Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
What type of plants are you interested in growing?
This poll is closed.
Perennials! 142 20.91%
Annuals! 30 4.42%
Woody plants! 62 9.13%
Succulent plants! 171 25.18%
Tropical plants! 60 8.84%
Non-vascular plants are the best! 31 4.57%
Screw you, I'd rather eat them! 183 26.95%
Total: 679 votes
[Edit Poll (moderators only)]

 
Bees on Wheat
Jul 18, 2007

I've never been happy



QUAIL DIVISION
Buglord
A little over a year ago I bought a tiny cactus at the drug store for something like $1. It had a pretty pink flower on top and everything. About five minutes later I realized that the flower was glued on. :doh:

I gently pried it off and named him Sir Tinycactus. He's one of the few plants that survived the hellish summer heat in my old apartment. Now he spends most of his time in my kitchen window, being chill.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

unprofessional
Apr 26, 2007
All business.

J Greedy posted:

Ditto what he said. Wanna meet the cactus.

Only two (well, one, since the other succumbed to scale bugs before I knew what was going on) of my cacti bloom, just once a year.



Nice arrangement. You should get pretty consistent blooms on the optunia, the euphorbia, and the hawarthia (these always bloom in the winter for me). Where are you at? You might be able to plant out your optunia for much better performance.

Smugworth
Apr 18, 2003

unprofessional posted:

Nice arrangement. You should get pretty consistent blooms on the optunia, the euphorbia, and the hawarthia (these always bloom in the winter for me). Where are you at? You might be able to plant out your optunia for much better performance.

Thanks, that's actually a picture from a couple years ago when I first got most of those plants, my phone's camera refuses to work quite often. Apartment living (which is pretty terrible for sunlight) in Austin, TX, so outdoor planting was out of the question, the optunia was a gift but I suspect it was the one that brought the scale bugs. It and another of the small cacti in the photo died before I knew it was bugs and not disease/lack of light :bang:, but I am saving the small blooming cactus (toothbrushing off the bugs). Some of those plants (the madagascar palm) are on the verge of being too big for that gigantic pot now.

The hawarthia and the euphorbia in the green pot bloom? I've never seen the hawarthia bloom but it seems to be healthy and getting bigger, I have no idea what to do with the euphorbia, it's been in that little pot getting taller and taller without branching off and puts out leaves in the Fall. It's almost 2' long and stick thin at this point, probably need to take a cutting and put it in a proper pot.

Pardalis
Dec 26, 2008

The Amazing Dreadheaded Chameleon Keeper
This thread! I felt so out of place putting my terrariums and succulents in the gardening thread. I have dozens of potted and outdoor planters full of succulents and traditional houseplants. I also have a big garden of veggies and flowers that is dying back right now. My herb garden is nearly complete but all currently stuck in pots in case of a move (yay renting).

Here are some pictures of my projects over the last two years. I will spare you pictures of the veggie garden, violet collection (I love to candy them!), and most of the seedum pictures.

Some succulent, pothos, and wandering jew starts in quail egg shells I made for a friend.


Old one of a terrarium I kept a pair of Pacific sideband snails in for a few months. The plants are just a bunch of random succulents that were needing thinned from my planters at the time.


Snail love :3:


Some neat mushrooms and flowering moss I found hiking and foraging. The moss was pillowy soft and at least two inches thick.


An old moss and tillandsia tank I made.


Another.




This one lives with my bird loving friend now.


I first got into plants because I keep reptiles and many of the species I have require live plants for optimum health. I have a black thumb of death but started with pothos and mother in laws tongue (pictured below) and worked my way up. Now I seem to have a reputation as a gardener just because I keep trying and eventually find success.


Everything but the rice I grew myself, including the quail. I even brined and smoked the bacon it was wrapped with.


New plant I got on impulse at the start of the summer and somehow haven't killed: Corkscrew rush.


And some seedum shots. This is my favorite planter currently.


I love these; they are like little lizard tails and have pretty bright pink daisy lookin' flowers.




