Tropical Garden #112

[quote="homer1958"]Rita, It is just an in and out thing in the fall, like it is in the spring! Warm days out ...cold days in.

It's like that here too, Hoya's , Aroids, Have been In/out...depending on temps and Rain predictions. I don't want them to get drenched this time of year. But in the Greenhouse temps are still upwards of 95º, some days. So I took quite a few things out and set on benches near the greenhouse rather than dragging them all over the property. They have been treated for ants, so not going to put them back on/in the ground.
Yo Yo syndrome !!

Drew, I don't know how you do it...would drive me NUTS !!

Hell ...I am already nuts! Got Drewsheimers to! I just love to watch things grow and I like my bare feet in dirt!

Drew, please check out Harbor Frieght for moving dollies! They're on sale!! and go up to 1000lb. capacity. Yr gonna kill yourself dragging those puppies around, kiddo!

I have two of these, and they're great. Would each hold two of your smaller heavy plants. http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-polypropylene-movers-dolly-93614.html

This one might work for the big guys. http://www.harborfreight.com/movers-dolly-93888.html

This message was edited Oct 27, 2011 10:29 PM

those ti's are so pretty.. I don't know if I have one of those or if I have even tried one, ,, hmm,, I think I saw some really pretty bright hot pink ones at wally world earlier this year, but decided not to try them.


I really like the 150 watt full spectrum bulb with 1600 lumins for spot ighting in the colder drafty corners.. it off sets the cold air coming in from the cracks I havn't gotten sealed yet around the window wells.. I keep trying to get that done, here is hoping.

I like the daylight cfls in the 40 100 and 150 watts with very high lumins in the lower areas of the plants to give the lower branches and leaves some bright light, and I love the mid day bulbs in 100 watt with 1800 lumins , hard to find, but I love it when I find them. Perfect for the brugs.

the taller things get light from south and east windows in addition to the extra lights, and I have three grow tubes on the walls with mirrors to reflect it all. It seems to work, but really can't wait for the 4 bulb 48 inch grow shop light my older daughter is giving me.
Joe makes sure his favorites have their "own" light.

I love the foilage on the clero shooting star, Hope you can get it to bloom, Rita. I hope the Crinum blooms for me too, she sure is happy right now.
Mj, I would go back there in your yard, for you.. if I could. LOL

Gordon, I am so excited, as the seed you sent me long ago, Axel Rose x Ludgers Windsong, Is about to bloom for the first time. I am so grateful you sent me that seed. I hope my Cleros bloom for me, maybe they should be on a shorter timer in their own space? hmmm, I think I can do that.


College Girl decorates the house all up outside and in for Halloween, her number two favorite holiday. She is going to be Wenesday Adams for Halloween party, and wants me to dress up as Morticia. Gee thanks, Kiddo.

Dale, you remember those seeds you sent me? The native wild morning glorys? well, I still have a plant from those seeds. It s vining happily on the south end on a hanging wine rack for a trellis. ( don't laff) the moonflowers there have been blooming everynight too. ( the vine type)

the mother of thousands kalancho alien looking plant is about to bloom! It is HUGE! I love it's weirdness.

I checked out that site for the dollys, I have two, a round one for the tubs, and a square one for the other tubs ..LOL I need a handle!
blooming inside right now is this little yellow guy.. he thinks he is going to take over the corner, but I am sure messina creeper has other ideas..

Deb, I found my T-5 Fluorescent 8-tube light fixtures(40K lumens/fixture) for the shelving unit I have at; HTG Supply here in Charlotte. I plan to buy more as my DW says; "Is it time to turn the sun off". They are BRIGHT! The bulbs($7.95 a piece) come with the fixture.

http://www.htgsupply.com/Category-Grow-Lamp-and-Bulbs.asphttp://www.htgsupply.com/Category-Grow-Lamp-and-Bulbs.asp

Thanks for the heads up on the Dollys!

Great idea for the dollies and it looks like here are handles available but sold separately. The prices are very good too. I have some decorative wrought iron dolllies I use for moving the larger containers around on the deck (and for keeping the pots off the wood) but the casters are junk and they do not hold up at all.

