Tillandsia and More

One of the gifted plants that I received from a local Epiphyllum friend was a Tillandsia aka air plant. I don't know the species, but since it didn't need a pot or much space, I let it hang out in the green house since I acquired it. It has been growing rather quickly. What's more is that today it began blooming. It's a cute little thing with a single flower spike. I suspect that with warmer weather, that this little plant is going to explode with growth. We will see.

The Epiphyllums that I attempted to root will be investigated today. They'll either be moved to a more soily substrate or need a recutting so that I can try to root them again. Doing all of this now will hopefully mean that by Spring I can plant them into some containers that I bought for the cinder block wall behind my house. I think they'll get the right amount of sunlight there.

I updated on the Passiflora in the greenhouse in my last post. But I failed to mention that I began some P. membranacea and P. cirrhiflora cuttings in the cloner. They're in the garage with a LED grow light on them. Last time, they were in the greenhouse with all of the other cuttings, and when they were, P. cirrhiflora took root and P. membranacea quickly died. I checked on the cuttings today in the garage and the P. cirrhiflora cuttings were all expired while there were little roots appearing on P. membranacea. The most significant factor is evidently heat. I've determined that P. cirrhiflora likes approximately 80°F water/air and P. membranacea likes approximately 65°F water/air. When one considers the normal growing environment for both species, the correlation isn't difficult to understand. Hopefully the new P. membranacea cuttings will take once I pot them. And, hopefully I can generate some more P. cirrhiflora cuttings in the greenhouse when the weather warms up a bit more.

New Year: A New Hope

The new year has come. The garden has been largely stagnant except for a showering of leaves from P. holosericia, which did the same last year, but regrew them and many flowers following last Winter. In the greenhouse, where I installed a large, new, bright light there are many plants. Some are well established like P. cirrhiflora (which just finished its second bloom), P. antioquiensis, P. nephrodes, and P. macrocarpa. Others are cuttings, or back-up plants, if you will. I have P. Raspberries and Cream, P. x decaisneana, P. Blue-Eyed Susan, P. racemosa buzios, P. Manta and a few others just hanging around. There are some seedlings that have been growing for a long time like P. gritensis, P. lindeniana, P. umbilicata, and some guest hybrids. And finally, there are the new seedlings like P. caerulea and my new cross! Hopefully, I'll have another beauty to claim and name in 2014 to compliment P. Erl.

With all of these plants, I need a solid Spring strategy. And here, Spring comes early. In March it will be time to start pulling out the Tacsonias. Soon after I'll pull out the rest. And will that, I think I need to cull some of the older plants in Pergolatory. Some will be reincarnated with their cutting backups. Others, well...they had a good run.

It will be another exciting growing season. I'm quite confident of that. My only concern now is that P. cirrhiflora will run out of steam before the sun returns from it's Winter solstice zenith. It survived last Winter with the spot lights directly on it. Now it's sharing the light with the rest of my brood. I hope it's strong enough to survive. I've sent away all of my viable back-ups. Taking cuttings now would be certain vegicide, and unlikely rooting. So, we wait, as the theme of Pergolatory continues in 2014.