New leaves/Updates

So, I love new leaves. They vary so much that I always get so excited anticipating each one.

H. surigaoensis. ::swoon:: I love the creamy complexion. It is blushing well under the light.

H. latifolia. I've waited for a long time for this leaf. It's a slow grower. It's lined with red from the light and it's just so...perfect.

Pretty sure this is H. fungii. This is my best fungii. They came in dark red.

H. limoniaca. There's so much hope when I see this on a plant.

H. macgillivrayi.

H. var macrophylla. So gorgeous.

H. cv Pinkie.

Comparison of an old leaf with an old leaf of H. sp 910307.

H. pottsii 'Chiang Mai'. I love this plant because it's so reliable.

I'm biased with the plant. It grows so easily.

And now for some random plant events:

Hal's baby is growing. I'd say it's a toddler.

So, this is a Euphorbia x Iomi. I honestly didn't think it would last this long because the other Euphorbia I had died after a few months. This one has been going strong since April and has even bloomed behind my back! I was so surprised, I snapped a pic. Since this photo, it has grow about two more.

Mimi look a little leggy.

However, it is gaining its variation back. (!!!)

Jazzy is doing well, if not a little thirsty. She's going to be blooming like crazy in a few days! Too bad I'll be out of town and will most likely miss most of it.

She is so reliable.

H. cummigiana. It's starting to scramble (as is its growth habit) and it finally is pleasing me.

Mimi and my foam roller. She looks better from this angle.

Alright, that's enough. Happy holidays to everyone and may you all get good presents. :)

Er...

I have been pretty bad about remembering this blog. I suck, I know.

I've been dealing with some things that have popped up in life and when I get into something, it pretty much envelops me.

On the bright side, I haven't had many issues with the plants. No bugs so far, thank the goddess!

I hope to update again next week. Bye!

Goon Squad.

Their new album is amazing. 

I was starting to get preety darn jealous of everyone's Thanksgiving Cactus bloom pictures. I looked at Sally, wondering what I have done wrong. Apparently nothing! She's starting to bud up now. I can't wait to see her beautiful pink blooms. 

New leaves on plants are just so fascinating. I think I'll so a post solely on that. I don't know. 
My life is changing...I don't know how to explain it. It's such a weight off my shoulder. In other ways, the weight is replaced by other things...

Anyway, enjoy your weekend everybody!   

Warp 7.7

I figured out WTF was ending up on my fly strips all summer.

CARPET BEETLES.

Hilarious because I don't have any carpets or the like on my floors, save for the bath mat. My theory is that they came into my place via my boxes from my mom's (who had an attic FULL of them) and they stayed because I have eleventy gajillion plants. Adult carpet beetles, much like fungus gnats, don't feed on much of anything. In fact, carpet beetles are pollinators! I'm going to have to vacuum the whole place tomorrow since I have the weekend off. They're not harmful to humans, but they can do a number on your clothing and furniture. I should invest in some borax.

I'm starting to slowly un-bag my Hoyas. If they're unbagged, they're in the kitchen and away from the majority of my collection. If they stay clean for a few more weeks they can join the general collection.

It's been pretty darn dreary here. I can feel the lack of light. I think that the CFL bulbs are helping with that. I knew I have always been affected by the seasons and the weather, but maybe more so now that I have plants. Is that weird?

Tomorrow is the day.

Tomorrow is election day - THANK GOD. I am so tired of the ads and the slandering. The calls meant to be invasive and intimidating. STOP. I implore everyone to vote...use that right! I don't care who you vote for, just do it!

Anyway, back to plants.

Er...I have a feeling I will be losing quite a few plants this winter. I don't know why, but I just have the gut feeling. Since Sandy, it's been nasty and grey. Not much light. Some of my plants are definitely suffering. I may need more fixtures.

Excuse the mess. This is my plant work area. Anyway, this is the cute baby Euphorbia leuconeura with another one further along. It got big very quickly. The little one should be not too far away from the big mama.

Since Chaka is no longer with us (I started neglecting her - she was too greedy about water and I couldn't keep up), this is the new Ms. Weedy.

That doesn't look like new leaves to me...it has several of these growing in. I'm hoping it blooms for me.

