I was recently on another forum where someone had the idea to ask people who use the forum to post photos of themselves, to get to know everyone. (which is where I got this idea from). I've been on the House Plants forum for about 3 years, I may not comment a lot (still learning about plants) but I do read many posts to learn and to hear of other success with their plants.

I see a lot of the same names on the forum and would like to put a face to the name! :D I was going to find a photo of me with some of my plants but I can't find any, so heres this one. :D

Hi! I'm Ashley

Here is another photo of when I was in Greece, a little over a year ago. This giant
flowering bush/tree? was so pretty I had to get a photo! :D If anyone knows what it is, let me know!

I hope to hear from everyone soon!

Ashley

Christopher

Hi Christopher, thanks for the ID and for letting me know that they're poisonous. Yikes, I had no idea. :D

Ashley

You are brave!

For those of us that may think that some will use us as dart practice, it is safer to this way...lol

You must have a facebook too? I don't even have that.

Nice pics.....:-)

Thanks
Ashley

Seems like as time goes by, citrus are becoming my number one plant to possess...:-)

They use to be a challange for me.
Not any more though.
You are right, so many here have really steered me personally in the right direction, to be very successful with them. To be honest, I can just about grow anything I have always wanted to grow without killing it now...

You should try the blood orange!
I have couple orange trees myself, up here in New England, and they are alot of fun to grow, besides smell great when in bloom, and look great with or without them.

This I will tell you, if you have the perfect enviroment, BRIGHT diffused light, and consistancy in temps, they will do AWSOME! But if you can not do this, but get as close as possible, they will still do great.If you can summer them outdoors, even better.

The main thing that I learned from these forums, is that the soiless mix you provide for any plant is of number one concern, then everything else can follow..The container forums has been the best foundation for everything else that I learn here..
Check it out..

You would be suprised how much you can grow anywhere, as long as the roots of a plant are happy..

Avacado trees? I tried one before and failed, but not since I have been learning from here. Always wanted to start one from seed, but never got around to it..

Mike

I've been on the container forum as well and have gotten great help from Al on soil and other topics.

I want to start my avacado from seed, too! :) I think that I will start in a couple of weeks when I have less on my plate and more time to enjoy my gardening. May I ask, what else you plant? Do you have any photos you can share of your trees?

I have tons of house plants and want to add to my collection. Its an addiction. ;) I am now looking for Hoyas (for their fragrance and beautiful flowers) succulents, bromeliads and more. Oh, lso trees but I am unsure of house trees other than a ficus. But as I take it from you, there are many trees that can be in the house.

Gah, sorry about all the questions! I just love finding out what others are interested in and their success with plants.

Let's start a thread on the "citrus forums".
Your own thread...
You start it with the same questions, and then we can help others that are hesitant to bother growing them too.
Also we can get different members to chime in at the same time. Many there have amazing success stories and loads of great ideas...:-)
Some may even have started from seed and defy all odds..
I never start mine from seed though.
It can take years if at all for them to blossom that way.
I do get lots of fruit, even here..
I will say that Al gets all the credit for making it possible for me, while I will take some credit for listening...

I do get mine from a couple of different resources. Some sell grafted, some sell cuttings which grow alot better for us folks up here in the north if your looking for fruit and blooms.

Hop over there, and I will be very happy to help you on this one...:-0) Deal?

If you find that going there doesn't help, then I will help you succeed outside the forums..

Mike

Here's one, to the bottom left of the pic. I found it growing along with some basil beneath a big tomatillo bush.

Josh

Avocados are very easy to start in a cup of water, and will grow well indoors for a while, but if you are in a northern clime and have to grow them indoors, they tend to get brown leaf tips from the heating in the house, and get lanky. In my personal experience, I have grown them as a temporary houseplant. Of course in a subtropical climate, they will grow easily outdoors.

This is kaktuskris in Florida this past January.

See you on the citrus forum Mike!

This thread wasn't much of a success but it was worth a try. :D

Happy gardening everyone!
Ashley

Well, I'm in texas so I think that as a houseplant stater the avacado tree would do well but definitley would put it outside in the spring summer and fall. Thanks for the posting a great photo! Its nice to meet you Chris! :)

Ashley

P.s..I think somewhere here on these forums, someone came up with the ideas of photos too, and some posted..Do a search...I swear I saw one a ways back..;-)

I look forward to you having a part on the citrus forums!

