Judy's Jungle Goes Under Wraps....

It's 29 degrees outside but 70 in Judy's Jungle, because the sun is out!!!

6 AM it's 18 degrees outside and 43 inside Judy's Jungle. Big Daddy99 added a 3rd small electric heater last night.

Judy

Judy...it looks like you have a taste of paradise here on earth ! You are so fortunate to have a DH who is not only willing but also able to help you and share your love of your plants & animals.
I love your home and porches and woods! I know it is also alot of work, but do take time to enjoy! Beautiful!
Margie

I love my "greenhouse". It suits us perfectly, only problem is now want all the porches enclosed. Once I moved all the birds and plants onto them I barely have room to walk. lol lol

Sad news!!!!

High/Low
Thursday 28° | 11°
Friday......25° | 9°
Saturday.30° | 16°
Sunday...42° | 32°
Monday...50° | 40°

Last night it got down to 15 degrees but we're prepared so it wasn't too bad until the electricity went out, down power line had to be repaired but the roads were slick because we had a vast amount of sleet and a dab of snow. The power was not restored for 4 hours.

Fortunately we have gas heat, but my "greenhouse"/poly enclosed porches are heated by electric space heaters. We opened the doors and windows leading to the this area to provide some heat for the plants, but since we didn't have power for fans, it wasn't very productive.

I can see that I have lost newly potted brug cuttings and small begonias all of which were watered yesterday. I'm so upset I haven't looked at the other plants, afraid of what I'll find.

Judy

Judy....how sad, I am so sorry for you! I never thought about the electricity going out for heat!
I hope it will not be as bad as you think!
Margie

Photo of the enclosed porches as of ten minutes ago. Under the snow is a quarter inch of ice. Not much snow...

How sad ;'(
Makes my heart ache for you two.

With the uninsulated floors and poly walls I would suggest you only count on it as a season extender.
Did you wrap poly on both sides of each frame ?
This will create a dead air space for better insulation.
Even if you do insulate the floors I would try to skirt the porch to the ground also.

Good luck !

Wishing for things look better in the morning.

The floors have insulation, Army surplus insulated tent flooring. And the panels have poly on both sides. I should have gotten a propane or kerosene heater for a backup I just didn't think about it.

I'm hopeful that my experience will be similar to Kathy_Ann's, that they just look bad but no real damage.

Judy

Plan ahead for next year with gas/propane/kerosene heaters and plenty of fuel.

Ain't hindsight great? An old friend used to say her "rectrospectroscope was 20-20" LOL.

edited for spelling

This message was edited Dec 23, 2004 8:35 PM

We've just wrapped the porches in prior years and everything made it but we haven't experienced the combination of severe lows and no electricity.

The other aspect of the problem is in prior years I wasn't trying to winter-over newly planted Brugs or Angelwing Begonias, prior plants were more hardy Ferns, Philodendron etc. of which I still have plenty and they don't appear to have sustained any damage.

Well I lost a few plants that were close to the poly covering, but they weren't any that I didn't have duplicates of so I can start more cuttings.

We wish you all a Wonderful Holiday Season & A Good New Year!!!

Judy & Bob

I'm going to bump this up just to let you know that this has worked out GREAT!!! I recommend it for starting seedlings or wintering-over plants.

Judy

I LOVE YOUR HOUSE. I LOVE COUNTRY RUSTIC.
Sorry to hear you lost some plants. Thats very disappointing.

We didnt get any snow this year.
We closed in our front porch so I could winter over my House plants. Lots of windows. We havent finished the outside yet but the inside is complete. And the whole house is electric. No gas heat or back up at all. I would just Cry if the power went out.

Good Luck to ya.

cricket

After being without electricity for a week at Thanksgiving the first year we were here 10 years ago, we bought a wood cook stove and a generator. The generator does not run the 220 but with the cook stove, and the gen. runs the fan on the furnace, which is both elect. and wood heat, we have lights,water, tv, computer, we felt we were pretty well set. And, guess what, the electricity hasn't gone out for more than a few hours since.

We also have 2 fireplaces, they really aren't much help.but would work if all else failed.

Jeanette

It figures, eh? As soon as you wash the car, it rains... as soon as you are prepared for a power outage, the power is steady... The peace of mind must be nice, though.

We recently got a radio that runs with a crank and/or solar power - it's really handy, for camping or power outages or wherever. Here's the link to the place where I bought it - they have a lot of neat stuff. http://www.modernoutpost.com/gear/solar.html

Judy, I've enjoyed this thread so far - thanks for the update and the inspiration!

Shannon

I have heard of those radios Shannon, but we don't get radio transmissions because of the mountains around us. We only get TV because of the satallite. Guess my only option is to move.
I don't know anything about solar. Would that be like the satallite? Where it comes down to a dish instead of thru airwaves? There again, I am showing my ignorance.

