This is known as the Groma Kolibri, made in a country that no longer exists, the German Democratic Republic.
23 December 2013
21 December 2013
Death by Oops
At any one time, there are several plant experiments going on hereabouts--various grafts, rooting, germinating seeds, stress tests and such.
This adenium was not supposed to be involved in any of these--it is my personal favorite and was always the most frail in my vast collection of five plants. But for some reason, it stayed outside well into the winter--before temperatures started to go down to freezing but definitely way below what most people would recommend. It was brought it and seemed none the worse for wear even after spending a week or so when night temperatures dipped to around 5C. But about a couple of weeks later, it started turning into this:
This adenium was not supposed to be involved in any of these--it is my personal favorite and was always the most frail in my vast collection of five plants. But for some reason, it stayed outside well into the winter--before temperatures started to go down to freezing but definitely way below what most people would recommend. It was brought it and seemed none the worse for wear even after spending a week or so when night temperatures dipped to around 5C. But about a couple of weeks later, it started turning into this:
18 October 2013
Plant Rescue: What to do with store-bought adenium
It was on sale, you couldn't resist it, it looked so odd, it called you by name, et cetera, et cetera. Whatever the reason, you end up walking out with your first store-bought adenium in a pot. What now?
21 September 2013
Bulaklak!
Bulaklak: (n) Tagalog word meaning "flower"; (v) namumulaklak (blooming), namulaklak (bloomed), mamulaklak (to bloom, to flower);
Non sequetur: suicide by yummy
Non sequetur: suicide by yummy
02 September 2013
Adventures With Gritty Mix
If you found a blog this obscure, you were probably looking up gritty mix. It's supposed to be excellent for plants although in the beginning it was unclear to me why. The explanation was sixty thousand kilometers long so that took care of that idea for a few months. It fell under the category of "I'll read that someday."
But the gritty mix is all over the web you just have to find out wtf is up with this thing anyway. You find out that the mix involves an odd assortment of ingredients in it, including the some strange substance normally used for baseball diamonds. WTF is up with that, right. I thought baseball players were born with and walked around in their own personal cloud of dust and that's how you knew you'd grow up to be a baseball player. O well.
The thing is that people who use this gritty mix swear up, down and sideways that the stuff was uber. I was particularly interested in its ability to keep plants from drowning. I never had the patience for figuring out which plant needs how much water and when. As a result, my jungle rotates between near-drowning and being bone dry, eventually leading to inevitable death by black thumb.
This is annoying since I don't keep plants for the love of watering them. Watering is just something one needs to do so plants don't die. If this gritty mix will take guesswork out of that process, even the quest for baseball stuff might actually pay off.
But the gritty mix is all over the web you just have to find out wtf is up with this thing anyway. You find out that the mix involves an odd assortment of ingredients in it, including the some strange substance normally used for baseball diamonds. WTF is up with that, right. I thought baseball players were born with and walked around in their own personal cloud of dust and that's how you knew you'd grow up to be a baseball player. O well.
The thing is that people who use this gritty mix swear up, down and sideways that the stuff was uber. I was particularly interested in its ability to keep plants from drowning. I never had the patience for figuring out which plant needs how much water and when. As a result, my jungle rotates between near-drowning and being bone dry, eventually leading to inevitable death by black thumb.
This is annoying since I don't keep plants for the love of watering them. Watering is just something one needs to do so plants don't die. If this gritty mix will take guesswork out of that process, even the quest for baseball stuff might actually pay off.
 |
| It turns out it does! |
01 September 2013
Gritty Mix and Transplant Shock
Although the adult adeniums flourished straight away in the gritty mix, transplanting the seedlings at six months was not so uneventful. In fact, they went batshit almost immediately--first turning yellow, then dropping leaf after leaf until finally, 5 of 7 seedlings had gone completely bald.
31 August 2013
Dama de Noche (Night Blooming Jasmine)
Known in the Philippines as Dama de Noche (Lady of the Night), the Cestrum nocturnum waxes paradoxical when grown in temperate areas. It thrives as a perennial plant in the warmer regions with no frost in the winter and actually tolerates cold temperatures outdoors. As you move farther north, however, it becomes a test of patience and tolerance.
My Dama went into the TINZ, it is clear now, because I had no idea what these things were supposed to look like indoors in winter. In a word: pathetic. Not nearly alarming or desperate enough so that you will just toss it into the compost, but borderline is-it-dying-no-it's-sprouting-new-leaves-but-wilting-at-the-same-time-but-wait-it-looks-near-death-argh.
Since I also grew up with this behemonth growing all over the place, I expected them to be as vigorous here in my office with the heat at 22C and humidity level at a constant 60 percent (more for my comfort than anything, really; the plants came into the scene because it seemed silly to maintain this habitat for just me).No such luck. C. nocturnum becomes leggy and wobbly as winter progresses, dropping its leaves at random and wanting a lot of water while also choking on it if you give it any.Throwing it into the pit would have been a no-brainer but whilst it is trying to die, you will also see it is very aggressively trying to grow as shiny new shoots appear at the tips.What to do, whattodo, watudu.
