Search results for: 'Houseplant'

We're all houseplant gardeners at this time of year. Some of our houseplants are outdoor plants during the warmer months and they're brought indoors when the weather turns frosty or just plain chilly, and some seem happiest indoors all year long. I keep my clivia miniata indoors year round because the one time I put it outdoors on a hot sunny day the leaves got burned and discolored. For the same reason I keep my fiddle leaf fig tree and my jade plant indoors. And of course my African violets. My agaves and...

The system developed by my brother Geoffrey allows him to water his favorite ficas tree from anywhere in the world. First he logs onto the web page he set up to monitor all of the controls in the process. Then he looks at his moisture sensor to see if he needs to water his plant. If the plant needs water he turns on the video camera so he can watch the water going into the pot. Then he turns on the water. He turns the water off when the moisture sensor says he has watered it enough. Finally, he turns off ...

[caption id="attachment_1009" align="alignright" width="204" caption="Streptocarpella saxorum taken from my aunt’s house in Minnesota"][/caption] There are lots of houseplants which I love, but my favorite would have to be streptocarpella saxorum. The tongue-twisting name alone might dissuade some potential homeowners from growing this plant, but chances are you'll immediately fall in love after seeing it for the first time. It's also quite easy to grow, requires minimal light and maintenance, and it ...

It's time to wake up your houseplants!  As the days grow longer and the sun gets stronger, now is the time to wake up two of my favorite flowering houseplants, clivia miniata and agapanthus.  Because it takes so much energy to produce a flower, they have been resting over the winter between bloom times. Here are some techniques gardeners use to get them ready for spring. Clivia miniata [caption id="attachment_3572" align="alignright" width="229"] My clivia miniata blooming.[/caption] Clivias a...

Lately we have heard a lot of talk about microbes and the biology of soil.  In the past we spoke of plant fertilizers in terms of N-P-K (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) and that seemed to be the end of discussion. [caption id="attachment_1345" align="alignleft" width="84"] Annie Haven[/caption] Last Spring we approached Annie Haven of  Haven Family Ranch in San Juan Capistrano, California, a farm run by the Haven family for more than 160 years. She sells muslin bags of aged cow and horse manure, ...