Nothing new

Not a chance for the week to even take a picture of anything in the garden. Out early each day off to work and home in the evening when it is dark. Now I really know my vacation is done. At least I tried to get the most out of the two weeks off, getting some things to do out of the way but still some are left over.

My little bird has flown the coop - already out of the nest and I notice the parents now busy in the mornings seemingly looking for a place to build a new nest. I wonder if I should now dismantle the old nest so they can start over.

Hopefully I will have some time to see what's happening with my plants and take some photos this weekend.

Aloe striata

This one has been doing well, probably because my dog sees fit to give it an extra dose of nitrogen every day! I used to have it under the Poor Man's Orchid, but it wasn't thriving at all, and I temporarily rested it in the pot with the pepper. Then the added nutrients started kicking in and it has been looking fat and healthy since. Now I have placed it (again temporarily) in its own concrete pot but I need to decide where I really want to put it.





I am not sure how big this is supposed to grow so I need some advice and then I can take a decision.

Happy and Unhappy Pachys

The only two Pachypodiums in my collection so far are Pachypodium lamerei and Pachypodium saundersii. I prefer these to Adeniums because I think they have more character, but even so, I have not yet been moved to make any great effort to get more - but I suppose I would if the opportunity presented itself.

The Pachypodium lamerei (Madagascar Palm) is doing very well and has sent its roots through the pot into the ground. Soon I will need to put it into a larger pot.




The Pachypodium saundersii was growing thin and lanky so I gave it more sun - it has responded by growing even thinner and now it has lost its leaves. It had put on buds but aborted them so no flowers either. What am I doing wrong? And what should I do?

More plants repotted!

I spent the day today repotting (and potting up) one tray of my plants from seed. I was so happy to finally get some soil to do this that I just had to get them into the fresh mix without delay.

Hours I spent, until the blazing sun finally defeated my spirit (I couldn't bear to be roasted any more) and I retreated inside and then did a little more when the sun was about setting. All in all, a very productive day, and I now need to tackle the other two trays that need the same attention.

This is the tray I was working on, with most of the plants already repotted.




The empty pots represent the plants that were potted up to bigger (4") pots. I will have to fill in these spaces with other young ones over the next couple of days.

The names, for those who want to know:
Front row, L-R: Mammillaria zuccariniana, Mammillaria wagneriana tortulospinum, Mammillaria labelled nejapensis but apparently something else
2nd row, L-R: Mammillaria lindsayi, Astrophytum ornatum, Mammillaria sartorii
3rd row. L-R: Mammillaria roseo-alba, Mammillaria lloydii, Mammillaria bocensis
NoID Echinocereus in the back

I have since added Mammillaria melanocentra and Mammillaria ruestii to these.

They all blew over

The bananas and plantains, that is. I was sure posted this during the week but for some reason I don't see it - must have been dreaming or something.

The bananas in front were somewhat sheltered so a few of them remained standing.

The ones in the backyard got hit hard - all of them had to be chopped off because they were all broken.

And likewise the plantains. These are still young - never had any fruit from these, but they will spring from the root.

In fact, they have continued to grow from the heart and have already put back on a couple of leaves, but I'm not sure they will still be able to bear fruit. They are very resilient, and I'm pleased with their recovery so far.