I am truely enjoying this new addition to the house for my babies ....the green house was packed and the room was a blessing....but the frost and freeze forced me to move some of my plants in before we were able to complete it... Now I want to build me a little tall bar table so I can go out there to enjoy my morning coffee...
Peggy
I would certainly enjoy a caramel latte while lounging in your new addition!
Beautiful collection of tropicals.
Cathy
Awe Cathy that latte sounds good... Yum!!!
Here are more tropicals in the greenhouse...
Peggy
I'm glad other folks post their pictures like this. I can show my wife and prove I'm not the only one, LOL. Our two car garage is packed full right now. Great photos... I almost can't decide if I like them all inside together more or outside spread around. They look jungle-like inside don't they?
Peggy, that greenhouse looks fantastic! Add a lawnchair with a comfy pillow = greenhouse heaven!
Keonikale, I agree, garages definitely look better when dressed in tropical greens!
Cathy
LOL I couldn't put anything else in my garage...I turned it into my woodshop and all my tools are in there along with my weight bench and bo-flex...the sun room used to be my patio/work out room.
It is so awesome to go into the greenhouse or sunroom...feels like summer...
All of my hibiscus are putting on a show for me in the sunroom... I don't know most of them names for my neighbor gave them all to me last year before winter so they wouldn't die...
LOL I thought that was in you kitchen for a second. Looks like you have the tropical bug bad. Good luck
You are SO LUCKY! I'd LIVE in that greenhouse!
Congrats Peggy!!! I know you are gonna enjoy that regardless what you are drinking and all your lovely plants look snug!!!
Jeri
Your hibiscus is beautiful. I really need to branch out with more varieties... I only have the common red and yellow type. I love the variety you posted. That'll be my goal next spring - as if I need anymore.
Just posted a few of the garage in this thread:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/785244/
Here's another for grins and comparison, LOL. Tropical bug must be in full swing.
OMG, Peggy......beautiful! Maybe someday (sigh).........
keonikale, I see yours are in the garage in Cola. You must supplement the heat and light??? Please share advice and tips. I didn't move but a few into my garage and haven't added heat or light. I thought I would just open the garage door on sunny days to try to keep them going.
LOL it sure looks like the tropical bug has bit several of us around here...All of your plants are wonderful... Don't know the proper term but is the split leafed plant an E....
I seen similar ones before and I want to find me one like that. I have several different E's... Sure like their accents in the gardens...
It is a lot of work and takes time to give 'em all tlc but what a joy...
I like them in the greenhouse and sun room but I love them in the gardens also... Actually there are a few to go in each or the garden beds and garden rooms.. I have turned all the back yard but one area into different room/paths.... Here is a pic of a few in the garden...
Peggy
Where I was standing in the previous picture I plan on building a tiki bar come spring'
To the outside of the pool area are all different rooms.......all but one square that I still mow and it will eventually be a Native American Medicine Wheel healing herb garden... I have had so much fun doing this...I will show you what it looks like from a different view..
"split leafed plant" I'm not sure what you mean by "E".
I'm guessing you mean the Monstera Deliciosa (often called Split Leaf Philodendron or Window-Leaf). Or am I completely looking at the wrong plant?
BDunn, I have an electric heater, but so far, even when it was 27F outside it only hit the mid-60's in the garage. It can get a bit drafty towards the door, so I'll turn the heater on if it's going to be really cold. But the two 1000W halides put out a good bit of heat, and since I mist and water them inside, the humidity is very high (65-70%). I'm a little concerned on the humidity bc of the drywall. Originally I had two portable GH's in the garage, but had to take them out bc of space constraints (too many big plants, LOL). The two 1000W halides we figure is adding around $85 a month to our electric bill (ouch). We run them currently for about 14hrs a day.
Here you can see the two halides: between the palm fronds:
http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/keonikale_1195615263_599.jpg
This message was edited Nov 21, 2007 12:07 AM
Yop that is what I was refering too... I love that Monstera Deliciosa.. That will have to go on my wish list... I surely love that palm...what kind is it.. I have several growing also but nothing like that.
