Getting
Your Poinsettias
Ready For
Holidays
uear Plant Doctor: I have a nice
poinscttia plant. What will I need to
do to get it ready for the Christmas
season? ? Wilmington
ANSWER: The story of the poin
scttia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is
truly a "weed-to- f!\)wcr" story. The
poinscttia has risen from a lowly
weed in Central Amrrica to THF
Christmas flower of the United
States. Flowering the poinsettia for
Christmas can be trying, but with a
little patience and perseverance, you
should not have any trouble.
To flower the poinsettia by
Christmas, bring healthy, vigorous,
disease-free and insect-free plants
indoors right now. Place in a sunny
window where plants have a night
time temperature of 65 degrees and
a daytime temperature of 70 or high
er.
Plants will have to be shaded so
that they will reccive 12 to 14 hours
of absolute unbroken darkness. If
this dark period is interrupted by a
flashlight, lamp or any other light,
then the poinscttia will not bloom
properly.
Tbis shading should continue on a
daily basis for 25 days and by mid
November you should see flower
buds on shoot tips. Once the buds
have formed, then you will no
longer need to continue the shading.
I'ertili/e the plant every other day,
watering with a quarter-strength nu
trient fertilizer and use a soluble
plant fertilizer that contains all trace
elements
The recipe sounds simple, but
Health Students'
Walk-a-Thon To
Benefit St; Jude
West Brunswick High School's
Health Occupations students will
sponsor a Walk-a-thon/Trike-a-thon
(X1. 16 to benefit St. Judy Child
ren's Research Hospital
The event begins at 3 p m at the
West Brunswick High School foot
ball stadium track
Volunteer walkers and tricycle
riders are needed for the event to
raise funds for the research center's
battle against childhood cancer and
other catastrophic childhood dis
eases
Participants will ask sponsors to
make donations based on the laps
completed around the track All rid
er* and walkers turning in money
will receive certificate* Those who
raise $35 or more will also receive a
St. Jude T-shirt Those who raise
$75 or more will be awarded a
sports bag. also.
For details on participating as a
walker, rider or sponsor, call
Jeannette Mint/, Tracy Reaves or
any HOSA me mix; r at WBHS The
school phone number if 754-4338.
CENTIPEDE SOD
Gressette Sod Farms
t -BOO -444-2993 FLORENCE, SC
E. Harvie Hill. D.D.6.. M.S.D.
Pediatric Dentisti}
GUifk providing care for
JCTlA children and young adults
? A age* 1-21 AIao care For
M the handicapped.
?**" 754-3333
0
MEMBER: AMERICAN ACADEMY
OF PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY
tOl
Wmb
Piikm. Almllotle
THE FESTIVAL
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The N.C. Festival by the Sea
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THE
PLANT
DOCTOR
C. BRUCE
WILLIAMS j
Extension Area
Turf Spramisi
many pitfalls will be encountered.
For nearly five years, I required stu
dents to grow a crop of poinsettias
for a "practical" greenhouse produc
tion project. After students worked
for over 3 months on the crop, most
felt poinsettias were a bargain in the
store. I think you will feel the same
way by Christmas. Good luck.
Dear Plant Doctor: Please tell
me the reason my plum trees have
had worms. The first time the trees
had plums, not a worm could be
found. But in the past three years so
many worms infested the fruit we
could not eat them.
I have sprayed the trees with an
insecticide, but nothing has worked.
The plums are so big and pretty, but
full of worms. ? Evergreen
ANSWER: Sounds like you have
met the plum curculio
(Conotrachelus nenuphar). The fe
male plum curculio beetle eats a
small spot on a young plum, peach,
apple, cherry, apricot, nectarine or
pear, and then lays a single white
egg in a crescent-shaped hole on the
eaten spot. The egg hatches in 2 to
12 days at which time the larva eats
its way to the seed or pit.
A single female plum curculio
can lay over 1,000 fertilized eggs.
As you have found, plums remain
on the tree, infested with the larva,
until ripe. The mature larva will
eventually exit the fruit and burrow
into the ground beneath the tree and
pupate. Next spring the pupated
plum curculio will emerge and the
cycle will start over again.
To control the pium curculio in
badly infested orchards, you will
have to use cultural practices, insec
ticide sprays and the removal of all
infested fruits. Once this pest be
comes established in an area, the on
ly way to achieve effective control is
to take vigorous control measures.
Fruit insecticide sprays beginning
at petal fall in the spring should con
tinue every 7 to 10 days until fruit is
mature. Pick up and destroy all in
fested fruit. Plastic sheets can be
placed under infested trees during
the spring to catch the adult weevils
wiicu uic iicc aiidkcn. Destroy si!
weevils that are capturcd on the
sheet.
Send your gardening questions
and comments to the Plant Doctor,
P.O. Box 109, Bolivia NC 28422.
Sho p th e Stu ck Aixvt&et
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