February 2012 | Green Patches - Mediterranean Gardening

Friday, February 24, 2012

The Effects of Hail on the Kalanchoe

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Today I have decided to prune the Kalanchoe, if that is at all possible.  All the leaves that were hit by the hail stones started to go a sickly black and slimy, so it was time to remove them completely to avoid disease.  I'm afraid if I left them there I would have killed the plant sooner or later.  Here's a picture of the damaged leaves today:

Kalanchoe, Hail Damage
Damaged leaves one week after the storm

Kalanchoe, Hail Damage
Leaves started falling off on their own so it was time they were removed


As you can see, they were just hanging there lifeless, so I decided to remove all the leaves that were too far gone.  I left the leaves that had only a few spots, and will be monitoring those in the next few days.  If I see the spots getting larger I will remove those too.


Kalanchoe
The leaves removed from the plant

Kalanchoe Leaf
Leaf damage

As you can see from the image of the damaged leaf above, the leaf itself does not appear to be too damaged, but the rotten part prevents any source of nutrients to getting to the plant or the leaf.  This caused me to remove more foliage than I wanted to, but better be safe than sorry.

On a positive note, I have exposed the centre of the plant now, and this will get more sunlight.  I have also discovered some growth in the centre, which looks promising.  Weather permitting, there is still hope that the plant will survive.

Kalanchoe
New Growth at the Centre


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Saturday, February 18, 2012

Succulents After a Hail Storm

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Well, this has certainly been an unusual winter so far.  Not only has it been freezing cold by our standards, but last week we had three hail storms in a row.  Hail storms are not unusual in this part of the world, we are surrounded by water, so it can never really snow.  When the temperatures drop we get hail, and lots of it.

Hail can cause considerable damage to succulent leaves, and sadly this what greeted me, when I went in my yard this morning.

succulents, hail damage
My Crassula got the least damage

Kalanchoe, hail damage
The lovely Kalanchoe Leaves

Kalanchoe, hail damage
The top leaves badly damaged

Kalanchoe Marmorata, Hail Damage
The Kalanchoe Marmorata

The problem with succulents is that the leaves are very persistent and can last a long time.  Hail damage is terrible for them because they do not recover.  My biggest worry is the big Kalanchoe because the top leaves are just about dropping off now.  The damage may cause fungal or bacterial infections and I need to remove the dead leaves as quickly as possible, or I run the risk of losing the plant.

On a better note, the Schefflera was not bothered by the hail at all.  The leaves are thinner and the plant was totally unaffected.  The Plumbago was also unaffected, it has lost all its foliage now for winter, and there are only a few twigs.  

It is still the middle of February, so I cannot rule out more bad weather.  I am hoping that the temperatures will go a bit higher though because I don't think the succulents can suffer another hail storm.  Fingers crossed.


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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Too cold to write

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Cold Weather


I've realized I haven't written anything in quite a while but quite honestly it's just too cold to write.   Well actually it's not literally too cold to write but I have totally neglected my dear plants for the refuge of my sofa and cosy bed. 

For most of you, especially in Europe these past two weeks, our measly 9 degrees is nothing compared to you but for us, who normally enjoy temperatures of around 15 degrees around this time of year it has been a shock to our system.  The wind chill in particular, a sub-zero temerature in Malta, that's unheard of.  Should I start worrying about frost ??

I have no choice but to let this weather pass and wait and see how my plants are going to react.  My plants are almost all native African plants so they are not really used to the cold.  Hoping for the best I will certainly give you an update on those that make it and those that don't.




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