O/T Please show us your favorite non-gesnariads!

I heard one time of a person putting an apple in the Av pot to make it bloom :))

ALLISON..i wondered if that wouldn't work...did she put a bag on it to contain the acid so it would work?

I can't remember where I read it. Maybe in one of the Jerry Baker ( Is his name the guy with all the great garden secrets) I'm sure a bag would help and fun to try but would it bring fruit flys ?

The idea is to force the plant into bloom by saturating it with a gas/hormone. I feel silly forgetting the name off hand. I have never triedit myself, but I have noticed a time or two whering a plant that has refused to ever bloom, may do so if in the company of a plant that does.
Kenton

That's interesting and sort of on and off topic, when you put bulbs in the refridgerator for 6 weeks or whatever to bloom they tell you not to put apples in the fridge because the gas that they give off prevent the bulbs from blooming. Very interesting.

well it's almost like bigrellic acid used on tomatoes.....course another trick that they do in the greenhouses with tomoatoes...is to use an electric tooth brush..(usually around 130pm) on the leaves and blossoms of the plants....gets their "juices" going...course without the toothbrush..one can gently shake the plants.....maybe work with gessies...quien sabe?...........who knows..?...and yep allison that is jerry baker you rememjber....Being so involved with plumerias...i find myself trying to think of methods that i can use on the gessies.

april..never heard that and kind of doubt that...i meant to say GIBRELLIC ACID

Actually JB it's true, fruit/apples release ethylene gas and that gas kills the flower bud- you can find that info in any bulb book or on any site that gives instructions on bulb forcing.

That is not to say that they don't produce other gases or that the ethylene gas effects AVs- that I don't know, I only know the effect on bulbs.

Ethylene! Thank you, April.

Bob: (I think this is how this experiment goes) Take two cheap cutflowers of the same age, (or just leafy twigs) cover both with a glass jar or Ceran, but place a ripe apple under one. Great classic experiment. now why it is supposed to make some things produce flowers, and make others drop them I do not know. Someone will have to inquire to a brighter science student.

Kenton

april..very interesting...thanks for update...now something new to investigate..8)

kenton..you also..thanks

Yeah, I don't know why it's ok for one. I knew not to put bulbs- like tulips, daffodils, etc. in the fridge w/ apples- but I sure would like to know why it's good for this and not for that!

I'm thinking that maybe Ethylene gas will help "force" a plant to bloom, which can be a good thing, although sometimes stressful for the plant (I've heard that "forced" orchids take a couple of years to rebloom). It is also used to ripen fruits (try putting a banana in a paper bag with some half ripe tomatoes, and see how quickly they finish ripening). However, trying to force a bloom from a bulb while it's dormant in the fridge.... well, that does sound like something that would be bad for the bulb for sure.

Night owl, eh, Critter?

Mmmm: enzymes, hormones and gas...

Yep.... going up soon, though! I just got a Dmail from MsC... We should probably all go to bed now! :-)

Allison...Where do I get these four oclock things?! Fabulous colors..I have to have some!

Lorry
they are usually available at any garden center, but I am sure that someone through Dave's has seeds. the colors are amazing aren't they. When I grew the regular ones- ordinary colors I had planted them where they got some protection from the worst of our sun. Don't know if your sun is as brutal, but you may want to keep it in mind. They say that 4 hours of Houston sun in the summer is equivalent to full day of summer sun elsewhere in the country.

Our sun can be pretty brutal also so it is a good thing to keep in mind.
I will have to keep an eye out for those seeds...Very pretty :)
Thanks for the info April!

Lorry
Had to look back at my dmail, JamesCo has offered to send me some seeds, will be glad to share.

Lorry, I have some Kaleidoscope 4 O'clocks growing in my greenhouse, from seed I planted last year. You are welcome to some!
They normally die down to a large tuber in the ground, but my ghse is warm enough that they don't know to go dormant.

I also have seed for yellow, fuchsia and maybe reddish pink.

I didn't know they were a tubor, if they die back do they always come back or should I plan on replanting each year?

I have seeds too . One of my nurses worked years to cross theses to get the variegation she wanted. She gave me plants and seeds and they grow like weeds. In the winter they die back and come right back in the Spring ! I have seeds of the ones in my pictures to share :))

April, I guess it depends on your zone, here in zone 9a/b they die back outside (not when being fooled by a warm ghse) and come back in the spring.

It has a tuber much like echinacea roots or dahlia, but isn't a 'bulb' family.

Yes their really neat. They come back the next year even more of them ! They are so eaxy to grow they grow on their own it seems. Mine are growing under trees but get nice morning sun .

hmm, ok, thanks- I can't believe that you are 9a/b- I am too, but then I live in Houston where it's hot.
If I already asked this question just chalk it up to my ongoing senility- if it's none of my business, tell me and my feelings won't be hurt;
Where do you live in N. Ca? Or perhaps better would be, near what major city/town do you live?

