Q. I am attaching a few photographs of my kangi palm plants. Over the last 12 to 15 months, they haven’t been growing. I have been growing these plants for the last 10 to 12 years, but I have never faced a situation like this before. Kindly look at the images and suggest a solution.

A. It would really help if you would have shared the city of your residence. I will share some causes of the yellowing leaves of the sago or kangi palm. Most of the time, the kangi palm is greatly impacted by extreme falls in temperature. The leaves do turn characteristically yellow. Similarly, a certain bluish-grey butterfly, called the cycad moth, sometimes visits the plant and lays eggs on the leaves. As they hatch and grow into caterpillars, they devour the newly growing leaves. This leaves the plant with leaflets-less midribs. Any of the organic pesticides can be used for that.

Sometimes, soil compaction and root bounding (compaction of roots in small container space) can result in stunted and slow growth as well. Shifting the plant to a bigger container can go a long way to mitigate that. Finally, do check if you are providing the plant with the required fertilisers, especially manganese, in a timely manner. The yellowing of the leaves can also be due to a manganese deficiency. Many commercially available fertilisers contain manganese sulphate, which will solve your issue if manganese deficiency is the primary reason. Needless to say, remember that the kangi palm is a slow-growing plant. I hope it bounces back quickly for you.

Q. I am from Karachi and I am planning to grow plants in the backyard garden of my house. I need a helper to look after my garden to grow fruits and vegetables. Can you assist me?

All your gardening queries answered here…

A. It is always heartening to come across people who are willing to adopt the green hobby, especially with the intention to grow organic food. This way, they tend to play their small, albeit critical, part in beautifying their surrounding and positively impacting the environment. I would suggest you to take up gardening from scratch and invest your time and energies into it. In case you run into any problems, please send the specific query to me, and I will try my level best to help you in growing and managing your own fruits and vegetables garden. The short-listed queries are addressed in the article published on the last Sunday of every month. Keep us posted about your accomplishments and happy gardening!

Q. I have enjoyed and learnt a lot from your articles on the red lipstick plant. I had no idea about their care, except that they hate strong light and too much water. I will just go and cut off the white flowers as you suggested! Thank you for your articles on Aglaonema.

A. It is true that requirements of certain ornamental plants, especially the Aglaonemas, are contrary to usual gardening practices. The removal of its white flowers is one such aspect. Although I find it heartbreaking to remove such aesthetically fitting flowers that complement the red lipstick plant, it is believed that doing so improves the overall growth of the plant. The flowers, otherwise, tend to sap the energy of the plant.

Q. I have grown some plants at my home in Karachi. A few of my plants got a white bug. I have sprayed the plant fortnightly, but the bugs are still spreading. Can you tell me what to do? They have killed many of my plants in the past as well, despite cutting them out, spraying them and separating them. They are literally eating my plants. I am very anxious and afraid. I have more than sixty plants in pots on my balcony and stairs, in an open environment, with direct sunlight exposure. Please tell me what to do.

A. It would really help if you share a clear photograph of the insect or the pest that is attacking your plant. This would enable me to provide a better solution to your query. Meanwhile, keep the infected plants separated from the ones that are still safe, to limit the aggressive spread. Please also mention the number of hours of sunlight that your plants are exposed to, your watering schedule and quantity, and also the aeration, with proximity of plants to each other, in your follow-up email. Also mention which pesticide spray you were previously using for the said white bug.

Please send your queries and emails to doctree101@hotmail.com. The writer is a physician and a host for the YouTube channel ‘DocTree Gardening’ promoting organic kitchen gardening

Published in Dawn, EOS, July 28th, 2024