Plant Propagation , The Basics ,, Continued #

Debra , I was using Listerine as part of a formula for problems with Coneflower ,(Echinacea ) The thing to be careful about , is earth or soil microbs .
Mouthwash can kill some good ,, it does work for leafhopper spread disease to some extent .

Some of the plants that are said to attract butterflies , do not here ,, They love the Zinnia , wild Aster and the Big Native Milkweed , So do the bees ,,

ahh got it, well the tops of most my pots are covered in pebbles or red mulch, if I can avoid the soil I will from now on.

I HATE leaf hoppers. and Mealy bugs, and mites., I will personally kill with my fingers if I am able to, when I find them. Ya hafta be quick, tho. There is a insecticide I am going to buy and put out on the flower beds the first sign of a baby grass hopper. I didn't know about it, it idesn't kill an older grass hopper, but gets the nymps and the eggs. which I have no idea where they lay and what they look like., hmm, time to google I guess.
snowing real good now, I accidentally left a cyclamen out side last nite while I was letting it get cold air, since in San Antonio they act like pansies. It got down to 33 while we were there, but none of the plants looked stressed or anything! I am thinking the cyclamen will come back if I leave it alone. It is now all droopy and not frozen solid, but sure it is a goner on the foilage.
Anxious to see if the banana i planted up against the house on the east side will come back, that is an experiment. it is supposed to be cold hardy. Did same thing with a few cannas, too.. good news is I have the momma's of all of them inside. will post pics of water bottle seedlings and other sprouts later. Stay warm!

What are Water Bottles? Would love to see pictures of them. Just ask JU. LOL, poor guy. I love to tease him.

I kept losing a lot of leaves on my Fiddle leaf Fig my daughter gave me of hers. Finally I decided to treat it for mites. I sprayed it down good with Neem OIl. Haven't lost a leaf since. So, that must have been what it was. I usually can see webs but didn't even see those on it. I did see webs on the philo that I just gave all the water and fertilizer to, and it didn't so much as lose a leaf. It must have been too tough. But, I sprayed it down good about a month ago and it is looking good. But, Deb, give me some suggestions for poles for it, and also how big a pot do I put it in. The largest leaves are about 10 to 12 inches long. If I could take a picture and send it, I would. Oh, and the leaves and stems are quite thick.

I am going to try one more time to find out how to do the pictures. ttyl,

are we ready for the Oscars??
here are a few bottles I use to starts seeds in. Started in January..a tray of seeds and cuttings.. scattered seeds from my stash..
I use thick tree limbs that Joe has trimmed during summer, he saws them for me, then I use twine to wrap with and support the climbers..

here is one philo in the middle of the vine table here..seems a setosa has decided to sprout and climb upon it..I string things along the ceiling for the other vines to travel on down there.
Nice to see blooms in winter instead of football and etc.

That is pretty cool Debra. I was looking at your lights. Do you have them all on a timer? Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to have florescents? I like the ambiance of your lights tho. Would florescents be too bright for the tropicals you have down there?

I do like your bottle baby idea. You just put the soil in there and drop the seeds in? And if they need cover you drop more soil in? They never need watering tho. If you start out with the right moisture in the beginning.

Hi Jen, I have T5's in the main areas, use the spot lights for a mock lighting of when the sun moves east to west. the wall lights are on timers with the last one to go off at about 7 pm, on the south west end. I use the spot lights with higher lumins for warmth and blooms. there are three florescents in the other grow rooms. I have totally changed one grow room into a storage room, but the vines did best in that room in previous years. the electric isn't bad, hubby says it is worth a few extra dollars if I am happy :)
The best thing for me in growing from seeds I have found is the bottle method in the windows. My windows are as old as I am, so most newer homes won't have the "sill ledge" to use.

Debra That is WOWZ,WEE !!!! .... What a display
WE have latch windows like that ..
I like the Bottles also ,, Easy , economic ,, and it Works!!!

Not many seeds starting here .. I will mooch along with yours here for a while

Yes, wasn't it cool? Joe isn't like Bob who uses the basement for his stuff. 'Course, right now I can't get down to the basement anyway. I have one room down there with all my plant equipment in it, my plant room. I also put up a track lighting one year for hydroponics but I didn't have that good of set up so the plants didn't do well. Also, I didn't know that much about lighting etc. Even tho I had the track, and the light did move on it, I don't think the light itself was the right one.

LOL, that would work pretty well for something like Debra was talking about her dawn to dusk lighting. Altho the hydroponic track light might move to fast for that. The plants would go thru several days in one. Make them dizzy.

