Q-Do you have any special tips for growing jade plants, especially how to force flowering?
-Palatine
A-Crassula argentea, the jade plant, is a succulent originally from the dry areas of the world, and its cultural requirements reflect this: fresh, circulating air (outdoors in summer), lots of sun, well-drained soil, moderate watering and fertilizing during active growth.
One very important requirement is a cool, dormant period.
During this winter dormancy, watering should be reduced to once every one to two months, and the night-time temperature can sink to as low as 45.
Don’t be in a hurry to repot a large jade. If absolutely necessary, repot in spring but choose a shallow pot over a deep one.
A mature, slightly pot-bound jade can bloom if kept in a very cool but sunny room.
Q-I want to plant a hardy bamboo in my garden but I don’t want it to take over my yard.
Any ideas?
-Evanston
A-The varieties of bamboo that are hardy in Chicago can be kept under control by sinking an 18- to 24-inch-deep barrier of steel, plastic or fiberglass into the ground to outline the bed.
Bamboo can also be grown in large containers set around the garden or patio, but they would then have to be treated as annuals.
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Lee Randhava is a Master Gardener at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Send your gardening concerns to Questions, Plant Information, Chicago Botanic Garden, Box 400, Glencoe, Ill. 60022.
Letters cannot be answered individually, but those of general interest will appear in this space.
