and 2nd favorite

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Third Favorite
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Marquest..Your Stromanth 'trio color' is beautiful. Wish mine looked like yours. Mine is about 1/4 the size as your guy or girl, but intentionally kept underpotted. Seems to do better that way. Here's a pic of two of my favs.

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Your second Calathea is some type of Roseopicta. I cannot keep Roseo's for the life of me.
What size is its pot? It looks big. How long have you had this Cal?

Your third plant, Philodendron 'autumn' is very pretty; I love its planter..So cute.
Does the pot have drainage? If not, hope you put stones on the bottom. Be careful watering.

Your Rhoeo 'oyster' and Peanut Cactus are doing great too. My variegated, purple and silver do fine, but I have trouble overwintering Oyster. I think it needs more humidity than its purple cousin.

Here are pics of Rhoeo 'cuttings,' a second cutting from Oyster, and a Rhoeo 'Golden.'

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Very nice plants, Marquest....Toni

VERY NICE PLANTS to the both of you!

I especially LOVE the Stromanth! Beautiful colors!! Great job!

Mike

Mike, I saw a bunch at HD a while back. Don't know the prices but they were mixed in with other 4"'ers..think they were 3 or 4.99. If I had been looking for one, they'd be unavailable...lol. Toni

Thanks Mike I love Stromanth the colors are great. I have had it for 2 years.

Toni, I love that Rhoeo 'Golden, I have not seen that one. The plant behind your trio I have killed twice. LOL Your plants are beautiful.

The second plant I posted is Calathea Dottie. It was huge you could not see the pot last year by the end of summer all the leaves were gone.. I brought the pot inside thinking I would use the pot and forgot about it. In March I saw signs of life. It played dead for the winter months. LOL

No, the chicken pot does not have drain holes. I do the unthinkable "I use pots without drainage most of the time". It works for me. I know how much water to put in the pot. I use to kill plants all the time since I grow them with no drainage I do not kill them now. Strange I know but as I said it works for me.

It has grown so much with no drainage I had to put it in a bigger pot.

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Marquest..your plants are beautiful, too.
Is there a D. Marginata growing inside the same pot as your Philodendron?

Here are a few other Cals, I have...some were outside too long, and the nights have been cold..very cold..But sometimes they play opposium, so it's best to overwinter them...most times than not, they start growing.

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Marquest. I too have plants, including succulents in pots w/o drainage. Some have been inside these pots for years..
As long as we know when to water, there's no problem growing w/o drainage holes..Toni

Gee Toni you are good with Cals. I usually kill them.

If you have been into houseplants as long as we have you can grow them w/o drainage. It works for me because I am not a over water my plants are happy to have some water to grab at the bottom of the pot. I am on the road and not home most of the time.

You have a good eye. It is the Tricolor Dracaena. I had to re-pot both the plants so they went in the same pot again w/o drainage. Another thing I do is double and triple up and let them all fight for the water in the bottom.

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Thanks Marquest, but the Cals I've posted have been nice. I lost a few over the years, some beautiful, including one called Tiger..

Your combo is very nice-looking. Wonder how it'll look when the marginata grows taller. If you set in medium-bright light, the marginata, which endures more sun than the Philo, will shade enough so philo won't burn.

However, your Philo is a climber..it might cuddle with the Marginata's cane..lol..Toni

I travel to a lot of tropical locations for my job and I saw these two plants together in Puerto Rico it was so pretty I hope it looks as good for me in the pot.

Do you run a humidifier to keep your Cals so pretty? I do not have to much problem with dryness in the winter because I have steam heat but I still murder my fair share of Cals and I love them.

Marquest, you have some job!!! lol..Going to tropical places and viewing their plants and birds! I'm a bird lover, too. :)

Is it legal bringing plants back or is that a no-no?
What is the pretties plant you've ever seen? The largest? What about flowering plants, anything unusual?
You said you saw the Philo/Dracaena combo in PR. Approximately, what height and diameter trunk?' (Marginata)
What about the Philo?

Marquest, I run two humidifers as soon as heat is turned on and until it's off for good..one upstairs, 'bedroom/bahroom' and one on the main floor. I also place Cals (and other humidity-loving plants) on saucers w/pebbles. Daily misting, and weekly or every other week, hosing in the sink. I also fill the kitchen sink with water and a couple drops dish soap. Set Cals inside the water..'warm water.' They soak until the top of soil is wet. While plants are soaking, it's a good time to inspect leaves for insects, and/or cut/trim brown growth. Cals are then air dried, then put back in their winter spot.
One other thing I do, about once a wk. I fill pots of water, place on stove, let boil until windows are so steamed you could write your name on the panes. lol.

