Almost all my plants are now either in the house or the GH. Most of the ones in my house are in the "grow room" but I did have to line some up along a living room wall. My buckets of cuttings are in the dining room and the orchids are in my DD's room. She's not too happy about that but too bad! lol As the season progresses I'll probably be doing some rearranging, switching plants from the house to the GH and visa versa. I've already noticed a couple plants that are very unhappy in the house and will hopefully do better in the GH even though it's cooler in there. The sides on one side of the GH haven't been put down yet so my plants are all bunched together. As soon as the sides are back in place I can spread them out some. I can't even see what plants are in the middle.
Karyn
Karyn, when retirement time comes along, I hope you consider someplace with a more tropical climate! Just imagine, if you didn't have to move all those lovelies indoors for the winter!!
Patrick
Brug Moderator
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place
I would love to live in a climate where I could afford to heat a greenhouse like yours. What fun it would be. Great pictures.....lots of plants. I hope winter is short.
When my plants all grow up I want them to be just like yours, lol. Now that I have a house it won't be many years before mine looks like that. You have great plants.
Karyn, what talent for arranging and getting all those plants in for the winter. I need your expertise down my way even though I don't have nearly as many to winterize as you do. They look very happy in their new surroundings, and ready to settle in for a long winter's nap. Did I see a plumeria in one of the containers? Do you overwinter them IN the container?
Thanks for the compliments. Many of the plants won't be looking as nice by the time Apr rolls around. Even though they grow fairly well under the lights the foliage just isn't as hardy and healthy as when they are outside. Most will get a hard trim when they go back outside next year. Carrie if you look closely you'll find about 50 plumies of assorted sizes in the mix. lol Brugs, plumeria and passifloras make up a good bit of my collection. I really want the plumies to go dormant already and they will, eventually. I don't have any of the evergreen varieties. I pretty much ignore them until March/Apr when I'll wake them up with a dose of ST/B1 and fertilizer. Someone suggested adding a dose of epsom salt to the wake up mix and I plan on trying that in the spring. I give most of my plants epsom salts 1x/mo during the growing season but have never used it at the very beginning. I bought some new plumie cuttings and am debating on whether I'm goin to get out the seed mat and root them now or wait until spring when I'll be able to move some plants out of the house and free up some space for the mats.
Wow Karyn
You have ALOT of gorgeous plants there! I can't imagine lugging all of them in! Hopefully we will have a short winter and they can go back outside earlier next year.
Beautiful, plants, Karyn. But not surprised. You (and Ruth Ann, of course) probably have the Greenest thumbs when it comes to Brugs than anyone I know! But I know it's hard work hauling all those guys in, and I think you were getting rain when you began ...? Please keep us posted on their progress and any tips they teach you!LOL
Los Angeles County, CA
Hardy Zone:9B
Heat Zone:8/9
Karyn, all I can say is "WOW"! I guess I can't complain about the 30 or so plants I have to bring in for the winter after seeing what YOU have to cart in and out...Good luck with them. I hope the overwinter well.
Thanks, Karyn, for the info on the plummies. The reason I asked is that most who grow them here take them out of soil, and just lay them in an area that will not freeze, and then repot or plant inground next Spring. I was hoping to eliminate the unpotting and repotting, but think I will just continue as I have been. It really pains me to see them turn into "sticks" again.
Giving indoor plants a good stiff wind every day for a few minutes will help keep them toughened up. We give them air in the greenhouses for various reason, but forget that when they come inside, they could still benefit from the breeze. Dig out those fans people. Your plants will love you for it.
I keep many plummies in the ground and cover them with sheets when we have predictions of freeze- I lost one last year and in the spring cut it about 6" from the ground and it is now at leat 9' tall and bloomed well this year. I just cut some of my branches off some so I could walk thru the pathways--if anyone would like a cutting of them - I have Aztec gold, Miami Rose and Macumba Dawn (I am only going by what they were labeled--bought from ebay--so hopefully they are what they are depicted to be) I know Aztec Gold is correct but unsure on the others. Let me know if you would like cuttings for postage or trade
To me the plummies do not have quite the fragrance that the Brugs do unless you get REAL close--has anyone else noticed that?
