The House Plants Thread

Mrs. Gravy · Nov 14, 2017

AngryGerbil said:
They aren't houseplants, and I would be spamming, but I have a desire to photodump all the images I got from my jungle walk in Costa Rica. They have some neat plants there.

The oddest thing was that I saw literally only one needle or pine tree the whole time I was down there. It was growing out of the side of a rocky road-cut. But that was the one single conifer tree I saw in the entire country! I wish I would have gotten a picture of it just because it was so oddly out of place. It's like this one house around here that has a giant palm tree in the front yard. To keep it through the winter, the guy literally constructs an entire enclosed sort of greenhouse just for this one tree, and he has to do it every year. But the result is a full sized palm tree, planted in the ground, in the middle of Missouri!

Yeah, this house by which I drive daily has in-ground palms. They did NOT protect them from the hard frost and I am pretty certain that they are not going to be able to be revived.
I have two close friends who have all sorts of tropicals but who bring them indoors. New is one and it's the fekkin climatron in his house. My other bestie had a nursery full of her own then she inherited her father's UNBELIEVABLE collection upon his passing.
She put a huge addition on her house and ensured a "plant room" for cold weather or other plant nursing. I will see if I can find the picture she sent. Seriously it is a sight to behold.

Mrs. Gravy · Nov 15, 2017

Found a pic where my friend had "most" of the plants in their special room...she has tons throughout her house. She remodeled specifically for light sources throughout her house. She is freaking mother nature's child. I adore her.

Mr_Bungle · Nov 15, 2017

Mrs. Gravy said:
Found a pic where my friend had "most" of the plants in their special room...she has tons throughout her house. She remodeled specifically for light sources throughout her house. She is freaking mother nature's child. I adore her. View attachment 156369

That room looks like heaven with all of the trees being barren right now.

Also I apologize to everyone that follows this thread for my plant related inactivity the past few weeks. Much of my collection is slowing down due to the season change and others aren't adjusting as well as I would have liked, so there is not much to show right now.

Big Phoenix · Nov 26, 2017

Took in an abandoned orchid form work. Thought it was going to die but looks to have recovered. This is the second leaf its started to grow since Ive brought it home;

Also one of my Aloe Vera has started to bloom again;

Also he caterpillars are back, though they dont last long before the birds get them lol. Managed to get one as it had its "horns" extended;

And any idea what this is going to be?

Mr_Bungle · Dec 11, 2017

I re potted my Boston Fern.

Mr_Bungle · Dec 11, 2017

My Footed Fern was on the brink of death, however with some TLC it is showing signs of revival.

Mr_Bungle · Dec 11, 2017

Terrarium is showing progress.

I have not misted this terrarium in 3 weeks. The terrarium obtains run off water from the succulent on top of it in the next photo.

Mr_Bungle · Dec 11, 2017

AngryGerbil · Dec 13, 2017

The warm weather has confused my tulips. I scraped off that old mulch and put a thick layer of fresh stuff on top of it. I hope this doesn't kill them or spoil them for the spring.

Mr_Bungle · Dec 31, 2017

My fern has recovered quite nicely.

Big Phoenix · Jan 2, 2018

Mr_Bungle · Jan 2, 2018

Big Phoenix said:

My face when he pruned those radishes.

Big Phoenix · Jan 19, 2018

Best practices for fertilizing a mature orange tree?

Something went wrong last year. I used manure last February or March and while the tree produced tons of blossoms, not nearly as many developed into oranges as did 2 years ago when i didn't fertilize at all. Worse is many of the current oranges have thick rinds and just not as good compared to the previous harvest.

Doing some brief reading it seems i had a phosphate deficiency?

Mr_Bungle · Jan 19, 2018

Phosphate deficiency could be part of the issue. What other symptoms are you noticing? leaves dying from the edges?, mushy stems and branches?, curling or misshaped leaves?

This scientific study shows the effects of such a deficiency.

Role of Phosphorus in Citrus Production | P Deficiencies & Application | Yara

I have never used manure to fertilize trees before, however, I do know that you should only be placing the manure as far as the canopy reaches while NOT placing manure directly at the base of the trunk.

