I just have to show everyone what I did all afternoon. The new year always means 'cleaning out' and pitching plants. I like to use a heavier soil mix on my streps, so I copied Goldleaf in using these styrofoam small bowls I got a Walmart this morning. This way I can monitor the watering and fertilizing needs better of each plant.
stand in my bedroom.
I only got the bottom two shelves on this stand in another bedroom. Will finish this week.
I have several stands that look like this in my office. I also moved all the trays of leaves and babies in this room. Hoping to use the month of cold January to 'catch up' on separating babies from mom leaves, etc. and potting up a lot of babies in solo cups now.
The reason I am posting these is I am not usually this energetic.........now I am propping my feet up and not moving the rest of the day!
You've been a busy little beaver today!
DS and I made cookies today, while DD was taking a nap. I haven't told him yet that there are babies pushing up the soil on that leaf he stuck in November.
Nice Job gail,your ds will be so happy ,well maybe,its hard to tell with boys
JIM
Great job! Everything looks so neat and clean and organized. I know all that was a lot of work and you deserve to kick back and relax with your feet up. Your plants look wonderful.
WOW!!
Yeah! wow is the word! It all looks so perfect!
You all are too nice to encourage me to keep this up until every single shelf looks clean and tidy!
I have a new bloom today and she is a nice color...........Raspberry Velvet........
Thanks Juneybug, I need a lot of encouragement to keep on with every plant and every shelf........
Gail, you are my hero with all of this!!! I just have plants on a counter and was proud, but looking at your beauties on the shelves are so so nice!! I am going to get a couple of shelves in my new room once we get the rest of that out. What type of cups are those???
gail, I clicked on your picture and now I see! Again, they are all just wonderful!!
Way to go Gail, Is that how you water your streps? with those little white bowls under them? Roxanne and I are hoping to get together next weekend and I am hoping go give her half of my AV's ... I came home with way to many from the show and it has had me stressed since.... I want the room for the things I really love... Like my Streps, Kohlerias, and my few Sinns... I have a new shelf coming and paid the earth for it but it is just like my others so soon I will not have to keep my streps crowded so much and I also put up fans for them....
I was sick for Christmas and then I can't believe it I got it again... My sinuses are so bad I have never seen so much junk in my life come out of my nose... More info then you wanted... I am going to drink some Makers Mark which is whiskey and I add sugar and ice and use it as a cough med... OK I am going to go now and may be back if I can't sleep...
Gail as always you are the brat that can grow anything.... I am only teasing in the brat part so you grow girl...
Hugs,
Susan
Great job! So pretty!!! I love to have really clean shelves. I am always vacuuming and rearranging, cleaning, etc. It is fun, like a doll house, ha. Your plants look lovely!
wow, great job, everthing looks wonderful.you deserve a break. lol
mrsbonnie
Thanks, Bonnie and Sally!
Susan..........I am just trying to downsize all that I am growing. When I smash everything in a permanest tray some get overwatered......some get underwatered and I don't have time to get rid of bad leaves on plants (particularly the big sinningias and the episcias)..........I figure if they each have a bowl to sit in, life will be simpler.
Gale , your plants and shelves look so great. Don't pitch anything much out, you know I will pay gladly for anything you send. I have no place to buy anything good around here and I'm shocked by some of the shipping and handling some places charge. When you individual ly bottom water your streps, how long do you let them drink before you suck it out with the baster? I read somwhere to leave them for 10 minutes, but I'm afraid that's too long. I love that one stand where all your streps are blooming!!! Lurker Lou
Well what ever you are doing it looks great... I got way to many av's when I went to the show so I am going to keep a few then give allot to Roxanne and Jan, and any body else that may want leaves ..... I am just waiting to get some more permanest tray then more re potting and making more room to space my streps, kohlerias and the few sinns I have... I will also have more room for the av's I am keeping... I want one to grow as big as Betty's I think it was... It was beautiful....
Hugs,
Susan
Lou, with these bowls instead of permanest trays, I can almost just fill the turkey baster out of the fertilized water and just use one squirt (and not remove any) and two squirts of the turkey baster on the larger ones. I will let you know.
I don't know why I make such a big deal of shipping but I do. (age, maybe? lazy, maybe?) but I am giving everything away except my streps and a few sinningias and episcias. I just love growing streps and this spring will be selling on DG. The reason I am giving away is because I don't have to ship.......sorry Lou! I might as well be honest about my shortcomings as they are obvious anyway. I wish I had the money I had spent on all these other plants and spent it on nothing but streps..........
My New Year's resolution is I can't buy any plants except for hoyas, streps and orchids. Remind me of that! (LOL) I am really sticking to my guns about not spending money on other tempting plants.
Susan, I know which plant you are thinking of. That friend of mine.....Betty.....who grew Wrangler's Pink Patches for over 2 years. It was a magnificent strain of Pink Patches, too.
I will be sure to watch for yourng in the marketplace this spring. I am laid off indefinitely and plan to redo my shelves and I think those bowls look so neat and clean, I think I will follow you example. They sure do look nice. Lou
Talk about inexpensive......two size bowls.....mine are the smaller ones .......50 to a package for about 1.19 at Walmart. This way I don't grow too many plants like I did this year. Good luck with your cleaning. Today I am working on the big sinningias.....will show you when I finish.
How is this for inspiration! Every time someone says, "Good job, Gail"......I find some more inspiration to keep working.