Moon snail shell I found on the coast.


Hen and chicks flower


Part of what I made to sell at a local festival. People especially love the cuttings in eggshells and seashells.


If anyone wants to trade cuttings, seeds, etc. I would love to share! I have way, way more than what is pictured.

Azuth0667
Sep 20, 2011

By the word of Zoroaster, no business decision is poor when it involves Ahura Mazda.
Anyone have a suggestion for a low maintenance orchid that's okay with zone 5b? Its going to be a gift and I'm not sure how good the person is with plants so something that can tolerate a little bit of neglect would be ideal.

FlamingLiberal
Jan 18, 2009

Would you like to play a game?



Azuth0667 posted:

Anyone have a suggestion for a low maintenance orchid that's okay with zone 5b? Its going to be a gift and I'm not sure how good the person is with plants so something that can tolerate a little bit of neglect would be ideal.
What kind of weather is that generally? I could probably give you some ideas.

unprofessional
Apr 26, 2007
All business.
Dendrobiums and phalaenopsis are both low maintenance, easy to acquire orchids, for container-culture. If you want one that can actually be outside all year, Plant Delights offer some hardy orchids, but they're a pretty niche market, and many like very specific environments.

Azuth0667
Sep 20, 2011

By the word of Zoroaster, no business decision is poor when it involves Ahura Mazda.

FlamingLiberal posted:

What kind of weather is that generally? I could probably give you some ideas.

All four seasons and a little on the cold side with above average amounts of rain. The temperature gets as low as -10F for a really cold winter. One will be in a house so there won't be much worry about the extremes or snow, I think that house usually remains around the low-mid 60Fs in the winter and up towards the high 70Fs in the summer. The others are for a garden in the back yard which does experience snowfall in the winter. There aren't many trees so it'll get full sun most of the day.

unprofessional posted:

Dendrobiums and phalaenopsis are both low maintenance, easy to acquire orchids, for container-culture. If you want one that can actually be outside all year, Plant Delights offer some hardy orchids, but they're a pretty niche market, and many like very specific environments.

Wow Phalaenopsis look beautiful, definitely going to find one of those it look like it'd make a perfect roommate.

unprofessional
Apr 26, 2007
All business.
They're the orchids you see in most grocery stores/big box stores. Most people put them on a table far away from any natural light and expect them to thrive, then throw them away as soon as they're done blossoming. They'll do well for nearly anybody that puts any effort into growing them.

FlamingLiberal
Jan 18, 2009

Would you like to play a game?



Yes, and the hybrids sold in stores can deal with colder temperatures to an extent.

Southpaugh
May 26, 2007

Smokey Bacon


So this is pretty cool: Today I finished up some plant Tissue Culturing.

I started out with some Moonlite carnations from Florigene. These are genetically modified flowers since carnations do not produce the pigment delphinidin and so a naturally occuring blue flower wouldn't be possible through breeding and/or natural selection. This compound is responsible for the blue/mauve colours we can see in petunia and snapdragons, and florigene managed to successfully modify these carnations in like, 1996. So they've been around for a while without any major fuss. They are freely available in Europe but mainly from wholesalers.



Normally, after five to six weeks, carnations produce fertile pollen which is transported mostly by insects. It is unlikely that GM carnations cross out during their life-time, since the usual life expectancy of cut flowers is three weeks. The access a to this type of organism is basically restricted in a fairly primitive way; only being sold with a shelf life of a few weeks. If you want to own or enjoy this flower you're not allowed to grow it yourself, it must only be bought from the "creator." With flowers you might think, "well whats the big deal its just decorative?" And that's valid since its a luxury item, restricted access isn't so much a problem. But when it moves to things like seed for food that is resistant to new environmental challenges then it becomes a much more thorny issue.

This is where tissue culture comes into it.

I started out with some baby food jars, washed out and sterilized. I prepared a growth medium made up of sugar, gelling agent, some dissolved multivitamins and a mild antimycotic solution. I also procured some plant hormones and threw them in, can't hurt to have a little bit of impetus.



