I've always used RO water on this type of plant and that seemed to OK
A NEW Day of Gratitude and Love
Mine is out on the front porch so it is getting the water hose and that is not good!
All my plants in the house are looking better than they ever have. That is because the ladies in the violet club were horrified that I was using water from the kitchen to water my gesneriads.
So...............knowing that I couldn't go to CVS or Walmart and pick up that many gallons of water a week, (I use about 12 gallons a day for the plants in the house) I simply started to use only water from the sink that had sat at least 24 hours. It is amazing how much better the plants look from the one little change I made.
I just fill every empty 1/2 gallon milk container before the night is through and they are ready the next afternoon or whatever..............do you suppose the chlorine evaporates?????? It does something to the water by letting it sit overnight but I don't know what it does........
OK! I wasn't sure if distilled or RO water might be a little too pure... I know some microscopic critters will actually explode from the osmotic imbalance if you put distilled water on them (salt inside the critter, no salt outside the critter, so water flows into the critter until it pops, eww). Plants are probably more resistant that way!
Chlorine will evaporate if you let water sit out, but there are compounds (chloramines, maybe?) in some city water that don't evaporate. I'll bet it would also work to add dechlorinator, like you'd use for a freshwater fish tank... and if you buy it in larger quantities (not those 1 oz. bottles by the goldfish tank at Wally World), it's pretty reasonable (definitely more so than buying water from the store!).
Let me see if I can find a source to give you an example... http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/197849/i/2/product.web At 2 drops per gallon, that 8 oz bottle would last a long time! Your local fish store would probably have something like it for less than cost plus shipping from TFP (unless you need other fish or pet supplies -- they have great prices and selection, but their shipping for just one item is too much!).
Straight dechlorinator is probably best, not the products with extra vitamins and stuff to promote slime coats (yes, slime is a good thing on fish, LOL).
Chlorine does evaporate from water as it sits. Gail, you are doing a good thing for your plants by doing that. CAn't remember exactly how long it takes but I think it can be as little as a few hours. I've also heard that distilled water can take too much out of the soil as it goes through. RO water is great but not softened water- that one uses sodium to achieve the softeness.
Hmm, on the other hand distilled water might be just the thing to use every so often to "flush" excess fertilizer salts from the soil (top watering), do you think?
I flush the big avs but I repot so often I don't think they have much time to gather excessive salts. The big avs have to be flushed.
I use well water on mine and I have had it tested on more then one time.... Our water is very good and the man said if most wells were as clean as are was it would be wonderful... I live on a very high water table ... I have creeks on two side of my properity... When others have brown lawns mine is still very green....
Susan
We recently got city water but hubby left two hoses out back so I can continue to use that water for all of my plants. Sure makes it easier for me not to have to fill so many containers with the city water and have to let it sit. I have six of the one gal orange juice jugs that I washed thoroughly and let dry and filled them with water from the hose before our couple of days of cold weather and brought them inside to keep at room temp's. Hubby laughs at me in winter when he sees me heating water in the microwave to water plants!
LOL Lin! You'd think after a while, and a million plants, nothing would phase them :-) My hubby has never gotten over a move we made way back - in November - and I made him rent a heated trailer for the plants.
It is beautiful here today... We are suppose to hit 70... This weather is really messed up... LOL I put my Passion plants on the deck to get real light... they are loving it...LOL
Hugs,
Susan
Now, that is really funny! But, I do understand ... I would require a heated trailer for moving my plants in cold weather too!
Off topic but has anyone been watching the Dave's Garden Thread about a possible upcoming (2009) Dave's Garden get-together? It will probably be held somewhere in Texas and I think it would be so much fun if a lot of us could make the trip and get to meet each other! The discussion about holding a DG type Convention started here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/790716/
continued here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/799610/
and now they are taking votes (voting booth) to try to get an idea on how many would like to attend: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/802625/
Why....just once.....won't they hold a nice get together convention in Maine?....why I ask *lol*........hmmm 3 feet of snow, black flies, mosquitoes, NO nice nurseries, rain all spring, 5 "nice" summer days out of our total 3 months of summer weather.....hmmmm I wonder why *lol*
wild blueberries! white water rafting! wilderness & wolves! (wolves might not be a selling point for some, but it is for me.) and best of all.... Kim!
why not Maine, indeed?