Oh, I also have a few hygrometers. When humidity drops, that's when I boil water.

BTW, except for the humidifer, all other things I do are temporary. Still, it's worth it.

When your Cals brown, is the brown crispy or soft? Toni
You're so lucky you have steam heat. A friend lived in her mothers building. It had a huge radiator before front windows, south exposure. The radiator was at least 12' wide. One day, she and I set trays on top of this radiator, stones inside the trays, water. then placed tropicals on top of the stones. Most windows faced south, plus an additional two windows off the sides, facing east and west. Are you familiar with Asparagus Fern? They can't tolerate hot, dry, stale air. You should have seen hers. It was the largest and deepest green I'd ever seen. It hung before the radiator, its fronds grew several feet side-ways and just above the floor. She also had a Rubber Tree, same room, that grew up and around the ceiling. Its leaves were gigantic. The sad thing is, in summer, she take it outside, the yard..someone a&& stole it.
sorry, didn't mean to write a book about my friend, lol, my intention was to explain the difference between steam heat and other types of heating sorces.

Keep a sprayer available. Spray leaves when you're home.

Yes it is illegal to bring plants back, But what gets stuck in my cosmetic bag is a mistake. LOL

I am so amazed what tropical plants look like when they are grown on the island. The Dracaena was not all that tall about 5' it was the leaves were so much wider. You know how they are on the very slender side in a pot they were wider like a spiderplant. The leaves on the Philo is what blew me away those leaves were so big they almost looked like Elephant Ears.

Oh your poor friend. That would hurt me so bad to grow a plant that big and someone walked away with it.

I do not have enough time to do a lot of plant babying, I leave out Mondays and come back on Fridays. I am retiring soon so I will be able to do better. Maybe I will go with pots with drainage. LOL

Wow..I am very much jealous!!! What job to have!

:-))))))) Toni, I can't tsp admiring your plants!

Mike

A couple of my favorites too...

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Wow, yellow Clivia & variegated Clivia, really nice.

Nice Show everybody. All of you, thanks for taking the time to post these pix.

Marquest...Oops, look what fell in my suitcase!!?? lol

I could only imagine the difference between tropicals on an island compared to a pot. Probably feels and smells like paradise. Hope that's what heaven is like, and I make it..lol

Since you're rarely home, now is the time to research. Choose types you like, and feel capable of raising.
Google or get plant books. If you don't want to buy books, borrow from the library. Get two or three.
By the time you retire, you'll have a pretty good idea which plants are for you.

Mike, beautiful. Your Philos are perfect..no brown edges, colors vivid.
Your Gardenia is so pretty, too.
And that clivia, my God! Yellow flowered varieties are amazing.
All your plants look great..How long have you had the Cordyline? If this is the first year; good luck over-wintering. You never now, maybe it won't be a major problem for you. Toni

Mike thanks for posting those beauties. I am so jealous of the all your plants. Mine look like orphans compared to your's and Toni. Of course they are orphans they only see me once a week sometimes not even then. LOL

Trust me my job is not a dream it is more like a nightmare. You get up at 3 am in the morning to catch a 7 am plane. You get dressed at 3 am to get undressed at the airport so people can feel you up because you could be a terrorist. You arrive at your destination 8 hours later that should have taken 1 hour. After all that punishment you have to wait for the luggage they lost that they charged you 25 bucks to check.

Now you have to report to work with clothes you have had on for 14 hrs while they look for your luggage. They look at you like it is all your fault for expecting them to know where your cloths landed. They lost my bags on a direct flight home once they are not smart enough to get the luggage from the gate and on to one plane. When they found my luggage they delivrered them to my neighbor down the street, She was nice enough to roll my luggage to my door she said she stepped out her door and there was my luggage on her porch. My addy was 140 her addy was 129. How could they mistake 129 for 140?

Sorry for the complaining but back to the plants. LOL

What we buy as houseplants they think of as weeds. I have picked up their weeds in the garbage, some they pull up and throw them on the walk. I have many succulents and cactus that were throw aways. They really travel well in cosmetic bags. LOL

Marquest:

I happen to think the ones you posted are very different and very colorful, in fact very healthy..

I can not beleive the schedule you have, and yet still find time to keep your plants nice and figure them out..
Did you know that I own a house in P.R? Oh yes, where I wish I could bring all my plants down with me and just grow them there..
Everytime I go, I wish I could bring them home with me too, but the thought of torturing with these stupid cold dry winter them makes me leave them behind...

