Mine's not true Meyer then. Oh well.
Indoor gardens fall winter 2013, #2
I worked in the greenhouse to see how bad the damage was. The worst was my coleus cuttings, I lost all but 1 maybe 2 varieties. Next I would say my rex begonias, many froze back to the tuberous stem, hopefully some may sprout. I do have one Escargot that will survive. My angel wing begonias all died back, but should regrow. The bananas took a sever frosting, killing the older leaves, but they are larger, stout plants and look as though they will continue to grow. A10-12 year old schefflera, 5-6" tall, lost it's leaves, being a tree I think it may push some new shoots like a heavily pruned Ficus elastica, also called the rubber fig. The rubber fig may loose 1 limb or at least the leaves on one limb.My lovely lipstick plant looks like it visited a military barber. About half of my orchids look pretty sorry but we'll see about them. Lucky all the new ones were still in the house to show them off. Every plant I wanted to possibly enter in the York flower show will be staying home this year. I may still enter some of the shrub cuttings, Our variegated boxwood, Mahonia, and Blue Girl Holly, really look good this year, we will have to see if the weather cooperates.
Wow Ric, sorry to hear you had so much damage. Those poor coleus cuttings!
I am back!
Seems all my Houseplants made it through the almost 4 days of no care...
Ric--remember the two Begonias I had on my steps in those Lava rock bases?
I have been watering and fussing pver them all fall and winter--but they kept
dr0opping leaves and whole stems. The yellow one is all gone!
The red one had a stem left....but it too will fall off...
Then i read somewhere that Tuberose begonias have to be allowed to dry and
lose all their foliage and that the corm can be dug up and dried for next year...
And--here i have been watering it and trying to save it.......
The corm from the yellow one is very small--less than 2" in diameter.
Will lift the red one when this last stem falls off. No more watering!
Wondering--if these are grown from cuttings? Seeds? and they are just NOW
developing a corm which will get bigger every year?
Any thoughts on this?
Thanks, Gita
Here they are in July--this summer....
Ric, so sorry to hear of the losses--and the impact on your entries to the York show. :-( I hope they all make a comeback for you.
Ric, how sad! I feel your pain
Gita maybe those begonias see the short days and it sends them into dormancy, no matter how you try.
The down side of gardening is always so disappointing!! I'm sure that enough positive things will happen so that you'll forget all about this disaster, Ric.
The leaves of one of my Coleus are all cupping with the edges down. THree pots/ cuttings same kind all doing it, likely came from the same plant. Should I trash them?
Ric, very sorry to hear about your loss. My lipstick plant is blooming now, but I can root some cuttings for you after the blooming is over. It is of the flat-leaf variety.
SSG, I am also thinking about getting more citrus as house plants. I bought a pink lemon plant this year, and its flowers are very fragrant inside the house now. I can smell the fragrance from 5 yards away! It has 2 big lemons on it now. I just took a few photos of the lemons. I think I will cut them off soon. Maybe that will encourage more flowers :o). The plant is also interesting to look at. The leaves are variegated and the lemons have stripes on them.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/101625/
Donner, My lipstick plant will be alright, just heavily pruned. While I don't relish the loss, I'm already thinking how I can better use the space. That lemon is very interesting.
Gita, your begonias will enjoy a rest and are different from my Rexs.
Sally, it sounds as though something is stressing your cuttings. Any pest present?
Sally--
Which Coleus is cupping for you?
The only one cupping (slightly) here is the really, really dark one. Almost black...
Darker than the Purple Oxalis....
I have the orig. 6" plant by my LR window and the cuttings on my light shelf.
This one is cupping...I am wondering if, because of the higher light, it may not like it.
Like--almost black may absorb too much light????
Just a thought. There are no bugs on it... G.
"While I don't relish the loss, I'm already thinking how I can better use the space '
Spoken like a true gardener- there are always more plants to be grown and enjoyed!
My one cutting of that black one is also cupped slightly. I'll need to get pix for further discussion.
Love that lemon, donner!!
First is the one with the bad cupped leaves
Second. On left is one black with slightly distorted leaves on right the purple with cupped leaves and several pretty and healthy others.
