Aroiders, pls read my novel,by,former lurker, now member

11 years ago

Hi, I just thought i might let you all know a bit about me my history, and my plants. Hopefully ill seem a bit less strange, maybe not :D

I come from a very strong ag. background, Im fifth or sixth confirmed generation farmin the same beautiful 100 acres in central KY. I love it here but nothing about the climate suits me! From the cold winters to the pollen overdose every year(day)...ugh. I do love the flora/fauna here, though a bit boring to me... I have a flair for the extreme and bizarre :S

Thats why I post this here, I see aroids isnt the most lively forum on GW but its were my interests have taken me. So seeing as the contributors of this sub-forum are the people i want to make freinds with the most, I may as well apologize now, Im sure Ill:post too much, dig up ancient posts, step on a few toes, and generally just be a pest. I have basically no one to talk about these plants with, my favorite plants! Your probably stuck with me...

Anyway, I dont remember my first experiences with plants, I was far too young, but I first became truly interested in plants about the time I was flunking out of high school...Shortly thereafter I commandeered my dads derelict poly and wood greenhouse. My interests then were cacti and succulents and in no time I had more than a hobby would allow, opened up shop and expanded my plant base. It was nice! I had literally thousands of xerophytes and lots of other neat plants. I only grew what interested me, and was in a market that was overflooded with your average ole petunia baskets...bleh...not for me. It turned out I wasnt alone either. I grew my sales to several hundred dollars a week, modestly, did what I wanted, and owned THE COOLEST collection that I knew of. Being in a public place while selling these type plants allowed me to "inherit" so my nice old plants, and I could always justify buying any plant, within reason, on the grounds Ill propagate and sell them.

Sooo... The stock market crashed, as did my market, and I found myself with with an evergrowing collection that wasnt paying the bills like it had...ouch. Then it happened...

It was a dark and stormy night...it really was... :D

I was asleep in my bed... I felt a cold, but familiar hand lay upon my shoulder... I turned to see who it was... it was...INFLUENZA...AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH... So I spent that stormy night in bed, and it turns out that stormy night, a cold january night,the wind blew from the east that night. It never does that here, the mountains block it, usually. Well the temp. was -2 and the wind was stead at 20-25mph with gusts of up to 50. That wind managed to catch a corner of the poly and snatched it loose...and blew the door open. My "greenhouse" was now a 30 mph wind tunnel. Normally I would have checked it several times through the night. I did not. By morning when I oozed from bed and down the stairs, quickly solidified on contact with that air... and ran to the GH only to see plastic flapping, my heart sank, I entered, and was crushed. IT WAS ALL GONE, 50yr old jade trees 6 ft tall, wilting to the floor, aloes that outweigh me dripping their juice from the mushy leaves, and about 3000 misc. pots of plants, most succulents, but I also managed to lose about 30 varieties of EE totaling about 300 plants, and my sole amorph. The honeymoon was over...I salvaged about 30-40 plants, and was done...

Flash forward about 6 years and Ive got the bug again, more accurately maybe, my hearts healed, atleast enough...:D

I havent counted plants but ive got a nice shelf full of cacti and succulents, and lots of EEs, still only 2 amorphs yet.(Ill be postin pics soon if I can figure it out, im new)

All jammed into my little sun porch, but Im all but finished with my new greenhouse, and have a job lined up at my fav greenhouse here in town. Things are lookin up for me and my plants, but I also have a mortgage and a few more little mouths to feed(whoops).

Im lookin really forward to to talkin to people about the plants I like, instead of "Whoa thats gnarly, what is it" I hope to get a few "nice plant" or atleast someone know what it is...I just have no one to talk aroid with, my poor wife...Im lucky she hasnt snapped from all my plant jabbering.

Id known Gardenwebs had a nice community, but when i started digging and saw who all was in the ranks I decided Id give a plant forum a shot.

