Hello, and thanks for joining us for another episode of Mid American gardener.

I'm your host Tinisha, Spain.

And joining me in the studio today are two of your faves.

We've got Jim and John will have you guys quickly introduce yourselves.

Tell us a little bit about you.

And then we're going to jump in with lots of questions and show Intel's.

I'll start with you.

Hi, I'm Jen Nelson.

I were a number of different hats.

You can find me online at grounded and growing.com where I talk about all kinds of gardening and I also on campus I teach Hort 105 vegetable gardening, and I brought a project from our class for our show until later.

Excellent.

All right, John.

Yeah, and I'm John Bodensteiner.

I'm a Vermillion County Master Gardener.

And I wear a couple of hats to volunteer at at Sullivan High School, and teach the help teach the botany and the greenhouse there.

And you have a radio show, they don't have a radio show that gardening radio, radio show, just everyone on the show wears multiple hats.

Okay, so we I put out a request for questions and you guys delivered.

So we're going to just run these through because they are great questions.

First, we've got Diane Armstrong O'Connor asks, When can I start watering my inside cannas and elephant ears that are overwintering in the basement?

So what do we think about that?

I say it's a little bit early, but if they're showing signs of life, maybe not just watering them, and leaving them in the basement, but bring them up to a warmer spot and give them some light if you're going to do that, okay, you want to keep the soil moist, but not wet soggy because they'll rot.

And but if they're showing growth, that's one thing I didn't know if she if they still had growth on the fact you've got to keep them, the soil fairly moist.

But if they're dormant, then wait a little longer.

Okay.

All right.

Next one is from Karen white shirts.

She says I planted a Sun King earlier last fall, parts of our yard flooded a few times.

But the water always received by the next day at the latest.

Last week, I noticed standing water where I planted the Sun King, it was very temporary.

But I wonder if the plant will survive.

And John you send a picture in because you've got one of these growing in your yard.

And I think the ground was still frozen at that time.

So I don't think it was in Ravi, the roots and it wouldn't have affected the roots because it's so cold anyway.

And it's a non native plant.

Beautiful for in shades or semi shades that almost a golden color was very vivid in your photo.

And another nice thing, deer do not like it.

For those people that are always looking for a plant that deer don't like.

It's a striking yellow gold.

little shrub dies back to the ground every year.

And it's I think, from Japan, and over there, I was reading some things about it.

They actually almost treat it like a asparagus.

Well, they'll take the chutes and eat it in the spring.

And maybe you'll take a little snack spring and let us know how it tastes.

It was the 2020 perennial plant of the year of color was just beautiful.

Okay, well going right through these.

Let's see Kathleen kill Martin writes in I plunked my clematis in the ground late last fall under the pergola fingers crossed, it's not in the ground too shallow under the rocks.

After that streak of super cold, I'm discouraged.

So basically, she's just wanting to know, what are the chances that Mattis survived?

Well, I think it's just going to be a case of watch and wait.

I mean, if she mulched over the top of it, okay, that might have may help it.

But most clematis, I would say would be pretty hard, hard to kill, right.

But if she still has some mulch, she could go out and add some more mulch now because the ground right now I don't pick as froze too.

So I've heard from a couple of farmers that Frost has left.

Okay.

All right.

And so and it's, it's important to know what kind of a clematis there's three main types of commodities some and depending on when it's flowers is what tells her what the what kind of climax she has, whether it's ever you know, she can tell right away if it's evergreen or not.

But there's two others that kind of depend on one day flower as to trimming and, and care.

They do do during the summer like cool feet, they want that root area covered.

So if she can mulch it now then she's covered.

Get it ready for the spring.

All right, Roxanne center writes, I heard Mother's Day for all seedlings to go outside.

Is that too early?

Depends where you live.

And we've had a little shift.

Yeah.

I don't know that.

That really is going to change my advice too much.

But usually I think of Mother's Day for the central part of the state.

