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Post by T. Miller on Apr 11, 2005 17:02:44 GMT -5
Does anyone else grow houseplants or have a garden? Curious, curious.
My spatholphyllum (peace lilly), one of them is about to bloom for the first time in years - it has a single bud. Repotting it seems to have helped, but not done much for #2 (the one I thought more in need of repotting). The narcissi are growing about 1/2 inch a day, developed buds yesterday and are blooming today. The rose bush has its first bud of the season on it, which appeared about 4 days ago. It should bloom pretty soon. I had a philodendron that was growing in a vase of water for years but has taken pretty well to a pot with soil (I'm surprised) the other one, in a hanging pot is growing rather slowly. My aloe is producing progeny every time I turn around, so if anyone wants one, lemme know. Same with my xmas cactus - I keep sticking the arms that fall off in the dirt, so now I have a pot full of happily growing loose ends. My oxalis is looking a bit unhappy and I don't know why. My random nameless succulent is growing quickly after a long dormancy - the other one didn't make it. The chives took off within a day of moving them out of their off-season position. The other cactus has slowed its growth, so I am not sure what it's up to. Ummm... I think that's everyone. Anyone else? I should get Adam in here, he has lots of kitchen herbs all over his house....
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Post by Sucosa on Apr 12, 2005 8:26:20 GMT -5
I have no green thumb at all- I have killing abilty with plants. I was trying to grow coffee trees for a while.....after it almost deid a few times, my parents felt bad for the poor coffee tree ( which was affectionately named "George") and took it in. It really did well in the coastal enviroment when they lived at the beach. I am glad to hear you are doing good with your plants- I am thinking of getting a few for my shelf at work- to brighten the place up. With my luck they should all be plastic though
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Post by T. Miller on Apr 12, 2005 9:43:11 GMT -5
You could try an aloe or a philodendron or an xmas cactus - those are all really easy to care for. Maybe I can bring you a baby aloe to AZ.
I forgot about my asparagus fern... someone rejected it because it died back for some reason, so it was left sitting next to the dumpster. I brought it back, trimmed all the dead leaves off, and now its taken off, going from one live branch to a whole little shrub.
The peace lilly that wasn't doing anything - now that I said something, it has a bud on it now. A big thanx to the above-mentioned Adam for his advice with the peace lillies - its because of him that they're going to bloom for the first time this century (literally).
I assume with peace lilly blooms, like anything else, the minute it starts to fade, snip it to encourage more? Same with the narcissi, right?
If there is anyone here with a green thumb, how often do you feed/fertilize your plants? I used to use a dilute solution every time I watered during the growing seasons, but it didn't do much, so I stopped. Then I used something stronger, it didn't do much, so I stopped that, too.
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Post by Cheezypouf on Apr 12, 2005 23:27:36 GMT -5
Hello to all (especially Trescha) I'm so honored to have been mentioned so outright in this blog, that I had to register just so I could reply!!!! My green thumb has certain brown tendencies, if you know what i mean.... I've effectively killed my Snapdragons....oh well...I don't like annuals anyways. I've also learned that all the repotting in the world won't help a rotted out root system. For more effective repotting....try adding an inch (more or less depending on pot size) of gravel to the bottom of the pot, as this vastly improves drainage quality without sacrificing in the way of nutrient loss. If planting in a bed, consider using playground sand and gravel layers at the bottom of your bed. My best advice for Peace Lillies is to always clip off dead or sickly leaves, stems that are broken or are bent beyond repair need to be removed in much the same fashion. If the plant is "suffering" it will not produce flowers, but will rather attempt to heal these broken spots. Best to remove them all together. Also, check your watering patterns, my latest trips with some kitchen herbs has been interesting. Some plants are by nature more fickle than others. Let my oregano sit alone and chided for days, it won't care, the peppermint will grow regardless of what happens, and I could stick the rosemary in the freezer for a week and it would stay hardy, but let my lemon balm get too dry and oh, there's hell to pay. I found it all drooping out on my back porch day before yesterday, and with a little added love, its back on track. The dill is the same way (yes, I'll be rolling my own 'fore you know it Trescha!!!) Some plants are more sensitive. Also, I've found that Miracle Grow's liquid plant food is truly great!! Its relatively cheap, about 3 bucks a bottle, and I'd recommend following the instructions for daily feeding. Also, remember used tea leaves and coffee grounds make wonderful soil additives!! And since I work for the devil that is Starbucks, I can tell you most stores give away their used grounds, in pretty little silver bags (ours does). And ps....so you know Trescha, I still wear the "Too Much Coffee Man" t-shirt to work quite frequently as an undershirt...its my own inside joke, but its nice to be the only one who gets it. Well... off to study now. Let me know how the gardening goes!!
