Gardening advice with Daltons Have a gardening question you need help with? The Daltons gardening experts are here to help with your gardening questions! Send in your gardening question and you could win a Daltons gardening prize pack! See entry details below.
Congratulations to Wendy Neame with a question about growing tackling thrips. Do you have any ideas for stopping or reducing the number of thrips on plants such as Portuguese laurel and Rhododendrons? Rhododendrons and all Portuguese Laurels are especially prone to thrips. They are tiny insects that attack plants en masse and suck the sap out of leaves. The symptoms of thrips are visible on the upper side of a leaf by a grey, silvery colouring, while on the underside of the leaf, a brown and sometimes-sticky appearance is very obvious. Spray your trees regularly with a good quality horticultural oil, especially the undersides of leaves. While spraying can kill the thrips, the symptoms will remain on your leaf until they fall and are replaced in the growing season. You can reduce the incidence of thrips infections by maintaining the plant’s optimum growth. Ensure they are well fertilised in spring /early summer – use Daltons Premium Tree and Shrub Fertiliser on your Portuguese Laurels, and Daltons Premium Acid Fertiliser on your Rhododendrons. Keep plants well mulched and watered over summer. The less vigorous the trees are growing, the more prone they are to thrips.
To avoid reinfection next growing season, ensure you remove and burn all infected leaves as they fall off the trees (even though the plant is evergreen). Other products to try: Daltons Premium Mulch and Grow You may also find it helpful to read our free How To Grow Guides for more gardening advice: www.daltons.co.nz/how-to-guides.
Win a $70 Daltons Summer Care Pack Regular mulching is a must for your summer garden! It protects the soil from powerful sunlight, regulates soil temperatures, and helps keep moisture in and weeds out. Adding a thick layer of mulch or compost around your plants or garden. Help your garden survive summer with our Daltons Summer Care Pack. To enter, email your gardening question to nelsonmag@daltons.co.nz with Daltons prize pack in the subject heading. Giveaway entries must be received by Monday 17 January 2021.
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