Question.
    Please could you tell me when I am supposed to water a bank of ivy? It has direct sunlight all day and seems to by dying. I am watering early every morning. Should I be watering at night?
Thanks, Tony

Answer.
    To me it would appear that your ivy plant has red spider mites. These mites are very small and are under the leaves, a magnifying glass is a help to see them. If this is the case there are sprays available but check that they work on ivy. Ivy has a waxy surface and some sprays just run off.

Question.
    I was wondering what kind of advice you could give me. A few days ago my husband found caterpillars all over his hot pepper plants. They had eaten most of the leaves. Today we found another caterpillar on a different pepper plant that had also eaten most of the leaves.

We also found one on one of my tomato plants. It appeared to have eaten one of my green tomatos. These caterpillars are green and fat. Can you give me any suggestions as to how to keep them off our plants?
Thanks, Jaime

Answer.
    There are sprays available specifically for caterpillars. There is a knock down formula to kill any existing pests and a systemic formula, which is absorbed by the plant and kills the caterpillars as they chew at your plants.

Caterpillars keep hatching out so you have to be after them all the time. You can also wash them off with insecticidal soap or a weak mixture of household detergent and water sprayed on to the leaves, don't forget to look under the leaf. If you buy a commercial spray check that it suitable for hot peppers.

Question.
    I planted Silver mounds last spring and they have been beautiful all summer. They have really grown. Now however, they are dying in the middle. What is happening and what can I do to stop it?
Carole

Answer.
    Silver mounds die down at this time of year; a light application of garden lime around the plants will be of benefit to establish the roots for next year. Feed with a general-purpose fertiliser in the early spring.

Question.
    Hiya
I have a fuchsia that I would like to move to a different position in my garden. Is this possible and when is the best time to move it? It is currently in flower and thriving.
Many thanks.

Answer.
    If your fuchsia is a hardy fuchsia you can move it any time end of Sep onwards until frost, wait until the foliage begins to die down then the disturbed roots will not need to try to take up water. If your fuchsia is not hardy, it will soon be time to take it in for the winter and store in a frost-free place.

Question.
    I purchased 3 Annabelle Hydrangeas. I planted all three in the front yard facing east, this was in July. They get very little sun, early morning and late morning (all before noon). Large white pines stand 12 ft away. Here I go and check on them, 1 has blooms and the other 2 just leaves.

This is fine for the first year; however, the one that bloomed has no leaves because some sort of insect has eaten all the leaves off. At one point there was only the vain of the leaf intact and looked like a spider web design because of how the leaf was being eaten.

The other 2 plants still have leaves, but not very many, they have holes in their leaves too, but at least they still have leaves. I did fertilize the plants when I first planted them. I also have hostas planted in this area. My hostas were looking good, and then in July this same bug too has bitten them.

What can I do to prevent this? What sort of insect do you think it could be? Too much moisture and not enough sun? We live in MN and haven't had much rain; the temp has been cooler than normal. No enough rain?
Thanks for taking time in answering my question(s).
Becky

Answer.
    Moth caterpillars are attacking your Hydrangeas; there are plenty of brands of special knock down caterpillar sprays available at your local garden outlet. Don't forget to spray under the leaves as well.

Your hostas are most likely being attacked by a tiny snail, which lives in the surface of the soil under the shade of the plant leaves. Throw some slug pellets amongst the leaves.

Question.
    I live in Houston, Tx and recently it was so hot that our garden fizzled out. My husband tilled it up to get ready for a fall garden. We noticed that some cucumbers and cantelope plants started to pop up. We have not watered them and it has been over 2 months. I have large cantaloupes and cucumbers covering the whole garden. Since I have never grown cantaloupes before, I have no idea when to pick them. I picked a few because they were pretty big compared to the ones at the store. A few of the ones I picked are a little yellow on one side. How do I ripen them?

Answer.
    You are probably rather late with your cantaloupes from a ripening point of view, it all takes time. Try to leave them on the plant as long as possible, frost and wet permitting. Then place the fruit in a dry well lit area and they will probably ripen successfully. Cucumbers are ready when they are ready.

Question.
    My crab-apple trees look sick! I sprayed them with fruit tree mix after flowering and during the summer months to keep insects away. The leaves turned brown and dropped so that the tree looks almost bare. What did I do wrong?
E. Michigan

Answer.
    The caterpillar of a small moth related to the silkworm moth has probably attacked your crab apple trees. These hatch out in great numbers spin webs and devour the leaves in a couple of days before you even notice them. Remaining leaves, often damaged then drop off.

Some of the adult moths will hang around over winter so watch out for them next year and spray with a specific caterpillar spray. It is late in the season so you may be lucky and next years buds will have formed before the damage was done, only time will tell.

Question.
    How do I store dahlia tubers after I have lifted them and where do I store them.

Answer.
    Dahlias. Wait until a light autumn frost has killed off the foliage, this dries off the stems at soil level and prepares the tuber for winter. The tubers should be lifted from the soil on a dry windy day and allowed to dry out on top of the soil.

When dry shake out the surplus soil and store tubers in ventilated boxes such as bread trays and stored in a dark frost-free area. Before storing they should be dusted with a suitable fungicide to prevent rotting. Also make sure that they are totally dry before storage. Remember, they need frost-free storage.

Question.
    We have a beautiful balloon flower (3 to 4 feet tall), which suddenly started dying, stem by stem. First, one stem yellowed, then died. Then another. Then another. Upon examination, a portion of the root (where the infected stem was) was a milky, slimy white mass. Any idea what this is, how to stop it's progress and how to save the rest of the plant? (Or the rest of the garden?).
Hania

Answer.
    This is most probably root rot, which sometimes sets in when conditions are too wet. No known recommended chemical to cure, best to remove and destroy any dying plants. An application of garden lime will sweeten the soil and make more alkaline conditions, which are more suited to your plant.

Question.
    Earlier this summer I dug my iris up to separate them. I haven't gotten them all back in the ground. Is there any way to store them for the winter?
Paula, Kansas City, MO

Answer.
    I presume that your iris is of the rhizome type. If you are unable to plant them in your garden now, the best thing to do is to temporally plant them in a large wooden box filled with soil. Keep in a frost free but light area. Water occasionally but very sparsely.

Question.
    I have been to garden shows and pool shows this summer and the pools on display always have lovely blue water, how do they do this? My pool water is always a dirty grey color.

Answer.
    The answer is quite simple. They use brand new, bright blue pool liners, and add blue food dye to the water. The dye is very effective for the show, but don't do it at home as the dye will kill fish and any aquatic plants.