And then if you're up in the northern part of the States more than Like Memorial Day, I like to think in terms of holiday holiday holidays.

Yeah.

And then southern part of the state be more like the beginning of May May Day depends on what your what she's trying to, you're transplanting tomatoes and peppers, they like around 60 day 65 to 70 degree ground temperature.

So I plant mine June 1, the rest of the cabbages and cauliflower PNS as soon as you can work the ground where you can, and Mother's Day would be fine for any of those I'd actually like to get something about before Mother's Day on some it just it varies depending on what she's wanting to.

And we've talked about the the microclimates before on different episodes where if you're growing close to a house or something like that, that can make a big difference.

And just paying attention to the weather makes a huge difference to just because I say May 15 Does Don't hate me if it's frosty on that day.

And I've had people call me and say, Well, can you tell me what the frost free date is like, they want like a hard date and it's like doesn't work anymore, or weather forecasters have gotten fairly good, give you a 10 day approximate, if you see it's going to be close to freezing.

Don't do it.

Don't want if you see 5060 degrees, you can at least harden them off.

That's another thing.

Yes.

taking them out, hardening them off.

And bringing them back in really does help.

And and then there was some we had a couple of questions I think you had last.

Last show you had your little container with winter hardening for winter.

So it Yes, yes.

And those plants are much harder.

And those you can take out probably earlier much earlier because they're going to be used to, you know, to that temperature, right.

You don't have to harden them off.

And so and you don't want to kill them after you spent weeks.

Exactly.

Little seeds, you know, sprout and you got your trifle and then kaput.

Let's see.

Susie Willard says Is there anything I can do in the late winter to decrease fungal disease and damaging insects in my garden so she wants to get ahead of pests and disease?

Is there anything you could do now amendments or anything to make sure that you're if you had diseases last year, and it's gonna be a little bit more difficult now that well, you still can do Clean up, clean up and get all those if you had fungus.

If you had bacterial infections, I did tomatoes, get all get every bit of that out of the ground because it does overwinter and then come spring, the main thing is to either lay plastic down if you've had real real problems, or just mulch, I know tomatoes.

They're talking about trimming them up a foot off the ground.

As they keep growing.

You get promoted, you know, six inch flat you can't spread by splashing rice oil.

That's why mulching helps so much because it does it.

Those Those bacteria or funguses overwinter in the soil.

And so if you can get rid of that.

Peonies is another one.

Yes, those are notorious.

If you can get all that debris away, and and then lay some fresh mulch down.

The chances of that splashing on your new leaves.

You got your black spot your your your other diseases that so anything you can do this unavoidable.

Yep.

Let's see.

With the two large broods of cicadas coming this spring, should we wait longer than usual?

To have a couple of trees planted since younger trees are more vulnerable to them?

This is from Peter Crockett in Algonquin.

So should he delay tree planting because of the cicadas and we last week or last?

Sometime a couple of shows ago, Phil said that this would happen right around Memorial Day.

So what are your thoughts today and early June are expecting and it's a triple because it's we've got not only got the 1317?

Yeah, you've got 213 groups and a 17 your group and the big one is the 70 I remember visiting my daughter and they were actually shoveling I was gonna say I remember seeing that they were around the trees.

They were six inches deep the skeletons and the birds and the dog you know, dogs?

Yes, our dog enjoyed eating them remember?

And then the noise.

Yes, the noise only the bales make the sound interesting.

And but show so you think they should light they pencil shaped bread.

This isn't a pencil This is a pencil shaped twig is what they're gonna go after.

Female is going to make a notch in it and that's where she's going to lay her eggs and it's going to work Can it and last year we had some, and you could just see on on the very tips of the oak trees is where I noticed about a kid UK is they all looked like they were dead.

And that's called flagging.

Gotcha.

And so he could cover them if depending on what kind of trees he's doing.

The oak, the maple, red bud, cherry, dogwood, and hickory are the ones that they really really like.