Herr Cheezypouf
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Post by T. Miller on Apr 13, 2005 1:09:14 GMT -5
Good to see you and welcome, my dear Cheezypouf! That's a lot of advice - I think you should be the resident Gardening Guru here at The Hall. I don't even know where to start with the questions, but I do have one while I mull over the other things.... The used tea and coffee grounds, do you save it and mix it into the soil the next time you replant, or do you add a bit each day that you have some to your potted plants? If you add to repotting mix or to the topsoil of an existing potted plant, how much grounds to soil is a good ratio? Uncle Jager drinks coffee nearly daily... would hate to get the plants so wired they kill me in my sleep - no amount of chamomile tea would bring them down either....
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Post by Sucosa on Apr 13, 2005 20:53:46 GMT -5
I would love the baby aloe- I can try my best not to kill it since I have a nice kitchen window to put it in. I have often pondered a small herb garden ( not one outside- but one of those little tiny cheapie greenhouse things you can buy at lowes) or better yet ....A chia pet- alas I have not seen one that looks like Mr.T's head in stores so I refuse to buy one until I can find that one. The Kids have learned it is fun to pull down the mother in laws spider plants- so I am curious to know what they would do with other plants. Hello Cheesypoof!! I am glad to see you can Join us here
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Post by T. Miller on Apr 13, 2005 21:26:09 GMT -5
A chia pet- alas I have not seen one that looks like Mr.T's head in stores so I refuse to buy one until I can find that one. "I pity da fool that can't find my ch-ch-ch-chia!" I'll keep an eye out for you. Keep reminding me about the aloe the closer we get to AZ so I don't forget!!
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Fox
Regular Joe
Posts: 60
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Post by Fox on Apr 14, 2005 11:19:15 GMT -5
We use to have an aloe plant... but we ended up using it to much and it died... damn my special ability to turn any cookable object into a ready batch of napalm...
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Post by Alan Fuckin' Alda on Apr 19, 2005 9:52:16 GMT -5
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Post by PAININTHEASS on Apr 19, 2005 13:39:22 GMT -5
I'd offer y'all some herbal tea,but some blockhead broke the teapot.
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Post by UncleJager on Apr 21, 2005 21:02:38 GMT -5
why does the name of this thread always make me think of weed?
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Post by beefbrainmchitfist on Apr 23, 2005 8:54:15 GMT -5
why does the name of this thread always make me think of weed? perhaps the indefinity of the word substances? mmmm indefinity *droolsonself*
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Post by beefbrainmchitfist on Apr 23, 2005 9:05:00 GMT -5
I saved a hapless giant cabbage plant one time. My oldest uncle's wife, abandoned the poor plant to the mercy of the grabagemen, i however intervened and took it to my mother the master horticulturist (at least she should be) and using her super green life powers made it not only revive from the state which made my less greenly gifted wife of my dear uncle toss it in the first place, she also managed to make it grow fuller and taller than i think it was meant to. I died eventually, however i was happy to know i saved it from an untimely death. I miss the pretty purple cabbage.
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Post by T. Miller on Jun 13, 2005 10:17:57 GMT -5
All my plants are doing well... the narcissi are dying off now for the summer, the asparagus fern i rescued from the next to the dumpster is now nearly outgrowing its pot (and this starting from the 3 stringy little strands originally), my oxalis and wierd namesless succulent are both doing wonderfully. Another plant was stuck next to the dumpster to await its fate, so it is now my current project. On pruning away all the dead material, I found a tomato plant in there along with some trailing round-leaved stuff. It's not an herb - no real scent in the leaves - so I am not sure what it is. I'm going to move the tomato plant to a separate pot tomorrow to see if it will take off for the summer. The rose bush has 3 blooms on it now - very pretty. All in all, life is good for the plants.
LEGION - now that you've moved, did the plants move too? Do you have horticultural plans for your new abode?
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LEGION
Canonised Regular Joe
Posts: 189
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Post by LEGION on Jun 13, 2005 11:25:10 GMT -5
LEGION - now that you've moved, did the plants move too? Do you have horticultural plans for your new abode? Lets see...well,my Trailing Schiavo died...the only vegetable that survived the trip was me....now if Schmirnoff can put orange,lemon lime etc. into their vodka..i was wonderin if i can get schmirnoff into the orange,lemon,lime and mangos that i planted.I water each tree with a gallon of vodka every other day...i'll let ya know what happens.
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