Mike

It's just that many of us are lurkers, hermits, et cetera.....I, for one, feel virtually naked without a helmet ;)
I've posted this pic before, which is now several years old....if you wish to know what I look like currently,
simply imagine a fatter and older version of the guy in the pic ;)

Josh

Thanks for the post! What plants do you have? Or like to grow?

I know a lot of people might be hermits etc, but this is a community of them (me included) so with that being said...I would hope that people in this community would treat others with respect. Just a thought. :)

Ashley

Here in New Hampshire you have to grow everything indoors most of the year, so I envy those able to grow their houseplants outdoors. So If I get a chance to go to a place like Florida, I always take back seeds and cuttings to remind me of what I am missing. Texas covers a lot of plant hardiness zones. What is the zone in your area?

Greenman, my pic is from about ten months ago. When is yours from? Like 800 years?

Christopher

I grow Jades mostly, with a couple Aloes, Christmas Cacti, and Hoyas thrown in for good measure....!
I'll have an avocado pretty soon, too ;)

Josh

Josh

This weather is so nice for all our tropicals ha? lol
We can't even get a hot summer anymore. My plants were crying for warm sunny days here in Mass. this year.

Josh, you are funny..lol

Ash, I will see you on the other side...

Ashley,

Hi, I don't think a lot of folks are comfortable posting their pix. Tho' I have seen it done successfully at the Quilting Forum.

Short answer about citrus from seed: "Spit 'em & pit 'em" is what I've been told by friends who belong to a plant society that only grows stuff from pits/seeds from food items (they're called "The Pits"). I've grown tangerine pits & grapefruits tho' not much bigger than a few inches tall.

Why not experiment? Eat some citrus & pot up the seeds, try them in different ways or maybe different mixes. I'm about to try some lemon seeds.

Oh, hey. I have a key lime tree. I think it's a dwarf one, or it's just really pot-bound and small. I tend to underwater it in the winter, and indoors it doesn't get a lot of light anyway, so it usually stops growing and sometimes loses a lot of leaves. When I move it outside in the summer though it leafs back up (and how!) and grows a bunch.

I keep it on my floor and end up stepping in it more than I'd prefer. Not really fun considering it's just a huge ball of thorns. I'd put it up on a table or something if those already weren't completely full of my other plants (like that three-foot-in-diameter pineapple...)

Chris and Mike, whats the weather like up there? Not even a warm summer?

Chris, do you grow anything outside? Since you mostly have to grow indoors, what kind of plants do you have? I live in Dallas, so I think my zone is 7 or 8.

Josh, keep me posted on how your acavado does. Hopefully within the next two weeks I'll get started :) How are your Hoyas? I love them but don't own any yet myself. Its also next on my long long list of plants I want.

I understand Pitrate girl, it was worth a try. Bonus, I've met some really nice people. :) Haha "The Pits" thats wonderful I bet they have a good time. Thanks for the help, I think I will try a couple of different soils and methods. I hope your lemon seeds do well!

And How, Amccour! (ha! makes me think of the show Venture Bros.) Nice to know that the low light conditions indoors doesn't stunt the plant too much so that it can perk up in the summer. Almost any flat surface in my house is taken up by plants as well. Sorry to hear you step on it often. A 3 foot diameter pineapple?! Wow, how did you swing that?

Happy growing everyone!
Ashley

We are warmer than Colorado today. They are in the 20's with 2 feet of snow, Golden Colorado in particular, when they average 60's this time of year..
I will take the mid 50's. All my citrus are back outside for a few days..70's by Sauturday..No summer, but a nice few days for fall coming up!:-)

Happy growing too!

Great photo Josh!

Ashley

Check out Photobucket (I use it myself). Free, no password & the 3rd line of code, when copied into here is what you'd what. When pasted in it looks like gibberish, but if you continue to the Preview, it will appear as a pic, try it!

So far it has rained every weekend in October here in New Hampshire. The summers are variable. Sometimes we get hot summers, but this year and last they had a good amount of rain. I had a community garden plot this year so I grew some vegetables outside. But I mainly grow inside, as my moniker suggests, cacti and succulents. Succulent Euphorbia I have recently become obsessed with. I grow cacti such as cereus, ferocactus, epostoa, opuntia and mammillaria. Also Euphorbia trigona, E. ingens, E. lactea and other Euphorbia, aloe, desert rose from seed, haworthia and fuzzy kalanchoe like panda plant. I like to start fruit seeds as well - just started a carambola seed a few days ago. Sometimes I will buy an exotic fruit just to get the seeds, like a passionfruit.

