and do herbs. Can you help us understand what climate control may be doing to this? 

00:01:22 Heather Zidack 

Yeah. So there are some things that we are noticing, especially from people just calling into our office with , um, in relation to climate change and a couple of the big things that have happened in 2023, I believe it was the fall of 2023 they did change the USDA hardiness zones. Which, when you're shopping for plants, your zone is actually going to tell you the coldest temperature that plants can tolerate to survive in your area. And so Connecticut, we're about a Zone 6 at this point, is the safe one. But it did shift and so there are parts of the state that are even seeing some warmer. Especially Shoreline is a little closer to zone 7. 

And you can look that up through the USDA to see the change from the zones. But that's a big change. Part of that happened because they had more data points and they could actually get more weather stations to report on what was going on, so it became a little more accurate in that sense. But we are also seeing some climate change effects happening as well. 

We’ve seen you know a lot of flooding over the past couple years. Remember up in you know, Vermont, New Hampshire, they had some of those floods that led to crop loss and contamination of fields. Storms with heavy winds can damage a lot of crops sometimes. 

And higher heat and humidity can affect your gardens as well.  

So if you're looking for management techniques, the first thing that you can do is make sure that you're providing enough water and nutritional support to your plants to endure any stresses that they might see during the growing season. So get a soil test. 

Have your your soil ready to go. Know what fertilizer you need. 

And make sure you're watering. Not too much, not too little. But you're keeping up with what the plants need. That's going to help them build their defenses, just like when we take vitamin C in the winter to prevent colds. 

If you're going to be seeing some hot weather come around and there's heat management strategies, one of the first things you want to do is remove weeds. It actually helps to increase air flow around the plants and also remove competition for some of those nutrients and water that I talked about a minute ago. 

You can also use shade cloth or something to kind of keep the plants out of the hot hot heat of the sun, especially on those really hot days. If you're able to, If you've got potted plants and you can move them to a a sheltered spot on those hot days it works for them. 

But those are a couple heat management strategies. 

00:03:58 Stephen Thal 

What about bugs? 

00:03:59 Heather Zidack 

For me? Oh. 

00:04:00 Stephen Thal 

What about anima-, little bugs like fleas, ticks, beetles? 

00:04:04 Heather Zidack 

Yeah, well, it's something that we notice in the garden and when we see these different fluctuations in heat and temperature. We see a lot of fluctuations in our insect populations. 

So we do see there have been some instances where you haven't had the ability to really have a good kill off of everything in the environment. And so the next year we see more bugs coming out. Our office deals primarily with the garden insects and the pathogens. So seeing things like-Last year, there was a lot of Japanese beetles. Last year there was a lot of fungal infections. 

Really, the best thing that you can do for that is again making sure any weeds are gone so they don't have anywhere to hide in your garden. You can also space your plants as they're recommended in order to make sure that you're having good airflow and good movement in between them, and again you're removing hiding places and you also want to prune all your woody ornamentals to encourage air flow too. 

So if those are some good strategies for that. 

00:05:09 Stephen Thal 

You mentioned fertilizer and doing soil testing. Is there a phone number that people can call and how do they do that? 

00:05:17 Heather Zidack 

Absolutely, so soil testing can be done anytime that the ground is not frozen, so I think we're in the one time of the year where we can't do it right now, but once the ground thaws, the UConn Soil Nutrient Analysis Lab is available for testing.They do a standard nutrient test and that covers all the basic nutrients that you would need for your home garden as well as pH so their phone number is 860-486-4274. 

Again, that's 860-486-4274. 

00:05:57 Stephen Thal 

Ok, Great. 

00:05:58 Stephen Thal 

So we now got to prepare for maintaining our house plants. As well as taking care of those that we choose to go outside and give them some fresh air and not allow too much heat, how are we going to do this? 

How do we prepare for it? 

00:06:16 Heather Zidack 

Yeah. So one of the things that you want to make sure that you're doing, it's still a little too cold to put anything outside just yet. You want to remember that our target is 50° at night before you're putting any plants outside. 

What you want to do with your house plans inside is you want to check for water. Make sure that they're accurate adequately-They have enough moisture in the pot. 

You want to check with your fingers, make sure that it's not clumping up too much in your hand. You want to make sure that it's also not like sand texture. You want to make sure there's an even moisture you might not need to water as much right now, especially if your plants are dormant, just like we don't think about hydration much in the winter, because we're not outside and in the heat, plants are the same way. So check before you water every time. 

The other thing that you can do right now is dust the leaves to scout for pests and disease. 

You can also start fertilizing your house plants when you see new and active growth. So like if there's new leaves, if there's new buds, if they're new shoots, those are signs your plant is waking up and you could use a little food at that point. 

And you want to make sure that you're checking any bulbs or plants that you have in winter storage. So if you dug anything up from your yard, like Canna lilies or Gladiolus bulbs or anything like that, check those bulbs in storage. 

Make sure they’re firm. Make sure there's no discoloration or smell to them and they should have some kind of humidity with them, but not too much. So if you had stored them in peat Moss, maybe missed in with the bottle for a second, but they don't need sopping water just yet. So you want to check all of those things. 

00:07:56 Stephen Thal

And what kind of tools do we need to help us with our projects?

00:08:03 Heather Zidack 

So big thing right now is going to be pruning season, so you can use-depends on the the size of the plant. But if you're outside, you want to have some some good hand pruners or some loppers- Depends on the size of your branches, but pruning right now is an advantage because there's low disease and low pest pressure outside, so plants can easily recover without being exposed to any other diseases. 

In general, people use hand pruners or like I said Loppers which are a little bit larger to cut their their trees back. 

And the rule that you follow is the rule of thirds. You don't want to cut off more than 1/3 of the entire plant if you want to leave 2/3 standing. And that ensures that there's enough of a ratio between roots and shoots that there's healthy regrowth.  

With that being said there are some different pruning techniques that can be suggested for different species of plants.  

So always consult with an arborist or landscaper or give our office a call. If you ever have any questions. 

00:09:10 Stephen Thal

And what about choosing the right fertilizer?

I know there are many different kinds. I know I've heard of fertilizer from Maine where they save all of the lobster shells, crab shells and mix them all together. And that's supposed to be good too, for your plants. 

00:09:29 Heather Zidack 

There's all kinds of fertilizers out there and so. There's different products that are organic. You have things like manures and composts and things like that. Also have synthetic materials like regular. You have coast of Maine like you talked about. The important thing when you're looking for fertilizers, we always recommend getting that soil test first. Because you want to know what your baseline is, right? 

You want to know where you're starting before you add anything else. Once you have that, the soil test is going to tell you in general terms you have 3 numbers on a bag. If you look at a bag of fertilizer, there's going to be usually something like the effect of 10-10-10, 5-5-5, 10-15-10 20-20-20, something like that. 

Those 3 numbers there, those 3 numbers represent in this order nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. So when you're looking at those numbers, you're actually looking at a percentage of how much of that nutrient is in the bag. 

00:10:31 Heather Zidack 

So once you have your soil test for example and it says you are deficient in potassium. So, NPK, your third number there would be the one that you would want to add a little bit more of you would maybe look for something like a 5-5-10. 

00:10:47 Heather Zidack 

It all depends on what your soil test comes out as and what you're actually looking for with a specific crop, so it's hard to give a generalization, but knowing how to read that bag is your first step in knowing what to shop for when you're ready. 

00:11:02 Stephen Thal

If we're going ahead and deciding to plant herbs, is this a good time of the year inside to get those started?

00:11:11 Heather Zidack 

Absolutely. There's a lot of plants that you can start right now. Herbs are going to be great for kitchen gardens. You can pretty much start them any time of year. 

Great for culinary purposes, but they're also loved by pollinators. The Swallow tail Caterpillar in particular loves things like dill and parsley plants, and they're all over them in my yard. So I actually grow a little extra just for them. 

00:11:35 Heather Zidack 

You get a lot of fragrance and texture out of all of the fresh herbs, which is fantastic, and it can be easily done, indoor or outdoor. 

So right now you would want to start everything indoors that you want. The really cool thing with herbs is that there are some of them, like basil is an example. You know how they sell the basil plants in grocery stores, right? 

00:11:56 Stephen Thal 

Right. 

00:11:57 Heather Zidack 

So what you can do is you can actually cut off a stem of that basil, remove the leaves up to like the first leaf, maybe the first 3 or 4 leaves up there, put it in water, and it'll send out its own roots that you could then put in a pot yourself. 

00:12:12 Heather Zidack 

So you don't necessarily even need to do anything with seeds. You can do cuttings to keep your herbs going. 

00:12:17 Heather Zidack 

The only thing I would recommend is to plant if you're going to plant mint. Keep it in containers and keep it away from the ground. Don't put it outside unless you want to grow it for the rest of your life. It does have a pretty aggressive tendency, and once it hits the ground and gets rooted in, it can just grow and grow and grow. And then you have mint in that area forever. 

But other than that, herbs are great to start right now. 

00:12:43 Heather Zidack 

A lot of people are starting, especially if they do cut flowers and small seeded plants right now. Like if you think snapdragons. If you think Cosmos, some of those they need to start now because they need a lot of time to grow. Veggie wise. People are starting things like broccoli and Brussels sprouts at this point. 