One time I accidently brought home a "Coqui frog" in my luggage, and called the the forest management to report it..It is illegal to purposely bring them here for pets..They said to do all I could for it since it has left the country..I kept it alive for 7 years...

Toni, you always notice the xtra plants in the backround..Thank you for your kind words..Your plants are all so beautiful too..

PG, thank you for your kind words too..

Mike..:-)

Marquest, now that you explained your day, maybe it's not so exciting. (: And when did the airlines start charging for luggage?

3am is rather early. I'd be a zombie, lol.
Your terrorist comment is funny, but sad. It's too bad we live on a planet where violent, insane people deem bombs, toys. In the meantime, because of their ignorance, other ppl have to suffer. Still, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
I prefer land anyway, too bad cars won't drive on water, huh? lol

Are you allowed to stay in one place more than a day?
129---140..Yeah, I can see how they made this mistake. NOT!

I've thought about that too..what other contries consider weeds, we can't wait to get hold of one, and often pay dearly..
Wonder if anyone is interested in Dandilions?? Maybe we can start a business, sell Dandy's overseas? lol

Marquest, I have a question you might be able to answer. There's a plant I want..the problem is location. Seller says she lives in, Borneo Malaysia. Aren't they two different countries? And far from each other?
But let's say it's Malaysia.. Shipping is 8.5 pounds. Do you know how to convert 8.5 pounds to USD? If so, what is the answer?

Now that math time is over, let's talk plants..lol

Mike..When I look at a picture of plants, I study the entire photo. Background, sides, etc..lol. Never know what you'll find..lol..
One reason I miss real cameras that take instant pics. You wouldn't believe the number of plant pics I have..lol..It's nice going back. Finding a plant long gone, an old pot, knick-knack, furniture, etc.
Besides, I love looking at others' plants..lol..Toni

Mike that is nice to have a house in PR. Do you go often to visit? My trips involves Arecibo, Baranquittas, and Ramey by the army base. If you are near Ramey maybe you can tell me if the Marriot they were building is finished yet? I stay at the Marriot San Juan when I am there.

Toni, It looks like right now 1.00 U.S. dollar would be 3.10 MYR. go here type in the amount and it will give you the daily exchange rate.
http://coinmill.com/MYR_USD.html#USD=1.00

The only time I have gone out of the country to islands is when I go on vacation. For work it is US territory I do Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and St Thomas Virgin Islands.

They started charging you to check your luggage about a year ago. They started with one free and 25 each after that. They got greedy and started charging to check any luggage.

Mike can probably tell you how the Elephant ears grow there like weeds and people pull them out. I got a purple stem bulb EE that was laying on the ground that had been pulled out. It would be great if we could sell dandilions.
LOL

Here are some pics I to

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ok at Barranquitas of stuff not planted growing in the wild.

Marquest. Thanks for the converter site, but I'm doing something wrong..lol..when I type 8.50 amount comes up 2.74.
Are Malaysian Ringgits the same as Pounds? I've written the seller four times..

Well, at least you're heading to places with beautiful weather when you travel. What if you had to go to Alaska or North Pole? lol..wake 3am, aggrivation, land, lost luggage, freeze.

Yeah, poor airlines..they need money..I'm going to cry..get the violins. sheesh!

Speaking of flying. I was in the yard this afternoon..Two jet fighters were cruising the skies. Then, on the 5 o'clock news, there was mention of a man who posed as a luggage carrier. He had no ID badge..Someone questioned him, and he took off running. That's all I know so far, but it makes one wonder. Scary world.

Back to plants, WOW. Don't recognize the tree, but look at those Elephant's Ears. My measly little guy grows, but everytime a new leaf grows, one dies. I don't want to plant in the garden, in case it decides to grow large..where does it then go? lol
Here's a pic of mine..Don't laugh..lol

Colocasia

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Alocasia

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Yep, think of all the plants/weeds..Orchids. Clivias. Two plants that can run us a couple thousand dollars. USD. lol

How did that happen I put 8.50 in and pressed convert and it comes up 26.01. No I do not think it is the same as pounds.

Your EE's are gorgeous. Girl you are the plant lady. I have a heck of a time with that African Mask so far knock on wood cross fingers it makes it lives through this winter. I kept it alive last winter I was shocked.

We had a meeting in Alaska. That was strange not to see night. It was warm so I would not have froze if they lost my luggage. I always try to travel with one extra outfit in my computer bag but sometime it can take them two days to find your bag and who knows where they deliver it to when they find the darn thing.

I am so happy to be winding down I will be retired in 6 months not a minute too soon. It is getting crazy out there. It use to be fun to do a OJ running through the airports it is not fun anymore.