abcGardens.com – Blog

The last few days our San Francisco bay area was sunny and warm. This is a good time to prune our plants while they are dormant and in such nice weather. We plan to prune all our fruit trees and plants for the next few days.

Usually we tune to the local TV station for weather forecast. Make sure the weather is sunny or at least no rain for the next few days before we start the pruning. Pruning always leaves open wounds on the plants. We want the plants have enough time to dry up the wounds and heal.

The other aspect we should be aware of is to make sure our cutting tools are clean. Otherwise, a dirty tool can infect all the plants which it comes in contact with. Cleaning with alcohol is one of the good ways.

Our pruning criteria includes :

1. cut away any stuck out branches which could cause bodily harm when we pass by the plant,

2. broken or infected branches,

3. branches which cross with other branches,

4. over-grown branches, too dense of branches and leaves invite infections.

The last few days we were busy dividing and re-potting our cymbidium.

They were kept in our out-door  “cold frame” with cover. We had not re-potted them for more than 5 years. Most of them out grew their pots. We had to cut the pots to get them out.

After division and  re-potting, each pot yielded about 4 to 10 new plants. For those pseudo-bulbs with flower spike, we kept 4 linked pseudobulbs as  a group and re-planted them in a single pot. This will give it enough energy to flower normally.

It is getting cold in San Francisco bay area, but we do not have snow here. Cymbidium genus is a relatively hardy orchids. As long as the temperature does not drop below freezing point, they should be OK growing outdoor with some sort of cover shielding from cold wind. However, we do move all other temperature sensitive orchids indoor.

It is sunny and warm today. It used to be cold and rainy in San Francisco bay area by this time of the year.

All our  “orange fragrant tea olive” ( Osmanthus frangrans var. aurantiacus) bloom at the same time. It is so sweet and fragrant, I wouldn’t be tire of smelling it.