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dacocoa

Addicted to House Plants :)

Dacocoa Paradis
10 years ago

Hey, I've only posted on this site once or twice, and since, have just been obsessing over my plants. For the past 9 years, I've been growing houseplants in massive numbers. I got my first plant from my father, which was a Sago Palm. I'm not generally picky about the houseplants I like. I do prefer vines and tropical plants though. What are your favorite house plants? What do you have best luck with? Who else has an army of house plants?!!

One Plant Stand right of my bed!
Bottom Shelf, Left to Right: Angel Wing Begonia, Variegated Rubber Tree plant, Easter Cactus
Middle Shelf: Various Newly rooted holiday cactus.
Top Shelf, Left to Right: Thanksgiving Cactus, Swedish Ivy.

This post was edited by Dacocoa on Sun, Apr 7, 13 at 20:29

Comments (71)

  • hankeat
    10 years ago

    Thank you everyone for the compliments.

    @marguerite: The Adeniums were the show plants at a plants exhibition in Bangkok, Thailand.

    @FrugalFanny: The plants behind the Burro's Tail are Sansevierias. They are Sansevieria ballyi 12671 (on the top) and Sansevieria aff. gracilis (at the bottom).

  • marguerite_gw Zone 9a
    10 years ago

    Oh, I see, thanks. All of yours are in such wonderful condition, they looked like they could be yours.

  • drvongirl
    10 years ago

    Wow! Love your collection of plants, how much time do you spend watering them?

  • FrugalFanny
    10 years ago

    Thank you Han Keat, so I still have a mystery plant!

    FF

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    10 years ago

    Marvelous! I'm sure that I'm not the only one who would like to know a little about how you water and maintain your plants.

  • hankeat
    10 years ago

    @drvongirl: Thank you! It takes me 1 to 2 days to water my plants.

    @FrugalFanny: In fact you can ask people to ID your mystery plant here.

    @rhizo_1: Thank you! In winter I water my succulents once and foliage plants twice a month. Normally I do it on 15th and 30th of the month (I choose these days, because they are easier for me to remember). In summer I water all of them every 10 days, on the 10th, 20th and 30th of the month. Sometimes I water them more often in summer. I can't grow plants that don't fit to my watering schedule. I grow almost all of my foliage plants (Aroids) in Lechuza planters. They do lighter the maintenance.

  • christine1950
    10 years ago

    hank, I'm sitting here with my mouth open in awe of your collections and your house is so darn clean !!!
    Great post....

  • Dacocoa Paradis
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanx Hank for stealing my thunder :) lol they are absolutely gorgeous, hope to get there some day!!

  • kaktuskris
    10 years ago

    Once you are addicted, there is no cure. Just give in, and enjoy it. Lately Jades are my obsession...

    Christopher

  • September_Jenkins
    10 years ago

    Two words:

    I wish.

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    hankeat, I notice you do not have saucers under your terrace plants. they are on nice shelves too. do you just let the water drip? same shelves inside too on succulents? also no saucers? how do you water?
    and what about the floors in the living room? I am speechless - how do you clean up? with difficulty, I presume ;)?
    I have 120 inside and balcony pulls another 15 pots may be, seasonal. in the apartment.
    this is my fishbowl: w-ne-e window double corner setup.

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    on the eastern side of fishbowl is the balcony, facing NE, about 65sqf, 24fl up.
    this is the pic in mid summer: I put a lot of my indoor plants outside on vacation, add caladiums, begonias, callas that I grow from tubers and then some annuals too with ivies(overwintered indoors).

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    this is the kitchen isle setup: between kitchen and living room. I rotate some plants for display. this is my xgiving cactus (actually 2 stacked).

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    and this is my west window in the living room. ficus lyrata are extra large cuttings 4/5 years old that I rooted from my big ficus. all other ficuses in the NE window I've had for about 18 years.

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    this is the close-up of far balcony 'green-wall': callas, crotons, ivy, cyclamens that I grew from seed, 8 year ? jades from tiny cuttings, sansi (about 10 years clump? divided from mama plant ..from Woolworth that I still have..after 20 years).

  • teengardener1888
    10 years ago

    All such healthy and vigorous plants. It brings out the envy compared to my pitiful collection

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    hey, 'member I started 20 years ago? well, actually more like 30, but only 1 cactus survived from that time...
    he has a name. he is honored.
    it all STARTS somewhere. I suppose I progressed into obsessive category in the last 5 years. AV's really pushed me over - converting to wicks does wonders to relieve water-fatigue. I got a 2nd breath :))).

  • hankeat
    10 years ago

    @petrushka: In summer when I put most of my succulents at terrace, I keep their saucers in a bucket. As the planters of my succulents are quite small, I use jam jar lids (in different sizes) as saucers. Every evening I will bring in all the plants again. In living room the planters will be on their lids again. In fact the lids are quite invisible.

    When I water my plants I put a grid on a bucket and then put my plants on the grid. I water the plants, let the waters flow through the planters and wait till the waters stop dripping. After that I just put the plants back to their original places. So the 200 plants must go through this process, therefore it takes quite a long time, especially the big planters.