Once they were ready and sterilized in the microwave I moved on to preparing the cuttings. First they're rinsed in bleach for a minute or two, then sterile water, then wiped down with alcohol wipes and allowed to air dry. Then I made incisions below the nodal parts of the stalks to allow the sucrose and hormone to be drawn up into the body of the node. (area where this was performed is pictured with Bonus Dinosaurs and Beverly crusher)



You can see the types of cuts made below:




An experimental one: Normally the way these are cultured is basically to force the cells in the node to produce much larger cells which can then divide, and with a bit of hardening off and attention can turn into viable embryos from which to grow new plants. In this instance I decided to culture a node that has a flower attached. It'll be interesting to see if it manages to complete a flowering cycle while also being subjected to what amounts to a forced cancer.



An Overview of the pots. As they are now in a growth medium like this they won't need to undergo photosynthesis anymore. As they begin to form psuedoroots/shoots I can move them to different media and start to wean them off the sucrose as a carbon source.



So, utilizing this process is easy enough and I did it with things I could get from a market/diy store. I didn't want to go into the full protocol because it'd be :words:

Whats great about it and promising to me, is that it gives a way for us to react against this emerging trend of genetic monopoly that agri-companies are beginning to get into in a big way.

I'm excited to see how they progress!

unprofessional
Apr 26, 2007
All business.
Good luck, man. It's something I've considered trying, but keeping everything sterile is incredibly difficult. I'll be interested to hear what percentage of yours turn out well. An acquaintance of mine has an exclusive agreement with a large TC lab for the only culturing of lotus in the US. Lotus have a very delicate tuber, which can make them hard to ship, so it's a big step forward in bringing the plant to a larger market.

EagerSleeper
Feb 3, 2010

by R. Guyovich
I'm going to second wishing good luck to you. Though it seems like things are going well if you already have roots growing. :)

I personally have not had much success with tissue culture, so I'd be interested in your setup. Like one of the questions I have is are you using grow lights for the cultures?

Here's an old picture of my failed attempt. Can you guys spot all the things I did wrong here?



upsciLLion posted:

This kind of looks like a red dragon flower (Huernia schneideriana) to me. Can anyone else confirm or deny?

This is from a long time ago but I'm still going to go with euphorbia esculenta. Although huernia looks almost exactly like that, it also grows in single stems most of the time. Since in that picture there seems to be a green bulb-like body that that the arms connect to, I think its a euphorbia instead.

EagerSleeper fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Oct 2, 2013

upsciLLion
Feb 9, 2006

Bees?

EagerSleeper posted:

This is from a long time ago but I'm still going to go with euphorbia esculenta. Although huernia looks almost exactly like that, it also grows in single stems most of the time. Since in that picture there seems to be a green bulb-like body that that the arms connect to, I think its a euphorbia instead.

The nubs on the euphorbia don't look quite right to me. I'm changing my guess to huernia pillansii. http://www.welcometocactusland.com/Succulents/Apocynaceae/Huernia/huernia_pillansii_01.htm

e: maybe euphorbia susannae if it slimmed down a bit.

upsciLLion fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Oct 3, 2013

Southpaugh
May 26, 2007

Smokey Bacon


unprofessional posted:

Good luck, man. It's something I've considered trying, but keeping everything sterile is incredibly difficult. I'll be interested to hear what percentage of yours turn out well. An acquaintance of mine has an exclusive agreement with a large TC lab for the only culturing of lotus in the US. Lotus have a very delicate tuber, which can make them hard to ship, so it's a big step forward in bringing the plant to a larger market.

Thanks dude, yeah, I can understand how sterility can be a problem. I'm a microbiologist so I am in the swing of keeping everything as aseptic as possible. The antimycotic really makes it more forgiving though. Whats funny is how uncomfortable I was doing anything without a bunsen burner sitting next to me.

EagerSleeper posted:

I'm going to second wishing good luck to you. Though it seems like things are going well if you already have roots growing. :)

I personally have not had much success with tissue culture, so I'd be interested in your setup. Like one of the questions I have is are you using grow lights for the cultures?

