So what can you do once your watermelon has a disease? Well, there's not much you would be able to do at this point. I would recommend cleaning up dead leaves around the melons. Dead leaves are breeding grounds for fungi that cause disease in plants. By cleaning up dead leaves, you would decrease the chance that the fungus can sporulate and start another generation of growth.

Hey Alex...I answered your other post about which watermelons would do best in tropical climates and I didn't even see this question. Sorry about that. I am assuming that you either have some type of wilt or the leaves of your watermelon have a fuzzy, grayish-colored growth on them. Both of these problems can be caused by stagnant water (either on the leaves or at the crown of the plant). FYI, the crown of the plant is basically where the stems touches the soil. Fungi require a good amount of moisture for their spores to germinate. If you water your watermelons by just spraying the plant with water from the hose, you may inadvertently allow water to pool on those big watermelon leaves. This can increase the chances that a fungal spores will germinate. Same thing goes for the soil. If the soil doesn't drain well and the it is soggy all the time, this will increase the chances of disease.

Hey Alex...Good question! Watermelons are more susceptible to frost damage than they are to heat damage, so I would say that almost any watermelon would be fine for the tropics if temperature was the only factor you are worried about. Having said that, I would also insist on trying to grow a cultivar of watermelon that is disease resistant. Especially if they are resistant to anthracnose and fusarium wilts. There are quite a few varieties out there that are resistant to those two fungi. I would recommend 'Jubilee II Hybrid', 'Crimson Sweet' or 'Ruby Hybrid'. I hope this is helpful to you. Let me know if you have any further questions. --Robby

Hey Chris...The algorithms definitely are in place, but the cultivation needs for each species of grass is what is needed. Those are the variables that fit into the algorithms. Also, I wanted to know if there was a specific variety of grass Ellen or yourself have in mind to help prioritize which cultivar of grass. I have a long backlog of plants that we are chipping away at. If I knew which specific grass or any plant for that matter, I would bump it up to the front of the list. I do wish it was easier to add plants, but there is quite a bit of research that needs to be done for each entry. I definitely would not want to add a new plant entry with cultivation needs that were not accurate which may result in sub par plants (or even worse: plant death). I hope this is helpful. If you do have any new plants that you would like to see in the database, please feel free to post in these forums. I read them all the time and am happy to accommodate our users. Cheers...Robby

Hey Ryan...This is the right place to request the plants you want to see on the website. I will be happy to add the Bing and Royal Ann Cherries to the database. They may not have pictures associated with them right away. Fortunately, we can use our users photos and give them photo credits. If you have a photo that you have the rights to, we would gladly show off your photography on our website. :) Thanks, Robby

The cuttings will need some time to develop new roots. This can take a number weeks to months depending on several factors. The cuttings will need some light, but the light should never be allowed to dry out the potting mix. I hope this is helpful. If anyone has any questions about making cuttings feel free to reply to this thread or post a new topic. Cheers...Robby

The primary difficulty your new cuttings will have at this point is drying out. Your cuttings do not have roots to absorb water, and you will want to decrease the rate at which your cuttings lose water. This can be done by increasing the relative humidity around the cuttings. Constant misting can do this. Placing the pot in a plastic bag (it's important that the bag is not sealed) and then pouring some water into the bottom of the bag can also increase the relative humidity around the cuttings. Unfortunately, increasing the relative humidity will also increase the chances that a microbial pathogen will germinate and possibly cause disease.

I would prepare some small pots with light and airy soil. You can make light and airy soil by getting some regular potting mix and mixing it with a good amount of perlite. Perlite will add porosity to the mix. This is important because roots need oxygen to grow. I would water the new airy potting mix so that the soil is completely saturated. I would allow the potting mix to drain so that it is very moist. Water should not be pooling on the top of the mix. I would then use my thumb to dig out holes in the mix (1 for each cutting). Then I would use shears to cut the top parts of the stem (before you make the cutting be sure to remove the leaves from the stem; I recommend this for species of Dracaena and Cordyline, but not every plant would need to have their stems leafless). I would cut about 1 cm above the stem node (a node is where the leaf is attached to the stem). The cutting that I just removed from the plant should be dipped into some rooting hormone. I've normally used powdered rooting hormone in the past, but you can premix it to acquire the desired concentration of active ingredient. The bottom of the cutting should be covered in powdered rooting compound out this point. Gently place the cutting into the previously formed indentations in the soil. Try not to rub off too much rooting hormone. Pack some soil around the cutting so that it can stand up on its own. Repeat this until you have the desired amount of cuttings.

The idea is to cut a part of the stem and then make it reform roots from the base of the new cutting. Once those roots are established you can plant it like you normally would. This is your new clone! With Dracaena and Cordyline (both genera of plants are closely related), you most likely will not need any extra push to create roots, but I would still use some type of rooting hormone. The rooting hormone mimics a natural plant hormone that would normally initiate new root development. The following would be how I would make these cuttings...

An EasyBloomer asked a question about how to propagate a couple of species of Dracaena so that they would have clones of the original plant. This is called vegetative propagation and a gardener would take semi-ripe stem cuttings during the summer months. A semi-ripe stem cutting is one that is not too "woody". You would find this type of cutting towards the top of the stem. The part of the stem that is at the base would be harder and more difficult to properly root.