    The planters on my living room floor are the Lechuza All-in-One planters which have no drainage hole in the bottom. The planters have water level indicators that show the maximum level of water allowed. The water reservation in the planters does help to reduce my work and keep everything very clean.

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    10 years ago

    Petrushka, hadn't had the pleasure of seeing your inside setup before and it's on par with the balcony, as expected, wonderful and awesome! I especially love the trees, so nice and stately.

    I feel your "pain," Hankeat! I'm not dedicated to shuffle many plants in/out but I do take almost all of them to the sink-for-a-drink. This past winter that was about 125 plants. There's a few really big ones I can't move. The bucket/grid thing sounds handy for the smaller guys!

  • cowgurl160
    10 years ago

    @petrushka I LOVE your balcony set up! I'm going to try to use it as an inspiration for when I get moved into my new apartment with a balcony.

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    thanks, purple and cowgirl!
    if you have Qs, post on balcony gardening forum - it's easier to go into detail there. by the way, if you didn't click on han keat's link to his page - run! and check out his facebook terrace ! that really is more like a garden on steroids ...in some fairyland!
    han keat,
    love your aglaonemas and various white variegation tropicals, quite unusual!
    your bucket/grid watering is a very neat idea .
    you should post pics on balcony forum too. even though it's a slow one, I would love to ask lots of Qs about the set up/ maint/etc.
    I googled lechuza planters - that's top-of-the-line luxury! I would love to get my hands on them in the future, when I change my set-up and expand some more :)))...
    I really had only about 50 plants until 6 years ago - a dozen have been with me almost 20 years and then another 20 I propagated from them over the years . so it was easy-breezy until I got a balcony and started water-wicking and doing seasonal corms/bulbs/tubers/ivies. everything just exploded.

    This post was edited by petrushka on Fri, Apr 19, 13 at 9:20

  • hankeat
    10 years ago

    @petrushka: Thanks for the compliment.
    Since I have reached the maximum number of plants I can have, I start to improve in quality, therefore I start to buy quality planters and modify some fancy objects to become planters. I also start to collect rare and expensive plants. (Variegated Agaves, red Thai Aglaonemas, foliage Anthuriums and Sansevierias.)
    In fact the only problem I have is bugs, especially in winter because of heating. Normally I will try to sell plants which have bugs problems.
    Thanks for the suggestion of balcony forum. Frankly speaking I am not very active in this forum. Normally I only visit this forum, when I need helps to identify my new plants. :)

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    I looked thru the pics one more time to note what other people were growing - I see a lot of plants that I used to have and lost at one point or another due to sub-optimal conditions. mostly moisture loving ones, tropical.
    my biggest problem was scale until I discovered systemic insecticide for house plants. I use it in smaller dosage then recommended though. together with insecticidal soap and rubbing alcohol diluted by half for sprays/wipes i manage OK. mites are a scourge. they recommend horti-oil, but i find that it burns house plants - so i only try to apply it to outdoor hardened plants. even then ivies hate it, all young foliage dies down.
    my other plants like schefflera, podocarpus, begonias, gardenias declined due to low humidity and problems with watering. I find that self-watering system with wicks allows me now to grow much more difficult plants like aralias, ivies, calamondins, tropical ferns, crotons, AVs - anything that will die if dried out.
    I also put my bulbs on wicks successfully: amaryllis after bloom and callas that I put out on the balcony in smallish pots that otherwise would dry out without water-wicks.
    my humidity usually stays around 60% during heating season, and goes up to 70% in warmer season.
    but when i put out my tropical ferns, aralias, crotons outside where we have 85% humidity in summer and 80-90F temps , then they really start growing!

  • katsols
    10 years ago

    wow hankeal thats awesome and i thought i had too many plants haha, i would get more but my apartment gets good light only through two windows, my bedroom and my moms. Another dilemma is how to keep the cat from the plants! if i had so many on the floor i'm pretty sure they would all be nibbled on and i am not giving up my cat OR my plants, some of them are pricey. What worked so far is keeping a separate garden with cat healthy grasses and putting hot pepper oil on the edges of my plant leaves.

  • faerybutterflye
    10 years ago

    Wow Hankeat, that is an AWESOME collection of houseplants! I'm so jealous! If I had the space & proper lighting in the house, I would probably have that many, as well! But alas, I do not! Great pics & great collection! Thanks for sharing! :)

  • Sugi_C (Las Vegas, NV)
    10 years ago

    I think this has just become my favorite thread on GW. Awesome setups and serious dedication....and real estate devoted to the plants!

    And with that, I no longer feel like a hopeless addict.

    Unfortunately, now I feel like I need more plants.

    Beautiful photos, everyone!

    Grace

  • bedtime
    10 years ago

    petrushka,

    "my other plants like schefflera... declined due to low humidity and problems with watering."