Here's an old picture of my failed attempt. Can you guys spot all the things I did wrong here?


I'd be happy to answer questions of course. I'm not using grow lights at the moment since at this early stage the plants won't be relying on photosynthesis for their nutrient but instead should start using the sucrose in the gel as a carbon source. I know fluorescent tubes and growth lights have been used with equal success. According to literature, carnations need at least 36µmol/m2/s but I think I'll have to experiment with it a bit to see what works best in this instance. I'll transfer them over to a growth box, or a shelf with a light above it in a few weeks, once we begin to see movement and I put the guys into fresh media.

The one on the far left looks a little woody? Did it have fresh, green, vegetative material on it? Also the branching point is a little far from the surface of the media. I think the best way to look at positioning of the plant is to assume that the reagents are only able to diffuse a short distance due to the fact that the plant isn't respiring any longer and hence doesn't have the same draw through the capillaries in the stem.

The one in the middle is too submerged in the media I think? It looks kind of cloudy too. Did you have any mould growth ? If anything it looks like there's too much vegetative material on this one. Often I've seen tissue cultures use just hole punch style discs of material.

I think maybe theres a few different approaches to tissue culture. I'm personally trying to trigger an almost embryonic style nodal growth, whereas you wanted to get the plants to start to develop roots. Maybe your concentrations of hormones are a bit off? I used Kinetin and BAP to promote enlargment and division of cells, (hence the cancer analogy). I'll transfer them to another media once they're harder and see if they start to differentiate correctly into shoots + roots without any more treatment.

I can't really tell about the one on the far right? Looks a bit woody though... ?


-edit: Forgot to talk about the picture..

Southpaugh fucked around with this message at 11:31 on Oct 3, 2013

unprofessional
Apr 26, 2007
All business.

upsciLLion posted:

The nubs on the euphorbia don't look quite right to me. I'm changing my guess to huernia pillansii. http://www.welcometocactusland.com/Succulents/Apocynaceae/Huernia/huernia_pillansii_01.htm

e: maybe euphorbia susannae if it slimmed down a bit.

I was pretty certain it was a Euphorbia before somebody mentioned Huernia, and I started second guessing it, but the more I look at it, I think it's an etoliated Euphorbia, which is why the tips are so confusing.

southpaugh posted:

Thanks dude, yeah, I can understand how sterility can be a problem. I'm a microbiologist so I am in the swing of keeping everything as aseptic as possible. The antimycotic really makes it more forgiving though. Whats funny is how uncomfortable I was doing anything without a bunsen burner sitting next to me.
I recall reading an article (I think from MSU) about how somebody could set up a legit TC lab with a few grand using secondhand equipment. This line from Dirr's "Manual of Woody Plant Propogation" always put me off the whole thing, though: "Senior author knows one nurseryman who invested $250,000 establishing a tissue culture laboratory. Along the establishment path, contamination wiped out most of the cultures and very few plants had actually been derived from the laboratory. When queried whether he would do it again, the answer was a rather definite 'I doubt it.'" Good money in it if you can get it right; I'd love to be working for Agristarts right now.

unprofessional
Apr 26, 2007
All business.
Thought I'd share this here. Thuja plicata is normally a huge lumber tree, but this one was found in a seedbed in 1997, and the person that named it joked that it must have been effected by the comet Hale–Bopp, and named it T. plicata 'Haley Bop.' The largest one is still only a bit bigger than a baseball, 15 years later.

Tremors
Aug 16, 2006

What happened to the legendary Chris Redfield, huh? What happened to you?!
My mimosa pudica have started producing seeds if anyone would be interested in trading. I like weird/unusual plants so pm me if you want to swap. As a side note, the plants are looking a little sad now. Is this a side effect of letting them try to make seeds? I'm not sure if I should bother bringing them in to try to overwinter them if they've pretty much spent themselves.

