Tips for the Day

When you hang your plants in the window, use fishing line, not only to hang them with but also for the hanger. If the pot is 10" in diameter or less, 20lb test is sufficient.

Patrick

Steve Hammer says, "Cedar shavings in the bottom on the pot to control root mealies. Buy the shavings from the pet store, put them through the blender,using only a 1/4" on the bottom before putting in the soil."

I use the fishing line in the greenhouse. It works great!

When packing plants for mailing to friends, newspaper is great for wraping, and it doesn't cost anything. It protects from the cold and wet. Roll the plant neatly like a sausage making sure to close up the ends, seal with tape with the label secured underneath. If the plant has tender tips (Haworthia, Aloe,) put a handfull of shredded paper around the head first.

Norma and Jody, hi..I don't quite understand the fishing-line thing??? do yu mean to hang the pots BY fishing-line in mid air, like yu would use chains or pot hangers??? or do you mean to say hang the actual plant material by fish..........? Ever since my hubby fell of the ladder I'm beginning to think I fell too..on my head!!!! can you elaborate on this please? Elaine

Hi Elaine --
Yep, that's right - hang them by the fishing line - instead of chains, rope or whatever else. For instance, to hang a pot 36" from the ceiling hook, cut a piece of fishing line 4 times as long - 144". Tie the 2 ends together which will give you a loop 72" long. Put the end of the loop with the knot on the ceiling hook (so it doesn't show so much) followed by the other end of the loop. Now you have a double thickness loop 36" long. That's it! You can also make the pot hanger from fishing line as well. That way, the pot looks as if it is suspended in mid-air. Make sure your knots are very secure! It's also cheaper than chain. To connect the fishing line hanger to that which it will hang from, use an S-hook - brass, chrome or whatever your decor is.

Patrick

New Tip. I do not allow my Haworthia to keep the inflorence on unless I am planning to pollinate. It saps the plants strength, and if you have a lot of this species it looks messy, the flowers are not pretty so why keep them? Norma

Today I cut off the head of the Echeveria 'Paul Bunyon' now I'll set it in a clay pot but no soil and just wait for it to root, when it has a brush of roots, I'll then repot.

Sand does not drain fast. Take a pot of sand, pure sand and see how fast the water drains. Sow seed of winter growing plants now. (Crassula) Wait until the weather warms for all others. We have stopped sowing seeds until Spring.
Happy Holidays to all. Norma

keep them coming, I appreciate you taking the time, these are great.

Oyter shell, I have been looking all over for it. The bird shop has it about 10% the rest sand. Today I purchased some fresh clams, steamed the clams, saved the shells and smashed them with a hammer and put them into my soil mix. It works, succulents love shells. It certainly didn't cost me anything extra. The lady with the air between the ears.

crasullady2 - Love that newspaper trick on trades. I love getting trades neatly wrapped in saran wrap around the roots, then carefully packed in damp newspaper. they always arrive alive that way.

-Jennifer

Jennifer, it is really better to leave the saran wrap off, you would be surprised how fast that will damage those roots in hot weather, or keep in the moisture that will also damage plants. Newspaper is heavy, my friends in England sent me plants in red, bright red paper dinner napkins. Two years later we ate at the restaurent. Norma

Norma is so right, I use damp paper towels around the roots and dry ones around the rest of the plant, then roll the whole thing up in a loose plastic grocery bag. I have received several things that were cooked in the tight Saran wrap. It looks good , but not practical.

Here in British Columbia, oyster shell is processed as
chicken supplement. so, you would look in an animal feed store. 20K ( 50 pounds for you non-metric types ) is about $5.00.
However, eating the clams is also an option!
Happy new year to all.
Barbara

Barbara, thanks a million for the tip. I will proceed to call all the feed stores in the neighbor hood, I will report back and let you know how I make out and how much it cost. Norma

I spent the day at the Huntington Gardens from 11:00 to 5:00
We will have a list of Introduction Plants very shortly and they will appear in full color on their web site. Enjoy seeing them, all will have the correct names.

Today I found out if I planted just a root of a Haworthia that has thick roots (mauhanii) that it will produce a plant. Leaves Yes, roots? this is a new one for me.
I spent most of the day potting up Echevia, four flats of them. They were grown from leaves, not offsets.

