Something makes me wonder if cherimoya
fruit don't like to be written about. It seems that everytime I try
to write up an entry on them I stop making entries entirely. It even
stopped my taxonomy chart (which is more or less done, and has been
for weeks). Of course, I'm just kidding, school and work happened.
I recently started working a second job which was on top of a very
difficult term of school. So, between all of that, it stopped my
blog, though it didn't stop my plant projects.
So, although cherimoya will eventually
be discussed, as well as the other fruits of it's family, and I do
want to bring up carnivorous plant taxonomy, I'm just going to be
indulgent and talk about the project I have coming up, as well as the
projects I've been working on. And probably a few tangential
wanderings ( or perhaps many ;) )
So I missed Sarracenia Northwest's
September open house. I really wanted to make it, however it snuck
past us. If you're interested in the nursery business, successful
Internet startups, or carnivorous plants in general, and live in the
Willamette Valley, you should definitely check them out. It's $10,
they provide food, and generally send you home with a free plant
(they'll let you know beforehand what they're giving away). Not only
are Jeff and Jacob very wonderful people to talk to and visit, but
they really exemplify what you can do with just a little space and a
lot of determination. Part of the reason I love doing what I do so
much is definitely due to their enthusiasm.
We did make it to their December open
house, which happened just this last weekend. I came home with a
baby Nepenthes ventricosa (as the freebie). Ventricosas are
beautiful and sturdy growers. I kinda hope that one is a male and
one is a female, though I think it's unlikely. It was a great visit,
it was nice to catch up with them both, and their nursery is always
very beautiful. Most of the North American plants are all in full
dormancy now, so there was a lot of brown outside. That being said,
just like there is something pretty about a bare tree in winter, so
too is there with dry Sarracenia flowers, bursting with seeds.
I was very worried about my chocolate
trees. I was certainly dreading bringing them in for winter.
Chocolate is a tropical plant, and I had kept one of them indoors for
a short time upon it's arrival, only to see it drop many many leaves
and look as sickly as sickly could be. So upon bringing them in for
Winter I purchased a 60W compact florescent light (apparently it's
the equivalent of a 300W incandescent, and it certainly seems that
way), replaced the 13W that was in the dining room, and ever since
the chocolate has been doing well. Though it'll be nice to put it
back outside when the weather warms back up. Only 3+ months to go...
:/
I just ordered several plants from
Wistuba, which recently arrived. I wanted to expand my number of
Heliamphora, with the intention of eventually growing a stock and
reselling. In total I purchased 5, 2 minors, a heterodoxa, nutans,
and puchella. I also got a couple Nepenthes copelandii, one of which
is a Christmas gift for a friend.
 |
| My wife helping mix soil for the new plants. |
My dragonfruit are ok, they have both
recovered, however I also need to replant them. They're growing
slowly, I assume due to them being water bound, not soil bound. For
now it's fine, especially since they're indoors and since it's
Winter. When it warms up I will mix a better soil mix and set them
back outside. I also have 5 new starts. I tried to scarify the
seeds this time, a technique I learned that's used for Drosophyllum,
a dry weather carnivore. Out of about 10 seeds, I got 5, so I call
that a win. I'm not a big fan of dragonfruit as a fruit, but it's
absolutely beautiful, and cacti are cool.
 |
| Recovering cacti |
 |
| 5 new seedlings (one is kinda covered) |
I'm going to be revamping the way I do
my tropical plant lighting schema. It's currently pretty sad,
substantially sadder than it should be, as several of my plants are
definitely not happy with the light. They're surviving off of it,
but they aren't thriving off of it. It also kinda clogs my
appartment in a way that I dislike. It's kinda hard to describe,
but, in short, it makes it awkward to move around. I'm going to redo
it soon based off of Sarracenia Northwest's setup, which uses T5
florescent tubes. They're also a bit more powerful than my current
ones, so here's to hoping for happier and healthier plants. I'll do
pictures later of a before and after, though it'll probably be a
month or two before I can get started.
My dad agreed to help me borrow some
space for some Sarracenia and Venus Flytraps. I've been enjoying
doing plants from seed, it can be very very rewarding (though
oftentimes very difficult). And this time has proven to be both
difficult and a reminder that things don't always go your way. It
looks like I had a 100% failure rate on this batch. But it happens,
sometimes it just doesn't work out. I will try again and hope for
better luck next time.
I'm going to give the community garden
plot another shot this year, however this time I am not going to let
it get overrun. I will be pulling out all stops and making it rock.
I have ghost pepper seeds that need to be grown. But I also think
I'm going to be a bit, hm, daring with some of the things I'm
planning on growing. I was going to plant a couple things that might
not be considered kosher for a community garden plot.
And with that I think I have run out
of random topics to talk about. I think my life might be slowing
down just enough for me to catch my breath, so expect taxonomy and
cherimoya soon!
Have a great <insert holiday of
choice here>, and Happy New Year if I don't write another entry
soon enough!
Dr. Andreas Wistuba's webpage:
OSU Gardening Calendar for
Oregon:
http://www.metromastergardeners.org/calendar/dec.php
http://www.metromastergardeners.org/calendar/dec.php
As a final note, speaking of the new
year, my resolution is to be better about taking and posting
pictures. It has been pointed out that they are, in fact, worth a
thousand words, which means I don't have to write as much, so I
definitely need to get on top of that.
