{"appState":{"pageLoadApiCallsStatus":true},"articleState":{"article":{},"articleLoadedStatus":"error"},"listState":{"list":{},"objectTitle":"","status":"initial","pageType":null,"objectId":null,"page":1,"sortField":"time","sortOrder":1,"categoriesIds":[],"articleTypes":[],"filterData":{},"filterDataLoadedStatus":"initial","pageSize":10},"adsState":{"pageScripts":{"headers":{"timestamp":"2023-01-02T10:50:01+00:00"},"adsId":0,"data":{"scripts":[{"pages":["all"],"location":"header","script":"<!--Optimizely Script-->\r\n<script src=\"https://cdn.optimizely.com/js/10563184655.js\"></script>","enabled":false},{"pages":["all"],"location":"header","script":"<!-- comScore Tag -->\r\n<script>var _comscore = _comscore || [];_comscore.push({ c1: \"2\", c2: \"15097263\" });(function() {var s = document.createElement(\"script\"), el = document.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0]; s.async = true;s.src = (document.location.protocol == \"https:\" ? \"https://sb\" : \"http://b\") + \".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\";el.parentNode.insertBefore(s, el);})();</script><noscript><img src=\"https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=15097263&cv=2.0&cj=1\" /></noscript>\r\n<!-- / comScore Tag -->","enabled":true},{"pages":["all"],"location":"footer","script":"<!--BEGIN QUALTRICS WEBSITE FEEDBACK SNIPPET-->\r\n<script type='text/javascript'>\r\n(function(){var g=function(e,h,f,g){\r\nthis.get=function(a){for(var a=a+\"=\",c=document.cookie.split(\";\"),b=0,e=c.length;b<e;b++){for(var d=c[b];\" \"==d.charAt(0);)d=d.substring(1,d.length);if(0==d.indexOf(a))return d.substring(a.length,d.length)}return null};\r\nthis.set=function(a,c){var b=\"\",b=new Date;b.setTime(b.getTime()+6048E5);b=\"; expires=\"+b.toGMTString();document.cookie=a+\"=\"+c+b+\"; path=/; \"};\r\nthis.check=function(){var a=this.get(f);if(a)a=a.split(\":\");else if(100!=e)\"v\"==h&&(e=Math.random()>=e/100?0:100),a=[h,e,0],this.set(f,a.join(\":\"));else return!0;var c=a[1];if(100==c)return!0;switch(a[0]){case \"v\":return!1;case \"r\":return c=a[2]%Math.floor(100/c),a[2]++,this.set(f,a.join(\":\")),!c}return!0};\r\nthis.go=function(){if(this.check()){var a=document.createElement(\"script\");a.type=\"text/javascript\";a.src=g;document.body&&document.body.appendChild(a)}};\r\nthis.start=function(){var t=this;\"complete\"!==document.readyState?window.addEventListener?window.addEventListener(\"load\",function(){t.go()},!1):window.attachEvent&&window.attachEvent(\"onload\",function(){t.go()}):t.go()};};\r\ntry{(new g(100,\"r\",\"QSI_S_ZN_5o5yqpvMVjgDOuN\",\"https://zn5o5yqpvmvjgdoun-wiley.siteintercept.qualtrics.com/SIE/?Q_ZID=ZN_5o5yqpvMVjgDOuN\")).start()}catch(i){}})();\r\n</script><div id='ZN_5o5yqpvMVjgDOuN'><!--DO NOT REMOVE-CONTENTS PLACED HERE--></div>\r\n<!--END WEBSITE FEEDBACK SNIPPET-->","enabled":false},{"pages":["all"],"location":"header","script":"<!-- Hotjar Tracking Code for http://www.dummies.com -->\r\n<script>\r\n (function(h,o,t,j,a,r){\r\n h.hj=h.hj||function(){(h.hj.q=h.hj.q||[]).push(arguments)};\r\n h._hjSettings={hjid:257151,hjsv:6};\r\n a=o.getElementsByTagName('head')[0];\r\n r=o.createElement('script');r.async=1;\r\n r.src=t+h._hjSettings.hjid+j+h._hjSettings.hjsv;\r\n a.appendChild(r);\r\n })(window,document,'https://static.hotjar.com/c/hotjar-','.js?sv=');\r\n</script>","enabled":false},{"pages":["article"],"location":"header","script":"<!-- //Connect Container: dummies --> <script src=\"//get.s-onetag.com/bffe21a1-6bb8-4928-9449-7beadb468dae/tag.min.js\" async defer></script>","enabled":true},{"pages":["homepage"],"location":"header","script":"<meta name=\"facebook-domain-verification\" content=\"irk8y0irxf718trg3uwwuexg6xpva0\" />","enabled":true},{"pages":["homepage","article","category","search"],"location":"footer","script":"<!-- Facebook Pixel Code -->\r\n<noscript>\r\n<img height=\"1\" width=\"1\" src=\"https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=256338321977984&ev=PageView&noscript=1\"/>\r\n</noscript>\r\n<!