I have heard of satallite radio, but that is another $20 per month.

Jeanette

Hi Jeanette,

Yeah, I guess something like this would be useful only if there is a local station. In the Rockies in Canada, a lot of the communities have local CBC (our national public broadcaster) frequencies, that work for their particular valley only. I wonder if NPR would have the same - I guess it would depend at least partly on the size of the community.

The "solar" in this case just means that the radio can be powered or charged by solar energy, as an alternative to winding up the crank; the radio has a solar panel on top of it. It works really well. The radio has good sound quality - we sometimes use ours even when there's no power outage! lol

Well Shannon, I think there are only a half dozen or so corporations that own the communications in the states. So, for instance, there is an earthquake in North Dakota, they have no local station to tune to for the emergency. They would just get canned radio .from India or some place.

I think that is the way it is. Enough said. I will probably get zapped.

That is why the computer is good. If you have a local something you can go to. Maybe Dave's would tell us about it. LOL edited to add this.

Jeanette

This message was edited Mar 2, 2005 12:42 PM

LOL! Good point - I'm sure they would....look how everyone on DG was keeping track of our Florida friends during the hurricanes. It was a great source of info.

Count down to taking off the wraps.... our last frost date is April 8 and I simply can't wait!!! The plants are too big and I'm claustrophobic!!!!

26 days to go......

Judy

Yeah Judy, if your plants grew very much over winter i bet it is like a jungle out there. Hope your spring comes soon enough for you. DonnaS

BREATHING ROOM!!!!! Take a deep breath and hold it!!

We're took one panel off today, high 74 low tonight of 46,
low tomorrow night is suppose to be 34 so back up it will go we'll use a "turnbuckle" type latch

Monday low is 30, so it will stay up

Starting Tuesday and for the next few days low 40's or high 30's
so off comes the panel for a few days running, they can handle those temps.

When the temps are to be low at night we'll just put the panel back up.

good luck judy-----the things we do for plants!!!!!!!!
has it been hot on that porch during the day?
Going into a warm sun room gives ya chill bumps. After 5 minutes your ready to leave lol.

It doesn't get overly hot because we are in the woods, although the trees don't have leaves there is still enough shade. I'm off to find the hammock, it's in there somewhere, but I'll have to string it up between trees, no room on the porch!!!

More panels came of this past week, about half are down. We left the panels on the east side to protect the birds. 95% of my plants made it through the winter so now begins the repotting. I conducted some interesting experiments which I will share with you later. I'm taking pictures to post

Judy

Hey Judy,
Did you do this again?
How's it going if ya did ?

scooterbug, I was wondering the same thing. I hope that she can respond to this and let us know how she is doing.

JesseK

Hello!! I rejoined DG earlier than planned.. I had a list of chores to complete then as a reward to myself I would rejoin. lol

I rejoined early because LMelling/Lynne was hospalized with pnuemonia and this was unknown to DG Prayer Warriors, also I developed some contacts which could give us updates and a gentleman at the hospital who was willing to allow us to send her emails to his email address and he delivered them to her. There are Angels everywhere!!!

The above work too well!! I had way to many plants to care for this past summer but we did it again this year. The only problem with this project was storing the panels for the summer. The tailend of ALL the hurricanes came through here and destroyed a couple, etc. They had to be rebuilt for this winter. Also real small pots sitting on the porch suffered due to temperature transferring, but the larger pots did GREAT.

Last year I went a step further and I put all the ferns, wandering jew, phils, etc in heavy clear plastic garbage sacks of various sizes, tied them off and I didn't have to water them all winter. All but the ferns looked a little leggy but bounce back early, early spring when I removed the bags.

This is definitely something we will do every year. I got the tent flooring from a gov't salvage online bidding website but had to physically go to the location to pick it up... lots of miles but I expect it will last as long as I do.

Judy

If you have porches, this is definitely the way to go. I have way too many plants so let me know if you come this way (Memphis TN area) and want some basic/common house plants.

Judy

Judy,

I love your porches with all of your plants and have looked at your photos more than once and droolled the whole time. You have so many beautiful plants and I think that you have done a wonderful job with all of them. I am glad that you have such a great husband to help you out too. If I'm ever over that way, I would love to drop in for a visit. The problem is that I might not want to leave after I get there. LOL Are there any plans for new photos in the future? I could sit and look at them all day.

JesseK

I TOTALLY agree with Jesse! You have the most beautiful garden. Count me down for a visit. I will get there one day!

Best wishes to you and your plants!

Anna

Oh Goodness it doesn't look as good as the pictures would lead you to think... but here is a link to the Brug pictures. It was my first year with Brugs so I was very pleased. www.puppygal.com/judysgardenparty.html

If they survive the winter I should have lots to share come summer.