What succulents and cacti do you see outside in Dallas? I know its colder than Florida but I know you can grow some pretty cool plants outside that people like Mike and I could only dream of growing.

BTW I know a lot of people on the forum use Photobucket, but I use Picasa myself and find it works very well for posting photos.

Christopher

I saw some of the photos of your cactis..

Absolutely amazing! And to think they look so good up here in our area. You certainly have the magic touch with those.

Great job!

Mike

Noticed the thread and decided
it'd be harmless to post a pic.

Hey,..why not?lol

Josh

Someday I just might try and grow one..

P.s..You do mean dig it up and and protect it for the winter, right?..:-)

Mike

Did you come up with some succulents which grow in your area?

Mike, I wish I could grow cacti as well as you think I can. I've had a few losses through overwatering. Do you grow succulents besides jade?

Christopher

That is a nice plant, Josh. Did you dig it up yesterday? How did it go?

Chris, I couldn't find any succulents. Most of the plants are fall flowering plants. I'll post a picture tomorrow of my condo's pool area, there are many platns there. But I have to warn you, I don't know many of the names of the plants but its a beautiful place. Ah Chris, I've killed a cactus from overwatering too. I don't have any Jades yet but again my wish list of plants is long..haha

Ashley

Ashley

Chris, I have yet to grow a succulent other than a Jade:-)
I think I might have one...I will post a pic tommorrow and maybe you can tell me if it is one...
I got the plant I'll post as a gift.
I have always been scared to grow them.;-(
I use to kill everything I grew, not succulents even, with bad watering habits.

I remember going to the flower show in Boston before learning from here and the container forums, and "staring" at so many of them for hours, wishing I knew how to care for these. Some can be quite intriguing looking!

I might be able to grow them now, since I have got my watering practices much better, and my soiless mixes compliment the kind of care they need.

I am almost tempted to buy one..

Do you know where to get some nice ones around here?
The ones at the local nursery are so expensive, and the ones at Home Depot look they they need some work..
I do have doors ones, or are they called hens and chicks..lol

Great weather ha, for now...

Mike

If you want to play w/ succulents, I'd suggest the cheap Home Depot ones (which you referred to as 'needing work'). This way if you kill 'em, they're cheapies & if you can figure out the delivery schedule of your local HD, you can try to buy them the day they arrive, that is to say BEFORE they have a chance to drown them by overwatering. I'd advise against nursery plants 'til you've had a few easy succulents.

Easy succulents to start w/ that can do fine in lower light/semi-shade other than Snake plants (hey, why not start there?), would be Haworthias & Gasterias & some Kalanchoes (not the one that Florists sell in bloom).

I'd stay away from Aloes & Euphorbias to start, they need LOTS of light.

Great idea, and thanks sooo much for your ideas...

John, thanks for bringing up that up! GREAT ADVICE

Practice makes perfect definately in this case I see..;-)

"I just looked at your hoyas! WOW such beautiful plants. I love Hoyas but have just been recently introduced to them. How have they grown since the last photos of the blooms?"
- Thanks! They've all grown very well!
- During the summer, I hung the "Pink Silver" in a maple tree. At first it was a bit too much sun, and the leaves yellowed and took on hints of red. So it was moved lower into the shade of the maple, and the interesting "splashes" on the leaves returned...along with tons of new growth.

Josh

I'm glad to hear that your plant recovered from the sun. That happened to some of my pothos but they've recovered as well. :)

Ashley

Mike, saw your succulent on the CS forum which was identified as a type of monadenium. Nice plant, with very nice caudex. I bought a Monadenium schubei recently, which almost looks like a green crown of thorns, and looks nothing like your Monadenium.

A good place to buy cacti and succulents in New England? Don't think there are any. I saw some nice ones at Kane's Flower World in Danvers(?) and sometimes a local greenhouse will have some, at a premium price, and sometimes you are lucky and find a prize at the "big box stores". But once you buy one or two, usually you want more.

Christopher

I have a question about watering succulents...I am not sure if all apply to the one that you saw, basically ignoring it and being stingy in the watering department..

Are they all this way?

Can they handle a soil that completely dries out, and a few days more, before watering, without any ill effects?...
Are they like cactus, hardly ever water..?

Seems like with the jades I have, I can let the soil "completely dry out for days, and then water, the plants can take it and do well, living off the water reserves in thier leaves.

For some if you wait to long and the roots dry too much and shrivel, then once watered, a plant can collaspe or develope rot because the roots have dried too much.

