QUESTION: I have a Christmas cactus, but it did not flower this past year at Christmas. It’s very healthy and green, but it doesn’t get flowers. Should I use Epsom salts? Somebody told me that would help.
ANSWER: Epsom salts can make blooms bigger on a plant, but it’s not going to produce flowers. What your plant probably could use is some regular fertilization. Generally, you need to fertilize in spring and summer. Then let the plant get some rest in October and November for a while. Put it in a dark closet at night and let it sit. Take it out during the day and only let it have indirect light. When it begins to produce buds, you put it in direct light and it’s supposed to start blooming for Christmas. A Christmas cactus is not an arid desert plant; it’s a tropical plant. It likes moist soil, but it doesn’t like being over-watered. Your plant might also benefit from being put into a slightly larger pot.
Q: I have a tree stump that I want to remove from my backyard. Who can I get to dig it up?
A: There aren’t many landscapers around who will dig up stumps any more. They generally grind them down to about three or four inches below grade and then put soil on top of them. Stumps will continue to decompose, and sometimes the earth will sink in that area as they get older. But you can keep piling more and more dirt on top of them. The decomposing tree is usually good for your soil as well.
Q: I want to plant a five-gallon dwarf-sized tree. Is it too late to plant trees now?
A: It’s the perfect time to plant a tree like that now. They love to be planted in cool weather. Use compost mixed with native soil when you plant a non-native. The arbor vitae is an evergreen tree that is sometimes used in planting hedges as well.
Q: I have an older house with a water pipeline that goes through the house before going out into the backyard so that I can use its water to irrigate my plants. I’d like to install a water softener and water treatment system, but then I’d end up having to irrigate my plants with softened water, wouldn’t I? I don’t know if that would be good for the plants. What should I do?
A: That fear of using soft water for irrigation is kind of an urban legend; softened water definitely won’t affect any plants indigenous to Arizona. But you do want to set up your water treatment so that you don’t run that irrigation water through a treatment system. That’s because using treated water for irrigation is a more expensive way to go. But water softening companies can add a hose bib to your softening system that will allow you to use unsoftened water in your yard.
Q: I have a water softening system and it works just fine, but I always have a pink-colored ring in my toilet bowl. How can I stop that?
A: That ring is caused by bacteria that are not harmful; many people have the same problem. You can put a very small amount of bleach in the bowl to control the bacteria. But you do want to avoid putting bleach in the toilet tank as it can eat away at the mechanism inside the tank.
