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Category: House & Greenhouse plants

Tips on growing indoor plants, conservator, windowsill and greenhouse cultivation

Streptocarpus Care and Propagation Tips

Streptocarpus Care and Propagation Tips

Windowsill orchids are a houseplant favourite and I repeat and update some tips given 3 years ago.
Streptocarpus

Plant care tips from Dibleys National Collection

  • Always cut off dead flowers.
  • Excessive or incorrect feed and poor light make the plants produce very large leaves and few flowers.
  • It is quite natural as plants age for the old leaves to die back, and the ends should be trimmed off, especially in winter.
  • In March or April gradually start watering more often and commence feeding.
  • Do not over-pot you will get more flower by keeping on the pot bound side. Using half of three quarter depth pots is a good idea.
  • Given this treatment you will be rewarded by a continuous display of flowers from about May until well into winter.
  • You will also find the flowers are good for cutting.
  • Shallow pots are recommended but I find the roots quickly mat up and become hard to water.
  • I have taken to only using clay pots (Wide Toms)
  • Start with AGM varieties.
  • Dibleys attend a large number of plant & flower shows where plants can be bought.

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Tips for Growing Hibiscus Indoors

Tips for Growing Hibiscus Indoors

Buying tips for indoor Hibiscus. Smaller plants with3-5 branches each with buds are generally the best value. If they loose there buds new ones should soon follow. Look at florists and chain stores as well and garden centres.

Hibiscus
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Hibiscus is a large genus of over 200 species. One species Hibiscus cannabinus, is extensively used in paper making. Another, roselle Hibiscus sabdariffa is used as a vegetable and to make herbal teas in the Caribbean but it is as an extravagantly coloured flower that we know it best.

If your hibiscus has flowers of red, pink, orange, yellow, salmon, peach, orange, or two coloured double or single flowers, it is probably a tropical hibiscus. Hardy hibiscus do not come in these colors or in doubles! If it is a perennial, hardy hibiscus they need very little care over the winter, they are root hardy and die to the ground each year.

Hibiscus

Houseplants and Indoor Hibiscus

  • Chinese Hibiscus are shrubby plants that make fine indoor exhibitions if given plenty of light.
  • Bought plants will have been treated to keep them small and compact. You can prune them to keep in shape.
  • Short lived, trumpet shaped flowers are available in many colours and there is a regular supply of new buds.
  • Keep in a constant temperature to avoid bud drop.
  • Don’t over-water, keep on the dry side but water copiously in summer.

Look at Thompson & Morgan for more ideas.

Hibiscus

Cultivation Tips for Hibiscus

  • Most hibiscus have a few yellow leaves when they get old and need replacing. If your plant too has many yellow leaves it is stressed probably from over watering.
  • Hibiscus want loamy, coarse open soil that is not too heavy.
  • For prolific flowering, hibiscus need weekly feedings during March-October. Low phosphorus and high potassium feed is best.
  • Repotting is usually carried out in spring if you can see roots poking out of the bottom of the pot or if they are filling the pot.

Hibiscus

Recommended Hibiscus Organisations

The American Hibiscus Society lists the following links

Hibisucus genevii in the Princess of Wales Conservatory
See the endangered hibiscus ‘hibiscus genevii flowering during May in the Princess of Wales Conservatory Kew. In the wild it is only found in small numbers in specific areas of Mauritius.’

Credits
Hibisucus genevii in the Princess of Wales Conservatory by Kew on Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Book Cover

More Phalaenopsis Moth Orchids

More Phalaenopsis Moth Orchids

It is easier to call a Phalaenopsis by its common name of Moth Orchid

This moth orchid (called Phalaenopsis) is blooming for a second time this year and the last blossom lasted over 5 months. On one arching stem there are 12 flowerheads and one unopened bud but there is also 4 other stems at different stages of flower production and at least 25  2½” diameter flowers are currently on display. This floriferousness may be due to a happy accident after the first (and only) stem flowered I followed received wisdom. I trimmed off the spike to around 1 inch above the first node on the spike stem, somewhere below where the first flower had appeared, near a little bump. The stem regrew but horizontally and I wanted to tie it up a cane. Being too vigorous I broke the new flowering stem but all the new ones have turned up at the funeral so to speak.

