Spring and Summer Care for Tropical Plants: 5 Things to Know
If your tropical plants threw a party, it would be in spring or summer.
It’s when your hibiscus would get all sassy and show off her 6-inch blooms.
But then, just when the crotons were comparing snazzy leaf patterns and the blue daze and iris ‘Regina’ were bragging about being blue, some party pooper would crash in and spoil all the fun.
Aphids, maybe, or white flies. Then some plant would start whining they’re not getting enough to drink. Or the ixora would complain they’re hungry.
Caring for tropical plants in spring and summer means you get them at their party best — but there’s also more potential problems to solve.
How to take care of tropical plants? Plenty of water, but not too much. Frequent, smaller doses of fertilizer. Be alert to aphids and other other plant pests.
Let's learn more about tropical plant maintenance, including:
First Up, Water is Everything
Tropical Plant Maintenance and Your Irrigation System
Hey, Who’s Hungry? Tropical Plant Care Means Frequent Food
Caring for Tropical Plants in Spring and Summer Means Ugh, Bugs
Treating Plant Pests is Part of Tropical Plant Maintenance
Let the Pros Make It Easy
1. First Up, Water is Everything
Well, not everything, exactly, or there’d be no need for this long of a story. But proper watering is super important for your tropical plant care, to keep them thriving.
How long to water plants here in Sarasota? In a nutshell, give them plenty of water at the beginning when you plant them, then ease back on the watering so their roots have to dive deeper into the soil to get a drink.
It’s tempting to give your tropical plant pals lots of water. It seems like the right thing to do, here in hot and sunny Sarasota, right?
Nope. Too much water actually hurts them.
You want those plant roots to have to reach deep into the soil for water, so they develop into deep, strong roots. Water all the time, and those roots can get lazy, easily finding water right at the surface. Then they become shallow and weak and absolutely no fun at a party.
Which leads to…
2. Tropical Plant Maintenance and Your Irrigation System
Irrigation is kind of complicated around here.
Sometimes it’s dry. Sometimes it seems like monsoon season. The temperature fluctuates a lot, too. It all adds up to a whole lot of adjusting the timer on your irrigation system which, in case you haven’t noticed, isn’t super fun.
Your irrigation system’s controller needs adjusting 6-8 times a year to allow for all that. Sometimes, three times in one month.
Ugh. How will you have time to attend your tropical plants’ fun summer parties?
Answer: Regular irrigation system inspections.
You’ll know irrigation pros are keeping on top of all those pesky timer changes, and also noticing small signs of potential problems before your precious landscaping suffers.
Make sure you have a Sarasota landscaping company that stays on top of irrigation maintenance, so your outdoor tropical plants stay well-watered and healthy.
3. Hey, Who’s Hungry? Tropical Plant Care Means Frequent Food
You know that guy at the party who eats three pulled pork sliders, then a half hour later you see him at the dessert table devouring mini cream puffs, then the next thing you know he’s polished off the last of the crab cakes AND the seven-layer dip?
That’s your tropical plants, always hungry. Also, that sounds like a pretty good party.
Our sandy soil here in Sarasota is great for building sand castles, but kind of problematic when it comes to fertilizing plants. Those important fertilizer nutrients flow right through our sandy soil.
That means you need smaller, more frequent fertilizer applications, so the fertilizer can actually make it to your plants’ roots instead of just draining right through into the groundwater.
Maybe you’ve heard a couple fertilizer visits a year are enough for tropical plant maintenance.
Nope. That’s not enough. Tropical Gardens visits once a month for 8-10 months of the season, visiting more often and applying smaller amounts of nutrients so they can really take hold.
4. Caring for Tropical Plants in Spring and Summer Means Ugh, Bugs
Pesky plant-damaging insects are definitely not invited to the party, but like your cousin who arrives unannounced and then crashes on your couch for two weeks, they show up anyway.
Who are the main party crashers?
Scale
Scale are sap-eating insects named for the scale or shell-like waxy covering that covers their bodies. They feed by sucking sap from trees and shrubs with their weird-sounding “piercing-sucking mouth parts.” (And you thought the guy who ate all the dip was rude.)
Mealybugs
Mealybugs are a common Florida pest, causing significant damage to tropical plants. They're known for their distinctive white waxy coating, making them appear fluffy or cottony.
These tiny invaders are usually found on the leaves and stems of plants, laying their eggs in hard-to-reach areas. As they feed, they weaken the plant, causing yellowing and curling of leaves.
Mites
This Florida plant pest damages plants by piercing plant cells and sucking the plant juices.
You’ll notice yellow or white spots on the leaf where the mites are feeding. Leaves may curl and fall off. A plant that was doing great might suddenly stop growing. Watching out for these guys is part of tropical plant care.
Whiteflies
Whiteflies are another common Florida pest that can cause serious damage to plants.
They’re not actually flies, but are more closely related to aphids, mealybugs, and scale.
Whiteflies gather on the underside of leaves and feed by sucking sap from plants, causing leaves to yellow, wither, and die.
Aphids
You might never see an aphid, but the damage they do is noticeable.
Like lots of bugs, aphids feed by sucking the nutrient-rich liquids out of plants. When a whole bunch of them gather to feast, their feeding can cause wilting and sometimes even dieback of shoots and buds.
You might see misshapen, curling, or yellowing leaves. Look underneath leaves—aphids love to hide there.
5. Treating Plant Pests is Part of Tropical Plant Maintenance
Bug don’t make it easy. They eat in all sorts of different ways, making it a tricky challenge to zap them. Some bugs eat your plant’s leaves — please, not the canna! — others feed through the plant’s vascular system.
Tropical Gardens crews use an insecticide that works both ways, targeting bugs that eat through a plant’s roots and through contact with the leaves, for a one-two punch.
Speaking of plant pros….
Let the Pros Make It Easy
If you weren’t so busy watering, fertilizing, checking your irrigation system and patrolling for pesky bugs, you could make it to a lot more tropical plant parties.
How to take care of tropical plants?
Leave the fertilizing, pest monitoring and irrigation checks to the experts, who will show up at the right times with the right care to keep your Florida outdoor tropical plants healthy and thriving not just in spring and summer, but year-round.
Tropical Plant Care Getting You Down? Talk to Us
Get on board with Tropical Gardens’ full-service maintenance plan, and our team will be on your property each week, closely monitoring your tropical plants for water and fertilizer needs and early signs of plant pests.
Give us a call or fill out our form today!
Then, get back to your tropical plants’ party before some guy eats all the crab cakes. Our team of Sarasota landscape experts will take care of your time-consuming tropical plant maintenance, and all your other landscape maintenance services in Sarasota, too.
Image Sources: Scale, Mealybugs, Mites, White Flies, Aphids