I am just learning different plants in the last couple of years... I am learning as I go and from everybody else...
This lantans has surprised me with a show...
The palms are Christmas Palms aka Manila Palms (Veitchia merrillii, previously called Adonidia). They are great palms, but can be sensitive to the cold. I've heard they won't tolerate below 50F for too long. Mine were both nursery raised in Florida. I have several smaller trees as well. Main issue is spider mites... so be prepared.
Monsteras are probably my favorite plant of them all. I have been obsessed with them ever since I saw them in Hawaii several years ago (which is where I discovered my love of tropicals). I have over a dozen of them now, including a few that came from HI cuttings. It's hard to kill the thing, and when they have enough light and water, man do they get big. Most of my large ones (overall size) I keep outside. But a few I just have to have inside, including the one that has the largest leaves at the moment. Check these guys out (I really want a variegated one, but I can't afford them, LOL).
This message was edited Nov 21, 2007 12:51 AM
Another Monstera
If I ever take cuttings, I'll drop you a PM. I'll probably have to take cuttings next spring for sure.
Those I really like... Are they hard to start from cuttings... I finally learned to do the cuttings off the tropical hibiscus... I have one with roots on it now... tickles me...that's a first...I will have to get me a Christmas tree palm too... Are they slow growing...I have quite a few different fan palms...they are small yet...started them from seed...I also started king palm, bamboo palm...my memory doesn't serve me well I have more than several more...
I fell in love with tropicals in Hawaii also....that is where we got married...
I had a clean slate to start with out back around the pool....the look is always changing through the spring and summer..
There were two redbud trees on one far side of the pool and two dogwoods between the house and the pool...And a red maple in the far corner...
All I could keep thinking about how I wanted to make the area around the pool a tropical jungle to the best of my ability. I am beginning to make a little lead way now..
Peggy
To both of you ---- those are all WONDERFUL!
Keonikale, thanks for the info. Are you concerned the humidity will damage the drywall in the garage?
I can't tackle anything on that large a scale and the extra electric bill is not something I can handle right now. I thought about one of those small "pop up" greenhouses and I might do that for now since I don't have that many plants to protect.
Barbara
Horning in on you conversation (:^) I love the monstera, too. Here is a pic of mine from last year. You can get a general idea of the size of the leaves by the bricks of my house with it is attached to. I think the leaves were around 36" wide and a little longer than that. They are a little bigger this year. It's my favorite plant in my garden.
Here is another. If not for the holes, I could completely hide behind one of the leaves (I'm about average height). This pic is a few months earlier than the other. The leaves look bigger, but that's only because I was standing a little closer for the pic. The stems are bigger than a coke can.
Just to add, if you want it to attain this size, you have to allow it to attach to something (bigger than a moss pole or the like). For most of my other climbing aroids, I have been trying cedar fence slats (8' slats cut into two 4' sections making two climbing poles) with good success. Mine has reached the eaves of my house, so sadly I'm going to have to cut it back soon. :( It is truly an awe inspiring plant (to me)!!
LOL, I'd also need a warmer climate. I've noticed the leaves get MUCH larger when they are outdoors in the summer. I wish I could keep one of these in the ground. I'd have them growing up all my trees. Your plant is beautiful! Can you take a photo of the slats you have it climbing? I recently put one of mine on a trellis, but in general I've had trouble keeping my potted plants climbing anything. The stems are just too large. And the aerial roots are insane.
prettylady, Monstera's aren't hard to grow at all. If you take a cutting, put it in water for several weeks until the roots grow out. This will make establishing them in a pot MUCH easier. I had a cutting in dirt for 5 months with no root growth. How it remained alive is still a mystery to me, I thought it had died. I was really upset by it bc it was a cutting from Akaka Falls on the big island. But I decided to put it in water after reading the suggestion. Sure enough, two weeks later roots start popping out all over the place. I put it in dirt a few months later and now, in about a year, has grown large enough to have 2' leaves with holes in it. They will develop roots if put in dirt, but it takes longer. One of mine took considerably longer to grow a new leaf that way versus the ones I've started in water.
