Indoor gardens fall winter 2013

Happy--

Perlite is completely inorganic...like little bits of styrofoam...
It neither absorbs water--or stores water. it is mostly used in soil mixes
to aerate the soil.

The following is from a Google search on Vermiculite. **********************************************************************

"Vermiculite in the Garden"

Vermiculite is used to amend peat moss potting soils and other outdoor mixes, mixed into turf grass and used for general gardening and outdoor planting projects. It is widely used by professional landscapers because it has wonderful properties promoting root growth and health. Vermiculite provides both aeration and drainage. It can hold a great deal of water, releasing it to the roots as needed. It has a fairly neutral pH and is sterile and free from diseases. It is completely safe and non-toxic and relatively inexpensive. It will not deteriorate, turn moldy or rot.

*********************************************************************************

There has been some questionable health scares related to vermiculite.
At one point--HD even took it off its shelves for years! Something about inhaling
the dust......some connection to possible asbestos.....Not sure.

In potting--Vermiculite by itself would cake and clump up and there would not be any air
going through it. It sticks to your hands and is not easy to brush off.
I, personally, do not use it.
The bigger chunks of Vermiculite do work well mixed into soils for aeration reasons.
It is the smaller, flaky ones that I do not like.

I may be wrong--but that is what I know so far.
There is plenty of information available on line.
Gita

thanks, Gita. These are the 3 amaryllis bulbs that I got in the group bulb buy at Critter's in October. I did just gently trim the necks back a bit for bulb 2 and bulb 3. This revealed more of the center stems that have formed in each of them. Bulb 2 is definitely growing now, albeit slowly. Bulb 3 hasn't done much--the tiny center stem has been unchanged for quite some time. However, when I trimmed the neck back, I could see there were actually 2 center stems so maybe that is a good sign.

Happy, I have about half a small bag of vermiculite that you're welcome to if you'd like to try some. I got it way back in the spring when I was first starting and looking for some perlite. The guy at the store told me vermiculite was 'the same as perlite' (haha), and it took me a while to figure out that the vermiculite holds moisture and so cannot be substituted for perlite. In fact, I think that's a big reason why at first I couldn't get agastache to grow--I thought I was lightening the soil when in fact I was making it wetter!

Anyway, since then I've used it lightly to amend soil when I'm planting something that likes moist soil, but I keep it away from plants that prefer sharply drained or dryish soil. So, it has its uses, but I try to be careful with it as it can cause rotting for plants that don't want a lot of moisture. At least, that's been my experience.

Thanks, Catmint! I think if I ever were to clean out my garage (good project for a cold winter day), I'd probably find a bag of my own vermiculite! For the moment, I don't have anything else to root, so I'm good.

My first amaryllis bloom!

I made a couple of post over here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1340720/
that would be more appropriate here. Maybe I'll get it right the next time. LOL Oh and they're near the bottom on the same date.

Wow, Catmint, congrats!

Thanks, SSG! I wish I knew which cultivar it is--I forgot to mark the bulbs when I planted them... :-(

yay Catmint, isn't that stunning!

Oh that really is beautiful.
Here are a few pics from our GH. This is that twisty plant that Coleup gave us at last years plant swap, it is blooming. There are clusters of these blooms all over it.

Love your twisty plant, Holly--so full! I got a cutting of it recently via Gita, but so far it is growing very slowly.

Catmint how beautiful your first ammy is! Congratulations.

The variegated twisted lipstick plant is a slow grower. Below are pics of the original before it got divided up and passed along to about 20 swappers! Glad you got a piece of the action.

Ric and Holly thanks for sharing pics of the blooms! Nice

Coleup your mother plant is gorgeous! :-)

Thanks, I couldn't pass it up when I spied it for sale at HD. That plant was 10 - 12 plants all grown together in one large pot. Growers mass plants, so can we!

Holly--

Since I cut mine back to root cuttings for the Swap--loke Cat has--
I will have to wait until it grows back big enough to bloom.

Hmmmm,,,,,,,,,Maybe I should put it under lights? It s sitting amid all the
plants by my LR window. It may need more light and warmth to grow better and bloom.
Next summer--I will put it in a HB and hang it in a bright spot outside.

Here it is-today.

Also--my Cobra plant. This picture doesn't do it justice. it is much bigger...
The stems have now reached the rim of the pot. Time to pot up to a bigger pot.

Gita, your Cobra looks super, mine suffered a setback and probably won't look too great until spring and summer.

What happened to yours, Sally?

Do you think dividing the original had something to do with it?
I do not plan to divide mine. let it grow!
Wonder how big it will get????

