Good News and Bad News

The good news is that readership has been steadily increasing. The bad news is that because of this I had to buy more bandwidth. I'll keep IPL ad-free as long as I can but may have to change that some time in the future.

My apologies to those of you who visited when the site was down.

I've also recently discovered that comments are not working. I know how to drive this blog but working under the hood of Movable Type software is not my forte. Incidentally, comments do work on Greenscaper.org.

It would probably be a good move to convert IPL to a bundled service such as TypePad, Blogger or WordPress. I just can't handle doing it at this time. There's already too much on my plate.

Please email your comments and suggestions until I can get comments working.
e-mail Bob Hyland
bobhyland[AT]insideplantslive.org

Thanks for your patience and your interest in this blog. Please keep coming back ...and tell your friends.

Sally Ride Science

Dr. Sally Ride, best known as America’s first woman in space, founded Sally Ride Science in 2001.

This is an excerpt from her website.

DID YOU KNOW?

In elementary school, roughly the same number of girls and boys are interested in science and math. But beginning in about sixth grade, more girls than boys begin to drift away from these subjects. One consequence of this leaking pipeline is that women remain underrepresented in most technical professions—while our nation's need for scientists and engineers remains unmet.

Read the rest of the page. It’s worth reading, particularly if you have a young daughter, granddaughter, or niece. The National Science Foundation statistics are encouraging but we still have a long way to go in equalizing the educational priorities for young girls.

It’s never too early to start teaching kids about logic and the scientific method. They don’t have to be taught about playing in the dirt. They'll do that on their own.

More Women in Science and Engineering

An article from the Sun News caught my attention. I believe a significant increase of women educated in science and engineering will eventually have a positive impact on the field of plants-in-buildings. It will take some time, but it will happen...and that's a good thing.

Beginning in 2000, women earned more S&E bachelor's degrees than men.

* The number of S&E bachelor's degrees awarded to women has increased every year since 1966 (excluding 1988), reaching 227,813 in 2004.
* The number of bachelor's degrees in S&E awarded to men has fluctuated around 200,000 from 1976 to about 2001 and increased since then, reaching 224,525 in 2004.
* Women earn substantially more bachelor's degrees in non-S&E fields than men.

Bachelor's degrees awarded in S&E and non-S&E fields, by sex: 1966–2004

SOURCE: National Science Foundation Division of Science Resources Statistics, special tabulations of U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey, 1966–2004.

Note: Scroll down to For Additional Information and you can download the Excel file with all the details including bachelor's degrees, by field and sex: 1995–2004

Plant Care Observations

I'm watering plants in the lab in between watching the NCAA basketball tournament. I've been a basketball nut all my life.

Here are a couple of observations.

Pest Management

All of the windows available for plants in my house (home of the Greenscaper Consumer Lab) are essentially west facing. This is not particularly good. West facing windows are notorious for creating heat traps, particularly when the windows are closed during the winter. This environment of light, heat, and insufficient air movement creates a perfect environment for the propagation of pests such as spider mites and mealy bugs.

It's been a constant battle and I haven't always been diligent with my pest scouting. That's a big mistake. Shame on me! It's essential to eradicate them before they create a real problem. So...a word to the wise.

Daylight Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

A rather dark hallway is a central location in my house and I often position my plant care cart under the light in this hall. I recently changed the bulb to a 27-watt (100-watt equivalent) daylight CF bulb. When I first put it in the change from the warm light of the incandescent to CF daylight was noticeable.

Today I realized that the new CF bulb gives the feeling of standing under a skylight. I did a double take and looked up to realize how pleasant it was. It's for me, much more natural than the yellowish incandescent light.

Home Depot Down Hill

For this lifelong do-it-yourselfer, Home Depot used to be a fun shopping trip, but not any more. It’s sad how my local store has gone down hill in terms of poor staff service and cluttered store environment.

This article highlights that it’s not just a local problem. I hope Frank Blake, their new CEO, can turn it around.

I also hope that other retail outlets emerge in the U.S. for the merchandising of indoor plants and accessories. Plants•Plants is a shining example of what can be created in this market.

ILVA Live!

Here’s a four-letter modern furnishings retailer not named IKEA. The ILVA website features three stores in the U.K, but was born in Denmark a long time ago.

Read about ILVA and their history. It's an interesting company.

I research sites like this to see how (and if) they are displaying indoor plants. What got my attention was their online catalog. This is as close to holding a catalog in my hands as I’ve experienced on the web. It’s fun to turn the pages with your mouse on all four corners. Cool!

Although they don't sell plants you will see some good furniture design with plants displayed. Evidently they don't sell online so you'll just have to take a trip to Europe.

