I'm Getting Better!

14 years ago

Hello Garden Webbers!

I posted previously about one of my plants that had completely transformed in a matter of weeks. Well I have given it back to the morning sun and it's changing its tune already, amazing what 10 days can do to a plant! I never knew conditions dictated appearance to such a degree until seeing this with my own eyes and hope the pictures show others just what a bit of a position change can do to a plant!

Original Plant Getting Dappled Midday Sun

Moved into Full Shade for a Month

Moved back into Morning Sun for 10 Days.

In other news I cleaned out some more of the fence line today and found a rather large patch of broms tucked under a bunch of horrible overgrown Elephant Ear Palm.

It's pouring rain at the moment so I can't get out there to get a good bloom photo but I will as soon as possible, a solid 15 or so blooms that I could count from the back balcony. Very happy indeed!

Lastly an update on my continued seed growth thanks to Nev's great guide! I have moved a couple of the batches around to get better sun and I seem to have two types of seeds going, some small white / albino looking plants and a lot of happy little green seedlings. Fingers crossed they continue to survive all this rain and cold weather! Will post some pics when I can venture out into the shade house.

My house is under a cloud of flu at the moment, me, the little man (8 months old yesterday!) and my partner all cooped up on the couch together. Its not much fun not getting out to finish the gardens!

Regards

Gordon.

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Comments (13)

geebus
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Ok so I couldn't help but run out into the rain and check on the little germinating seeds and take a few pics.

{{gwi:454736}}

I also forgot to mention that in about 4 hours of working out in the backyard on Monday (before getting sick) I managed to get two photo's of two different snakes in the yard!!! Scary that they are so happy to be hanging around the garden, glad I wear my leather rigger gloves when I'm sticking my hands into the unknown!

This guy ducked off in a hurry when I trampled through and just missed his head with my bare foot.

{{gwi:454738}}

This guy climbed off the roof of the house whilst I was tending to my pups in pots collection and he took off into an overhanging tree.

{{gwi:454739}}

I hate the buggers but they keep the mice population down I suppose!

Regards
Gordon
brom_adorer
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi Gordon, nice pics. Your plant looks to be well on the way to regaining some of its former colour.
The patch of broms under the elephat ears looks to be Billbergia pyramidalis? I have a patch of them growing under a frangipani tree, and they are also flowering at present.
{{gwi:454740}}
We have had a bit of rain here too, so I'm not going out for a close up shot, but thankfully no flu! (touch wood)
Your seedlings look well, and the white ones are quite obvious aren't they?
I think both those snakes are tree snakes, so probably not venemous, but best to leave them alone hey? They all have a place in our gardens, for one reason or another.
Nice to see your pics
BA
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Well, as for your math problems, you'll probably do better if you forget all of the terms that have been tosses at you ("area") and just think in terms of dimensions (visualize it). You have two dimensional issues (length and width without regards to depth - think of a sheet of paper) and you have three dimensional issues (length, width, and depth - think of a cardboard box). Most of the problems you're looking at (how close to plant different items) are largely two dimensional issues - you don't care about depth because the container either is or isn't deep enough for what your planting. Regardless of whether you're dealing with a two dimensional issue or a three dimensional issue, you can always find the total space occupied by multiplying the dimensions involved (2D is Width X Length. 3D is Width X Length X Depth) To address some your questions though there are a few things you need to realize about gardening (I'll probably get a lot of objections at this point, but such is life): 1. A plant doesn't care how much space it has to grow. It cares if it has the inputs it needs (water, light, nutrients) and enough physical space to fit what it's growing in (you can't make two carrots occupy the exact same physical space - they're side by side or some other setup. You can't violate the laws of the universe...) 2. Because we don't know exactly (we know roughly) what any given plant needs, and given the logistics and expenses involved, it's pretty much impossible to grow plants side by side smashed into each other with no space in between and still provide for their needs. This given, there has to be some space involved. How much space becomes a trade-off which is dependent upon your growing environment. The better you provide for your plants needs, the closer you can plant them. Given that you're not going to do it perfectly (or even close in most cases) - none of us do - there will have to be a reasonable amount of space. If you space your plants somewhat too close together, this means they're going to have less of the things they need (light, carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, etc.) and they won't produce as well. On the other hand, if you space them too far apart, you reach a spacing where adding additional space does not benefit the plant any further and production does not improve. 3. Square foot gardening (which isn't a good fit for container gardening, but there are some good things we can learn from it) hinges on the principle of production per space. It tries to maximize NOT YOUR PRODUCTION PER PLANT, but your production per given amount of space to grow in. If you space wider than typical square foot gardening recommendations, you can get better production per plant, but probably won't have as good of production per given area of space. So with square foot gardening principles, your accepting less production per plant so you can cram them in closer together and get a higher production per given area of space. That said, in the guidelines for square foot gardening, there's also an assumption made about the space requirements for a given category of plant. As any of us know that plant heirlooms, there is an infinite variety within any particular vegetable you care to grow - tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, you name it. Some of these varieties have very different space requirements. I've grown some tomatoes where the plant was so small and compact I could comfortably fit about 4 plants in a square foot. I've had other monster tomato plants that would have been more at home in a 2x2ft square - but only if I was growing vertically and let it go about 7ft straight up. 4. At the end of the day, you have to know the plant you're planting to have a real good idea about how much space it's going to need. How good you intend to take care of it will be important to how close you can space them. 5. Realize, that other than your root crops, many of your vegetables do most of their "underground work" in the top 6-8 inches of space. A foot depth is plenty for just about everything even including a decent number of root crops. Anything beyond a foot is usually a waste representing excess unused soil in the bottom of the container. If you find yourself with extra deep containers - strongly consider cutting some holes in the sides of the containers and planting something in the sides of the containers. Take a look at some of the strawberry planters available and you'll get the idea. 6. Don't forget about light. For your fruit producing vegetables (and really the others too), there's going to be a direct (very direct, very obvious) correlation between the amount of light your plants get and the amount of produce they provide. If you don't provide enough light, it's possible you'll have what looks like a very nice, very healthy, very big plant that doesn't produce a single fruit. Not one. I speak from experience. The first house I started gardening in as an adult looked like it had been dropped in the middle of a forest with no thought for a clearing. The only "clearing" I had was the road out front, so any planting I did I had to do on the front of my property. I had more moss than grass in my yard. I had a fenceline that went out to the front of the house that I grew tomatoes along. The closer you got to the road, the more light they received and the more tomatoes they produced. 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splinter1804
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi Gordon,