Sallyg, the coleus you are wondering about is 'Meandering Linda' Of all of the coleus varieties I have grown or known, Meandering Linda has the most varied leaves and what you are describing as bad cupping is fairly normal for this variety. It's as if the pink parts of the leaf is too little for the blacker areas and pulls it out of shape. I don't think you have to worry about it. When summertime comes you should get more regular leaf growth and coloration. Also, Meandering Linda is a trailing coleus and trailers are a bit different in habit and growth requirements I think it is one of Critter's favorites. You'll see some 'cupped ' leaves in this photo.
http://allthingsplants.com/plants/photo/202542/
Sally,
Your Mocha is looking great--so is mine. A very pretty and sturdy variety, +
w/o loosing any of its charm, color, shape and beauty.
Has anyone's Fishnet Stockings made it as a cutting or the original plant??
Mine was OK in the beginning--but then slowly started dropping leaves.
I thought--well! it is just adjusting to indoors! Saw a few, VERY few, new
little growths, but then, slowly, the stems got dry and brittle and it was dead.
I have the pot downstairs in the Shop--just in case it might re-sprout from
the roots. NOT likely!
Coleup--how is yours? G.
My fishnet dropped all its leaves and doesn't look ready to sprout from the roots.
I didn't have any Fishnet.
Coleup- thanks a bunch! I'll let them go along and not fret. It is exactly as you describe, looking like the pink cinches the edges down. As an experiment, I will bring one to the kitchen counter and see if lower light changes anything. THe rest of the coleus are happy down there, yes I love the Mocha and that freckly one, and have two Limelight.
Gita, The Clivia you gave us is blooming. It was one of the plants in the GH disaster that made it thru. We took the house orchids down to the GH yesterday. It is just such a sorry sight, Ric had gone down and cleaned up all the dead plants and cut back the dead leaves. It was the first time I was down there since I first glimpsed the damage. So much worst than I first realized. I came back up to the house before Ric did and when he came back up he had this bloom Clivia with him. Added a nice bright spot to a sad day.
Donner, that's an interesting lemon. I wonder how it tastes. I got about a dozen Meyer lemons this year.
I think my next citrus purchase is going to be a kaffir lime.
Holly and Ric--
I too am sorry about all the dead plants.....it would, half way, kill me too...
My Clivias (2) are in the dark shop--with the light on now and then.
I am also keeping them dry. Like Amaryllis--when i see the bloom buds
squeezing through that tight base (HOW do they manage???) I will bring it upstairs.
I am happy that i am down to only 2 Clivias. Thanks to Paul and his friends...
He bought many of them from me. Started with 12.
Seems mine are two different kinds. The one you all have--with pointed leaves--
and the other one has broader leaves with rounded leaf-tips. This one has a bigger
bloom cluster and the color is so much more intense. I love it!
Got this one from a customer at HD. We were talking about Clivias and he said he had one
and would I like to have it. Sure! So--he brought it--this huge pot-full. Paid him with a hug.
I have seen him a couple times. I call him "The Clivia man"....He usually spots me--not v v.
This one has grown a Pup. I will let it be a while....
Mine Clivias will bloom sometime end of Jan.--early Feb. and again outside in the summer.
Here's the blooms from the one with the rounded leaf-tips.
SSG, I cut one of the pink lemons open. It wasn't ripe, but the lemon flavor was very strong. So I am just going too let the other one continue to grow.
Kaffir 'Kieffer' Lime sounds interesting. A quick search produced this Coconut Macaron recipe using Kaffir lime -- http://chickeninacherrysauce.blogspot.com/2012/09/kaffir-lime-and-coconut-macarons.html.
They look delicious.
Beautiful flowers, Gita.
Forgot the photo.
looks yummy, Donner!
Looks like the perfect finish to a Belgian Ale or Corona cerveza! Ask Paul!
Belgian ale > corona
Yum!!! Who is cooking??!? I will do the dishes.
The jasmine plant I have inside is the wilting-est thing ever. I'm giving it water all the time.
Last year I started yellow Datura on New Years Day
JB just sent me a D-mail and asked that I pass this info. along to you all here on DG.
