I feel like a new parent
Sep. 10th, 2006 17:55![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillI'm looking at a green thing in a pot, and though I spend most of my time and energy on green things, this one is small and Different. In theory it should work the same way as everything else, and I know the basic ways to keep a plant happy, but this one is still Different. It doesn't react as I expect it to. It doesn't grow as I expect it to. Its motives are a cipher to me.
My next door neighbor says that I'm being silly. Granted, he's good with these guys. The fact remains that until Salim gave me an orchid for my birthday, I knew next to nothing about them. I still feel like I know very little, which is an unnerving sensation for an experienced gardener.
So it sits on the window ledge, in its new pot. I fortunately had a pot and a bag of orchid mix from a year or two ago, when I was thinking about giving one as a gift; I checked with Art to make sure that the mix would suit my little guy, and it does. He said I have a Phalaenopsis, which is apparently a good choice for a novice -- I keep seeing sick Cymbidiums at the plant clinic, but these are much more hardy. So I potted it up, looked up its needs (simple ones) in the book he lent me, watered it sparingly, and set it in a light but not sunny window.
I just got back from buying food for it. I feel a little like I'm getting all the stuff I'm supposed to give it, but I'm still flying blind; the leaves are fleshy and can wilt, but don't normally, and I'd be hard-pressed to diagnose it if they do. The individual flowers may last for months. So far as I can tell, it's the living equivalent of a plastic flower, growing and developing on a different, more glacial timescale than anything else. I'm used to "grow or die" in the plant world, but it doesn't seem to apply here. It's like a cactus.
It's alien, and different, but it was given to me to care for and I'll give it a shot. I used to keep fish... this is about as ornamental, and needs a little less care. Why the hell not.
My next door neighbor says that I'm being silly. Granted, he's good with these guys. The fact remains that until Salim gave me an orchid for my birthday, I knew next to nothing about them. I still feel like I know very little, which is an unnerving sensation for an experienced gardener.
So it sits on the window ledge, in its new pot. I fortunately had a pot and a bag of orchid mix from a year or two ago, when I was thinking about giving one as a gift; I checked with Art to make sure that the mix would suit my little guy, and it does. He said I have a Phalaenopsis, which is apparently a good choice for a novice -- I keep seeing sick Cymbidiums at the plant clinic, but these are much more hardy. So I potted it up, looked up its needs (simple ones) in the book he lent me, watered it sparingly, and set it in a light but not sunny window.
I just got back from buying food for it. I feel a little like I'm getting all the stuff I'm supposed to give it, but I'm still flying blind; the leaves are fleshy and can wilt, but don't normally, and I'd be hard-pressed to diagnose it if they do. The individual flowers may last for months. So far as I can tell, it's the living equivalent of a plastic flower, growing and developing on a different, more glacial timescale than anything else. I'm used to "grow or die" in the plant world, but it doesn't seem to apply here. It's like a cactus.
It's alien, and different, but it was given to me to care for and I'll give it a shot. I used to keep fish... this is about as ornamental, and needs a little less care. Why the hell not.
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no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 22:15 (UTC)And the tomatoes...
the plants are huge, and I'm finally starting to get some fruit growing... I had to go tie it up again yesterday because it doubled over. Oh, and one of the green tomatoes has brown spots on it that are kinda indented. That happened to a much larger extent on one that I ended up picking off and throwing away. Help?
no subject
Date: 2006-09-12 01:36 (UTC)Probably not enough light. They really do wanta desk lamp all to themselves to flower.
The bamboo is still alive, but not seeming to grow.
Have you fed it?
had a hard time getting the soil to hold water
If a peat-moss-based soil dries out, it becomes water-repellent. Put the soil ina bucket and wet it down with boiling water -- if you can, add a tiny drop of soap. That should revive it.
As for the tomatoes... I suspect I'll have to come down to look, but I'll ask. The info I'd need to tell from here is:
How large are the spots?
Where on the fruit are they?
How many?
Are there any leaf spots?
and anything you can tell me about color, rings, yellowing, anything distinctive.
I can't even really guess at this point.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-12 08:41 (UTC)As far as the tomatoes...
This time the spots are small, on the one that I threw away there was one spot that was about a quarter of the tomato itself, darker in the center and turning to a lighter brown on the outside. The spots are on the sides of the actual fruit, not top or bottom. I don't remember exactly how many, or if there was any color distinction in the tomato itself (I think it was a nice solid green). I do kinda remember seeing some yellowing on some of the leaves. If I can find my blasted camera I'll take some pictures, but right now it's still packed from the move. If you can point me to a site where I can look at pictures I can probably point you to something similar.