What is Stem Rot in Rice? Rice stem rot is a fungal disease of rice plants caused by the pathogen Sclerotium oryzae. This disease affects water sown rice plants and usually becomes noticeable in the early tillering stage. Symptoms begin as small, rectangular black lesions on the leaf sheaths at the waterline of flooded rice fields. As the disease progresses, the lesions spread over the leaf shield, eventually causing it to rot and slough off....

What is a Mardi Gras Aeonium? Growing in a rosette form, green center stripes decorate lemon-colored base leaves. Colors may change seasonally as various stressors affect the growing plant. A ruby red blush appears in cooler temperatures when the plant is in bright light. Leaf edges turn a pinkish red, causing the appearance of a blush. The red shades may become more pronounced as the plant is exposed to dropping temperatures....

If you leave the debris, your new plants will have a hard time pushing their way to the soil surface when they germinate. That’s where a soil sifter tool comes in handy. What is a soil sifter? Read on for information about using soil sifters including tips on how to make one yourself. What is a Soil Sifter? If your experience with sifting is limited to flour, you probably need to read up on soil sifter tools....

Tricolor Kiwi Information Tricolor kiwi is a fast-growing perennial vine that is hardy in zones 4-8. It can reach heights of 12-20 feet (3.5-6 m.) with a spread of about 3 feet (91.5 cm.). In the garden, it needs a strong structure to climb up, such as a trellis, fence, arbor, or pergola. Some gardeners train tricolor kiwi into a tree form by selecting one main vine as the trunk, pruning any low vines that sprout from this trunk, and allowing the plant to bush out only at the desired height....

Growing a Variegated Sweet Iris Plant The 2- to 3-foot (61-91.5 cm.) tall, sword-like, variegated foliage of sweet flag iris plants add interest to any garden style, even when the plant is not in bloom. Its lavender blue colored flowers bloom in late spring to early summer and its sweet fragrance attracts many pollinators. However, it is not just a beautiful ornamental plant. Orris root powder and orris oil are made from the rhizomes of zebra iris plants and are used in many herbal medicines and natural beauty products....

Papaya Black Spot Symptoms Black spot of papaya is caused by the fungus Asperisporium caricae, previously referred to as Cercospora caricae. This disease is most severe during rainy periods. Both the foliage and fruit of papaya may be infected with black spots. Initial symptoms appear as small water-soaked lesions on the upper side of leaves. As the disease progresses, small black spots (spores) can be seen on the underside of leaves....

However, if you’re concerned about daylily plants in winter, digging and storing daylily tubers isn’t a bad idea, especially in climates north of USDA plant hardiness zone 5. Let’s learn what to do with daylilies in winter. Daylily Tuber Winter Care Daylilies don’t grow from bulbs, but from tuberous stems that grow underground, where they send out fibrous roots. These are easy to dig in preparation for winter cold and overwintering daylily plants is easy....

What is Renovation of Strawberries? Simply put, strawberry renovation is the removal of a large number of old berry plants in an established planting to allow the more heavily fruiting secondary or daughter plants to take over. Basically, the practice aims to eliminate the competition between dense plantings and to maintain the strawberry patch for successive years of production. Renovation not only thins out old plants and jump starts new plant development, but it keeps plants in rows for easier picking, controls weeds, and allows a side-dressing of fertilizer to be worked down into the root zone....

Wichita Blue Juniper Information Wichita Blue juniper trees (Juniperus scopulorum ‘Wichita Blue’) are a cultivar of the tree called Rocky Mountain juniper or Colorado red cedar, native to the Rocky Mountains. The species tree can grow to 50 feet (15 m.) tall and 20 feet (6 m.) wide. If you like the look of a Rocky Mountain juniper but have a small garden, Wichita Blue is a good alternative, as this cultivar grows slowly to about 15 feet (5 m....

Plants with Berries in Winter Brighten your backyard in winter by installing trees and shrubs with winter berries. Small fruits add a dash of color to winter scenes and, at the same time, winter berry trees and bushes provide an annual, reliable food supply for birds and other critters, whether or not you are around. Fruits are an extremely important source of nutrition for overwintering birds. Even birds that are insectivores in summer—like woodpeckers, thrashers, quail, robins, waxwings, mockingbirds, bluebirds, grouse and catbirds—start eating berries when cold weather arrives....

