Bloom Day in the Greenhouse

It isn't the time of the year for greenhouse blooms; there are only a few.

Firecracker Fern and a few Lantana blooms.

White Lantana -- cuttings for a white garden in the spring.

 

Pentas cuttings brought in some moth caterpillars, so they are

a little chewed. They will recover.

 

Waiting in shade to go inside: pink Wax Begonia.

White begonia cuttings are inside, just starting.

I rescued a red begonia seedling that just came up at the

edge of the pavers. It was blooming in two months.

 

Potted Violas are  in a bit of shade, waiting to go up front outside the doors when it gets cooler.

 

Eggplants, peppers and tomatoes are

 waiting in sun until time to go inside.

 

New Amaryllis bulbs are here and await potting a little nearer Christmas. Hyacinth bulbs are in a refrigerator where no apples or other fruit will be stored, chilling for later potting. Last year's Amaryllis: one started to grow after I put it in the dark to rest so it is out again; another is still resting. Some Amaryllis seedlings are in the greenhouse to grow on. 

 

Camellia sasanquas are starting to bloom.

Come with me to Seedscatterer blog to see

what is still blooming outside here.

 

Let's go to May Dreams Gardens where Roses and Clematis and Sedums are still blooming and see what blossoms other gardeners have on this Bloom Day. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August in the Greenhouse

This is the first year that we have left the greenhouse intact and some plants have remained inside. Most went out to be planted or are summering in the 'secret garden' under a big juniper tree.

Vegetables have rotated in and out. Tomatoes actually ripened in the greenhouse.

White lantana cuttings rooted, Gerbera seedlings bumped up to a bigger

pot. The little plant sitting on an upended pot is a pink rose cutting.

It has a another bud and has already bloomed once.

Eggplants are my fav to grow. They're not quite as watering-sensitive as tomatoes.

Amaryllis and daylilies from seed. Wider leaves

are hippeastrum.

Miss Winnie brought me a half dozen

cuttings. I pinched some little pieces 

to make even more plants, in the yellow tray.

All are Christmas Cacti except for one Easter.

I cut and rolled grapevine to start balls for Rainforest Drops.

Steve Asbell puts Tillandsias and Rhipsalis in his.

I plan to use Christmas Cacti and Resurrection fern,

mainly because that is what I've plenty.

Schlumbergia cuttings and fern

I think this Epiphyllum will quickly be too big for

a Rainforest Drop. They get heavy. I think the

Bromeliad behind it will be heavy, too.

All these will go back inside before frost.

A Hot Greenhouse in July

This is the first summer we've left plants in the greenhouse. Installing a fogger with three nozzles has made the inside more tolerable for some plants, especially tropicals.

Eggplants like hot weather.

Tomato Plant grown from a sucker, blooming.

Cool nights around 65-70 degrees are necessary

to set tomato fruit. 

Staghorn fern. Bottom left are amaryllis from seeds.

Bromeliads are outside in shade for the summer.

This rose is a cutting stuck back in the spring. What fun to bring in a bloom!

As I am typing this post, the outside temperature is 95 degrees F with humidity of 16%. In the greenhouse it's 93F with humidity of 43%.

I start the fogger mornings when the humidity falls to about 40%. I turn it off when the sun gets so low in the west that the greenhouse is in shade.

We run the exhaust fan from early morning until well after dark when the plant leaves have dried.

Plants are placed where they are under the mist, mostly on the floor so that heat rises above them.

On a cloudy day, I turn the fogger on and off according to what seems reasonable.

I look forward to seeing how long we can grow eggplants, tomatoes and peppers when cold weather comes. At some point midwinter, it will not be reasonable to try to keep nighttime temperatures higher than required to keep certain ornamental plants alive. I think that having a way to better regulate humidity will make a difference in winter. Sunny winter days can get pretty hot and dry inside the greenhouse.

Linking to Flaunt Your Flowers at Tootsie Time Tootsie wrote about her greenhouse today, too.