Garden Maintenance — Page 3 — Organic Gardening Tips

Having trouble with my Gladiolas this year

I haven’t grown Gladiolas for a few years, but this spring when I saw packages of lovely coral and chartreuse colored corms I thought it was time to plant some Gladiolas in the garden again. Plus, it didn’t hurt that I’d had a few plants die off in the last few years so I had some small bare spots in my garden beds that would be suitable for some lovely Gladiolas.

The Gladiolas started growing in June and sometime in mid-July I noticed that the stalks were really growing, indicating that they were going to flower soon. Unfortunately, just before the first flower stalk began to flower it literally fell over. I’ve never had that happen with any of my Gladiolas before.

Slowly as my Gladiolas began to bloom the flower stalks started to fall over. I’d go over to my plants and try to stand them up again. I even put flower rings around my two clumps of Gladiolas in my garden beds to help them stand better but I’m still having problems.

I’d originally thought that it was the drought that we were going through in July that was causing the problems with the Gladiolas, but I picked a lovely blooming stalk toward the end of July for my husbands uncle and several earwigs fell off as I was carrying the stalk toward the house.

Now I’m starting to think that my Gladiolas might be infested with earwigs! I’ve seen a few earwigs on the Gladiolas since that time, but without giving the plants a good shake they could be hiding deep within the plants. I think it’s quite possible that they’re eating the stalk from the inside out and that’s why the stalks are falling over.

I’ve read on other gardening sites that the best way to control earwigs is to pick them off the plants and crush them and or to go out after dark armed with a flashlight and look at your plants and if you find a plant infested with lots of earwigs spray them with a mixture of soap and water. The soap (just a little dish soap) will kill the earwigs.

A few earwigs in the garden can be beneficial as they will eat pest bugs and garden debris, but if they begin to multiply they will literally destroy nice plants and become pests themselves.

Do you have an organic way to get rid of earwigs?

A small respite from the drought

by Tricia

We actually got a little bit of rain yesterday. I’m not sure how much rain in total we had, but it was the first really rain we had in more than three weeks here in Toronto.

I’ve been giving my garden extra deep waterings this week since it’s been so very hot. This past Thursday it got up to 38 Celsius and due to humidity it felt like 49 Celsius which was 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Crazy hot!

I guess I shouldn’t be wondering why some of my Gladiola stalks are crumpling in the middle and falling down. I think it’s from the sheer heat and the drought even though we’ve been trying to make sure our garden is getting enough water. I do think we’re watering enough as our grass still has some green to it compared to most of our neighbors. Not that we’re watering our lawn all that much – just a little sprinkle when we water the garden, but we’ve been doing it all along during the drought, so I guess that’s why we have some green still and most of our neighbors don’t.

Are you getting any rain in your area? Are you also getting extremely high temperatures? How are you surviving the heat and drought?

Hot and Humid in Toronto

by Tricia

We’re currently going through a heatwave and drought here in Toronto. Up until this morning it hadn’t rained for over three weeks and temperatures have been getting up to 36 Celsius (96.8 F) plus humidity making it feel like 43 Celsius (109.4) or higher.

It did rain just a little bit early this morning, but it was barely anything. We really need it to rain for at least half an hour a day for a week to make up for the lack of rain. Most of my neighbors lawns have gone dormant and the city is urging people to water their trees. Yes, it’s that dry!

I’m glad my garden is fairly well established with long term perennial plants. That doesn’t mean that they don’t need water, but they have well developed roots and since I don’t make a habit of watering them daily my plants are holding up well enough.

My front and backyard gardens have more than 50 rose plants. Some of the roses are ten and twelve feet tall and one is at least eight feet wide. So you can imagine how much water my garden needs. I also have lots of Hostas, flowering shrubs, lavender, Rudebeckia, Heuchera, Astilbe and many other plants. I actually planted in layers so that something is always blooming or growing in each spot. For example where tulips or hyacinths might come up in April or May perennial Salvia might grow through the summer and fall.

While this drought is going on we’re only watering our garden every three or four days, but when we water we water deeply. That is supposed to be the best way to water plants anyway as it helps to develop a good root system. If I notice that any of my plants are looking a little wilty after a particularly hot day and the rest of the garden looks ok I’ll just hand water it – along with my hanging baskets and potted plants – those all need to be watered daily or at least every second day in this heat.

How is your garden standing up to the summer heat? How often do you water when it’s hot and dry out?

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