-- End Facebook Pixel Code -->","enabled":true}]}},"pageScriptsLoadedStatus":"success"},"navigationState":{"navigationCollections":[{"collectionId":287568,"title":"BYOB (Be Your Own Boss)","hasSubCategories":false,"url":"/collection/for-the-entry-level-entrepreneur-287568"},{"collectionId":293237,"title":"Be a Rad Dad","hasSubCategories":false,"url":"/collection/be-the-best-dad-293237"},{"collectionId":295890,"title":"Career Shifting","hasSubCategories":false,"url":"/collection/career-shifting-295890"},{"collectionId":294090,"title":"Contemplating the Cosmos","hasSubCategories":false,"url":"/collection/theres-something-about-space-294090"},{"collectionId":287563,"title":"For Those Seeking Peace of Mind","hasSubCategories":false,"url":"/collection/for-those-seeking-peace-of-mind-287563"},{"collectionId":287570,"title":"For the Aspiring Aficionado","hasSubCategories":false,"url":"/collection/for-the-bougielicious-287570"},{"collectionId":291903,"title":"For the Budding Cannabis Enthusiast","hasSubCategories":false,"url":"/collection/for-the-budding-cannabis-enthusiast-291903"},{"collectionId":291934,"title":"For the Exam-Season Crammer","hasSubCategories":false,"url":"/collection/for-the-exam-season-crammer-291934"},{"collectionId":287569,"title":"For the Hopeless Romantic","hasSubCategories":false,"url":"/collection/for-the-hopeless-romantic-287569"},{"collectionId":296450,"title":"For the Spring Term Learner","hasSubCategories":false,"url":"/collection/for-the-spring-term-student-296450"}],"navigationCollectionsLoadedStatus":"success","navigationCategories":{"books":{"0":{"data":[{"categoryId":33512,"title":"Technology","hasSubCategories":true,"url":"/category/books/technology-33512"},{"categoryId":33662,"title":"Academics & The Arts","hasSubCategories":true,"url":"/category/books/academics-the-arts-33662"},{"categoryId":33809,"title":"Home, Auto, & Hobbies","hasSubCategories":true,"url":"/category/books/home-auto-hobbies-33809"},{"categoryId":34038,"title":"Body, Mind, & Spirit","hasSubCategories":true,"url":"/category/books/body-mind-spirit-34038"},{"categoryId":34224,"title":"Business, Careers, & Money","hasSubCategories":true,"url":"/category/books/business-careers-money-34224"}],"breadcrumbs":[],"categoryTitle":"Level 0 Category","mainCategoryUrl":"/category/books/level-0-category-0"}},"articles":{"0":{"data":[{"categoryId":33512,"title":"Technology","hasSubCategories":true,"url":"/category/articles/technology-33512"},{"categoryId":33662,"title":"Academics & The Arts","hasSubCategories":true,"url":"/category/articles/academics-the-arts-33662"},{"categoryId":33809,"title":"Home, Auto, & Hobbies","hasSubCategories":true,"url":"/category/articles/home-auto-hobbies-33809"},{"categoryId":34038,"title":"Body, Mind, & Spirit","hasSubCategories":true,"url":"/category/articles/body-mind-spirit-34038"},{"categoryId":34224,"title":"Business, Careers, & Money","hasSubCategories":true,"url":"/category/articles/business-careers-money-34224"}],"breadcrumbs":[],"categoryTitle":"Level 0 Category","mainCategoryUrl":"/category/articles/level-0-category-0"}}},"navigationCategoriesLoadedStatus":"success"},"searchState":{"searchList":[],"searchStatus":"initial","relatedArticlesList":{"term":"236815","count":5,"total":338,"topCategory":0,"items":[{"objectType":"article","id":236815,"data":{"title":"How to Grow and Care for Succulents","slug":"grow-care-succulents","update_time":"2020-05-08T02:16:36+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Home, Auto, & Hobbies","slug":"home-auto-hobbies","categoryId":33809},{"name":"Garden & Green Living","slug":"garden-green-living","categoryId":33916},{"name":"Gardening","slug":"gardening","categoryId":33917},{"name":"General Gardening","slug":"general-gardening","categoryId":33925}],"description":"Caring for Succulents can be easy. These plants are native to drought prone areas. As a result, they store water to last them through long periods with little or no water. This feature makes them ideal as indoor-home plants or outdoor as part of a low maintenance garden residing in warmer climates.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_236816\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"535\"] Source: pexels.com[/caption]\r\n\r\n \r\nHow to care for indoor succulents\r\nIf you choose to grow a succulent indoors, your plant will need the following:\r\n\r\n \tPlant your succulent in a pot that drains: Succulents do not like to live in wet soil. As plants accustomed to high temperatures and little moisture, they can actually rot, contract disease, or die if overwatered. Potting in a planter that has slots for drainage can help prevent overwatering.