I have to take a picture looking straight down--that is the best view...

Tomorrow--I will try to do a bit of garden chores that never got done.
Leaves....cutting back--planting 2 Iris I p/u at HD--a pretty pink "Pink Attraction"
and a lovely shade of yellow--like a pale egg yolk--"Harvest of Memories"...
Came to $2 each. Now i have to find a spot for them...Maybe on the corner,
where you dug up the Snowcap Iris. Just one each--plenty of room.
I also p/u a bag of 25 "Tahiti" Daffs--in both yellow and white for $5.

These, as well as bag-fulls of Tulips and Daffs and Crocus are just sitting there--
even at 50% off--and no one is buying them. There are some bags of 80 tulips
and also big bags of daffs. Tahiti is all gone. Talked a man into buying the last one.

Tomorrow is Inventory............We have ALL been hauling like crazy--I spent today
doing a final shelf straightening. My sweetie-pie store manager said he is exhausted.
He just wants this all to be over. A lot of weight on HIS shoulders!
I'll just give him extra hugs.we are both huggers...almost every time we see each other...
NICE!!!!

Yes Gita, It really is pretty.

Nice color on the cobra plant, Gita!

I've forgotten the exact timing of my Cobra's decline. It started getting brown sections on the leaves. After dividing it started growing new leaves. It's still filling in, and still shedding the old leaves.
I have been a bit spotty on caring for the indoor plants.

Gita, you BOUGHT Tahiti? You were giving them AWAY this year.

Harvest of Memories is great. Mine did not bloom this year, but I'm sure it will next if I care for it better. John (as in 'Ruby and'…) gave it to me last year on my way back from my dad's funeral.

I will be trying to get by an HD for another look at evergreens, might pick up crocus.

Sally--

I could not resist buying these--as I know how pretty they are.
I am NOT keeping these Tahiti Daffs....they will be a X-mas gift for one of my Nieces.
Hoping end of December will not be too late to plant them.
I just re-planted mine about 3 weeks ago. Had 6 pots of them left from the 12 at
the WS dig. There were enough bulbs there...

Hope everyone that I gave a pot or two of these as a give-away--will enjoy some
blooms this coming spring.

I am a bit behind in my gardening myself. Lots of stuff I intended to do--
did not get done. More work in the spring.....YUK!
BIG JOB---never got to digging up the raised bed. It is already matted with tree roots.
A real bummer!!! I thought it would not happen this fast....
Still need to rake a bunch of leaves too--they have all blown into certain areas..
This will be the 4th raking. Another bummer!!!

OK! Bed time--busy day tomorrow--outside...May even give the lawn a final hair cut...
So SHE says..................:o(

Gita, if today is as mild as yesterday was, it will be beautiful weather for yardening! :-)

THat will be a nice gift, and I think they'll be fine. I planted my Tahitis (thank you!!) somewhere…
It is relatively nice out right now (I don't mind this kind of cool damp) I wanna play hookie…There are leaves scattered about on the grass and I could find lots of puttering to do. I do need to open up the compost and let the rain in on it.

I found vole holes between the spinach rows. I poured some ash into them from the campfire. Can I harass them enough that way? They'll probably quit those holes and just make three more.

Ashes???? Do Voles dislike ashes that much? You just put them in their holes?
Might be a good bit of info. to pass on to a customer..Tell me more...

I have a big bucket full of ashes from my neighbor's fire pit.
Sitting there for years. He mostly burns parts of trees he has cut down.

I am not sure I have Voles?? I may--now and then I see a small hole,
not always in a bed, but nearby. Can't say I have ever seen a vole here.
Are they nocturnal?

OK. Finish checking DG--have some breakfast--and get myself outside.
G.

Gita, not sure when you took the cuttings from the lipstick plant. This plant seems to bloom on new tip growths. If the cuttings were taken recently, the plant probably won't bloom any time soon :-(.

Also, this plant likes being root-bound. At the moment, the pot size seems to be right. Just make sure you do not move the plant to a pot that's too big. Good luck. The flowers of this plant are beautiful.

GITA that is just an experiment with the ashes. Ash bucket + holes, = why not.

But I don't think a creature would like to plow through a pile of ashes as big as himself. I wouldn't.

Last spring I bit the bullet and bought 2 bags of milky spore and applied it. This season no mole/vole problems in our yard, also fewer beetles, and the neighbors tunnels ended at the application line. I think it cost $70- $75 to do the yard and beds. I still use a small amount of GrubX but only on my iris. The 2 will not work together as the milky spore needs a host in the soil to keep it effective.

