Starting Eucalyptus Seeds. 15 Jan 2024.

 I wanted to try something different.  These Eucalyptus citriodora can be grown as an annual.  The trees in Australia are beautiful and truly massive, but the goal here is an annual, sort of similar to a mint or lemon balm, that will tolerate what has been a trend to hotter and drier summers.  If they grow, I'll try growing them in containers.  Of there are extras, I can see if they survive a border accesible to deer.  I bet the deer don't bother them.

I surface planted the seeds in a six pack on moistened peat and perlite seed starting medium. I dusted them with a bit more medium, then spritzed with water.

Again with avoiding unnecessary plastic, I covered with a glass baking dish lid.

I read they require warmth and light, so they are sharing an LED desk lamp with the Schlumbergera seedlings.

From the previous post, these are the seeds.

Schlumbergera Seedling Update. 15 Jan 2024.

 So far, so good.  I'm just keeping them under an LED desk lamp, very close.  Light is on about 12 hours daily.  At night they are covered with plastic.  I water them when dry, with a very dilute bloom food.

A few are growing their first true (tiny) cactus pads.

Schlumbergera

The color is a little off - it's more of a salmon shade.

Given the date, this would be more like "Election Day Cactus" instead of the later holidays.

More schlumbergeras

There is such a thing as having too many Schlumbergeras. Over the years, I've thought "that's a cool looking one, it's small, what's one more" or "Let's see if that will grow from cuttings" and they've added up. Still, when in bloom they're very dramatic and fun.

That salmon colored one again, close to full bloom. Discussed before, it's grown from cuttings.

This white one I separated from a red flowered Schlumbergera. Originally, I bought the red+white combined pot because I wanted the white one. It has fewer 'trunks' because half of them were red. Maybe next Spring I'll cut it back, taking cuttings for a thicker planting, and start it over. Should still get bloom next winter.

This one might have to go. The flowers always ball up and look somewhat mushy. One time I can excuse, but it happens every year. Maybe I can find a home for it. Very dramatic red color, anyway.

November 1 2009

Will plan on amending with some pics later.

One week ago I returned from 10 days in Southern China. I was about as far as it's possible to get from internet connection to work, and blogging sites were also blocked. There, I did get to see, first hand, a vanilla orchid farm (where vanilla beans are grown), and rice fields, tea, and coffee. Ning still has the camera, so I hope that photos will posted on his return in 3 weeks.

Meanwhile, here I've completed my home office / guest bedroom / pseudosolarium. Again, photos (maybe tonight). With an added West window, in addition to the current South window, the winter light will be as bright as I can make it. A bird feeder outside the window gives me something interesting to look at between computer entries. The orchids and holiday cacti are in the windows now, too.




The schlumbergera (holiday cacti) are heavily budded. I hope that putting them into a different room doesn't cause bud drop. They look like they'll have the heaviest bloom since I started growing epiphytic cacti, about 6 years ago. The summer ouside did them good.

Last weekend I raked up leaves from my yard and my neighbor, whose house is for sale and he has moved out. Small leaves (dogwood, birch) which made for a good mulch over the bulb plantings. I had also planted another batch of Narcissus (Jetfire) and a red tulip mix. So this year I'm making up for not planting bulbs last winter.

Overwintering

This room has a south-facing window. It is not used so the heat is turned off. The temperature is usually in the 50s on cold days. Some of the heat is solar, some due to adjacent hallway. The Clivia miniata (lower right corner) are in their "2 months without water" phase. Here is the Royal Horticultural Society info on clivia culture (most of the other websites use the common name which I read is quite offensive). The banana and gingers are watered a little each week, about 2 cups of water each. Lower left, a citrus from seed and Meyer lemon, also minimal watering. Other plants with the same treatment include the Epiphyllum oxypetalum, Brazilopuntia, Aloe vera, scented geranium, and small Brugmansia.


Overwintering using the "warm sunny" method. In the home office windowsill, also south facing but warmer (usually 60s to 70s depending on the sun) are some additional cacti, a Hippaestrum that finished blooming, some Schlumbergera, and additional succulants.

Critters

It's great to see that there are critters around, especially beneficial ones.

Toad was hanging out in the Schlumbergera. I see toads or frogs now and then. They eat insects, so are good to have around.

Studying diligently, but I occasionally look up form the window. Hummers have been actively hanging out at the feeder. Difficult to take photo due to sun behind the bird, and window between me and the bird, but here it is.

Hard to say if same or different hummer.
Lots of birds going after the seeds as well. They are quite wasteful, throwing seeds around. I don't know if they are also on the ground picking up spilled seeds - that is below my view.

More on critters....

Kitty Cat decided that a freshly applied area of barkmulch, front border, was the world's biggest and best litter box, adding little hills and thereby bringing weed seeds back up to the top - violating the principle. I found an old bottle of chili pepper, probably over 10 years old. I sprinkled the chili pepper all over the bed - we'll see if that spices it up for her, or if she decides to move on.

Slugs are still active - bed of newly planted beans sowing evidence for slug feasts. I sprinkled around a generous helping of organic slug bait.

Back to studies. Currently studying >8 hours per day. Nice change from the usual schedule.