\r\n \tUse succulent soil or soil that drains well: Using the correct type of soil will help your plant thrive. Because succulents don’t appreciate overwatering, using soil that drains will keep your plants appropriately moist.\r\n \tPlenty of sunlight (at least half a day): These plants hail from hot, dry climates and love plenty of sunlight. Although they will go dormant in the winter and require less sunlight, most succulents like at least a half day to a full day of sunlight depending on what type of plant you have chosen.\r\n \tWater heavily, but not often: Overwatering is an issue with succulents. Watering every day and leaving the plant with soaking soil will kill your succulent. However, simply misting them will also leave them wanting more. Supply your plant with a large amount of water about once a week (also varies depending on the variety). Check the soil to see that it is drying between waterings.\r\n \tMaintain a warm temperature: Succulents like about 70-80 degrees in summer months and 50-60 in winter months.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_236817\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"535\"] Photo credit: Kelly Dobbs Henthorne[/caption]\r\nHow to care for outdoor succulents\r\nSucculents make great houseplants, but they can also add an exotic edge to your outdoor garden.\r\nWhen planting an outdoor garden, choose your succulents and accompanying plants carefully. Succulents prefer lots of sunshine, dry soil, and little watering. If this doesn’t fit the surrounding flora, consider using your succulents as houseplants or moving them to a separate location.\r\n\r\n\r\n \tChoose a sunny spot: Give your succulent lots of natural sunlight.\r\n \tMake sure you have appropriate soil: Does the soil drain well? If not, backfill the hole with sand or gravel to increase drainage capability. Many succulents will fall victim to rot if they are not set in the right kind of soil.\r\n \tIf watering is necessary, pour water directly onto the base of the plant to keep the leaves dry. Water heavily until soil is moist. Let the soil dry before the next watering. Check out Succulents and Sunshine for more specific information on watering your plant.\r\n \tBring your succulents indoors for the winter: Many of these exotic plants do not fare well in the winter. If you live in an area that has a cold winter, you an easily transplant into a container for indoor storage.\r\n\r\nRegardless of what kind of succulent you choose, make sure you water it properly and it will be an interesting addition to your home or garden.\r\nHow to grow a succulent\r\nIf you already have existing succulents, you can propagate them yourself. Propagation is typically done with a leaf cutting or an offshoot.\r\nPropagating succulents with leaf cuttings indoors\r\nTo grow a new succulent from a leaf cutting, follow these steps:\r\n\r\n \tRemove a leaf from the plant below the main flowering element.Make sure the leaf comes away clean and contains all parts of the leaf.\r\n \tPut leaf in dry area and allow to dry.This process generally takes a few days.\r\n \tWhen leaf becomes calloused, it is time to plant.When calloused, the leaf will appear splotchy, discolored, or brittle.\r\n \tPlace well-draining or succulent soil in a drainable pot.\r\n \tSet leaf on top of soil.\r\n \tLeave for several weeks.\r\n \tWater your succulent very little, about once a week.Be careful to avoid overwatering.\r\n \tWhen roots appear, remove the parent leaf.Typically, this leaf will wither. Be careful not to damage the new roots in this process.\r\n \tYour plant will take root and you will have a new succulent.Happy gardening!