I agree with brom adorer about the partly concealed plants in your garden, at first glance they do look like they could be Bil. Pyramidalis. It's pretty common in gardens down our way also and is flowering now. It was one of the first brom's I ever saw growing in a garden.

As for your albino seedlings, bad news I think, as they usually go brown and die as they can't survive without chlorophyll. It would be worse if they were all albino, but at this stage it looks like you've just got a few, so keep your fingers crossed.

As for the snake, well it's always wise to give them a wide berth until you know for sure that they're non-venomous. Ask one of the locals and they can probably ID it for you. They're probably some sort of python looking for rats, mice and frogs for dinner, so it's at least a sign that your garden is healthy.

Keep up the good work and get off the couch and out into the garden to get some fresh air and keep the blood circulating, it'll clear up your cold quicker than lying on the couch.

Thanks for the pic's and keep 'em coming.

All the best, Nev.
vriesea
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Sorry ,can't help myself , its not an Elephants Ear,as they are Alocasia's and Colocasia's ,your plant is a Philodendron hybrid bred from Philodendron " Selloum " ,
Jack
LisaCLV
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I agree with Bill. pyramidalis and with the Philodendron. I have to ask two questions. First, what Neo is that and how big is it? If it's a big buggah it looks rather like one I've been trying to ID (see link below).

Second, what was the seed parent of your seedlings? Do you have a photo of mommy?

Here is a link that might be useful: who am I?
paul_t23
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi Gordon,

Great update, and interesting sequence with the sun/shade changes.

Re the snakes, the green tree snake is non-venomous and a neat critter, but the brown one on the ground could be a common brown snake. If it is, then it is something to steer well clear of. If you are not near bushland and it hangs around, it might be worth finding someone who can re-locate it for you.

Cheers, Paul
rickta66
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Gordon,

Nice pics, re the snakes - a friend once told me that snakes that will kill you here won't climb eg you'll find carpet snakes and tree snakes in trees but not Browns or Blacks etc.

I like your tree snake, the browns can get quite nasty, we have more than our fair share in our yard.

Cheers,

Rick
geebus
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi All!