I have trays and trays of leaves making babies......if I don't clean now, I will end up with nothing due to dirty bugs.
which bowls are we talking about?i know they are white & from walmart, but are they plastic or something?they sure are cheap.
bonnie
WOW!!! Girl you really did clean house.Your stands look great!
Just for good measure:
Good Job Gail!!!!
Thanks, Ihettenusen!
The bowls are real light weight styrofoam .......12 ounces and they make a bigger one for 4" and 5" containers of plants.
Learning to pitch plants is the hardest thing I have ever had to learn........so hard to give myself permission to do it since I love plants as you all do. My mistake simply was in growing too many for this time of the year when it is hard to ship to DG friends.
I just pitched so many big sinningias and this is what I have room for. Next year I am just going to take my favorite speciosas and grow about 5 of each.......no more.
Only have room for two shelves of the big speciosas. Here is the other shelf.
thanks for the info,i use deli containers from the restraurant supply house & they work fine also. i agree the big sinns are so beautiful, but take up way to much room.
bonnie
gessie, Would you be kind enough to take some time and help me? I am wanting to make a shelving unit very similiar to yours for my 84 year old Mother. She still likes to garden outside but it is getting harder for her so I thought that a plant shelf with lights would be wonderful. I purchased one african violet for her from Lowes at Christmas and told her this month we would build some kind of plant light rack. Yours looks wonderful.
Could you tell me where you got your metal rack and how big is it? What length are the shop lights and are they two bulb and what wattage? Are they adjustable? Could you explain a little more detail on how you care for your plants in the bowls? Because my Mom has lots of time she plays with the plants and overwaters them, would your system help her know when she has done this?
Sorry for all the questions but if you have time I would be really grateful. I hate to reinvent the wheel, when someone else seems to have done a really good job. Thank you
happgarden, I would love to help you (I learned from others on the Av forum, too). Right now I have to watch my alma mater, UTAustin beat Ohio State (LOL).
How about I will dmail you tomorrow and we can get started. These stands bring such joy to me as I have a bad knee and back which is what got me started with the gesneriad family of plants. I had always liked growing cutting flowers year 'round.
Thank you so much Gail.
Hope your game went well....LOL Years ago use to live in Texas and actually went to UT for awhile in night school.
The plant stands look like they would help curve the dark, grey days of winter. It would bring lots of pleasure to my Mom.
anyone know what causes streps leaves to turn yellow?
bonnie
Lack of nutrients? Just a guess . . .
Gail
I love that Idea is there a thread that Goldleaf started on the way that you did your plants. I Need to do something for my plants 1 is to get them outside not my strep or av but the houseplants so I have more room in the house. I like that Idea with the bowls I will be going on vacation from Jan 10th to Feb28 I will be home off and on but that looks like a great idea. There are some plants that need more water than other so I wont be watering so much on the ones that done need as much That might be what I am doing wrong.
Do you have them wicked and anything on the bottom of the bowl? Thanks for showing You have done a really great job
Hugs
Dimmer(AKA) Kim
PS Still have all your Keys HA HAHA
Actually, Dimmer, the keys are still the joke in the family. I used all of them..............and then gave my brother one with the house key on it for the first time............then used for the housekeeper to come and go. Tht was the best gift I ever got on bingo!!!!!!!!!!!
I am in the process of wicking everything..........but not worried about the streps that didn't have wicking and perlite at the bottom of the containers now........when they get moved up I will add the string to them. Right now they seem to be taking up the water and fertilizer I use in the bowls.
Goldleaf gets the credit for that great idea.
Ok, regarding wicking, and I this answered on here or someplace else, sorry.
I have surfing around about the wicking violets etc. I saw where they sell "wicking" soil separately from AV soil. wouldn't this just be a little lighter? And do most of you put together your own soil rather than gett the AV soil or do you just add your own goodies to the soil? (does that make any sense?)
Laura H
Some people use Volkmann's Wicking Mix or their other mix. Most of us make our own soil less mix along with perlite and vermiculite..................let someone else answer. I have different mixes for different plants and purposes.
You are right in that wicking mixes need to be lighter for african violets...............hope someone comes along to help you..........there are just too many mixes to list...............
For my streps, I use 1/2 Canadian Peat moss (not spaghnum) but the crumbly rich peat moss and 1/2 #3 perlite...................most people aren't doing this..........I will be quiet......
I use Volkmann's wicking and add perlite for wicked and non wicked plants.
someone posted a wicking mix recipe for me awhile back(sorry I wrote it down, but not who posted it)--it was 1 part peat, 2 parts perlite, 1 part vermiculite. I also add plant tone to this-amt depends on how big the "parts" are.
i used plant tone on my plants & they got moldy, i think it was my own fault, i used to much.i think i might add a teaspoon to every pot, but thats it.
Gran, that is really what I am using.........1 part peat, 2 parts perlite and 1 part vermiculite for starting leaves, growing episcias, sinningias.....the only different mix I use is a little heavier on my streps while growing them. I only add 1 tablespoon of bio tone to a dish wash container of my soil less mix along with 2 tablespoons of plant tone. 1 tsp of of plant tone to a pot is a lot of 'stuff', Bonnie.
What I have found to be helpful if I forget to put the bio tone or plant tone in the mix is to make a tea........one gallon of water, 2 tsp. of bio tone , shake it up and water the plants with it.........really helps when I am forgetful.
Because I am putting perlite in the bottom of my pots of streps, I can use a little heavier soil less mix like I was talking about several post ago.
