I put this together for a friend who never leaves the house except when I take him to the store. He liked the idea of a bucket, very masculine. He's got a west-facing covered porch for summer and west windows available for winter. This idea came to me when I found myself indecisive about a particular plant to pot up for him. Then some combos started to sound good and then it occurred to me that since I visit once per week, I can make it an experiment. This plant will only be watered on Friday evening when I visit. At home, I'm always convinced most of my plants need water at least twice that often. Maybe they do, but I think I will find that my plants are comparatively overwatered even though I currently think they are not. (Maybe I need more annuals to deadhead.) And yes, I will tell him about the experiment so he can comply and not feel responsible for any casualties.

In extreme-drainage mix of mostly mulch, all fast-growers that would rather be skipped than overwatered, Sans, plain green spider, Tradescantia zebrina, Callisia fragrans, Dracaena marginata 'tricolor, and 2 cane Begonias. I'm sure all of it will grow fast enough to be extremely entertaining for him but eventually some will be crowding others.

So... who do you think will win? My money's on the Callisia since even if the Sans pushes it out of the pot, it will keep growing as long as 1 root stays near the pot.

As a caption, I might say "Jane Doe worried she might be taking square foot gardening a bit too far..."

Al

Win in what, speed of growth?

Whatever competition they're in I think there will be trouble w/ incompatible watering needs. Tradescantia needs much more water than Sans.

PG, I was asking for jokes. The picture is the punchline. Make fun of it! The question about who will win, I mean who will take over this pot? Which plant? Sounds like you cast a vote for Tradescantia to lose.

I am sometimes overwhelmed with curiosity and strange ideas. What in the world will this look like in a year? I'm not trying to grow the best of each of these plants in the same pot together. I've got healthy mamas of these plants all over the place. I just want to see what happens in this odd orgy pot.

Another caption:
The stoner heard there was "jungle pot" and was extremely disappointed to find this.

Thanks for the updates! Who are you think is the current winner?

Planto

What a view! House and sky photo. Beautiful. The sky is so blue.
Since I don't know the direction, was the pic taken a.m. or p.m.?

Seems the WJ won, Cal coming in second. You've created an amazing planter..plants look fantastic.

Thanks, Toni! My friend said he enjoys seeing it going in/out the door.

Planto

Planto...I know some people take Sans outside during summer, but mine stay indoors..I fear leaves will burn in shade.
A similar experience happened with several Orchids, 'Phaels' I once placed outdoors..in extreme shade. Every single leaf turned red then fell off. And when I say shade, I mean shade. :)

Anyone know if Sans were accustomed to being outside, would foliage grow faster? Potted Sans that are wintered indoors..not Sans grown in their native land.

Toni, most summers for about 20 years, I've put my Sans (trifasciata) outside in mostly shade and have never had a sunburned leaf. Mostly sun last summer, full sun this year, no sunburn. Used to be one mama plant that I split in two and each half has made 8-12 new pups this summer. One half outgrew its' pot within a few weeks so I put it in a 5-gallon bucket. The other one is in a larger size hanging basket pot (not hanging) and it's pushed the pot out of round. Absolutely will have to be split again next spring before it cracks that pot.

The new one with gold sides that I got this spring I put in the sun right away. No sunburn, 2 new pups.

Planto, I don't understand why one night of 50 degrees would cause any harm to your plant. It's been down to about 38 a couple nights here in the past couple weeks, but about 45 usually. These are some of the toughest plants around, one of the last I bring in, right to the edge of frost, when it's that time.

Don't know why this came out so dark, it's a beautiful, sunny day. The two tallest sections were the original part of this pot this spring, the rest has grown since then.

Planto

Problem is, how do you know which Sans can be summered outdoors w/o burning?

How much shade do you consider, 'shady?'
Is S. trifasciata the only Sans you'd set outside?

I forgot. I have one hanging Sans, 'when purchased, thought it was Aloe,' that is summered outdoors, in sun. Leaves don't burn.
Like most Sans, 'at least mine,' are slow-growing.
During winter they're set in an east window, about 8' from south, and a little artificial light at night during winter.

Planto, I agree with Purple about Sans and cooler temps. As long as soil isn't kept wet/muddy, they'll adapt to 32F degree nights, although I wouldn't keep Sans outside in freezing temps for prolonged periods.

How moist was the soil while your Sans were outside?

I never had an issue with mine burning by the way. It received morning sun (up until say 11 am) and never burned... just turned to mush!

Planto

It will be tough to convince my Dad to let my Mom's get dry enough, especially since it will be in her garage at night but out in the warm sunshine during the day. My Dad's really sick and it makes him feel helpful to water the plants, one of the few things he can do anymore. If it doesn't work out, I'll refill the pot for her in the spring.

Toni, sorry, I don't know what kind these other Sans are. Just little things from WM. I know there are a bunch of different ones available out there...

I think Sans get the "low light" reputation because they can take it, not because that's their milieu in nature.

I'd call a spot shady, house plant-wise, that doesn't get any direct sun except the first and/or last hour of the day, or none at all.

I know this plant needs repotting but a couple things are making me wait until spring. Mainly that it needs to be split up and I don't want to make MORE pots right now. And I'm out of potting stuff and would rather wait until the stores are selling the bags I want in the spring, the only other choice at the moment would be "potting soil." Hope it agrees with my decision to wait.

Same plant from a different side. The bottles of water are all ready to host Coleus cuttings.