Book Cover

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Easy Phalaenopsis Orchids

Easy Phalaenopsis Orchids

orchid

Some orchids are temperamental but this Phalaelenopsis has give unstinting blooms for eight months on the trot without any trouble. Growing on one stem which branched into three side shoots there were upto 20 flowers on the Orchid at anyone time. The variety must be resilient as we gave it no special treatment but these Phalaelenopsis or Moth Orchids are one of the easier Orchids to grow.

Orchid Flowering Tips

  • Orchids like a humid atmosphere but apart from  keeping the soil moist, not heavily watered this plant thrived on a north facing window sill.
  • We don’t have under the window radiators so there was no dramatic drying
  • This plant wasn’t fertilized but we didn’t get any new leaves either so perhaps we should have encouraged new growth for next season.
  • The stem has now been cut back by a half to just above a joint. New flowers may grow and if not the plant will be given a rest in a light bathroom. Looking at the Orchid I see a new flower shoot growing from a leaf joint so there are more flowers to come
  • Wipe the leaves to remove dust but do not let water stand on the leaves.
  • Phalaenopsis like warm, shady conditions so fit in well to most modern homes.
  • Leaves are important to the health and flowering ability of the plant. They should be turgid and glossy and mine are 9 inches long and about 4 inches wide.

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Generic Houseplant Advice

Generic Houseplant Advice

Commonsense will help you get the best out of your houseplants. Compost for bought plants will have enough feed for the short term but careful watering will be needed. Go with the seasons do not fight nature just because your plant is indoors.

Cyclamen

Position
Flowering plants need good light. Place near a window but avoid harsh sunlight.
Foliagae plants like good natural light but avoid direct sunlight.
Protect all indoor plants from sudden cold and draughts.

Temperature
Ideally keep plants at the temperature recommended on any plant label.
An average warm temperature of 15-29 degrees centigrade is a default temperature.
If plants droop it may be too warm and or dry. Move to a cooler place.

Watering
Do not stand pots in puddles of water for long periods.
Water from the bottom with room temperature water.
Keep compost moist but not sopping wet.
Do not allow compost to dry out completely or it will be very hard to re-wet.
More plants drown than are killed by lack of water.

Plant Selection

Grow the types of plants normally grown indoors. If they work for others they should grow for you.
Foliage plants are a good place to start as I think they stand up to a bit of rough treatment eg late or infrequent watering.
Bulbs are popular indoors but do not last as long as they might outside.
Exotic plants bought from a nursery should be cosseted. Ask the grower for tips as they should have knowledge to share.

Other Advice
Removing faded flowers may encourage new blooms.
Occasional feeding can prolong plant life.
Plants that like a humid atmosphere will benefit from being sprayed and stood on grit or granules.
Get more advice about your specific type of plant by searching the box above.

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Red Spider Mite Control and Prevention

Red Spider Mite Control and Prevention

There are a lot of things to go wrong with plants in the greenhouse but a red spider mite infestation is one of the most frustrating. This tomato plant in India has had its day.

Basic Information on Red Spider Mite

  • Plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers and strawberries grown indoors in poly-tunnels or greenhouses are the most susceptible . Apple, peach and plum trees can also suffer.
  • Identifying the mites by the naked eye is difficult but the webs between plant stems often show up when watering or by evening torch light.
  • Plant damage is mainly to the leaves with light mottling, loss of colour and curled edges. This is followed by leaf fall and death or the plant.

Red spider mite (Tetranychus urticae)

Organic Control of Red Spider Mite

  • Keep the atmosphere humid by misting, spraying the underside of leaves and damping down the soil to discourage development and destroy breeding sites.
  • Eliminate over wintering sites by clearing out debris and disinfecting plant pots
  • Hot dry conditions attract red spider mites so give your pot plants some fresh air outside.
  • Use a biological control which breeds faster than the red spider mite and eats them and their eggs as its staple diet. Phytoseiulus persimillis will do the job these insects die when all the mites are eaten so you need new stock each year.
  • Spider mite killer and bio-controls available from Amazon and Tozer seeds.

