In the Beginning

Click to enlarge. This was the first planter in the GreenScaper Lab. It was over eight years ago in the spring of 1998 when I had a light bulb idea. Why shouldn’t the container for “houseplants” be clear plastic instead of opaque? This is likely the most important new concept I’ve proven over the past years in the lab. I already knew that subirrigation worked.

With opaque grow pots you can’t see the soil moisture or the condition of the root system. That seemed kind of dumb and now having used clear containers for all these years it's a proven fact. Opaque grow pots are a dumb idea for indoor plant maintenance. Do your plants and yourself a favor and try some clear containers inside cachepots.

Back then, I asked myself why grow pots are opaque and realized the only benefit was for the greenhouse grower rather than the end user. They prevent algae growth in the production greenhouse or shadehouse.

Why couldn’t consumers merely transfer the plant into a clear plastic container and install it inside a decorative cachepot. After all the plastic grow pot was never meant to be a decorative household item.

So, I looked for a clear plastic container to use as a grow pot. I found one at Bed, Bath & Beyond. It was a polycarbonate (Lexan or football helmet plastic) trash basket liner.

The one on the left is unaltered. The one on the right is the first clear plastic sub-irrigation planter I made. I shortened it and installed a platform assembly made from a plastic picnic plate and clear party cup for a wick.

I soon discovered the world of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) food plastics. This material is perfect for plant grow pots. It remains crystal clear without yellowing and is unbelievably tough, but easy to fabricate. Incidentally, I’ve dropped a few plants from a height of over six feet with no damage. Most of these clear plastic grow pots are made of PET.

The Aglaonema Amelia installed in this prototype planter lasted until early this year when I cut it back. The plant was still healthy but the stems became too tall and ungainly. It was never repotted due to root growth.

You can see it on my desk in this photo. The stems were rooted in candle-glass propagators and recycled into a new plant.

Professional Recognition

The following review made my day (week, month, and year). It is more than flattering to have Dr. Ahern take the time to review this website on behalf of GEN (genetic engineering news). GEN, in its 26th year, is the most widely read biotechnology publication in the world.

No one should ever mistake this blog for a scientific journal. However, what does that say about “houseplant” and horticultural “scientists.”

Maintaining plants in buildings is not rocket science. It is however, a challenge to most lay people who are fed a steady stream of mythology instead of science. It’s no wonder that so many people kill their houseplants.

Inside Plants Live

Blogs are getting better at disguising themselves, which isn’t all bad. When I went to Inside Plants Live, I scanned through the abundant information at the site and found it most informative to read. After I clicked on the About the Site link, I discovered I’d been actually enjoying a blog, of all things. While one might quibble with exactly what is and is not a blog, I think what matters is what the site considers itself and more importantly, the value of its content. On the latter matter I can give high marks. With monthly entries dating to 2004, articles categorized into over 20 topic areas, abundant pictures, and a lack of attitude generally linked to blogs, Inside Plants Live is one of my most pleasant finds of the year. While it is low on the science end of things, it is great reading.

Read the review here.

In or Out of the Money?

Click to enlarge. Is your Money Tree (Pachira aquatica) going to be a good luck charm and bring you money or is it going to die and be a waste of money?

The other not-so-good possibility is that it may look like this after a while.

These plants are a companion to the over-hyped Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) plants from Asia flooding the “houseplant” market. I finally succumbed and bought a couple of small (4” pot-size) plants.

As you can see the plant on the left is growing in a 9-ounce clear plastic party cup (3 ½” diameter x 3” tall). Can you believe how small a container in proportion to the plant size? It is sub-irrigated using the sleeved cup method. I’ve been adding only 5 ounces of water once a week. That's about 7 tenths of an ounce per day and even I am amazed.

Note that it is called “aquatica” which I’m sure has led many buyers to over water them with disastrous results.

Having no prior experience this will be yet another learning opportunity to see if I can keep it looking healthy and in proportion. You can see a couple of stem clippings in the photo. I don’t plan to try to continue the braiding. I’ll attempt to prune it as I do desktop Ficus benjamina and Dwarf Schefflera plants.

I’ve done some web searching on “Pachira aquatica care” with some interesting results. The plant care advice is all over the lot. As is so common, people give advice about “houseplants” with nothing but limited anecdotal experience. Once again, caveat emptor.

It won't happen to these plants but take a look at this Pachira tree in bloom on Flickr.

This is an excerpt from one of the first hits on a Google search.

But instead of let (sic) them grow very tall. We found that its trunk (sic) are flexible enough to be braided together using special technique (sic). Using five young Pachira manually braided together. Put them in the pot and watering (sic) them appropriately. After approx 10 months you get what you see in the picture below. An exotic pot plant.