BDunn, yeah the humidity is a concern bc of the dry wall. But I think the garage door actually "pulls" the moisture away from the walls, since it's metal and all the moisture condenses there. I may just have to start venting the garage one a day by opening the garage door.
This message was edited Nov 21, 2007 4:02 PM
Hi Carter nice to meet ya... Your Monstera is beautiful... I definitey want to add that one to my gardens for sure next year.....
I would sure hate to have to cut that back...
Yup keonikale that sounds simple enough...LOL even for me.. Plants are amazing...
I have several vines in a vase now rooting...
I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your families... I love the holidays...
I am taking a break now...been preparing different things today... My pumpkin rolls turned out beautifully...
Peggy
Peggy: Great job on creating your tropical pool! Wow!
Keonikale: You have the bug worse that I do...so far. I'm gaining on you. Nice lights! Are they expensive?
Last year I had an unheated greenhouse that's just one of those shelving units with a zip cover.
This year, I had a half dozen plants that are too big for that, so now I've expanded to the garage. Anything that can't fit in the house is out there now. My BOP fit nicely in a sunny corner of the bedroom last winter. Now I can't get it in the door. :)
My monstera is hidden behind it in the pic.
Peggy: If you have a monstera that has put out roots a few inches above the soil level, you can also take a cutting there, trim the roots back to a couple of inches, and pot 'em up.
Deb
Thanks!
Keonikale, the white slats you see in the pic are actually for a smaller scrambling/climbing plant growing next to the monstera. The monstera is attached directly to the wall.
The cedar fence slats are just regular cedar fence slats you can buy at any Home Depot of Lowe's for less than $2 (I think, can't remember). I don't know if treated or untreated makes any difference to the plant (i.e. if the "treated" may have something that could hard the plant), but I've probably bought both at different times. Untreated will rot sooner, but cedar does tend to last longer than a lot of other woods.
Good luck Peggy, Monsteras will always get comments from folks too. Everyone wants to know what they are.
Thanks Carter. I might have to try that for the potted ones... next time I repot. That's the funny thing about Monstera's, they don't outgrow their pots with their roots, but rather their size above the ground, LOL.
Deb, yeah the lights are pretty expensive. I had never even heard of a Metal Halide light before last Spring when I started doing homework on it. I knew I'd be in for a world of hurt this winter if I didn't start then. Glad I did, though I hate I dropped $400 on portable greenhouses that can't maintain good temps (or fit all my plants) - so I've packed them back up and put them under the house. Still, they are nice GH's and I'll find a use for them down the road. The garage seems to work for now (just worried about the humidity). The lights, just FYI: I found them for a good price at specialty lights for around $410 a piece (that includes bulb, ballast, and hood with tempered glass shield). Plus they had free shipping, which is good bc the ballast weights 30lbs and the hood 18lbs. So I have close to $900 in lighting in my garage - insane I know. In fact, I never really thought about it until now. Doh. And that doesn't even include the $80 a month to run them at 13hrs a day each. But what can I say...my thumb is green and I love my tropicals. I see you and I have a few of the same things growing :)
Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving.
This message was edited Nov 22, 2007 12:56 AM
I just put a 4x4' skylight in a room that no one was using for all the tropicals over the winter. I am hoping that that will be enough light for them. Cheaper than extra heating or another grhouse-I don't know why I didn't do it sooner. Plus it is an extra selling point ( I hope) when I do sell this house.
Tigerlily: Did you do the skylight yourself? We've been wanting to put one in for the longest time, but can't find a contractor to do it!
