Another Peek into the Greenhouse

The heaters are unplugged. Tonight's low above 40º leads into a week of temps above 50º -- we do have ups and downs.

 Bloggers have discussed recently about whether their Schlumbergeras are Thanksgiving or Christmas Cactus.

With careful choosing and the least bit of manipulation of light, water and temperature you might produce a Thanksgiving Cactus and others for Advent,
Hanukkuh, Christmas and Boxing Day.

The Schlumbergera behind this pink one have buds of varying sizes, none about to open.

I'll spare you another look at my Tomato Plant that reaches to the roof. Cold has delayed ripening but the fruits look super.

I tugged at a culm of an Areca Palm this summer and it came out of the pot. It's putting on new fronds. You know how I am about every little piece of anything not being tossed aside?

Bromeliad tree. I didn't step back far enough to get the top.

These two little fellows still have a piece of their dead mother attached.

They are in too much shade to have bright color.

A house full of all one kind of Bromeliad is kind of overwhelming. The ones in pots demand a lot of room. I almost let one over behind other plants die for lack of water. Maybe I don't have to save every little pup. I am surprised that Spanish Moss seems content hanging with the Neoregelias.

When it was too cold to play outdoors I did a lot of reading about ways of keeping plants through the winter. A sunny window will carry lots of plants as will a grow light. Gardeners will find a way.

Bromeliad Tree in Progress

It's put together. I decided against concrete and Liquid Nails.

The purpose of making a bromeliad tree, besides wanting to make one was to see if I could squeeze more plants into a vertical space. In this pic, there are six Neoregelias. I think I added two more, 4 if you count the pups attached to a dying plant. There is a pot of Epiphyllum oxypetalum on a shelf behind which distracts from the Bromeliad tree. Many distractions are in its future as other plants move in.

I was so excited today when I realized that this old plant had 2 pups instead of the one I'd seen last week. I pulled off all the dead leaves and pressed into a space. I'm hoping the pups can take hold as the old plant dies off.

After all the Bromeliads were in place, I pressed lichen over the bare soil. I'm not sure this will be a permanent feature. It looks artificial.

Left over are 3 full sized Neoregelias,  2 small pups and a tiny pup growing from the root of a dead one.

I don't do well with the steps in the process getting recorded. I'm trying to fiddle with dirt and stones and pieces of brick and the camera just gets in my way. The light was poor, very cloudy.

Here's what I did:

• Jammed the wood piece into a fiberglass pot that I gave a spritz of spray paint and fitted into a space I'd cleared for it in the greenhouse. I decided that if I put concrete and made this thing all in one piece, I would never be able to move it.
• Filled in the spaces in the pot with bits of old bricks and mortar pieces I'd salvaged. Left room at the top for at least one large plant.
• Once I was sure the wood piece was secure, I started placing plants. I learned, too late, to put the top plants in first so soil doesn't fall into the cups and leaves of the plant below. 
• Plants are wedged into spaces where I thought they could best take root. So far they're in place with just damp soil. I'll decide whether they need spahgnum moss around the root mass as time goes by. I decided that chemicals in Liquid Nails might not be good for plants. Twine, raffia and wire are all possibilities.

The greenhouse is in disarray. Everything had to shift to free up this one space. Kitty was upset because his regular pathway to high places was destroyed. Maybe it will all come together before late October.

You Can't Keep a Good Neoregelia Down and other Bromeliad Excitement

When the two oldest Neoreglias gave up their pups for potting, I tossed the near-dead old plants aside and ignored them, meaning to take them to the compost bin. Today I noticed that one lying on its side on the ground had some still-pink leaves.

Further inspection revealed a pup.

Dear to a grower's heart.

I set it up and gave it a drink. I'll leave the mother plant until the pup gains size.

Some of these were repotted this week.

There are 8 smaller pups potted up and growing.

Whatever will I do with all these, come winter?

Fortunately I decided not to separate the pups on my other Bromeliads.

I repotted the cluster of 3 Guzmanias into a square pot today.

Tillandsia cyanea, also a group of 3, has bracts. As the quills 

grow, they will produce blue flowers eventually.

These Bromeliads Leave Me Wordless

When the Greenhouse Gets too Hot for Growing

We are very near to the time when nothing much can survive in the greenhouse except maybe Alternanthera dentata Rubiginosa.

Last year I just let it grow and cut it back in late Summer when it was time to bring in plants.

A few cuttings on the floor under mist. 

Temperatures in the greenhouse generally are 10 degrees hotter than the outside with a vent fan and mist trying to cool it. Plants on the floor have a better chance.

 Neoreglia pups freed from the mother plants.

