Hey Elizabeth...Nice use of nutrient recycling to fertilize your plants. Are you composting the food before applying them to the soil? Or are you applying the banana peels, coffee grounds and smoothie directly to the rootzone of the roses? The reason why I ask is because composting is a great way to provide nutrition to your plants. It's fairly easy to do and costs very little. I also would recommend putting that banana peel in the freezer for a day or two. When the banana peel defrosts in the compost bin, it will break down quicker. (Ice crystals form inside the plant cells and act like little microscopic knives that cut up the cells as it defrosts). I too am excited to hear that your rose is covered in little buds. Let me know what the rose looks like when it fully blooms. Very exciting! Cheers...Dr. Robby

I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any more questions. Cheers...Dr. Robby

Now as for pulling up plants or keeping them, I am usually impartial. If you have an emotional attachment to the plants, of course I would recommend you try anything possible to keep those plants going. But if not, I have always felt that those plants are there to look pretty. If they aren't looking pretty, you might as well put something in its place that will look pretty.

As for the yellowish/greenish spotting, that can be a number of things. Spotting is normally a sign of viral or bacterial infection (don't worry...plant pathogens do not infect people). Yellowing of leaves can also be a sign of low soil fertility (normally the symptoms are not manifested as spotting though). Here's the kicker though: if a plant is not as healthy as it could be, it could be more prone to pathogen infection. So if it is not getting enough fertilizer, the plant may be more prone to infection. My question is: how often do you fertilize your roses?

Hey Elizabeth...Plants' metabolisms will slow down as they age, but this really won't affect your roses output in any significant way. Plants have a different way of growing than animals do. Since plants cannot move around they have to have a tremendous ability to adapt to their environment. They can regrow appendages that are pruned away (I would not be able to do the same if I were "pruned"). This ability to make new plant parts allows the plant to produce new stems and roots that will act like young plants. It is true that the base of the plant will be old, but the part of the plant that has the flowers and leaves that you would be interested in is essentially new.

So, how often do you water your bonsai?

Growing bonsai trees can be difficult because the trees' roots are stunted in their growth. This means that you will have to be careful to deliver just the right amount of water and other nutrients to the roots since the tree cannot go out and explore the soil on its own.

Hey Carolyn...I think that somebody may be right. What's difficult about this particular situation is that in many plants the ill effects of watering too much and too little can manifest itself in the same way: leaf drop, drooping, etc...If you water it quite a lot, you can be causing there to be very little oxygen in the soil. This causes the roots to die off, which is what causes the leaf drop or wilting and so on. When the roots abruptly die off for whatever reason, the symptoms will resemble not getting enough water because the roots can no longer supply enough water to the aboveground parts of the plant.

Hey Marjorie...I think I may need some clarification. Normally when one grafts in the horticultural world, a young stem (usually a different but closely related stem) is grafted into an older, basal stem or trunk. The two stems have to be closely related otherwise the grafting won't take. This is why you can graft different rose stems onto rose trunk and citrus stems onto citrus trunks. Do you want to graft young money tree stems onto your money tree trunk? Is your money tree leafless? Did it drop its leaves? You have piqued my interest here and would love to give some feedback if I can. Cheers...Dr. Robby

Hey Brett...You can use a straight perlite medium if you wish. I've definitely done that with success. As for the hybrid issue, that shouldn't really be a problem. When you make a cutting like you are, you are essentially making clones of the mother plant. In other words, the genes of the cuttings will be essentially the same of the mother plant's genes. I can't really think of a reason why a hybridized plant would not propagate vegetatively. Generally, hybridized is a good thing (hybrid vigor vs. inbred). Also, it sounds like you're doing the right thing with the tray and cover. Good luck with your cuttings. Definitely let me know if you need any help. I'm always willing to assist fellow gardeners. :) Cheers...Dr. Robby