Here’s the “picture below.” Note that it’s a picture of the trunk and not the plant. I found that to be a rather significant evasion of reality. Of course, there’s never any misrepresentation of “houseplants” on the web. Giggle, giggle...and double caveat emptor!

Ficus Acclimatization

Click to enlarge. These leaves may look as if they are from two different plant species but they’re not. Both are Ficus Benjamina (Weeping Fig) leaves. The difference in how they look is caused by the amount of light they receive.

The leaves on the left are from a Ficus tree growing in full sun (approximately 10,000 foot-candles). The sun-grown leaves are smaller, lighter green, and angled (cupped) at the midrib (rachis). The leaves on the right are from a Ficus tree that was acclimated for low light interior use (less than 2,000 foot-candles).

The shade-grown leaves are larger, darker green, and flatter. Thus, these shade-grown leaves have a much better ability to gather light by presenting a significantly larger surface to catch the light.

If the Ficus tree has sun-grown leaves, it will drop all of them when moved into a low-light interior environment. My opinion is that it is much better to keep your shade-grown Ficus indoors the year round to preserve all the benefits of these low-light acclimated leaves.

I believe the widespread reputation of Weeping Figs being extraordinarily temperamental stems from misguided caretakers moving them around from low to high light and vice versa.

This is jarring to the physiology of the plant. My objective is to maintain the tree rather than see how big I can grow it. Growing a bigger plant is a typical outdoor gardener objective and may not be consistent with good interior plant maintenance practices.

If you would like to know more about the science behind this, go here, here and here.

Following is an excerpt.

LCP is the Light Compensation Point which is good to know about. Far too many "houseplants" are placed in locations below their LCP. The result is d-e-a-t-h, often erroneously blamed on over watering rather than too little light.

Leaf Structure

Many researchers have examined LCPs of shade and sun grown plants and concluded shade grown plants had lower LCPs than sun grown plants. New changes in leaf structure in response to production light levels were examined to help explain the shift in LCP. Peterson et al. (30) found that trees grown under high light intensities had smaller thicker leaves with two distinct palisade layers, while shade grown leaves had only one palisade layer. Fails, Lewis and Barden (18, 19, 20) studied the anatomy and morphology of sun and shade grown foliage and confirmed these findings. They also reported greater stomatal density in sun grown leaves, although shade grown leaves had more stomata per leaf. Sun grown leaves were small and thick with 2 layers of elongated palisade mesophyll cells and chloroplasts were aligned along the radial cell walls. Shade grown leaves were larger, thinner and darker green with a single layer of short palisade cells. Chloroplasts were dispersed throughout the palisade cells and appeared to be larger than in sun grown plants. When net photosynthesis of plants grown in full sun and 50% sun was compared under various photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), shade grown leaves had a photosynthetic advantage over sun grown leaves at PAR comparable to lighting found in interiors. Sun grown leaves also transpired more at all PAR levels tested.

Checking Misco Planter Water Level

Click to enlarge. There have been many search engine queries to this blog looking for information on the Misco “self-watering” planters available at Wal-Mart. I’ve previously posted my less than positive opinions here and here.

The photo shows a partial solution to the human factors problems with this planter. Since it is so difficult to see the water level, use a pipette (1/4” clear plastic tube) to check it. You could also use a clear drinking straw.

Happy Father's Day!

These strawberries would be a special treat for your father. They are the best I've eaten in my memory and I'm happy to plug California Giant, the grower.

I bought these strawberries from Ralphs on sale for $2 per 2-pound box. They looked great, but I've bought nice looking red strawberries before that were as juicy and tender as hockey pucks. These are the real deal, just-right sweet, and firm but tender. They are obviously not going to turn to mush in a short time. I'll be back to Ralphs on my daily walk this morning to buy another box...or two.

As a marketing professional, may I share some other things I discovered about California Giant? When you open the box, this is what it says on the reverse side of the cover label - "Please visit our website/Visitez notre site Web, á www.calgiant.com.” I did and found a very well done consumer-centric website. Check it out. This is the site map. They even have a Blogger hosted Berry Blog.

My opinion is this company knows how to do at least two things very well...grow strawberries and market on the web.

Simple Sub-irrigation 101

Click to enlarge. Here is a simple way to prove to yourself how easy it is to water an indoor plant with pipette-like precision and you don’t need a wick. This sub-irrigation method is good for the plants and good for your interior environment including your furniture.

When you use sub-irrigation, you eliminate the possibility of fungus gnats and mold that can trigger asthma for some people. You will also learn about the all important light/water relationship so critical for the survival of plants in buildings.

This is a great way to teach kids, young people, and newcomers. Perhaps you can use this to introduce someone to the world of environmentally sound greenscaping.

