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House Plants/Expert Profile

Darlene K. Kittle

U.S.

Available

Expertise

I have been a Master Gardener for 20 years and I raise around 300 houseplants a year including tropicals, succulents, and cacti.

Experience in the area

She is also studying the Japanese art of bonsai with tropical plants and is President of the Fort Wayne, IN Bonsai Club.

Education/Credentials

I am not a hortculturist. I am a Purdue University Master Gardener for over 20 years. I have studied plants on a personal level by growing hundreds of plants annually for the last 35 years. I have also studied under several nationally known American Bonsai experts.

What do you like about this subject?

I love the challenge of keeping houseplants looking their best.

What do you still hope to achieve/learn in this field?

There are always new plants becoming available and raising each one is a new challenge, especially blooming ones.

Something interesting about this subject that others may not know:

Any blooming houseplant will bloom more if it is rootbound.

Something controversial or provocative about this subject

Do you know that epsom salts will help make african violets and other blooming plants bloom more?

Average Ratings

Recent Reviews from Users

User	Date	K	C	T	P	Comments
Arleen	11/05/09	10	10	10	10	Thank you so much. The leaf drop .....
Linda	11/05/09	10	10	10	10	thanks so much! Linda
Angela	11/01/09	10	10	10	10	Thank you so much for your help .....
Debbie	10/30/09	8	10	10	10
Linda	10/30/09	10	10	10	10	Thank-you so much for your quick and .....

Recent Answers from Darlene K. Kittle

2009-11-05 Overgrown umbrella plant:

Suzanne, You didn't say whether it has leaves growing all the way up the trunk or any side branches. I reccommend that you prune it back drastically. Pruning will cause it to branch out a lot and make

2009-11-05 Mass Cane:

Linda, Try to figure out which end of each cane goes down and get a pot of soil then dip the bottom end in rooting hormone and insert it in the pot of soil. Then set the pot back outside in the same

2009-11-04 house plant:

Anna, I am sorry, you will have to send me a picture for me to identify it for certain. I think it may be in the philodendron family. You can go to google put philodendron in and click on images and

2009-11-02 Ornamental orange tree:

Arleen, The mold is most likely due to being too wet and because we have had a very wet year there are a lot of mold spores in the air that are very opportunistic. I reccomend that you keep the plant

2009-11-01 Basil Plant:

Kritka, You should keep the house much above 70 degrees because too hot can kill them also. The would actually like it around 65 degrees which would be a bit cool for you. They especially like the temperature

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