It is entirely possible I just had a young plant but the chronic struggle was so irritating that in the spring, with temperatures still going down to about 5C, out it went into the ground, in a spot where it could be easily ignored.
And look at it go!
From a leggy height of about 20 inches, it is now 36 inches tall; its growth checked only with constant pruning. Throughout summer, Dama de Noche is fertilized only by run-off water from other potted plants around it. It got a lot of morning sun but starts to look pathetic around noon. By September, it started to bloom. The wafting smell is actually depressing if you are pining for the tropics. Otherwise, it's probably glorious.
This plant has been consigned to winter death in that spot but its amazing performance during the summer earned it a reprieve. It has been dug up (in mid-bloom too), put in a huge pot with 4 parts gritty mix and two parts potting soil. This potting medium is significantly faster draining than its medium in the previous winter. Hopefully, that will be good enough to see it through its second winter. If it ever stops blooming, it will be pruned to a less hulking size and the cuttings will be rooted in the same pot. Live or die, it doesn't matter. It is still in the TINZ.
Propagation
Dama de Noche is extremely easy to propagate. If you are keeping it in the pot, you will soon find out that it grows quite fast when it is warm and you might have to trim your plant. Pay attention to the branches. If you want to root some cuttings, look for young branches and cut at the point just below where the stem turns slightly woody and kind of brown. I do this throughout winter in case the parent plant throws another tantrum and decides to die.
Remove the leaves to expose about 6 inches of bare stem and put it in a tall glass of water. Tap water is fine, the plant doesn't seem to care. Put it in a brightly-lit area, near a window, for example. The cuttings will root in a week or so but you should wait until the water roots have grown to several inches before potting it up. When the roots look like the ones in the photo on the left, it is ready to be potted. Because this plant tends to be leggy, it is a good idea (at least for visual purposes) to plant 3 to 4 rooted cuttings in a medium-sized 6-inc pots.
This is a tropical plant, remember, so you want your potting soil to have the ability to retain water but it should also drain rapidly. To achieve this, use normal potting soil and add a third part of either pumice or perlite. A freshly-planted rooted cutting will be very thirsty as its water roots adjust to the soil so water the pot thoroughly. It will look miserable for a few days but once it recovers its sparkly look, you can put it in dappled sun and gradually move it to a spot where it will get full sun.
Without a doubt, this plant behaves much better when planted in the ground, even in areas where summers do not get too hot. You know it needs water when it starts to look like it's about to pass out. The leaves droop and wrinkle from dehydration and will recover after being watered. This will not kill the plant but repeated dehydration is obviously not good for anyone so try to avoid it.
If you live somewhere warm with no frost, definitely plant this thing outdoors where you can smell the flowers when it blooms. Remember that this plant grows into a humongous bushy thing that might need a trellis for support. In the tropics, it is often seen leaning against roofs or fences, in full sun. To keep it manageable, do not be afraid to trim it occasionally. It actually becomes bushier that way.
And no, I have no idea what the fruits look like or how to sow the seeds. I've never seen either.
Fertilizer and Pests
Fertilizing the potted plant, if you have it in the pot, is nothing special---use whatever fertilizer you use but apply it at half-strength every two months. In between, make sure you water it enough to drench the soil to avoid excessive build-up of various things the plant does not like. In the ground, you can be more liberal with your feeding. The 9-3-6 NPK formulation works best. Dama de Noche does not need those silly bloom-boosting 'roid fertilizers they tell you to use. It has its cycle and it knows what to take and how to store them for their bloom time.
Unfortunately, this plant is salad to a lot of bugs, particularly several species of moths. When planted outside, however, you have better chances of just letting the surroundings take care of these pests. Caterpillars will be plucked out by birds and eggs will be eaten by whatever eats them. Indoors and in a pot, you need a bottle of horticultural oil to keep these pests at bay. You also should water occasionally with BT-treated water to kill bugs that lay eggs in the soil.
If your neighbours have the habit of spraying their lawn with pesticides, herbicides and whatnot, the friendly, pest-controlling bugs will most likely be dead. Use fish emulsion. Pests hate it and it is a good foliar fertilizer as well. Consider the possibility of feeding birds to attract them to your yard. They will take care of caterpillars and grubs as well. Do not feed the birds early in the morning, let them clean your yard first. Feed them brunch instead.
My Dama went into the TINZ, it is clear now, because I had no idea what these things were supposed to look like indoors in winter. In a word: pathetic. Not nearly alarming or desperate enough so that you will just toss it into the compost, but borderline is-it-dying-no-it's-sprouting-new-leaves-but-wilting-at-the-same-time-but-wait-it-looks-near-death-argh.