Why are My Fuchsia Leaves Turning Yellow? The most common cause of yellowing fuchsia leaves is inadequate watering. This can be due both to over- and under-watering. If leaves don’t get enough water, they can’t perform photosynthesis and they lose their healthy green color. If they get too much water, however, their roots get clogged and can’t supply the leaves with enough oxygen, resulting in yellowing fuchsia leaves. How do you know if you’re watering too much or too little?...

What Causes Leaf Mold in Pecan Trees? Articularia leaf mold of pecans is a common fungal disease that frequently occurs after extended periods of rainy weather. Weak pecan trees are more susceptible to disease. Symptoms of pecan with articularia leaf mold are an early indication that there is a problem. Fortunately, leaf mold in pecan trees is easy to recognize by the patchy white tufts on lower leaf surfaces. The white tufts actually contain fungal spores....

Shade Trees in the Northeast The northeast is known for its outrageously beautiful autumn color, and the best northeast shade trees take full advantage of that. One of the finest and most common of these trees is the red maple. This tree can reach 70 feet (21 m.) in height, with a spread of up to 50 feet (15 m.). A North American native, it can thrive across the region and is one of the main trees responsible for that classic autumn foliage look....

Using Pansies as Food Can you eat pansies? You sure can. In fact, unlike with many edible flowers, you don’t even need to be careful to stop at the petals. The stamen, pistil, and sepals (those little leaves directly under the flower) are all edible too. This means you can just snip the flower off its stem and eat away. That being said, you should only eat pansies that you know haven’t been exposed to chemical pesticides–which means no eating flowers you’ve bought at the florist or picked in the park....

Outdoors, guava trees can reach heights of 30 feet (9 m.), but indoor trees are generally much smaller. Most varieties flower and set fruit at about four or five years of age. Read on to learn about growing and caring for guava indoors. Tips on Guava Growing Indoors Guava is easy to propagate by seed, but many people have good luck starting trees with stem cuttings or air layering. If done properly, both techniques have a very high rate of success....

Growing Quince in a Container Before we get any further, it’s important to clear up which kind of quince we’re talking about. There are two major plants that go by the name “quince” – fruiting quince and flowering Japanese quince. The latter can be grown successfully in containers, but we’re here to talk about the former, also known as Cydonia oblonga. To create even more confusion, this quince is not related to its Japanese namesake and shares none of the same growing requirements....

Korean Fir Tree Information Korean fir trees are native to Korea where they live on cool, moist mountainsides. The trees get leaves later than other species of fir trees and, therefore, are less easily injured by unexpected frost. According to the American Conifer Society, there are around 40 different cultivars of Korean fir trees. Some are quite hard to find, but others are well known and more readily available. Korean fir trees have relatively short needles that are dark to bright green in color....

Urban Shade Garden Urban gardening in low light isn’t difficult with the right plants. Herbs are perfect for city gardens in shade, particularly indoors. They are one of the easiest things to grow in low light, and they also grow very well in containers. As a bonus, they’re just the kind of plant you want to keep close by: cooking is a joy when you can snip fresh herbs right in your kitchen....

What is Firebush Good For? Firebush plants are native to the American tropics and subtropics, and are very tolerant of both heat and drought. They flower throughout almost the entire year (provided they’re not exposed to frost) and have bright red foliage in the fall. Because of this, they are very useful in gardens with oppressively hot summers, providing colorful, flashy interest when most other plants would wither. Their red, tubular flowers are also extremely attractive to hummingbirds, making them an obvious choice for hummingbird gardens and easily observable spots near windows and porches....

About Southern Pea Cotton Root Rot Both southern pea cotton root rot and Texas root rot of cowpeas are caused by the fungus Phymatotrichopsis ominvorum. This fungus attacks thousands of broadleaf plants including southern peas and cowpeas. This fungus is nearly always worse in calcareous clay loam soils (with a pH range of 7.0 to 8.5) in regions that are hot in the summers. This means that cowpea cotton root rot and southern pea cotton root rot are found largely in the southwestern United States, like Texas....