Another day in the life

[torquill]

The garden is still there.

It's a good thing to know, since I hadn't looked at it for several days. The peas need to be picked tomorrow, and the rhubarb needs a temporary bed. I weeded a little, and fed the garlic with the remainder of the alfalfa tea; I had to raise the brewer to get enough hose pressure, something I've been meaning to do for ages. Otherwise things are going well. The broccoli looks fantastic, which is a real achievement -- it's hard to actually give broccoli enough nitrogen to do well in this soil.

I potted up the miniature African violet I got in Cincinnati. It's very cute. It's also exactly the same blossom color as my full-sized African violet, which is blooming like mad. One orchid is pushing an early flower spike, and the other is putting out new roots. The scented geraniums need to go outside before they take over the windowsill. Happy potted plants.

I didn't do a lot today because I was exhausted (the first week of classes was a killer). I have bread in the oven, though, and it looks good so far. This time might be the time I get it perfect.

Comments

[kitabare.livejournal.com]

Can violets be grown from cuttings? If so, I would love to have a mini. What color blossoms do they have?

My orchid is no more. My bamboo is going to get re-potted to save it from the fungus/mildew/mold that's trying to kill two stalks of it. My violet is also going to get re-potted seeing as I'm sure it's root bound. The fern (still have no idea what it is exactly) is doing it's best to grow back after Fate decided to try to kill it by dropping it on it's head. I have a new spider plant that seems to be doing ok for a rescue from the 99 cent store. Still having the same problem as the last one with random leaves turning brown and dying though. And Philo is as wonderful and chipper as ever, and has even dropped another present. As soon as it roots I'm planting both droppings (can't call it a cutting when I didn't cut it) in a pot. I wish I had time to do more.

[luna-torquill.livejournal.com]

African violets (not true violets) can be propagated by sticking a leaf in moist soil. I intended to start several as soon as I got home -- we'll see whether I get to it tomorrow. These are a nice royal purple, with a dark cast to the leaves.

They grow slowly, but if you're sure yours is rootbound, do repot it. At the very least, it could probably benefit from having new soil to replace the stuff that has almost certainly degraded over time. I need to pot up my full-size one, if only to get rid of some of the dreadful peat moss that dries out so badly. I stuffed the miniature in a terra-cotta pot and fit that inside a glazed one with no holes, so that I can "soak" it easily when it needs watering; I need to find pots to do the same with the full-size.

I have a couple of sets from my plain green spider plant, if you want me to root them -- I've never seen anything but the variegated one in stores.

Unsolicited new plants which start while still connected to the parent are called "sets", by the way. :)

[ladythmpr.livejournal.com]

What's your secret to getting African violets to bloom? Mine bloom once and never again. (The latest one died, so it's rather a moot point at the moment.)

[luna-torquill.livejournal.com]

They want far more light than most people give them. Mine is right on the windowsill, where it was getting straight winter sun from the south. I did eventually move it a little to the side because it was bleaching somewhat, but it's getting dappled shade now and loving it. In summer it'll get bright shade.

One cause for death is the peat moss they pot the things in -- stupid, as Sanseveria doesn't like things either sopping wet or bone dry, and peat moss doesn't really have a phase in between. It's difficult to hydrate once it's dried out, and shrinks away from the pot so that water just dribbles down the sides without penetrating. I get around that by soaking from the bottom, but I need to pot mine up in some more reasonable medium.

I've fed the large one once since I got it in December, by adding a tiny pinch of Miracle-Gro to the water. It seems okay without more regular feeding.