I have one deep red one that has velvety petals and smells just like a rose. My other one is yellow and white and smell kind of citrus like. I just got in 4 more cuttings from hubby's family in Hawaii. Pink, white, yellow and red. No names though. They are nice thick cuttings. I have another one that I started about a year and a half ago that was a very small airport cutting and it got a pinched looking spot on the trunk like it was strangled. I had given it to my friend and it wasn't like that before. She asked to me to take it back because it didn't look good. I think she was messing with it too much bringing it in and out of the house every time the wind blew hard or it rained. It was way under a deep porch when I picked it up and about 3 feet tall but only had 4 little leaves on top. The stem is curved from trying to get to the light I guess. I am going to cut it in half I think and try to fix it by cutting out the strangled part and reroot the top.
So, Linda, are you saying that mine will be fine in containers in the plant room where they will get sun and still be above freezing (no artificial heat used in it)?????
Kristy you could also cut out the middle section of the plumie and graft the upper and lower portions together. Carrie the plumies usually don't need anything (light or water) while dormant, they just need to remain above freezing. The stem normally contains enough water to carry them through dormancy. Once in a while they will start to shrivel from dehydration and I'll give them a small drink but not often.
I keep fans on the indoor plants and in the GH to prevent disease, especially because they are so close together. I didn't realize that it also helped harden them off.
Karyn
Karyn, you have quite a collection there. Unbelievable!!!!
What fun! Sounds like plumerias aren't too hard to grow!?! I fell another addiction coming on!
I've been moveing things into the GH and around in the GH.I still have to rearrage my ceining area again because forgot we we're putting a ceiling fan in.
I bought a utility heater yesterday and a heat lamp.I have a small fan I can use for floor area.I also lucked out& got bags of garden soil& potting soil and a bag of seedling soil for $1 a bag.(6 bags I bought)I was MAD though that walmart sold their push mowers for $5 a piece and let the same man buy ALL of them.The 17 left& the 5 that we're in returns.I vented to the manager too and she almost called the cops to escort me from the store
I also pointed out that even though I was a gardener and their soil was $1 a bag I was not buying EVERY SINGLE BAG.I was so mad....I forgot hubbys cokes.I don't even HAVE a push mower right now.Its died from my overworking it and have been waiting on the mowers to be marked down.I still might call corporate.
Njoy
SE TX Z8b
Coastal~Tyler Co TX
This message has been edited by Tiedjens on Nov 6, 2007 9:39 AM
I always brought my plumies in the house and put them in the guest bedroom and shut off the heat vent and they do fine but since they don't go totally dormant I give them a little drink every so often and have had them in pots for 5 years. Take them out in the spring and leave them alone, just water and fertilize regularly and never a problem. Just don't do like my friend and mess with them too much. They don't like being moved around a lot and babied over. It causes them to lose leaves. I think thats why that trunk got pinched looking on the one I gave my friend. I have never grafted before. Can you tell me how to do it Karyn? Or email it to me if you would.
Your greenhouse looks like it will keep you from "winter withdrawal, Joy. Must be fun to go in there when it's cold outside and everything is lush and green, maybe even some blooms.
That was a dumb thing that Walmart did. I'm sure the guy is going to go out and resell them. Maybe another deal will come along and you'll be first in line.
Thanks for the info Karyn. I'll try and get a pic of it to see what you think. Joy made me go spend half the day hunting bargains at walmart,lol. I did get a nice gas grill for half price, a yellow climbing rose that smelled divine for $5, a croton for a friends Bday $5, a hosta in bloom $3 so I was happy.
I, too, went to Walmart looking for potting soil on sale (I use so very much of it), found the bags that were damaged and stacked to the side. When I asked how much they were, she informed me that they did not sell them, they threw them away. I asked where they threw them so I could recover them, and she said they ran it all through a machine, and had the garbage truck pick it up. I am still seething ---- and today will make an effort to locate their manager- then on to Corporate office. May do no good except to let me vent, but that will be helpful. I do not understand such actions !!!