Yoshi Jjang
Oct 5, 2011

renard renard renarnd renrard

renard


Not sure where to post, so I hope in here is okay.

I'm a first time gardener whatsoever, and I want to specialize in exotic hibiscus. I'll post pictures of my blooms when they, you know, bloom. Probably won't be until next year or something.

But for now, I've got a question. Having just seen this thread and the plant in the OP, anyone here dealt with rex begonias? Ss it possible to grow the rex begonia in my hardiness zone 9b? Some research says that it grows in zones 10 and 11. I plan on keeping this plant inside and near a window. I don't want to grow it too huge, just enough to make an interesting centerpiece on my dining table.

Costello Jello
Oct 24, 2003

It had to start somewhere

Yoshi Jjang posted:

Not sure where to post, so I hope in here is okay.

I'm a first time gardener whatsoever, and I want to specialize in exotic hibiscus. I'll post pictures of my blooms when they, you know, bloom. Probably won't be until next year or something.

But for now, I've got a question. Having just seen this thread and the plant in the OP, anyone here dealt with rex begonias? Ss it possible to grow the rex begonia in my hardiness zone 9b? Some research says that it grows in zones 10 and 11. I plan on keeping this plant inside and near a window. I don't want to grow it too huge, just enough to make an interesting centerpiece on my dining table.

The Hardiness zones don't matter a bit for what you keep indoors. And you could plant a Rex Begonia as a summer annual easily anywhere in America, the Hardiness zone tells you what can thrive year round. In your case, 9B is probably warm enough for year round planting if you choose a location with a warmer micro-climate, like near some stones, or a brick wall, etc.

Rex begonias aren't very fast-growing, so you don't need to worry about that. They do need enough bright, indirect light in order to keep the bright variegation though. So if your dining room table is in the middle of a room, that's probably not close enough to a window for a long-term happy begonia. But if you just want it to look nice for 4 months, it'd be fine.

Azuth0667
Sep 20, 2011

By the word of Zoroaster, no business decision is poor when it involves Ahura Mazda.

southpaugh posted:

:swoon: Tissue Culturing :swoon:

I'm real interested in that protocol, I graduated so I don't have access to the massive library databases anymore. This is pretty much molecular biology and that's one of my favorites. Did you use agar as a gelling agent? What multivitamin did you use? Which plant hormones did you use? Did you use any controls?

Azuth0667 fucked around with this message at 02:15 on Oct 8, 2013

I LIKE COOKIE
Dec 12, 2010

Azuth0667 posted:

I'm real interested in that protocol, I graduated so I don't have access to the massive library databases anymore. This is pretty much molecular biology and that's one of my favorites. Did you use agar as a gelling agent? What multivitamin did you use? Which plant hormones did you use? Did you use any controls?

This.

What your doing looks so cool. I want to try something like this so bad but I suck at keeping plants alive.

Southpaugh
May 26, 2007

Smokey Bacon


Azuth0667 posted:

I'm real interested in that protocol, I graduated so I don't have access to the massive library databases anymore. This is pretty much molecular biology and that's one of my favorites. Did you use agar as a gelling agent? What multivitamin did you use? Which plant hormones did you use? Did you use any controls?

This is a pretty good resource that I was working from before, if you're in the states they are also a pretty solid spot to buy bits and pieces you might need. As I was doing this for an exhibition I was able to use some higher quality reagents than would normally be used as part of the protocol outlined on this website/pdf : http://www.kitchenculturekit.com/workshopHandoutKCKJune2013.pdf

I used Gellan gum as a gelling agent. Its pretty similar to agar but has a lower melting temperature which helps to prevent the heat of the liquid denaturing the hormones when you add them.

I used a generic OTC liquid multivitamin. I actually managed to get sachets of liquid multivitamin, a kind of a take one a day job and just used a few mls of that.

I used 6-Benzylaminopurine to stimulate cell enlargement and Kinetin to promote cellular division (and to help offset the kinase inhibition from the BAP).