Most people have started like onions and shallots by now, but you probably still have time if you were to do it like right now. And so really, there's a lot of different veggies that you could be starting right now. 

00:13:19 Stephen Thal 

Yeah, those are are very critical things that we have to keep keep aware of. 

00:13:26 Heather Zidack 

Yeah, timing is everything with when it comes to starting. 

00:13:30 Stephen Thal 

Right. And this is Stephen Thal with another segment on Focal Point and we're interviewing Heather from the Yukon plant and Science program and they offer a lot of help to citizens in the state. In terms of not only analyzing the soil, but talking to you about the different kinds of plants or herbs that you might want to consider starting and what has to be done to maintain them, and we know that Climate change has strongly impacted the way we have to do our season so that we can take all of our hard labor in to make sure we get some good results and not have it fail for us during the during the coming growing season. 

00:14:20 Stephen Thal 

I think it. 

00:14:20 Heather Zidack 

Yeah. 

00:14:21 Stephen Thal 

I think it forces us to have a have a little more time to work with this. 

00:14:30 Heather Zidack 

Yeah, it's really interesting. You know the frost date is a big thing that's important when you start planting seeds and when you start planting outside, especially with vegetable gardens and a lot of gardeners- 

I remember, even when I was young, used to plant right around Mother's Day, which is in mid-May. In the past couple years, we probably could have done that, but you have to really watch the weather. 

I've seen a few seasons where you're waiting past Memorial Day, which is the end of May at this point, and it's-For me, Memorial Day has become more of that target. Be like-this Is definitely the weekend things are going to go in. 

You can keep an eye on the weather. And as long as the weather is staying above, you know, we're not getting frost. You can put your seedlings out, but you're taking a risk because we can have a frost anytime in that spring, part of May, and if you do you can lose your seedlings, so if you do put anything in the ground a little bit early do so with caution. 

Keep an eye on the weather and be prepared to be able to run out and cover them if you need to. We always recommend like fabric coverings like either a towel or a sheet or a pillow case or something like that to cover your plants if they're in the ground and we have a frost coming. Using anything like plastic is definitely going to exacerbate the problem and cause more damage when it comes to frost and freezes than anything else. 

So I would say. Look at your frost date. 

I know the Farmers Almanac has a target frost date that you can look up, but if you want to play on the super safe side, I plant right around Memorial Day and that's a good time to plant, be outside and make sure that you're keeping an eye on the weather when you're putting things out. 

00:16:21 Stephen Thal 

Are there specific questions you should be asking the local gardeners or when you go in and buy things? To make sure you're getting the things that you want, especially the different plants. 

00:16:35 Heather Zidack 

Yeah, you want to look for quality seed whenever you're purchasing. In general, most garden centres have. Seed that is timely. So you're going to see, just like we have certain products in the grocery store that have like an expiration date. There are seeds that have that date planted on the back. 

They should be packed for this year and I believe they have to sell seeds that are packed for this year, so that's not something that you have to worry about too much, but it is good to know where to look for that information. Look at where It will say “packed for” and then it will have the year on there. 

It'll also show the germination rate, which is how well, the seed will actually sprout. That's advertised on the envelope as well as like a quality control and so you want to make sure that it's got a good germination rate. 

I've seen seed products before that I've purchased where they had a note on the envelope that said last year we had a low germination rate. So this year we're giving you extra seed and in the envelope it was a little heavier pack than what it had been in previous year. 

So you want to make sure you've got a good germination rate. You want to make sure that there's a a date that's packed for this year. Those are both more important than anything like brand. You want to make sure that you're looking for good seed when you're starting. 

Something to keep in mind is that there are- if you are someone who saves seeds from year to year, you want to make sure you're storing them well. Keeping them in a cool, dry area. 

And if you do have seeds that are either seed that you've saved and you have a history of, like plant disease in previous years, or if you've bought untreated seeds and you have a reason to have concern that maybe you had some kind of, you know, plant disease a previous year. You can have your seeds treated with something called hot water seed treatment and our plant diagnostic lab does that. 

00:18:37 Heather Zidack 

To help make sure that there are no pathogens on the feed when you plant them in the ground to give them a healthy start. So that's an option, especially if you have a history of disease in your garden that some gardeners do like to take advantage of. 

00:18:52 Stephen Thal 

Oh, that's good. 

00:18:53 Stephen Thal 

Are there any special plants that some of the gardeners may be putting out this for sale that we need to be aware of, especially for the disease? 

00:19:04 Heather Zidack 

So you want to be careful with-I will say if you're looking at things like plant swaps and you're going to like Garden Club plant swaps and things like that, we did help out a lot of garden clubs last year as they were looking at how to do this while still being aware of the jumping warm issue. And so jumping worms are an invasive worm that are going from property to property and the best way to make sure that they don't transfer between properties is to make sure that your roots of your plants are cleaned off.  

So. A lot of, especially at plant swaps, a lot of these garden clubs were having people dig their plants that they were willing to donate. Rinse the plants off at the roots. Repot them into soilless potting media. 

And then they were willing to trade them and and exchange them at these swaps. 

So you want to make sure if you are going to plant swaps, they are taking some kind of precaution like that and if they are not, you can still take the plant home but you want to make sure that you're doing the rinsing of the roots to make sure that nothing is coming onto your property. 

00:20:18 Heather Zidack 

We had a lot of garden clubs that were able to take some of these procedures and be very successful with their plant swaps and not have to worry about it at all. But education is that first step in knowing how to manage this issue right and so that way they knew that they had to rinse the roots. They had to keep their gardeners educated on how to prevent this from spreading, and they were able to still have plant swaps and stuff, so not encouraging any fear of plant swaps. 

Just kind of giving you that heads up of tou may need to wash the roots if you bring some. 

00:20:50 Stephen Thal 

Yeah, those are very important things. And I think also as a person who may be out with your plants or just sitting in the yard admiring them, I think we need to remind people to wear their sunglasses and to wear a hat and use proper sun protection. 

00:21:07 Heather Zidack 

Very important. I always used to tell my colleagues when I worked at a garden center, I'd say water the plants and water yourself. 

00:21:16 Stephen Thal 

That's good. 

00:21:17 Stephen Thal 

Yeah. Good. 

00:21:20 Stephen Thal 

Any other items you'd like to have us our listeners be aware of and enjoy their spring fling in the garden and in their house plants. 

00:21:32 Heather Zidack 

Yeah. One of the things that I would love to make everyone aware of is that the Connecticut Flower and Garden show is coming up at the end of February. It's going to be February 20th to 23rd at the Hartford Convention Center and the Home and Garden Education Center, Myself and my colleagues will be there answering garden questions. 

So if you have garden questions, please feel free to stop by and say hi to us. We've also got speakers that are going to be there every single day. And it's a nice taste of spring because a lot of local landscapers and garden centres will do full on displays. 

00:22:10 Heather Zidack 

It's very cold. We're starting to see Snow and it's nice to take a break and just have that smell of fresh flowers all around and everything. So it's a great opportunity to get a taste of spring. And get your garden questions answered. If you need to see us. So it's really good coming up. 

00:22:29 Heather Zidack 

The other thing that I have for advice, if you're looking for spring a little bit early is if you have anything like Dogwood, forsythia, crab apple in your house or in your property, you can take cuttings of them and put the branches in warm water. 

And they could force the flowers to open right now. So you could get a little bit of spring early in your house by doing that. 

00:22:53 Heather Zidack 

The other thing that's really important to keep in mind is that if you are an avid gardener. It's a good time to take any of your tools that are in the shed and make sure they're in proper working order. Make sure that all of the handles are tightened. 

Make sure everything is sharpened if it needs to be sharpened and paint the handles with a bright red or bright orange paint to help you see them when you put them down in the garden. 

00:23:17 Stephen Thal 

Yeah. And I think also lawn mowers or any working tools like that should be taken to a mechanic to make sure everything's working. 

00:23:24 Heather Zidack 

Absolutely anything with an engine. Don't do yourself. 

00:23:30 Stephen Thal 

Yeah. Sounds like you've had some experiences. 

00:23:34 Heather Zidack 

Yeah. 

00:23:35 Stephen Thal 

Now in terms of plants, we have to watch out for some of these poisons that may be used to help plants. Are there any that we should avoid? 

00:23:47 Heather Zidack 

So most of the ones, fortunately, that you want to avoid too much are not allowed for sale to homeowners. That's a really, really good thing. 

What you want to make sure that you're looking at if if anyone is using any chemicals in the garden. Every single product has a label on it, and that label has to match whatever you're trying to to achieve, right? 

So If you're trying to eliminate cabbage worms, for example, in your garden. That label needs to say that that product will take care of cabbage worm. 

Otherwise you should not be using it whatsoever, and so we say this recommendation with any chemical, but also all of those home remedies that you hear about. We don't recommend using them because there's not that science to back it up that says this label identifies the cabbage worms. And cabbage worms are my identified problem so this is going to work. So that's one of the first things. 

