2010 Green thumb report

The summer is already heading into the longest 'day' of the year, and will soon be heading into fall.  Almost a week ago now I heard the first cicada, at least a month sooner than a 'typical' year.  The fireflies aren't even done with their nightly christmas-light show, and the cicadas are singing as the sun goes down and the fireflies awaken.

We still are renting, and so a thorough garden (in ground and all) isn't really an option, so this year I decided that containers were going to be it.  In 5-gal buckets I have tomatoes and acorn squash.  In 1-gal pots I have three varieties of summer squash/zuchinni, rosemary, creeping thyme, chives, and cosmos.  In various sized other pots from 4" to 8" to your typical 'gallon' nursery pot (thank you sis for the pots!!) I have an assortment of herbs (lemon grass, bay laurel, dill, cumin, coriander/cilantro, and flowers - marigolds among them).  I have another larger bay laurel I found cheap, that is about three/four times as large as the one mentioned above.  I have five varieties of basil, though I've discovered that I really am a fan of the Italian basil primarily.

Summer and winter savory plants are also potted on my front deck/patio where I can get to them easily.  Savory is excellent in soups and stews, and I add it often in the winter months to my 'Cure All Chicken Soup'.

Discount plants at Lowes, Walmart, and local greenhouses and nurseries add to the variety of plants as well.  These include Hibiscus, Mandevilla, two female and a male Arctic Kiwi (the little green fuzz-less kiwi that survive well in our 'zone', and are actually supposedly sweeter than the furry type you find in the grocery store!), a Royal geranium, that is still recovering.

I feel I've forgotten a couple and I do them a disservice by not mentioning them.  I've discovered that certain plants do VERY well potted, and others, well, don't.  Zucchini among them.  I think that I would rather put zucchini in the ground, or put it in a much larger (muck-tub) container if I was to do it again.  (Walmart sells muck-tubs for $5 ea.  I think it would be a worth while investment, though I think the potting mix would have to be amended with small gravel, and/or perlite as it tends to compact and not drain as well as I would like to see.  Even an addition of a bag of mulch would do good for the soil under these large, demanding plants.  (acorn squash will also be put into larger tubs!)

I had several seedlings that I put into the ground, they're doing well.  The cucumbers, potted and planted, are all doing very well, the potted ones are enjoying the warm roots and putting on a lot of fruit!  I also have some small melons that have begun to put on fruit as well!  Hurrah!

I have been doing a lot of research and have decided that I would like to try either aquaponic or hydroponic system this winter to grow some tomato and perhaps something else in the house over the winter.  Some Herbs as well?  Perhaps??  Youtube, and the internet are truly a vast and unending resource for inspiration.

Indoor my house is becoming more and more green.  There are orchids (Phalenopsis) hanging in what were originally sold as fruit/veggie baskets (these aren't the light baskets but ones sold I believe at Target that I found for $1 at a garage sale a year or so ago and have wanted to fill it with orchids ever since.  Well it is, and they're all doing well.  I have another tray of 'rescued' NOID (no obvious identification) Phalenopsis, that had mealy bugs and I am nursing from certain demise (overwatered, no drainage, few of them had any roots, and those that did were in trouble).  A small dendrobium is mounted on a wicker basket, and hung in my front window - more light.  I hope to mount some of these rescued orchids, and have even thought about building an orchidarium, though I'm not sure if I want to fill it with NOIDs or if I want to fill it with species orchids (and other epiphytes).  Most say fill it with cheap (NOID) orchids, in case the system 'crashes' then you haven't lost your important collection.  Black Jungle (find them online) is a great resource for not just equipment, but diy ideas and photographs about how to accomplish the building of a 'vivarium' (housing frogs, and other small high-humidity critters).  They even use expanding foam ("Great Stuff") to create the background!  I think that would be SO cool!

My enormous Christmas cactus got hacked this spring, and cut back to a more manageable size, though it immediately started to put three-five new segments on EVERY end trimmed.  I have 22 well-rooted babies now from those pieces I hacked and am looking forward to their growth, and finding them new homes.

I have also been doing cuttings, of several dozen various cuttings, my hydrangeas are doing well, just getting repotted today, four of the dozen cuttings have rooted and the remainder all had callous where roots should begin to form very soon.  I have two rooted mock orange, and a trio of african violet leaves setting on my windowsill with high expectations.  A couple currant (berry) plants from cuttings of my mother's plants have been doing well.

My mother had success rooting two butterfly bush cuttings, which are now in her garden, as well as having put about 24 cuttings from rosebushes into the ground - unsure yet though as to their success.  All attempts of mine to root butterfly bushes has failed thus far, to my disappointment.  I expect to get some more cuttings and perhaps some shoots this week.  I love butterfly bush!

I am looking at micropropigation, which I think will be a lot of fun this winter to try some different house plants.

Well that is about it.  Too much going on, and a lot accomplished this summer!!  I have found my green thumb and am excited about it!!