;-)
AWWWW Jill.
I would literally DIE if anyone could see where I live.
I love it but it is so.....back woods compared to so many pictures I have seen of all your beautiful homes.
Literally "back woods". I lift my dress and squat where I want *lol* I'm a real hick chic *lol*
I agree Maine would be great and also I with the wolves...
Ok ladies I am going to seperate my plants today and so I am getting this correct when I take them away from I put them back inside a dome until the settle correce?
Thank you allllll.
susan
Well Kim since you brought up the squat I live in the woods also and I have a very bad bladder so I have been know to squat a time or two... ok so maybe more.... whos telling...LOLOL
Sue
That's AWESOME! I love it! When I'm out in the garden, I can be bothered to run inside, take my shoes off etc. Waaaaay too much work *lol*
Yes, keep them domed (for about 8 weeks if possible) then accimate them to your home environment. You can acclimate them a little sooner if they look "strong" enough but at least 7 weeks definitely. Just my opinion....value everyone elses :)
Thanks Girl, by the way where do you work? My job does not even have a copy michine... Nothing High Tech... she has the brains of a very good surgon but the common sence of a flea...LOLOLOL
Hugs,
Susan
Now, I LOVE the country but I would be waaay too embarrassed to squat outside! LOL ... I am so modest, I don't even want the birds seeing me!
And, did y'all say WOLVES??? Now, I kinda like the sound of the howling but I sure wouldn't want to come in contact with one! We have Black Bears and Coyote and Fox here in Florida ... and of course Alligators and I never want to come into contact with those critters either! My type of critter are the deer! But, that's about as wild as I want to go!
When my Mom was alive she was in a mobile home park in the Fort Lauderdale area near my sister's home and they had coyote's in that park ... a lot of outdoor cats went missing quite often. My Mom and sister said it was foxes that were taking the cats but I never saw a fox - saw a coyote twice! Once when my youngest sister and I were staying with mom and my oldest sister stopped after work for awhile. It was about 8 O'clock at night and when my sister left for home we walked her out and stood next to her car talking to her for a few minutes and a coyote came walking alongside the next door neighbors mobile home, came down the drive way watching us warily and walked across the street through another yard! Scared me! Another time I was there with my mom and her cat kept going crazy wanting out to the glassed in porch, so I opened the door and walked out with the cat. The cat immediately jumped up to the window so I knew there was another animal out there. I just figured it was a neighborhood cat but when I walked over and looked it was a coyote staring back at me. Didn't seem to have any fear at all ... was wanting the cat!! When the cat moved to another window, there went the coyote! I watched it for a few minutes with it watching me and the cat ... it finally wandered off. Kinda scary at the time because it didn't seem to have any fear of me. Maybe it was hungry and thought I was going to give him a meal of mom's kitty?! My mom said some nights you could hear this eerie screaming and she was sure it was one of the neighborhood cats being eaten. There were a few cats that came up missing so who knows. Guess if the coyotes were hungry and the cats are easy prey, it's natural for them.
I can't think of a better place to share my news, than on a thread called "A NEW Day of Gratitude..."
and I wanted to share with all my friends here right away!
After three months with no work and no money...
I GOT THE JOB!!! I GOT THE JOB!!!!
:o) :o) :o)
I will now be the swing-shift unit secretary for the hospital ER... so I get to stay in the medical field.
Yay!!!! I can't tell you how happy and relieved I am!!!!