\r\n\r\nPropagating succulents with offshoots\r\nIf your succulent develops an offshoot at the base of the plant, you can gently remove it to grow a separate plant. To do so, simply allow the offshoot to develop roots for a period of 2-3 weeks. Once you see roots, remove with snips or simply twist to remove. Then follow steps 2-7 above to propagate your new succulent.","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null},{"objectType":"article","id":193981,"data":{"title":"How to Care for Container-Grown Vegetables and Flowers","slug":"how-to-care-for-container-grown-vegetables-and-flowers","update_time":"2016-03-26T21:44:35+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Home, Auto, & Hobbies","slug":"home-auto-hobbies","categoryId":33809},{"name":"Garden & Green Living","slug":"garden-green-living","categoryId":33916},{"name":"Gardening","slug":"gardening","categoryId":33917},{"name":"Vegetables","slug":"vegetables","categoryId":33924}],"description":"Taking care of container-grown flowers and vegetables is similar to caring for plants grown in beds. But plants grown in pots do require extra watering and feeding. Here are some pointers for taking care of the plants in your container garden:\n\n Water frequently: Because potting soil dries out faster than regular garden soil, container-grown plants need frequent watering (unless you're using self-watering containers). In really hot weather, you may have to water more than once a day, especially if the plants are large and roots fill the pots. If you let your vegetables go dry just once, you may spoil your harvest, causing conditions such as blossom-end rot on tomatoes.\nHere are a couple ways to check whether your container is dry:\n \n Stick your finger in the soil: If the top few inches are bone dry, you should water.\n \n Lift or tip the container on its side: If the soil is dry, the container will be very light.\n \n \n \n Water thoroughly: Wetting dry potting soil can be tricky. Sometimes, the root ball of the plant (or plants) shrinks a bit and pulls away from the side of the pot as the soil dries so that when you water, all the water rushes down the space on the side of the pot without wetting the soil. To overcome this problem, make sure you fill to the top of the pot with water more than once so the root ball can absorb the water and expand. In fact, you should always water this way to make sure the root ball is thoroughly wet. It's important, however, to avoid overwatering the soil; do the finger check before watering.\nIf you still have problems wetting the root ball, place your pot in a saucer and fill the saucer repeatedly with water. The water soaks up into the root ball and slowly wets all the soil.\nIf you have a lot of pots, you may want to hook a drip irrigation system to an automatic timer to water them; nurseries and garden centers sell special drip emitters designed for pots.\n \n Fertilize frequently: Because nutrients are leached from the soil when you frequently water container flowers and vegetables, you need to fertilize your plants at least every two weeks. Liquid or water-soluble fertilizers (you just add them to water) are easiest to use and get nutrients down to the roots of your plants. A complete fertilizer that's organic is best.\n \n Watch for pests: Worried about insects and diseases harming your container plants? Don't be too concerned. In general, container-grown plants have fewer pest problems because they're isolated from other plants. Insects aren't waiting on nearby weeds to jump on your plants, and sterilized potting soil doesn't have any disease spores.\nEven though container vegetables tend to have fewer pest problems, you should quickly deal with any problems that arise so your whole crop isn't wiped out.\n \n\nBecause container vegetables are often located on patios or decks that are close to the house, special care should be used in spraying them for pests. Although container vegetables don't get as many pests as in the garden, you may have to spray occasionally; so, if possible, move the containers away from the doors and windows when you spray.","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null},{"objectType":"article","id":143041,"data":{"title":"How to Grow Herbs Indoors","slug":"how-to-grow-herbs-indoors","update_time":"2016-03-26T07:50:41+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Home, Auto, & Hobbies","slug":"home-auto-hobbies","categoryId":33809},{"name":"Garden & Green Living","slug":"garden-green-living","categoryId":33916},{"name":"Gardening","slug":"gardening","categoryId":33917},{"name":"Herbs","slug":"herbs","categoryId":33921}],"description":"Herbs that are almost never troubled by insects and diseases in the garden are easy targets when grown indoors. As a bare-bones essential, you must offer indoor herbs artificial light. And even when you do, many of the plants will balk at confinement. Some herbs are too tall to grow under lights; some have deep tap roots; some require a period of chilling or complete dormancy during the winter months.