Do Sans growers go stir crazy in winter?
Laurie (8A)
6 years ago
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barbmock
6 years agoUser
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoRelated Discussions
Gardenias, I'm crazy but going to try them.
Comments (22)Second attempt submitting a post. Marquest, Wow, you weren't kidding when you said Petunia seeds germinated..Your 'denia plant is filled with beautiful, purple Petunias. One year, Petunia seeds dropped in my citrus. The seeds germinated in winter, but nowhere as nice as yours. Or filled as yours. Mine had three pink blooms. Do you add dry or fresh fir needles in your plants? Where is the Gardenia trunk??? PM, The Fragrant Forum has a ton of information on hardy and tropical Gardenias. Some threads are passion-packed...when a member is having problems with their 'denias. PM, don't get me wrong, I love computers. Electronics in general..Example, light bulbs. :) But, I feel our society is too dependant on the net. As a child we 'walked' to the library. I do admit researching online is much easier than dressing, walking, then sorting through a zillion books to find information on one particular subject. So, guess I'm a little old-fashioned. lol I love reading, but refuse to get Kindle. Amazon emails weekly, reminding me this electronic device exists. My dh makes fun when another email comes in. Especially since I spend so much time online. Guess I'm a hypocrate...lol Logee's! In the mid-90's, I ordered from Logee's religiously. Back then, plants were shipped in 4" pots, well-rooted, and shipping wasn't all that much, though it was higher than other nurseries. Problem was, I didn't know of other nurseries. Don't know if Logee's sold my name, but I started getting catalogs from other nurseries. Two of my favorites were Stokes Tropicals and Mellinger's. Nowadays, you'd have to get a loan to order from Stoke's, and Mellinger's went out of business, in the early 2000's. Back to Logee's. In early 2000's, they changed. Plants were shipped in 2"-2.5" pots, barely rooted. Shipping outrageous. Via one order I bought a citrus. If you ever saw a photo of Logee's citrus, you'd be placing an order. What arrived was a 3" stick. Oh, crap happens. So, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. A couple orders later, plants were arriving in awful condition. I finally phoned. Customer Service Reps are very nice and helpful. They sent a replacement plant which arrived large, well-rooted. Why didn't they send a plant that nice in the first place? After another order or two, I said, heck with this nursery. Their over-priced plants aren't worth it. I can get the same plant on Ebay or most online stores, for half the price, and much larger in size. I will admit. I ordered a Thanksgiving Cactus, 'Aspen,' that's impossible to locate. A seller on Ebay sold Aspen cuttings. He made a small fortune. One buyer paid $94 and change plus shipping. So, I ordered the TC and a Begonia from Logee's. My bill was over 30.00. Anyway, that's the Logee's story. lol You sure are experienced with plants. Perhaps, one day, you can give me some outdoor garden tips. Because of back/knee problems, the last two years our garden has been duds. Weeds do fine though. lol. Well, let's say I've been growing indoor plants at least 25-yrs. I first got hooked as a child, when we'd go to my aunt's farm in MI. My MOTHER didn't allow plants indoors, but I managed to sow veggie seeds at 11-yrs. My first house plants were given to me as gifts when I moved out of the house at 18. They died..too much lovin'. PM, it's really nice talking to you. Mike...here you are.... Gardenia's are like the old saying...a watched pot never boils..Mike,, you must stop watching. :) Oke-e-doke, once your 'denia produces, you owe us a photo or two. Hugs, Toni PS: PM, please don't take offense regarding Excel. :_...See MoreHow well do you do in winter, window sill growers?