00:24:45 Heather Zidack 

The other thing that's really important in making sure that you're monitoring regularly and looking for bugs. Because a lot of times if you can take care of the problem early, you don't necessarily need those chemicals. Or there could be other ways to manage it before you get to that point. So as soon as you see something, get a picture and we could help you or have someone at a garden center help you identify what's what's going on. And what you can do to treat it. 

00:25:14 Heather Zidack 

Reading that label is the most important thing that anybody can do, and it's the safest thing because you want to make sure you're doing targeted approaches to target species when you're using any chemicals in the garden. 

00:25:27 Stephen Thal 

Yeah. And also if you have a bug you're not familiar with, put it in a little container and send it up to you guys. 

00:25:35 Heather Zidack 

Yes, we can do that. We do insect identification-insects found in the garden. If, if they're found inside the home, we usually recommend like either a pest control expert or there's other resources available, but we are definitely able to do any garden pest. 

00:25:53 Stephen Thal 

Yeah. How about the got local garden clubs? Can they be helpful too? 

00:25:58 Heather Zidack 

Sometimes! They actually have some good resources. 

00:26:03 Heather Zidack 

If you're looking for an identification or a diagnosis, it really is good to come to the either the plant diagnostic lab or our office here because we have the connection to the diagnostic lab. But there are garden clubs. There are a lot of people with a lot of knowledge about gardening. The the reason that we we pride ourselves on is because we have a lot of research based information that we’re able to share with our clients. 

00:26:31 Stephen Thal 

Well, we want to thank you for coming in and sharing this vital information for getting your spring things started. 

00:26:40 Heather Zidack 

Thank you so much for having me. 

00:26:40 Stephen Thal 

And you know well, give us a call when the neck was a fall we have to get ready. 

Or. If there's any alerts, we can send them out. 

00:26:50 Heather Zidack 

Yes, I will let you know if there's anything else. 

00:26:55 Stephen Thal 

Well, I thank you very much, Heather, for coming on again. At the program we really enjoyed. 

I'm sure I got a lot out of it and I'm sure people here got a lot out of it. 

Appreciate you and your staff for all you do, why don't you give your number one more time? 

00:27:12 Heather Zidack 

Yes, if anybody has gardening questions for us, they can call and our number is 877-486-6271. Again, that's 877-486-6271. 

00:27:31 Stephen Thal 

OK, very , good. Thank you. Everybody thank you. 

Thank you for all you do to help make us a successful spring season. 

00:27:39 Heather Zidack 

Yes, thank you for having me. Have a good spring! 

00:27:41 Stephen Thal 

Like this is Steven Thal and another segment on focal point and we wanted to thank you the listeners for listening to all of the focal point programs. 

00:27:53 Stephen Thal 

As we mentioned earlier in the program, please wear your sunglasses and a hat because the sun is going to be a lot stronger this year because of climate changes. 

And also practice a family plan. If you don't know anything about it, contact a local fire department or go on the computer regarding emergency fire plans and involve everybody in in the House and doing a piece of it. And if you practice it a few times and also make sure that. Your fire alarm batteries or whatever are up to date cause a lot of them today are lasting 10 years. 

So get involved because life you say may be your own. 

00:28:36 Stephen Thal 

Thank you for allowing us into your homes. Safe and stay healthy. 

Shine a Light – But Which One?

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By Emily Leahy, UConn Home & Garden Education Center

Seedlings under LED lights
Seedlings growing under programmable LED lights. Photo by H. Zidack

The dead of winter brings a longing to spend time outside in the garden again. While this may not be possible yet, it is easy to craft your own growing space indoors. The elements of the outdoors that allow plants to thrive – light, warmth, and water – can all be brought indoors with a little creativity and the right resources.

Some steps remain unchanged. Still, refer to the plant’s label for guidance on choosing a proper container, water and nutrient needs, as well as temperature preferences. Guidelines on how much light the plant should receive can also be found on the label – but how can this be applied indoors?

One of the more challenging aspects to simulate, indoors, is an adequate amount of light. When outside, plants rely on the sun for light needed to carry out photosynthesis. This chemical reaction produces sugars which are used as energy in processes essential for the growth and maintenance of a healthy plant. While plants can still receive sunlight indoors through rays shining through windows, this often cannot act as an equitable substitute for unobstructed sunlight outdoors. This is where supplemental light sources in the form of grow lights come into play. Grow lights are specially designed with the purpose of emitting a wider spectrum of light wavelengths to enable photosynthesis. But with so many options available, how can you choose which is the best option?

Generally, there are two types of grow lights – bulbs and fixtures. Bulbs can be placed into existing light fixtures like lamps or overhead lighting. However, this can be unsuitable as it is difficult to control the distance from the plant and angle at which the light shines. Grow light fixtures are separate systems which can provide multiple plants with light simultaneously, offering a more even distribution. With proper setup, they can be positioned at an advantageous angle to provide plants with their preferred amount of light.

Next comes the question of which kind of light is appropriate for your plant – incandescent, fluorescent, or LED? It is important to determine beforehand the level of light which your plant prefers – high, medium, or low. Incandescent lights, while costing the least, are also the least efficient. 90% of their energy is released in the form of heat, while only 10% is light itself. While this makes them good contenders for low-light plants, they also require caution as they can provide plants with an overwhelming amount of heat.

Fluorescent lights are well-suited for plants requiring low to medium light. They emit the full spectrum of light, essential for promoting growth as they mimic natural sunlight. Most often they are seen as strips or tubes of light that can be affixed above plants, but they can also be purchased in bulb form. LED lights emit the full spectrum of light as well, while simultaneously emitting less heat than other bulb types. Yielding a high overall efficiency, LEDs can be customized with different colors/wavelengths of light to provide certain advantages for some plants. For example, blue lights promote vegetative growth, while red lights do the same for flowering and fruit growth.

Grow light setup
Different stages of growth may need different spectrums of light. Photo by H. Zidack

After choosing the most suitable kind of grow light for your plant, there are a variety of other tips helpful to consider. The type of plant not only determines the proper type of light to use, but also how much light should be provided. Supplying light 24 hours a day is not ideal as it can overwhelm the plant – remember the objective is to mimic the light conditions of the outdoors. Therefore, plants will require some hours of darkness each day.

Seedlings generally prefer 14-16 hours of light per day, as they necessitate the most encouragement for growth. 12 hours of light is suitable for herbs and other greens, while houseplants fall between the range of 6-12 hours per day – be sure to refer to the product label for any specifications on light preferences.

In terms of setup, lights should be angled to ensure a direct stream of emittance onto the plant in order to receive its full benefits. It is best to affix lights about 12 inches from the plant, although adjustments can be made as you see fit. Some indoor gardening systems are available that can be customized to fit specifications according to the type of plant being grown. It is also important to purchase lights that are rated to withstand humidity and moisture if they are being kept in a greenhouse-like environment.

Be sure to always refer to your plant’s label for its specific preferences for light and other growing conditions. With the help of grow lights, you can wait out the winter by bringing a little bit of the outdoors, indoors!

The UConn Home & Garden Education Center contributes to the Cooperative Extension mission of the University of Connecticut by connecting the public with research and resources provided by the University. For your gardening questions, feel free to contact us, toll-free, at the UConn Home & Garden Education Center - (877) 486-6271, visit our website at https://homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu/, or contact your local Cooperative Extension center https://cahnr.uconn.edu/extension/locations/.

This article was published in the Hartford Courant Feb. 15, 2025

Do You Dig Dahlias?

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By Dawn Pettinelli, UConn Home & Garden Education Center

Dahlias in a bed at Enders island
Dahlias at Enders Island. Photo by dmp2024

A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate to visit the spectacular dahlia gardens on Enders Island in Mystic. For those unfamiliar with this retreat, an 11-acre seaside estate was donated to the Society Edmund by Mrs. Alys E. Enders in 1954. This Roman Catholic religious community offers ministry, retreats and respite to many. The grounds are open to all for contemplation or just unbound appreciation of nature and horticultural beauty.

Gardeners will delight in the gorgeous, well laid out garden rooms but especially be entranced by the vast array of dahlias. The gardens at Enders Island are filled with over 300 varieties of prize-winning dahlias in all colors (except blue), shapes and sizes imaginable. A Dahlia Preservation Trust was established to preserve the dahlia collection that is rated as one of the largest in New England.

Any of us growing dahlias while appreciating their cheery, attractive blossoms lasting long into the fall, do realize they are not winter hardy, even with milder winters attributed to climate change.  Dahlias are native to Central America. In fact, they are Mexico’s national flower. Those wishing to save the tuberous roots for replanting next year, must dig them up and store them over the winter.

Ideally, gardeners should wait until a frost blackens the foliage. Then, if possible, wait a week so any carbohydrates left in the above ground tissue can make their way to the roots to enable good sprouting next spring when the tuberous roots are replanted. This has been a particularly confusing fall to both plants and gardeners. Frosts have hit some areas but often not severe enough to affect all plants and dahlias in more protected sites are still blooming their heads off, a trait most appreciated by pollinators such as bees.

On the other hand, it is November. Time to reign in gardening activities and begin preparations for the holidays. What’s a gardener to do?

Since my plants were losing bottom leaves to disease and looking a little ragged, I just decided it was time to dig them and move the tuberous roots into the cellar. Before digging any dahlias, be sure to note their names. If tags were not written out when planting, make them out now if color and flower type are important.

