November 5

Winter is around the corner and it is time to revisit some of the information I gave you last year. If you have been reading my blog, you know that I posted a number of articles last fall on getting ready for the winter.  So rather than repeating myself, I thought I should give you a summary and tell you where to get more information.

You should have already brought your houseplants into a protected area with the intent of taking them inside. There are two postings from last September that are good references for bringing your plants back in as well as saving some of your favorite garden plants through cuttings. 

Green For Christmas

Begonias are easy plants to start from
cuttings and will root quickly

New plants from cuttings are inexpensive Christmas gifts and now is the time to get them started.  Even friends with 'not to green thumbs' love to get plants as gifts, especially if it is from someone whose gardening skills they admire. The post entitled Saving Your Favorites tell you how to make a Propagation Container to created new plants from cuttings. Choose something that they have admired in your home and trim just below a leaf nod. You will need at least one remaining leaf and one nod with leaf removed for a good cutting. The not with the leaf removed will be buried in your potting medium. Here is a link to a diagram showing the Parts of a Plant. You can see that the nod is where the leaf has emerged from the stem.  The bud right above the leaf is where the root will emerge. The amount of time to get a good root is between 4 to 6 weeks so don't wait. Of course you could use the new plants as boxing day gifts or if you want a little more show, start now for spring.

Red for Christmas

The poinsettias you saved from last year should be placed in a spot that will give them a full 10 hours of darkness.  They can take up to 7 weeks to develop buds. My favorite trick is to place the plant in the closet when you get home from work around 6 or 7 P.M. and take it out on you way to work around 6 or 7 A.M.  Check out my January posting So what are you going to do with your poinsettia now? for more detail.

The Legend of Poinsettias

A charming story is told of Pepita, a poor Mexican girl who had no gift to present the Christ Child at Christmas Eve services. As Pepita walked sorrowfully to church, her cousin Pedro tried to console her. "Pepita," he said, "I am certain that even the most humble gift, given in love, will be acceptable in His eyes." Pepita gathered a bouquet of common weeds from the roadside, for this was the only gift she could give. As she entered the chapel and approached the alter, her spirits lifted. Forgetting the humbleness of her gift, the girl laid the weeds at the feet of the Christ Child. Suddenly, Pepita's ordinary weeds burst into brilliant red blooms! This miraculous event was named the Flores de Noche Buena, or Flowers of the Holy Night. Today, we call these flowers poinsettias.

Today, Poinsettias come in a variety of colors and patterns and new ones are introduced every year.  Some of my favorites are Jingle Bells, Merry Christmas 2, Lemon Drop and Pink Elf.  Keep an eye out for them to shake up the usual at Christmas.

More Color, Give Me More Color

You should be feeding your Holiday Cactus as they are getting ready to put on their show.  Plant your Amaryllis Bulbs and your Paperwhites. If you haven't kept any bulbs from previous years, give yourself an early Christmas present.  These also make great hostess gifts for Thanksgiving. December 2012 postings will give you more information along with some great links on how to start and care for these plants.  

That's all for today.  Please comment on this post and tell me what you think. If I can help with any plant questions post them below or email me at houseplantsos@gmail.com . 

Sincerely,

k.k.jones

The Plant That Called Me A Liar

 I have always felt that no matter what I tell you about plants there will be one stubborn plant that will call me a liar.  If I tell you it likes the sun, your plant will tell you it likes only partial sun.  If I tell you that a plant should do one thing, it will do the opposite.  But I can explain that.  Plants are living, breathing entities.  Each plant is a little different.  Each has its own "personality".

Here is my newest independent thinker.  This is a Phalaenopsis Orchid.  For those of you who do not know what a Phalaenopsis is I have added a picture of the bloom so you will recognise it.  The plant is usually made up of large leaves near the pot and then flowers form on a long spike towering over them. After the blossoms fall I have always been taught to leave the long empty stalk on the plant until it grows brown because the green stalk is full of nutrients that the plant will continue to use for the next blooming.  Sometimes, though I have not seen it very often the stalk will send off a side stalk and will bloom again.  Usually, it just sits there looking ugly.  So what the heck, I cut it off and stuck it in the dirt of a large plant to see what would happen.