Donner--

Thanks for your input....

I took the cuttings, probably, in the fall of 2012--after the fall Swap--as they were
rooted enough by the Spring Swap to pass on.

My goal was more to create a bushier plant in the long run. I can wait--it will bloom
sometime? I can wait. YES! The blooms do look beautiful!
I have had the regular Lipstick Plant blooming...it was awesome!
I remember seeing these bloom when i was working for the grower...

My AV's seem to be doing OK. All 55 of them...No sign of blooming yet..
When do YOURS bloom?

G.

Gita, It is an addiciton to keep on propagating AVs and Streps :o). Mine are also doing well, but only a few of them are blooming, mainly because I have not done a good job providing them with good light. They sit by a west-facing window, getting on ok but not blooming. I am hoping that some of the new babies will bloom by the spring seed swap so that I can entice people to take them ;o).

Donner, Ric, Gita, et al

I vaguely remember reading while 'researching' the variegated lipstick plant that blooming is triggered much the same way Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus are and should be treated the same way to promote bloom.
If any of you do have a plant or rooted cutting , Ruby dmailed me a long while back that she is looking for another one. Of course, I gave all my mother plant divisions and cuttings away as I do not have proper conditions for them or ccs so I can't supply.

Donner--

My Streps are, maybe, resting??? No blooms at all this summer...

Many of the longer leaves kind of withered and dried up. I cut them off.
The new growths seem to be OK.
Perhaps they all are in too big pots. Might like being root-bound...??

G.

Gita, yes they do like being root-bound. Maybe you should move them to smaller pots with fresh soil? Given good light and soil, they should be blooming on and off the entire year.

Coleup, my lipstick plant is the flat-leaf variety. I gave rooted cutting to Rudy a few years back. She is probably only looking for the fancy type that you have :o). I will check wtih her anyway. Thank you for letting me know.

I might be the only person anywhere who does not care for the twisted lipstick plants.

My purple Strep bloomed great for a long while. It even got a piggybacked extra bloom stem on top of one of the bloom bunches. THen some great big leaves turned yellow. And new leaves are coming in green. Funny. Maybe it had an 'incident' due to my spotty care.

Ric and I went to an Open House at an Orchid grower today. Came home with 3 new orchids they sure are pretty and one of the is very fragrant. Will get some pictures for you. Should have taken my camera with me to the Open House.

Here are a few pictures of the 2 blooming orchids we bought yesterday the third on isn't blooming yet but it will.

the orchids are lovely, Holly!

Holly--

Those hanging roots are something else!!!! What kind of an Orchid is that?
I can see that the pot has nothing in it--just the roots. Love the blue!
Will you have to mist it a lot?

Pretty neat thing you have there--with all the glass balls hanging from it.
You are just soooo creative!
G.

I went to water my lipstick plant and it had given up the ghost! Just like that! Last time I watered it, it looked healthy and was growing, and then all of a sudden it falls over and dies. :-( I'm not sure what happened, but I'm wondering if it has something to do with the puppy training pad I put under it to soak up water and protect the window sill. Maybe when it got wet chemicals from the pad leached back up into the plant? The Persian violet that was on the same wet pad also died suddenly. My kalanchoe and asparagus fern, on the same windowsill but not on a wet pad, are still doing great.

Well, I think the lesson is not to use puppy training pads with potted plants. :-(

Funny how you have to go somewhere else to see what's in your own backyard. We met the owner (Steve Male) of Fishing Creek Orchids at the Maryland spring garden show 2 years ago. I'm not sure if he has a display there unless he shows with the The Susquehanna Orchid Society, but he usually has quite the show in the vendors area.
He has quite the collection of trophies, ribbons, and awards (for excellence?) scattered through his potting shed and head house. His greenhouse (42' x 30') is just packed with orchids in various stages of development. Tucked in the corners and under the benches are his begonias and tropicals. In his potting shed he has a large collection of cacti lining the window shelves. He freely explains his work and the culture of his beloved orchids. Since we were the only visitors for a part of our time there, he gave us a personal tour with tips on our newly acquired plants and the culture and traits of others. It made for a great day and enjoyable visit.

Wow, Holly and Ric, fabulous! Which one of fragrant?

Catmint, ack! how shocking. I would have thought they only contain the same absorbent as diapers, and many things have been written about using diaper silica gel, or whatever it is, in soil, like the soil-moist crystals.

Thread is really lonnnnnggggg when I enlarge it. I will do a continuation…..
please go to
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1343762/

This message was edited Dec 7, 2013 12:35 PM