I want to try to make my Clivia actually bloom. It sounds like I need to get it to go into dormancy, but the amount of time needed is variable. Sources agree that the temperatures should be between 55 and 34, but the amount of time needed varies from 30 days to 4 months. I'm thinking the attic is the best place, but I don't think it will be 55 degrees until November. And if we have a crazy cold winter, I'm worried it will drop well below freezing, but that's something I can monitor.
I think I will wait until the end of October and put it in the attic (with a water bottle to serve as a freezing indicator) and then leave it there through the end of January. Unless I know it's going to get super crazy cold... then I guess I could take it out after 2 months. We'll see how it goes. It would be pretty exciting to get those flowers.
Friday, October 10, 2014
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Winter is coming (kind of)
Tonight (Saturday) it's supposed to get down to 38, which would definitely kill the tropical plants, so I need to bring them inside today. I'm a little worried about that, because I'm sure I'll end up bringing in bugs. I'm supposed to hose them down pretty hard first, which should help, but I'm not confident.
I have the Mandevilla, the Terrain Hibiscus, and the Home Depot Hibiscus. I'm really unclear on how I'm supposed to take care of them. Some sources say they should both be encouraged to go dormant by not giving them direct sun and withholding water, but another source says this is stupid and it's totally easy to have a hibiscus as a house plant as long as you keep it evenly moist and your house isn't super dry. I think I will be using the humidifier this year. I don't know how I'm going to get the Mandevilla washed off, because it's kind of compact on its trellis. Which is great, I think, I want it to fill out. I heard someone on YBYG talk about an indoor palm they used as a Christmas tree, and I think I'll try something similar with the Mandevilla this year, since it has that shape already.
I also need to bring in the Jalapeno, and the Ginger. The Ginger has not impressed me so far- it's only just started to sprout. I guess I wasn't very thoughtful and I planted it too deep, and after a few weeks realized my mistake and removed an inch of soil. But they say it grows well as a house plant, so I'll keep trying. The Jalapeno... man, I don't know. It's not a very large pot, and the plant hasn't done terribly well. But there's no reason not to try, other than space.
Eventually I will need to bring in the Rosemary. It seems pretty happy right now, probably because I've left it alone all summer to soak up sun and occasional rain. Part of me wants to just keep it in a "protected area" where it won't freeze... but it's in a pot, and it's not a big pot, and it's only a year old... It's perennial to Zone 7, and I'm Zone 6, and it's in a pot and Mike says that's not going to work, which I have a hard time believing because tons of people grow other perennials in pots... I had a Rosemary in the raised bed last year and it absolutely did not make it, so I don't think this one stands a chance. I don't know what I'm doing, I shouldn't be free handing this nonsense.
So, I'll bring it inside, but not yet. Maybe in November, around the same time I plant bulbs.
If it is going to get cold tonight, like in the 30s, that should kill any tomato plant, right? (Please? I'm really sick of that guy.) And the green beans should be following suit. If it stops raining this afternoon, I think I will go ahead and rip them all out. They're really looking like shit, and I want to use that space for kale.
Also, the other annuals should be dying off, right? The Zinnias look like they're still going strong. For some reason, when I cut them and put them in jars, they aren't even lasting for a few days before turning brown and sad. Before, the same cut flowers would last me for 2 weeks; it was crazy.
The Morning Glory have been looking great this past month. I wish they would get going a little faster, I want them to be like this all summer. Maybe they don't like that hot sun. Maybe it was because they were mixed in with the green beans, and nothing can out compete a green bean. Maybe it wasn't until I pulled out all the bean plants that the Morning Glories could really get going. I've also given them some Miracle Grow which should be a bigger source of shame, but they're just an annual flower, their only purpose is to make flowers and look pretty for me, and they're not supposed to be healthy well adjusted individuals, I'm just going to give them drugs to get what I want from them and then kill them when they can't perform. I can't romanticize every plant.
About the Begonias... I think I should wait until frost kills the leaves, and then save the tubers. I could try to grow them over the winter inside, but I don't think I have space. It's getting kind of out of hand. The Impatients...I think they're pretty frost-tender and everything, but I think they are perennial? I think I will try to bring them inside.
