Putting the Pieces Together

[Darkkin]

 

[Darkkin]

Some recent candids and weirdness. Potato Cat and his coral squish (this is become one of his favourite spots), a new moth orchid, and the space agey pink thing is an Earth Star (bromeliad) that showed up in the mail today.

 

[Darkkin]

Trying something random (since it's free, no harm, no foul if it fails). I know absolutely nothing about bonsai, other than that they take years of commitment.

A Brandywine Maple cutting from the tree in our backyard...if I can get this twig to root, I'm going to see what I can do about turning this into a bonsai...

 

[Forest Cat]

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Trying something random (since it's free, no harm, no foul if it fails). I know absolutely nothing about bonsai, other than that they take years of commitment.

A Brandywine Maple cutting from the tree in our backyard...if I can get this twig to root, I'm going to see what I can do about turning this into a bonsai...

When I take hardwood cuttings like that, I often put three sticks in the pot, around the rim, and pull a clear plastic bag over it, leaving a small opening at the bottom. So it's like a small tent. Makes it a little more humid so it doesn't dry out as fast while it's building roots. Also, soaking pieces of willow wood in water and dipping the cutting in that water often helps promote root growth. Homemade rooting compound. It's easier to just buy rooting powder but it's fun to try something different.

 

[Darkkin]

Looking to try hydroponic growing with an orchid. After reading about the full (2:5) and semi hydroponic (full reservoir, but roots are never submerged) methods, the semi-hydroponic method is the better way for me to go.

Found a pretty nice little phalaenopsis with dodgy roots at the grocery store for a very doable price. Above is the orchid sans icky roots and its potting medium.

 

[Darkkin]

Found an Elephant Ear Alocasia and a gorgeous Birkin Philodendron while looking at annuals for my big porch pot. (Found some lovely peachy pink geraniums and asparagus fern for about $5.00, so I was well under my summer planting budget).

I reworked the whips on my Waxflower (hoya species (top shelf viny thing), repotted my jade to a bigger pot and put it outside for the summer (it has outgrown the kitchen table), and watered everything else.

 

[Darkkin]

Potato Cat was all paws on deck helping me reconfigure the livingroom (again)...Switched the couch and the armchair and put both plant stands along the far wall. And the floor pots next to the Morris Chair. Coffee table went downstairs and everyone is liking the open floor space. The plants also get a bit more light this way.

 

[Athyrium]

Oh wow! That's really cool, it looks like a lovely plant rack. Thank you for sharing with us.

Is that a Haworthia in the bottom right pot of the rack you built? I'm not really good with succulents but my wife has a bunch.

My wife really likes it too! Do you know where to get one?

 

[Darkkin]

 

[Darkkin]

One of my coworkers found out I do well with houseplants and asked if I would take a couple that she was struggling with. Thusly, I added a huge Elephant Ear Alocasia and a variegated Heartleaf Philodendron.

Both are a little rough, but should rebound in a few weeks. Philodendrons are fairly easy, but Alocasias can be really touchy. Oddly enough I do well with them (I have two other species, including a Zebra variety that is notoriously hard to grow. Mine has doubled in size in the last six months. The biggest issue is humidity. Alocasias need it. Misting every couple of days in order to prevent brown leaf tips as seen on the Elephant.)

 

[Darkkin]

 

[Darkkin]

Bad day, good plant.

 

[Aspychata]

Alright. I had a ton of those in Florida. Air plants, that is. That is beautiful photo of the cat house spirit. I broke the elephant ear plants l have in half, carefully splitting the root ball, and they survived.

 

[Darkkin]

Declared war on the junk growth in my flower beds. (Mainly creeping charlie and quack grass...). Four bushels of rubbish growth and twenty something bags of mulch later, I feel better about life.

We enlarged this bed last year, but it has been too hot most of the summer to do anything with it. Dwarf flox, Jacob's Ladder, butterfly bush, day lilies, fox glove, firecracker seedum, milkweed, hostas, a rhod, and hydrangeas.

We have more big old fashioned hydrangeas (plain white) along the fence line. My strawberry patch is slowly being established in the meshed in area between our shed and the neighbor's fence. And we have a mulched border of hostas and cora bells along the side of the garage.

Costwise we've picked up a couple plants here and there, but a lot of our volume has come cost free from my best friend's mom's garden. The milkweed seeds I filched last fall while walking Rue Dog.

 

[Darkkin]

Top is my jade plant. I moved outside on the deck this spring and it has started to truncate, precisely what I wanted it to do. This started as a little kitchen table succulent and has transformed into a robust tree. I'm aiming to make it a floor dwelling pot within the next year.

Below is the huge new leaf on my Elephant Ear Alocasia.

 

[Darkkin]

 

[Darkkin]

When you just watered your orchids, know you need to do dishes, and also know orchids love humidity...Run a sink full of lobster boil hot water for the dishes and allow it to slowly cool to a comfortable temperature. Orchids get the benefit of the steamy air.

 

[Judge]

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Cleverly staggering your books on the shelf. I like that.