\nCredit: ©iStockphoto.com/nevarpp\nMany perennial herbs must come indoors during the cold months in most parts of North America. Leave them outside in December and January, and you're left with a few dead stems and a pot of soil to dump on the compost pile. Give these plenty of artificial light, and they'll struggle through winter. In their search for sunshine, many plants get leggy and impossibly tall, so prune stem tips frequently to keep them bushy. (Pinching off the ends tells the buds farther down on the branch to start growing.)\nGardeners have moderately good luck with growing these herbs indoors:\n\n Artemisia\n \n Basil\n \n Catnip\n \n Chive\n \n Costmary\n \n Curry\n \n Germande\n \n Ginger\n \n Lemon balm\n \n Marjoram\n \n Mint\n \n Oregano\n \n Parsley\n \n Rue\n \n Santolina\n \n Winter savory\n \n\nYou can ease your herbs' transition from the outdoor to the indoor by moving them under a tree, an overhang, or a shelter of shade cloth (a mesh material available from garden shops or by mail order) for a few days. While the plants are in the transition area, check them carefully for any sign of insects.\nYou also need to reduce both fertilizer and water. Less fertilizer slows high-energy top growth (but the roots will keep growing). Drier soil \"hardens off\" the foliage, preparing it to cope with your home's drier environment. You can help plants adjust to the dry indoor air by enclosing them in a plastic bag for a few days — punch a few holes in the bag so that too much humidity doesn't build up.\nIn providing light for your indoor plants, the goal is to mimic as closely as possible the light spectrum of the sun. The special bulbs and tubes sold as grow lights are supposed to do this, but they don't use electricity as efficiently as fluorescent lights. Gardeners who've tried both swear by fluorescents, which are inexpensive and available at the local hardware store. Good air circulation is also essential to growing herbs indoors.\nJust as outdoor containers tend to suffer from too little water, indoor plants often get too much. Plants that are growing rapidly use more water, but many perennial herbs go semidormant or completely dormant in winter. These plants need much less water than they did in summer.\nHere are some watering tips:\n\n Water most herbs only when the soil surface is dry. Observation is key. Some plants are simply thirstier than others. Some, such as basil, even seem to need more water as indoor plants than as outdoor plants.\n \n Water less often if your home is cool, your herbs are growing in plastic pots, or if plants seem to be ailing. Rapid growth adds to their stress.\n \n Don't let your plant sit in a saucer of water, and don't shock plants with cold tap water. Water should be tepid — about room temperature.\n \n\nUse less fertilizer indoors than you would outdoors because most plants are growing more slowly. Give the plants a monthly shot at one-fourth the recommended dose.","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null},{"objectType":"article","id":193818,"data":{"title":"How to Grow Herbs in a Planter","slug":"how-to-grow-herbs-in-a-planter","update_time":"2016-03-26T21:43:11+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Home, Auto, & Hobbies","slug":"home-auto-hobbies","categoryId":33809},{"name":"Garden & Green Living","slug":"garden-green-living","categoryId":33916},{"name":"Gardening","slug":"gardening","categoryId":33917},{"name":"General Gardening","slug":"general-gardening","categoryId":33925}],"description":"Herbs are perfect plants for container gardens. The pots contain their growth and make it easy to bring them indoors when nights are cool. Creating a container herb garden is a terrific way to raise edible herbs that you use often in your kitchen.