December 2020 - Epic Grower LLC

December 16, 2020

Ceylon Cinnamon Growing

Ceylon cinnamon scientific name cinnamon zeylanicum, true cinnamon or Sri Lanka Cinnamon. It’s a flavorful spice added to liquids, deserts and main food dishes. Ceylon cinnamon is considered the Cadillac of cinnamon’s. As a medical herb Cinnamon has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties.

It helps support lower blood sugar levels was a part of a study that showed it enhanced antioxidant enzyme activity. This means it may prevent or treat certain types of cancer. Always, consult your doctor or certified herbalist before using Ceylon Cinnamon for medical uses.

You can harvest the plant at the age of 2yrs. Harvest the new shouts and then left them dry out. There are many articles on how to harvest cinnamon and process the spice for usage. Yes, you can propagate the plant from cuttings or seeds. The seeds tend to be expensive and hard to find in the USA. Once the plant is well established (3yrs plus) it starts to grow more branches faster.

Growing Ceylon Cinnamon

Growing Environment: According to the USDA the plants hardiness zone is 9b through 11. It’s a tropical evergreen tree grows best at low altitudes in a moist climate. Epic Grower LLC is in North Georgia zone 7 so we grow it in a green house during our cool/cold months. No, Epic Grower LLC does not grow this plant in the ground.

Sun, Water and soil: The plant likes full sun to partial shade. It like moist soil and do not let it dry out. Make sure the soil is airy moist but not soggy. We grow the plants in pots under 70% full sunlight. It prefers alkaline sandy soil and is salt tolerant.

Usage: The Ceylon Cinnamon plant has many usages as an herbal/spice and ornamental plant. By purchasing this product you agree that Epic Gower LLC and its staff are not liable what-so-ever for usage of this plant or plant parts.

December 4, 2020

Plant Health Check Up

It’s a great time of the year for a plant health check up. Now’s the time during plant dormant to clear up weeds in the soil, check roots, growth space and do a general assessment of your plants.

First, Happy holidays to all and we wish you the best for the New year. Thank you for your support, questions and business.

Plant Health Check

Many plants are in full dormancy by this time of the year. Even plants that do not drop their leaves go into a slow growth phase (not all during winter) and need a plant health check. During dormancy, slow/no growth periods, reduce watering to once a month. Check root space and if the plant is getting to large for the pot then its time to re-pot in (roots fill up more than 70% of pot).

Please note for very slow growing plants you may not need to up size the plants pot. However, you still need to check the soil and roots.

Roots need some space to breath and to grow. They grow to search out new nutrients and increase watering intake. Plant health check includes determining next growing season needs. you need to prepare the plant now for the new season growth. If you wait until the season starts blooms, fruits, berries and overall plant growth will suffer.

This is great time to re-pot adeniums, most tropical and other succulents. Old soil gets depleted of nutrients and ability to retain moisture. Have you taken a plant out of a pot and just get a big root ball with very little soil? Why- because the plants takes all the nutrients and whats left is very little if any soil. Soil is a general term which includes soil-less mixes too.

When you replace the soil, consider mixing in a time released fertilizer. The fertilizer releases nutrients over several months to replenish the soil. Also, it decreases the recovery time of the plant. Mix the time release fertilizer in the fresh soil . If you top water the plant them place the fertilizer on top of the soil.

AdeniumRose Company LLC uses the soil and the same time release products offer on their website www.adeniumrose.com We are testing other products and plan to offer a 8 -9 month time released fertilizer in 2021 for tropical and other plants. If you overhead water (water from the top of the soil) or if the plant gets a lot of rain then the time release fertilizer is a great product.

December 2, 2020December 4, 2020

Plant Dormancy Basic Care

Plant dormancy occurs with deciduous plants/trees, succulents, cactus, tropical and other plants during winter months. In addition, periods of drought and high temperatures causes plant dormancy too.

Dormancy is a period in an organism’s life cycle when growth, development, and (in animals) physical activity are temporarily stopped. The plant greatly reduces growth and defoliates – its metabolic activity slows down to conserve energy. Dormancy usually is closely related with environmental conditions such as shorter daylight, cooler weather, extreme heat and low water.

Watering During Plant Dormancy

If you obtained a plant during dormancy period please make sure you know what to do. During dormancy plants drop their leaves (most of the time 100%) so your plant may arrive leafless. During plant dormancy you need to reduce watering to prevent root problems and other issues. The majority of plants, not all, that go dormant still need to be watered once a month. Some plants need additional care including warmth and protection from cold weather.

Pruning Cropping Transplanting during Plant Dormancy

Dormancy is a great time to transplant plants into larger containers or refresh the soil. During plant dormancy many types of plants that grow vines or canes are pruned. Remember this is not the time to prune/crop all types of plants.

Re-potting a baobab adamsonia plant during dormancy. Fully clean old soil off roots using a brush/water before potting plant in 100% fresh airy soil

Here is a partial list of plants from Epic Grower LLC Company:

Christia Vespertilonis – Re-pot but DO Not trim branches.
Dwarf Flamboyant Plants – Trim branches and re-pot during this time. These are evergreens in most tropical areas. In other areas we are still testing.
Pseudobombax – trim branches and re-pot.
Fruit Trees – Trim them during dormancy. There are many articles on this on the internet.
Honey suckle – Trim old growth in fall or winter. Check your area and the internet for more information.
Berry plants – Trim and in some cases cut out old canes. Check internet on which berries will not product on old wood/canes. Goji berry grow on old wood and new wood.
Butterfly Plants – trim and cut back old growth. There are a few that will produce on old wood so check your variety. They are evergreens in tropical climates. Other areas they may drop leaves and go dormant.
Brazilian Grape – These are evergreens. Trim during main growing season. Growth slows keep very warm and soil slightly moist.
Cinnamon, Green Tea, Miracle Fruits – These are evergreens. Do not over water. Keep warm and in a sunny location.

Watering Part 2: Dormant Plants still need water. Epic Grower LLC reduces watering to 1-2 times month depending upon plant type instead of every week. This stresses the importance in doing your research on the plants in your garden or containers. Every growing environment is different. The articles here are for general growing. In your area you may need to treat the plants differently. ***** WINDOW areas: Unless the plant sees the sun through the window this is NOT DIRECT SUNLIGHT. Many clients put inside homes tropical, desert plants and other plants that need DIRECT Sunlight throughout the year to survive. Repeat: This is NOT the correct growing environment for the plant and it will suffer and may die. If you plan to grow plants inside that require many hours of direct sunlight then you should get grow lights. Epic Grower LLC use LED grow light in our nursery during winter in Northern Georgia when its too cold.

Know Your Plants Life Cycle

Many plants go dormant in one growing environment while not in others. In SE Florida tropical environment, the Red Butterfly – Christia vespertilonis is an evergreen. Areas north of central Florida they will drop all their leaves. It important to know your environment and do your research.