Well, I did do a little more than that.  I started with three stalks.  Cutting them just under a flower node, I dusted them with rooting hormone and then I stuck them in the dirt.  I did not expect anything.  I watched two of the stalks turn brown and waited for the third to follow suit.  You can imagine my delight when it did not turn brown but developed buds.   Phalaenopsis are not suppose to like dirt.  They like their roots to be able to breath in moss or bark or coconut fiber.  I am not sure how this will turn out.  It is not wise to disturb the roots of a flowering plant so I cannot tell you what is happening down there yet. But I will keep you posted.

Next week I will tell you about the care and feeding of the Phalaenopsis Orchid so stay tuned.  I hopefully will have an update on my buds. 

Please tell me about your plant and its unusual behaviour.  Send me photos that I can post here along with your story.  You can post them yourself on this blog or email me at joneskathee@gmail.com

Until next time,
k.k.jones

Saving Your Favorites

Winter will be upon us soon and if you are living in the north, you know that fall weather is unpredictable.  You may be enjoying 80 degree weather today and tomorrow the temperature may be in the 50's.  All your tender plants should be inside. There are some that can go for a little longer but why wait.  Place all your babies in their winter home so that when the dark days come they will have less trouble adjusting.

While we are talking about the wintering of your beloved houseplants, let's include a little about that beautiful annual you bought in the spring.  You found a wonderful geranium or impatient this year.  It matches your house perfectly and your garden was everything you wanted it to be.  Growers are always coming up with new varities to temp us so a problem may arise with trying to match it next year.  Unless you bought from the grower and have chosen one of his regulars you will have trouble.  So let's talk about keeping what you have. 

Many fleshy plants (as opposed to woody - bushes) are easily propogated. If you have room for it, you can take cuttings from your favorite plants and root them just like you do for your houseplants.  For those of you who have never started cuttings, we will go over it.

First, placing them in water is not the best way of propigation.  It will lead to weak roots that sometimes will not transfer well to the soil that you want to plant the cutting in later.  That is if they grows roots at all and do not just rot in the jar you placed them in.

It is best to start cuttings in pearlite which will give the roots something to push against and encourage stronger and thicker roots.  Here are the directions to create a  simple cutting container that I and may of my master gardener friends have found very useful.

Cutting Propogation Container

What you will need:

• 1 wide shallow waterproof bowl - I find that those cheap popcorn bowls work well.
• 1 small clay pot - This should be as tall as the above bowl is deep
• Silicone caulking
• Pearlite
• Rooting Hormone (for the cuttings) - This can be found in most garden centers and a little goes a long way.

Directions:

1. Caulk the clay pot to the bottom of the inside of the bowl. (Most clay pots will have holes in the bottom and this will keep the water from escaping into the bowl until it is needed.)
2. Fill the area between the bowl and the clay pot with pearlite. (This will be dusty; I recommend that you either use a mask or cover your mouth and nose with a scarf)
3. Water until the pearlite is moist.
4. Fill the clay pot with water. (The clay pot is porous and the water will seep out as the pearlite drys)

Preparing the cuttings:

1. Cut a part of the stem off the plant you are saving just below a set of leaves. Cuttings need to have at least two sets of leaves coming from piece of stem you are using. It is easier to also have the grow point, which is where the new growth emerges.
2. Take your cutting and remove all but the top two leaves.
3. Dampen the stem and dip it into the rooting hormone covering the lowest area that leaves were removed. You can go higher to cover more but roots will only emerge from the area that leaves once were.
4. Place the cutting in the pearlite deep enough to cover the area that we expect roots to emerge.  Be sure to make more cuttings than you will need so that you can uncover some to watch the progression of the roots.
5. Add light. The amount of light should be as close to the same as the original plant was placed in. IE: sunny, shady, etc.
6. Now the plant will take over and all you have to do is be sure that the center pot is filled with water.  Once you begin to see roots you can start adding small amounts of fertilizer to the water.
7. Many plants will begin to show roots in as little as two weeks and will be ready for potting before you know it.  Do not pot in soil until you have a good set of roots.

So that's it.  The simple instructions for starting new plants with cuttings will hopefully open a whole new adventure for you both outside and inside as you and your friends begin exchanging pieces of favorite plants. 

Please write me and tell me about your success and (God Forbid) failures.  Any questions can be added to this blog anytime.  I will be happy to respond.