I didn't use any controls since the aim of the experiment is to exhibit the growing samples in a Sci-Art show all about synthetic biology. I like it because it raises questions around Genetic modification and the control of the supply of plants through plant sterility or shelf life. If we can successfully tissue culture plants the are sold to us with the intent that we can't make any more then thats a nice poke in the eye for agri-corps. But, it can be a difficult process and long too.

Yoshi Jjang
Oct 5, 2011

renard renard renarnd renrard

renard


I don't know whether to post here or the Let's Plant a Garden! thread.

So I've just begun this whole gardening hooplah for the first time ever sometime last month. So after a few weeks of looking pretty lame, my hibiscus are finally blooming like crazy after giving it a transplant from the container it came in (I hope I even did that right). Had I taken a picture the day before, all those would've been opened at the same time.



Man, it's good to know I must be doing something right!

unprofessional
Apr 26, 2007
All business.
A friend of mine in Taiwan hybridizes hibiscus and has some really nice cultivars. It's a great genus.

Pardalis
Dec 26, 2008

The Amazing Dreadheaded Chameleon Keeper
You can make tea out of those flowers if you dry them out! Hibiscus are really cool plants and are surprisingly hardy once established.

Yoshi Jjang
Oct 5, 2011

renard renard renarnd renrard

renard


unprofessional posted:

A friend of mine in Taiwan hybridizes hibiscus and has some really nice cultivars. It's a great genus.

Man, I can't even imagine getting into that. Do you have to grow, like, hundreds of hibiscus at a time, and then wait at least a year until you see it bloom?

I've only got, like, five plants so far. :ohdear:

unprofessional
Apr 26, 2007
All business.
Five is plenty to start with. See if you can find out if your varieties are fertile (many breeders try to only release sterile hybrids, to protect their creations), look into how to cross them, and get a few good seed pods. Start some inside in the spring and see if you don't get some flowers before the end of the year. Cull heavily. Most people are so pleased with what they create, they name and distribute mundane creations when they first start. Demand excellence from your hybrids, and you'll get even better stuff as your breeding stock improves. It's easy to start small.

Azuth0667
Sep 20, 2011

By the word of Zoroaster, no business decision is poor when it involves Ahura Mazda.

southpaugh posted:

This is a pretty good resource that I was working from before, if you're in the states they are also a pretty solid spot to buy bits and pieces you might need. As I was doing this for an exhibition I was able to use some higher quality reagents than would normally be used as part of the protocol outlined on this website/pdf : http://www.kitchenculturekit.com/workshopHandoutKCKJune2013.pdf

I used Gellan gum as a gelling agent. Its pretty similar to agar but has a lower melting temperature which helps to prevent the heat of the liquid denaturing the hormones when you add them.

I used a generic OTC liquid multivitamin. I actually managed to get sachets of liquid multivitamin, a kind of a take one a day job and just used a few mls of that.

I used 6-Benzylaminopurine to stimulate cell enlargement and Kinetin to promote cellular division (and to help offset the kinase inhibition from the BAP).

I didn't use any controls since the aim of the experiment is to exhibit the growing samples in a Sci-Art show all about synthetic biology. I like it because it raises questions around Genetic modification and the control of the supply of plants through plant sterility or shelf life. If we can successfully tissue culture plants the are sold to us with the intent that we can't make any more then thats a nice poke in the eye for agri-corps. But, it can be a difficult process and long too.

I think the only thing I am missing is the antimycotic, I was thinking either fluconazole or amphotericin B since they are fairly cheap and available?

raton
Jul 28, 2003

by FactsAreUseless
What is this plant? How much light does it need? Is it pretty sturdy? Does it have an old fashioned racist name like Jewess Hair or something?

How big will it get in that little pot? If I buy it and put it in a new pot how big should the pot be so it gets to be maybe a foot and a half tall or so?

TheMightyHandful
Dec 8, 2008

It's the plant from Little Shop of Horrors

unprofessional
Apr 26, 2007
All business.
No clue on ID - it might be a variation of one of the ficus species, but that's a big guess.

Anyways, it's more than big enough to go in a one gallon. It's rather underpotted right now.