Karen
My post was sitting here unsent for awhile cause we had some excitement going on in the neighborhood! I was sitting here and heard a helicopter overhead. Went out on the pool deck and it was a police copter overhead and all of a sudden I saw police cars so I came in and locked the doors, knowing they were after someone. My elderly neighbor called me to tell me there was a policeman sitting in his patrol car by her house. She is always out in the yard and leaves her garage door open and her doors unlocked all the time! She asked him what was going on and he told her to just get inside and lock her doors and stay there! Another neighbor who has a police scanner called her and told her that they were looking for a guy who had run this way and he had one handcuff on! I never saw anyone but there were police everywhere. I just called the non emergency number for the sheriff's office cause I didn't hear the helicopter anymore. But, I didn't want to venture back outside if some criminal was still on the loose! They caught the guy they were after! So ... excitement in our little neighborhood today! It's happened before. See what ya miss when you live in the country?! One of the reasons I would LOVE to live in the country! I wouldn't miss this kind of excitement at all. We have a main road about a mile from us and banks and stores have been robbed in the past and the culprits apparently run this way because of some wooded areas - guess they think they can hide out. My backyard neighbor is notorious for always leaving her garage door open and she has had her house broken into a few times over the years! Her deceased husband used to have a gun collection and it was stolen in one break in and her son's coin collection, cash and jewelry have been taken during robberies. She would just leave and go shopping with a friend and never close her house up. You just can't do that in this day and age when you live in the city!
Well, I need to get back to work ... trying to clean the house and making more of a mess. Just dumped Chirita Kazu onto the floor ... dirt everywhere! And, looks like 4 leaves have broken off ... guess I will plant them up and hope for babies! But, first ... I need to vacuum up all the dirt!
CONGRATULATIONS, KAREN!!! Wow, that is a Wonderful New Year Blessing!
Ohhh Karen, I can't tell you HOW HAPPY I AM FOR YOU!
I prayed and prayed and prayed it would happen and it DID....Thank you Jesus!!!!! Amen!!!
Oh that is the BEST news I have heard in a long time!
I told you 2008 would be YOUR year......I sure hope you LOVE the job and I'm sure they will LOVE you too :)
Oh I am just smiling ear to ear right now and my heart is pounding so fast for you!
How exciting!
Congratulations!
((((( Hugz )))))
Kim
Karen, what WONDERFUL news!!! I'm sure those swing shift hours will take some adjusting to (better than night shift, though!), but I'm so glad that you're not only working again but able to work in your field! God is good. :-) I'll pray that God keeps looking out for you as you start your new job so things go smoothly... hope you get some wonderful people to work with, too!
*Snoopy Dance!*
(for you, Karen, I'd even try to line dance)
(except that nobody wants to see that)
(LOL)
It's Electric........starting the Electric Slide.....come on Jill *lol*
Only for you (& for Karen, of course, since it's her celebration)... but I'm telling you, it ain't gonna be pretty. It's not that I can't dance, but I sure can't line dance to save my life.
Since college, I've given up all attempts at linedancing unless 1) I'm at a wedding and 2) I'm a bridesmaid, in which case I feel obligated to dance -- and to bring as many other people onto the dance floor as possible!
(You can believe that when Jim and I got married, there was NO Chicken Dance, nope, no way, no matter how many times the DJ asked me, and despite the fact that several people tried to request it! Other people thanked me later, LOL.)
Ok I am in on the Electric Slide, GREAT DAY KAREN.... Come on ladies lets dance....
Hugs,
Susan
I took my plants apart today... I was very scared to do this but I went from this...
It's Electric!
You can't see it
It's electric!
You gotta feel it
It's electric!
Ooh, it's shakin'
It's electric!
Jiggle-a-mesa-cara
She's a pumpin' like a matic
She's a movin' like electric
She sure got the boogie
You gotta know it
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie!
Now you can't hold it
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie!
But you know it's there,
Yeah here there everywhere
I've got to move,
I'm going on a party ride
I've got to groove, groove, groove,
And from this music I just can't hide.
Are you comin' with me?