Rudbeckia, Eucalyptus, and Schlumbergera Seedlings. 8 March 2024

 Here are the Rudbeckia seedlings.  I planted these after stratifying in the refrigerator, using the moist paper towel in sandwich bag method, six weeks in fridge.  It was a challenge getting the seeds off the damp paper towel, because they are tiny and they stick, but it was doable. I just patted the seeds onto the already dampened seed starting medium, watered them in, and placed onto a warming mat.  They germinated in a few days.

I can't see wanting more than a half dozen, so they will need thinning.  Maybe a few more.

The Lemon Bush Eucalyptus have weird things on their leaves.  I up-potted them, maybe two weeks ago.  I'll see if they grow out of whatever is happening.

The Silver Dollar Eucalyptus seedling all look good so far.

The Schlumbergeras grow slowly, and with a lot of variation.  I imagine they will need a couple of years before blooming.  It's fun, taking them through blooming stage, pollinating, growing a berry, letting that mature, harvesting the seeds, and now growing plants.  I will continue giving them the best growth conditions I can, and maybe transplant when they are a little bigger to give them more room.

The First Schlumbergera Cactus of the Year. 11.2.2021

I repotted this one during Spring. It was a grocery store purchace a few years ago, just now starting to get some nice size.

Holiday Cactus (Schlumbergera) Blooming. 11.19.2021

Some of these started blooming a few weeks ago, others just started. I repotted these last winter. They are about three years old, maybe four.

This one is much older. Maybe ten or fifteen years.

These are cuttings Im took last winter from the older red one and a salmon colord one that is not blooming yet. They may need another year to start blooming.

Cactus therapy.

Some green therapy here. Each year I seem to find something different to over-do. One year it was roses, then tomatoes, then peppers, then figs. The roses are mostly still there, but out of favor due to high maintenance (except a few). I can only grow so many tomatoes or figs, and I think i have them more-or-less figured out for this area. The peppers are not so rewarding although I'll keep trying a few.

Without intending to, it looks like this time it's cacti. Looking around the yard and in the windows, there are quite a few. These are not well identified, but I'm thinking (left to right) Echinopsis sp, Gymnocalycium sp., and Selenocereus sp. These identifications may change if they have identifiable blossoms. Based on web photos, Gymnocalycium flowers are amazingly colorful.




I've been growing this cactus through about 4 'cutting generations' over a period of 15 years. It sits neglected in the yard in the summer, and occasionally I start a new pad. I've given away some of the larger plants due to moving, and one was killed in a frost. Now I want to try again. based on photos in a book and on the web, this is Opuntia neoargentina but could also go by Brasioliopuntia braziliensis and multiple other names. It has a yellow flower. It can grow as a tree on a thick trunk, and tiers of branches with pads that fall off when dry. The original was a gift from a friend in Lafayette indiana; his cactus was over 6 feet tall when I first saw it. Googling on this species, it appears to be threatened in its original habitat in much of its habitat, much of which has been destroyed in Brazil, but it also grows widely in some tropical areas.



Today 2 more were added from Lowes. The result of an overly stressful week (if only I drank, I wouldnt have to keep adding vegetation around the house!). Given the winter season, a colorful Schlumbergera hybrid (labeled as Zygocactus) and a small Parodia (labeled as Notocactus herteri). The Notocactus comes in many colorful varieties.

Outside are 2 Opuntias that have survived two winters so far. Neither has blooded.

It's amazing to look at the photos of cactus flowers and read about their climates, and the history of their horticulture.

Schlumbergera cactus

It was out on the deck for the summer. Brought in inside in October. Very low maintenance. Grown from cuttings last year, just stuck them into the soil & it took off. With some plants, you just cant lose. (although with these pajamas, the photo isnt exactly ready for HGTV)

Cold weather, indoor flowers, weatherizing, bulbs

Schlumbergera are blooming profusely. Most are from previous years, but the red/white mix and the pink are new this year. By growing several varieties (all store bought or cuttings, unnamed), bloom span has been almost 2 months (see Oct 25th photo). When they are at peak, I take them to work. Then they fall over in the car, which isn't good for the flower quality. I'll need to come up with a better way. They bring brightness indoors when outdoors is gloomy. Given my huge volume of homework this winter, this is one of the few bright spots.

Predicted temperatures have been is all over the place. This week may there may be a low down to 13 - each time that I looked it is different. Today is 32 and snowed, minimal. Due to concern about predicted lows, I sprayed the fig trees with "Wilt-Stop" which is derived from pine resin - probably the same as Wilt-Pruf. Not sure if it will help - but it helped me feel better. Since it was cloudy and there were occasional drizzles, I don't know if the process will work even if it would have during ideal spray conditions. This stuff is expensive. The concentrates give more for the buck, so it's what I bought. Made me think, maybe I should spray some in the summer too - this is supposed to reduce transpiration and reduce need for watering. May help with certain insects or black spot, not clear to me, and I understand that there are no cure-alls, just good gardening practices. The stuff has a nice 'piney' scent

While at the nursery getting wilt-stop, I saw some half-price narcissus, small varieties. Too late by most gardning standards, but I bought the 3 straggly packages and planted them in flower boxes. If they don't grow, it's OK. If they do, it will be nice to think that I 'saved' them.