Good morning to all of you!

Deb, would you grow me a couple of the yellow m.g.'s, pleeeeaassse?

I don't know what is with the search engine here at DG anymore, I am having so much trouble finding old threads/posts.

Drew, there was a guy on the Carolinas forum, Keonikale, he was from Columbia,SC and he used to move tremendous plants like yours into his garage and he had quite a set up with heaters and halogen lights, there are some good pictures here somewhere. The only links with photos I can find are when he was just starting out with normal sized plants. He was also building a business which appears to be successsful and he stays too busy to hang out here anymore. I do have his contact info if you ever have questions.



This message was edited Oct 29, 2011 3:00 PM

We got a major score at Lowes today. Went in there for some supplemental lighting and checked out the sale rack. The Garden supervisor told us that we could have as much as we wanted from the sale rack for $10.00....got a variegated Ginger in a 3 gallon pot, marked 9.95 original price, a Crepe Myrtle in a 5 gallon pot marked 9.95 original price, 18 Bromelaids marked $9.95 original price, 4 Desert Roses (Adenium) marked 12.95 original price, 3- 2 gallon pots of mums, 6 orchids, a 6 pack of geraniums, 2 phalanopsis,Blooming, White w/ Red, and a pink, 2 Dendorbiums, 2 Alocassia's ( very dark purple almost black, several succulents, and 3 hanging baskets of Inpatients and and another basket of geraniums. Total before they hit the override key, $439.76....for $10.65. Some things I just bought for the containers they were in !

Way to go, Martha!!! Our Lowes does that, too. In the spring of 2010, I got ALL my summer annuals in a $10 rack deal. I have seen Jeremy's posts where he gets tons of plants on those rack deals - ya just have to ask for the deals!

WOW, what a haul. Our Lowe's does not do that, they reduce things by 50% but they are usually truly dead by that time. One time they transferred a new garden dept. manager in from another state and he started knocking the prices on the left for dead stuff and he only lasted about 2 months before they fired him.

Hi, all! Does anyone have a desert bird of paradise plant - gallon size - for trade?

Kay,
this is a newer guy, and I hope they keep him around. His philosphy is get a few bucks for stuff that they were going to throw out anyway. And we all know what a little TLC will go to revive these plants. I'm probably going to go back tomorrow and hope that he is there. Even if I get the same deal, it will be worth it for the containers, and the few plants I can plant out for the fall/winter.
I already got all the really good stuff.

Good luck!!!!

Mj, what a huge score you made there! Good thing you've got - what was it? Eleven acres?

That haul's going to keep you pretty darn busy planting this next month or so, too! Post lotsa pictures.

Our Lowe's does mark down plants pretty well, but, like Alice's, they're pretty far gone by the time they make the clearance rack.

At my Lowe's, which I have been frequenting 3 times a week for 3 years, I made a friend in the garden center manager. If I find a plant that is starting to die, I go to her and ask her to mark it down long before it actually dies - she does. Of course, I've never tried to take advantage of her, but she's never said 'no'. It helps that I bake and take the dept. people 'goodies' every couple of months!

Hello Everyone!!

dyzzy, I made a new shelf for all those new orchids today. I took a picture to show you but after previewing, found out that it was going downhill on the left. lol
Thanks for the advice but I will start by reading a few of the old threads in the orchid forum first. (baby steps)

New noid Philo.

homer1958, what can I say, you know what you are doing when it comes to growing bananas. That is a real success story in your garage.
After viewing all those AeAe banana plants on the forum, with your guidance, I would like to try another next year, for the last time.

Variegated Heliconia

ardesia, how nice to have water lilies blooming ths late in the season. Love the color.
I had two of these Ti Plants growing in the shade, I moved one to a sunny location where it died this last summer. When getting the right light, it has a very nice pink tint on the edge of the leaves with cream streaks. This one will stay put for now.

joeswife, I hope that you had a good weekend playing in your basement garden. The weather was perfect here, where I spent most of my time rearranging my hanging baskets in the hh's
Happy Holloween! It will be fun for you to dress as Morticia. my dh always wears a costume to pass out candy.

mjsponies, I bet you are on cloud 9, trying to find the perfect spot for all your Lowe's bargains. My friend sent me a text stating that Lowe's had their palms for $10. He knew that I had a few to replace, I rushed there only to find zilch.