Some good bargains it sounds like, Kristy. Carrie, I'm with you on that one. Why in the world would they want to "destory" good soil just because the bags are ripped...especially when someone is willing to it off their hands and save them time. I think often "corporate" is brainless. Keep us posted.
The helper person there told me it was up to the discretion of the manager of each individual store, so I am mostly interested in this particular store, and the practices she is using when it comes to the environment. I am not finished with this one.
The Lowes here in Jax at the beach used to sell the entire 1/2 price off "stressed plants" racks for $10.00 each-- (somtimes 75-100 plants on the rack) now what does not sell gets tossed. The soil could be reused and many of the plants would come back if treated properly. Most of them have been either over or under watered due to negligence on the help. It makes me furious to see the waste due to inept workers and management.
That's the absolute truth, too, Linda. I can't believe how some of those plants look when placed on that rack. I've rescued some from time to time and usually they revive with a little TLC.
Hope your back is feeling better soon, Linda. It has to be tough living with that pain day after day.
A couple of weeks ago I saw an employee taking a buggy full of perfectly good rose bushes behind the building toward the dumpster and I stopped and ask her if I could buy a couple and she said no they have already been taken out of the computer now but had been on sale for $3.00. She said I could take a few so I rescued 3 of them. They are all blooming right now.
The way the big box stores care (or should I say don't care) for their plants is appaling. If you don't happen to get there withing a couple days of a plant's arrival forget it, it will be dead. The HD's here take plants on consignment and what they kill they send back to Bell Nursery. They will rarely discount any of their damaged plants. I'm not sure about garden supplies. Their not selling you a torn bag of soil is just plain stupid!
Some plants are going to go bad regardless of the care they receive. My husband has two people whose only job is to water plants and pick off damaged foliage and he still loses some. His business is a bit different in that any flowering plant that's in full bloom or has spent blooms is no longer sellable and is disposed of (I know it's sad but I have more then enough plants!) Years ago I used to freak out when he'd toss plants, now I don't think twice unless it's something that I really want. He did bring home 30 assorted orchids that were almost finished blooming last week. Why, I have no idea but I didn't want them and decided to put them up on Craigslist and have sold some. I'll probably use the money I made to buy more brugs. lol
Karyn
Carrie if you lived close-by I'd happily give them to you. I used to bring home loads of plants and cut flowers to give away. It's just too much of a hassle now and I rarely go to the shop, besides that I don't work anymore and don't have that many neighbors. I'd bring in crates of cut flowers to work and give them away. Any cut flowers that are in full bloom are also trashed. I worked at NIH and a local hospital and would just pass them out to patients and coworkers. They loved it. What would piss me off was the physicians that were always trying to grab them. (The ones at the private hospital not NIH. NIH Drs don't make nearly the kind of money that private practice Drs make)I'd be smacking their hand away from the boxes. lol They had the money to go and buy them but it was a luxury to many of the other people. DH chops up the flowers because there's too many people that dig in their dumpsters. If they didn't trash everything up he wouldn't care but it would be a such mess with trash strewn all over.
Karyn
Way to go, Carrie! I've also been fighting(albeit a losing battle) with Wal-Mart and Home Depot about not discounting their damaged plant supplies i.e. dirt bags and woebegone plants. Why would they want to toss them? I think it's environmentally depraved and just not a right thing to do when there are those of us willing to buy the "stuff"! Good Luck in YOUR crusade and be sure to keep us up-to-date.
Los Angeles County, CA
Hardy Zone:9B
Heat Zone:8/9
It's too bad, but they want full price from us for what we want or need to buy. I guess what they throw away, they can write off as a loss on taxes maybe. Not everyone is as giving as we brug growers are. I'm betting we will be rewarded down the line for our behavior, but I'm not sure about the big chain stores. LOL!
for sharing with us.
I'm sure the guy is going to go out and resell them. Maybe another deal will come along and you'll be first in line.
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