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on May 27, 2010

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A couple more altered images....

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Be Still My String of Hearts! Adventures in cuttings and repotting...

I just posted a short article about my 'delicate' potting up of some cuttings outdoors, on my seed blog. https://cohanseeds.blogspot.com/2019/09/fall-work-yard-clean-up-and-linnaea.html That came about as a side effect of some yard work I was doing. Today, I was intending to water some houseplants, and again got pulled down a (modest) rabbit hole of potting and cuttings! First I noticed a pot that had a mostly dead Gasteria, with one little piece living ( and a couple of bits of Aloe that got stuck in there at some point)- so that needed repotting into much smaller pots. Then, since I was thinking plant maintenance, I thought I might as well deal with a Ceropegia woodii / String of Hearts which I had moved a while ago, and was sitting draped over and clambering around some other plants. It was already rooting into at least one other pot, and I figured if I left it much longer it would be inextricable! Ceropegia woodii on Sansevieria Well,...

Killing Tropicals: (Belatedly) Saving Plants from Depleted Commercial Soils

I have to confess: although I like tropical plants, I don't have the best track record with them. Long term I do better with cacti and succulents, as I tend to be an erratic waterer. I've been realising, though, that the problem is not only or primarily an issue of watering: rather I think it becomes about soil! Typical houseplant nurseries use sterile substrates which are generally fertilised with each watering. Many of these mixes do not hold up long- breaking down and compacting, becoming difficult to wet evenly, and/or to dry out properly. Compacted peat, can remain dry in the centre of the pot, leaving roots without moisture. Other mixes may lose texture ending up goopy with a lack of aeration in the soil, and plants which are not adapted for water-logged soils have difficulty absorbing water without oxygen in the soil. Either way you end up with plants unable to take up enough water, with roots that may be dried out/atrophied or rotting. Commercial growers avoid this b...

Autumn Equinox Apjumības: an Altar to Bounty, Colour, Remembrance of Loss and a Twin God

I mentioned in my previous post that Autumn Equinox is a significant time for me. Firstly, the season itself- living in a northerly climate, and in the country, you have to be aware of the changing seasons: work that needs to be wrapped up, work that needs to be started. Also, of course, this is a beautiful season here- green growth and flowers are ending but the myriad shades of leaves as they change is a dramatic and prolonged time of marvel. It begins and ends with the shrubs, forbs and grasses of the understory and open areas, and the drama of the changing trees sweeps through several species over many weeks. Beyond the busyness and colour of autumn, there is a hint of darkness as well- the cold days to come can be hard (in a practical sense) and austere, even though with their own wonder and beauty. So it's not surprising, perhaps, that various cultures have found that the time at the edge of winter is a time to remember the dead. Halloween, Samhain, Dia d...

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