She has started a new Thread on her Cubits that will deal with all aspects of
growing and caring for Holiday Cactus and Christmas Cactus.
She said it will be easy for all to follow and understand. Didcussions and
questions are welcome.
I checked it out.. Lots to read--will take it as i go. Gita
Here is the link. Hope you check it out.
http://cubits.org/JBsPlants/forums/view/propagationandcareof...
The second stalk on my 'Flamenco' bloomed yesterday, after growing quite a lot taller than I ever expected. Other two amaryllis bulbs remain inactive...
They can get pretty tall. Hey I had that exact same light fixture in my dining room for 20 years tip the kitchen remodel!
Beware the spider mites- I just found one leaf of Black stem elephant ear had a major outbreak. I hope I nipped them in the bud.
thanks, Sally! I like the strong light that the fixture provides.
Sorry to hear about your elephant ear! Hope you were able to get rid of the little buggers. :-(
We have a fixture just like that over our dining room table, except our is verdi gras.
If either of you need a spare glass from it I still have the fixture in the basement. Hate to dump all the beveled glass pieces but don't know what i can do with them. Sorry- off topic.
Elephant ear has done very well so far, sits next to my light shelves so it has grown larger leaves and thinks it is summer again.
Plants at our house are mostly a sorry sight. We have the frost damage to the GH plants and both mealy bug and spider mite on the plants in the house. I did spray twice with a good systemic and that did help but they aren't gone. The clivia is a nice bright spot and the AV's are looking really nice.
Holly, were the indoor plants treated with a granular systemic product before you brought them in this year. Wondering if I should expect the same thing to happen to mine (even though I use the systemic granules).
No they weren't. With all our traveling and other things going on they were all just tossed inside and I have a systemic spray that I do use and that helps. I have had both the spider mites and mealy bugs for a couple of years now and just can't seem to get completely rid of them. The best results that I did have was the year that I used the granules. We don't have any bug issues with the plants in the GH. Ric bombs the GH each fall after he brings the plants in there and that stays bug free for the winter.
Last year I used the bug strip that Ric named. I hung it in the shed and put plants in there for a couple days, before bringing them inside. I think it helped. But it means moving the pots extra times.The strip has big warnings to NOT use it where people live. Holly- I don't know if you'd feel comfortable using one in your spare 'plant' bedroom for a couple days with the door closed, and then opening a window.
Terri, Those granular systemics are very effective. In the commercial GHs I've worked in they were the ticket. We'd treat all the pots prior to using the drip water system and close the GH for the night, next day "Volia" no bugs, and no wetting the foliage to cause fungus rot. In cases like that we got both the systemic action as well as the out-gassing for treatment. When using any sprays we had to include a contact/systemic fungicide, like Benlate which for 4 acres could be expensive.
We most often use both the granular and spray at home, if we have time, AND I have remembered to buy it. But alas, most times it's, we need to get these plants in today. Hindsight is always 20/20.LOL
Those NoPest strips are also effective like I told Sally, but most of those are based on an organophosphate, neurotoxin, Dichlorvos. The NoPest strips are by any means the safest ways it can be handled, since dichlorvos degrades fairly rapidly and any exposure is via inhalation in minute quantities. The largest danger is in developing countries where it is used in liquid form for agricultural purposes. Getting splashed with a concentrated solution and not cleaning up properly could be deadly. Aquatic systems are sensitive to it's release although it is used to control lice in farmed salmon. So unless you are sleeping with a few NoPest strips under your pillow, they are about as deadly as microwaves from a cell phone tower and buy wild caught salmon! Yuk, Yuk
Just FYI
As many of us who have loads of plants inside now struggle with Fungus Gnats
everywhere...
I wanted to show you a product that you can get at HD (other places too, I am sure)
We are familiar with the Mosquito Dunks. Right next ti these are bottles of
the same thing--but in small bits. It is around $4.
On the back of the bottle it tells you how to use this product to control Fungus Gnats.
Hope you can read it--my camera does not macro closer that 4".
I have it sprinkled on all my CC's pots. haven't had time to do all my plants.
G.
thanks, Gita, I'll have to look into that! I'm dealing with the gnats, too.
good to know!