Come let me take you on a party ride
And I'll teach you, teach you, teach you
I'll teach you the electric slide
Some say it's mystic
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie
You can't resist it
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie
You can't do without it
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie
Jiggle-a-mesa-cara she's a pumpin' like a matic
She's movin' like electric
She sure got the boogie
Don't wanna lose it
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie
But you can't choose it
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie
But you know it's there,
Yeah here there everywhere
I've got to move,
Come let me take you on a party ride
And I'll teach you, teach you, teach you
I'll teach you the electric slide
Some say it's mystic
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie
You can't resist it
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie
You can't do without it
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie
Jiggle-a-mesa-cara she's a pumpin' like a matic
She's movin' like electric
She sure got the boogie
Don't wanna lose it
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie
But you can't choose it
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie
But you know it's there,
Yeah here there everywhere
and this
The really scary thing is... I'll bet Kim typed that out from memory... Kim, I love you! :-)
to this....
I have named
2 silver surfers
C. Hisghs?
4 aiko
2 episcia green goddess
So I have nine named now and a total of 19 ..
Susan
Wow Susan! You Grow Girl!
Those look GREAT. Now remember, moist...NOT WET *lol* The roots need to SEEK water not rot in it :)
Jill....*winks*.....I LOVE to dance....my plants wish I wouldn't but they tolerate it *lol*
I ran out of dirt well not dirt mixed dirt and I am tired now and I still have to go to the Grosery store......
Yack at you all later...
Hugs,
Susan
PS
Does anyone know if this is a strep or what?
Looks like a Chirita to me....possibly Kazu ?
I just ran into check Dave's and found so much to be grateful for. Good going, Karen!
You all are having more fun.........I read every single post and just kept smilin'!
Where in the world did you get those word, Kim? You will have Critter dancing through her house instead of resting on the couch!
And then to top off the thread, Lin is chasing 'bad men' around her yard (lol)
Susan, no more of this "I don't know what to do"..........those are awesome looking plants.
Y'all are a hoot! I can't dance but am willing to learn the Electric Slide if Kim or Critter has the guts to try and teach me! LOL!
Susan, you are doing so great! Your plants look wonderful!
Gail: Nope, you won't find me chasing the bad guys ... I was hiding inside the house with all the doors and windows locked, watching out the front window! Now, if I had seen a stranger with one handcuff dangling you bet I woulda been on the phone with 911 ... real quick! I was so glad when I called the non emergency number and he told me they had caught the guy! My neighbor said he might have been armed - I guess maybe they hadn't frisked him yet ... got one handcuff on him and he bolted! Bet that cop wasn't too happy about that!
Well, I am heading back out to the deck to repot my Chirita Kazu that got knocked off the stand today. I have been a klutz today - first knocked this plastic container off a shelf in the closet right where my clothes are hanging! ... well it contained about a zillion bottles of nail polish - hit the floor and glass shattered ... luckily it was on the tile and I ran for a roll of paper towels, got them sopping and was able to get the polish up before it dried! I just scooped all the bottles and broken glass & polish up and put it in the trash can. No more nail polish in the closet ... I did that once before and red nail polish got all over a pair of slacks and a good silk blouse as well as a pair of shoes .... finally got it out of the clothes but the shoes went bye bye! Then I knocked the C. kazu off one of the stands in the study and later knocked a philodendron off a plant stand in the guest room! Today has been a day of cleaning, vacumming and then cleaning some more since I dumped the polish and then two plants - in three separate rooms!! It's really been a klutzy day for me.
Some days are just a catastrophe for me. Have you ever dropped a perma nest tray that is full of green algae water in it on the carpet? That is what I did today. The water started swaying in waves and I finally dropped the whole thing. Carpet is all I have in the house except for the kitchen and the baths! Bummer! I tried to clean it up. Oh well...........when it is too dirty I will either have it cleaned or replace the gro light stand places with vinyl.
I am trying not to get my feelings hurt about the sales with the CC group. They won't let you sale anything without a name. This is just one (and there are many) of the streps I grew from Snowrose sending me seed. The parent must be a big healthy plant because my babies look like this one!
I wouldn't sell them this small but by May they will be in 6" pots and the blooms are a beautiful deep rose color.
are they new crosses or just some that the name got lost?
mrsbonnie