Since I also grew up with this behemonth growing all over the place, I expected them to be as vigorous here in my office with the heat at 22C and humidity level at a constant 60 percent (more for my comfort than anything, really; the plants came into the scene because it seemed silly to maintain this habitat for just me).No such luck. C. nocturnum becomes leggy and wobbly as winter progresses, dropping its leaves at random and wanting a lot of water while also choking on it if you give it any.Throwing it into the pit would have been a no-brainer but whilst it is trying to die, you will also see it is very aggressively trying to grow as shiny new shoots appear at the tips.What to do, whattodo, watudu.
It is entirely possible I just had a young plant but the chronic struggle was so irritating that in the spring, with temperatures still going down to about 5C, out it went into the ground, in a spot where it could be easily ignored.
And look at it go!
 |
| Left: Cestrum nocturnum planted in the ground in spring; Right: Same plant, early summer. |
 |
| C. nocturnum starts blooming in September and even indoors (right) will continue to produce buds |
Propagation
Dama de Noche is extremely easy to propagate. If you are keeping it in the pot, you will soon find out that it grows quite fast when it is warm and you might have to trim your plant. Pay attention to the branches. If you want to root some cuttings, look for young branches and cut at the point just below where the stem turns slightly woody and kind of brown. I do this throughout winter in case the parent plant throws another tantrum and decides to die.
Remove the leaves to expose about 6 inches of bare stem and put it in a tall glass of water. Tap water is fine, the plant doesn't seem to care. Put it in a brightly-lit area, near a window, for example. The cuttings will root in a week or so but you should wait until the water roots have grown to several inches before potting it up. When the roots look like the ones in the photo on the left, it is ready to be potted. Because this plant tends to be leggy, it is a good idea (at least for visual purposes) to plant 3 to 4 rooted cuttings in a medium-sized 6-inc pots.
This is a tropical plant, remember, so you want your potting soil to have the ability to retain water but it should also drain rapidly. To achieve this, use normal potting soil and add a third part of either pumice or perlite. A freshly-planted rooted cutting will be very thirsty as its water roots adjust to the soil so water the pot thoroughly. It will look miserable for a few days but once it recovers its sparkly look, you can put it in dappled sun and gradually move it to a spot where it will get full sun.
Without a doubt, this plant behaves much better when planted in the ground, even in areas where summers do not get too hot. You know it needs water when it starts to look like it's about to pass out. The leaves droop and wrinkle from dehydration and will recover after being watered. This will not kill the plant but repeated dehydration is obviously not good for anyone so try to avoid it.
If you live somewhere warm with no frost, definitely plant this thing outdoors where you can smell the flowers when it blooms. Remember that this plant grows into a humongous bushy thing that might need a trellis for support. In the tropics, it is often seen leaning against roofs or fences, in full sun. To keep it manageable, do not be afraid to trim it occasionally. It actually becomes bushier that way.
And no, I have no idea what the fruits look like or how to sow the seeds. I've never seen either.
Fertilizer and Pests
Fertilizing the potted plant, if you have it in the pot, is nothing special---use whatever fertilizer you use but apply it at half-strength every two months. In between, make sure you water it enough to drench the soil to avoid excessive build-up of various things the plant does not like. In the ground, you can be more liberal with your feeding. The 9-3-6 NPK formulation works best. Dama de Noche does not need those silly bloom-boosting 'roid fertilizers they tell you to use. It has its cycle and it knows what to take and how to store them for their bloom time.
Unfortunately, this plant is salad to a lot of bugs, particularly several species of moths. When planted outside, however, you have better chances of just letting the surroundings take care of these pests. Caterpillars will be plucked out by birds and eggs will be eaten by whatever eats them. Indoors and in a pot, you need a bottle of horticultural oil to keep these pests at bay. You also should water occasionally with BT-treated water to kill bugs that lay eggs in the soil.
If your neighbours have the habit of spraying their lawn with pesticides, herbicides and whatnot, the friendly, pest-controlling bugs will most likely be dead. Use fish emulsion. Pests hate it and it is a good foliar fertilizer as well. Consider the possibility of feeding birds to attract them to your yard. They will take care of caterpillars and grubs as well. Do not feed the birds early in the morning, let them clean your yard first. Feed them brunch instead.
Rosal (Gardenia)
I was warned, but our mother had this plant all over the yard when we were growing up. The stench made me sneeze when all of them were blooming all at once but the plant, when healthy, is very nice---it is bushy with dark shiny leaves. This is the only plant I have seen that looks perfect when it is in bloom--the flowers are as creamy white as the leaves are glossy green. The contrast is amazing.
Well-meaning people will advise you gently to get the hardy kind instead but of course you will not do that because that variety just does not hold a candle to the magnificent tropical kind, especially the flower with its inexplicably mesmerizing stench.