Cut back stems to 2 or 3 inches and carefully dig the tubers starting at least 8 inches away from crowns so tubers do not get sliced or speared. Use a spade or pitchfork but dig in carefully. This year the soil is so dry that it was not necessary to leave the tuberous roots in the sun for a few hours so the soil clinging to them could dry and be shaken off. Every one I dug up was dry enough so that practically no soil clung to the roots. Each was placed in a separate container with repurposed labels.

Dahlia tubers with a white tag
Dahlia tubers tagged for storage. Photo by dmp2024

Perusing through online sources, many suggest washing tubers off with a hose and letting them dry before storing. I have let them dry out in wet falls and shaken dried soil from them before storing but have never hosed them off. Maybe follow the approach that makes most sense to you. If any remaining soil is washed off, the tuberous roots should most likely be stored in lightly moistened peat moss or other slightly damp organic material, so they will not desiccate over the winter. For me, leaving a bit of soil around the roots that are stored in pots in the cellar over winter helps to keep tubers from shriveling with only a sparse sprinkle of water once or twice a month.

When happy, dahlias will multiply but it is probably best to leave the whole clump together and separate it before planting next spring when multiple buds or eyes can be seen. Keep the tuberous roots at 45 to 55 degrees F and check every 2 to 3 weeks for signs of decay or desiccation.

For an early start, the tuberous roots can be set into beds usually by late April unless unseasonably cold weather is predicted. If you have questions about overwintering dahlias or for other gardening questions, contact the UCONN Home & Garden Education Center, toll-free, at (877) 486-6271, visit their web site at www.homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu or contact your local Cooperative Extension Center.

Helping Plants During the September-October Drought

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By Pamm Cooper, UConn Home & Garden Education Center

A sloped yard showing signs of drought stress.
Drought stress on a sloped lawn. Photo by Pamm Cooper

Here at the UConn Home and Garden Center we have been getting questions about lawn and garden issues that have been particularly widespread in the state. Whether in the landscape or the garden, there is always something going on, good or bad, and keeping up with pests or cultural issues can be challenging. Because of the extended late season drought conditions this year, plants may be showing signs of stress. There are some basic things homeowners can do to help plants go into winter as healthy as possible.

Plants in temperate climates, like we have in New England, are normally manufacturing food to enable carbohydrate storage for new growth that will occur next spring. To do this, plants need both sunlight and water, and our extended drought conditions have limited most plants to enter survival mode, and carb storage is a second priority. The best way to help your plants is to water deeply any that still have green leaves. People with wells may need to determine if this is a priority for them. We can hope for a warm winter or insulating snow cover to help any plants with shallow roots survive until warm weather returns.

Drought stress on dogwood leaves
Drought stress on dogwood leaves. Photo by John Ruter

One sign of drought stress in woody broadleaf plants is leaf edges that curl upward. This is a good clue as to the beginning of water stress. Make sure to water these plants deeply, to ensure roots will be able to pick up the water. Usually the next day, leaves will start to uncurl if adequate water is applied. If drought stress continues, leaves may turn brown at the edges and early leaf drop may occur.

Evergreens, even established ones, can benefit from regular watering as long as the soil is not frozen and drought conditions remain. Evergreen foliage, whether needles or leaves, photosynthesize all year, and it is important that soil is not dry. Normally, we have snow that melts on and off, and if soils are not frozen, roots will be able to take up water and photosynthesis can still take place.

Perennials of certain species may be doing fine in this drought. Yarrows, some ox-eyed daisy cultivars, obedient plants, goldenrods, mountain mints and Agastache may be showing no signs of stress. Still, if any have green leaves at this point, consider watering them if dry and warm conditions continue.

This weekend I planted a small shrub, and I had to dig about fourteen inches down to accommodate the root mass. I have to say that I was surprised that the soil, not particularly one that dries out often, was powdery to the bottom of the hole. If you are planting anything now, make sure to water the soil thoroughly as you fill in the area around the roots, then water again when done. This is especially needed for small trees and shrubs but do the same for perennials.

Next year, woody plants that were impacted by drought this year may be more susceptible to certain diseases like verticillium wilt, Nectria canker and evergreens to Rhizosphaera needlecast. Be vigilant and scout for any signs or symptoms of these diseases.

Lawns that did not receive any rainfall or supplemental watering during the past two months may be dormant and crunchy at this time. It may not be clear if the grass will recover when temperatures cool and adequate water is applied. Some grass species may be dead, but it may not be clear until next spring when they fail to green up. There still may be time to apply supplemental irrigation, and with warm temperatures, grass may or may not green up, but at least the crowns may be kept alive to generate new leaves next spring. If any lawn areas were seeded in late summer, water new grass as needed. If it is wilting, water it for sure.

Be alert to what is happening in your own backyard, for the sooner you discover any problems the better. Contact us at the University of Connecticut Home and Garden Education Center for advice on lawns, landscapes, and other gardening subjects. Here's hoping for some needed rainfall and cooler temperatures to help our plants recover from the trying drought of 2024.

Penn State Extension has a good article on long-term effects of drought stress- https://extension.psu.edu/the-long-term-impact-of-drought-on-trees-and-shrubs

If you have questions about caring for plants during a drought, or if you have other gardening questions, feel free to contact us, toll-free, at the UConn Home & Garden Education Center at (877) 486-6271, visit our website at www.homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu or contact your local Cooperative Extension center.

What’s Eating My Brassicas?

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By Dawn Pettinelli, UConn Home & Garden Education Center

Broccoli, cabbage, kale and other members of the brassica family are tasty and so good for you but its not just us who find them delectable. Brassicas have a number of insect pests but probably several caterpillar species do the most damage.

A close up of caterpillar damage on broccoli leaves.
Caterpillar damage on broccoli. Photo by dmp2024

When checking plants, look for holes in the leaves. A few irregular holes may soon become a skeletonized leaf with only the midrib left if control measures are not taken. These caterpillars can quickly devour plants.

Two of the most common pests are the imported cabbageworm and the cross striped cabbage worm. According to Dr. Shuresh Ghimire, UConn Vegetable Extension Specialist, imported cabbageworm is the offspring of the cabbage butterfly, a butterfly with white wings with 1-2 round black spots on the forewing. Eggs, laid singly on leaves, are light green or yellow and slightly elongated. Three to 5 days later, the eggs hatch. The lime green velvety caterpillars feed for 2 to 3 weeks.

Dr. Ghimire noted that imported cabbage worm feeding and resting mostly occur on the underside of leaves. Be sure to check both the tops and bottoms of leaves. Damage includes round or ragged feeding holes and deposits of wet, green or brownish frass. There can be 4 to 5 generations each year. This pest overwinters as a pupae close to host plants.

Cross stripped cabbage worm
Cross striped caterpillar. Photo by dmp2024

The cross-striped cabbageworm used to be a southern pest but no longer. The adult moths fly at night so are seldom seen. Cross-striped cabbageworms are most abundant on late-season plantings says Dr. Ghimire. Unlike the other major caterpillar pests, such as cabbageworm and diamondback moth, the cross-striped cabbageworm lays its eggs in batches (3-25) rather than singly, so caterpillars emerge in clusters. Egg batches are yellow, flattened, overlapping like fish scales, and attached to the lower leaf surfaces.

The distinctive-looking caterpillars are bluish gray on top with green on their undersides, a yellow stripe on each side with a row of numerous black bands across the back. Clusters of these caterpillars are voracious feeders and plants infested with cross-striped cabbageworm larvae are often completely skeletonized, while adjacent plants may be left undamaged. There are 2 or 3 generations per year.

Two other caterpillar pests of brassicas are the diamondback moth and the cabbage looper. Eggs of these two pests are laid singly and most years they do not cause considerable damage to home vegetable gardens.

There are several strategies to control these caterpillars on broccoli plants. If you have just a few plants, check them every few days looking at both sides of the leaves and either squish any caterpillars you find or drop them into a can of soapy water.

A close-up of a leaf with chewing damage
Caterpillar damage on brassica leaves. Photo by dmp2024

Rotating your plantings and interplanting with flowers may confuse pests. Dr. Ghimire suggests planting flowers to attract natural enemies, like Braconid wasps, which lay eggs on soft-bodied caterpillars such as cabbage worms. The larvae feed inside the live caterpillars, weakening or killing them. Some plants known to attract pest predators include dill, parsley, hyssop and mints.

Since brassicas do not need to be pollinated, they can be covered with netting or row covers to exclude insect pests. The holes in the netting should be one-quarter inch. Hoops can be used to hold up the barrier or one can make wooden or PVC cages for a custom fit. Be sure to tuck or pin the edges to the soil so pests can’t crawl under.

Finally, if the caterpillar infestation becomes too extensive, Dr. Ghimire recommends Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which is a biological control for Lepidoptera species of moths and butterflies. Bt is a bacterium that when sprayed on your plants and consumed by the caterpillar enters the insect’s gut and causes it to die. While it is effective for controlling these pests, it is harmless to humans and other animal species. Limit its use to brassicas to prevent it from affecting desirable caterpillars.

