A thread to express your love of (or hate of); Potplants

[Klue]

This is an Echinofossulocactus species that I payed about $3.50 for. Thats a price you would expect at a market where the wholesaler is selling direct though

Its probably quite useless posting a whole heap of names of species, you will just have difficulty finding them I reckon. Most places just have generic 'cactus' tags on them, the whole botanical history has really been devalued in the Nursery industry these days.

You would be able to grow most species down there, as its the humidity up here that has stopped me having success with some species. I would hope that any garden centre you went to would stock a range of generally hardy species.

There is a few places I know by reputation, but specifically one awesome place. I will pm you the details.

:D

 

[LittleSmoke]

Hadn't seen this thread before.
Beautiful pictures !
Congratulations guys.
I have some cacti too.
Tried growing a banisteriopsis indoors but it didn't work out.

 

[Samadhi]

I thought i'd posted a photo of our cacti collection, it's about 4 years old, and has pretty much tripled in size.

Trichocereus pachanoi, peruvianis, scopulicolus, bridgesii - and a few others that we've picked up over the years. Under the green shadecloth to the right are the lophophora williamsii

The fence is there for the protection of the cacti - our dog mangled 2 of our loph pups - a day after we bought them.

 

[UnSquare]

Klue or possibly eggman, can you please recommend me a bunch of cacti and put pretty pictures up to motivate me and tell me how much they are? Don't post any link to where I can get them though, no sourcing

Fully,
Miss E,
buy
what
pleases
yo' eye...
they're succulents!

An' unce againo,
fo' my mum...

Go Minimalism!

Shite photo...

Still,
it's MAD what I want'd,
an' is in 3 parts...
Looks MUCH better,
(an' suites my rancho stylee')
in person.

Or in a person if it's 1800......

PEACE
UnS

 

[eggman]

Klue or possibly eggman, can you please recommend me a bunch of cacti and put pretty pictures up to motivate me and tell me how much they are? Don't post any link to where I can get them though, no sourcing

One of my personal faves is this one, the Crassula argentea...

I also enjoy the Chinese Jade, scientifically known as Portulacaria afra Aurea

Some of the things I like about them are that they look more similar to trees and they are smooth to touch rather than spiky

What UnSquare says is true to. If you like the look of it go for it. They are very easy to grow expecialy if you keep them in the same pot they come in because the soil mixture is important.

Also, with regards to cost... If you see one you like that grows out with leaves or stems and you can do it without getting in trouble, cut part of it off.

You can take it home and soak it water then leave on some soil and they will grow into a plant

 

[Samadhi]

My nonna had a massive Chinese Jade growing in her garden - i loved it.

 

[eggman]

I stumbled across the biggest one I have ever seen in my life in Neural Bay

This things was massive and had destroyed the brickwork garden it had originaly been planted in, I never knew they could get that big

 

[vanth]

So those jadey things are still cactus? And thus hardy and not requiring much water? I have seen those before and I like them, I didn't know they were the same thing.

 

[Klue]

Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti!
Yes hardy.

I just saw the most awesome Jade in a lane up town, I'll take a photo of it next fine day.

Do you want to keep it inside Vanth?

:D

 

[eggman]

Yeah yeah, Jade is a succulent but not a cacti. Succulent is the wider category of plants of which cactii are a member. I cant remember the difference exactly but its boring anyway I can tell you that much

As far as hardy goes, yep Jades are hardy. I gave my friend one to put on her doorstep years ago (old chinese tradition holds that leaving a Jade on your door step will prevent evil spirits from entering), anyways she never waters the thing and whenever I go there I think, i gotta water that before I go but I always forget. So basically this thin get bugger all water and it still looks good after 3 years

Another succulent you may want to seek out that is a cactii is any plant with the word Echinopsis before it. They grow pretty flowers out of the top

 

[vanth]

I'd want to keep it inside, yes, as I live in an apartment building. I can pop it outside every couple of days though. Does this preclude me from the succulents?

 

[Klue]

No, you can have them inside. But remember, the environments is that they come from are very hot and sunny. So a window sill is usually the best place inside, an open window even better because the circulation will be better.

If they dont get enough sun, they will tend to lose thier lower leaves and suffer etoliation and get leggy and streched out (reaching for any available light).

:D

 

[lee-loo]

I only have 2 plants — a basil plant and an orchid. When I was a junkie, I couldn't keep plants alive. Now I am learning.

Can somebody with plant wisdom help me not kill these guys? If they die, my feelings will be hurt!

BASIL - it's pretty darn tall. Some of the leaves are losing their colour. I water it once a day, sometimes twice. (They're greedy for H2O I hear.) I haven't made a dish with basil for about a month ... should I pick its leaves anyway to encourage growth? (or to ensure that it doesn't grow too big for it's pot?)

ORCHID - i bought this and left it at my mum's. It didn't flower for 2 years. Now, it has finally got 4 flowers! So I stole it back. Any general advice on care? How often should I water it & how much water each time? I live in SE QLD to give you an idea of the weather.

 

[lee-loo]

Update: one of my orchid flowers dropped off and another one is shrivelling up!

 

[Klue]

With Basil you need to pinch out the flowerheads or the leaves wont be as lush. When you use it you should pinch out the tips of the plant (do this from a young age) and it will encourage a bushy habit.

Do you know what sort of orchid it is? Could you post a picture or describe the leaves and flower spikes?
They dont need a great deal of water really.
Carefull not to water the flowers or even touch them.

:D

 

[Strawberry_lovemuffin]

But we have had one potplant which seems to have survived nearly a year, in the lounge, despite it having brown tips on the leaves. I water, I don't know what more they want!

Oh Klue, it's a sad sad day.

I regret to inform you the potplant mentioned above went to plant heaven today. We recently moved house, and during the move accidentally(?) left it sitting outside in direct sunlight for a couple of days... we did water it during that time, but the sun shrivelled its little leaves up (it was some sort of fern, I think), and by the time we bought it in it was a much paler version of its previous self and its never been the same again.

We have tried and tried to resurect it... chopping off the brown bits until it was nary more than a pathetic couple of twigs and bathing it daily... I even played it some heavy metal after watching an episode of Mythbusters....but in the end have had to admit defeat. It's successor arrived from Bunnings today.

RIP my poor retarded plant. We're sorry.

ps. on a nicer note, we did also bring home some herbs and stuff to plant outside... basil, oregano, rosemary, chives, chillies, grape tomatoes. Let's hope these meet a happier fate.

 

[Taliana]

I recently have started growing the first thing ever from seed... Okra (ladyfingers), a veggie...

I grew 6 seeds... sadly 5 have been eaten up by some stupid little creature... one is surviving and going strong, been about 8 weeks or something now... i think its 16 weeks before any veggies will happen. I need to change the pot though into a bigger pot... will do so when i get home.

I might buy a plant already grown soon... liking the looks of some of the ones here in this thread!!!

 

[Klue]

Went to one of my favorite hobby shops today. It is mainly aquariums and aquarium supplies, but they also specialise in cacti and succulents. They showed me through the wholesale area cos I was looking for something in particular. (Which I will post a photo of later in the light)

This nursery is awesome. They have been there for 30 years and is a totally family run business. They are all so knowledgeable.
(Dont have photos of the scorpions and spiders they sell thought! )

*wonders if Vanth got her succulent*

:D

 

[Klue]

Found some more photos of my cactus

I was obsessed. Potplants 24/7 yo!

 

[vanth]

I did buy a succulent actually! I bought one for a friend for her birthday, but I haven't seen her for a few weeks and the plant is still fine, and wrapped up. That's my kind of plant!