Against my best judgement, I acquired one pot of gardenia from a supermarket and it immediately threw a tantrum in the car and the fit lasted throughout spring regardless of my--I have to stress this---well-researched ministrations. Out of the nursery, the plant had about 50 flower buds in various stages of promise which it dropped one by one--probably in reaction to being transported from Florida somewhere to the frigid climes of the continent. Despite being positioned in a prime warm and sunny spot, the leaves eventually turned yellow/ The plant continued to produce buds but dropped those too, despite the absence of any visible pest (yes, I checked with a magnifying glass, you smartass). So, by May, the gardenia is kicked out into the TINZ. In fact, it was yanked out of the pot, plopped into a hole in the ground and completely ignored.
Well. No one likes it, even out there. Bugs leave it alone, the squirrels do not dig near it, the rabbits don't touch it and even the woodchucks walk around it. It's really a cunt of a plant.
This has the interesting side effect of allowing the bush to not just survive after being shoved into the ground, but actually thrive. It flushed with new leaves and by mid-summer, it was blooming non-stop. Bugger.
Now it is autumn and the dilemma is whether it will be worth it to pull it out again and overwinter it indoors. This idea percolated for weeks until temperatures started going below 15C at night--a personal threshold at which point all tropical plants currently outside will be prepared for the stuffy indoors for the winter.
Sigh. Alright. If this gardenia survives being yanked out of the ground and shoved back into a pot, then fine. It goes indoors. But only after a soap/oil bath. With cold water. No special treatment.
After this deliberately ungentle treatment, it will probably die, thus saving you the trouble of vacillating between bringing it in or leaving it out. Or it will bloom. Mine did. Argh. Twice. I have my eye on it now, dimly wishing it will die of transplant shock. Of course it won't. Because that's just the kind of plant it is.
Someone in Zone 5 said they leave their potted gardenia outside until it gets really cold, just above freezing. It is always the first to go out and the last to go in. So you can still change your mind over the prospect of what will surely be a winter battle with the prima donna.
I suppose it makes perfect sense to also have a jar of soap spray ready, as well as alcohol spray, nets, neem oil spray, a bottle of Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) for fungus gnat control, big transparent plastic bags for humidity control (punch a few holes in), fairy dust, holy water, bear traps and tranquilizer dart (for you, when you go berzerk in January after months of gardenia struggle).
Just go along with the drama, if you will. But dare it to push you one last time and spend the rest of its short pathetic life outside in the snow, along with its host of admirers and hangers-on across species--spider mites, scales, aphids, snails, vampire bats and mutant anthrax viruses the size of a wart. Who needs the aggravation, right.
Try not to think of the perfect flower and its perfect scent, set against a background of perfect, shiny green leaves.
As a parting word, I am cutting and pasting a portion of a now-legendary thread on Garden Web Forum, perfectly summarizing the joys of having gardenias among your collection of plants:
"Posted by: ROBERT HUGGINS - 10 ) on Thu, Aug 12, 99 at 14:51 DEAR JOAN, ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD SPEND THAT MUCH TIME AND EFFORT FOR A SIMPLE PLANT!MY FRIENDS RECOMMENDED THAT I TAKE UP GARDENING TO RELAX AND ENJOY NATURE.OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS I BOUGHT EIGHT BEAUTIFUL AND FRAGANT GARDENIAS,MYSTERY,FIRST LOVE AND ETC AND AFTER SIX YEARS THESE SIMPLE PLANTS HAS TAUGHT ME HOW TO RELAX.AFTER SIX YEARS I TAKE FOUR VALUIM AND A HALF A GALLON OF SCOTCH AND STAGGER OUT FOR MY NEXT TRY TO KEEP MY ONE PLANT ALIVE.AFTER 3000 HRS ON THE INTERNET,GARDENING BOOKS AND HELP FROM THREE HUNDRED PROFESSIONAL GROWERS AND FOUR GARDENING CDS.HERE WHAT I HAVE LEARN. THEY LIKE WATER BUT YOU HAVE TO KEEP THE SEMI DRY.THEY LOVED SUN BUT YOU HAVE TO KEEP IN THE SHADE.YOU FEED THEM OFTEN.DISCRIBED AS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN TWO DAYS AND TWO YEARS ONLY ON SUNDAYS WITH A BLUE MOON RISING.THEY LOVED NORTHERN EXPOSURE IF YOU HAVE THEM ON THE SOUTHERN.THEY LOVE ACID AND IRON UNLESS YOU GIVE IT TO THEM.THEY LOVE TO GROW SPIDER MITES,WHICH YOU CANT SEE,AND APHIDS. I HAVE FOUND IF YOU BUY OLDER PLANTS THEY TAKE LONGER TO DIE.MY FRIEND SUGGESTED THAT WHEN ONE OF THE SIMPLE PLANTS WASNT DOING WELL TO MOVE TO THE NORTHERN SUN WHICH A LOT.IT DIED QUICKER.WELL I HAVE TO GO NOW MY FRIENDS IN THE WHITE JACKETS ARE COMING TO PULL ME AWAY FROM MY BELOVED GARDENIA. ITS OKAY I HEAR THEY HAVE A SALE ON GARDENIA IN THE NOVELTY SHOP."