New Philo.

Old Philo 69686

RIta, that particular water lily only started blooming recently, go figure. I will replace it next year with a better bloomer.

It's ok on the shelf tilt, Rita, the plants don't care. Just tilt the camera and nobody would notice! Love the new philo, pretty leaves and such a cool shape.

My dh is an engineer, and can't STAND for anything to be crooked or off center so he builds stuff for me that is always perfect.

Tomorrow I'll post a pic of 'Lady Margaret' passion vine going wild over the perfect trellis he built.

Alice that variegated philo ? is just gorgeous. My fancy hybrid coleus has been plain green/purple all summer, but is going back to making yellow and pink mottling now. Anybody guess why? Is it the heat?

Rita, Nice Variegated Philo. Florida... ANYTHING I can do to help you with any and all bananas, let me know!

Alice Don't you just love the A.Varieg.Mac had mine about 4and a half feet tall and tried to kill it with water. I have 4 plants now that should be good and ready to go in the spring!

Elaine I must be a lot like your husband the Engineer! I don't like things that arent plumb, square and level!

Our Lowes Manager thinks that tropicals can't grow outside in our climate...he only buys Cannas and such ... then he buys palm trees for zone 8 and above... Oy Vey!!!

Here's 'Lady Margaret' once more not acting like a lady. Making suckers, too, if anyone wants a start.

My baby P. Gloriosum has made two leaves since I got it. Happy days!

Just liked the 'collage' of leaves and flowers here, but gotta say the ground orchids have been a great value. The flower spike on the right has been putting up flowers for nearly 3 months, and the two on the left just emerged about 3 weeks ago. Now, if I can just get them through the winter . . buy shares in the frost cloth industry, folks! My back yard is going to be a tent city if we get cold weather this winter.

Great job Elaine!

A number of years ago we were in Jacksonville and stopped at a Lowe's and bought a half dozen Loropetalums for a windbreak. They were $4.99. When we came home we realized we needed more and went to our local Lowe's and the same plants, same pots with same growers name, same size, etc. were $16.99. I only live 2 1/2 hours away from the FL Lowe's, that and the fact that they do not reduce plants is why I never shop garden stuff at our Lowe's.

Elaine,
I love 'Lady Margaret" and she obviously loves her home. LOL . If you have some extra suckers, I would like to have one. Thanks

The Lowes stores don't 'order' plants - the main office just sends them plants, based on their 'zone'. They only get plants that won't be returned for a refund because they didn't fit the zonal growing conditions. This information came from a friend of mine who manages our local Lowes garden center.

Interesting. SC has 3 zones and you would think they would take that into consideration. I am a 8b/9a and we regularly find things lilke lilacs, peonies, rhodendrons and at least a dozen other things that would never survive in our heat and humidity. I work a Master Gardener plant clinic on weekends and we are always having to answer "why would Lowe's carry it if it won't grow here." We just tell folks to save those receipts.

Alice, I have the same experience as you. I do a Master Gardener clinic at our Lowe's store, and they get a ton of stuff that won't grow here. The garden manager told us "just go ahead and tell people not to buy plants that aren't suited to the area". He's a good guy, and says each spring for the last 3 years they've sent him 20 Bradford pear trees. He keeps them alive and sends them back after a couple of months. They also have tomato transplants and petunias all through the summer, which is a guaranteed failure.

I'd suspect their buyers look at the zone tags on the plants that say "Zone 4 - 9" so they send the same plants to Nebraska as to Florida. Nobody told them that plant will thrive in zone 4, and barely survive, maybe, in zone 9. It's really a bit of a misrepresentation by the growers if you ask me.

Prince of Orange for Halloween, except he's decided to be red this week - go figure!

Nice Elaine! Here is my P."moonlight" with 3 inflorescence today!