October Blooms, Part 3

i got mine from charleys greenhouse, but they sell it all over the internet.
mrsbonnie

I use a mix of each watering method . . depending on the plants. What's under the dome and some of the older babies that are not "big" enough to play with the bigger plants are on capillary matting. Most of the bigger plants are wick watered. There are a few plants only that I use the "texas" watering method.

Kivit - I use acryllic felt for my capillary matting. I got a yard of it at the local Hobby Lobby for $10/yd, I think. I didn't know any better and got it in white . . . but I've learned since then that color of the matting doesn't really matter . . . if you don't want to see algae as must, you can use a darker color. Seems to me I've read that algae doesn't like to grow as much on darker colors . . . I'll have to look in my books . . .

syrumani
Oooh! acrylic felt! What a good idea!
Ummm! I'll bite! What is the "texas' watering" method??

Kivit there are a couple of links in the stickies that describe the Texas watering method ....

Here's one http://violetreflections.com/newsletter/newsletter17/main.htm#meet just scroll down the page until you see the third lady, she describes how to do it in detail.

I bought my capillary matting from The Violet Showcase, it is gray and looks like felt, when I get to the city I'll have to check at a fabric store for a better deal.

I wanted to buy some capillary matting from Cape Cod Violetry that was a better deal but could never get them to answer my e-mails. Guess I'll just have to do the snail mail thing with them....

Sininngia Ozark Petunia Edge .... the yellow centers grab me every time.

~Brenda

Brenda....love those plants you grew from seeds (streps)...........I always email John Cook what I want and he will answer my email with the total........and then I pay by credit card by calling him after he totals it. I just love the pots from Cape Cod,too.

Just make sure it is acryllic felt, not the normal cotton-type you can get in squares at walmart . . .

Brenda - I've never gotten Cape Cod Violetry to answer any of my emails, or the one phone call, either - and I've tried since June . . . Gail has MUCH better luck with them!

Marjorie, our club president, said he had been real sick but that was a month ago.......

you must have caught them when they were out, i get stuff from him quite often & talk to him quite often also,.
mrsbonnie

I am loving the biggest mistake I made. I thought I was ordering a double dome from Park Seed. Instead they sent these giant ones. They have a new policy where they don't pay for shipping with returns. So I decided to keep them but not having any idea what I would use them for........................until this morning. I am cutting the tops off of big episcias. They fit right under the lights on the shelf.

next I will show you the dome. I have two of these so I can cut the tops off of all my episcias.

She is domed and now under the lights..........going to do another one......

Gail - is that a square tray? Do you know what the dimensions are?

It is a rectangle and the bottom black part is about 4" deep. The bottom part says to put pebbles and water there (????????????????) I didn't do that. Let me find something to measure with. They are awesome for big starts of plants.

http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=96039

I can't find my tape or the metal one............let me look............

I found the tape. It appears to be 20" long and 15" wide with a total depth of 9 or 91/2 inches. Fits beautifully under the lights.........has little windows on the top for later when the plants need some ventilation.

Do you get 2 of those domes and trays? For 30 some dollars plus shipping I imagine you must. They look very nice and perfect for your application and more.

Meant to add how much I like your seedlings, Bmedal. The Blue Mars seedling is a winner and the white one is very delicate and pretty.

I wish there was a local place to get those perma-nest trays . . .

The smaller ones, that is . . . I have seen the large one locally (wink!) for I think $7.00 each.

This message was edited Oct 15, 2008 1:07 PM

I hate to tell you, Goldleaf, but when they arrived............Park had charged me 34 and change for each one.........the shipping was 15.00................but now I am so glad I have them even though one is cracked but I can fix it with super glue I think.
I just love them.................

I also ordered 3 of the 6" domes that fit the flimsy 10x22 trays..........from Cape Cod but I have seen them many places. Just google for humdity domes and they pop up everywhere. Don't worry about permanest trays, Syrumani. Just use the black 10x22 with domes............they aren't expensive to order.......

Ouch!

Oh, I've got the black ones . . . but the smaller trays are awful cute . . . but you're right - I can find an alternative . . .

I have ordered smaller square trays (& domes from Charley's greenhouse--don't remember the cost--but wasn't too bad.
Edited to say I just checked and they are $2.38 each (min 5) and you can get the domes for them too. Here is a link to the page:
http://www.charleysgreenhouse.com/index.cfm?page=_productdetails&productid=8610&s=flats&cid1=-99&cid2=-99&cid3=-99

This message was edited Oct 15, 2008 2:11 PM

Thanks for the link to Texas watering! not ready to try that yet, but it is good to know.
Ordered my felt from the Online Fabric Store. $4.10 yard,72 inches wide. It costs less the more you buy. it is not acrylic. it is polyester. NOT cotton.

Thanks for the reminder of Charley's Greenhouse...........I forget about him and his good products......

Thanks for the link, Hillbilly_Gran!

well brenda! i am just going to have to get that envelope off of the kitchen table & plant my gessie seeds!!!

Kivit, if I am wrong someone tell me. If you are going to use capillary matting you do need to put perlite in the bottom of the pot and then the mix.........or they will rot pretty quickly. (isn't that the Texas method?)

according to the link, with the texas method, they stand in water with perlite in the bottom and 2 sets of holes-one above the other in the side of the cup.
you may be correct but I didnt ead anything about matting. Made me nervous to see those plants standing in water! course, they werent actually, because of the perlite1
dont knoe, gail. i'm the newbie here! Perhaps someone else can point us right

Anyone needing to order pots or potting supplies? There's a co-op going on for Novosel Enterprises here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/911465/

I ordered some bulb pans and some 6" hanging baskets!