Winter Update: Indoor in the Kitchen
 |
| After a short autumn rain, gardenias look ridiculously photogenic. |
Against my best judgement, I acquired one pot of gardenia from a supermarket and it immediately threw a tantrum in the car and the fit lasted throughout spring regardless of my--I have to stress this---well-researched ministrations. Out of the nursery, the plant had about 50 flower buds in various stages of promise which it dropped one by one--probably in reaction to being transported from Florida somewhere to the frigid climes of the continent. Despite being positioned in a prime warm and sunny spot, the leaves eventually turned yellow/ The plant continued to produce buds but dropped those too, despite the absence of any visible pest (yes, I checked with a magnifying glass, you smartass). So, by May, the gardenia is kicked out into the TINZ. In fact, it was yanked out of the pot, plopped into a hole in the ground and completely ignored.
Well. No one likes it, even out there. Bugs leave it alone, the squirrels do not dig near it, the rabbits don't touch it and even the woodchucks walk around it. It's really a cunt of a plant.
This has the interesting side effect of allowing the bush to not just survive after being shoved into the ground, but actually thrive. It flushed with new leaves and by mid-summer, it was blooming non-stop. Bugger.
 |
| In the ground, unmolested by any kind of pest, blooming without pause. |
Now it is autumn and the dilemma is whether it will be worth it to pull it out again and overwinter it indoors. This idea percolated for weeks until temperatures started going below 15C at night--a personal threshold at which point all tropical plants currently outside will be prepared for the stuffy indoors for the winter.
Sigh. Alright. If this gardenia survives being yanked out of the ground and shoved back into a pot, then fine. It goes indoors. But only after a soap/oil bath. With cold water. No special treatment.
Holding it firmly at the base stem--make sure you are not showing any sign of hesitation when you do this--give it a mighty pull until it is disengaged from the soil. Then just put it down somewhere while you get the pot and the potting media. (you can't be bothered to prepare everything before hand, even if it will reduce the shock on the plant). Mix in whatever will seem to you as the reasonable amount of organic azalea fertilizer (or else read the directions on the bag and then halve it). Make sure your medium is airy with some potting soil in it or you'd be watering every day--this is much more attention than a TINZ plant deserves. I used the gritty mix as base and added a couple of cups of potting soil into the 10-inch nursery pot I shoved it into. There were some debris lying around, I put them in as well. Into the pot this diva plant goes, water it in to settle the soil and just leave it out in the sun.
After this deliberately ungentle treatment, it will probably die, thus saving you the trouble of vacillating between bringing it in or leaving it out. Or it will bloom. Mine did. Argh. Twice. I have my eye on it now, dimly wishing it will die of transplant shock. Of course it won't. Because that's just the kind of plant it is.
 |
| In the pot, regrouping. |
Someone in Zone 5 said they leave their potted gardenia outside until it gets really cold, just above freezing. It is always the first to go out and the last to go in. So you can still change your mind over the prospect of what will surely be a winter battle with the prima donna.
I suppose it makes perfect sense to also have a jar of soap spray ready, as well as alcohol spray, nets, neem oil spray, a bottle of Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) for fungus gnat control, big transparent plastic bags for humidity control (punch a few holes in), fairy dust, holy water, bear traps and tranquilizer dart (for you, when you go berzerk in January after months of gardenia struggle).
Just go along with the drama, if you will. But dare it to push you one last time and spend the rest of its short pathetic life outside in the snow, along with its host of admirers and hangers-on across species--spider mites, scales, aphids, snails, vampire bats and mutant anthrax viruses the size of a wart. Who needs the aggravation, right.
Try not to think of the perfect flower and its perfect scent, set against a background of perfect, shiny green leaves.
