Clear Glass Hydro Spider

Click to enlarge This is the same hydroculture setup as the recycled cans. The clear glass vase from IKEA is a bit more elegant however. It's not bad for two dollars. It was a last one “asis” item. There are more planters from IKEA to come in future posts.

Comment on Comments

Your comments are still most welcome but I reluctantly removed the “Most Recent Comments” section. Removal of comment and trackback ping spam is a daily battle. If I’m not extra careful, the software will remove valid comments. I can repost them but the recent comments feature made things more complicated so I removed it.

An Era Coming to an End

Being both an architectural preservationist and a marketing professional, I have mixed emotions about the news from Rentokil Initial. They will be moving their headquarters from this beautiful old mansion to a new downtown London location.

This is the first decision by Doug Flynn, their new CEO that has made the news since he moved into his new job the first of the month. I can’t help but wonder how long time employees reacted to the news. As is heard so often in corporate corridors, “ever onward and upward”. Bah, humbug!

I wonder if Kenneth Freeman, creator of the plants-in-buildings website, will have to change this photo. Would it work to title it “former headquarters” so we can at least preserve the building in virtual reality

Bring the Outside In

Some good advice here other than this.

Wagner said that most plants tend to get over-watered, so it’s important to only water when the soil feels dry to the touch. Each plant is sold with a care tag, and there’s always the Internet, Wagner said.

Houseplant care advice on the Internet is terrible. One needs to be very knowledgeable to separate science from mythology. The houseplant forums are particularly bad.

U.S. extension program websites should be good sources, but they’re not. Many I’ve read are sophomoric in both content and writing style. My guess is that many are written by so-called master gardener volunteers or interns. I don’t know of one extension program website with 21st century houseplant advice. That’s particularly sad since they are supported by our taxes. Let us know if you know of one.

I regularly get medical advice on the internet from well-known reputable websites supported by recognized medical institutions. I have also solved computer problems with help from Microsoft MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals) on public newsgroups. Sadly there is nothing comparable to this regarding houseplants.

The best houseplant care advice I know about is right here. If you disagree, please feel free to tell us all.

Tired Spathiphyllum Update

Click to enlarge The Spathiphyllum hydro-conversion was showing signs of severe wilt and a few yellow leaves so I unpotted it. What I did at the kitchen sink would be highly impractical for a soil-based plant. First, there was no mess. None!

I just carefully dumped the whole thing out into a plastic utility container. Three yellow leaves were trimmed. I inspected the roots of each of the five plants. There was a minimal amount of root tissue decay, which I removed. I also trimmed some of the longer roots before reinstalling the plants back in the clay pellets.

This is still a trial and error learning process but what I did was simple to do and took very little time. I didn't have time to take pictures. Perhaps next time I will.

Observations: There were signs of new root formation on each of the plants. I believe I had too much water in the containers and probably too much fluorescent light at this stage of the recovery process. I'll report progress again in the next week or so.

Latest Gardening Survey

The results of the most recent survey conducted for the National Gardening Association are not a positive indicator for the inside plants business. USDA figures for foliage plant production indicate a stagnant market. Now it appears that the bull market in outdoor gardening peaked and is in decline. I believe there is a direct correlation to both the houseplants and interior plantscaping markets.

The survey indicates a 4% decrease in sales between 2004 and 2003. Consumers spent a total of $36.8 billion on their lawns and gardens in 2004 compared with $38.4 billion in 2003, a decline of $1.6 billion. This was the second consecutive year that nationwide sales of consumer lawn and garden products have stayed at about the same level, compared to the $39.6 billion spent in 2002 - the last time consumer lawn and garden sales showed a significant increase.

Wilde about Wyevale

This publicity about Kim Wilde and Wyevale Garden Centres in the UK sparked an interest to explore their website.

My impression based on a virtual exploration is that we have nothing like Wyevale here in the US. It is a public company and obviously not narrowly defined as a horticultural business.

Wyevale reads like a company in the business of business. On the surface, the business is gardening. If you read further, however, you’ll discover they are really in the family entertainment business. I look forward to visiting a Wyevale Garden Centre in the future.

Wyevale has long recognised that not everyone who has a garden is a keen gardener or shares the same horticultural knowledge and passion that the enthusiastic gardener has, so we cater for everyone from the specialist horticulturist, organic gardener and vegetable gardener to the complete novice with carefully selected ranges to suit different needs and budgets. From ready-to-use chemicals, compost, gardening books, starter kits and easy-to-grow plants to state of the art tools and specialist equipment, you will find it all at Wyevale.

