Write to her at aghu@ifas.ufl.edu.
Q: When is the optimum watering time for my yard in Miami, and how often should one run a sprinkler and for how long?
Q: I have been growing royal poincianas that I sprouted from seeds about a year and a half ago. I'd like to wait until they are about 5 feet high before putting them in the ground. What do you recommend?
Q: I have a mango tree about 5 years old. The developing leaves are wrinkled with black spots all over them and the older leaves are covered with spots too.
Q: We bought a passionflower plant about two months ago. It was in full bloom but now not one flower has appeared again. Bloom Booster fertilizer hasn't helped.
Q: I recently started collecting hibiscus plants for my backyard. I get many buds, but before they open, they fall off.
Q: Where can I find one of the Bt products that you mention that is useful to control oleander caterpillars?
Q: I think my old avocado tree is dying. This year, the tree gave us many delicious avocados. Large branches started falling off the tree and are hollow inside.
Q: I have this beautiful shrub that showed up in my yard. It has red berries. What is its name? M.M., Miami
Q: How often should new plants be watered? Isn't rainwater enough? J.L., Little Haiti
Q: I just bought a new house in Miami. I want to put in some trees but I'm not sure how far apart to plant them.
Q: What is the right way to prune a tree? Can all trees be pruned? M.L., Sweetwater
Q: Each year I have a lot of disease problems in my vegetable garden. What am I doing wrong? Is there any thing I can do other than using sprays?
Q: Our fishtail palm is dying. There are many seedpods, which seemed to sprout overnight. E.W., E.W., North Miami
Q: When is the best time to graft mangoes? Please note that I have no grafting experience! M.T., Homestead
Q: What is the proper fertilizer for topiaries? The tips of the branches appear to dry out. L.F.,
Q: My ficus hedge is dropping a lot of yellow leaves and I see small whitish flies flying around my plants. What can I do? A.P., Miami
Q: I've lived here since 1926 and never saw such a critter before. My frangipani is being eaten by huge caterpillars with bright yellow stripes. They have a small tail, too.
Q: For a year I've been struggling with a mango tree. Someone said I was watering the tree too much. I stopped the watering, but the branches are still dying off.
Q: I heard on a radio show that royal palms can get lethal yellowing. Is that what killed my palm? M.L., South Miami
Q: I planted two Hawaiian plantain trees several months ago. The plants have not grown and the leaves have turned yellowish. I have tried fertilizing them several times but there has been no visible improvement.
Q: We have a particularly spectacular amaryllis from which I took a couple of seed pods this year and recently planted the seeds. I now have a small forest of seedlings that are about one to two inches tall. What next?
Q: I have had a sugar apple tree for three or four years. How can you tell when the fruit are ripe? Any fertilization tips for this fruit tree?
Q: What mango varieties would you recommend if you could only plant two or three?
Q: A huge (2 1/2 to 3-inch) brown caterpillar was chewing up our white pentas and then it disappeared. The caterpillar had a huge eyespot and a ''tail.''
Q: I sodded my yard three weeks ago with floratam grass. What is its care?
Q: I have a live oak in South Dade that only grows half the leaves. The leaves at the end of the branches are disappearing rapidly, have small brown spots and are eaten around the edges.
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