Comments (19)This is a great thread! There are so many considerations for us summer out/winter indoors people. In the summer I have cattleyas, dendrobiums, oncidiums, and bulbophyllums out on a porch, with direct sun in the morning and late afternoon, and shade overhead at midday. This year I put out paphs too, on the bottom shelf where they had more shade. Everything does very well and adds a lot of growth. In the winter, they all move to a sunroom facing west but with a south exposure too. Life for my orchids improved immensely when I added Wonderlites (in the west and south windows) and big humidity trays to this set up, and it cost very little. Most winter days it is about 60% humidity, high of 80 F and low 55F. I have a tiny space heater to boost heat on really cold nights. My electric bill is just $25-30 a month. It helps that this room can be closed off to retain the humidity. I have the catts in clay pots and water about once a week. I think the humidity helps them cope with drying out completely. Another factor I think is that I choose catts that aren't seasonal bloomers but bloom at various times of the year. Originally I chose them just because I wanted to get more blooms, but I also figure they have a built-in urge to keep growing and not go dormant when the light and heat wane. They make lots of leads and lots of blooms during winter. My only basket plants are brassavolas that I water every other day. Calvin, I think your plan to cut back on water and fert until you see signs of growth is exactly the way to go. Generally I think it's important to observe the plants really closely and follow their lead. By the way I suffered from tinted windows for a month or two before I realized what was going on, but mine came with a little label that warned against using ammonia or detergent to clean them. The anti-UV tint was just a surface film that was gone with a few vigorous washings. By the way, I also remove the screens in winter as they cut down on the light. Good luck and keep experimenting! Margo...See MoreWinter growers
Comments (5)Antoinette, Winter-growers are just like summer-growers, except they're, for one, less tolerant of water in summer than summer-growers are tolerant of water in winter. That's one of their attributes, because they generally come from the winter-rainfall areas of the RSA, largely the southwest corner (Tylecodons, Aloe pillansii, e.g.) and the North American west coast (Dudleyas, Pachycormus discolor). Yes, that assumption is wrong, sometimes....for example, many SA Crassulaceae grow best in winter, and they flower then, too - IMO, it's more a matter of growing when the weather is not in extremis. Excluding the 'real' winter growers, like those above, most succulents can grow year-around, although they grow faster / slower according to local conditions. Enough warmth, but not too much, enough water and light, but again not too much, and most plants will put on growth. And many master growers, like Mark (xerophyte) here, throw out the whole summer / winter growing thing, in part or in its entirety, but I can't still shake it completely. Here's something I didn't manage to kill this summer that's coming into its own - a Pelargonium carnosum x laxum. Definite winter-grower, no matter how much I tried to get it to leaf out in the summer heat. Here's another plant that, for me, would have definitely rotted out had I watered it regularly in the summer. For me, that makes it a winter-grower. It's a species of Tylecodon, possibly T. paniculatum, (a genus that I've found to be entirely winter-growers, whether they're in San Diego or in Kamloops), but here, as you see, they have to be inside for the winter - in SD, they're a great landscape plant because winter is when SD gets most of its rains, just like in its native part of South Africa (the southwest). From about late April to September, that plant gets nothing but a sip a month. While still inside, it gets a good watering in early September and, viola, leaves a week later....See MoreNorthern growers: anything still going? Overwintering plans?
Comments (74)Merry Xmas all! Have any of you being partaking in any pepper related festivities over the holidays? Every time I go into my freezers I am reminded of how many peppers I have socked away. I've got mason jar after mason jar plus many ziplocs full of the different varieties I grew over the summer. Today I decided to make a batch of scotch bonnet mash. I had a few Trinidad perfumes and aji orchids in there but not many. I used a tbsp or so of habanero mash I am currently eating to help kickstart the ferment since the peppers were frozen. Other than that just used salt, a tiny bit of sugar and some garlic. The fact that the peppers were half frozen when I buzzed them up in the food pro was a major advantage. There were practically no fumes and the pepper pieces chopped up very nicely without turning to mush....See MoreStush2049 Pitts. PA, zone 6
6 years agoalbert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agorobinswfl
6 years agoStush2049 Pitts. PA, zone 6
6 years agoEB88
6 years agoLaurie (8A)
6 years agoLaurie (8A)
6 years agoLaurie (8A)
6 years agoJon
6 years agobarbmock
6 years agobarbmock
6 years ago
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