Try it out. I must warn you to be patient. It will test your broadband connection and your skill at web navigation. Not a problem, of course, if you’re under 30.

Cheers and cheerio! Do come back!

Plants•Plants From Japan

Even in the 1970’s at the height of the U.S. houseplant boom, I never saw an indoor plant store like Plants•Plants.

Today, in the digital age I’ve not seen an online store like this one. The website is a fabulous piece of work. One day in the future, I hope to visit a Plants•Plants store.

Why don’t we have a store and website like this here in the U.S? I’ll leave the answer to that question for another post.

Compare what you see here with a trip to Home Depot, Lowe’s, or your local nursery. Even my local IKEA’s green room, which is a cut above the others, pales in comparison. Shopping for indoor plants is like shopping for produce in a run of the mill grocery store. There is no creative merchandising out there that I can see.

Plants•Plants is a sophisticated and complex website in a positive sense of the word. There’s a lot to look at including four videos that are a must see. The videos are slick productions that show how you can buy a kit and create a beautiful plant using four different media; expanded clay pebbles, seramis, colored sand and “magic crystals.” Ain’t no dumb looking plastic or terra cotta pots with saucers here.

Incidentally, my plan is to produce how-to-do-it videos for this blog. That has become a real-world possibility with present day video cameras, software and YouTube. I will model my efforts after these videos.

Okay, on with the show! It will help to translate using Google or Babel Fish. I’ve installed a Google Japanese to English icon on the favorites tool bar on my Firefox browser. Translation buttons make translations a lot easier. Here are prior posts on the subject of translation.

This is a link to the Plants•Plants Site Map, which provides a good way to navigate. Simply click on a link and keep returning to the site map. The translation will follow you. Notice that there is a blog.

Sadly the translation is rather rough but I believe you will get a sense of the poetic word pictures. It’s frustrating to not be able to read the text as written. Even if you can’t read any of the words, the quality of the graphics, photos and products is such that you will still enjoy your trip through the site.

Bon voyage. Itte irasshai!

Sergey Got Plants!

Hey, did you know Sergey Brin and Larry Page have plants in their office? What about you?

Look beyond your flat screen and get with the 21st century indoor greenscaper program. It’s easy if you follow the digital-age methods you can find here on this blog.

Be glad to help. Just ask...or search this blog. Check out some Flickr pics for ideas.

Stepping through the sliding glass door into their office is like walking into a playroom for tech-savvy adults. A row of sleek flat-screen monitors lining one wall displays critical information: e-mail, calendars, documents and, naturally, the Google search engine.

Assorted green plants and an air purifier keep the oxygen flowing, while medicine balls provide appropriately kinetic seating. Upstairs, a private mezzanine with Astroturf carpeting and an electric massage chair afford Sergey and Larry a comfortable perch from which to entertain visitors and survey the carnival of innovation going on below. And there is ample space for walking around, which is absolutely essential for Sergey, who just can’t seem to sit still.

Google Translation Tools

Here's a better way to translate I discovered on the PoynterOnline, E-Media Tibits blog. Check out the Google Language Tools page and install Translation Browser Buttons to make translations even easier. I've installed several of them and found them much more convenient than the way I had been doing it using Babel Fish .

The Greenscaper Blog Lives

After a too-long hiatus, I'm making an effort to resuscitate my posting schedule on Greenscaper.org. There has been some significant news from the interior plantscaping business. Have a look.

Hydrotip.de

Clearly the best website I’ve found so far on the subject of hydroculture is the German website Hydrotip.de. I have only scratched the surface of the knowledge base on this site. I am in awe and humbled by what I read. It’s that good. Incidentally, you will also find interior horticulture information beyond the subject of hydroculture.

Like Inside Plants Live, it is a non-profit website and free to publish critical comments and reviews. Note that neither site even carries Google ads.

Couple Hydrotip.de with Plants-in-Buildings.com and some hands-on experimentation and you can teach yourself to be a very well informed practitioner of interior plant installation and care. In my opinion, you’ll learn more about modern methods on these sites than you will by attending any ornamental horticulture (or floriculture) program here in the U.S. I’m quite familiar with what they teach. Sadly, most of it is long out of date.

Unfortunately, Hydrotip.de is in German with no English version as an option. With that said it is well worth your time to explore this site using Babel Fish as outlined here. Use either Babel Fish or a German-English dictionary to help clarify some of the quite rough translation. Let’s hope that Google is allocating a lot of their resources to language translation.

After you have translated from German to English in Babel Fish, click on “The bases” (i.e. the basics). There are 63 data records (11 pages). All of them are worth reading but I suggest starting on page 4 and then click on “I would like to begin with the hydraulic culture. What do I need?” Be sure to read about “changing over “(soil to clay pebbles).