I don't know if you can see it, but my adorable Columnea 'Early Bird' is trying to bloom for me again. :)

This is the second time I have saved a plant by transplanting it to water. The plant on the left is what's left of Tovah, the T. zebrina 'quadricolor'. On the right is Anne, the Pothos 'Marble Queen'. The water is murky because it's sprinkled with cinnamon.

I hope people speak up tomorrow, and I hope the right person for the job gets chosen.

Good Friday.

You know how you are an adult, but with your best friends you can be however old you want to be? I just had a fantastic talk with one of my best friends and it was just what I needed.

I am seeing new growth on many of my Hoyas. I may be able to take some pictures tonight, but they might be posted tomorrow. Work in the morning!

Bye!

P.S. - I haven't bought a plant in over a month. I AM DOING SO WELL.

I don't usually do recommendations...

but these bulbs have been amazing for me.

Grow lights for those on a budget.

I thought they would be nice lights that would help the plant make the transition inside. They have really helped the plants thrive in the lower light of my apartment. Some are even growing happily under them! I feel good about them and would buy them again. They don't have the output of T5s, but they are very good for trays of plants and much cheaper.

Side perk: They're so bright, I use them for light in the day and my electric bill went down! :)

I obviously have no incentive to endorse these bulbs, and am just sharing a good deal. They produce much less heat than other bulbs or setups and they're more energy efficient. Can't beat that! We don't want burnt down houses.

We survived Sandy. Lost power for 2 hours but we're cool! 

The aquarium plants!

More than a month later, lets take a look at the plants that have had a plum life in the rooting aquarium.

My first successfully rooted H. macgillivrayi. I don't know what IML this Hoyas is, and I guess I will have to wait until it blooms.

H. surigaoensis. I didn't think I'd love this one as much as I do now. It rooted lightning fast and has those big leaves I love so much.

And it's growing new leaves!

Its root system.

H. var macrophylla Hasn't grown much since I've gotten it. Those two new stems are about it, and even those died back when I brought them in. No fear, because they're growing back with new stems!

The H. macgillivrayi that I got from CB. It's finally rooting. The tank helped a lot!

It's so pretty.

H. cv Pinkie! This was one I wasn't necessarily looking forward to growing...then I found out it was H. subcalva x H. australis, and I have always wanted an H. subcalva. Rooted without incident and I like the leaves. No new growth yet.

Its root system. I think the mix has been really successful in the humid environment and encouraged the roots to really seek out new areas of the cup.

This is the H. limoniaca piece that broke off. It hasn't filled the pot yet but has those white, fuzzy roots coming in. It won't be long!

H. latifolia. Lots of roots and several points where I think new growth can start, but none yet.

Tschuss!

Are you afraid of the dark?

Just popping my head in to wish safety for my fellow east coasters this weekend. It might be nothing, but you really never know. Stay safe!

The Wretched.

I have some sort of virus again. I am miserable. I had to call out of work today because I couldn't resist puking if I moved. Ugh. Thank god it waited until today and it didn't come yesterday.

My boyfriend is extremely sweet and brought me dinner and kit-kats, which I have been craving all day. I am pretty sure I will pay for eating tonight or tomorrow morning.

I have been very lazy with watering the plants. I am pretty sure since Tovah is the only type of T. zebrina I cannot root, she is going to be a casuality over the winter. I have taken a bag of Hoyas and let them have some air. There is a plant light right above them so I hope they dry out. PLEASE dry out. I have been waffling over the risk of infecting my indoor plants and keeping them too wet. I don't want root rot, even though I can probably easily re-root most of them.

When I am feeling better, I hope to get some photos.

I guess it was inevitable.

Most of my succulents died in the transition. Hated being moist. Lesson learned for next year.

Otherwise, I've cleaned the windows and now some of the plants have returned to a prime growing spot.

Tomorrow is the audit, so afterward I should be back to normal until the next one.

Bye!

Fancy footwork.

I guess the stress from work is making me more apt to update this thing.

I've just finished assessing the indoor plants. I find that with all of my plants inside, I can do a 2 day back-to-back check and watering schedule. That leaves 5 free days! Most of them don't need water every week now that it's cooled down a bit.

