Tag: plantblr

hey do you have any advice on growing succulents from clippings? Esp bc i had one, miloς, that I thought was growing well, he’d rooted and everything who suddenly seems to be dying! Is there anything I can do to save him?

Depending on the species of succulent they can be hit and miss with cutting propagation success. Rot can be killer of youngly rooting/rooted cuttings. If the rot has already begun in major areas the best you can do is abandon ship and restart with rot-free cuttings (if there’s enough plant material you can definitely just recut and use what you already have). To prevent rot in a succulent cutting (this does not apply to non succulents like impatiens and coleus) the best you can do is mark sure its being grown/rooted somewhere warm, and that the moisture levels are kept more on the dry side than the wet side (so do water, but do so sparingly).

Not enough moisture is another possible candidate but less likely, and not enough sunlight could be a likely candidate too but it all depends on how the plant is dying.

My apologies if my answer sounds/feels vague, it can be like grasping straws when there’s no visual context to go with the information for plant pathology.

@ayustar replied to your post “60, 63 and 67!”

What’s wrong with your dracaena? I remember it being awesome.

Behold her glory

She has lost her straightness and is precariously topheavy. Needs a soil change/rejuvenation, a stake tie up, and potentially even be cut at the bend and regrown (all things which I am unable to do at this current time). Also lots and lots of sun which is currently still tricky to provide.

She started to go downhill after the move back to the farm along with her variegated partner, and had been growing in a bit of a painfully dark spot (while it was by the window it was in the blindspot from the sunlight).

feelsbad man.

60, 63 and 67!

60. Do you have a composter?

I want/need a composter*

63. Biggest plant you own?

We’re gonna just use houseplants for this one. The Dracaena used to be the biggest (it’s on its way out if I continue to be unable to do anything to help it), but now the Clivia minata and the Hoya carnosas are the biggest beasts I own. Vines so long that I need to consider a new and sturdier trellis set up in the pots.

67. Smallest plant you own?

I had a Haworthia species for a while that was the size of a dollar coin but I think it’s dead now. I guess my baby Schlumbergeras at this point? Small plant species don’t last long for me

80, 78 (I want to send so many of these, ive wanted to pick your brain for ages >o> )

LMAO O RLY NOW? XD

80. Favourite common plant name?

I guess…. Wakerobin (Trillium) and Touch-Me-Not (Impatiens)? The former is such a vague romanticized name, whereas the latter makes Impatiens sound like THESE TERRIFYING POISONOUS PLANTs when all they are named this for is cause their seedpods go pop like a green spring.

78. Where do you get your plant knowledge from?

Lots and lots of books. I used to borrow more books than I could carry from the library to browse and browse back in my high school days every week. I’ve also hoarded plant books in my own personal collection, and I used to watch a lot of gardening/plant vids too. I have also browsed info through the internet albeit with a more critical eye than I do with books. A lot of other knowledge has come with experience, though that’s a bit of a more slower learning process for certain details.

23 ooohh

23. What are some of your favourite plantblrs?

I don’t like picking favourites aaaahhh;A; this is why I could never bring myself to answer that one ask that asked the same thing lmao.

Some that come to mind though are @plantyhamchuk, @geopsych (they remind me of my home landscape… even if their land is not as flat lol), @omgplants (one of the first plantblrs I had followed back in the day), @continent-of-wild-endeavor, @indefenseofplants, @botanyshitposts, @5-and-a-half-acres, @cactguy and soooo many others (I CAN ONLY REMEMBER SO MANY OF YOU AT ONCE BUT YOU’RE AWESOME YO!!).

@milos-garden used to be a huge favourite of mine too, but they haven’t been active since at least 3 years ago. Miss ya dude. I miss a lot of old now-inactive plantblrs.

89?

89. What’s one thing that irritates you about the plant community?

Trying to dig up some gossip/dirt huh?

This one is hard to pin cause it really depends on the person, I have yet to personally get any serious issues overall in any plant group but I’ve heard enough stories. I’d say, those who shut down other folk or overassume in a mean mater-of-fact way. Shutting people down for not knowing or having contradictory information is no good. Horticulture can have a lot of weird exceptions to usual rules in growing plants, and one has to remember that.

I also don’t like when people encourage stealing plant/plant-material from the stores, gardens, or from the wild without huge warnings/disclaimers for newbies reading said material. It’s a big gray area which can have a lot of technicalities that can go from white to black very quickly. Have many people taken plant material in such a context? yes (even me* *though when it was from a store I was encouraged to take cuttings by the owners of the place so it wasn’t really stealing), should it be encouraged though? Not really, you have to be really careful on that sector of horticulture, irresponsibility is a slippery slope.

That being said for the most part I’m not really gonna fight anyone about opinions/views of these kinds of things which they’re often set on (except plant poaching cause I can definitely prove the damage that has been done through that). I am far too tired™ to be debating/arguing about these things. It may not be great to “agree to disagree” but it’s the only way I can keep sane in my favourite hobby.

2, 6 and 14!

2. A plant you always kill?

All Saxifragias (first plant that popped to memory that would not even survive the season they were planted in), Azaleas, and Blueberries, and many varieties of roses. Our garden soil tends to be too dry and not acidic enough for most of those plants. Any plant that NEEDS acidic soil is about toast on this farm guaranteed.

Bonus addition; All orchids for the houseplant category. Any that survive are still destined to die.

6. A plant you grew from seed/cutting?

At least one of my Hoya carnosas was grown from a cutting from a lady in London ON. I’ve also done impatiens, coleus, african violets, and jade plants before.

As for seed? I have grown so many species (especially recently) from seed; Cercis canadensis, Tulip tree, Buttonbush, Coleus, Impatiens, tomatoes, magnolia species (which I can never get past sapling), Alpine Strawberries, Prairie smoke, Catalpa, White spruce- I COULD GO ON-

14. A nostalgic plant

Hmm… Rugosa roses I suppose?

Their nasty thorns, their coarse leaves, their clove-scent flowers, the large juicy looking fruit hips.

They are not much to sneeze at as far as roses go (to most people anyways) but they have an unforgettable presence in my younger-gardener memory. 

I could think of some plants I’ve never grown that give me a nostalgia but I think there’s another number ask more appropriate for those.

#92, please!

92. Favourite fruit and vegetable?

I’m having to think a bit as I am the pickiest of eaters lolol.

Strawberries come to mind first for fruit (since it’s one of the few I’ll eat raw and am not entirely bound by cultivar choices like I am with Apples).

For vegetable? For eating I can’t really think of anything I’d truly eat without cheating through unhealthy cooking BUT, I’d say Potato and Rhubarb; Potato wedge fries are fucking delish, and Rhubarb while I don’t like to eat it I love as a perennial vegetable which also is visually dramatic in the garden with its gargantuan leaves.

The bug hotel one!! I think 98 or 99?

98. Do you have an insect hotel in your garden?

I have considered getting a Mason Bee hotel before, but otherwise no. Closest we got is purely accidental ones like the woodpile which have become nesting grounds for the Leafcutter Bees.

Next would be the Swamp Milkweed I grow to attract Monach butterflies/caterpillars, and the tall stiff-stemmed plants for the Garden Spiders.