I also have that big container with the purple oxalis that I'm very fond of, and I'd like to keep it around. I think a lot of people grow it as a houseplant. But I'm not going to bring in that big pot with the ivy and the Creeping Jenny. I mean, there's no reason I can't, but it's big, there's nothing that special about it. And, maybe I could just dig up and transplant the Oxalis to a smaller container? That seems way more reasonable.
Ok, so plants coming inside are:
I have the Mandevilla, the Terrain Hibiscus, and the Home Depot Hibiscus. I'm really unclear on how I'm supposed to take care of them. Some sources say they should both be encouraged to go dormant by not giving them direct sun and withholding water, but another source says this is stupid and it's totally easy to have a hibiscus as a house plant as long as you keep it evenly moist and your house isn't super dry. I think I will be using the humidifier this year. I don't know how I'm going to get the Mandevilla washed off, because it's kind of compact on its trellis. Which is great, I think, I want it to fill out. I heard someone on YBYG talk about an indoor palm they used as a Christmas tree, and I think I'll try something similar with the Mandevilla this year, since it has that shape already.
I also need to bring in the Jalapeno, and the Ginger. The Ginger has not impressed me so far- it's only just started to sprout. I guess I wasn't very thoughtful and I planted it too deep, and after a few weeks realized my mistake and removed an inch of soil. But they say it grows well as a house plant, so I'll keep trying. The Jalapeno... man, I don't know. It's not a very large pot, and the plant hasn't done terribly well. But there's no reason not to try, other than space.
Eventually I will need to bring in the Rosemary. It seems pretty happy right now, probably because I've left it alone all summer to soak up sun and occasional rain. Part of me wants to just keep it in a "protected area" where it won't freeze... but it's in a pot, and it's not a big pot, and it's only a year old... It's perennial to Zone 7, and I'm Zone 6, and it's in a pot and Mike says that's not going to work, which I have a hard time believing because tons of people grow other perennials in pots... I had a Rosemary in the raised bed last year and it absolutely did not make it, so I don't think this one stands a chance. I don't know what I'm doing, I shouldn't be free handing this nonsense.
So, I'll bring it inside, but not yet. Maybe in November, around the same time I plant bulbs.
If it is going to get cold tonight, like in the 30s, that should kill any tomato plant, right? (Please? I'm really sick of that guy.) And the green beans should be following suit. If it stops raining this afternoon, I think I will go ahead and rip them all out. They're really looking like shit, and I want to use that space for kale.
Also, the other annuals should be dying off, right? The Zinnias look like they're still going strong. For some reason, when I cut them and put them in jars, they aren't even lasting for a few days before turning brown and sad. Before, the same cut flowers would last me for 2 weeks; it was crazy.
The Morning Glory have been looking great this past month. I wish they would get going a little faster, I want them to be like this all summer. Maybe they don't like that hot sun. Maybe it was because they were mixed in with the green beans, and nothing can out compete a green bean. Maybe it wasn't until I pulled out all the bean plants that the Morning Glories could really get going. I've also given them some Miracle Grow which should be a bigger source of shame, but they're just an annual flower, their only purpose is to make flowers and look pretty for me, and they're not supposed to be healthy well adjusted individuals, I'm just going to give them drugs to get what I want from them and then kill them when they can't perform. I can't romanticize every plant.
About the Begonias... I think I should wait until frost kills the leaves, and then save the tubers. I could try to grow them over the winter inside, but I don't think I have space. It's getting kind of out of hand. The Impatients...I think they're pretty frost-tender and everything, but I think they are perennial? I think I will try to bring them inside.
I also have that big container with the purple oxalis that I'm very fond of, and I'd like to keep it around. I think a lot of people grow it as a houseplant. But I'm not going to bring in that big pot with the ivy and the Creeping Jenny. I mean, there's no reason I can't, but it's big, there's nothing that special about it. And, maybe I could just dig up and transplant the Oxalis to a smaller container? That seems way more reasonable.
Ok, so plants coming inside are:
- Mandevilla
- Yellow Hibiscus (giant pot)
- Pink Hibiscus (normal pot)
- Jalapeno
- Ginger
- New Guinea Impatints (3)
- Oxalis (transplant)
That means today I have to hose down the big guys and do the transplanting. And I really should plant those stupid Coreopsis I bought in like, August. I don't want to...
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