Answer:  For the rabbits, sprinkle blood meal (dried blood) and moth balls around and see if they leave. If not, use a Hav-A-Hart trap, which will trap them alive so they can be transported elsewhere.

Cottonseed Meal and Kelp Meal are natural organic fertilizers. If applied too heavily, they will get moldy, but it's harmless. Next time, sprinkle the materials less densely over a wider area.

Balled Christmas trees are chancy at best. If they are in house too long, they break dormancy and freeze when they are put outside. The side that is damaged may be the side that caught the wind outdoors or the side that got the sun or the heat inside the house. In any event, give it more time to see what happens. Planted outside, balled Christmas trees sometimes look almost dead before they “come to life” in July. Drenching the root with Super Bio may help.

Gerbera daisies are not winter hardy, but can be carried over the winter inside the house.

Question:  I would like to know how to care for a white Mandevilla plant I purchased last summer. I live in New Jersey and I brought the plant in for the winter. It has grown these very long tendrils and I don’t know if I should cut them or let them to just continue to grow. Thanks.

Answer:  Cut the tendrils back by two thirds now and feed weekly with SeaMate. Place your Mandevilla in the sunniest indoor spot you have. You can also put it outside in partial shade (so the leaves don’t burn in the strong outdoor sun) on warm days. Be sure to bring your Mandevilla indoors on cool nights. The Mandevilla can be planted outside in a hot, dry sunny place after the middle of May. Just be sure not to move the Mandevilla from indoors directly to the hot sunny outdoor spot, without going through a gradual acclimatization. (If you take a light meter, you will discover that a sunny window has much less light than a partially shaded outdoor spot). If you are going to keep your Mandevilla in its pot and it’s in a good quality potting soil, you need not repot if you feed regularly with SeaMate. But, you can’t get more than 2 years out of the same potting soil. New soil and a larger pot every other year will be required.

Question:  After 18 years, I am losing azaleas right and left this past 2 years to "die back". A portion of the plant will just wilt, and when I cut back, you can see that part of stem is involved, part is not affected. I just keep cutting back, trying to cut back into clean wood, but have eventually had to take out so many!! Anyway, questions are:

1. Anything new to help save what I have?

2. Any new varieties that are resistant?

Answer:  I suspect your Azaleas have root rot. The roots probably partially died in the 2002 drought. As they decomposed, the rot probably spread to the live roots in last year's monsoon season. I suggest feeding with Cottonseed Meal, Kelp Meal and Grow-plex G in early spring (now) and late fall (end of November). Concurrent with each feeding, drench the soil spray with Super Bio.

Incidentally, I have found out that removing all of the mulch and replacing it with 2 inches of 100% pine mulch is beneficial.

There is no consumer-labeled chemical fungicide to control these root rots. All you can do is use good culture so that the cell walls thicken and the plant outgrows the fungus.

On those azaleas where several stems are partially dead, I suggest cutting the whole plant back to 18 inches now---before bloom.

Question:  Even though my backyard is fenced in, I have a terrible problem with rabbits. Being organic in nature, last year I tried fox urine with no luck (it did attract a local fox) and they even ate the marigolds.

In doing some research, I found a product called PLANTSKYDD. I have seen that dried blood would be effective, but that moisture would deplete its effectiveness. It appears that this product overcomes that problem. But when I called the Florida location, they indicated that for something like lettuce, it should not be applied directly to the plant. Would you think that I should apply it to the ground around the plants?

Thanks for your help.

Keep up your good work!!

Answer:  Plantskydd is 99.84% dried blood, with a little bit of vegetable oil added. Dried blood should never be applied to edibles, but to the soil around the plants. Not all rabbits are deterred by dried blood. Why not try generic dried blood (it's cheaper) and repeat the application as needed to see how it works? (Dried Blood is an all-nitrogen fertilizer so your lettuce will grow like crazy. On the other hand, your tomatoes may turn into all leaves and no fruits).

In any event, in my opinion, Plantskydd's primary benefit over dried blood is that it is applied as a liquid to the stems and leaves of ornamental trees and shrubs. Because of the oil, it clings better to the branches and leaves and is less subject to washing off. This is particularly important in winter when the ground (and sprinkled dry blood) is covered by snow. Incidentally, Plantskydd was developed in Sweden, where snow cover is much greater than it is here.

Question:  I have been planting tomatoes, zucchini, cukes, etc. in the same spot for about 12 years. I have full sun and get great results with most lettuce plants. I notice my tomatoes have not produced the yields I should be getting. I have used Chesapeake Blue for the last several seasons (rotate types of tomatoes).

Is it true that I should rest this area of my garden? Should I plant anything in its place or let it go dormant?
 

Answer:  Crop rotation is a good idea to the extent you can practice it in a small garden. However, I know of many gardens where tomatoes and squashes have been planted in the same place for 20 years with fine results. Be sure to plant a mixture of tomatoes—not all one variety. Tomatoes vary greatly in how well they do under various climatic conditions. It is possible that if you planted all one type each year and rotated the entire crop, you were just plain unlucky and planted the wrong tomato in the wrong year.

Remember, these last two growing seasons have been terrible—first the drought and then the monsoon. I suggest you continue with the Chesapeake Blue (and nothing else). Do as much crop rotation as possible for this year and see what kind of results you have.

Question:  Last Year we had tiny black spots all over our siding and even on the car. I was told it was “shotgun fungus” and came from the mulch. It was very difficult to remove and I am real anxious to avoid a reoccurrence this year. What can I do?

Answer:  This fungus is also called “Artillery fungus”. Almost surely it came from the mulch. The little black dots are spores and once they dry, they are indeed difficult to remove. There is no known fungicide that you can spray on your mulch. Remove your existing mulch and remulch with an all-bark mulch such as 100% (red oak) tan bark mulch. Because bark contains less carbon than inner wood, it is less able to support artillery fungus; but bark mulches are not completely immune. Cedar mulches and cypress mulches are also resistant to the fungus. Another possibility is stone mulch, which is 100% resistant. But stone mulches come with their own set of problems.

My experience is that the least expensive and most satisfactory solution is to use true 100% tan bark mulch. In a less moist season than we had last year, artillery fungus will be less of a problem. If the artillery fungus starts to recur, rake the mulch frequently so that it dries out.