4” Pot-size plants

Buy a few 4” pot size plants. I would recommend Chamaedorea elegans (Parlor Palm) and, Dracaena Janet Craig Compacta. Also consider Dracaena Marginata, Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily) and Chlorophytum comosum (Spider Plant) but know that these require higher light levels. I picked these plants because they are widely available and tolerant of indoor environments.

Clear Plastic Party Cups

Buy a package of 9 oz squat clear party cups and a package of 10 oz tall clear party cups.

This example shown is a Parlor Palm in a 10 oz tall cup. Drill or hot poker a series of drainage holes around the bottom of a cup that will be used to house the plant. I used a metal skewer from my kitchen junk drawer.

Now carefully remove the palm from the opaque plastic grow-pot and install it in the clear cup with holes. You should not need extra soil since the volume of the 4” grow pot is about the same as the clear cup.

Carefully tamp the soil with a bamboo chopstick or similar tool. You can clearly see if there are any air pockets. Already you can see a benefit of a clear plant pot.

Does the plant need water? You can easily see if the soil is moist or dry and of course, you just handled it when you installed the plant.

Measure the Water

If it needs water, merely add a measured amount to a second cup (without drainage holes). Start with 2-3 ounces. Insert the cup with the plant. You can easily see the water rise by capillary and hydraulic action. Wait a few minutes for the soil to absorb the water to determine if it needs another ounce or two.

Remember the cup has a 10 oz capacity. It should never need more than 5 ounces of water.

Decorative Cachepot

Click to enlarge. Install the plant with sleeved cups in an opaque cachepot for decorative purposes and to prevent algae growth. The photo (left to right) shows a plastic cachepot the plant came in, a pencil holder from IKEA, and a tropical motif coffee mug from Target.

Adequate Light

As they say, you’re good to go. Now, where to go is the question? Your desktop would be great if there’s enough light. A kitchen windowsill by the sink is another option. If it’s on your desktop, you can easily observe the plants health and water consumption. However is there enough light?

A great solution would be one of the 27-watt fluorescent desklamps. In any case, you will be able to measure the light by observing water consumption. As a rough guideline, if the soil doesn’t go from moist to dry in a week you probably don't have enough light.

Light/water Relationship

The light/water relationship is now clearly observable. In the process of photosynthesis, plants use water in direct relationship to the available light. If the light is inadequate, photosynthesis is slowed down and the plant doesn’t’ use the water in the soil. The result is loss of oxygen in the soil. Root rot usually follows and the plant dies. The usual post mortem analysis is death by drowning when; in fact, it is death by light starvation.

Don't let this happen. Either move the plant to a higher light location or move a lamp to the plant. Since you now know how to add water with pipette-like precision, you could also try adding less water. The result of this compromise, however, is usually a spindly plant of poor quality.

Potting Up

Now that you can clearly see the root system, you'll know when to move the plant to a larger grow-pot. Incidentally, after a while you will probably see some roots growing though the holes in the bottom. I trim them off with scissors or pruners. Your plant won't miss them.

When it's obvious that the plant has consumed most of the soil, reinstall it in a 14-16 ounce party cup following the same procedure.

Why Use Clear Plastic Grow-pots?

Click to enlarge. The only benefit of an opaque plastic grow-pot is to the greenhouse grower. It prevents algae growth. That's not a problem when you use a decorative planter, or cachepot.

Maintaining indoor plants in opaque grow-pots makes no sense to me. The most important part of an indoor plant is the root system and growing medium. It is hidden from your view in an opaque grow-pot. My strong advice is to reinstall your plants in clear plastic containers immediately after purchase.

Incidentally, when you reinstall plants this way you will learn a lot about the quality of the plants you're buying.

Your plant care will be much easier and the plants will look much better in decorative planters of any material. While surfing the web, it hurts my eyes to see so many plants in grow-pots sitting in saucers. It's like seeing people sitting around in their underwear. It looks rather gross to my eyes.

San Diego Water Quality Ranking

We may have near perfect weather that pampers people here in San Diego but the water is not so hot. SustainLane.com ranks San Diego way down the list at No. 44 in Tap Water Quality.

This tap water is what the plants in the Greenscaper lab drink and by the way, what I drink. It looks like I should have installed a water filter a long time ago.

So, if you think I pamper these sub-irrigated plants with “special water” guess again. They are in excellent health in spite of the local tap water. Also, know that Colorado River water is relatively high in soluble salts.

Whatever the water quality, the most important factor is the way you water. Subirrigation is precise.

Top watering, drench and drain, flood and drain, poke pour and pray, whatever you call it is not precise. Inadequate light coupled with this foolish way to water plants in buildings is the leading cause of sickly looking plants and dead plants.

This is what SustainLane has to say about San Diego Water.