Smugworth
Apr 18, 2003

Looks vaguely like croton to me.

raton
Jul 28, 2003

by FactsAreUseless
Woody stem if that helps.

Schoenoplectus
Mar 30, 2010

Sheep-Goats posted:

What is this plant? How much light does it need? Is it pretty sturdy? Does it have an old fashioned racist name like Jewess Hair or something?

How big will it get in that little pot? If I buy it and put it in a new pot how big should the pot be so it gets to be maybe a foot and a half tall or so?


I do believe that that is a variety of Croton called "gold dust." Crotons require high light, warm temps, and can grow to be 8-12 feet tall. I've had one (different variety) in a six inch container for a couple of years and it has stayed about a foot tall. These are tropical plants, and will begin to drop leaves if they get too cold.

raton
Jul 28, 2003

by FactsAreUseless
Thanks. Not a good plant for the space I have then. Oh well, it looks cool.

unprofessional
Apr 26, 2007
All business.
They apparently take pruning very well, so don't let mature size dissuade you.

Yoshi Jjang
Oct 5, 2011

renard renard renarnd renrard

renard


Man, why did I have to get into gardening NOW? All the cool plants I want are dead and/or out of season and I can't find them in any nursery except online. :( I can't wait for spring to arrive already! This would be my first spring as a gardener.

Is there a way I can just brute force growing certain flowers through winter? Can I just set up a simple greenhouse to achieve this? Despite my collection of hibiscus so far (with only one of them blooming at the moment), I've got nasturtiums, calla lilies, bearded irises, fuchsias, rex begonias (thanks OP, I guess), and lilies of the valley coming in the mail (I blame Animal Crossing on this one) all in pots.

Waiting for spring sucks. I want these things to grow NOW!

Yoshi Jjang fucked around with this message at 09:33 on Oct 19, 2013

Pardalis
Dec 26, 2008

The Amazing Dreadheaded Chameleon Keeper
Why not start with some simple houseplants for the winter and then go from there? A lot of what you listed will die without real sun and higher temps. Begonias do okay inside, afaik. If you want some houseplant cuttings, I would be happy to send some stuff your way. Good starter indoor plants are pothos, philodendron, some cacti, some succulents, ficus, dracaena, schefflera, African violets, and wandering jew. If you want to try harder stuff, orchids and similar flowering houseplants might be right up your alley.

You should totally build a greenhouse and try, though. You can put hotbeds or coldframes inside of it to double your heat retention and move up two growing zones in theory.

I always get a massive itch to garden this time of year, too. I think it is a combination of seeing what everyone else has harvested, having the main garden die off leaving free space, and wanting to make the house nice for nesting in the cold. If only I could hold to motivation through spring! At least there are a lot of nice cold hardy things you can plant and harvest year round and you can always order seeds and starts for spring delivery.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Bees on Wheat
Jul 18, 2007

I've never been happy



QUAIL DIVISION
Buglord
I've had good luck with cacti, succulents, pothos, and dracaena indoors as well. I actually just bought a small lucky bamboo for my kitchen window, which is really a type of dracaena! I used to have some from a little shop in Chinatown that lived for a long, long time, but they got put outside when the house was being tented prior to sale and got horribly sunburned. So don't do that, I guess. Other than that, they just need some water, a little light, and you can neglect the hell out of them.

My kitchen window faces vaguely north-ish so it doesn't get the best light, but I currently have small cacti, lithops, a phalaenopsis orchid, basil, and a miniature rose growing there. Aside from the rose (which probably wasn't the healthiest when I got it) everything seems to be doing fine. I also have a window box with herbs I'm starting from seed up there, but we'll see how well that goes. So far the cilantro really really wants to grow, but everything else is taking its time.

If I had hooks in the ceiling I'd probably hang a small pothos or spider plant up there too. Maybe some airplants or moss terrariums. Really, I just want more plants everywhere. I've even started logging my plantings on MyFolia because I need something to do when I'm not actually tending to them.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5