I was trying to decide if I should try to save the mother plants and then I remembered how much space they take up when winter comes. Surely I can make do with 14 young Bromeliads. These six have brightened up in dappled shade under a fig tree.

Three Gerbera seedlings and some 

Mistletoe Cactus that broke off and needs rooting.

Thyme extras, seedlings.

 Peeks at the planted Herb Circle. Lemon Grass, Marigolds, Thyme, Parsley, Garlic Chives and Oregano. Dwarf Marigolds?

The patio table got a faux zinc finish on the rusty top. 

White Echinacea outside the greeenhouse.

Some Calla Lilies got a bigger pot.

They all need bigger quarters.

Cycad seedling has two new fronds, photo bombed by a Rhipsalidopsis. 

In the background are some rusty plow parts I dug up.

Joining the Meme at Tootsie's Friday Flaunt.

Neoreglia Bromeliad and Pups

Some months back, the Outlaw Gardener showed us a couple of Bromeliads that were on a sale rack that he considered buying. At the time, I thought it best that he passed up these really good buys. They looked something like this:

or maybe a little worse, like this.

Both the above are my same plants, weeks apart. One of these two is my first plant, the other was a pup. The original has continued to throw pups as it slowly declined. I went from one Neoregelia to 8, just potting Pups.

Here's what could have cinched the deal, had Peter looked underneath the leaves:

After a Bromeliad blooms, it commences to die but during the dying process, it makes Pups. This one has 5, the other has 3. The first time my original Neo had Pups, I removed them and thought the plant would die but it went on producing new plants.

 These 6 Neoregelias were in too much sun and some leaves suffered sunburn. I made them portable so they can follow the shade until we find the ideal spot.

Usually a grower takes the pups off the mother plant when they are about 1/3 the size of the parent. If they're left in place, the old plant dies off, the leaves can be pulled or cut and the Pups fill the pot.

I left the Pups when my original Guzmania died off, 3 pups filled the pot very well. I left them in a single pot because, as you can see, my house of Bromeliads commenced to fill very quickly.

The Tillandsia pot has 3 or 4 pups. They were interesting to see develop as pups started from within the thinner leaves of the Tillandia cyanea rather than beneath. My luck ran out with the Vriesia. Developing Pups declined and died from neglect and no more appeared. I like Neoregelias in separate pots, or maybe I could put 3 in a row in a long container before winter. None of these Bromeliads can winter where there is frost.

 I wish the Outlaw Gardener had thought to check under the leaves of the Neoregelias he saw on sale. There may have been a whole family of Pups under there.

It's about Time to Empty the Greenhouse

This is the end of the Greenhouse season, more or less. Glenda in the Ozarks wants to see the hoses and mess that I'd rather hide. I'd rather show you what's growing and blooming.

This Neoregelia Bromeliad was a pup last summer. It's about to bloom, I had not expected so soon.

Here's the peek. There are two hoses, many jugs for watering the plants

I moved outside, bits and pieces that are rooting or salvaged.

 

 

I wished for years for a Burro's Tail. The small one I bought last winter, I saved the little piece that broke off and all the stray leaves. They're growing new plants.

 

I did a really dumb thing. I bought a Mistletoe Cactus at the same time as the Burro Tail. It grew fast and I divided it into three plants. Yesterday I picked up the soap/olive oil solution for spraying for pests, poured some in my watering can and started 'watering' two of my Rhipsalis with NOT water.

I soaked them good with clear water and today they look all right, but I hope I learned to label, or not leave things sitting around in milk jugs besides water, or something.

 

 

Left are pieces of Baths' Pink and right are Mexican Bush Sage that I salvaged when I dug into a bed.

I've already planted half the Pinks and gave my Daughter in Law half the Salvias.

 

Candlesticks from saved seed. I haven't grown Cassias in a while.

 

 

 

Outside, things don't always go according to plan.

I meant to have an all white bed.

 

 

 

 

So far the 3 seedling Gerbera Daisies that bloomed are all pink shades.

 

White lantana that I planned for last summer died in the greenhouse for lack of water. I have one new cutting in this bed that is about to bloom, waiting for those in the front garden to bloom so I can take more cuttings.

 

Last evening when I was watering, I said to myself, 'These Amaryllis in pots are a lot of trouble to keep watered until August.' I did a double take: Benfica who bloomed for Christmas has a

new bud!

 

Tomato seeds in compost came up. I let them grow just to see.

Looks like there are really two plants with two different 'Tommy Toes.'

 

 

 

A viola volunteer by the dog's water container.

The rest of violas have died in the heat.

 

Welcome to Summer!