But pencil shaped or pencil sized twigs, he could cover them and what they said you need to use as a cloth that is one quarter inch or smaller, and that would keep them and then tie it at the base so that they can't crawl up there.

And but most of them are going to be around the bigger trees where they were last time 17 years ago.

They dropped off of off of that branch fell into the ground.

They burrowed in and they've been eating the stuff down underground for 17 years.

They are also the longest living insect in the world.

I'm not looking forward to it.

I'm just we were talking about that.

And Taylor.

One of our production folks was saying she went to the zoo the last time and every step.

Yeah.

Brookfield Zoo.

You were just crunching this.

I could not eat them on one show.

I was on with Toby.

No, we he fried them up with lemon pepper.

And we ate them.

No way.

I did see my dogs eating them when brood 10 A couple of years ago.

My dogs were eating those but I'm not that brave.

This is the brood x.

So it's and being it's tied in with the other two.

There's five main brutes, but there's three of them going to becoming this together.

And so no matter I think wherever you are in the States, you're gonna, you're probably going to experience the be the rock crunching on the sidewalk.

One thing I would add is if he decides he wants to delay planting his trees, you might think about delaying till the fall.

Because if you're trying to plant a tree when in the heat of summer, you're going to be out there with watering it constantly.

Yeah, so I would wait until like into the fall to plant.

So cover it or delay all the way until the fall.

Great advice.

And we've got one more question.

I saved this one for last because it was so funny.

This is from Peggy as a Vicki.

Late last October my hubby decided to severely cut back our for Cynthia bush.

There are only main branches and very few little branches.

He also cut about six inches off the top.

I used to trim it a little bit in late spring after it blossomed it is slash was a beautiful Bush several feet wide, close to six feet tall.

It looks very bleak.

Now the question is, Is there something I can do to encourage growth?

Or should I just divorce my husband?

She's very serious.

So can we save her marriage or I think she can keep her husband for now for now she can rub it, rub it in constantly that he ruined the spring flowers on the forsythia by pruning it in October because spring flowering shrubs are going to start forming their next year's blooms during the summer.

So that's why she was doing the correct thing before by trimming it right after it flowers but her husband was trying to be efficient.

I know I know.

Just go so helpful.

And he's out of here.

And you just have to you can't do it all in one year.

Keep on it trim.

You know if it gets way out of hand, trim one cane out, and then let the others grow and then do your Yeah.

It should survive.

I don't think it don't give up on it.

Yeah, it's not a plant a lot.

I see this mistakes, pretty common people will want to force forsythia like a privet or something like wanting it to be really like right angles and square and it's just not that kind of playing.

It's just not.

But it should recover.

And so maybe you know, give it some extra TLC this year and keep your husband away from it for now.

Tell him that you will be in charge.

Yes.

Ruining from here.

Yeah.

Okay, we went through all the questions.

So I want to spend the rest of the time looking at the cool stuff that you guys brought.

So both of you brought things from the classroom, teachers that you are so Jim, we'll start with you.

Well, I brought cuttings it's a little early to be doing cuttings like at home unless you have good space to do it in like we happen to be working in the greenhouse.

But if you've got lights and you've got worm, you could you could toy with the idea, especially if you see houseplants showing some new growth.

That's a good sign that that cuttings would do pretty well and I brought some stuff that we were doing in class and I can kind of show some common mistakes or some ways that you can ensure some better success.

This is Rosemary, which I am still trying to figure out the number one way to overwinter it, but if you just don't want to try overwintering it you could take cuttings from your plant that the year before.

And so we would take, this is not a woody cutting, it's very flexible.

If you take it from further back in the plant, it's going to be kind of woody because it is a shrub where Rosemary grows naturally it is a woody woody shrub.

So you would split take your cutting, and then you're going to take the leaves off the bottom half, if I can do it without breaking it in half on TV would be great.

Yeah, do as I say not as I do on the show, under pressure.

But wherever those leaves were connected is called a node.

And so all these spots should produce roots.