As with all garden pests, the key to healthy plants is regular monitoring and putting control measures into practice when pests are first noticed. For questions on brassica pests or any other gardening questions, feel free to contact us, toll-free, at the UConn Home & Garden Education Center at (877) 486-6271, visit our website at www.homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu

Eastern Tent Caterpillars

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By Pamm Cooper, UConn Home & Garden Education Center

Eastern Tent Caterpillar Tents in a tree

Eastern tent caterpillars, Malacosoma Americanum, are native to North America and are noticed mainly because of the silken tents they build in the forks and crotches of trees in early spring. While most tents are found on black cherries, they can also be found on other trees such as apple and crabapple. They are readily visible since tents are constructed before leaves fully expand. There is only one generation per year.

These caterpillars are hairy and dark when small, and later instars have two yellow lines along the back. A white medial stripe goes along the sides of the body, and this is flanked by two yellow lines. There are blue blotches along its side as well. Bottom hairs on the body are rusty brown. Forest tent caterpillars are also hairy, but they do not make tents, and their bodies

are blue with white dots on the back. Handling should be done with gloves on as some people may have sensitivity to the hairs.

Egg masses are black, laid on small branches of host trees the previous year, and the egg mass rings around the branch. Sometimes they are mistaken for small black knot galls. 150-300 eggs may be in each egg mass. Caterpillars typically hatch as black cherry leaves begin to expand the next spring. Caterpillars feed on leaves and buds and rest communally by day in the nests they construct from silk.

While they can almost defoliate small trees, these caterpillars usually have completed their feeding stage in time for the trees to put out new leaves by early summer. The more tents there are on small trees, though, the greater number of caterpillars there are, so damage will increase.

While protected from many predators while inside the tents, there are birds that will tear the tents apart to feed on the caterpillars inside. Both the black-billed and the yellow-billed cuckoos are known for their ability to do this, and native vireos will also seek out and rip apart the tents.

Mature caterpillars leave the host plants in early summer in search of suitable sites to pupate within a silken cocoon they will spin. Moths emerge later that year. The moths have a fluffy light brown body, and the wings have three bands with the center being narrower than the outer bands and a lighter brown in color. The center band is bordered on both sides by thin, creamy bands.

Eastern Tent Caterpillar Tents in a tree

Occasionally, eastern tent caterpillars have outbreak years where large numbers of the tents can be seen on the same tree. Fresh buds may also be consumed if trees are severely defoliated. When found on residential properties, tents can be swept apart by rakes or brooms, exposing caterpillars to predators, or knocking them off the trees. If warranted, foliage can be sprayed with a biological product called Bacillis thuringiensis subspecies, Kurstaki, or BtK, which only harms caterpillars and not other insects. Caterpillars will ingest the product as they feed on the foliage.

Most healthy trees can tolerate severe defoliation from eastern tent caterpillars. If concerned, look for egg masses in the winter on trees that had been damaged the previous spring. Remove them, if possible, or crush them, or prune the branch off below where the egg mass is found. Or let them be if the trees appear to have recovered. Letting nature take its course with native insects on native trees can often benefit birds and other predators. Do not confuse them with the notorious gypsy moth caterpillars which do not make silken tents or nests of any kind.

If you have a question about tent caterpillars or other gardening topics, contact the UConn Home & Garden Education at (877) 486-6271 or www.homegarden.cahnr,uconn.edu or your local Cooperative Extension Center.

 

 

 

DIY – Grow Flowers for Cutting

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By Dawn Pettinelli, UConn Home & Garden Education Center

Cut flower arrangment
Fresh cut flowers - Photo by dmp2024

Do you just love fresh flower arrangements for the table or even that single bloom in a vase by your bedside? Wouldn’t it feel great to just stroll out your back door, clip some blossoms, bring them inside and enjoy their beauty? There’s no reason that you can’t. Even a small yard or garden space can yield blossoms for cutting.

While many of us have flowering perennials and even woody plants that make for great arrangements, perhaps a dedicated cut flower planting would provide many more stems for cutting and not create any empty spaces in our garden designs. When planning your cut flower garden, first decide where it should go. The majority of blooming plants need at least 6 to 8 hours of sun each day, a well-drained, fertile soil and adequate water during dry spells. As with all garden plants, a soil test is a great way to find out what is needed to add to soils before planting but without a soil test, follow the directions on fertilizer packages.

There’s still time to prepare new beds for cut flower plantings but another alternative would be to turn over part of the vegetable garden to cut flower production. Probably your vegetable garden already has great soil and is located in a sunny area.

The hardest part of designing a cut flower garden is selecting what plants to grow. There are so many beautiful and exciting flowers to choose from. A good suggestion is to grow easy flowers at first and then progress on to more demanding ones. Another important factor to consider is which flowers need to be purchased as transplants (or started inside earlier under lights) and which can be easily grown by sowing seeds directly in the garden. While there are a number of flowering plants that can be started by direct seeding, you’ll get faster blooms if you purchase or grow your own transplants.

Zinnias planted in a row
Zinnias - Photo by dmp2024

Some that I typically grow each year from seed are zinnias, the tall African marigolds, cosmos, bachelor buttons, calendulas, nasturtiums, and some sunflowers. Cool weather calendulas and bachelor buttons can be sown now but wait until later in the month to plant the rest. A number of cutting annuals will self-seed if blossoms are allowed to mature and the beds are not heavily mulched. Some that spring up for me include ageratums, verbena, ammi, nigella, and wheat celosia. If you have some known self-seeders, wait a bit longer to prepare or till beds to see what sprouts.

Those best purchased as transplants include rudbeckia, snapdragons, cleome, stock, strawflowers, globe amaranth, tithonia, asters and amaranth. Some might have tiny seeds or be slower to germinate or just need a longer time until they produce flowers so starting with transplants may be a good option.

Two annual bulbs that are great for cutting are gladioli and dahlias. A few glad corms can be planted every other week until about mid-June to provide a summer full of spiky, colorful blooms. Dahlia tubers planted mid-May generally start producing blooms by late July but continue until a heavy frost.

There really are quite a few potential cut flower candidates to choose from. Feel free to select whatever colors and flower forms appeal to you most. From a designer’s viewpoint, consider what colors would be most compatible with where you want to place arrangements indoors. Also, whether making more formal arrangements or informal bouquets, flower shape plays a prominent role. Often the most attractive arrangements are filled with an assortment of shapes featuring a focal flower, spiky exclamation points, mounded shapes to hold the arrangement together, greenery for filling spaces and delicate airy springs to lighten the mood. I find mints, artemisia, and ferns make good fillers while grasses, kalimeris, boltonia, and white wood asters provide an airy touch.

The majority of annual flowers do fine at about a 9 by 9 inch spacing so you can pack them in pretty close. Do note that for copious blooms, a fertile soil and adequate water are essential. Maintenance also includes dead-heading, or removal of spent flowers to encourage the production of more blooms. Keep an eye out for plant pests as well.

Even beginning gardeners can set aside some space to grow beautiful flowers for enjoyment indoors. Try out a few this year, make notes on their performance and change up the plant rooster as they gain your approval or not.

For cultural information on growing various species of cut flowers or on other gardening topics, feel free to contact us, toll-free, at the UConn Home & Garden Education Center at (877) 486-6271, visit our website at www.homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu or contact your local Cooperative Extension center.

 

 

 

Gardening for Climate Change with Connecticut Public

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Connecticut Public: Where We Live - 4/26/2024
This year, we're gardening with climate change in mind

Dawn Pettinelli from the UConn Soil Nutrient Analysis Lab & Home and Garden Education Center joins Catherine Shen & Charlie Nardozzi on Connecticut Public to discuss ecological gardening and strategies for gardening for the environment.

Start Now For a Rosy Summer

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By Dawn Pettinelli, UConn Home & Garden Education Center

A rose shrub in full bloom
Proper care of your roses will give you lots of blooms. Photo by dmp2024

The warmer days of spring will soon be upon us and it is time to think about spring rose care. Any winter protection such as mounded soil, mulch, leaves or rose cones that were placed around grafted bushes should be removed. Release any stems that were tied for winter protection. Fertilize your plants when new growth sprouts with a complete fertilizer such as 5-10-10 or and natural organic equivalent at the rate recommended by a soil test or follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the package. Generally, the fertilizer is sprinkled around the base of the plant and gently worked into the top of the soil.

Repeat blooming roses are heavy feeders and ideally should be fertilized monthly through July. Stop fertilizing at this time as later fertilizations may result in tender new growth late in the season that may not have time to harden off properly. Roses that bloom only once in June are usually only fertilized once in the spring. These include many ramblers and climbers, species roses and antique varieties. Rose books often recommend a dose of Epsom salts for each rose to supply magnesium. If you use a dolomitic limestone to modify the soil pH, however, the plants will most likely have enough magnesium available to them and additional magnesium will not improve growth or branching. Note that according to the American Rose Society, roses prefer slightly acidic soil so strive for a pH between 6.0 and 6.5..

climbing hybrid tea rose ‘Climbing Tangerine.’
This climbing hybrid tea rose is called ‘Climbing Tangerine.’ Photo by dmp2024

Most types of roses benefit from a spring pruning with the exception of climbing roses which are generally pruned immediately following flowering. Roses are pruned to improve their appearance, to remove diseased or dead wood and to increase the quantity and quality of flowers.