\nThe most important thing to do for potted herbs is keep them watered; potted plants dry out notoriously fast, and cycles of soaking and drying out aren't good for a plant's health, even a tough little herb plant.\nThe Mediterranean herbs — such as thyme, rosemary, lavender, sage, and oregano — prefer poor, almost sandy soil; they'll rot if too wet. Use a sand or pebble mulch around them.) \nPlace potted herbs where you won't forget about them, such as right outside the back door or on the patio in full sight of the kitchen window. A window box is a particularly effective and practical way to grow herbs in a container.\nPlant herbs in a window box that gets plenty of sun.\nSome herbs, such as mints, lemon balm, and lemon verbena, can become garden thugs. They're very invasive, so containers are perfect for keeping them where you want them and preventing their wandering and taking over. (Check for square stems on plants — these traits can indicate that you're dealing with thugs.)\nMixed displays can look great. Fill larger pots with several different herbs or assemble a gathering of individual pots and array them on a deck or patio. You can even tuck a potted herb into your garden proper as an accent, shifting it around as you see fit. If color or interest seems to be lacking, just choose especially decorative or colorful pots — they make a dramatic difference and add to the fun.\nFrequent harvesting from potted herbs has an important benefit, by the way. When you snip off the tips, the remaining plant is inspired to grow more thickly and compactly — which looks better in a pot.","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null},{"objectType":"article","id":167931,"data":{"title":"Urban Gardening: How to Maintain Your Container Garden","slug":"urban-gardening-how-to-maintain-your-container-garden","update_time":"2016-03-26T15:11:59+00:00","object_type":"article","image":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Home, Auto, & Hobbies","slug":"home-auto-hobbies","categoryId":33809},{"name":"Garden & Green Living","slug":"garden-green-living","categoryId":33916},{"name":"Gardening","slug":"gardening","categoryId":33917},{"name":"Urban","slug":"urban","categoryId":33923}],"description":"Container gardens are perfect for small urban gardesn. Maintaining container-grown plants means keeping them well watered, fertilized, and pruned; and keeping pests at bay.\nContainers in the city can heat up fast and furious in full sun. Even plants that are labeled as heat-loving can overheat on a hot summer day. Watering regularly helps keep them cool, but you also should consider the plant placement. Even a plant that needs full sun may benefit from some shade during the hottest part of the day.\nIf you’re planting container vegetables and annual flowers, situate them where they’ll get morning sun but have some protection from intense afternoon sun or set them in the filtered light of a high tree canopy.\nHow to fertilize in a container garden\nMost potting soils don’t contain enough nutrients to keep your plants growing to perfection all summer long. However, some potting soils have time-release fertilizers added to them that slowly release their nutrients in response to watering. These are probably the easiest potting soils for the urban gardener to use, as long as you’re okay with using the chemical fertilizer product included in the soil.\nThese slow-release granules last at least three months, with some hanging on up to nine months. Their effectiveness may be reduced by frequent watering in summer, so monitor your plants for signs of nutrient deficiency, such as yellowing leaves and stunted growth. You can also buy these slow release fertilizers and add them to potting soil yourself at planting time. Apply them again later in the season, according to instructions.\nYou can also use organic fertilizer products such as compost, fish emulsion, and cottonseed meal in your containers. The key to adding these fertilizers is to stick with it. Since the nutrients are lost through leaching due to frequent watering, and there’s a limited amount of soil mass to hold nutrients, you’ll need to apply these fertilizers as often as every few weeks to keep your plants growing strong.\nHow to prune your container plants\nThe beauty of most annual flowers is that they never stop flowering. However, if individual plants in a container become tired-looking, cut them back. They'll regrow and begin flowering again.