As a parting word, I am cutting and pasting a portion of a now-legendary thread on Garden Web Forum, perfectly summarizing the joys of having gardenias among your collection of plants:
"Posted by: ROBERT HUGGINS - 10 ) on Thu, Aug 12, 99 at 14:51 DEAR JOAN, ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD SPEND THAT MUCH TIME AND EFFORT FOR A SIMPLE PLANT!MY FRIENDS RECOMMENDED THAT I TAKE UP GARDENING TO RELAX AND ENJOY NATURE.OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS I BOUGHT EIGHT BEAUTIFUL AND FRAGANT GARDENIAS,MYSTERY,FIRST LOVE AND ETC AND AFTER SIX YEARS THESE SIMPLE PLANTS HAS TAUGHT ME HOW TO RELAX.AFTER SIX YEARS I TAKE FOUR VALUIM AND A HALF A GALLON OF SCOTCH AND STAGGER OUT FOR MY NEXT TRY TO KEEP MY ONE PLANT ALIVE.AFTER 3000 HRS ON THE INTERNET,GARDENING BOOKS AND HELP FROM THREE HUNDRED PROFESSIONAL GROWERS AND FOUR GARDENING CDS.HERE WHAT I HAVE LEARN. THEY LIKE WATER BUT YOU HAVE TO KEEP THE SEMI DRY.THEY LOVED SUN BUT YOU HAVE TO KEEP IN THE SHADE.YOU FEED THEM OFTEN.DISCRIBED AS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN TWO DAYS AND TWO YEARS ONLY ON SUNDAYS WITH A BLUE MOON RISING.THEY LOVED NORTHERN EXPOSURE IF YOU HAVE THEM ON THE SOUTHERN.THEY LOVE ACID AND IRON UNLESS YOU GIVE IT TO THEM.THEY LOVE TO GROW SPIDER MITES,WHICH YOU CANT SEE,AND APHIDS. I HAVE FOUND IF YOU BUY OLDER PLANTS THEY TAKE LONGER TO DIE.MY FRIEND SUGGESTED THAT WHEN ONE OF THE SIMPLE PLANTS WASNT DOING WELL TO MOVE TO THE NORTHERN SUN WHICH A LOT.IT DIED QUICKER.WELL I HAVE TO GO NOW MY FRIENDS IN THE WHITE JACKETS ARE COMING TO PULL ME AWAY FROM MY BELOVED GARDENIA. ITS OKAY I HEAR THEY HAVE A SALE ON GARDENIA IN THE NOVELTY SHOP."
Winter Update: Indoor in the Kitchen
25 August 2013
Adult Adeniums in Gritty Mix
Potting Up Adult Adeniums
I repotted my adult adeniums in this mix at the end of spring 2013. it is now late summer and the results have been more than satisfactory. The nature of the potting medium makes it way easier to tend to these plants in that, they need no tending at all. Even if it rains everyday, the medium drains so freely that they never soak over a prolonged period. When it isn't raining, they are fine being watered twice a week, if I remember it.
The pots are top-dressed with whatever I have lying around, mainly to keep moisture from evaporating too fast. Here they are. Left photos were taken in early spring and right photos were taken late summer. None of them has flowered; I don't really care.
I repotted my adult adeniums in this mix at the end of spring 2013. it is now late summer and the results have been more than satisfactory. The nature of the potting medium makes it way easier to tend to these plants in that, they need no tending at all. Even if it rains everyday, the medium drains so freely that they never soak over a prolonged period. When it isn't raining, they are fine being watered twice a week, if I remember it.
The pots are top-dressed with whatever I have lying around, mainly to keep moisture from evaporating too fast. Here they are. Left photos were taken in early spring and right photos were taken late summer. None of them has flowered; I don't really care.
19 May 2013
12 May 2013
Germination in the Tropics
I have a total of 21 seedlings from about 35 seeds. The cat toppled one tray and I couldn't dig out all the seeds.
About a week ago I took pictures of the neighborhood adeniums. They are really common here and almost every house has one.
These seems to be taken care of very well. They are really short but with plenty of nice flowers:
The one below is from the immediate neighbor and planted on the ground.
The one on the left I've seen with absolutely no leaves but is now coming back nicely.
And lastly, this one has actually busted out of its pot.
07 May 2013
Part IV: Transplanting Adenium Seedlings (with 2020 update)
Updated February 2015
So you have successfully germinated adenium seeds. What's next?
Adenium seedlings are not really delicate or sensitive. In an emergency (say, someone knocked your pot off the shelf or a cat sat on your week-old seedlings), you can repot them anytime. If sowing and germination has been uneventful; you can wait a couple of months, maybe more. Usually though, seedlings in their cribs will start demanding more nutrients and the more aggressive ones will siphon supply off of their neighbours, leaving you with runts. To avoid this, it is usually better to move the seedlings into their individual pots after two to three months.
Adenium seedlings are not really delicate or sensitive. In an emergency (say, someone knocked your pot off the shelf or a cat sat on your week-old seedlings), you can repot them anytime. If sowing and germination has been uneventful; you can wait a couple of months, maybe more. Usually though, seedlings in their cribs will start demanding more nutrients and the more aggressive ones will siphon supply off of their neighbours, leaving you with runts. To avoid this, it is usually better to move the seedlings into their individual pots after two to three months.
03 May 2013
Growing Adenium from Seeds: Damping Off Nightmare
Damping-off is a common disease that can occur in both germinating seeds and young seedlings. The disease is caused by any of a number of pathogens that can also attack cuttings.
The problem often occurs before seeds are able to germinate but it can also develop after germination and attack the emergent seedling. If it happens before your seeds germinate, you'll know because nothing will come out. In seedlings, it starts with dark rot on the stem near the soil surface and as it progresses, the seedling falls over and dies. If the pathogen is below the soil surface, the rot may start from the tip of the roots and progress up the seedling until the stem rots and then the seedling falls over and dies.