Polyanthas, floribundas and shrub roses do not require much pruning. Any canes that are damaged or broken should be removed as well as canes that are rubbing together. If just the tip of the stem is winter killed, cut back to sound wood just above a healthy bud. Rose bushes that are really overgrown can have about one-third of their canes removed from the base.

Hybrid teas and grandifloras usually require more severe pruning. After eliminating all dead and damaged wood, cut back to 18 to 24 inches. Make your pruning cuts at a slant slightly above a bud, preferably one oriented away from the center of the plant.

If your roses are grafted, it is also important to remove any suckers arising from the rootstock.

Spring is a great time to add a few more roses to your garden. Roses are soil either bare-root or as container plants. Those sold in containers can be planted either in partial leaf or full leaf. Mail ordered bare-root stock, however, should be planted when it is still dormant. It is best to plant bare-root roses as soon as you get them. If planting has to be delayed for a day or two, remoisten the packing material and store in a cool, shady location. When it is time to plant bare-root stock, unpack the plant and place the roots in warm water for an hour or two. Cut off any dead or injured parts and plant immediately after soaking.

Roses require a minimum of 6 hours of sun each day for maximum bloom. An area with good air circulation will cut down on disease problems. Soil type is not as important as drainage. Roses will not tolerate wet feet.

When planting grafted plants, set the bud union, which is the point where a rose cultivar is grafted to the root stock, about one inch below the soil level. Roses require about one inch of water per week. If at all possible do not get the leaves wet when watering as this promotes the spread of diseases such as black spot.

Roses benefit from the application of an organic mulch like shredded bark, pine needles or cocoa bean hulls. Mulches not only keep weeds down but help conserve moisture. If you have any questions on roses or other gardening topics, contact the UConn Home & Garden Education at (877) 486-6271 or www.homegarden.cahnr,uconn.edu or your local Cooperative Extension Center.

Spring Gardening & Houseplants on CRIS Radio

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CRIS Radio: Focal Point 3/22/2024

Heather Zidack from the UConn Home & Garden Education Center talks to host, Stephen Thal, about spring gardening, UConn services, and houseplants.

Transcript

00:00:00 Stephen Thal 

Hi, welcome to another segment on Focal point. This is Stephen Thal and I'm going to be your host for today's program. 

00:00:09 Stephen Thal 

But before we get into it, I just want to remind if any of our listeners have any suggestions for future programming. Please call CRIS Radio at 860-527-8000 and leave your suggestions here and they'll pass them on to me and we'll try to get them for future programs. 

00:00:28 Stephen Thal 

So today we're going to be getting some great information on horticulture plants that have done a lot for people and here to help us out is Heather Zidack and she's the horticulture consultant for the UConn Program at the University of Connecticut and it's the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture. So welcome, Heather. 

00:01:03 Heather Zidack 

Thank you so much for having me today. 

00:01:06 Stephen Thal 

Yeah. Today I'm going to learn as much as most of our listeners cause this is a program I used to use many years ago when I had a garden, but it's been so long, I'm sure there's been a lot of new changes going on right now. 

00:01:20 Heather Zidack 

Yeah, there's been a lot of new trends in gardening and the Home and Garden Education Center here at UConn has done a lot to help Connecticut gardeners with all sorts of problems that they've had, you know, plant identification, bug identification and also just we get pictures of plants all the time that say what's going on to help people kind of troubleshoot their issues as well as a lot of the things that we put out to help gardeners. 

00:01:45 Heather Zidack 

So. Everybody in our office loves gardening and we're here to help. 

00:01:50 Stephen Thal 

Yeah, that's great. It sounds like we're going through one of the health programs to viral. 

00:01:55 Heather Zidack 

Yeah. Yeah. We really enjoy what we do here and there's a few of us in the office. We work with the UConn Soil Lab, the UConn Plant Diagnostic lab and the extension program with Master Gardeners. So we have all the - all the resources to help people figure out what they want for plants if they're trying to figure out finding the right plant for them and also what to do once they have them. So I think it will be a good thing to talk about today what we like about gardening. 

00:02:24 Stephen Thal 

Ok. Because I think that you're making plants sound like people with the individual personalities.

00:02:31 Heather Zidack 

Sometimes they are a lot of times people you know, they say gardening has so many benefits. They say plants are the new pets, right? That's one of the things that I've been hearing. And with that it's something that a lot of people have found to be very beneficial though. 

00:02:46 Heather Zidack 

Through there's actually programs of horticultural therapy out there. They found that it improved physical and mental health. It can reduce stress, improve your mood, it can even help with blood pressure and muscle tension. Not to mention it's great exercise to be outside with your plants. 

00:03:02 Stephen Thal 

And I'm sure the same is similar somewhat with plants inside the home. 

00:03:07 Heather Zidack 

Absolutely. People that have plants inside their home. Found benefits of, you know, cleaning air quality and things like that, but also it's great to just have your plants there, a lot of people, myself included talk to their plants every Sunday when they water or whatever it is and it's just nice to have a little bit of green especially in these cold winter months. 

00:03:29 Stephen Thal 

Oh yeah, and I'm sure by doing that you end up benefiting in the long run. 

00:03:34 Heather Zidack 

Absolutely, it's a great thing to have. You know, if sometimes it is kind of like having someone to talk to. As silly as that is, we have a plant here in the office. Named Harry and it's a Fern. And we take care of it all the time. And we're always seeing how he's doing and if he's gotten any bigger, it is kind of like having a pet. 

00:03:54 Stephen Thal 

Well, let's learn a little bit about the home and garden program, the Education Center. 

00:03:58 Heather Zidack 

Yeah. So at the at the home and Garden Education Center, one of the big things that we do is not only answer questions with horticultural advice, but we also do kind of put out fact sheets. We have a blog, we have social media where people can learn tips and tricks throughout the week about gardening. 

00:04:18 Heather Zidack 

And with all of the questions that we've had come in, I thought it would be a great chance for me to share with you some of the common questions we're getting right now, especially about house plants.

00:04:29 Stephen Thal 

OK.

00:04:37 Heather Zidack 

So one of the first questions that that comes along at this time of year is common signs of stress and what to do? 

00:04:38 Heather Zidack 

So sometimes at this point in the year, your plants not looking so well maybe and I've done this before, you've forgotten to water it for a couple of weeks over the winter or even over the summer. And the initial response is to love it and give it more water and give it attention. And when we start to baby them sometimes we can actually over water. And then it doesn't look like it's getting better because what often happens is plants can only communicate in one way, and that way is through wilting. So when it wilts, it could be that it needs more water, or it could be that it's getting too much water. So the best way to learn which one it is is to know the species of your plant. And you also need to take a look at the soil itself and feel it if it feels like it's too wet. If it feels like something, you wouldn't want to stick your hand in. It's probably too wet for the plant, and so that's some ways that you can kind of work through that issue. And try to make sure that you're not over watering, especially when something's dried out for too long. 

00:05:43 Stephen Thal 

So in terms of the soil lab, when do you send the soil up to you people to evaluate? 

00:05:50 Heather Zidack 

So our soil lab, they take samples for a lot of outdoor things instead of the house plants. But the best time to do it is either in the spring or in fall. If you do it in the fall. Sometimes there can be a little bit quicker of a turn around time because it's not on as many people's minds. 

00:06:06 Heather Zidack 

So that's the pro tip right there. If you send it in now, you do get a response and they give you all sorts of information about nutrition as well as how much you might need to put onto the soil to help it get back to that optimal level. So it's a good way to find out what you need and what you have. 

00:06:25 Stephen Thal 

We'll be giving the address and everything towards the end of the program as to where they can send it. 

00:06:30 Heather Zidack 

Yes, I can do that absolutely. 

00:06:32 Stephen Thal 

How do you do plant diagnostics? 

00:06:35 Heather Zidack 

So plant diagnostics is a is a fascinating thing that not everybody knows that we have here the way that it really works out well is people send in their plant samples. And sometimes something will look sick or it will be caused by something other than the environment. And it's hard for us to see that with our eyes. And sometimes we need to send in that sample to see what it is going on inside the plant. So our plant diagnostic lab does all sorts of microscope work. They do a lot of chemical tests and strip tests for different diseases of the plants, and they also they know what to look for with symptoms and location and are able to advise. Kind of. The next steps to take if you do have something that's diseased, we help out both commercially and homeowners themselves to learn what's going on with the tree, what's going on with the shrub, what's going on with crops that are being grown, and how to how to manage them. So it's a really cool thing that we have here as well and I can give you their contact information too. 

00:07:42 Stephen Thal 

How about the UConn extension Master Gardeners program? 

00:07:47 Heather Zidack 

Yeah. The UConn Master Gardener program is also a really good resource. One of the benefits that they have is that there is an extension office in every county of Connecticut and you're able to connect with a master gardener. They are a group of individuals who every year there's a new class. They go through a training program and learn how to become a master gardener. And they learn a lot of the things that we talk about here in home and garden as well, where it's soil conditions and plant selection and how plants grow. They learn all of those different things. 