The bad (lets do this first from now on):

H. buotii dropped a leaf, and that leaf had a scale insect on it. I think it got killed with the sprays I did before bringing it in, because none of the other plants in the bag with it showed any signs of stress or infestation. It was small, not yet bulbous and came off easily. It's trashed and was quickly disposed of.

H. elliptica bit the dust. Even in the rooting tank, it just hated life and decided to exit. I was surprised by its quick downward spiral. It rooted quickly and looked strong...then it didn't. I hear it's a hard Hoya to grow and have thrive, so at least I know it wasn't the simplest Hoya in the world and I just suck at raising Hoyas.

H. fungi (broad form) is dead. Dead. Dead. :( Its swan song was also quick and unexpected. At least I think I can get another next season.

The good:

Coral bloomed! Yes, it was one...but she hasn't bloomed for me since I got her in March. Yay! I missed her bright blooms.

:D! I knew she could do it.

Just a fraction of the outside plants.

Another fraction. All Hoyas! From top left going clockwise ending in the middle: Hoya buotii, cumingiana, macgillivrayi, pottsii sp. Chiang Mai, clandestina, sp. Tanna Island, mindorensis, and sp. 910307.

The best:

Green = rooting/rooted
Red = doing horribly/dead
Black = in rooting limbo (what what what are you doing?)

Hoya CV pinkie

Hoya fungii

Hoya latifolia

Hoya macgillivrayi                           !!!!

Hoya EG00807

I am so excited! All of them have healthy root systems! Nice, big white roots. They'll stay in there a few more weeks. I cleaned out the aquarium, put fresh water on the bottom and reworked the trays so that I can fit 7 full plants in there instead of 5. 

From Joni (mystery bundle): 

H. elliptica EPC-641

H. leytensis IML-1287

H. cv 'Mathilde' IML/SRQ-3075

H. lacunosa 'Thai Clone' IML/SRQ-3047

H. pubicalyx 'Red Buttons'IML-0268

H. limoniaca IML-0092

H. myrmecopa IML-1375

From Ebay:

H. lobbii (red flowers)

H. fischeriana (bonus)

H. macgillivrayi IML-015 (bonus)

H. fungi typical form

H. fungi broad form
H. multiflora IML-153 (2)

H. mindorensis IML-1776

H. villosa IML-1663 (?) 

I'm getting better at rooting them. :) Until next time. 

Some indoor winners.

Remember this one? It's a Rhipsalis rhombea. Shot 5/2/12.

This is it today, 10/9/12. WOW. I always marvel at it as it hangs near my bed. It just keeps on growing and growing even though I am a chronic underwaterer when it comes to the hanging plants. Something about not being easily reachable...

Remember him? It's a Senecio radicans, or 'String of Bananas'.

This one grew at a decent rate...then around late July it went bananas and now it encroaches upon Sammy's space on the bathroom windowsill. I'm just waiting for the right side to start coming down so it looks more even.

On a not-so-nice note, I found a mealie on one of my Hoya cuttings. It came from outside so maybe I missed it during the sprays. Also, H. limoniaca broke in half. So I will start another cutting of it. Work is never done.

I am concerned with how wet the plants from outside still are. I'm using my fan to blow air on them...lets hope that averts some disaster. PLEASE NO MEALIES THIS WINTER. PLEASE.

Exodus.

Hey, ya'll. Things have been busy. We are in the midst of YET ANOTHER audit at work, and I've been moving the plants inside. I spent all day today taking in 80% of the plants, as tonight's low is in the low 40s.

Sign #45034948349 that you have too many plants: a plant blooms and you don't notice until they're bloomed out or you take them down to water.

Buster the Pilea depressa blessed me with blooms. This is funny because this plant hates me.

The whole plant.

Some of the plants that

More. They will come out for drying and integration in the coming weeks.

My rooting tank is working very well. I have to keep an eye out for fungus, but they're rooting super fast.

See? Just one of many huge aerial roots.

I dunked them in water before bringing them in and then showered them with a dilute solution of neem in water. I got a couple of hitchhikers (slugs!) but I haven't seen any others. They'll stay in the bags for a few weeks.

I didn't need the aquarium heater after all! Saves me some money. I need a few more CFLs to supplement light for the outside plants. That can wait for a little bit.