The Pearcea hypocyrtiflora is blooming. Reddish orange balloon flower about 1" in diameter.

That Pearcea is so gorgeous! Even without the bloom, that foliage is really awesome!

Thanks, Lin. You might want to try this gessie as it likes terrarium conditions. Lots of humidity. The foliage is great and the backs of the leaves are just about as pretty as the tops.

Texas Style potting method =

http://www.geocities.com/ltbears/betsy/texas.htm

hmm ... I'm getting ready to clean out my 10 gal aquarium/terrarium in the next couple of weeks, so I will need something new to put in there. I really need to clean it out because a fern has taken over one entire side and other a few plants are growing so tall they bend when they reach the top. I also have a little "friend" who needs to be released outside! ^_^

We have hundreds of those cute little Anole lizards and sometimes I find eggs on shelves and in flower pots out on the deck. The eggs look just like little beads of perlite! A couple of years ago I found one and thought it was perlite, it broke between my fingers and that's when I realized exactly what it was! There was a perfectly formed baby lizard in there. I felt so bad that I had broken that little egg and that baby was not going to be born. I buried it in one of my plants. I'm always rescuing the little guys from one of our cats. One time I got one from one of the cats and I thought it was dead. I held it, petting it and telling it I was so sorry the cat killed it. After a couple of minutes I thought it moved ... then it just laid in my hand and I thought, yeah, whishful thinking! But a couple of minutes later I actually saw it breathing, then a little foot moved ... finally it started wriggling and I sat it on the brick wall and within a couple more minutes it took off and jumped onto a plant! When I told my husband later that day that I had resuscitated a little lizard, he laughed so hard I thought he was going to fall off the chair!

Oh gosh ... I'm rambling - anyway, when I found this little egg a couple of months ago I dropped it into the back right hand corner of the terrarium! Two days later I looked and it was gone. I told my husband I couldn't figure out what happened to it ... I went rooting around and didn't find it anywhere. Forgot about it and then about two or three days after that all of a sudden I see this teensy little lizard running around the plants! I named her "Lucy Lizard" and we catch moths outside by the porch light every night to feed her! LOL. I know ... I'm a bit wacky!

I just took a picture ... not great but here's "Lucy"

Oh my gosh...what a great story about Lucy! She is adorable. They are such good creatures and i love seeing them when i go to Florida. So she likes the moths? ^_^
The pearcea would be worth a try in your aquarium. Does it have lights on it?

GoldLeaf: Yes, my 10 gal terrarium has a lid with lights in it, perfect for plants!


I love the little lizards ... they eat bugs which we have MANY of in Florida! Years ago when my niece was young she was visiting us and swimming in the pool while I was watering plants on the pool deck. I moved a pot on the deck and hundreds of ants came swarming out of that pot ... a little anole lizard came running and slurped up those ants so fast! My niece thought that was the coolest thing she'd ever seen! It was pretty fun to watch! I don't know how the little things do it either but we've seen them eat a huge palmetto bug (think GIANT cockroach) ... a little lizard with no teeth actually swallowing a big, huge bug! I detest bugs so I love having those little critters around the yard!

Now, the big lizards are another story, they scare the "you know what" outta me! Thank goodness we don't have them this far north ... and I hope they never get here! Down in South Florida there are huge Iguanas running around. Those creatures can get to be 6 feet long! Check out these pictures: http://mgonline.com/iguana.html How'd you like to find something like that in your yard?! I remember when my family first moved to Florida in 1967 (from Virginia) and one of these things was on top of our screened pool enclosure! I went screaming into the house hollering there was a dragon on the roof! LOL. Ugly, Scary things! I guess some folks like to keep them as pets ... I love animals but I will stick to dogs, cats, birds and fish ... and maybe an occasional little Lucy lizard!

The really bad ones that are causing problems in Florida are the Nile Monitor Lizards: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=1085 They were down in the southern part of the state for a long time but this year they have trapped two in Orlando! And these creatures eat meat, apparently preying on small pets! Yikes!

TWo great posts! You just slay me with your growing, Goldleaf! That is one fabulous looking plant as usual.

Lin, that is adorable. I have those little things all over my house. I carefully pick them up and take them outside. Now I want to buy a lighted terrarium like you have and let them do what they want to..............great stories.

Still smiling about Lucy. She just adds to the whole thing. Speaking of which, what is the plant, Lin, with the variegated leaves she has chosen to sit on? The one behind the chirita.

You should give this Pearcea a try too, Gail. Given what it likes, it grows real nice. It is rhizomatous and has the neatest roots with rosy red nodules. If you put those little lizards, anoles, in a tank, you have to feed them.

Just read the links on the other two non-indigenous reptiles in Florida. Ick! That's the problem when careless people let these things loose.

Oh, I am not feeding my little lizards..........I will continue to carefully take them back outside. They are always in my bath tub when I walk through the bath room...........I used to be afraid of them and now I just get some kleenex and pick them up by the tail and out they go........
Who is selling Pearcea now?

You should see the giant hoya obovata I just bought from Kathy_Ann..........she is gorgeous.......Amy had sent me a small start but this beats anything I have seen in size.........

I think everyone has gone to bed..........me, too............

I have extra if you would like some, Miss Gail. Do you have any plants to trade with? Now, I am making myself laugh, and out loud!
You'll have to post your hoya when it arrives.

Love the Lucy post. but how did Nile monitor lizards get to Florida? Escapees? Scary!