And so ideally, we want to get that under on the ground.

And what I brought to help with the process is rooting hormone and it comes in a container, kind of the size for class we have like a Costco size one is huge.

But you want to take a little bit of it out, I just put it in the cap and I'll toss it when we're done.

Because the one thing that will ruin it is moisture, so you don't want to get any moisture in it.

Otherwise it apparently last indefinitely for as as much as I can configure out perfect.

Yeah, and hot, it's hot temperature doesn't apparently affect it either.

And I have some containers that are close to 20 years old and they are still working fine.

So you're gonna just dip the end and this is just regular general purpose potting media, and it helps if you moisten it a little beforehand.

And if you can use a pencil to make the hole and just stick it in there and kind of firm the soil around it.

When I'm all done, I'll put it in a ziplock and that'll keep the moisture and because it has no roots are a mini greenhouse like a mini greenhouse.

So you keep that cutting from drying out while it's making the roots.

Some other things I brought there just kind of to point out this is a scented geranium.

If you've ever bought a citronella plant, it's probably scented geranium.

But this is a common mistake I see students make and so we'll say take a cutting of scented geranium.

And they do this.

Yikes.

And they're like yeah, it looks great.

No, it won't work.

Sometimes you can propagate that way like African Violets you could propagate from the leaf but it doesn't Yeah, it doesn't work for for the scented geranium.

So know your plant.

There's lots of information online but you would for this one, this is the main stem so you would want to remove and the other thing with cuttings is removing the leaves.

Sometimes it looks kind of sad when you're done.

Like I would remove most of these leaves because all of those are kind of a stress on it when it has nothing to support those leaves it has no roots yet to transpiration, right the transpiration, really it's going to dry it out.

It's going to just be so you're wanting it to focus all of its energy is energy and maintenance.

Having to maintain the foliage.

Yep.

And like this is a this is a Peperomia it looks kind of like a succulent, but it's not.

This one especially I told the students like remove everything that you can off of this.

Yeah, no, it hurts even though it's pains you Yes, because these are so awful.

These are so full of water and such an energy drain on that poor little cutting, you'll have little root faster and it'll be a better cutting if you just do that.

Now how much of that?

Would you leave?

Like, would you take it all on one really?

Okay.

And I think this is one that I think these can propagate from me.

Yeah.

But we've been doing it as a stem cutting.

So I tend to find it you get a lot.

A lot more if you do it step by step.

But I've always told the students if they want to mess with it, they can take it home quantity, then do leave if you want quality then do a stem cutter.

Sure.

But that's kind of an eye wide and I might even take this and cut it down.

Wow.

Yeah, dad right that's a hair cut is but it's going to work better in the long run.

I've seen them do that with hydro branches especially.

Yeah, it's really sad leave one leaf and just cut the transpiration wood.

Right, like so much moisture away.

Yeah.

So you want to give it that's kind of giving it its best shot at life.

Even though it pains you to cut it all the way back.

Okay.

Yeah.

And when at for the at home gardener you said it's a little bit too early to start doing a little it's a little on the early.

I would wait.

I would I like to say March is when I used to usually see my house plants really starting to kind of perk up.

Excellent.

Okay.

All right, John, we're gonna go to you.

I had been doing a couple things with the kids at at at Florida.

And this was one of our last project was to build a little terrarium.

And as you can see, I've got the little dome to help with the transpiration to keep that at at a low end and this has a little piece of moss, you can go out and find moss.

People complain about the moss.

Well, I'd love in my little terrarium that it makes it look like a little grass and it's easy to keep.

I missed these I don't water.

It's got a s avaria.

And then I've got to some stones and there's another little green succulent here.

I usually use succulents.

This one here has got a little heart in it for Valentine's and then it's got a little birdbath just for decorations.

And there's all kinds of the succulents, I find that work really well in this because if you keep the if you keep the container that they're growing and small, it's like a goldfish in an aquarium.

And they stay small, they grow according to the area that they grow in.

