Frangipani can grow into a large tree and needs space

I wanted to create a little garden of frangipani trees and planted the cuttings from the main tree close to the original. Now, I find the mother tree is long and spindly. Are the roots competing for nutrients and should I have planted them farther away?

Gouri Mirpuri

Frangipani can grow into trees when growth conditions are optimal and given space. As such, planting cuttings too closely as shown in the photo is not recommended.

You may be tempted to dig the cuttings out from the ground, but this process can damage the roots of surrounding plants. Instead, take cuttings of the new plants while leaving the stumps, which can be carefully dug out later on and discarded.

Leave the new cuttings in a corner to allow the wound to dry and heal for at least two weeks before planting them. They can be planted in a large pot for a period of time before you decide where to plant them in the ground. Plants should ideally be spaced about 3m apart.

Ensure the site you want to grow them on has full sun. Lack of sunlight will lead to plants developing long branches that do not flower often.

Pollination vital for proper fruit formation of bittergourd

I planted bittergourd with seeds collected from the fruit bought from the market. The fruit will not grow longer than 10cm to 12cm and turn yellow very quickly. How can I grow bigger fruit that remain green?

Thomas Lee

Market-bought bittergourd may be produced by F1 hybrid seeds, or seeds from a plant variety that has been carefully bred by growers. Plants grown from seeds taken from such fruit generally will not breed true and may not inherit the same characteristics of the parent. For example, the fruit may be smaller.

Judging from the shape of your fruit, there might have been incomplete pollination. Ensure your garden is friendly to natural pollinators such as bees. The use of insecticides can discourage pollinators from visiting your garden. You may want to use manual pollination to ensure pollination is complete, which is necessary for the formation of well-shaped and large fruit.

Cultivation practices and growing conditions can also affect your plants. Ensure they have sufficient sunlight and are grown in well-draining and fertile soil, with regular feeding of fertiliser. You may want to keep a few fruit to develop fully, rather than having numerous fruit growing on the same vine.

Blue Pea plant requires direct sunlight to thrive

We grew these Blue Pea plants from seeds and when the seeds started sprouting, we planted them in a pot, hanging out from our patio, under direct sunlight. The plants soon had healthy foliage, but there were no flowers.

When the stems were thick, we pruned the plants, leaving only a few leaves behind. The leaves sprouted again, but still there were no flowers.

We pruned the plants once more and moved them to the floor of our patio, where they still get a lot of sunlight, but still no flowers. Are these male plants?

Elangovan Karuppiah

The Blue Pea plant (Clitoria ternatea) is a vine that produces bisexual flowers, which have both male and female parts in the same flower. As such, this species does not have separate male and female plants.

The reason it does not flower is probably the lack of light, judging from the conditions in the photo. This species needs to be grown in a location with at least six hours of direct sunlight daily in an apartment balcony setting or full sun outdoors. Both light intensity and duration of exposure matter.

Finally, avoid overfeeding the plant. Excess nutrients such as nitrogen will promote the production of foliage over flowers. Apply a fertiliser with lower nitrogen ratio and, if the plant is growing well, you can reapply once a month if it is grown in a small pot.

Sago Palm needs direct sunlight to thrive

May I know why my second new palm leaf (at 12 o’clock in the main pot pictured) is following the same form as my first new leaf (at 3 o’clock)? They do not look like the other three smaller leaves, which have the typical appearance of palm leaves.

Alethea Chan

The plant you have is commonly called the Sago Palm. Botanically known as Cycas revoluta, it is not a true palm like the coconut. From the picture, the new leaves appear much larger and lighter green in colour. They should feel softer, not as rigid and stiff like the older leaves.

This is a sign that the plant is not receiving sufficient sunlight for optimal growth. You can see similar plants in outdoor gardens where they are exposed to full sun in the open. In an apartment setting, you should place the plant where there is direct sunlight exposure for at least six hours daily.

Brown, underdeveloped guava fruit due to fungal disease or pests

Why does my guava tree produce many fruit that turn from green to brown before they ripen?

Ahti K. Sreedhran

Without a close-up photo of the fruit, it is difficult to pinpoint the reason your guava tree produces brown, underdeveloped fruit.

Are the fruit mushy at the bottom? If this is the case, your fruit could be infected by a fungal disease.

Ensure developing fruit are not damaged and, to prevent infection, protect them with fruit protection wrapping bags.

The spraying of a chemical fungicide like Captan on developing fruit may help to reduce the incidence and severity of the disease – do adhere to the withholding period of the fungicide before harvesting the fruit for consumption.

Another reason could be due to small sap-sucking pests such as mites, which feed on small fruit during development. The feeding marks manifest as brown discolouration when the fruit grow larger. You will need to spray pesticides like summer oil weekly to manage the pest population.