Ethnobotanical Office Plant

[apothecary]

Hey guys,

I'm just sitting here looking at my desk thinking boy, it could do with some plant life (I can't live without my garden, I'm falling in love with it).

I thought it would be cool to use an ethnobotanical plant rather than something from the nursery, just to be a little original.

Does anyone have recommendations for a plant that could survive well in the office? There's a window, although the sunlight isn't that bright, and there's two 30W fluorescent tubes in the roof.

Cacti are an obvious choice, but other things would be nice too. I'm thinking something that flowers independantly of its light cycle (as there is almost guaranteed to be a sporadic one) and can endure the temperature control of the lab.

[Dirty Old Man]

Not that I am saying it would be a wise move, but a small kratom tree would be nice. It would be kind of fun having a prohibited plant under peoples noses and them being none the wiser.

Jokes aside how about one of the many salvias?

[apothecary]

Illegal plants are out of the question. I work for the CSIRO. Illegal things and government organisations don't mix.

[teonanacatl]

kratom wouldnt like it in there. have u got aircon??? i think psychotria viridis would be grand in there, providing it doesnt freeze. also areca catechu, betel nut palm would do well. morning glory would prolly do ok. heimia would prolly do ok. all will need a few hours outside every week. i will come up with some more later

[apothecary]

teo, hi!

The heimia sounds nice, although it looks a bit spindly.

If nobody can think of anything better, I'll probably message Torsten and ask him if he can add it to my current order.

[smogs]

heh heh apoth

i just turned down a job with CSIRO as 1 of the science education officers

i woulda really enjoyed the work but sounded like there woulda been too much for me and i would have burned out after a few months

[2b]

Funny how these subjects come up just as you think about them , I just spent $400 on plants to liven this place up a bit: bird of paradise (big bugger) palms (assorted) and some cordyline sp. Granted none are of any ethno use , but it got me thinking.....Hmmm.....How about some Cactus ? It could be a sort of joke only known by those that know...I mean a Trichocereusis sp. is just a cactus to most Anyway i was talking this over with a person at work and he thought a cactus might be a "work cover" problem ? Some dickhead could prickle themselves leaving us liable for thier injuries... :mad: So now just to spite this prick (no pun intended) i have a small terracotta pot with a small Loph. in it :D on my desk , and the dumb fucks haven't said anything yet.

[teonanacatl]

lol throw about 20 heimia seeds in a pot and then keep pruned and u will have a nice bush

[planthelper]

i only skimmed this post, but if you want to grow something indoors and it's supposed to work (give you a return),

go for lophs or brigesi monstrous.

any other plant want (will not) produce any goodies, "sitting on a desk",

but gee lophs are happy on a desk.

my mom grew a loph for more than 16 years,

just on an indoor window sill recieving just a "lil morning sun" and once heating started (cold climat location) the loph was move further away from the central heating...

[ 22. February 2005, 15:06: Message edited by: planthelper ]

[Ed Dunkel]

CSIRO wouldn't mind Sceletium, it is also hard to kill.

Hoodias

Areca triandria - nice palm for the office.

Ipomoea sp or Argyreia nervosa along the window sill.

A variety of Acacias outside in the native landscaped garden beds, and any other interesting natives... (and mushrooms in the mulch)

I'm sure caapi and Psychotria catharginensis could be alright if it isn't too "air-conned".

I'm sure there is much more

ps. North Ride, apothecary ???

[ 22. February 2005, 17:15: Message edited by: Ed Dunkel ]

[apothecary]

Ed Dunkel, there are actually several CSIRO campuses in North Ryde, CMIS, ICT, and AMCS or whatever it is.

I'm in one of those three, I'll let you figure out which

Your post is interesting but I'm not sure you got what I meant

The gardens at CSIRO are already a testament to the beauty of Australian native florae and I'm not looking for anything to add to that. Whoever landscaped those gardens should be so proud of themselves.

I'm just looking for a plant spirit to keep me company during the day, I've already emailed T anyway asking for him to add a pack of Heimia seeds to my current order, so it's moot.

Thanks for the help though everyone!

[gerbil]

I'm with ph, get some cacti in there, even if you want the heimia aswell. Save up a bit of money and pick up a really nice loph, you won't be dissapointed... yet always inspired imo.

Even better, graft a loph to a fat bridgesii or spachianus stock, but you can cut it lowish so it'll eventually be covered, spachianus would look great if it doesn't completely cover anyway, very nice spines on them.

[apothecary]

gerbil, I have both loph and bridgesii's at home, my current loph has a very strong vibe with it, I could never hurt it.

I just couldn't do it.

Maybe tomorrow when I get paid I'll order a few more from herbalistics, but as it stands, I won't be grafting any time soon.

Also, the problem with psychoactive cacti in my workplace is that CSIRO employs a lot of hippies. While you'd think most of them are pro drug, I'm not sure how well havnig peyote at the workplace would go down, and they'd most certainly recognise lophs.