The problem often occurs before seeds are able to germinate but it can also develop after germination and attack the emergent seedling. If it happens before your seeds germinate, you'll know because nothing will come out. In seedlings, it starts with dark rot on the stem near the soil surface and as it progresses, the seedling falls over and dies. If the pathogen is below the soil surface, the rot may start from the tip of the roots and progress up the seedling until the stem rots and then the seedling falls over and dies.
09 April 2013
Broad Strokes: Caring for Adult Adenium Plants
Adeniums are easy plants. The level of complexity in their care and cultivation depends entirely on how much trouble you are willing to go through and how much entertainment you intend to squeeze out of it.
Some people wire the branches like bonsai, some people prune both root and branches in spring to give the plant a new look. I've even seen videos of people actually braiding the roots of young plants so they would expand that way as they get older. There are probably more bizarre tricks to make the plant do more bizarre things. It is a testament to the versatility and incredible tolerance of the adenium. Imagine subjecting african violets to this kind of sustained torture.
Personally, I am working towards keeping my regime simple.
My adult adeniums were all bought online and arrived naked, i.e. bareroot. If you buy yours in the winter, they will have gone dormant and will not have leaves when you get them. In the warmer months or if they were grown in warmer climate, the leaves will probably be scraggly and disheveled. Don't worry, it will get over it.
Pot
From the get go, I decided I was going to grow these plants in wide, shallow pots purely because I prefer that look. So that's what I did---I took three huge plastic nursery pots left over from some other experiment best forgotten. Then I trimmed them down to a depth of about 4 inches. The plants stayed in those pots until I was sure they were not going to keel over from transport and transfer shock. The following spring, they were repotted in various sizes of what are known are azalea pots--they are wider than they are deep.
If you plant your adenium in a shallow pot and it already has an extensive root system, more of the plant will be exposed and the roots will continue to grow as the space allows below and around it. My cunning plan is to force my adult plants to grow more horizontally than vertically.
You can use a deeper pot if you wish, as long as your potting medium drains really fast. The roots of this plant do not tolerate being soaked in standing water too long and will eventually get squishy from root rot.
Let's say you want the roots to be a particular shape. For instance, if I wanted the plant above to more or less develop roots the size of the pot it is in, all I need to do is leave it alone in that pot for as long as it takes it to outgrow it. You know your plant has outgrown its pot when you see roots coming out the bottom drain holes. Or when it is misshaping the pot. Or when you are having to water it two to three times more than you normally have to. Or all of the above.
Potting Medium
It's no use asking what is the best potting medium for adeniums. There are as many formulae as there are recipes for cheesecake. Some people recommend specific proportions of sand, compost, tree bark, and aerating materials such as perlite or pumice. Some use animal manure, coconut charcoal, rice husks, peanut shells even styrofoam bits. In the end, you do what suits you, your climate and your watering habits.
I initially planted my adeniums in pure crushed pumice since I already had that lying around. Most people use a 50-50 mix of potting soil and perlite. I don't like perlite, the keep floating to the top when I water.
I tend to forget to water my plants so I don't like potting soil either because it usually has peat in it. When peat dries out too long, it becomes hydrophobic--it stops absorbing water. It takes extra amount of effort rehydrating the stuff and that is crap I don't want to deal with.
Eventually, I got around to mixing up a batch of what is known in the gardening hive as the gritty mix. It takes some effort building up this potting medium but all in all it has been worth the trouble since it radically simplified the care for my adeniums. You can read my post about it here.
But if you do not wish to go that way, I recommend making a medium composed of 3 parts crushed pumice and one part potting soil. If pumice is hard to find (I get mine from Amazon), you can use perlite. They float.
Light
Adeniums grow best in direct sunlight--as much as you can provide for as long in the day as possible.
Since I got my adeniums in the dead of winter, they sat on the shelf of a south-facing window until spring. When night time temperatures go up to 16C, you can put them outside in part shade at first, and slowly move them towards more sun in the summer. Pick a spot where they can get as much as 6 hours of full sun.
Do this gradually--one week in part shade outdoors, one week in a spot with morning sun only, one week in a spot with morning and noon sun before finally, moving them out in full 6-hour sun or more.
You will notice a dramatic difference in vigor and growth. These plants once established, are happiest where it is hottest and sunniest.
Heat and Dormancy
This can not be stressed enough. Adeniums need heat--a lot of it. You can never overheat an adenium plant, short of boiling it. I know growers dab smack in the middle of the equatorial desert and they grow theirs in the ground, out in the open. Weird hybrids---because they are weird---are sometimes grown in pots and given some shade when in bloom but otherwise, they get the same 40C to 50C that all their other adeniums get in that habitat.
As long as adeniums are kept warm or even hot as well as intensely-lit during the winter, they need not slow down or go dormant. This means a temperature range of over 20C at night and warmer during the day.