Thanks Allison- I am excited to try mine- probably would have had them by now but for the dang holiday- don't they know how it is to be an addict and have your source cut off?

gosh they die back here in Florida too. But we have many cool nights in the 30's and 40's

Do you have cool nights in the summer? If you do I will be moving in next door! Our summers hare hot and humid from sun up to sun up- at midnight it's just as miserable as it is any other time of day with the exception that sun scream in not needed. It just doesn't cool off here from May through Oct/Nov.

This is ringing a bell... I'm pretty sure in cooler zones (like mine), you can dig four o'clock tubers and store them over the winter (like a dahlia). I think they are also supposed to be reliable self-seeders, so many people don't bother overwintering them... but if you got a color from seed that you really loved, digging the tuber is the best way to ensure having that color again next year.

Oh, here's a thought... let's look them up in PlantFiles! Yup, lots of information here: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/92/index.html

If you're in a warm zone, pay particular attention to the conditions under which folks have found them invasive.... There are degrees of invasiveness, and the main thing is to be aware of the possibility when planning where (and if) to plant. Sounds like these could be hard to get rid of in a particular bed, but it doesn't really sound like they will fling themselves all over the neighborhood.

I'm going to try a few out by my fruit trees this year, and we'll see if they really are a preferred and deadly food to those dang Japanese beetles. If so, they sure will go on my list of favorite non-gessies! (hah! see? I managed to get back on-topic for this thread... sort of!)

Oh yes I bet they could grow in a field :)) My nurse gave me couple plants ( so I'd have blooms right away) plus she gave me seeds. Hubby put down some organic manua type soil and just threw the seeds down watered and puff before you know it they were blooming plants !
I could not beleive it. Ours are growing with Coleus . Makes for color in the day and blooms in the afternoon still early morning. I was surprised here they die down to nothing. Yes we do get hot but we also get some cool days and nights year round. I do love the winters though ! 30's and 40's nights no problem lately 50's-60's day. But mostly low 50-60's and 70's days !

ok Critter, if I wasn't so lazy I'd have looked it up before asking questions and if they are the last meal for Japanese beetles they will move to the head of the class in my opinion as well.

By the way what kind of beautiful puppies were those in the photos you sent?

Allison, very nice! I bet that makes for a great combination!

another view..these grew up by seed so fast seemed like over itgh. One morning my nurse was coming in and thought the garden looked so pretty she took pictures ! Rhis year should be even nicer. We have more different colored coleus and other cool plants growing in it !

Oh yes it really does and in the late afternoon hundreds of flowers come out :)) I think I'll put some Moon vine seeds up the poles. I had some growing in our other yard but did not plant any here last year. They grow super and open same time as 4 O'clocks and small great. Then we have out night Blooming cerus. I am going to have Hubby stick a cutting of it under the tree too :))

I am going to have to add coleus w/ my four o'clocks- it's too great a combo. The moon flowers would be a great addition as well, what a good idea.

April, i was born and raised in Houston, so I'm pretty familiar with the humidity, choke you when you go outside kind of heat! (like what did I take a shower for! when you go outside!)

I live in the Napa Valley (Calistoga, +/- 1.5 hrs north of SFO, in the wine country), yes, beautiful cool evenings and mornings, but in July and August, and early sept. we get into the tripple digits! Some days it hovers at 108+, BUT the blessing is that we cool off at night and no humidity whatsoever! Our last rain comes in about the last week in april or 1st week in may and we wont have rain again until mid to end of October. I'm a watering fool during those dry months, but is is my passion, so I don't look to it like work.

In the winter, we get plenty of rain, once in a while, snow, that doesn't stay more than a few hours here on the valley floor, but sticks a few days in the foothills. I do however get a good hard frost! Already had a few frosty pumpkin days!

Added to the 9a/b, is that I am in a unique little microclimate against the hills on the north side so in the winter the sun hides behind the hill around 3 o'clock and so we get a bit colder than the eastern side of the valley. Where my citrus will freeze, 1/2 mile away, it is lush and beautiful? Go figure!


Our spring summer and fall evenings are the BEST, we entertain outside just about every week with friends because it's so pleasant. We walk into town (only 5K people here) and bbq alot! DH built an outdoor fireplace so we cuddle up there if it's too chilly.

I have moonflower seeds to put into your box April and these purple bean flower vien I enjoy growing with the moonflower purple flowers come out sorta like orchids easy grow and nice together :))

Feelin' warm already, Begonia. It's 22 degrees here right now. I wish I lived in a smaller community, as this place once was. Masses of people have moved here from either Denver or California, now there's what, 105k people? A bit too big nowadays.

Strange climate Begonia, but still I'd trade places w/ you. I love that area- I grew up in So Cal, and couldn't wait to get away- yes it was the 105k! too many people all the time, every where, always felt like I couldn't breathe! But I miss California in a lot of ways- I don't visit too often but did see my mom @ Thanksgiving and cursed my crappy growing conditions compared to those of San Diego area! Man those guys have it made.

Where was it again the grass is always greener?