Im not really sure, maybe you all can lead me, Im very interested in plant trades, I see so many nice aroids on Ebay, but those little mouths I mentioned...eat alot. My plant budget certainly could use a boost, but as Im a master of scavenging and rooting little pieces I do have a reasonable collection to trade from. I wonder if I should make a fresh post, post in Exchanges, or use this post from trades...I really want some new EEs and amorphs!

So here we are, the end of my post, more like novel, thanks if you made it though it...hopefully Ill talk to you all soon.

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Comments (13)

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
11 years ago
Hi, thoroughly enjoyed reading your story, chuckled a few times, although parts of it were quite sad. Glad things have settled and you are feeling better about things. Absolutely hope you will help enliven this forum with as many threads and posts as you can create. A lot of people have several (or mostly) Aroids but don't even realize it. I'm guilty of that until recently.

It's not easy to get oneself to the proper climate of their choosing. I made a great step in the right direction by moving 850 miles south a few years ago. One more move like that should put me in the tropical location where I feel like I belong. Good luck to both of us!

To show some pics, you can put one pic at a time by using the "browse" button here on the forum for any pics on your computer. If you'd like to upload masses of pics, it might be easier to obtain a free photo-hosting account on one of the popular sites like Flickr, Photobucket, Imageshack, etc... Then you can use the provided code by pasting it into your message, which allows the pics to show up in your post. Or you can just send the plants to me and I'd be happy to take some nice pics of them!

I love EE's too! The tall one, Colocasia esculenta, is hardy here. I'm told the spotted one is not but hoping it might be in a micro-climate. I don't have anywhere with the right temp to store it if I were to dig it up.
tropicbreezent
11 years ago
That's some story. We all have our ideas, plans, dreams, but somehow life's realities seem to get in the way. We can only try to do what we can try to do. Guess it's a matter of the journey being more significant than the destination.

I have a property a quarter the size of yours, which I bought, ie., generation 1. And still paying the mortgage (someone's got to keep those bank executives living at the levels they've become accustomed to).

My list of (realistically) desirable plants is quite extensive, and aroids feature prominently. And amongst the aroids amorphs sit quite high. The aroid forum is very slow here so most of the posts relating to them end up in the others, mainly House Plants, Tropicals, and also places like Palms and Cycads because a lot of the palm lovers are also aroid fans. So I look all over the site for whatever's interesting.

When it comes to posting photos, I use both methods. If there's only one photo, it's a direct upload onto GW. Sometimes I'll do a couple of posts with a photo in each. Other times when there's a few to be done, or I've already uploaded them onto a photo share site, I just put the codes into the message for whatever number of photos I want in there. Once you try it you'll see how simple it is.

Enjoy your reading and posting and, not to forget, your gardening.
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miketropic
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
well you are not alone in this KY climate that dosent suit me very much either. Just about everything I grow aside from a cacti or 2 is tropical and will not overwinter here. I got the green thumb from my grandma and mother but they never went to outside the box so as a younger person in the plant trade im learning as I go but I get alot of help some real experenced people. send me a list of what your really looking for and I probably have/can get most of it (mkindoll@gmail.com) most of my interest is in aroid , bananas, and the strange things (t rex , gunnera , very tropical palms ) things you just don't grow around here. look forward to getting to know you and I'll help with whatever I can.
grabmebymyhandle
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Sorry i havent had time to respond, i been snappin pics like crazy on pokin round on here tryin to get a hang on things. Ill get back to this post soon...

I started up on flickr and have just uploaded a few pics...all EEs so far

Thanks for the responses
miketropic
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
yeah get a link up for that like to see what you got some trades might be arranged.
grabmebymyhandle
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
http://www.flickr.com/photos/88898514@N07/

Im not sure where i posted this lick last night...

im just gettin started
grabmebymyhandle
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi everybody
Purp
Ill do my best to perk thing up here...but im gunna need more aroids hrm...
I feel pretty well versed on aroids now, but I was thoroughly intrigued, and collecting them well before then...they are just too much fun.