But, you know, you or I could go down into a basement like Debra's and spend the whole day and not even know the day was gone. huh JU? The problem with that tho, is that I would kill the plants by not leaving them alone. Bet Debra is like the mad scientist. Debra where do you get all of your seeds and plant starts? Do you start any tropicals from seeds? Jen

Oh, I get seeds from where ever I can get them from, friends, gardens, country, swaps, rare seed sites. I love seeds. I started a sago palm three years ago from a seed, gave the plant away at second year, they grow so big in their climate, stay inside it can't. I grew two coral trees from seeds, gave them away last year, one was four years old, the other was just a year old. They went south , too, since they grow as big as an elm tree, can't keep it in the basement. I have a clerodendrum I grew from seed. My tropicals seem to make seeds. Even the Hibiscus make at least one seed pod for me. Desert rose gave me two seed pods this year, she is a succulent.
I like to grow from seeds, but I give things away if I can't keep them down stairs. I have enough tropicals to re-furbish a couple of DG'rs who had to lose their plants to make life changes, I hope to get them going again. I grew a heavenly bamboo from seed, and a couple caudex morning glorys.
Challenge is the game, while curiosity keeps me entertained. The reward of life brought about is a sweet reward. I feel like a plant's "parent" when successful.
I'm going to try growing the two different cacti seed pods I got while in texas, they are in a red clay dish on top of the old very warm refrigerator drying out in a napkin.

I would send anyone seeds, if they want them, have offered, no takers so far...my "have" list is not updated.
Have a great night! Lookit this dang ZZ plant going crazy and making new branches inside. second pic is a pot of random seeds I had in a bag. Tonight I sorted about 3000 mg seeds, separated the i nils from the i purps, got out all double stuck together seeds, and all really flat deflated seeds. Now I'm gonna soak those for two days and see what they look like.
LOL

I'll bet the reason you get seeds is because of the humidity in your basement. Ya think? Sometimes I can grow things that I shouldn't be able to, but don't remember ever being able to get seeds from them. I bought some seeds today and when I get them I will trade you some if they are anything that you want. You too JU. You have sent me so many seeds, that maybe you will like to join Debra and I in seeing if we can grow some of these seeds out. Would be fun.

Well, it is getting late, I know not for you JU. But, Bob has already gone to bed and I am going to read for a bit. ttyl, jen

I have to find room and a way to grow these I have ,, We all ought to try starting Jungle Rooms Anonymous .
Everyone ought to have one ,, ,, or two ,, Habit forming ,,, but a good one ,,

I'll go for that JU. jen

I posted this on the Bamboo and grass forum also .
Couple of the seedlings today ,


And that above still sounds fun, interesting , and would be as Debra said a nice place to pass some time ,,

1 is #4 Chinese type
2 is Native River Cane ,
as they look today

but Ju-Why do I need a self-help group? I don't have a problem. It's not a problem. Why would I want to get rid of my Jungle Room? Just because I can't have dinner in my dining room? Or watch TV in the TV room? Or sit on the couch? This does not seem like a problem....

Pistil ROFL!!!!HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha
HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha HA,Ha, Ha

ROFL Doesn't seem like a problem to me Either !!!

Truth be known ,, I look at it as : "" Live A Little """ lol

I have been playing with a few things ,, I have found that grass and bamboo like eye drops ,
A small what I think? is a bamboo grew over a half inch new shoot overnight , after a couple drops ,,
The shoot of the #4 bamboo quit growing a day or two ago , I put a couple drops near the root crown and it has grown over a half inch today ,,
interesting , if this works ,, wonder about other plants ,, salt and saline types ,,,
I will find the older seed germination code eventually ,,
in the meantime ,, it is still a bulldog locked onto my backside ,, it will be there until I find the code ,, lol ?

Sometimes when we do things like JU working with the Bamboo, it is relaxing just to have the time to play with it yourself and just think about things .

However, other times it is nice to have others to work on these things with. Good to have company and possibly they are trying to get the same answer, trying it a different way.

2 different situations. Nothing wrong with either one.

Good evening and good morning. I spent the evening down in the basement, cleaning watering and moving things around. the cuttings in the fish filter are ready to pot up, the tub of water with a sprayer is filled with rooted things, now, no potting soil in my house. duh!
those milkweed seeds sprouted so fast, I had all seeds in tubs and bags in the garage most of winter, so the stratificatin helped I think.
Ju, eye drops of ????
made a mild spray of dawn and mouthwash for bugs, got the source of the bugs found while cleaning. gross!
well, off to bed.

Debra, what are those big flat green things on the lower left hand corner. I'm sure they aren't leaves? Do you use soil mix or soiless mix? I don't use any soil in my house if I can help it. Get fruit flies from it.

Jen

BTW, your basement looks wonderful.

Debra Plain old saline eye drops ,, In this particular instance Visine ,, lol

I tried soaking a seed in some , this morning the seed is not there ? oops

LOL Ju, it is prolly in the dropper. Jen, that is a five ft round crinum called Queen Emma, she is huge.
I use yellow sticky traps in the pots and hanging strips all around and mosquitoe dunks in the water cans. We don't get many gnats right now..
this tropical milkweed is blooming..

Debra Wow is that crinum HUGE !!! Giant lily pads !!! lol

No bugs , only a few molds around here ,, not many ,

That should be an early rest stop for the BF's ,

Why would you soak the seed in eye drops JU? If it dissolved the seed, think what it does to your eyeball.

Debra, Wow, 5 ft!! That is huge! Why do you call that other picture a weed? It is beautiful.