    My schefflera is one of my best performing plants. The house runs at about 25 - 40% humidity, rarely going over 45% and have never seen it exceed 50%. Was your scheff an amate? The pic below is my schefflera amate solei and I've found it to be a tough plant that has taken anything I've thrown at it. I water when the top 2" get dry. I turn the plant when the leaves start going in one direction. Had no bugs. I've never sprayed. I just heavily mist 2-3 times daily. I even put this plant out in full sun (no clouds) for 8 hours yesterday, no transition, and its been growing like gangbusters. People say don't put this plant in full sun but I have to go with my gut and it looks to be thriving to me. I can see visually this plant growing by the day. My only issue is with very very strong winds on the balcony but the plant has been getting more rigid and so I'm sure it'll be okay in a few okay and take any winds. These things survive hurricanes so I have hope!

    I call this plant, 'monster', cus it's a beast and can't be killed, lol. Anyways, I thought I'd mention it because it's such a beautiful plant and maybe there is hope.

  • petrushka (7b)
    10 years ago

    i didn't go into the specifics of each plant decline - after 20 years it's a longish list, even though i think i have slowly grown 10 green thumbs ;) , but always reaching for more:).
    that particular scheflera happened to me about...21 years ago. it did very well for sev years and then got terminal scale 'cause i let it dry out and wasn't feeding it AND wasn't repotting it..:0) . just then i was terminally busy moving to a rather dark apt and could not take many plants - so it met it's maker!
    it's one of the easiest and most robust plants. in florida they grow in full sun. in florida ficuses grow in full sun too. however, most tropicals for house use are grown in nurseries under diff conditions, mostly for HOUSE use and lower light levels. of course you can accustom it to a better light. plus you are quite far north - so the sun is much less intense at the moment. i do suggest noon shade for hottest months of july-aug.
    yours looks really good. but it'll outgrow the pot shortly!
    i am very short on space now and try not to buy fast growing plants that are also large - otherwise i'd have it. i ALMOST got a dwarf white variegated one past winter, but controlled myself.
    let's see some pics of your plants on the balcony.

  • rlk237
    10 years ago

    I am new to this forum, just saw this thread, and must say that all of your plant collections are gorgeous! I'm currently in a small condo with a huge overhang and very poor light, so my poor plants are suffering a bit :( I cannot wait to get a big, open, bright place to look like all of yours! You are all an inspiration!!!

    This post was edited by rlk237 on Mon, Apr 29, 13 at 10:57

  • Ljupka Fa
    7 years ago

  • Ljupka Fa
    7 years ago

    part of my plant collection

  • Ljupka Fa
    7 years ago

  • Ljupka Fa
    7 years ago

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    7 years ago

    Very nice. Glad you shared.

    Al

  • chippedchinaplate
    7 years ago

    Nice plants ljupka! I like the brightly colored top dressings you used.

    i lost my two faveorit cactus this summer. :( Yours look nice.

  • Ljupka Fa
    7 years ago

    thanks....before Î had more tropical plants...but after one vacation I have found a lot of them in very poor condition.... I started collecting cacti and succulents. I am indoor gardener more than 25 years ...but still learning.... :)

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    7 years ago

    Aren't we all .........

    Al

  • yiming23
    7 years ago

    Glad to know I am not alone in this crazy obsession of mine. Here is a small corner

  • yiming23
    7 years ago

  • yiming23
    7 years ago

  • yiming23
    7 years ago

    When you only have a small apartment, better use every space you can find!

  • Ljupka Fa
    7 years ago

    there is always space for one more plant pot.....lol ....

  • Ljupka Fa
    7 years ago

    btw you have beautiful plant collection

  • Debra (6a) West Ma.
    7 years ago

    Dacocoa I'm loving your Angel Wing Begonia..Looks wonderful..The light that it's getting is from what direction? Because mine looks not too good.I have it in a sheltered south window. no sun.

  • Jpolk34 (New Orleans, LA, Zone 9B)
    7 years ago

    @hankeat what type of soil mix do you use with your plants? I noticed it looked fairly course and granularly.

  • Ljupka Fa
    7 years ago

    I use potting soil for cacti and succulents.....you can find it at any garden center

  • Dacocoa Paradis
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    @Debra, Sadly I no longer have this plant! I lost it in a move! I absolutely loved it! It was getting morning sun form a semi north eastern window and lots of inderect light from a northern window.

  • rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
    7 years ago

    yiming

    You have great looking plants - and great windows to keep them in! And the containers too. Perhaps you can visit Cacti & succulents forum -here- and post photos of your succulents...May I ask what part of the world do you live in?

    Ljupka Fa

    I see lots of succulents from you too...photos would be welcomed on same forum :)

  • yiming23
    7 years ago

    Rina, I live in vancouver bc. I'm lucky my apartment is all large windows all around


  • rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    yiming

    Thank you for responding. I see great window space, and like how you suspended the 'branch' to hang some of your plants. And other container (repeating myself!) and the stools-benches they sit on...good taste IMO :) Most of all - great looking plants.

    May I ask what is the plant with yellow flowers or fruit in your first photo?

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