First Snow

 

It's that time-first snow of the year. Amazingly my outdoor annuals and veggies are uninterested and still growing along, unphazed.

 

 

My 'Happy Girl' orchid is done blooming...

 

...but not all of the bloom scape has turned brown. Unfortunately the "budlets" that I'd hoped could become blooms shriveled away.

The previous bloom scape on the left is still green, but not producing an off-shoot or new bloom scape as I'd read it might. I'll leave it alone while it stays green though, along with the green parts of the second scape. After all, everything an orchid does is in slow motion anyway so I'll just wait and see what happens.

                               Meanwhile, I'll trim off the brown shrively parts so it looks nicer.

 

Because another bloom scape is beginning to emerge!

 

My passionflower vine is growing well and rambling around the room, but no sign of blooms so far.

The vanilla orchid experiment isn't going so well, the green leaf has just a small segment still alive. I'm hoping it may survive as an epiphyte, so I mist it daily and run the humidifier...

 

...unfortunately it's too late for the variegated specimen. Not to be deterred, I've already ordered another set. I wants me some vanilla orchids, dammit!

 

Two of my three Christmas cacti are budding....

 

...and the rest of the orchids are doing fine. These two mounts are getting a drink, looking pretty happy and showing good growth.

 

This trio of small specimens are looking good, too. I've been so happy with most of my mounted orchids that I may take these in that direction as well, but for now they look good so I'll leave them be.

 

And these two on the other side of the room are doing pretty well too. They aren't as close to the humidifier though, and I may relocate them soon. I have to consider light intensities and preferences of the plants I swap with, so I'll think on it for awhile.

 

The staghorn fern is a newcomer, so I'm not sure if it looks happy or not. Since it's not dead, I call this a victory for now.

Going into the winter months I won't be adding to the collection after the new vanillas arrive. What I may do is pickup a different gardening project fom my friends at Field and Forest Products, maybe a fun "TeePee" mushroom growing kit to amuse myself until spring. Gotta feed that gardening jones!

Brassavola nodosa Orchid Remount

 

I've decided to re-mount my "Lady of the Night" orchid (Brassavola nodosa), so I gathered some supplies to get the job done...

 

 

...using a wire coat hanger, I made a hook to hang this huge cork slab mount I bought. Lots of room to spread out for sure!

 

I decided to fix the orchid to the new slab using its' old hook....

...there! Bent it over to ancor it well, but I want it to be tad more securely attched so the roots can't get damaged by stray movements...

 

...see how it's not flush against the slab? That won't do...

 

...so I chip away some cork so it can lie flat...

 

...then I grabbed some copper wire to secure it well. I used fishing line with the last mount, but it was flimsy and hard to work with. Didn't notice this wire had anything to do with welding when I bought it, so I hope there aren't any chemicals on it that orchids don't like.

 

Secured the wire to the back first...

 

...then wrapped it round' and round', being careful not to smish or strangle any roots.

There! Mounted the mount to a bigger mount and it looks mighty nice if I do say so myself. The wire is  kinda bright now, but it will eventually patina darker and blend in nicely.

                            Hung it on the closet door near the humidifier to keep it happy...

 

...here's hoping it grows well and blooms (sure has plenty of space!  :)

 

 

Autumn Cacti

My cactus collection is doing pretty well these days, despite no direct sunlight for the past 2 years. Just sheet-filtered southern exposure, not the best conditions but that's the way it goes sometimes.

 

 

              My whale-tongue agave has gotten rather large, so it gets relocated to spread out.

 

 New growth on all of them, a little gangly but I'll take it.

 

               With the big agave out of the way, the others can be moved closer to the window.

My 'Torch Cactus', Trichocereus grandiflorus hybrids still has these weird "tentacles" coming out of it for about 4 months now. All they do is get longer and increase in number...

...so far they look like this with no sign of turning into blooms. Very interesting, but I wish I knew what's going on. The anticipation is kinda fun though, "Adventures With Housplants" I suppose.

 

After seeing a Fishook Barrel Cactus cactus (Ferocactus wislizenii) that my friend in Texas has, I decided I needed one!

 

Very nice! This specimen was discounted due to some "cosmetic damage", but I don't see it. Looks like a great buy to me.

 

And there are the hooks! It even has some red fruit...cool.

 

Next spring when new growth begins I plan to add supplemental lights so this newcomer can stay healthy and the rest of my cacti can grow thicker and not quite so gangly. But for now I think they are acclimating to apartment life better than I am!

 

Random Stuff...

 

Recently a friend gave me this cutting of a "ZZ Plant (zamioculcas zamiifolia), and it's still every bit as alive as the day I got it-yay!

 

It's in this "nursery area" for cuttings, located in the pot with my Norfolk Island Pine ( Araucaria heterophylla ). Works out pretty well for them...

 

...I'm even trying to root one of the pine's branches.

 

Mother pine isn't faring as well however, but I'm hoping she'll perk up with the increased humidity I provide in fall and winter for the nearby orchids. I'm thinking some soil freshening wouldn't hurt either, she's been in this same pot for 3 years or so.

 

 

 Looky here-my african violet has formed a seed pod on one of the blooms! I never thought about hand-pollinating violet blooms to get seeds, and I'm curious how this one got pollinated. Perhaps one of those spiders we all swallow in our sleep strolled accross it?

 

 

I saw this last week and it occurred to me-I don't think I've ever observed a tree with fruit and new flowers at the same time...in October. Is this odd, or is it just me?

 

See? Fall color on the leaves, ripe fruit, and new flowers in fall = weird, IMO. (Of course this may happen all the time and I'm just now noticing it, in which case I will quote Gilda Radner's character Emily Litella and say "Nevermind.")

Climate change or brain atrophy, either way fall is in the air. The leaves are changing and that's not all, but life a journey anyhow so this is inevitable whether you're ready or not. Luckily gardening teaches the willing student how to adapt to unexpected weather and such, and I'm still willing as ever to learn and grow. Bring it on, life! :)

Worm Bins Update

I haven't blogged about the worm bins in awhile, but they're still going strong. In fact, the tower bin is almost ready to add another level.

 

Still plenty of activity on the lid, but no sign of a mass exodus-the worms are happy.

 

I added some cellulose packing peanuts, which are made from natural plant cellulose and dissolve in water. Normally I would put these in the composter outdoors, but I don't have regular access to it right now.

 

 

            Topped with shredded paper, so the worms can keep my documents really secure  :)

 

Topped the paper with some celery scraps. This may look dry, but in 8 years of worm wrangling I've rarely needed to add any water or mist a bin. The worm activity keeps the bin moisture plenty damp automatically-easy peasy!

Here's the original homemade bin, getting very full but functioning very well all the same.

 No worms on the lid. As this bin has become more full I notice fewer wanderers.

 

 

First with the cellulose peanuts...

 

 

...then the shredded paper...

 

 

 

...then the celery.

 

 

 

I really need to empty this bottom bin of the worm castings, then place it on the top bin to start the worms migrating upward and begin the casting harvest process over again. But I really want to get down to one bin, so I'll look for a new home for this big one. Any takers?