Question: We recently planted a citrus tree that has new growth and lots of flowers. How should we fertilize the tree and with what product?

Answer: Keep your tree growing with frequent, light feedings with a citrus fertilizer found at garden centers. Feed for the first time four to six weeks after planting with a half-pound of the fertilizer scattered over the surface of the soil. Then begin feedings every six to eight weeks, gradually increasing the amount of fertilizer up to one pound.

Continue the feedings each year March through October for the first three years. Then begin maintenance feedings of once monthly in March, May, August and early October.

Now here comes the hard part. Even though the tree is full of great blooms and you would like some early fruits, it’s best to remove all citrus that form for the first few years. The rewards for delaying fruit production are going to be a bigger tree with better crops.

Help for recovering hibiscus

Q: Our hibiscus plant got nipped by the late-winter frost, but the stems are starting to sprout buds. Does it need special attention? Will I get flowers this year?

A: Luckily winter is over, and most plants have had minimal damage. Your hibiscus should recover and have blooms by summer if you don’t do a thing. But now would be a good time to reshape the plants and maybe remove any of the severely affected stems.

Many gardeners like to trim off the ends of the stems, thin the plants and remove old or declining stems to stimulate new shoots and lots of blooms. Don’t forget to moisten the soil and provide a light feeding when the plants show stress.

Halt a Bermuda-grass invasion

Q: Several large patches of Bermuda grass have developed in my St. Augustine lawn. What is the best way to eliminate this weedy grass and restore the lawn?

A: Some gardeners have decided Bermuda grass makes a good lawn and have simply given in to its St. Augustine-invading ways. A mixed lawn is certainly not the look many residents like, but Bermuda is difficult to eliminate from the yard — and after all, it is green.

If you don’t want to allow this weedy pest to have its way, get ready to do battle for a month or more. Control starts by killing all existing grass in the affected area with Roundup, Finale or a similar nonselective weed-control product that allows replanting. As the grassy weeds decline, remove the debris and till the ground.

Next, keep the soil moist and wait about two weeks for any regrowth of the Bermuda and again spray the green sprigs with the herbicide. When this declines, loosen the soil once more, and you are ready to sod.

Regretfully, all this work does not guarantee a Bermuda grass-free site. Stay alert to regrowth of residual Bermuda plus sprigs that might arrive with the sod and remove them immediately.

In a funk over fuchsia

Q: I purchase a fuchsia at a local garden center and would like to keep it growing. What should I do?

A: Maybe you and your plant would like a summerlong visit up North where the weather is mild and the humidity is much lower than in Florida. Perhaps you get the hint that fuchsia plants are not happy locally during the summer. The plants usually decline and finally rot during the hot summer weather.

If you are persistent and still want to try to keep the plant for another year, allow it to grow in a sunny location until the rainy season returns. Then move it to filtered sun where it’s less likely to receive daily rains. Water when the surface soil begins to feel dry, and feed once a month with a 20-20-20 or similar fertilizer solution.

Your plant is most likely going to be in a state of decline by fall, but it could recover when the cooler, drier weather returns.

Full scale attack

Q: Crotons growing in our yard have developed a black sooty coating on the leaves. What is the best way to eliminate the problem?

A: Hard-to-see, soft, scale insects love crotons and are responsible for all the black leaves too. Usually the scale is green to brown and lying flat against the undersides of the leaves. It often blends with the foliage but should be on the leaves just above the sooty mold-covered foliage. The sooty mold is a fungus that grows on the residue from these insects.

Control the scale insects and eliminate the sooty mold at the same time with a natural oil spray available from your local garden center. Do a good job of spraying the top and undersides of the leaves. Usually one application is all you need.

Tom MacCubbin is a retired urban horticulturist at the Orange County Cooperative Extension Service, a division of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida. Write to him at Orlando Sentinel, MP-240, P.O. Box 2833, Orlando, FL 32802. E-mail: TomMac1996@aol.com. Or blog with him at OrlandoSentinel.com/tomsdigs.

source : www.orlandosentinel.com