Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Conversation >

Advice on conservatory gardening [PICS]

Page: 1 2(3)

19:25 / 28.04.06

tea made from cigarettes + dish soap. + squish them when you see them.

Hadn't heard of the cigarettes thing. Soapy water yes, but they're on the undersides of the leaves - and there're lots of teeny-tiny leaves - so I couldn't just spray the things, I'd have to turn over every individual leaf and spray it individually. I've just read another article which suggests squishing them, but again, they're near-microscopic, and I don't think I'd get them all.

I think I've left it too late: the poor things are looking past it. I think I'm going to have to pull them up and discard them. Which at least gives me the option of putting something else in their pot...

10:29 / 10.05.06

Aphids are pretty much gone - but not before I had to throw out a whole pot of tulips, ivies and winter-flowering pansies that were just too far gone. I'm currently doing routine combings for the little bastards and squashing them when I find 'em.

Anyone know about Spring bulbs? Specifically, whether I can just leave them to die down after flowering and they'll bloom again next year - or whether I have to go through the gubbins of hoiking them up, drying them out and replanting them in Autumn? If I leave them in the ground, will next year's flowering be at all impaired?

Also (and this is probably a really stupid question), I'm planting the last of this Summer's bulbs, and have just filled a pot with calla lily corms. Thing is, it's not immeeediately apparent which way up they're supposed to go. Unlike bulbs, they're a sort of squashy irregular shape with dried wisps on one side. I assumed that was the root side, and planted them wispy side down. I'm not sure if this is right, though. Any Barbe-gardeners able to advise?

10:37 / 10.05.06

Don't leave tulip bulbs in the ground as they get something called 'tulip blight', but daffs are generally ok to be left where they are.

Sorry to butt in with a non-conservatory question, but my next door neighbour has 3 delightful cats. My children adn I love it when they come into my garden, and one cat in particular is affectionate and loves a cuddle. Unfortunately 2 of the cats use the garden as their own toilet. This didn't really bother me all that much before, but I have toddlers who are putting everything they lay their hands on in their mouths, and I'm not that keen on them eating cat faeces. Is there any way I can discourage the cats from shitting in my garden but still come to visit?

14:03 / 10.05.06

Not that I can think of. You could try spreading lion shit on the beds in question...

Do I risk 'tulip blight' even if they're in containers on a roof terrace, and thus relatively pest-free? Or is it more akin to damp?

14:04 / 10.05.06

Mind you, lion faeces probably isn't a great deal better for toddlers than the domestic variety.

14:22 / 10.05.06

Hmm, being bigger it might be harder to cram in their mouths, but I think not. Also I believe it scares cats (and practically everything else with a sense of smell) away though, which is not what I am trying to achieve.

I don't know whehter container tulip bulbs are less at risk of blight, which I believe *is* something to do with dampness; possibly. What I would say is that digging up, drying and storing your bulbs is not too much of an effort, and it does free up the container for other planting.

14:26 / 10.05.06

Well... In my case, I've sort of squeezed bulbs down between perennials (wisteria, jasmine, lavender, a carpeting of ivy) and digging up/replanting is likely to be a bit of a pain in the arse, come Autumn. Maybe not. I did like the Queen of the Night bulbs so much, I might take the trouble. It is gonna be a pain, though.

14:43 / 10.05.06

On the cat thing, there's a whole page of cat repellent products on Crocus. I'm not sure how many might be tailored specifically to cats shitting, though.

17:53 / 02.09.06

Hmm, well, it's been something of a traumatic summer in terms of plantery. The incomparable Ms LaBombe did a fabulous job of looking after conservatory and terrace while we were away in Marrakech; sadly, on returning, we were a bit shit at nursing everything through the subsequent heatwave. It's been an instructive time in terms of what's survived the scorching heat, and what hasn't.

(I'll take pictures tomorrow, if the light's right.)

The passifloras went a bit crispy, but are very resilient and have grown new green side-shoots which are flourishing. The poor Peace Lily is toiling. The palm tree's doing okay, and I've bought a grape vine (grown from a cutting of the famous Black Hamburg vine at Hampton Court) which I plan to pot and train up over the roof to help shade the passifloras and other, more sensitive plants.

While in Marrakech, we visited Yves St Laurent's Majorelle Garden: a dream of cobalt-blue walls around gardens of palms, succulents, cacti and dry heat-loving plants of all descriptions. It was actually really helpful in terms of working out what survives in great heat. Since returning, I've bought more succulents, some Mother-In-Law's Tongue and a couple of aloe vera plants. I'm also unsurprised to see the geraniums, jasmine and honeysuckle flourishing outside, where other plants have died. I've replaced the failing violas with supposedly evergreen rosemary and silver-leaved lavender (both lovely and smelly) and am hoping these will survive the winter.

Success story of the conservatory this year is a yellow/brown odontoglossum orchid I bought last year. After it had flowered, I cut the stems, kept it in a shaded part of the conservatory and made sure it was nice and humid. This year, it grew four new stems which have flowered profusely. Will add pics! It reached its flowery zenith just in time for our post-civil partnership party, and looked luscious in a Victorian brass planter on a tall jardiniere.

Gardeny pleasure of the moment is looking through plant catalogues (online and paper) and deciding which bulbs to order, to plant in time for next Spring...

18:25 / 02.09.06

Flower-porn tomorrow, floraphiles.

20:50 / 03.09.06

'Twas rather overcast by the time I remembered to drag my carcass outside and take photos, and nothing was particularly looking at its best. Oh well, here's my star performer, the twice-bloomed odontoglossum.

(Good God, I must get around to dusting those leaves...)

08:56 / 04.09.06

As I think I said at the time, envy envy envy. I haven't looked after mine as well as you, I think, but it didn't seem worth it when it became so thoroughly infested with aphids so quickly. I think that's why I have better luck with my phalaenopsis - aphids don't seem to like them very much...

Actually, time for a major houseplant overhaul I think. I currently have two phalaenopsis, one of which is one the way out, a small orchid which I overwatered (so that it dropped all its flowers within a week, DUH) but which looks as if it might go again next year, and the big one which doesn't seem to do anything. I live right by a flower market but it specialises in outdoor plants. Any recommendations (we have no outside space)? Which are the plants that are meant to soak up nasty ions (or something) emanating from computers?

Page: 1 2(3)