And so I've had some, some of my mother of 1000s or hundreds that I've had for three years and they're still only this tall, because they're in there.

And you can see the moisture building in that one here you can actually see the moisture building up.

And again, this has got different types of succulents in it that I have propagated at the greenhouse.

And then this one here is an open face this is I really wouldn't call this a terrarium.

This is because it's got the open a tray but would be closed.

Now find out a lid that I could put this on where the moisture this course this one here, the moisture will collect on here and then go back down.

But again, don't overwater these, I have a little Mr. Spray bottle, and you can put whatever you want.

I've got some some seashells and some glass beads.

And again, another little nit best part is they're really relatively inexpensive, at a certain dollar store.

You can find all of these and build one of those for you know, under $2 $2.

Yeah, and go outside and find some moss and or if you have some little you know, this one here is a little hen and chicken it it's a perennial but it's going to stay very small because it's in that limited area.

Again, I've got some moss in here.

It's got an S avaria I start you know you start those just twist the leaf and lay them on some sand went about a month you'll see a little growth at the end of the succulent leaf and and you wait long enough another eight weeks and you'll have a whole new plant.

Wow.

So I could you know that's got eight eight leaves on it.

I could technically get eight, eight little plant side of that.

So cute.

So I know where I'm going after a certain dollar store.

We've got about four minutes left John, I know you have some I didn't go to the gym.

I did some I think I brought this about 810 weeks ago.

This was Dory amphis Dorianne this story out this and I love the plant it does really well in the summertime.

It's a it's a succulent is it an indoor plant it is it is tender.

Okay it is a tender it is a perennial it alas I've got some pots that I brought in and out that I use as my mother plants.

And I take the cuttings and all you do is just lay it on, on the soil.

keep it moist for I don't even cover these.

They they just and I usually will take six inch cuttings and lay half of it under usually one half of it minimal underground.

And then it's got these pretty little pink flowers, bright pink flowers that so you did not plant those roots, you just laid them I laid them and then I sprinkle a little bit of soil just enough so that there's contact with the soil.

Again, like Jen said, Wherever there's a leaf, that leaf node, there's also a root node there.

And so as long as you can cut those leaves off, and you have to be kind of careful you don't want to just tear him like this because then you tear everything Oh, you've got to take take the whole cambium layer off.

And this to me is one of the easier plants and and right now it's it's look it's even flower.

Yeah and and I don't have any artificial light on it's just regular light.

And during a hot hot summer it does super super well.

And you do need to keep it watered.

It will show distress if you don't water it enough, but does it trail like it does.

You can see that this is starting to lose.

Like I'm like already designing parts in my mind.

Oh wait, actually it'll go down and then actually grow out.

Okay, sure.

it'll form a little skirt around.

But it's story at this mental note made.

Do you have to let the cuttings dry out at all three days, okay, you snip them, let them callus off and call that calcium off.

And then you can and that's what I do with those various to your don't waterbed right away you just lay on the sand, let them dry out, form that callus, and that it's a plant's protective response to gab.

It is like a scab and succulents tend to need that with but like what we're doing, like just regular non succulents, you can just cut them to do it.

Yeah, didn't plant Okay.

And is that a gorgeous?

This is a baby orchid.

It's so cute.

And I've had the thing with these is you've got you want to look at you know, you've got two pots, you never want to let them sit in water.

And you want to use warm water.

When you water you run your kitchen sink, not hot, just warm.

And the roots.

You can see these are got green, green roots.

If if it's too dry, they'll be kind of brownish or grayish.

And as soon as you water they just it turns green tells you exactly what it needs that you've watered them.

And all right, you're just fun.

They lost the blooms last four months.

Wonderful.

Thank you guys.

I learned so much and now I've got more things to buy.

So anywho thank you so much for watching.

We really appreciate it.

If you've got questions, send them in to yourgarden@gmail.com or you can look us up on Facebook, and we will see you next time.

Good night.