\nIf the plants are beyond rejuvenation, spruce up the planters with replacement annuals, choosing similar plants and colors to complement the remaining flowers. Or remove the whole planting and start over with a different theme. For an immediate full effect in your container, place plants close together.\nAnother way to keep annual flowers blooming is to deadhead the flowers after they finish blooming. Simply pinch off the dead flower. It not only cleans up the plant, it encourages it to form more flowers.\nSome newer varieties of annual flowers are self-cleaning. This means they drop their dead flowers to the ground when blooming is done.\nHow to inspect container plants for pests\nSince your pots are elevated and in the city, you’d think you wouldn’t have to contend with pests. Amazingly enough, pests will find your plants, even in urban areas. Certainly, problems with deer or woodchucks may be minimal, but squirrels, raccoons, and mice all may find your plants.\nInsect pests with winged adult stages such as cabbageworms, Japanese beetles, and whiteflies all can find your plants. Diseases such as powdery mildew and black spot are ubiquitous in the environment and likely to occur when the weather conditions are right.\nHere are some tips to keep the pests away:\n\n\nKeep your plants healthy. This almost goes without saying, but a healthy plant is less likely to suffer from insect and disease attacks than a stressed one. Keep your plants well watered and fertilized all summer long.\n\n\nKeep watch. Check leaves, stems, and flowers regularly. You’ll be admiring your beautiful plantings daily anyway, so just take an extra minute to look under the leaves and peer closely at the stems. Often you’ll see the first signs of damage or young insects lurking there. Simply squish them to prevent any problems from taking hold.\n\n\nCover them up. Create barriers to keep squirrels away or use floating row covers to prevent insects from laying eggs on your prized plants. If you can prevent problems from occurring, rather than trying to cure them once they happen, you’ll get the best from your container gardens.\n\n\nBe realistic. If your plants have been attacked and aren’t recovering or have disease or insect infestations that are spreading to other plants, be realistic. Consider ripping out those damaged plants. The beauty of containers is you can easily start over and over again. Why live through a rotten summer of ugly plants when it’s simpler to just start over?\n\n","item_vector":null},"titleHighlight":null,"descriptionHighlights":null,"headers":null}]},"relatedArticlesStatus":"success"},"routeState":{"name":"Article4","path":"/article/home-auto-hobbies/garden-green-living/gardening/general-gardening/grow-care-succulents-236815/","hash":"","query":{},"params":{"category1":"home-auto-hobbies","category2":"garden-green-living","category3":"gardening","category4":"general-gardening","article":"grow-care-succulents-236815"},"fullPath":"/article/home-auto-hobbies/garden-green-living/gardening/general-gardening/grow-care-succulents-236815/","meta":{"routeType":"article","breadcrumbInfo":{"suffix":"Articles","baseRoute":"/category/articles"},"prerenderWithAsyncData":true},"from":{"name":null,"path":"/","hash":"","query":{},"params":{},"fullPath":"/","meta":{}}},"dropsState":{"submitEmailResponse":false,"status":"initial"},"sfmcState":{"status":"initial"},"profileState":{"auth":{},"userOptions":{},"status":"success"}}{"data":{"status":"Internal server error: String cannot be of zero length. (Parameter 'oldValue')"},"status":500,"statusText":"","headers":{"content-type":"application/json; charset=utf-8"},"config":{"url":"/articles/236815","method":"get","headers":{"Accept":"application/json, text/plain, */*","sessionguid":"7b22389a-5616-4261-a8ba-e9bf13906cd6"},"baseURL":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2","transformRequest":[null],"transformResponse":[null],"timeout":0,"xsrfCookieName":"XSRF-TOKEN","xsrfHeaderName":"X-XSRF-TOKEN","maxContentLength":-1,"maxBodyLength":-1,"transitional":{"silentJSONParsing":true,"forcedJSONParsing":true,"clarifyTimeoutError":false}},"request":{}}