Melinda's Garden Moment Radio Tips
Melinda Myers
Nationally known gardening expert, TV/Radio host, author & columnist with over 30 years of horticulture experience and tons of gardening information to share! www.melindamyers.comMelinda's Garden Moment videos will help you create that beautiful landscape you’ve always wanted. Each week throughout the growing season, a new gardening video will be added right here, so be sure to stop back. You can also watch Melinda’s Garden Moments on your local network TV station affiliate.
Add a little oriental flare to the indoors with Ming aralias.
These elegant tropical plants prefer a bright warm location indoors. Keep the soil evenly moist, not wet, when the plants are actively growing. Cut back on watering in winter. Place with other plants or on a gravel tray to increase the humidity around the aralia. Feed actively growing plants with a dilute solution of any houseplant fertilizer.
And don’t worry if the plants begin shedding leaves. As new leaves form the plant often sheds its lower leaves, revealing the gnarly bark. This also happens when the indoor growing conditions change and the days grow shorter and light is less intense in fall and winter.
But do make sure you are watering properly and the plants are not subject to drafts of hot or cold air. Move to a better location and adjust watering if needed.
A bit more information: If leaf yellowing and drop continues, slide the plant out of the container. Remove any rotted roots and replant in a container one inch in diameter larger than the remaining rootball. Once the plants recover, pinch out the growing tip to encourage more branching.