#77 - Jun 2024 - Garden Stuff - © Sandy Lang - slang@xtra.co.nz HEALTHY PLANTSJune/July: Early/mid-winter. Eat well and stay healthy. War: Plants are under constant attack from myriads of tiny organisms - pests (insects, mites, nematodes…) and diseases (fungi, bacteria…). Pest & disease resistance: Fortunately, like us, plants have evolved effective resistance systems to repel all these invaders. But bad living conditions, and thus stress, weakens a plant’s resistance response. So, it’s worth de-stressing your plants (indoor and outdoor) by carefully matching each to its environment - mainly: •water, •temperature, •sunlight. A bad match, and the plant’s stressed, so less resistant, so more likely overrun by some lurgy. Water: Many plants die of too little water (severely wilted plants die) or of too much water (waterlogged soil, low soil oxygen, root rot, plant dies). Some plants are naturally tolerant of wet feet and others of drought, but all prefer something in between. Plants need more water summer, less winter. But avoid stressing them by too much or too little, at all times. Temperature: Your garden’s climate is ‘temperate-oceanic’ and your home’s is ‘subtropical’. Not all indoor plants tolerate outdoor temperatures and vice versa. A change in temperature environment is also stressful. If moving a plant from indoors to outdoors, or back, transition it in stages. Allow it time to acclimatise, less stress. Same for a move to a different indoor location, or a to different outdoor location. Sunlight: Animals get their energy by eating other animals or plants. Plant stems and roots get theirs from the leaves. Leaves get theirs by converting radiant energy (sunlight) into chemical energy (sugars) via photosynthesis. All life’s energy comes ultimately from sunlight. Photosynthesis converts about 5% of sunlight energy to chemical energy (sugars). If plants don’t get enough sunlight, they can’t make enough sugar, and they starve. So, they’re more likely to suffer attack from some pest or disease. In general, flowering /fruiting plants need lots of light (6+ sunlight hours /day), leafy plants need less (4-6 sunlight hours /day). But some houseplants are very shade-tolerant and can cope with very much less. When you buy seeds or plants, the label indicates the amount of light needed. Make a sunlight map of your garden to show how much sunlight (hours /day) reaches each spot (see www.mulchpile.org/62). Map your home too. Then match each plant to a location where it will get the right light. Not too much, not too little. ___________________________________