Planto

Planto

Planto

Can you tell me more about the mix you used? I made up mixes with bark and would like to hear what you used. Plants look good..

Please do me a favor..once buds open, will you take a whiff, check for fragrance?

Some swear Sans flowers are fragrant, others say they can't detect a scent.
One person said flowers stink, others say they're sweet-smelling. I'm curious.

All the years my Sans never once budded/bloomed.

If all is well next year, think I'll place Sans on the side of the house where Hoyas are usually summered..Hoyas are not getting enough light in that spot, so, maybe it'd be sufficient for Sans.
I believe that area gets, 'maybe,' an hour of direct, west sun..
The top of the shelves get quite a bit more light, maybe too much for Sans?
Enough sun for Hoyas to bloom. Too much maybe?

Obviously, there are different Sans shades..The leaves of your Sans are extremely light..opposite of those I've seen..I like. Wonder if being outside has something to do with it?
Do leaves darken once indoors?

To answer your question, first I must ask, are you a store-bought-only ingredients person for potted plants, or are you amenable to the idea of a more wild and natural mix? I think you said you have a compost pile...?

Toni, this flower is from May, already gone, but yes, extremely fragrant (pleasant to me) both times it's happened. I do think lots of direct sun makes the pups on this plant lighter-colored. The older leaves are darker. Until I started putting it in significant amounts of sun the past couple years, it never grew any leaves like this, mostly light. Do you think it is different from Sans you have? I think it's just the regular one I see at stores all the time, seems like the most common one to me, just more sun on my particular plants. My Mom says this has probably been in the family at least 80 years, give or take a few. I'm glad to be the keeper of it for the past couple decades.

Planto

-FPT

Planto, yes it's been passed down from my great-grandma. I've repotted it occasionally and removed ugly, damaged leaves, but it never grew much in dark corners and total shade when outside. I don't really know how to answer that question. This is the original pot I was given, but are any of the molecules/atoms in this pot 80 years old? I doubt it. If any of the leaves were that old, they're not still on the original roots anymore. As of this year, when I removed the last of the older, darker leaves, I'm pretty sure all of the leaves are only a few years old. I speak of it as a single entity but it's now in 2 pots here with me, and several other pots of newly propagated leaves/pups, and many individuals given away this year. This reminds me of this discussion from last year.

MasterG, that's very similar to what I do. I use mostly mulch that's already aged well, compost and leaf mold from my piles, a very small amount of bagged top soil if it seems too dry, maybe some bagged manure if I think it needs it. It's the least expensive stuff I've found that's acceptable to the plants, but it doesn't last long. About a year is the longest possible with this since it breaks down into mud. I dump these pots into flower/veggie beds, so I don't use perlite or peat, which would exacerbate the dryness of the sandy soil here and I don't like the look of those white bits of perlite.

BTW, Callisia fragrans is starting to make flower stalks again.

reading this reminded me that you said you wrote me an email back in November, but I never received it, so I wasn't ignoring you. I'm so forgetful I kept forgetting to ask you about that.

-FPT

I've never seen a Callisia fragrans do this, but am just coming up on 2 years of having this plant...

It is because of you that I got this plant a few weeks ago and it arrived half dead. Well, it's one tough cookie, because it's exploding in growth and soon I hope to see the flowers you speak of!

Now, as for this thread, I've been watching and appreciate how you follow through with it. I think the Callisias will win..lol

Mike

Mike, no doubt, a little trip through the mail wouldn't even phase this plant, just make it more determined. I just sent some to Hawaii yesterday, will let you know how that went. Hope she heeds my warning about keeping it off of the ground. Very soon you'll be telling us about how this plant is trying to invade other pots...

So, heart-leaf Philo and cane Begonia are probably not as well suited to this grouping, but they are still alive in there. Plain green spider is becoming overwhelmed also, but has the potential to shoot out babies to expose itself more.

Glad y'all are having fun with this along with me and my friend who owns this now! Next Monday I'll get rid of some of the dead leaves to let more light on the other, smaller plants...

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! of course lets wait a few months til it warms up, over here in eastern Washington we've been having freezing weather everyday with snow off and on, I'd hate if anything dies cause of it. But I will email you then and we can talk about it more...but of course I have no patience LOL, but I'll wait....

-FPT

But this is a relatively delicate plant in the physical sense. I'm equally sure that during this time the Sans has been quite busy also. It is arguably THE most durable and, factually one of the most brute-strength-enhanced plants people have yet been able to capture in a pot. What other plants will break their pot if they need more space? Anyway, it's been busy under there, preparing a new crop of pups that will soon poke up stiffly, as strong as Paul Bunyan's ox, easily squeezing/lifting other plants out of the way.

The Callisia won't care, having already established colonies in several surrounding counties. I think the Drac can hold on to the bottom of the pot if it needs to, or just grab the Sans and keep making roots. How will the other plants cope? Will they be mushed? Can Philo climb on Sans? Stay tuned... Ha!

I believe that's a stolon the Callisia is pushing out, as I recall it's sort of like a Spider plant stolon, tho' I don't remember exactly. I do seem to recall it starts a baby or pup on the end if I'm not mistaken. I had one some yrs. ago in my bathroom window (frosted glass, west exposure). My Callisia got deep red/burgundy in the center of its main growths when it got a lot of light.

Lookin' good there, we'll have to see what yours does.