Personally, I keep about half of my adeniums in a dark, cool basement shelf during the winter just so I don't have to think about them. They are watered maybe once a month, just to keep them from desiccating. Most of the time, adeniums kept this way during the winter will send out unshapely growths but that's not an issue. I just hard prune them in spring and they grow back quickly.
Watering
At the height of summer, my adeniums get water every three to four days, plus rain. But don't panic if you forget--they are tough, forgiving plants.
Remember, though, that your potting medium must be fast-draining. If you put one liter of water in your pot and only a bit comes out, that means your soil is too dense and slow. Replace it!
Fertilizer
This took a considerable amount of research but in the end, I decided the simplest way is the best way. I use an all-in-one fertilizer every time I water. The gritty mix makes this possible because the water runs freely through the potting medium and does not sit in a stagnant pool at the bottom of my pots, eventually burning the roots of the plants. This way, I don't have to keep track of fertilizing schedules. I use Dyna-Gro FOL-100 Foliage-Pro Liquid Plant Food with 9-3-6 NPK ratio. The direction said to use a quarter teaspoon for a gallon of water, I use an eighth and fertilize every week.
Bugs and Pests
I have never actually seen anyone taking up residence in my adenium plants, other than spiders. But spiders are your friend--they will eat insects trying to colonize your plant. Having said that, I have a weak solution of soapy water that I spray on my adeniums occasionally, whenever I get paranoid and suspect nefarious buggy activities.
A couple of drops of non-detergent dish soap in a bottle of water has been adequate. Maybe I will get a real infestation and will have to launch a full-blown chemical warfare to defeat it. So far it hasn't happened.
Pruning
Pruning is a lot of fun! Again, this is based purely on aesthetics. If you don't like the way your plant looks, you can always hack off a branch here and there, either to remove an offensive outgrowth or to encourage branching at certain points. Pruning can also encourage vigorous growth since you are introducing a tremendous amount of stress and the plant will react accordingly. Sometimes it can also trigger bloom.
I use a box cutter, wipe it down with alcohol and slice diagonally so water does not bead on top in case it rains before that cut dries out. Just to be safe, sprinkle a bit of ceylon cinnamon (a mild fungicide) to prevent fungal growth whilst the injury is drying. Do this when you know it isn't going to rain everyday, right?
Go to this site for more information, it was certainly useful to me.
Extremely useful article on Good Growing Practices and Container Gardening
Related Posts: Adenium in Gritty Mix
04 April 2013
Part III: Adenium Seedlings Care
I think the most entertaining stage of adenium cultivation is when they are seedlings---that is the period after they germinate up to about a year, maybe even two.
After sowing the adenium seeds, my arbitrary cut-off is two weeks--if seeds have not come up after two weeks, I consider the exercise to be over and done. At this point, you can remove the lid from your seedling container as well as the propagation mat, if you are using one.
I have discovered that after three weeks, the seedlings are significantly more sturdy. By no means should you subject your seedlings to deliberate abuse. I'm just saying that if your cat should bat at it, it would still be fine.
After sowing the adenium seeds, my arbitrary cut-off is two weeks--if seeds have not come up after two weeks, I consider the exercise to be over and done. At this point, you can remove the lid from your seedling container as well as the propagation mat, if you are using one.
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| Adenium obesum seedlings, Week 3 |
02 April 2013
THE PAGE YOU CLICKED IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
We'll be done in a bit.
Show Recent Messages (F3)
Rolling Eyeballs: I’ve removed the extra page
Knitty Kitty: Did you specify where the pages are placed?
Rolling Eyeballs: the homepage publishes the latest post as far as i can tell
Rolling Eyeballs: On the side, there are links to pages
Knitty Kitty: Hmm
Rolling Eyeballs: thats where i linked the adenium thingie
Rolling Eyeballs: so if you go to the page that says adenium, you have to edit the bottom where you can link to your post
Rolling Eyeballs: the technique is to read lol
Knitty Kitty: Shouldn’t it be hers and hers post?
Rolling Eyeballs: You have to make a page for adenium in the tropics
Rolling Eyeballs: okay I’ll rename the adenium page to adenium in the frozen fuckland
Rolling Eyeballs: or something lol
Rolling Eyeballs: there should really be subtopics. i havent figured out how to do that without HTML edits to the template
Rolling Eyeballs: or if its even possible
Knitty Kitty: I have training materials for css
Knitty Kitty: You want?
Knitty Kitty: and html5
Rolling Eyeballs: really
Knitty Kitty: Really
Knitty Kitty: Really
Rolling Eyeballs: here's a radical idja---why dont YOU do it, ms IT professional lol
Knitty Kitty: I was supposed to do it during the holy week
Rolling Eyeballs: ahuh
Knitty Kitty: We know how that turned out
Rolling Eyeballs: see my eyeballs?
Rolling Eyeballs: rolling!
Knitty Kitty: Lol
Knitty Kitty: Mine too
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