Deb
No Deb ( I wish! lol) but it is not that expensive to do. This contractor has done them before and my brother put one in for me ( 3 actually-no leaking) but they both swear by Vellux and so that is what I always get. Also, maybe I lucked out, because he was already here doing work on the grhouses and he mentioned it as a solution. It is pretty hard to get around parts of my house without running into the plants! lol I may just wait to paint that room until June when the plants are outside and just move them in there as soon as he is done! There sure is a good bit of light in there now.
I don't think that they are that hard to do, but the contractor has to be good at sheetrock as well as there is always alot of that done in the process. A lot of contractors are not good at the mudding and maybe that is why you are having problems finding one. I think it is a great solution to the problem that we all have with our tropicals indoors in the winter.
I have 4 10" sun tunnels in the sun room and 2 track lights with 75 spot beam lights with three bulbs in each one..
The track lights run $25 a piece and the bulbs are $7
The sun tunnels run $162 a piece...
The plants seen to like the choice thus far...
Peggy
Please explain Sun tunnel? What is it?
Jeri
aaah..that first picture is priceless. My house looked like that last winter when unexpected freeze warning came out. They were in the house for several days.!
Peggy-I thought about sun tunnels, but I didn't think that I would get as much light as a skylight, and after seeing the room with the light shining in, I still think so. They are cheaper, but you still have to put a hole in the roof to install them, and so I figured that in the long run a skylight (esp a 4x4') would not be much more. Actually-if I could have fit more in there, I would have, but there is a crease in the roof that runs through that room-
I did find a contractor willing do put in the tunnels, but I also thought I'd get more light from a regular skylight. I hope I find someone to do the work because we only have - I swear - 2 south facing windows in the entire house. Too dark.
Jeri: My understanding of the sun tunnels is that you can put them in a place where you couldn't put a regular skylight because they can run the tunnel through an attic or whatever and it is lined with something reflective to channel light. I think. Someone correct me if I got that wrong. :)
Deb
Jeri perhaps this link can explain better that I .... http://www.bigfrogmountain.com/sun_tunnel_questions.htm
I did a lot of research... Considered a sky light 4'x4' but I didn't want to take the ceiling fan or light out in the middle for in the spring/summer this will be a sitting room...I will put down ceramic tile as soon as I get the plants out of there come spring and finish the room out.
I think that this is so cool, all those luscious plants in one room, I like tropicals but tend to take them for granted as I live in the tropics and it is normal to see such plants. I have bits and pieces scattered all over the place and I oops love exotics and they look great placed with the tropicals, caladiums are emerging everywhere, my ginger is over 7ft tall and growing, foxtail palm has seeds everywhere, I brought an episcia the other day and found out that it was listed as tropical,snake lilies are emerging as well,scadoxus lily has just flowered and the gloriasana is not far behind, so much colour.This is one off my favorite shrubs the turnera ulmifolia (morning star), the flowers open in the morning and close by midday.
Morning Star
Annette: You're talking to folks with serious "zone envy", here. And this time of year, hemisphere envy too! LOL.
Deb
I know that I am lucky to live in a frostfree zone, here is a pic off me in the middle of winter in the day, it was taken last year.I love the heat and I am acclimatized here.
Note No Jumper lol.
The *sun tunnels* go by the trademark name Solo-Tube. I had two of the 12" installed last winter and couldn't be happier. The center area of my house was so dark had to use lamps all of the time. I would suggest using the franchise company. They do this all day, every day. Came 2 days after I called them. Cost about $600. or so for both., I think. 10 year guarantee. There was no mess and only took about 3 hours from start to finish for both. Really, really need a heated greenhouse. Have a lot of my tropical in the tool shed but don't think it will work. Not insulated so a heater would just go nowhere. 37 today...supposed to be 69 by Tuesday. Guess we will have to bring them in anyway. We don't let our pets outside in bad weather and my plants are right up there with them. Have covered the koi pond and am crossing my fingers that they are going to be ok. We people have a dis-ease. hahahah
LouC
