How to Care for Flowers in Summer - Part 3
You may not be aware of the common knowledge of flower care. Let's take a look at how to care for flowers in summer together.
It is generally believed that pruning flowers is best done in the late autumn, but in fact, proper pruning during the summer is also necessary to ensure the safe growth of plants. Many flowers tend to grow excessively in the summer, which can affect blooming and fruiting. To maintain a beautiful shape, abundant flowers, and large fruits, pruning and shaping are needed. Summer pruning usually involves measures such as pinching the growing tip, removing suckers, removing leaves, thinning buds, and thinning fruits.
(1) Pinching some herbaceous flowers, such as bedding begonias, fuchsia, scarlet sage, chrysanthemums, Dutch aster, and early chrysanthemums, should have their tops pinched when they reach a certain height to promote branching and more blooms. Some woody flowers, such as kumquat, should also have their branches pinched when they grow to about 15-20 centimeters to promote more fruiting.
(2) Removing suckers many flowers tend to produce suckers from the base of the stem or branches in summer, which should be removed promptly to avoid consuming nutrients and disrupting the plant shape.
(3) Removing leaves some ornamental leaf plants should have old leaves removed to promote new leaf growth, which will make the leaf color more beautiful.
(4) Thinning buds and fruits for flowers that are mainly ornamental, such as dahlias, chrysanthemums, and roses, excessive buds should be removed promptly. For fruiting ornamental plants, such as kumquat, pomegranate, and fingered citron, excess young fruits should be removed when they are the size of soybeans. For flowers that do not produce seeds or are not intended for seed collection, the spent flowers should be removed after flowering.
(5) Shaping for flowers such as poinsettia, plum, peach, and thorny rose, the side branches are often bent and shaped in the summer to make the plant shape full and beautiful.
Comprehensive disease and pest control the high temperature and humidity in summer are favorable for the occurrence of diseases and pests in large numbers. The principle of "prevention first, comprehensive control" should be implemented, and the spirit of "treating early, treating small, treating completely" should be adhered to, to ensure the healthy growth of flowers.
(1) Common diseases in summer include powdery mildew, (T-J) disease, gray mold, leaf spot, nematode disease, and bacterial soft rot. Powdery mildew mainly affects flowers such as roses, plums, peonies, chrysanthemums, dahlias, begonias, and fuchsia. The affected plants become stunted, the young shoots are curved, the leaves are uneven or wrinkled, and a layer of white powder with many small black dots appears on the young buds, leaves, shoots, and flower buds. Severe cases can lead to leaf wilt and even plant death. (T-J) disease mainly affects orchids, white orchids, michelia, plums, rubber trees, and cacti.
Most flowers, after being infected by pathogens, show round spots on the leaves with purple-brown or dark-brown edges and light-brown or gray-white centers, with small black dots arranged in a ring pattern on the spots. Severe cases can lead to leaf death. Gray mold mainly affects peonies, herbaceous peonies, cyclamen, begonias, and fuchsia. The affected parts of leaves, stems, and flowers show brown or purple-brown rot, and gray moldy growth appears on the lesions when the weather is humid, which can lead to the death of the entire plant.
To prevent and treat the above diseases, the following methods can be used:
① Remove all dead branches and leaves in early spring and promptly cut off diseased branches, leaves, and buds for centralized disposal to reduce the source of pathogens;
② Strengthen cultivation management, fertilize and water reasonably, ensure good ventilation and lighting, and make the plants grow strong to enhance disease resistance;
③ Spray 50% carbendazim or 50% thiram 500-800 times solution at the early stage of the disease.
(2) Common pests in summer include two types: those with piercing-sucking mouthparts and those with chewing mouthparts. The former mainly includes aphids, red spiders, whiteflies, and scale insects. These pests often gather on leaves, tender stems, flower buds, and branches, piercing the plant with their needle-like mouthparts to absorb sap, causing leaves to turn yellow, curl, and eventually fall off. Control methods include spraying 50% dichlorvos emulsion at a concentration of 1000-1500 times. This pesticide can cause damage to plants such as plum, cherry, azalea, and ulmus, so these plants should not be treated with it. The latter mainly includes caterpillars, butterfly larvae, various beetles, and underground pests. These pests eat leaves and damage roots, causing the plant to wilt and die. Control methods include spraying 50% dichlorvos emulsion at a concentration of 1000-1500 times, or pouring 500-800 times solution around the roots. Due to the high temperature in summer, pesticides are easily volatilized, and the body's perspiration function is enhanced, increasing skin absorption, which can lead to poisoning. Therefore, when applying pesticides in summer, it is best to move the potted plants outdoors and apply the pesticides in the morning or evening.
The above is the full content of how to care for flowers in summer - part 3, hoping it is helpful to green plant enthusiasts!