You can also click on “Sitemap” and find the same information and much more.

If you’re keenly interested in the subject of hydroculture as applied to plants in buildings, you will spend a lot of time on Hydrotip.de. Bon voyage…but do come back. Please tell a friend, or two or more what you have found here. It’s my only compensation and much appreciated. Thanks!

Water Level Indicator

Click for an excellent water level indicator graphic on the Leni Hydroculture website. Scroll down and click on the links for more information. This is a link to Leni Home Design a well designed website with a lot more information. Be sure to check out the fountains under the "Water features" icon.

After reading a tip on Hydrotip.de, I have adjusted the amount of water I add to hydroculture plants. You may know that I use a pipette tube arrangement. I now wait for the pipette to indicate that there is no water in the planter.

Previously I had been using a level of about ¼” as the refill level. The planter can remain empty for a few days since there is still moisture in the porous clay pebbles. This provides a margin for error.

There was also discussion of potential problems with water level indicators. Evidently, they have a track record of sometimes getting stuck. That make sense if you understand how it works. It’s merely a plastic float inside a tube. Foreign matter (a small piece of clay pebble, an insect) can get inside the tube and jam it. One recommendation is always to tip the planter to make sure the indicator is free to float.

My opinion is that the pipette tube is a better method for non-commercial use. There is no way that it can fail to give you an accurate reading of the water level other than if you inadvertently drop a pebble down the tube. You’ll know if that happens because it feels and sounds very different when you insert the pipette to the bottom. And...pipette tubes cost next to nothing as a readily available DIY device.

An afterthought...leave a pipette in the tube of each plant rather than using one pipette for all plants. If there's a 1/4" dia. pipette in each 1/2" dia. pipette tube there's no way for a pebble to fall into the tube.

Good Design Advice

Following is a timely piece of information relative to the prior post about Lechuza. I found it on the Interiorscape magazine website and it is reprinted here in its entirety. The publisher of Interiorscape eliminated deep linking on the website so I’m reluctant to link there. Incidentally, the plants in the photo above are the widely popular ZZ plants (Zamioculcas zamiifolia).

The article by Shane Pliska is obviously directed to interior plantscapers (aka “interiorscapers”) but I believe it’s pertinent to the residential market. I’m convinced there are many who read this blog who are interested in high quality design whether it’s interior plants, furniture, or accessories—rather than being a nanny to a bunch of houseplants in grower pots.

Shane Pliska is business development manager for Planterra, a leading interior plantscape company located in Detroit. His dad started Planterra back in the mid 70’s when I was in the business. Some of you may remember the days of fern bars and vining plants suspended in macramé. It was the time when many of the present day interiorscape companies started in business.

You’ll see Lechuza planters and some of Shane’s design tips right here on Planterra's home page. Refresh your screen to repeat the photos. The rest of the website is well worth exploring. You can view a large collection of planters they offer here.

Keep It Simple and Modern

As the next generation of interiorscapers is trained in plant and container selection, scale and colors may not come intuitively. Here are a few tips to keep the design simple but also relevant to present-day environments:

1. Understand the furniture. If it hasn’t been installed yet, ask to see samples and photos of it before you propose containers.

2. Is it stark or earthy? Transitional styles have converged clean, modern lines with earthy comfort. This can be seen in the color combinations found in today’s carpeting, furnishings and even built-in cabinetry. These interiors call for contemporary planters with a rich or creamy finish.

Simultaneously, stark, modern interiors consisting of mostly blacks, whites and grays need bright-colored planters to cheer up the space. If the interior has too many hard surfaces, such as polished concrete floors and steel wall coverings, consider using modern-shaped terra-cotta planters to warm up the space.

3. Look at the hardware. Metallic planters are a good default for office interiors. Before you make the proposal, make sure you know the color of the hardware. Use the color of the knobs, hinges and furniture legs as a guide to selecting the metallic finish. Brushed metallic finishes are more current than shiny ones.

4. Think series, not groupings. Don’t cluster those Aglaonemas in the corner anymore. Create a series. Position the plants linearly or stagger the heights. Tall, V-shaped planters are superb in series of threes and are especially stunning in bright colors.

5. Get in before they choose the artwork. Artistic placement of a tall, bright-colored series of planters along a wall or corridor can replace the need for artwork. Make this suggestion to allocate more of the budget from art to plants and containers.

6. Focal points. It might be difficult to get the foliage, but a few strategically placed specimen trees in substantial containers produce the “wow” clients want. This is a statement that will never go out of style.