Eyedrops also are microbe and dirt free (saline ) kills mold , fungus , infection , and does not destroy skin ,, '
okay ,,, the seed was probably full of fungus or mold , or a microbe ,, the Saline killed that ,, no seed... it was bad ,, The bad seed ???

Did you see that movie JU? The Bad Seed?? I will never forget it. That little actress was really good. Patty something wasn't she? McCormick or something?

Nurse is here, gotta run. Jen

Hi guys, ok, I got my seed bags so will get the Datura seeds sent to those that I have addresses for. Or those that said they wanted them and if I can find their addresses in the exchange. J

Jen, why was the nurse there? Is there something I missed? Are you okay?

I walked by a shelf today ,, darned if the whole thing hadn't got me again ,,

Debra you might about the 2$ sale be seeing these again ,, lol

Jen I saw the movie ,, believe that was the little monsters name ,,, actors and actress's scare me ,, jeepeer's

wow! another score! :)

Score? Who's keeping score Debra?

JU, where did you get all those seeds? I didn't think you bought seeds.

I only had Linda (Ibartoo) and Rusty for the Blue Datura seeds. Did anyone else want some?

Will ask on the Back Porch too when I get over that way. Remember that little cabin we had JU? Bet Milkweed would have been real good there.

ttyl,

Jen ,, it is a dollar store score , lol
I was shopping around for goodies
Tomorrow i will look for lights ,, did not make it that far today ..

This message was edited Feb 26, 2015 7:55 PM

I went to the dollar store myself the other day, and found loads of bulbs and they seemed alive! I planted a bunch yesterday out in the garden. I don't think they will be hardy but for that price who cares- Acidanthera, Ixia, Tigridia.

this is the time to plant bulbs, that is for sure. You got a great deal there Ju. I'm too cold to get out of the car except to go home and go to work.

I'll try a few of your daturas, and will send you some seeds in return, Jen. I am in the address exchange.

I have seeds already bagged up to send to people .

Thanks Deb, but you really don't have to send me anything. I know I will never use up all these Dats. But, don't want them to go to waste either. Another thing, I will be anxious to see how they turn out for other people.

But, I do love seeds. jen

You sound awfully determined Evelyn. Good for you. I suppose I would too if Bob were more enthused about it too. But, you see, the winter was so mild that he didn't have to get out and shovel much. Just a couple of times. If it had been worse and we had been housebound, etc. that would be a different story.

But, the weather is gorgeous. Sunny, blue sky, but yet, only 41 degrees. Tomorrow is the first of March, and I won't plant my usual seeds for another month at the earliest. I am sure I have some that will take longer to germinate etc. that I could be working on now. I believe what I want to do is sort them and make lists on the computer. However I just got some seeds from a vendor that all 5 packets of seeds say germination time is 7 - 48 days. So, now I am going to have to google each of them to get more specific.

Well, must get busy. Just told Bob there are not enough hours in a day. I have books I want to read too, but don't find time. ttyl,

Debra, what are you up to? Traveling again? Haven't heard from you in a few weeks so it must be something.

How is your weather there in Kansas? Do you have snow? We have had such gorgeous weather lately that we got spoiled. Now it started raining and it is gloomy and tough to take. LOL, so you see we can't have everything. Darn it.

Anyway, just wondering what you are planting, any new ones? Your plants are so pretty. I don't remember if you had any orchids in your mix. My sister got me a big one, lots a flowers on it, for my birthday and I have never had any orchids. Wonder how long it will take me to kill it? LOL I hope not. However, I have a small leaf turning yellow already. Think I waited too long to water it. But since I did water it, it has another blossom opening up. I hope I'm not getting in the mode of worrying about over watering. I normally use peroxide in my regular watering on all of my potted plants, and that has always seemed to help.

Take care, and hope everything is good. Jen

Hi Jen and everyone.. I have been at work work work, so today I had off, I cleaned a few leaves off the front flower bed and the lilly bed, then my back started yiping.. Joe hurt his back digging the potato patch and resetting stones, but he is going to be ok. I am still doing PT for my spondylolisthesis, i have to learn all my movements totally over again, as bending pulling, arching and lifting are no no's, thought I could use one of those extender things to de compressurize, that is a definate NO. So now I am just going to sit on a short bench and careful clean the gardens outside. Meanwhile, things are going crazy downstairs..
my upright EE has a bloom ..my 4 o clocks are blooming inside, Gamera the torouise has awakened, the yellow clematis is blooming down there, and I have morning glory blooms every day..
Sending out seeds this week. We had snow the 2nd of march and now it is going to be up and down in temps outside. I have moved a couple things out for the warm days, the desert rose and the cactus.

Love all of them Debra. You be careful moving those things outside. Isn't that when you have a hole in your spine or something? Can't remember. The Spondolytis. How long have you known you had that? Really bad, you better take care and mind what the PT tells you.

Where do you work? Doing what? How many days/hours do you put in in a week?

Watch out for that tortoise that he doesn't grab a toe or something. Jen