San Diego gets its water from the Colorado River, 1,500 miles away, and from Northern California, 600 miles away. An enormous amount of non-renewable energy is used to get this water to the tap. And partially because of the water’s epic journey past freeways and industry through open-air canals, San Diego tap water (#44) has 27 contaminants, with 5 over the recommended threshold. If you’re living here, be sure to use a water filter.

The Lowe’s Lamp

I was in my local Lowe’s store earlier this week and thought I’d look at the 27-watt floor lamp. I could not find it and asked for help. The lighting department staff could not find it either and didn’t know what it was. They found it on the computer all right but not on the shelves. They were most helpful but I didn’t have time to wait around while they tried to find it. I’ll stop back another day.

Incidentally, Lowe’s featured the lamp as a Father's Day item on the front page of a mail flier.

This illustrated to me how little is known about these lamps even by store personnel. Even the manufacturers do not understand that these are excellent plant lights. My thought was that if there were a demo lamp with signage in the houseplant department they would sell them out in no time.

Lowe's 27-Watt Floor Lamp

I noticed this lamp on the front page of a Lowe's flier today. It's also online for $39.

It appears to be equivalent to the specs on this floor lamp but you need to do your own due diligence. The specs online are rather sparse.

67" H x 11" D x 13" W Black Plastic Includes one 27-watt bulb

These natural light 27-watt fluorescent (equivalent to a 150-watt incandescent bulb) lamps are most beneficial for your plants and your eyes.

Adequate light is arguably the most important factor in maintaining healthy plants in buildings. Inadequate light leading to over watering is the leading cause of spindly plants and plant mortality.

Provide adequate light for your indoor plants and keep them inside all year. Moving them outside in the spring is not a good thing. Disregard the advice you read from outdoor gardeners and USDA extension program agents.

Two or three of these 27-watt fluorescent lamps could change a dark, dreary apartment into a bright and cheery environment for you and your plants. Consider a combination of floor and desktop models.

Flowers & Plants Association

Click on the photo to visit the Flowers & Plants Association. It is the most professionally produced and informative website I’ve found promoting the use of cut flowers and indoor plants. I’ve surfed through many websites of this type and this one tops them all. The information, product presentation and photography is superb.

You could spend a lot of time here and it would be time well spent.

Easy as Eating a Banana

Click to enlarge.This Schefflera arboricola (Hawaiian Dwarf Schefflera) is living happily in a microwave food cover inside a melamine bowl from Party City. There's a polyester AquaPad under it to facilitate capillary action. It happens to be growing in expanded clay pebble media but it could just as well be potting soil in the same set up.

I didn't fill the edge around the microwave cover with clay pebbles so you could see it. Note the pipette tube for checking the water level. Just insert a piece of 1/4" plastic tubing, hold your finger over the end, lift it out and you'll see the water level.

Don't be a banana. Leave the clay pots, saucers, water drainage, and all that mess outdoors. It's not a good thing. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Bring Back the Cookies

Click to enlarge. Notice the 10" x 3 ½" clear plastic cookie container in the upper left corner of this picture. It originally contained the most delicious and healthy Laguna Bakery 98% fat free oat bran with raisins cookies. They are one of my food staple items from Costco. I have many plants sub-irrigated in these containers.

I was shocked recently to find that Costco discontinued them and I'm suffering from Laguna Bakery cookie withdrawal.

If you think the Laguna Bakery is in Laguna Beach, CA guess again. The Laguna Bakery is really the D.F. Stauffer Biscuit Co. headquartered in York, PA. Its parent company is Meiji-Seika Kaisha Ltd. a Tokyo-based confectionery and pharmaceutical company. Ah, the complex world of multi-national corporations.

I read that these little cookie gems are “wire-cut” cookies and packaged manually. My guess is that they will reappear in Costco in a different package that they can fill automatically.

Too bad, if that’s so. These are really neat clear plastic containers for indoor plant subirrigation. You can see the root system and check soil moisture!

I’m going to contact the container manufacturer to see if there are other products on the market in these containers. I’ll let you know whatever information I get.

You can find cookies in other sizes of these clear plastic containers at Trader Joe's but not the 10" diameter size.

Natural Light on the Floor

Click to enlarge. This floor lamp uses a compact fluorescent bulb with the same specifications as the Lights of America Fluorex desklamps. The 27-watt compact fluorescent bulb is equivalent to a 150-watt incandescent bulb. It does not matter whether it’s a floor lamp or a desk lamp the amount of light generated is the same. It’s a function of the bulb not the fixture.

This is the first time I’ve seen a plant in a product photo of these 27-watt natural light lamps. Note however that this plant is too far away from the floor lamp to gain much if any benefit. The plant, chair, and light need to be located in close proximity to benefit the plant.

I continue to enjoy the natural light provided by the desk lamps. This is the best interior lighting I’ve experienced both for plants and for people. I’d encourage anyone to buy one…or two.