Meet Lechuza

Meet Lechuza sub-irrigation planters in English, French, German or Spanish. Whatever language you pick you'll find some of the most contemporary, well-designed planters on the web. Their website is also a visual treat.

Note the linear or columnar form of these CUBICO series planters. Well-designed tall planters like these are widely used in Europe. They present the same display advantages as pedestals and plant stands.

Although I do not have hands-on experience with Lechuza planters, I know enough about the basic principles of sub-irrigation to feel comfortable that they work well. My opinion is further reinforced by the number of times I encounter them on professional websites in my Google travels, particularly in Europe. You'll see much more of them in the future on our travels around the world.

Here is a diagram and explanation of Lechuza sub-irrigation. Many refer to this as “semi-hydroculture” using expanded clay pebble media. We’ll see more of this sub-irrigation method in future posts. Lechuza calls their inert media LECHUZA-PON and refers to it as a "mineral based substrate."

Incidentally, they do have distribution in the U.S. but limited to the interior plantscaping trade.

Translation How-to

Relative to the following post, here's a jute wrapped Ficus benjamina "Natacha" from France (in French). If you read French, that's great. I tried to link to a BabelFish.com translation and it wouldn't work. I've tried the same with Google translations and I can't link to them either. If you're not familiar with BabelFish.com, here's how it works (using the linked site above).

1. Copy the URL (http://) address from your browser.
2. Go here to BabelFish .
3. See the section titled "Translate a Web page". Highlight the "http://" with your mouse. Paste over with the URL address you copied in Step 1.
4. Click on the "Translate from and to languages" menu arrow.
5. Scroll to the appropriate language from to, in this case "French to English" (or your favorite language).
6. Click on the "Translate" icon.
7. Voilà! You should be looking at the page in translated (broken;-) English. You can move the BableFish header section up with your mouse to see the whole page.

So, come on along my fellow Americans as we journey to foreign lands in the coming days. You're going to see some high quality plants, planters and plantscapes like you've never seen before.

Netherlands Ficus

These beautiful tabletop Ficus benjamina trees are from the Netherlands (Click on "Assortment").

I've never seen anything like the quality of these plants here in Southern California. Their availability would have saved a lot of time and effort here in the Greenscaper plant lab. I wouldn't have spent so much time doing this. Please email me if you've seen plants like these at retail.

This is another version of Ficus benjamina Natasja. I found the photo from a Google Image search.

Note the twist wrap of the slender trunks. Unlike most unnatural looking braided Ficus benjamina trunks, this one will mature into a very natural looking tree. The slender and pliable stems will grow together in a relatively short time and create an undulating, natural looking tree trunk. The same is true of stems wrapped together in a straight up fashion like these.

This Ficus benjamina cultivar is "Danielle”. Note the Ficus pumila "Sunny" ground cover and the trunk wrapped with jute. You can see the use of Ficus pumila (Creeping Fig) in a number of plants in this Flickr photo set .

Evidently this Dutch grower uses jute (similar to burlap) to wrap the trunks together. This is a great idea and one that I will try.

It's very easy to embed a groove into Ficus benjamina trunks if you tie them too tightly, particularly with plant ties or hard fiber string. I've done it by not paying close attention. It can take a long time for the scar to heal.

Blog Update

Readership of Inside Plants Live is steadily increasing regardless of my sporadic posting schedule. Record keeping and maintaining plants in the lab takes a lot of time and it is getting to be more than I can manage.

My solution is to donate the lab and help the research continue as a consultant. If you think there is ongoing applied research about maintaining plants in buildings here in the U.S. please tell me about it. I’ve found no trace of it in my extensive research over the past years. That is a sad commentary.

If I relied on the results of Google and Yahoo news, web and blog searches to update Inside Plants Live you would likely stop reading and I would likely stop blogging. Most of the articles are repetitious and the information out of date or inaccurate. Incidentally, outdoor garden writers and USDA extension program agents write the majority of them.

Here are the results from one of the search strings that I use regularly. You be the judge.

Perhaps you’ll find this blog post amusing. It may be satirical (I think not) but it is definitely reflective of the knowledge deficiency that most outdoor gardeners have regarding maintaining plants in buildings. Clueless is the operative word. Read the comments too.

What to do? Go international is my answer. That’s where I find many high quality and interesting websites. I’ve learned to use Google in-country searches rather than sole reliance on U.S. domestic searching.

Language is somewhat of a problem partially solved by Google and BabelFish translations. The photos don’t need translation and you can at least get the gist of the text information with present day translation software. There’s no question in my mind that computerized translation will continue to improve. One day we will all be able to better communicate on the web regardless of language spoken.

Thanks for listening and stay tuned. There's lots more to come...in many different languages.