Gita tee hee ! you know some plants just need pinched and the employees just don't have time to do it. I had to help them out one time on a plant thas in a combo pot and they did not have any single plants available to buy. Halo tipped a bit that day. LOL
Mid Atlantic Chit chat December
Yah, my DH calls me a plant kleptomaniac & keeps telling me I am going to get arrested. But in Lowes, in the nursery, the benches are slats and the branches fall off the succulent ground covers & end up on the cement under the bench. I am just keeping it clean & nice-looking down there.
And if the plants are not watered, not blooming, and looking terrible, there is absolutely nothing wrong with negotiating so I can save a distressed plant, like I did in BJ's.
This message was edited Jan 1, 2011 5:11 PM
Thanks for the laughs. What a bunch of characters congregate here. I hope the new year is going well for everyone so far. Not too much to report here. I have worked a bit with house plants this week. I potted up the clipping of the CC that Gita sent. I also had a lot of rootings in my kitchen garden window that I finally began potting up.
Last June we finally had a carpenter come in and replace a bedroom window with a set of sliding glass doors which open out on to our front deck. I had been wanting to do this or something akin in order to have better light for my collection of houseplants. I love it now though I haven't quite gotten the entire room the way I want it. Still have some work to do in there before I am satisfied with things. The plants are loving the extra sun though and are doing well as far as I can tell.
I haven't yet had the time to visit the new Christmas Cactus thread that was begun a week or so ago. I am open to hear any tips that anyone wants to offer though. One thing I am hoping to do today is get all my saved seeds from last season organized. I got side tracked before I was able to finish working with them at the end of the season. They are now in my way of doing some other things in the plant room.
Thanks for the chuckles you nuts. Hope that everyone is having a great weekend. Take care and stay well.
Ruby
Ruby--Hurry up!
That CC post is already up to 178 entries.....
The Christmas Cactus best time for making cuttings is when they start to show new growth. For me that is late Februrary or early March. I guess anytime is OK but the begining of new growth signals that the plant is waking up and wanting to produce new growth. I have even cut them a little later and had those late cuttings still produce flowers in the same year. I think they can be rooted just about anytime but to do so when the plant wants to wake up and grow makes sense.
I had to leave for babysitting last weekend, so I quickly snipped off cuttings from my 2 CC and stuck them in pots that already had small plants growing in them. Hopefully some of these will take off so that I can put them in their own pots with proper soil requirements. When I get back, I will take more cuttings and pot them up properly.
Sally--
Just re-read the above posts a bit.....
Re your old CC. You will never be able to pull it out, because the pot curves inward at the top.
That is one problem with the Oriental pots--they all have that shape.
The soil and roots all grow to the top ans are wedged in by the curving rim.
IF you plan to remove it--it may work if you get a really sharp knife and slice
around the root ball going straight down from the opening. Sure, you will lose
some of the roots, but most of the mass should then pull up.....maybe you will need
a BIG fork (like for BQ meats) to help along all around.
OR--as you said--Drill a hole or two at the bottom and let it be.
Gita
My old CC is still in that dehydrated sad state. I can imagine that cuttings right now don't have as much reserve for growth.
I do plan to hack or whatever it takes to get this out of the old pot and get some of the matted choked roots and fossilized potting mix off. Then I will moistenand temporary pot, and put the whole thing in a clear bag while I deal with holes for the pot. This way I can repot in good soil and straighten it up some.
So is everyone pouring over seed cats and co-op plants? I paid for my Caladium order this morning I have quite a few coming for my Mom's house adding more of them to her yard and some new varieties for my yard. If we get the pergola built this spring I will have some more shady space to set pots and put hangers up. I also placed my HGHA annual plug order. WOW I have a lot of plants coming.
Holly, what you just described is the very lst thing I need, though it sounds like a lot of fun and I love Caladiums. Since the erection of a rock walk way in my main gardening area, I am not sure if the area will be gardenable this year or not. We have prety much run out of room elsewhere, so fact of the matter is.....I don't have any where to put them currently. Waaaaa.
Your yard was so beautiful and it is obvious that a lot of work has gone in to making it lovely. Looking out back as I set here this morning, it looks inviting with the sun shining down. I think I heard a whisper of it being in the 50's today. If so, I might wander outside and see if there is anything for me to get in to today. Maybe just taking a look at things will satisfy my need for getting some sun shining on my face.
Good luck with your CC Sally. I am the new mother to some clippings that Gita sent a few weeks back. I have followed her instructions for rooting them but can't tell if anything is happening under the soil or not. They look healthy enough from the top view though, so I am hoping they will survive and flourish as well as some of the other cuttings she has shared with me over the years.
I am enjoying the plant room that I spoke of for years before it became reality. I am working hard to banish items from the room that don't belong. It is slow going, but is getting done finally. The plants don't seem to mind that they are sharing space with bookcases and other odd pieces of furniture. Thus far most of the plants seem to be very happy. Hope I can say the same thing a couple of months from now.
You folks all have a great day.
Ruby