Thanks for all the reply's and information. Firstly Philodendron can go to buggery! It has run rampant down the whole left side of the fence and is taking me far too long to pull out! hahaha. I'm glad I can now curse it by it's full and proper name. :)

I have avoided taking the snakes presence personally by whacking them on the head with a shovel, I am aware they are just tree's normally but that brown little tail heading into the bush's got my heckles up I can tell you, he nearly got shovelled! I had my 8 month old playing on my shoulders at the time so I was unable to act quickly but to avoid stepping on him, went back for a photo of course! :) I'll sleep better when I have taken away all the old green rubbish form our backyard and I can see whats crawling around out there. I really need to buy a little trailer to avoid the continuous pile up I manage to accumulate. The neighbours cleaned out the opposite side of the fence line at easter and I heard them squealing as they managed to knock on the head a red belly black that had found himself quite at home in the kids tree house (more commonly used by the family cat then anyone else I think).

BA - Your 100% correct I have been outside today and it looks exactly as expected to be a large Pyramidalis patch quite content looking after itself!

Nev - Glad that I only have killed a few so far then with the lack of green stuff! I thought perhaps I was an epic seed grower who had cultivated an albino neo and was gong to retire at 27 from the proceeds!

Lisa - Firstly the parent of my little neo children is attached below! It had a little white tag stuffed into it (Hal Ellis) but I am yet to see many photo's that look similar to me.

{{gwi:454741}}

Pulled from the "to the tip" pile after reading nev's seed guide and deciding to go back and just check I didn't throw away any viable little pods, yes indeed I had and so I used them to my best advantage and the plant has also now shot a pair more pups so I can make some comparison's (in about 3 years).

As for your NOID topic, I did read it and I'm still hardly worth asking about what is what! However I can help with some photo's & information I think. I would rule out Rosy Morn & Red Gold from what I have seen of them here. Sun or Shade grown the Rosy seems to stay a lot flatter then your plants and a darker dare I say deeper colour, yours appear like a pastel to me compared. I will say that the pup I took off mine last week has a similar structure but I dare say it will flatten out with time. My Rosy that is now fading is about 70cm's across mind you so it has a bit of size to it compared with most.

Rosy Morn Mother - 80% of the Day in Shade.

{{gwi:454742}}

Rosy Morn Pup Shots

{{gwi:454743}}

{{gwi:454745}}

{{gwi:454747}}

The Red Gold hasn't nearly the size or width of leaf to match either from what I can tell. The plant I have attached at the top of this thread I had been told was Red Gold. It's only 50cm's across however & not nearly thick enough in the leaf to be similar to yours.

Red Gold Measurement Pic

{{gwi:454749}}

That said there is this guy here. It had the tag when I got here, so maybe correct, may not be and it shares some likeness to your plant in structure and colour I suppose, not a hint of blue about it though. I can't really trust any of the tags I found here when we moved in anyway.

{{gwi:454751}}

Hope this helps!
Gordon.
LisaCLV
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Well, I have Red Gold too, so I know it's not that. And I'd ruled out Rosy Morn already, but the spotting on your pups drives the final nail into that coffin. Oh well, guess I'll just keep calling it "Ginat Pink" until somebody comes up with a solid ID.

As to your seed mommy, all I can say is "heh????" Whether or not it's Hal Ellis (and it doesn't look much like mine), I can see no reason at all why it would produce even one albino seedling. Some variegated Neos do routinely produce some or all albinos, but that's not a variegate. Hmmmm...... curiouser and curiouser.
graykiwi
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi Gordon,
Your last pic definitely looks like 'Red Gold' while the one with the tape and at the top definitely does not. You are right, the leaves are much narrower and diameter is not as large as RG. Best you can do is name her "Neo. Hybrid" like a zillion others, unless someone in Oz recognizes it 100% I guess?
Cheers
Graeme
geebus
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I agree with you Graeme I think I will have to do some more searching for a name on that one, I have about 4 similar to the one I posted at the top. All have the same properties etc. I can only think it's some type of Vulkan hybrid?

Lisa I have a feeling the mother plant is a mis tagged job from the old owners here. I literally found about 12 Hal Ellis tags around the garden and I can't match up anything I have in the garden. I suppose the old owner may have ripped them all out if they liked them enough to buy 12? Is there a chance of seeing a pic of one of yours? I can only think of one maybe to match it with.

Regards
Gordon.
LisaCLV
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Here is what my Hal Ellis looks like in bloom:

{{gwi:454753}}

(note: previous posting should read "giant", not "ginat")
geebus
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hey Lisa

Thanks for taking the time to post a picture. I definitely haven't got anything CLOSE to that nice in the garden! Ginat indeed. I haven't had a chance to even set foot in the yard today thanks to work. :( Tomorrow is another day!!!

Regards
Gordon.

I'm Getting Better!

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