Hawaii is unique in its horticultural blend of plants and landscapes. Although we live in the tropics, traditional holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, are heavily influenced by the ways of Europe and the Americas. This plus Asian, Polynesian and African agricultural influences have made landscaping and gardening fun but a bit complicated.
Fortunately, the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources has been active in the development of the Master Gardener Program in Hawaii County. Now is your chance to get in the know. To be a certified Master Gardener you will have 45 hours of classroom and hands on horticultural training, in addition to ongoing continuing education. Course topics include basic botany, native plants, nutrition, insect and disease management, propagation, pruning and more. Once you finish the course, you become a local expert to assist others to be better gardeners.
According to UH Extension Agent Ty McDonald, applications are now being accepted for the West Hawaii 2017 volunteer training program set to begin Jan. 24. Class size is limited so be sure and get your application in before Dec. 10. To learn more about the program, contact McDonald at 322-4884 or email at tym@hawaii.edu. In East Hawaii, the classes are set to start on Feb. 13.
The holidays are almost upon us and many purchases for gifts or to decorate the home and garden will be plants. For that reason, it is important to be akamai in the care of your living purchases.
We have been seeing Christmas decorations in some stores since Halloween, but the holidays don’t seem real until we get our first snow on Mauna Kea. To get into the holiday spirit, visit a few nurseries and garden shops to buy the first poinsettias. Not surprisingly, they have many more plants that fit into a Hawaiian Christmas, as well. Red sealing wax palms, red crowned arecas, living Norfolk pine trees, bromeliads, orchids and the many varieties of anthuriums are appropriate. Potted anthuriums in reds, whites and greens may be used in the home or as massed beds in a shady garden. They also make great gifts when visiting friends and relatives.
Of course, the most popular potted plants to buy right now are poinsettias. Purchasing potted stock from a garden center or nursery is the easiest way to establish plantings of the holiday ornamental. However, some green thumb operators scavenge the neighborhood for hardwood cuttings when fellow gardeners prune their poinsettias following the flowering season. Getting plants this way can make you feel like a turkey if you choose cuttings from disease infected plants. If you get healthy plants, you can be sure to avoid “fowl” play.
There are a number of poinsettias available. They come in traditional reds or you can enjoy color combinations indoors and in the garden if you mingle the red plantings with white and pink varieties. Since poinsettias give color from now through March, mixing plants in the garden will brighten things up for more than just the holiday season.
Poinsettias will grow in a wide range of soils, including sand, rocky soil and clay, but they must have good drainage.
In established massed beds, fertilizer application is important. An application of fertilizer in August should now be producing large colorful bracts. The plants will need repeat applications of plant food in early spring, again in June and perhaps during mid-summer if there are heavy rains.
For best results, prune poinsettias back in late winter or early spring after blooming is over. Cut them back to within 12-18 inches of the ground.
You’ll find that a compact plant will furnish more color than a plant with few unbranched stalks. To promote a riot of colored bracts, prune the plants several times during the growing season. Nip the new growth back after it is 12 inches long, leaving four leaves on each shoot. Be sure to stop the pruning in early September, because the flowering buds are set in early October.
Poinsettias show their color according to the day length and temperature. A plant near a lighted window or a street light often refuses to color up like a neighboring plant in a nearby darker corner. Dreary skies in September and early October will shorten the days causing plants to set buds and flower before the holiday season.
You’ll find that temperature is a limiting factor for a good show of flowers. If the night temperatures are much above 70 degrees, bud forming will be slowed. Freak periods of hot weather during this critical time may not permit buds to form at all. The best flower development is when the night temperatures range from 60-68 degrees. This year has been ideal with mild temperatures bringing about a riot of color.
So if you want to improve your knowledge about tropical gardening, become a Master Gardener. In fact, you might consider giving your loved one or neighbor an application to the upcoming classes, as well.