Im goin for the big move i think. I been rooted here too long and 850 miles wont cut it, I HATE the cold, it just hurts now i cant imagine when im older...ugh, but my old lady cant take the heat. Looks like west is our only option, I hope the lack of humidity doesnt hinder my aroid options D:
AL is a beautiful state, id certainly settle for there as long in was near the coast.
That little spotted EE just might make it there too, or make a nice house plant til next spring, they handle it remarkably well.

tropic
I havent found a destination yet, i dont think, certainly havent reached it, have I...now uve made me all philosophical...thanks... :P

I spose the nt on the end of your handle means northern territory. That would be a reasonable destination, really, i think anywhere in AUS would do, atleast anywhere with people... Have any more of those where your at? More people that is...With that climate I might be ok with no people anyways. Ive given up on makin it down there tho, crosscounrty is daunting, globe trekkin with kids. not on this budget...o well.
Land ownerships great tho man, keep up those payments, any hopes of being free from the banks soon?
Not to beat a dead horse but i think my realist plant list would be much easier obtained from your seat than mine, Ive seen a cyrtosperma recently, in person! my freind in QLD owns 7 types... That grass sure does look green over there...from here. :S

mike
your close! my new friend! :D Im super stoked our interests cross over and your so close. I really dont ever check my email. >1K. unread mails...ha, and honestly my plant collection is so minimal (seeming to me) that theres no need for a list. I want more plants, especially aroids, I bet we can do each other a fair bit of good on new acquisitions. Hopefully maybe meet an do some face to face plant swapping.
I might mention at this point ive conjured up some tropic shangrila in your backyard, do you have a greenhouse, or plans of building one, and do have more near a hundred or thousand plants? Sorry im nosey :P I really do appreciate your offer, hopefully soon we will both have some sweet new plants from the other :D

Thanks for responding everybody I got alot of good pics up and most labeled good enough for now at http://www.flickr.com/photos/88898514@N07 140 of em for now. several more to come. Please post any comments or questions here, it seems like a good place

Hope to hear from a few more aroiders here before this thread gets old and crusty and on page 2 :D

Here is a link that might be useful: some of my plants
grabmebymyhandle
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I couldnt resist posting one more to tempt people into looking at the pics :D

Here is a link that might be useful: some of my plants
tropicbreezent
11 years ago
".... Ive seen a cyrtosperma recently, in person! my freind in QLD owns 7 types... That grass sure does look green over there...from here."

He has 7 ??????? I've only managed to get 3, and have never seen any others around. I assume he has mine (the most common) merkusii, cupidispathum and johnsonii. Ask him which others he has and, most importantly, where he got them, please!

The grass might look greener here, but boy does it conceal a lot of weeds, LOL.
miketropic
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
those are some nice pics.. your just getting started though.. wait till you learn how to breed colocasia and make your own hybrids..talk about in deep you lay awake at night trying to figure out a new cross that will make peoples jaws drop LOL. we will def have to meet up in the spring.
grabmebymyhandle
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Well its unlikely ill be hearing from him soom, aim says its been over 900 days since he was online...sigh. If im not mistaken the number 7 was reached by including different forms, i think he had 4 forms of johnsonii, probably the others you mentions as well, sorry im not more help :/ i wish i could point you to where he ordered them, all I know is it was from asia.

yea ive actually been trying for some time to cross, this year most of them bloomed too late to have a shot. my success have been extremely limited with hand pollination...clearly practice is needed. Im the consummate insomniac anyways i wish i had more plant things to think of while i tossed...would be nice...
miketropic
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
try cutting a flower and storeing it in a test tube in the fridge. that way you always have pollen whenever one decided to open up.
tropicbreezent
11 years ago
All the Cyrtospermas come from New Guinea (except merkusii which is also found elsewhere), so maybe he had some connection there. When I was trekking in Papua New Guinea a couple of years back I found a Cytrosperma, probably kokodense, but it was too small (and not flowering) for a definite ID.

Aroiders, pls read my novel,by,former lurker, now member

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