| Give Your Old Plant New Life | |
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Please take a minute to visit the AVSA site and study the plants who
win the ribbons. Please look at the pictures closely and
find the one common thing the three of them share. Now, Now I mean
other than their beauty and the fact that they are all in bloom. All
of these plants are a very good size but that is not it either.
Lol (which means laughing out loud in computer language)
Yes, I am laughing at you, for I bet not many of you found the correct
answer. Which is, they each have only 3 and at the most
4 rows of leaves! So if you really think about it.
Your plant that really grew for you and has gotten so big the top
fell over and is now trying to support itself on the pot or has curled so
another part of it's stem is on the soil trying desperately to re-root
itself. This poor plant should never have had the fifth row of
leaves. These leaves should have been removed and the plant
put into a pot that was just a little bigger all around and deep enough to
bury the scars on the neck that was left by removing that fifth row of
leaves. |
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This procedure is also recommended for older plants with yellowing leaves. The leaves are not going to turn green again so they must be peeled back which usually leaves a long neck. This plant is not suffering any of the above symptoms. It is a model so I can demonstrate this procedure. |
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Remove the plant from it's pot, normally you would see the roots growing all around the root ball searching for more room. As I said this is a model so you will have to use your imagination. |
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Lay the root ball on the table letting the top part of the plant hang over the edge of the table. Support the plant in this position while you slice 1/2 to 2/3 off the bottom of the root ball. |
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Now we must balance the top with the root ball. Peel off layers of
leaves, this is necessary because you have severely cut back the root ball.
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| more on Page 2 | |
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