I this what this means from PG:...."when in doubt, don't"

How long can succulants go without a drink basically without any harm to it? I suppose watering them and most other plants is a whole different world..

Thanks man! 60's all next week!!! YIPPY!

Courtyard: Aloe Vera and Spider Plant?

Courtyard: begonias and more

Couryard: Is this a type of Aloe?

Courtyard: I'm unsure on the IDs for them but I think the tall read flower is a Hibiscus.

Courtyard: Cactus and other plants

Courtyard: Not sure on the ID for this

The next 3 photos are of my Croton I almost lost last summer in a horrible storm. It got up rooted and the roots were soaked for days. Yikes! When it got knocked over many leaves on the bottom part (which has turned to a type of bark)fell off. Most of the leaves are new growth since the storm.

I need to repot it but not sure how big I should go. Suggestions? Should I seperate the 3 into 3 seperate pots? Or would this damage the root system too much?

Also here is a photo of my begonias with 2 spider plant babies (planted early spring '09) and ground cover (i think) that is taking over!

I need to remove the two spider plants into different pots so they don't get strangled by the other plant. :)

Mike, were in the mid 70's all week. It feels wonderful here. :)

Ashley

That Aloe in the pot could be a real Aloe vera, rather than the impostor commonly sold as A.v.

Yes, the red flower is a Hibiscus.

I think the columnar cactus is a Cereus aethops - a nice one to be sure.

TFS.

Mike, different succulents have different needs, so no general rule works for every one, but "when in doubt, don't" is a good one to keep in mind! In the past, I have not watered some of my cacti all winter, 3 or 4 months or more, because I know if I go back to my addiction of wanting to water, water and water some more, I'm gonna have a pot full of mush! There is a wealth of information on cultural requirements of most any succulent available on the CS forum as well as many internet sources. You also have to take in account variables such as temperature. I now never water my succulents on a cloudy winter's day. Just my opinions, though.

Christopher

Hey johnh I'm a johnh too!

Chris, we are having nice weather. Today will be in the high 70's. Snow sounds nice.

I wasn't sure if the plant in picture 2 and 5 was a desert rose, now that you say plumeria you might be right. I'll have to get a better look at it when I get home. Cereus is night blooming but I've only recently moved into this place so I haven't seen a bloom yet.

Ashley

I am not worrried about overwaterig, since I am ok with that, with my jades and other succulent.

What I needed to know is, that once I feel or know that the pot a succulent is in is "dry", is it ok to go beyond that a few extra days, like bone dry? Is there such a thing as unwatering within a "few days" of a pot drying out?
I definately know a regular tropical or houseplant can't get this far, they wilt and almost never recover once watered....

Hope I didn't ask the same question twice..I think I could of rephrased it to make my point even clearer..

Thanks so much..;-)

I'm not clear on what your question is, but broadly speaking, succulents can be let go to VERY dry, those fat, fleshy leaves hold water, just like you know is the case w/ the Jade leaves.

The important point here (& maybe answers whatever you're asking) is about the general rule of "when in doubt, don't" referring to watering. This is because (again, speaking broadly), succulents can recover far more from underwatering than overwatering. Overwatering succulents tends to lead to rot & mush = death. Too dry CAN be brought back, but not always.

Other important point -- some succulents can withstand a fair amount of cold (like Jades) but only if they're dry. Generally wet & cold tends to = death for succulents.

I think you might be overthinking this a bit.

I will publicly admit to having killed at least several Sans. from UNDERWATERING (over 10 yrs. or so); takes talent, I know >:)

Karen, I read a post you started over 3 years ago on the fragrance forums....I can't believe how far you have come from then. You were just a youngin there..I hope by now you know how to keep a healthy gardenia...:-)

It is amazing at how much we learn here over the years here ha?

I will definately take these suggestions to heart...Someday I might be able to post some healthy succulent pictures after first applying these methods, and hopefully not kill any along the way..;-)

I think I will start with a couple of cheapies at Home Depot....:-)

Mike:-)

And, just for kicks, a little Texas love....Llano style... ;)

This was the only alright recent pic of me after a couple of beers during the celtics game...I don't like pics of me, but I found one..lol

For those of you that I have shared about my bro in the Marines, this is him....Please pray for his safety..Thanks alot!

Hey Mike...What a couple of Good looking men you guys are!! Its very nice to finally meet you and all the rest of people that have posted here!!