00:08:26 Heather Zidack 

And they actually work with the public to help them understand them as well as part of a community outreach project that they each have to do. So it's a great program for people in Connecticut to either, if they love gardening, to pursue it further and get that master gardening title for themselves. Or to go to as a resource. And like I said, it's great that there's one in every county in the state. 

00:08:52 Stephen Thal 

Well, that's good. So how do you find their number? 

00:08:56 Heather Zidack 

So they actually go through UConn Extension Master gardener. You can find their website and you can find it through that or I can give you their number as well. 

00:09:08 Stephen Thal

Ok. Why don't we take a break and let's give out some of the phone numbers for these programs we just talked about?

00:09:15 Heather Zidack 

Fantastic. 

00:09:16 Stephen Thal 

OK, so the first program would be soil samples. 

00:09:21 Heather Zidack 

Yes. So our soil lab can be reached at 860-486-4274, 860-486-4274. That's for the soil nutrient analysis laboratory. 

00:09:40 Stephen Thal 

Right. And how about the plant diagnostics lab? 

00:09:44 Heather Zidack 

So the plant diagnostics lab works with our office as well, and you can call for plant diagnostics or for the Home and Garden Education Center at 860-486-6271, 860-486-6271. 

00:10:05 Stephen Thal 

And how about the UConn extension and master gardener? 

00:10:09 Heather Zidack 

The Master Gardener program can be reached at 860-486-7178. Again, that's 860-486-7178. 

00:10:23 Stephen Thal 

So there you have some phone numbers to call and educate yourself. How to help make your plants stay healthy and to really give you some benefits. I know my wife has found some plants in in the garbage and she's taken them and replenished them. And then now growing great. 

00:10:44 Heather Zidack 

Yeah, a lot of people are able to revive plants after they've they've taken a little bit of a hit. It's amazing how forgiving plants can be. Sometimes we see them and they haven't been watered for too long or they're they've been in the wrong condition and it's just a matter of taking care of something. And again, that leads into one of the benefits where there's a sense of pride of I brought this back. Or I've really accomplished something with what I've done, sorry. 

00:11:12 Stephen Thal 

Now with plants, I'm just curious, do you have to have good vision to have a plant so you know it's getting in bad shape? 

00:11:20 Heather Zidack 

Not necessarily. There are a lot of things that you can learn through feel when you're working with plants. Sometimes if you feel the leaves especially. If you're feeling if you have succulents, for example, there are very popular house plant that people will have on windowsills and in their offices and things like that. And with succulents you can actually tell if they need water by the feel of the leaf. If you pinch a succulent leaf and feel the leaf between your fingers. It's actually, it should feel firm and a little bit smooth to the touch. 

00:11:58 Heather Zidack 

If it needs water. They get a little bit squishy and a little bit rubbery, and so that's how, you know, maybe it needs some water. At this point. The other thing that you can do is you can feel the soil to tell if something needs water or not. The other thing that you can do to assess health of a plant is feel the leaves of themselves and if there's ever a crunch, you know that's a bad sign and that there's something going on. Either disease or possibly just watering. And you also can tell the differences you're feeling. If there's been any issues with like chewing marks you can feel a lot of times. Insects will leave a sticky residue so you can tell what's there. So there's a lot of senses other than vision that are involved when it comes to looking at your plants and their health. 

00:12:45 Stephen Thal 

Yeah, that's good to know. Because uh, some of our people may not be able to see the plants, but they really enjoy having them around in the house. 

00:12:56 Heather Zidack 

Absolutely. It's one of those things that the plants are multi sensory and so we're able to kind of understand them through more than just vision. 

00:13:06 Stephen Thal

And you mentioned the word succulent. What are some examples of succulent plants?

00:13:12 Heather Zidack 

So a succulent plant is kind of an overarching group. They are all of the ones that love to be in dry conditions a lot of times they are. They are not cactuses but they end up being lumped into that group where they like those drier conditions. They tend to be the ones that look like little rosettes. Or little mounds on the soil that will grow from there. They're very I. I talked about the rubbery texture. They some of them almost don't seem real when you feel or see them because they have this this very strange look to them. So they're a very popular plant because they're so easy to take care of and they're also very unique in their appearance. 

00:13:57 Stephen Thal 

This is Stephen Thal and another focal point program and we're interviewing Heather Zidack and she's from the UConn Extension program and we're learning about what that program is all about. There are several programs and we've shared some phone numbers earlier and she's educating us on more and more and how we. And be with the plants, enjoy them and have fun with them. What are some of the other benefits of the plants? 

00:14:30 Heather Zidack 

So another great thing with having your plants is like I said, that sense of pride and accomplishment and what you've done or what you've been growing and producing. So it's something that it gets you outside. If you have an outdoor garden or even if you're inside it has you proud of what you've accomplished, some people grow vegetable gardens. And they are so proud of all the produce that they grow and what they're able to do with that. So there is a sense of pride and joy that comes with gardening. There is exercise benefits, there's all sorts of great things that come with working with plants and being part of that. You're connecting with nature. So it's always a great thing to be able to connect back to nature. 

00:15:14 Stephen Thal 

And also they have found that it helps people reduce stress. 

00:15:19 Heather Zidack 

Yes it can. It can reduce stress. It can reduce blood pressure. It can help with your pulse and help bringing your heart rate down and muscle tension. It's a great way to take a break from everything else you know, being even from personal experience, when I'm able to go out into my own garden or transplant my house plants or plant my seedlings, it's a break from everything else that's going on. We get very busy with our lives and being able to take that break and go garden. 

00:15:53 Heather Zidack 

Or go, you know, take 5 minutes to just take a breath and trim some plants. It's a great way to de-stress. 

00:16:02 Stephen Thal 

In terms of fertilizers, how do you know which one to use for different plants? 

00:16:10 Heather Zidack 

Usually picking a fertilizer can be a little tricky. You have to know what species of plant that you're working with, and then you're able to figure out from there. And that's something that we would be able to help with for sure. 

00:16:23 Heather Zidack 

In general terms, plants need three big things to be able to grow. They need nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. And so when you're looking at fertilizers, a lot of times you'll see that there are three numbers there and they're always like in increments of five or ten, like it says 5-5-5, 10-10-10, 20-10-20 those are all ratios and a balance of those three main nutrients. Your first number is nitrogen and then phosphorus and then potassium. And in general terms of balanced fertilizer is always the best way to go. 

00:17:01 Heather Zidack 

Those different elements can encourage flowering versus root growth versus leaf growth. But when you're trying to take care of the plants that you have, that balanced fertilizer makes sure that you're getting enough fertilizer and enough nutrients to the plant in a balanced way. 

00:17:21 Heather Zidack 

Our clients that go through our soil lab, they get specific recommendations based on what they have for soil and what they're looking to grow. 

00:17:31 Stephen Thal 

Let's take a look at some of the common questions you get from your constituents. So what are some of the common signs of stress and what to do? 

00:17:41 Heather Zidack 

Yeah. So with stress, with plants, it's one of those things where like I said they have-They only have one way to communicate, and that's through wilting. They can change color as well, but wilting is really that big flag of communication and so they can wilt if they're overwatered, they can wilt If they're underwatered. They will also change colors at times and so that makes it difficult for us sometimes to know what's going on. 

00:18:09 Heather Zidack 

When you're looking at stress, if you have a plant that is wilting, or if you have a plant that is feeling spongy like I had mentioned before, it doesn't feel like it's firm. And the way that it should be, the first thing you want to look at is watering, so make sure that you have enough water in the soil. It's not too dry, it's not too wet. That's a good thing to start with. Additionally, you can start looking at the conditions around it. So one of the things is sometimes you. 

00:18:40 Heather Zidack 

Look at it and you think would I be happy sitting in this spot? So is it getting enough light? Is it getting a draft from the window near it because it's getting a little bit colder than it should be. A lot of house plants that we have come from tropical regions and so they want to be warm. They want to be they want to have a little bit of humidity and they want to have the right amount of water so. Taking a look at them and saying is this the spot for this plant is a way to kind of look at the stress and manage it. 

00:19:13 Stephen Thal 

What are some of the other questions that people are asking in terms of the plant itself? 

00:19:19 Heather Zidack 

Another question that we get a lot of the time is the question of “is it dead?” We get pictures of plants and people are worried that they have killed their house, plant or even sometimes plants outside. And one of the things with plants that you need to be aware of is that some of them can go through a process called dormancy. It's a lot like hibernating in the winter, and when they go through dormancy. You notice this with trees outside. They drop their leaves, they get kind of gray looking. They don't look like there's a lot of life in them. And so in that dormant state, one of the ways that we can see if they still have life in them is to go ahead and scratch the surface of the stem. 

00:20:07 Heather Zidack 

And if you are able to see it, you'll see that there's some green or whitish tissue in there, and that that means that there's life in the stem. Still, if you struggle to see it, you should feel a difference and that it will catch on your fingernail instead of just being a dry break. And so if you feel that where it's catching. Then it's actually there is some life there and it means that it's going to come back from dormancy now, that's where things with woody stems. If there's plants that are dying back all the way to the ground, it's really hard to tell. Is it dormant or is it not? And a lot of times, we recommend just giving it time.  