Judy

Judy,

I want to try to grow some brugs this year. I did not do anything at all last year because we were told we were moving from NC to CA. We are still in the same place so I'm going try some outside things this year and I have fallen in love with the brugs. I just need to know what to do to get started. If we are going to be staying here for sure, I would really love to get a small greenhouse for the brugs in the winter. By the way, if that was your first year with brugs, you did absolutely wonderful! I bet this year you will be even better.

JesseK

JesseK,

Cuttings are usually shared in the fall when the plants have to be moved inside, but I didn't cut all of mine back therefore might have cuttings to share, if they survive, come spring,

I would suggest you start out with the basic brugs which have been around for a long time, like Charles Grimaldi. It will bring you so much joy and is almost indestructible. Also Frosty Pink, Isabella or just "unknown name" brugs in different colors, because the first year you will be learning about brugs and surely don't want be be experimenting on high $$$ plants.

Wintering over brugs is always a problem in the house because it is too warm and moist, therefore the perfect breeding ground for insects which love Brugs. A garage, basement or other place which will not freeze but will not be as warm as the house, would be perfect for them.

I make up my own soil and it is a chore, but as you can see it works. I'll come back and give you the link to the thread I posted which gives the recipe.

If you want to try to start some seeds NOW which may or may not bloom this summer, I'll see if I have some.

Be prepared to become addicted.

Here is a copy of a posting I made last year when I was mixing my potting soil:

judycooksey
Pocahontas, TN
Zone 7b
Apr 25, 2005
7:25 AM

From Better Homes & Gardens
New Complete Guide To Gardening Copyright 1997

A Simple Soil Mix Recipe

1 part good loamy garden soil or commercial topsoil
1 part organic matter (peat moss, leaf mold, compost)
1 part sand, perlite or vermiculite
¼ part bonemeal or rock phosphate (for phosphorus)
¼ part greensand, granite dust or langbeinite (for potassium)

Container gardeners often develop their own secret recipes for the growing medium for their pots. If you’re an inexperienced container gardener, try this recipe

The soil in the mix holds nutrients and water and buffers changes in pH and nutrients. The organic matter improves texture and hold water and nutrients. The sand, perlite or vermiculite encourages good drainage: however, sand is heavy and may make moving large containers difficult.

-------------------------

Notes From Judy:

Greensand is suppose to be great for clay soil – search the Internet for more information.

1 part sand, IMO, is way too heavy, especially since most commercial Topsoils now contain sand. I would cut that in half and possibly make that ½ part be vermiculite since quality perlite is hard to find. Most of what you can buy in a “big box store” floats to the top when you water the plants.

-------------------------

For the batch of soil I made up specifically for the Datura & Brugs……

I started out with Jungle Pro Mix (no fertilizer - too light weight) potting soil, mix it 1:1 with 40 lb bag of Wal-Mart Potting Soil (no fertilizer - too heavy with sand) added a heaping shovel of peat moss, 2 cups lime and 2 cups 13-13-13, plus 1 cup of time release 20-20-20 and a cup of Alfalfa pellets and a bowl (about 4 cups) of vermiculite.

*** I’ve never used this mix before so let me pot up some Datura & Brugs and let you know how they are doing before you try the above, it may kill the Brugs, looks awful strong now that I've written it down. lol lol They'll either die or grow to be 20 feet tall during one summer.

I'm off to pot up plants.

Judy
.....................

As you can see via the pictures of the brugs, this mixture worked great. But making up the soil really worked this 60 year old woman. lol lol

WOW Judy!!!!

What magnificent plants you have!!!!! All of them but I feel in love with the Christmas cactus, the light pink one. I have never seen it that colour!

Judy,

Thank you so much for all of your help. I think that brugs are beautiful and I was disappointed last year that I could not grow any because we were told by DH's work that we were moving. This year they are in a bit of financial difficulty at this time and we really don't even know if he will have this job soon or what we will do. So I have decided I'm going to grow some brugs, some flowers, and get an earthbox or two for vegetables. We cannot put our lives on hold just because they do not know what they are doing. So we will have brugs and flowers and a garden (in containers) and if we have to move, we will just bring them along with us.

To get it straight in my head, exactly which batch of mix did you use last year? I want to be on the lookout for sales so that I will be prepared when the time comes. Once again, thank you for all of your help.

JesseK

For the batches of soil I made up specifically for the Datura & Brugs…… Started throwing it all together and adjusted vermiculite and peat moss according to how it felt to my hand. The below is about right.

Jungle Pro Mix Potting Soil 40 lb bag (did not contain fertilizer)
Wal-Mart Potting Soil 40 lb bag (did not contain fertilizer)
Peat Moss - heaping shovel full
Lime - 2 cups
13-13-13 Fertilizer - 2 cups
20-20-20 Fertilizer time release - 1 cup
Alfalfa Pellets - cup (you can get this at a feed store)
vermiculite - about 4 cups

Spider this link is for you http://whittongreenhouses.com/variety.htm