Most Wyevale Garden Centres have pet shops and aquatics centres where you can find a wide range of top-name pet equipment, food and accessories for your furry and feathered friends. Not all pet shops sell livestock though because we do not believe in keeping animals in Centres unless we have the facilities and specialist staff to look after them properly.

And, when the shopping is done, why not take a break and relax with a meal in the Centre's restaurant or coffee shop?

Most Wyevale Garden Centres have either a Conservatory Restaurant or a coffee shop that can offer everything from a refreshing cup of tea and a freshly made cake, to a tasty traditional British meal, from breakfast, through to Sunday lunch with all the trimmings. Look out for special Mothers' Day and Christmas menus too. Just what you need before you start the gardening!

New York Green Scene

Residential green building is on the move in New York. Read on at Greenscaper.

A New Trend in Kolkata

Houseplants are evidently a recent trend in Kolkata (Calcutta). Is Home Depot on the way?

Gardening in houses was not such a familiar sight until a few years ago. Only old mansions could give us some glimpses of the green. Weeds, banyan and pipal saplings filled the cracks of their walls. But now, these old buildings are giving way to trendy highrises. And a new trend is being noticed among city dwellers — gardening in their homes.

PHS Group News

PHS Group news on Greenscaper blog.

New Once-Weekly Posting Schedule

Starting today, my blogs will be published on a weekly schedule. Other projects, including further passive hydroculture research and disposition of my plant lab, have a higher priority. My plan is to return to daily posting at some time in the future when the lab has a new home.

There will be further posting later today.

Hydro Conversion Chamaedorea elegans

Click to enlarge These recently purchased 4" pot size Chamaedorea elegans palms (Neanthe bella or Parlor Palm) turn out to be quite a bit less than 4" plants when unpotted. They're more like 1" diameter root balls as you can see. In any case, they have been converted to hydroculture.

Click to enlarge Here are the individual palm shoots after the soil has been washed off. Please recognize that if these plants were hyped with fertilizer in the grower's production facility they are now water leached and clean. There is no time-release fertilizer to cause harm when the buyer locates the plants in extremely low light.

Click to enlarge The two 4" plants were potted up as one hydroculture plant. The passive hydroculture planter is by Luwasa.

I wouldn't even think of presenting someone with a couple of soil based 4" pot plants as a gift. This hydroculture plant, however, would make a unique gift for someone's office or home. I would, of course, give the newly converted plant time to acclimate to its new hydroculture environment before giving it as a gift.

A green thumb is not required by the recipient. How sensible is that? How neat!

Umbra Toss Can Planter

Click to enlarge A question was asked about this planter. No, it isn't a Lechuza planter. It's actually a toss can (waste basket) by Umbra purchased at The Container Store. It's our favorite planter. It needed just a bit of modification to properly stage the plant. I filled the bottom with plaster of Paris to elevate the grow pot. I also spray painted the inside white to increase the opacity.

Umbra is a Canadian company with a portfolio of well designed products. It's worth the time to explore their website.

Sansevieria survivorous

No, "survivorous" isn't really a species but it could be. Survivor is the word the author used in this well written article about Sansevieria. It's appropriate.

Click to enlarge These Sansevierias have been growing nicely under a sub-irrigation regimen since July 2004. Three of them use only .5 ounces of water per day. The fourth uses .4 ounces per day. That's not much. Can you guess which uses .4 ounces per day?

Click to enlarge Both of the 8" plants were really 6" plants potted up shortly before purchase. This, of course, was concealed at retail and why it's a good idea to inspect roots whenever feasible. Thanks to sub-irrigation they have grown nicely.

Passive Hydroculture Planters

A significant purpose of the Greenscaper Consumer Lab has been the development of new planters. Some of have worked, some not. I think of myself as a new product developer as much as an interior horticulturist.

Click to enlarge I’ve discovered that passive hydroculture is essentially another level of sub-irrigation. Some of my proprietary product ideas are applicable to hydroculture. Here we have a do-it-yourself (DIY) version of a commercial hydroculture planter.

The inner planter is an ordinary grow pot. The key difference between it and the commercial hydro-planter is the lack of a water level indicator. I’ve substituted a clear plastic water level tube (12 o'clock position in the photo) and a pipette for the typical float indicator.

I calculated minimum, optimum and maximum water levels and marked them on a length of clear plastic tubing. Insert the tube (pipette) into the planter water level tube all the way to the bottom. Hold your finger over the pipette top to create a vacuum and lift. The water level is now indicated in the pipette. The vacuum created at the top of the tube holds the water in the tube (pipette).

Click to enlarge The water level tube/pipette method is easy to make and cost effective. You can make a pipette for each planter and leave it in the water level pipe. Alternatively, you can use one pipette as a measuring tool for all planters of the same size. The advantage of the commercial water level indicator is that you can see the water level status at a glance.