Best wishes and SAFE journey for your brother...we are very lucky to have people that are willing to serve for our country. We are very grateful for all of them!

Ashley, this is a great thread, and I agree you are very pretty...this coming from a girl,lol...

Since your subject is decidedly different that the subject of this thread, you might wish to post it on its own - more visits and potential opinions.

Me, on the US Navy Weather Station pier at Point Barrow, AK:

Al

See the heading to this post.

Al

God

Al!lololl

You can't fool me...now where's the real Al?

Hey Mike! Great photos, smile ;) Mmm...Canada Dry, delicious. I hope your bother is safe. He has a big heart for doing what he does for our country. :)

Thanks for the compliment Pug!

Karate, I've only tried a few plants. I'll find the names of them and then head to the water roots forum and post a few with pics! :) See ya there

Al, you crack me up!

Thank you everyone for making this a successful thread! :)

Ashley

Christopher

So much for us to learn from kind knowledagable people like you..It would be even more of a privilege to sit and have a discussion with you...

Thankyou Norma..:-)

Theresa

Norma, it is wonderful to have such a body of wisdom in your person! We are lucky to have you, without question. I hope to learn as much as possible and to transmit both my knowledge and enthusiasm to subsequent generations. As it has been said, Each one Teach one....

Thanks, Ashley! My front deck is my summer retreat...I come home from teaching summer school around three in the afternoon, then I water my plants and enjoy the green shade. Sometimes I read, sometimes I write; and sometimes I even make phone-calls. Soooo relaxing. And, at night, when the Star Jasmine covering the deck-rails is in full bloom, the scent is intoxicating! Like an Arabian courtyard full of mangos and other exotic beauties.

My Money Tree is back indoors now, but it spends most of the summer outside. I wait until the maple leafs out, otherwise the new May sun will blast the leaves off of my Money Tree....I learned that the hard way. I grew this plant from a single leaf...and so it is special to me. From the end of June:

Theresa thanks for the great photo, you have such a kind face. :) 25 years is long, congratulations! I hope you have many more happy years to come!

Josh, such a lovely porch. I love when the sun hits the leaves so there is a green tint to everything, makes for a nice afternoon. I've pruned my money tree a bit and placed a stem in the ground. Lets see if it takes, I've wanted to start Christmas presents for friends. Many of them comment how nice my place looks with so many plants...so I've told them to let me know which ones they like and I'd try my hand at propagation. :)

Its great to see so many wonderful faces and posts! This is such a great group of people I am privileged to get to know.

Ashley

Theresa

What I would do to sit there on a quiet morning and have a nice cup of coffee..I bet birds frequent that place too, oh wait, unless they see you cat!..lol

Great work Josh...Thanks for sharing!

Have a great day

You are right...many a bird hath met its end here...
My cats are criminals. They left me a bird on the doormat two days ago. A nice little bird, too. I wish they would only hunt the blue jays that scream outside my window in the morning...and the woodpeckers and the magpies...

Ashley, good luck with the Money Tree! They can be fickle at times, but overall I think they're worth it. Let me know how your rooting goes, as I'd like to propagate the same way. I know they can be grown from a single leaf, in a cup of soil without drainage....but that takes a long time to produce a plant of good size. I'd like to root larger cuttings if possible - which really means that I'd like to behead my plant to make it more squat and compact, as well as grow the healthy tip-cutting into a new plant.

Oh, almost forgot! I dug the avocado out of the garden finally! I'm not sure if it will survive, but I have my fingers crossed. Half of the avocado seed fell off the roots, so it's going to be a gamble. I also noticed how woody the avocado's roots are - not a lot of fine root hairs to be seen. And I noticed - when I pruned the tap-root - that the roots have a pleasant, faintly spicy smell to them.

I have pics of the process to sort and upload. Should I post them in the Houseplant Forum? Something like, Converting Avocado to Houseplant? Or I can e-mail the pics directly.

Josh

Josh, Glad to hear you got around to getting the avacado out of the ground but sorry to hear that its a little unstable right now. Hope for the best! Spicey scent, you say. Hmm...interesting. I'd love to see the pictures! :) You can do either! If you want to share with others post but you can just email me as well if you like. I've added that feature to my profile so if you can't get it let me know.

I also want to prune my money tree, it went through a somewhat dormant period when I repotted it and now its shot up. So now parts of the stems are bare and I've been thinking about cutting off all the new top growth, tying to root those and see if the mother plant will grow a little more bushy. I'll keep you up dated on the progess!

Ashley