00:20:46 Heather Zidack 

Sometimes plants nap a little bit longer than others, and so it's really important to give them their time to make sure that they've come out of dormancy. This goes for both house plants as well as plants in the ground. There are some perennials here in Connecticut that don't even start waking up until after Memorial Day in May and so give it time. Have a little patience. There might be some life there. It's just a matter of waiting for it to come back. 

00:21:14 Stephen Thal 

I think another question is do you have recommendations of house plants? 

00:21:18 Heather Zidack 

Yeah, another. That's another question that we get a lot and it's different recommendations of what to grow for varieties. And so I actually have a list here for you of house plants that have varieties and texture, scent, color and movement because who wants to have just green plants around, right? We have so much selection now in the plant world that it's really awesome that we can bring some interest into our plants. One of the first ones that I always love to recommend is it's called a prayer plant or a calathea. What they do is they will either curl their leaves or bend them up and down depending on what time of day it is. So. 

00:22:02 Heather Zidack 

It adds a little movement. They tend to have a lot of bright colors to them. My personal favorite is called rattlesnake calathea. And it has some really big spots on it. Purple underside to the leaf, and it'll actually fold its leaves straight up in the air at night, and then during the day those leaves will come down to get the sunlight. So it's really cool to add some movement. Another thing that people like to do is they have some scent in their house plants, so adding scented geraniums, those are a type of geranium. 

00:22:39 Heather Zidack 

It's related to the ones that we see all year in the summer. However, it's different in its flower and also in its scent. When you touch it and move the leaves you get a really nice scent out of them. Some are peppermint, they have apple, they have lemon, they have all sorts of different geranium scents, so if you start looking for scented geraniums, that's a really cool way to add some fragrance into your house plant garden. Another really good plant to have is the sensitive plant. It's as its name says, it's a little sensitive and that whenever you touch it, it will recoil and those leaves will drop right down. And it takes maybe 10-15 minutes for them to recover and open, back up and then they will do it again. 

00:23:28 Heather Zidack 

The sensitive plant is a really cool thing that I used when I was working in the garden center. We would use it in fairy gardens and children absolutely loved to be able to touch it and have it actually move. It brought more life to that little garden that they created. Another one is called the Chenille plant. 

00:23:48 Heather Zidack 

Where it has fuzzy fuzzy flowers, they feel like little rabbit feet and they are bright red so you can grow it as a hanging basket. You can grow it in a little pot as a house plant where you can put it outside during the summer. So it's a really versatile plant that adds some texture and brightness and like I said, they're very fuzzy. It's one of the wildest ones that I've seen. There's another called a Tricolor Stromanthe that is green, cream, and pink and the leaves have different colors all year long. So it's another nice way to get away from just green house plants. And then lastly, the other one that is a good conversation starter at the very least. 

00:24:29 Heather Zidack 

Is the carnivorous plants or the cacti that can add interest and they can add texture and it's just like I said, a conversation piece of “Wow, what is that?” And it's a Venus Flytrap that will close up when touched by flies. Or there are some pitcher plants out there that also attract insects that are carnivorous as well. So it's just a cool way to add something to your collection that's not just green and it adds texture and scents and really involves all the. 

00:25:00 Stephen Thal 

And we have a few minutes left in our program and I was wondering if you could make suggestions on where people can buy plants and how they can tell they're making sure they're getting a good plant without disease, without flies or whatever else. 

00:25:14 Heather Zidack 

Yeah. 

00:25:17 Heather Zidack 

Yeah. So we always recommend shopping local when possible. And so there are independent garden centers in the state that offer a wide selection of plants. However, there's also a lot of hardware stores and box stores that you can get good material at as well. 

00:25:35 Heather Zidack 

When you're looking for your plants, it's the plant itself that you want to make sure it's healthy, more so than where you're shopping. So taking a look, feeling that soil, like I said, if it's bone dry, chances are it hasn't been watered in a minute. And maybe that could affect the plant itself. 

00:25:55 Heather Zidack 

Use some of those senses that I've talked about previously where you're feeling the leaves and feeling for some crunch. Or really if they're succulents, getting a feel of that leaf to make sure that you're aware of what it feels like. Some people will bring home plants to rescue. But if you want a nice lush plant, start with that. Don't look at something and feel like oh man, this is a little bit rough and I could save it if you want to start strong, start with a plant that is healthy. There's no spots, there's no tears. 

00:26:27 Heather Zidack 

If you feel any chew marks, if you're able to see the roots, sometimes you see roots growing out of the pot. Check that they're not black and mushy. Make sure that they're white and firm. 

00:26:41 Heather Zidack 

And really, most plants from from garden centers are going to be in pretty good shape and they'll thrive with care. So really it's about the plant and make sure it's healthy when you start and then just do your best to take care of it once you get it home. 

00:26:56 Stephen Thal 

And I noticed that there are a couple of areas that we didn't mention quickly, like herbs are good to do. 

00:27:02 Heather Zidack 

Yes, yeah, herbs are great. 

00:27:06 Heather Zidack 

If you're doing, especially if you're doing a container garden or raised bed gardens, herbs are really great to mix with your flowers. The nice thing is that herbs will add a little bit of scent and use. You can actually harvest them and use them in your cooking in addition to the container plants that you have. So we recommend that with a lot of outdoor containers, more so than indoor. However, if you're growing herbs indoor, just grow them separately from your other house plants. 

00:27:37 Stephen Thal 

And also the sunlight is important too, because some plants don't like sunlight all the time. Some do. 

00:27:44 Heather Zidack 

Right. Yes. So sunlight is one that can be tricky too, and I explained that if you think about if you've had a cat and you understand how cats behave, plants can kind of feel the same way. So anything that requires direct sun or full sun. 

00:28:00 Heather Zidack 

If you think about a cat laying in the sun on a on a nice warm day and it's right in the window where it can get that sun. That's what direct sun is. It has to be in contact with the leaves for six hours a day or more. If anything asks for indirect sun, that means that the sunlight doesn't directly contact the leaves but it likes to be able to be somewhere that it can see that light for six hours or so a day. That's kind of like your cat that sits near the window and watches, but maybe that spot in the direct sun is a little too warm for him. So he shifts over a little bit. 

00:28:37 Heather Zidack 

And then you have shade and with shade. The sun does not make contact with the leaves at all. That's kind of your cat that's going to hang out on the couch and doesn't care too much about being near the window at all. So that's a really good way to remember direct sun, indirect sun and shade is kind of where does that cat like to hang out? 

00:28:56 Heather Zidack 

It's kind of funny, but it works. 

00:28:58 Stephen Thal

Do you have any final recommendations for our listeners?

00:29:02 Heather Zidack 

My biggest recommendation is to just get out there and garden. You know, we talked today about some of the best benefits of gardening and working with plants. And don't be afraid. It's one of those things that's really great to do. And don't say I don't have a green thumb. You can do it. You just need to maybe get a little bit of advice and we can offer that here at the garden Home and Garden Education Center, but maybe you just need to do it and say I did it, so get out there and garden. 

00:29:35 Stephen Thal

Heather, why don't you leave your phone number in case people want to talk to you directly.

00:29:41 Heather Zidack 

Yeah. So I can be reached at the Home and Garden Education Center and my number here is 860-486-6271, 860-486-6271. 

00:29:57 Stephen Thal 

It has been very interesting. We've given out a lot of information and we hope that our listeners will take you up on it, call you and if they need more information. Ohh. One other thing I forgot to ask, is there a cost involved for the soil samples and all this sort of thing? 

00:30:14 Heather Zidack 

So for soil samples there is a cost. 

00:30:17 Heather Zidack 

For our plant diagnostic lab, if a sample needs to be submitted, there is a cost. However, working with the UConn and home and Garden Education Center, our advice is free and we will also if you if clients e-mail us pictures, we can kind of take a look and get the ball rolling and sometimes we can we can make a determination from a picture, so advice that comes out of the office that I'm in is free. 

00:30:41 Stephen Thal

We appreciate your coming on and we'd love to get you back in the fall. So give us a call, call me like in August.

00:30:49 Heather Zidack 

Yeah. Thank you for having me. 

00:30:50 Stephen Thal 

And let's see if we can get you back in, whether you come in September or October, you let me know and we'll work it out with the studio in terms of, yeah, having you get involved. 

00:31:00 Heather Zidack 

That would be great. Thank you for having me. 

00:31:02 Stephen Thal 

Yeah, it's a pleasure. You know, we try to cover a wide range of things for our listeners and we know that some of our programs really move the people forward and get some things done that they like. 

00:31:14 Heather Zidack 

That's fantastic. Yeah. 

00:31:16 Stephen Thal 

So we want to thank you. This is Stephen Thall with another segment on focal point. We want to thank everyone for allowing us into your homes. Couple of last minute comments first. 

00:31:25 Stephen Thal 

Please wear your sunglasses and a hat during these days when you're outside with the sun because it's protects your eyes and the second thing is develop an emergency plan at home and practice it. And when you're traveling, make sure that you go to places where there's at least two exits. So in case one is blocked, you can get out the other door. 

00:31:48 Stephen Thal 

So again, thank you all for listening. Stay safe, stay healthy.