I am planning on doing an awards posts for the outdoor plants. I figured it would be fun since I will have all of them inside until April or May. Until then! (List is below because it messes up the font for anything typed afterward.)







Green = rooting/rooted
Red = doing horribly/dead
Black = in rooting limbo (what what what are you doing?)

Hoya CV pinkie

Hoya fungii

Hoya latifolia

Hoya macgillivrayi

Hoya EG00807

 

Relax my beloved.

Here's the aquarium Hoyas, currently rooting. Same color system goes for this batch.

Green = rooting/rooted
Red = doing horribly/dead
Black = in rooting limbo (what what what are you doing?)

Hoya CV pinkie

Hoya fungii

Hoya latifolia

Hoya macgillivrayi

Hoya EG00807

I'm pretty sure one of these in Hoya limbo are rooting, but I don't remember. I was busy trellising them with a new material. I bought garden wire at Lowe's that's coated but pliable. Much better than the bamboo skewers, which rot/attract fungus and are cheaper than buying individually made trellises. I will take a picture of them next time they come out.

Here's the rest of the rooting bunch (outside):

From Joni (mystery bundle): 

H. elliptica EPC-641 (it has suffered a setback, probably due to the sudden drop in night time temps. I lost two leaves and its roots started dying back. It's currently in the rooting aquarium with new rooting hormone on the stem. Let's hope it survives.)

H. leytensis IML-1287

H. cv 'Mathilde' IML/SRQ-3075 (This one seems to hate me. The stem died back and now I'm hoping its aerial roots form another root ball. We'll see.)

H. lacunosa 'Thai Clone' IML/SRQ-3047

H. pubicalyx 'Red Buttons'IML-0268

H. limoniaca IML-0092

H. myrmecopa IML-1375

From Ebay:

H. lobbii (red flowers)

H. fischeriana (bonus) (I just recently repotted AGAIN. it has a root system but I think it suffered much the same that elliptica did. Some of the roots rotted because the soil became cold and did not dry, even though I haven't watered it in a week or so. I made the mix really chunky so hopefully it won't die back.)

H. macgillivrayi IML-015 (bonus) (This one surprised me. It has no roots and it has been here over a month! It looks great for having no roots. Re-powdered, re-potted and put back outside.)

H. fungi typical form

H. fungi broad form (*sigh* This one is the same as macgillivrayi. I put it in the rooting aquarium and it is growing aerial roots above soil...just not below the soil. -_-)
H. multiflora IML-153 (2)

H. mindorensis IML-1776

H. villosa IML-1663 (?)

I am trellising H. villosa today because the poor thing is just bending over. The stake is too short! 

I'm finding that rooting them isn't necessarily the most difficult part. It's the part after that's dangerous! The aquarium Hoyas are going to stay in the until they have roots I can see through the cups. The ones outside will be bathed and sprayed before coming inside. They'll stay wrapped so they don't freak out by the relatively low levels of light inside.

----

Coral is so ready to bloom. She hasn't bloomed for me since I got her in March. Excitement! I am so happy she pulled through after the re-pot. Go baby, go! 

---

I'm feeling sick today so I took the say off. I've been sleeping and should be cleaning. Rest comes first...I have to learn to do that more. I tell my clients to do that all the time and I can't follow my own advice. Heh. 

That's it for now. The plants should be coming in Saturday, as the low for that day is 46*F. Bye! 

This is a birthday post!

I usually wouldn't do this (and plan on doing so for the other much unless I remember the exact days I got them), but these two are very special.

They're my first houseplants, and they came into my possession exactly one year ago.

SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RUSSELL AND DIVA!!!!

About one year ago.

Today! (Diva has been looking like this for about a month or two. She wasn't looking good after she bloomed out. She is putting out new growth.)

Russell has been such an easy plant. He could use more sun, but hasn't dropped leaves en masse or pouted (even during the winter).

Diva. What can I say about Diva? She had such a long run blooming that when she started pouting, I had to save her. She's usually a 'throw away' plant, but I refuse to chuck her. No no, Diva keeps on growing. :)

 Happy 1st birthday, you two. I can't believe it's been a year! Here's to many more.