Red Spider Mite - Mitopus morio

This summer has seen a new control of red spider mites. It is called bad weather.
Credit
Red spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) by Gnilenkov Aleksey CC BY 2.0
Red Spider Mite – Mitopus morio by omarrun CC BY 2.0

John Tradescant the Elder and Younger

John Tradescant the Elder and Younger

Father 1570-1638 and son 1608-1662 both worked as gardener to the Royal family and are buried at St Marys Church Lambeth. At the Museum of Garden History in Lambeth there is a garden laid out using plants they introduced to the UK after trips to Russia, Africa and North America in the early 17th century.

As early traveling plant collectors both John Tradescants’ were responsible for many plant introductions and curios collected on their travels. Plants include Michaelmas daisy, Cistus, Acer,  Maple and Tradescantia

‘Musaeum Tradescantianum’ was the first museum catalogue published. Tradescant willed that the collection was to go to his widow on his death, but Elias Ashmole obtained the collection by deed of gift and established the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Some of these original items can still be seen in that museum and Ashmole is also buried at the Museum of Garden History. The tomb of the Tradescants stands beside the knot garden near that of Captain Bligh of the Bounty, and is covered in carvings representing their interests in life which showed them both to be ‘curious men’.

Growing and Recognising Arisaema sikokianum

Growing and Recognising Arisaema sikokianum

Arisaema sikokianum

Arisaema sikokianum is a herbaceous perennial plant with vertically patterned  flowers.

Characteristics

  • In an alpine house or garden it flowers in springtime upto 18″ tall.
  • It can be planted with shade-loving hostas and Bleeding hearts.
  • They need neutral to acid soil in a moist, well-draining, protected location in dappled shade to flourish.
  • Seeds have a low rate of germination, and take a very long while to get going. Harvested in December & store at room temperature for one month, then planted in shady situations.

Other names for Arisaema sikokianum include Shikoku cobra lily, Gaudy Jack or Japanese Jack-in-the-Pulpit.
Arisaema sikokianum is one of 150 species and an unusual woodland plant noted for its unmistakable smoky-purple base, white cup and large hood with purple, green and white stripes.

There is a specialist international society for Aroids or Arum family plants with Arisaema links.

Hardy and Indoor Cyclamen Post Christmas

Hardy and Indoor Cyclamen Post Christmas

Cyclamen Coum

The low growing ivy leaved cyclamen has marbled foliage and Spring or Autumn flowering. It grows from corms that are planted in  shade under trees or in rockeries with some cover.

The Autumn flowering C.Neapolitan (Hederifolium) varieties come in shades of pink to the album white

The pictured C.Coum variety is more hardy and flowers in spring.

In hard weather areas it may be necessary to grow in pots and lift them in severe conditions but if conditions suit they will form ground covering clumps.

The indoor varieties

  • Florist varieties are not hardy but it is important to keep it cool and provide some air movement. If it is too warm the leaves will yellow.
  • Don’t over or under wateror the leaves will go yellow wait until the soil feels dry
  • Do not let the plant remain wilted
  • Water with a good soaking from the bottom to stop the corm rotting
  • Give the plant good light in winter
  • A monthly feed in the growing season will help
  • Dead flowers should be tugged free
  • Leave for a rest period in summer and they will flower again the following Autumn

 

 

 

Watering Houseplants

Watering Houseplants

This Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum) houseplant is being killed with kindness by the family waterer. Too much water kills quicker than too little.This plant likes humidity from a mister or being stood on a damp gravel base but doesn’t want to be flooded.

Watering Houseplants

  • Plants that transpire lots of water from large fleshy or soft leaves need more watering.
  • Plants with frail, rubbery or sticky leaves are generally conditioned to survive with less water. Look at the leaves to learn what works best.
  • Most cacti & succulents with juicy leaves are often able to survive dry spells.
  • Plants that are actively growing need more water and the converse is true in winter when growth is slow they need little or no water.
  • Try aim for evenly moist soil from top to bottom after watering
  • Good drainage in needed for the majority of houseplants so if in doubt err on the side of an open compost
  • Stagnant water is a no-no causing chills, decay and harbouring potential pests.
  • The tepid water with no chemicals is OK or try rain water.
  • Ailing plants should be given only little water and no fertilizer.
  • Gloxinia like other hairy leaved plants dislike water on the leaves as the sun’s heat can be magnified and damage the leaf.

Expert Watering