(copied and pasted from the link below).

All citrus trees will benefit from a slightly nitrogen rich or balanced NPK fertilizer that also has some micro-nutrients in it like:

magnesium
manganese
iron
copper
zinc
boron

Fertilizing Citrus Trees - Best Practices For Citrus Fertilizing - Gardening Know How

If you decide to switch to a fertilizer made specifically for citrus trees I would remove the manure and flush out the soil with water to avoid soil toxicity.

Big Phoenix · Jan 28, 2018

Mr_Bungle said:
Phosphate deficiency could be part of the issue. What other symptoms are you noticing? leaves dying from the edges?, mushy stems and branches?, curling or misshaped leaves?

Other than the sub par oranges, there is the occasional leaf that looks curled;

Tree is already starting to produce blossoms;

3 of my Aloe are now blossoming;

And even this Orchid I rescued has started to grow a flower;

Mr_Bungle · Jan 29, 2018

Big Phoenix said:
Other than the sub par oranges, there is the occasional leaf that looks curled;

Tree is already starting to produce blossoms;

Ok, from the pictures I think you have a grave problem, but have caught it early enough in its cycle that the odds are in your favor.

I went to this website that is dedicated to the study of citrus tree diseases, pests and soil issues.
Citrus: Identifying Diseases and Disorders of Leaves and Twigs—UC IPM

You may have citrus canker BUT, before you jump the gun you may want to look at the link above first, there are a variety of weather and mineral factors that could be contributing to your trees problem as opposed to a pest or viral attack. Citrus canker is a highly contagious bacterial infection of citrus trees causing yellow halo-like lesions or scabs on the fruit, leaves and twigs of citrus trees. Severe infections can cause leaf loss, blemished fruit, fruit drop and die back. There are sprays for this kind of thing but removing infected tissue with a sterileized cutting tool is also an option.

On another note, those aloe look incredibly healthy and I can't wait to see what colors those orchid blooms are. Good luck to you Phoenix

Big Phoenix · Mar 30, 2018

bump;

Orange tree is in full bloom and is absolutely covered in them;

Decided to start a garden, so far the sunflowers are doing pretty good. These are all russian mammoths so it will be interesting to see just how tall they get;

Big Phoenix · Mar 30, 2018

Also put down some Okra but think I put them out too soon, as weve still have had a number of nights in the mid 40s which they apparently dont like. Have some san marzano tomatoes inside in grow trays, will probably put them out in the next week or two.

Grapefruit tree is also full of blooms as well. Hope it actually produces fruit this year;

And Orchid has come along nicely. Its put out a second spike;

Borzak · Apr 11, 2018

Not house plants, but everything is out now. We have a bunch of wild strawberries here and picked up a bucket of them yesterday. They're pretty good, not as good as raised domestic ones and not as big by a bunch. But still pretty good. Also the blackberries are getting close and my muscadines are really putting on this year. Been kind of hit or miss on them the last few years. I'm not big on plants I can't eat the fruit of lol.

Speaking of oranges, I looked at a short term rental house in FL for a job I was working at the time. It had two orange trees and they made a point of calling out in the lease agreement multiple times the eating of the oranges from the trees was grounds for removal from the property. Passed.

Mr_Bungle · Apr 28, 2018

I have moved to a new house and work has been demanding as of late, but I finally have an update! My Hoya vine (a partially epiphytic succulent vine) has produced 2 sets of blooms called flower spikes. When they open they will produce an edible nectar with an additional large release of fragrance around midnight every night!

Lower flower

Upper flower

I observe them every day before I leave for work, they swell and swell and swell some more! I am dying from the anticipation.

The House Plants Thread

Quite Saucy

Quite Saucy

Interstellar Botanist

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer

Interstellar Botanist

Interstellar Botanist

Interstellar Botanist

Interstellar Botanist

Poet Warrior

Interstellar Botanist

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer

Interstellar Botanist

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer

Interstellar Botanist

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer

Interstellar Botanist

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer

Bronze Baron of the Realm

Interstellar Botanist