QMy father has many pecan trees but some of the pecans from a few trees have this brownish film on the meat.
What could cause this?
A This film does rub off, but is usually caused by some type of stress to the trees when they are forming the meat of the pecans.
Lack of moisture or heavy fruit set that causes extra competition among the nuts for the tree’s resources can both lead to this.
Q We belong to a church in North Little Rock and plan on redoing our flower beds this spring. Should we use wood chips or mulch?
A Wood chips are a type of mulch.
When mulching I prefer a shredded hardwood mulch. Large wood chips tend to float away when it rains if there is any slope. I avoid cypress mulch because its suppliers often shred whole trees to meet the demand.
Q I live in Rogers and have two althea “trees” on the northeast side of my house that profusely set buds each spring. However only a small proportion of the buds actually bloom and the blooms only last a day or two before dropping. The remaining buds stay on the tree until the following spring. The trees are about 6 years old and were selected and planted by a local nursery.
The altheas are watered and fed as per information I have researched. What recommendations would you have to help my altheas increase their bloom production?
A Althea blooms are very short-lived when they open, usually lasting no more than a day or two, and the flowers close at night.
But they set an enormous number of flower buds, and we usually have color from early summer up until frost.
Buds that don’t open are typically on plants that get too much care - overwatering or overfertilization.
One application of fertilizer per year should suffice.
They will bloom in full sun to partial shade with better flowering in the sun.
Q Help! Our beautiful peace lily is having a meltdown - it outgrew the pot. Following printed instructions, I split the plant and placed half in a separate pot of equal size using Miracle-Gro moisture control potting soil. A week later the original plant was showing some growth, but the other half shows no life and has wilted completely. It is an indoor plant under a medium light watered sparingly. Any suggestions? If all foliage is clipped will it regrow?
A Peace lilies are usually pretty tough plants. I usually don’t do much with houseplants in the winter, just because they don’t grow quickly in indoor conditions. Move the cut plant into a smaller pot. We normally want the plant to be in a pot that is just slightly larger than the root ball.
Cutting your existing plant in half but using the same size container leaves a lot of soil with no roots in it, which can be hard to keep uniformly moist until the roots kick back in and grow.
Limiting the space may help, but don’t overwater - the leading cause of houseplant death. Be patient, give it bright light and even moisture and see what happens.
Q I bought this plant last spring, and the nursery where I bought it could only identify it as a succulent. A The plant is a succulent called kalanchoe.
Kalanchoe luciae is the Latin name, and paddle plant, flapjack plant, red pancakes or desert cabbage are all common names.
There are many varieties of kalanchoe. This type takes on more red coloration in cool weather.
Janet Carson is a horticulture specialist for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Write to her at 2301 S. University Ave., Little Rock, Ark. 72204 or email her at
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