Tomorrow I will start the Haworthia,removing all the dead leaves, roots, and dividing, all 100 flat of them. They are really looking good this time of year, this is their growing season, and all are starting to flower again, I will remove these flower stems as soon as I have time to do so, otherwise we have a messy bunch of flats and babies we certainly do not want. Norma

Today I potted up Semps, not all of them, just two species. I used small 4" pots actually 3 1/2" x 4". I cleaned off all the dead leaves underneath, looking for the mealies, didn't find any at all, I then cut off any long stems and some roots, putting 5 small heads to a pot and top dressing them with smooth gravel. (it has been tumbled)
This gravel will not hold the water, but will keep in the soil and the weeds out and the plants in. This is a very slow job and barely got a flat done. I did manage to start in a shallow 18x18 flat l00 plants for next year. First I put the newspaper in neatly, then the soil and flated it down with a wooden paddle. Start your Spring growers now, then you will be ready for Club sales in the Summer. Dont forget the labels. Ran all my extra flats into the greenhouse, I don't want them rained on or cold. BRrrrrrrrrrr Norma

Here is another goodie to know. All plants are listed at this www://International Plant Names Index. I was told that it is accurate, which that is a good tip inself.
Go the the web and put in IPNI
whicih is the International Plant Names Index.

The RHS is lousy as far as Crassula are concerned. Weird names that must be 300 years old that can't be traced unless you sat in our Botanical Library, and even then you would have to be a trained Botanist or Taxidermist.
RHS Royal Horticultural Society of England Index of Garden Plants, Mark Griffith, ed. I wonder how old is this book?
It is suppposed to be the most complete single source, which it is not. Norma

Did you know that you can divide your San. this time of year, if grown in the house or warm green house. Well, make sure to get 2" or more of the root to keep the hybrid or it will revert back.
Did you know that once a rosette of leaves flower on a San. it will not flower again. So wait until it give you at least three offsets, now toss out/give away the old, it will off set some more heads.

Did you know that San. must be crowded. So always put in the smallest pot it will fit into.

Did you know that San.species can be started from a leaf? Yes it can, you must have an 8" piece, and a fresh leaf, not an old one. Put it in the smallest, and shallow pot that it will fit into, and wait, be patient, it may even take a year to start. It takes 3 years to grow into an adult plant. We use a very gritty fast draing soil.

Did you know that San. have flowers? Yes they do, usually white, some come from the base and flower down low, others throw up a tall spike, most have a sweet ordor and open after 7:30 only a few buds at a time. Some are self fertile others need a partner to tango. Use a cat whisker to do the job.

Wow, you sure know your stuff!

Thank you Azalea, now if I could only learn how to spell. This is the advantage I have voluntering at a major Garden.

I learned a new tip today. I need to send pollen to Steven Hammer. I was to put it in a special gel, so not to allow any dampness to form, put it in a jar, and put that jar into another jar, then freeze. Well I found out that dried milk will do the job better and not dry out the pollen completely. I have never done this before.

So now I will be send Aloe ferox pollen to another friend in Canada. WOW everyday something new. Norma

Well,s here is another crazy tip. I'm trying to graft other plants to Crassula ovata. Now, I ran into a little problem of how to hold them on to such thin stems, Scotch tape did't work, either did Band Aids.

So I went in and asked for suggestions, one suggestion was tooth picks, this won't hurt the plants, I thought of spines from the cactus. Any other suggestions out there. Norma

Today I found large gray spots on the underside of my new Hoya cinnamomifolia, I used rubbing alcohol on a cotton bud and washed it off with that, then I waited 5 minutes, and sure enough the little bugger came off with a little pressure from my finger nail. I even washed the stems down with the cotton bud, to make sure I caught the young ones.
Norma

Cutting Euphorbia: A milky sap will come out on the bottom of the stems after they are cut. I put this end over a flame to seal before trying to put in soil to propogate.

Did you know that you can make jam out of Saguaro?
Well, here is the name of the Cactus Cook Book. Get it at your favorite speciality book store. I listed them on previous pages. :o)) Norma

Cedar Shavings: I use them packed in my panty hose, then hang it up in the closet. Bye, bye moths.

Today I found that the grafts didn't take, air and moisture got into them, so I purchased some black sticky seal that is used for the stems of trees that have been cut, I'll apply it with a popicle stick. Now if air doesn't creep in hopefully they will take.

I think I wrote something wrong, no, do not use wet newspaper for sending plants. Wash off all soil and let dry, then wrap, not wet, no saran wrap, just dry plants, dry newspaper roll up, turn sides in, roll up, turn sides in, roll and fasten with tape, making sure the name is on the outside. Use the smallest amount of newspaper to get the job done. If you make the mistake by putting the name inside and you're sending several plants to 15 people you will understand why I give these instructions.

