GARDENING

January 1999 Table of Contents - Current Issue of The Abaco Journal - Abaco Bahamas' Home Page

GARDENING
by Jack Hardy

January is the high point of the winter vegetable vegetable season on Abaco. Home gardeners should be picking abundantly every day, even those somewhat marginal vegetables such as garden peas and spinach. Don't forget to have new crops sown before the old ones give out.

Most Poinsettias on Abaco give a better show in January and February than they do at Christmas. If you bought small Poinsettias over the festive season for indoor decorative purposes, you may consider planting them in your yard once their beauty has diminished. Poinsettia displays usually have two or three plants in one pot, so make sure you divide them and plant them out individually. All they'll need is full sunshine and plenty of room for root growth. Fertilize them around Easter and they'll be much bigger - and much more beautiful - this time next year.

It's time to fertilize your mango trees. The sustenance you give them now will result in healthy fruit production later in the year. Spray your opening flowers with copper at least three times during January in order to cut down on anthracnose, a disease which will cause black blotches on your ripening fruit. Although it's a long way to fruit time, spraying now will help contain anthracnose.

Don't bother fertilizing your citrus trees as they are either fruiting or dormant at the moment. Wait until spring to give them the first of their spring, summer and autumn feedings. A dormant oil spray would be a good idea as we have a lot of citrus pests to deal with.

African Tulip trees, Boone (Orchid tree) and the cheerful Yellow Elder are all at their best right now, joining Bougainvillea vines and Hibiscus shrubs in a cavalcade of color.

You should have plenty of colour in your flower beds too, as during the winter season just about any flowering annual does well. Check out Pine Wood Nursery for a wide array of bedding plants and bulbs.

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