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Hey everyone!
I live in upstate South Carolina. I've been growing plants for years and I like to look for a new challenge when the plants I have are growing well. I've got Peace Lilies, Spider plants, Snake plants, Philodendron, multiple succulents, and several orchids. I can't seem to get my Phals to rebloom, even though they're healthy. My Miltassia Shelob reblooms regularly and it's time to repot it, though. I just bought a Maxillaria Tenuifolia (Coconut Orchid). They're supposed to be pretty healthy, so we'll see how it does. It's currently dehydrated.
Those are just my inside plants. Outside I'm getting fig trees started. I've been fighting the deer and canker worms for my apple trees for 3 years now and it's 50/50 so far. I've also got several other decorative shrubs and trees going.
I tried to get into carnivorous plants several years ago, and failed spectacularly, after finding out that Venus Fly Traps are actually native to my state. I went out and bought one from a big box store. I potted it in peat moss and followed the best directions I could. They said to put it in a humidity tray with gravel and keep it filled. Suffice it to say, that with daily temps in the 90's, it dried out often and the humidity tray needed to be filled, like twice a day. Anyone who's let peat moss dry out knows it's pretty much over at that point. I even tried a technique I found where you take some weakly mixed miracle grow water on a cotton swab and brush the undersides of the leaves. No luck, though.
I had more luck when I tried again in February of 2014. I again picked up one of those boxed deals from a big box store, but this time it had a Sarracenia and a VFT in it. I potted them according to the directions and based on an awesome book I found, called 'Savage Garden' (I'm sure many of you around here are familiar with it), I set it in a tray with about a 1/4" of water and kept it filled. It came through the summer and winter very well. The following spring, I repotted them according to the book and last summer the VFT did well, but the Sarracenia went gangbusters. It's filled the pot.
I recently decided to expand my collection, so I picked up a few of those starter kits from tractor supply when they were on sale. I'm sure you know the ones. One kit was supposed to have several species in it and it's one of those cheap plastic domes. The other was for a VFT and it's a container with a compressed peat disc and is about the size of a dressing container. I figured it'd be a cool learning experience and maybe a good YouTube video. I also ordered my first nepenthes online last August. It's a Nepenthes Lady Luck. I don't now much about it, but it looked cool, was a pretty red color, it didn't get very big (so I've been told), and would be okay inside during the winter. I'll probably try to put it outside during the hot, humid SC summer.
So that's where I'm at on a plant footing. Personally, I love to read (mostly Sci-Fi/Fantasy, heavy on the fantasy), watch an ungodly amount of TV and movies, learn, mess with my horses, build things, play video games, etc... My current hobbies of focus are my orchids and CPs, and I'm also in the process of taking a beekeeping class and getting my hive set up before my bees arrive. Soooo, there's that. If you guys don't hear from me after the first week of April, send someone running with an epi-pen.
Well, that's me. I hope to learn a lot on this site. See you guys in the forums.
Hey everyone!
I live in upstate South Carolina. I've been growing plants for years and I like to look for a new challenge when the plants I have are growing well. I've got Peace Lilies, Spider plants, Snake plants, Philodendron, multiple succulents, and several orchids. I can't seem to get my Phals to rebloom, even though they're healthy. My Miltassia Shelob reblooms regularly and it's time to repot it, though. I just bought a Maxillaria Tenuifolia (Coconut Orchid). They're supposed to be pretty healthy, so we'll see how it does. It's currently dehydrated.
Those are just my inside plants. Outside I'm getting fig trees started. I've been fighting the deer and canker worms for my apple trees for 3 years now and it's 50/50 so far. I've also got several other decorative shrubs and trees going.
I tried to get into carnivorous plants several years ago, and failed spectacularly, after finding out that Venus Fly Traps are actually native to my state. I went out and bought one from a big box store. I potted it in peat moss and followed the best directions I could. They said to put it in a humidity tray with gravel and keep it filled. Suffice it to say, that with daily temps in the 90's, it dried out often and the humidity tray needed to be filled, like twice a day. Anyone who's let peat moss dry out knows it's pretty much over at that point. I even tried a technique I found where you take some weakly mixed miracle grow water on a cotton swab and brush the undersides of the leaves. No luck, though.
I had more luck when I tried again in February of 2014. I again picked up one of those boxed deals from a big box store, but this time it had a Sarracenia and a VFT in it. I potted them according to the directions and based on an awesome book I found, called 'Savage Garden' (I'm sure many of you around here are familiar with it), I set it in a tray with about a 1/4" of water and kept it filled. It came through the summer and winter very well. The following spring, I repotted them according to the book and last summer the VFT did well, but the Sarracenia went gangbusters. It's filled the pot.
I recently decided to expand my collection, so I picked up a few of those starter kits from tractor supply when they were on sale. I'm sure you know the ones. One kit was supposed to have several species in it and it's one of those cheap plastic domes. The other was for a VFT and it's a container with a compressed peat disc and is about the size of a dressing container. I figured it'd be a cool learning experience and maybe a good YouTube video. I also ordered my first nepenthes online last August. It's a Nepenthes Lady Luck. I don't now much about it, but it looked cool, was a pretty red color, it didn't get very big (so I've been told), and would be okay inside during the winter. I'll probably try to put it outside during the hot, humid SC summer.
So that's where I'm at on a plant footing. Personally, I love to read (mostly Sci-Fi/Fantasy, heavy on the fantasy), watch an ungodly amount of TV and movies, learn, mess with my horses, build things, play video games, etc... My current hobbies of focus are my orchids and CPs, and I'm also in the process of taking a beekeeping class and getting my hive set up before my bees arrive. Soooo, there's that. If you guys don't hear from me after the first week of April, send someone running with an epi-pen.
Well, that's me. I hope to learn a lot on this site. See you guys in the forums.
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It drives me crazy! And I saw the cat drinking out of it the other night.