When receveing plants from Florida, make sure you spray them, remove every bit of soil, let dry. then plant. Better yet, get them bare root. Watch how the pros do it and you will learn.

I have some CSSA books for free, just send me your name and address. (only 1)This is for active members only.

I have some plants available for those that are active on this list and contributing and have not received any before. I will send only winter growing plants. They will be small, bare root, and free. Postage would be nice, a thank you even better. Norma

Norma, I'm very interested in getting any plant you have to share. If you will, email me with your addy and I'll get postage right out to you.
btw, still love the tips of the day:)

Me too Norma - I think I already sent you my address.

Azalea, just send postage to Norma Lewis 5246 Beeman Avenue
No. Hollywood, 91607 I'll send out a box of plant pot luck.
You know that I do not send out plants with roots, just cuts, I just want to make sure to soil leaves our state.
I do need address again, because once I finish, I toss out the addresses. I think it cost 3.95 for priority mail. Norma

Tip: Make sure you run you tender plants under eaves of a structure, table, under another bush, tree, they can take a few hours of light frost, but give them a break. If you notice, people are asking about their Aloe's. Now is the wrong time to start them, they must be kept dry. They are in full flower at this time, most species, keep it dry until after if flowers and the infloresence is dry. At the Huntington we just loop of the head and sink into the soil.
We have a very fast draining mix, built up over the years.

Norma, here we have to keep Aloes inside, so mine is indoors all year. Can I start them now? I would like to cut the head off, they are looking very scraggly. I've had this one over 10 years, it's part of me:) I've read what you say to do, just need to know if I can do it for an indoor plant this time of year.

New tip, Propagation: When you have cut a stem off the succulent and you forgot which side is the bottom just lay it on the soil on it's side, it will decide where it wants to grow from.

Lumps of potatoes: Not really they just look like it, these are really corms, like from a Senecio rowleyanus
just lay it on the soil 1/2 submerged into the soil, it will grow. I have received these potato looking lumps and couldn't figure out which side is up, it had two eyes, one where the leaves where to come out, the other for the roots, it worked. Norma

So . . . I was doing a little reading of old threads in the C&S forum and I came across this one. Great tips from Norma - I'm totally going to loot the shells at the beach when I go camping next month in Ventura.
Norma - what is the best tip you've learned this summer? Anyone else?
For me it's got to be the revelation that I can use my boyfriend's drill with a masonry bit to convert terra cotta pots into hanging pots - it opens up a whole new space for me to keep all of my pots of plants. Floating in mid air! I was using nylon construction marking string (white or crazy neon colors) to hang them but now I may try the fishing line trick - certaintly seems cheap ; )
-Beth

Winter is coming, my Aeoniums love the cool nights, all Crassulaceae love the cool nights and are waking up. My winter Pelargonium are waking up, and the San are starting to flower, they flower at the end of the growing season. I find after they flower they begin to grow in the Spring, I will be starting the Senecio this winter, and the Crassula, Aeonium from just a leaf. I can't wait to get started. I know I will be dividing all of my Sansevieria, and putting on the heater and the fans in my tiny greenhouise. I don't like the inbetween months, I learned not to start plant before they are ready to grow. Since I lost my husband, Chuck, I have let things slid just don't have the spark that make me enjoy doing it, I get back into it when it cools off. Hugs to all of you,

Bethie, especially for you, also pick up interesting drift wood, it will make a difference in your dishgardens.

Tig, wait until the Aloe are in a natural growing season (Spring) you can't fool mother nature.
Norma

Norma,

Do you remember posting a link to a webpage that listed what succulents were winter growers and what were summer growers? It was a while ago, maybe a year or more. I've been looking all over for this thread and can't seem to find it. If my memory serves, I'm almost sure it was you who posted it.

Norma, if you read this, what kind of tiny greenhouse are you using? I want to make final selection to buy the greenhouse.
Thanks...!

Thank you so much Norma and everyone else! I learn so much and get so many good ideas from the CS forum. It has been invaluable. And, of course, it is tons of fun looking at all of the great pictures : )
-Beth

Hey Mary,

This is one site I know of for winter growers:
http://www.highlandsucculents.com/culture_guide.htm#dormancy

I think it was posted before and possibly then someone (Norma?) said they disagreed with how they were divided?

David