viridis

[slayertat]

 

heres a pic of my two viridis plants, they are two and a half years old, im about to re-pot them . should i use bigger pots again? amazingly last winter they went through the mother of all hail storms (ripped my roof off and knocked down two large trees in front yard) and nearly all foilage was stripped off or severly damaged but they survived and came back ok??? it seems to me this plant is more a problem child when its at seedling stage.

[planthelper]

nice one, they look very healthy, obviously they are very happy with your care and conditions.

people often use quite big pot's for various ethno plants including viridis, however, i would repot them only in pots a bit bigger as. viridis is one of those plants which can easely suffer from too dry conditions aswell as from overwatering, and a big pot (unless it belongs to a big viridis) gives you less controll over the root enviroment. in other words it might stay too wet for too long after waterings, however if you are very lazy with watering, it might even be the better option in the long run. but surly, it's never a good idea to repot any plants into far to big pot's.

i found viridis likes to dry out a bit between waterings and hate soggy conditions.

[tonic]

Very nice! Good healthy plants you have there. I would definitey suggest larger pots at re-pot.

[mark80]

I find that psycho's love it wet and soggy and humuid. i got the best growth during the flood last year.

Edited October 16, 2007 by mark80

[Conan Troutman]

Very nice and like your greenhouse adpatation , have you tried any propagation?? looks like you got a bit to werk with there..

[slayertat]

Very nice and like your greenhouse adpatation , have you tried any propagation?? looks like you got a bit to werk with there..

maybe in the future , i wanna make myself a big greenhouse and try my hand at growwing some other stuff like a few cacti and some natives. this is my first time growing anything so its been fun so far from fretting over barely growing seedlings to getting big then nearly losing them. gardening is great especially when you know the plants are a little different

[Doopie sp.]

Man they really do look healthy. Lush and green... awsome!

...its been fun so far from fretting over barely growing seedlings to getting big...

Thats the stage Im up to at the moment. I just got a P. carthaginesis seedling. Its pale green, with curled leaves and it doesnt look the best. Hopefully with plenty of TLC it'll end up looking like those bushy viridis of yours.

Any tips?

[slayertat]

Man they really do look healthy. Lush and green... awsome!

Thats the stage Im up to at the moment. I just got a P. carthaginesis seedling. Its pale green, with curled leaves and it doesnt look the best. Hopefully with plenty of TLC it'll end up looking like those bushy viridis of yours.

Any tips?

i put a layer of river rocks on the bottom of the pots to help with drainage. they love water but the dont like being soggy.

every month i make a mix of water with a small amount of seasol seaweed stuff and a small amount of power fertilizer.

bugs are a prob from time to time so i spray with pyrethum spray at nite and in the morning give a good drenching spray with water to get it off. ive recently had a spider take up residence and im reluctant to get rid of him as he seems to be helping with bugs. once they get established things get easier.

[Mycot]

Yes, larger pots are necessary if one wishes larger plants, otherwise overall plant growth would be restricted.

Nice healthy plants you have there.

[phloom]

Nice looking plants you got there,

as you say they like water not sogginess. Sounds couterintuitive but the river rocks will actually make the mix soggier, not help the drainage;

I cant remember the name of the concept but think of a wet sponge, thats the mix. the water drains out and leaves a moist zone at the bottom....(your roots dont really like this zone), the rocks make that zone higher up in the pot. The roots like the area in the middle, which is moist and has air in it.

the rocks effectively makes your pot smaller.

And thats your bloomin' lot folks!

PS your plants are healthy as, so who cares right ;)

[slayertat]

well later on and my viridis is much larger and im thinking there is no way i can not put her in the ground now, she is not going as good as she should be. Im just waiting until spring to replant. my hassle is ive got clay here that is hard as concrete. so do you think if i got out the mattock spent a few hours of back breaking labour making a big fucking hole, could i then fill up said hole with good soil?????? what could i possibly use to stop the goddamn trees beside them sniffing out beautiful wet soil and invading? will it survive in the ground?? ive looked at bigger pots but its just getting ridiculous its so hard to transplant and she hates it for sure. perhaps i could trim her and bonsai the roots??? sorry for the pics they were taken with my phone

amazingly the little guy got snapped in half last transplant cause i tripped arse over when i holding it, i just popped the roots in and its come back nicely

[planthelper]

it's a standard saying to "mix friable soil into clay" to make it palatable for the plants, but one has to be carefull not to, just dig a hole and refill, and as such having created if unlucky, an even worse condition for plants...

why could it be worse? well in case your big hole, refilled with better soil is just acting like a pond.

the clay soil will not let the water perminate fast enough, and the "improofed soil spot" might turn into a soggy location, which could lead to root rot.

in a nut shell, just make sure the planting site has ample drainage...

rising the soil level is another methode, how you could improofe, you planting location.

hmmm, i have planted a lot of viridis plants out into my garden in the past, and they very quickly let you know if they are happy or not, anyway.

[jay6785]

Beautiful plants mate can't wait till my ones look like that