Click to enlarge. For me, it is no contest in favor of the DIY planter. You can also use the same setup for soil-based subirrigation. The only change would be the addition of a polyester (batting) “aquapad” dropped into the bottom of the outer cachepot.

Tired Spathiphyllum Hydro Conversion

The original Spathiphyllum plants in the lab range from five to just over 6 years old. They are tired looking plants. They have the typical “pinecone” bases with brown stem scars. I have repotted and lowered some of them in soil with marginal success. This will demonstrate if hydroculture is a better method to extend their useful life.

Click to enlarge Here are the plants with soil removed. I trimmed off much of the feeder root system that does not show in the photo. This looks something like food prep for stir-frying. In my opinion, hydroculture conversion is no more difficult than cooking preparation. It is a process compatible with other kitchen chores.

Click to enlarge Re-planting them in expanded clay pellets was much easier than soil planting. There was no need to prop the plants in place while adding soil. A small quantity of pellets quickly positioned the plants in an upright position and it was easy to readjust them. Working with expanded clay media is a far more user-friendly process than working with potting mix.

Hydro Conversion Ficus benjamina. No.490

Click to enlarge This details the hydroculture conversion of a 4” pot size Ficus benjamina installed in sub-irrigation on September 4, 2004. Watered semi-monthly, it has consumed 1.5 ounces of water per day for the past 6 months.

Click to enlarge This is the condition of the root system just prior to conversion. Notice the even distribution of roots and soil moisture. It is analogous to a perfectly baked cake attributable to sub-irrigation.

Click to enlarge Here the soil has been removed. The procedure was done with a bamboo chopstick by poking it into the soil in a downward movement following the direction of the roots. The vast majority of the soil was removable using the chopstick to poke and probe. A heavy stream of water from the kitchen sink faucet completed the job. The plant was turned upside down at times to access all the soil.

The next step in this particular conversion was to tie the trunks together with soft string. The multiple trunks of this tissue culture plant will eventually grow together. This will simulate the undulating trunk of a mature Ficus tree in nature. I perceive this as a technique that produces a more natural looking tree than the popular braiding technique. Braiding to my eye has a fabricated appearance.

Click to enlarge Conversion completed and the Ficus is at home in its new expanded clay pellet environment. To be continued.

April Fools Day now April 3

 
 
Scotts Miracle Gro has proclaimed April 3 as National Repot Your Plant Day. This effectively changes April Fools day from today to the third.

Spring is coming! Early spring is an ideal time to repot houseplants or begin new container gardens.

National Repot Your Plant Day™ is Sunday, April 3rd! So, get ready to celebrate spring!

I read a lot of bad advice about houseplant maintenance in my daily research. There is none worse than National Repot Your Plant Day. What is particularly bad about this advice is that brand name corporate money funds it. Some of the copy is laughable, particularly the “emotional benefits”.

Update: This houseplant forum post is an example of the typical harm caused by the "repot remedy". There is no way a 3 foot Rubber Tree (Ficus elastica 'Decora') needs a 14 inch pot. Dolllars to donuts this plant is overwatered as a result of the recent repotting. Rubber trees/plants are low water users.

Repotting in early spring has a few key advantages:

• It helps maintain good plant health.

• You get to renew the "tired" soil in the existing pot, and thereby give the plant a fresh supply of essential nutrients.

• Stepping up to a larger pot gives the plant roots more room to grow before they enter their active growth phase.

• You can use this as a time to change the style of pots you're using or as a way to enhance your home's decor with a colorful container.

• You reap the emotional benefits that come with repotting; you feel good when you know you're doing something good for your plant. Repotting in early spring is a great way to shake off the winter blahs!

Scotts is a corporation that should know better. Further compounding this promotional fiasco is the National Gardening Association (NGA) endorsing it. Do either of these organizations have at least one staff horticulturist who really understands how to maintain plants in buildings? It appears not.

There is no need for annual houseplant repotting. Ask experienced interior plantscapers the question and wait for the laughs. Most of the plants in our inside plants lab have been installed going on 7 years. Few if any of them have required repotting.

Not only is it not necessary, the practice of repotting is inherently hazardous to the health and longevity of houseplants. Many houseplant caretakers will repot plants that do not need it and many will use too large a pot. This will add dead soil exacerbating the already common problem of over watering.

Houseplant care is not gardening. It isn’t about growing plants. It is primarily about maintaining them in a healthy condition. Ill informed outdoor gardeners, extension agents, master gardeners and outdoor gardening companies should stay away from houseplant advice giving unless they are willing to acquire some real world competency in the subject. We don’t see it happening.