[ 22. February 2005, 19:37: Message edited by: apothecary ]

[Torsten]

Your choices are really limited to low light plants. I'd be surprised if you get more than 20% intensity in there. Rainforest plants would be the obvious choice, but you will need one that doesn't require high humidity (psychotria & kratom are out).

Palms are an obvious choice, but Areca will need higher temps to do well.

The large leaved Alstonias make excellent indoor plants eg A. scholaris.

Brugmansias make excellent indoor plants, but there are other dangers here. How large should this plant be anyway? Desk or floor height?

The other suitable group are cacti, but in a worlkplace you are limited to spineless ones.There are a few eg Lophs, Astrophytum nudum, some Mammillarias, there's also a nude Matucana I think.

Some Trich. scopulicolus are so short spined the most anyone can got off them is a rash or a ladder in their panties

[apothecary]

Torsten, I'm guessing you haven't checked your email yet. Do that

It doesn't have to be large. A nice round clay pot where something can live contentedly and keep me company would be nice. There are a lot of computers where I work (as you can imagine) and a small source of negative ion attraction (i.e. any plant) to sit next to my monitor would help with the headaches I sometimes get after coding for a long spell.

Like I said, I'd prefer something that isn't included in the list of "pop culture" drugs. This isn't a diminishment of my respect for Peyote or similar plants, but at the same time, I'd rather not have something a cleaner would be tempted to steal or another staff member blow out of proportion.

[ 22. February 2005, 20:59: Message edited by: apothecary ]

[Benzedrine]

Probably not what your looking for but I grew a couple of valerian plants of an office desk, they never seemed unhappy about it. Actually a pretty good plant for improving the look of an office desk to boot ... if you going for a jungle look.

[Rev]

Lithops or Pleiospilos

[Thelema]

would a tabernanthe get enough light? a lot of my tabernaemontana do quite well in low light conditions.

eboga would be the ultimate fingers up plant to grow. illegal in the US, no-one would ever know you had such a controversial plant.

medicine garden used to sell 3 seeds for $100.

but then again, you know their reputation...

[Torsten]

yep, got your mail just after I posted

I don't think that plant will do well. it needs more light I think.

I suspect iboga would actually do well at a constant 21 degC.

Calea loves low light too and will probably cope with dry air.

If Brugmansia isn't a problem then I'd pick B.aurea. Nice compact and will flower often and early. The scent in the office in the evenings will be devine.

Cacti and succs won't do much in the way of negative ion absorption.

Coffee also makes a good indoor plant, but it might feel a bit threatened in an IT office

[smogs]

if u wanted an astrophytum astraphytus? (would have to check label) i have some little babies... i could prolly part with 1 or 2

[devils_cactus]

a loph would be lots of fun...

"hey where'd your little cactus go?"

"huh?"

[Happy Cadaver]

Psychotria carthaginensis would love it in an office situation i reckon. Theobroma cacao too although the cows may get to it, just gotta watch the door before they bolt.

Edited March 13, 2007 by darcy

[gerbil]

apothecary:

my current loph has a very strong vibe with it, I could never hurt it.

Totally understand, i'm lucky having some that were a bit under the weather, but it was still hard with the first incision, beauty of it is that it's taken to the stock, at least for the time being and it's roots are still healthy and calloused.

 

apothecary:

Also, the problem with psychoactive cacti in my workplace is that CSIRO employs a lot of hippies. While you'd think most of them are pro drug, I'm not sure how well havnig peyote at the workplace would go down, and they'd most certainly recognise lophs.

If it'll be a stress because of them hassling you or fear of it being stolen(bah nothing worse than cacti theives), it's probably not a good idea as it defeats the purpose of what you want to achieve. Other than that tell them to F%#@ off, it's just a plant no matter what view people have of it, if you have a connection with it then you are more than entitled to be able to express that openly without being hassled about it. Easier said than done, but if it'll make you happy at work and have a more positive life I say go for it, hey every little bit counts.

Psychotria carthaginensis are beauties, go for that too hehe, i'm glad i'm not in your situation, i'd get carried away and we'd end up having animals nesting in the 'jungle' :D Best of luck with the project

Do you reckon they'd let you erect a large greenhouse in the office? haha :cool:

[ 24. February 2005, 20:37: Message edited by: gerbil ]

[apothecary]

Hey guys.

I'm dragging this thread back up, because we just moved to a different CSIRO campus and I'm not sure what would grow here.

Basically I'm in an even lower light situation than before, no natural light and only a few fluorescent tubes in the roof.

There's also no air movement, as the ventilation seems to be quite low.

Just outside my office there is a small garden with nothing but some young palms and some vague looking vine.

I'm thinking of snipping off a small part of my Brugmansia and putting it in a pot. T, do you reckon my Perilla would do well in a low light situation? The propagation tab that came with it says it likes lots of sun.

Also, does anyone have a good tek for caapi cuttings? I think there's one on EBA I'll look for it after I click post...would caapi do well in such a situation?

Coleus?

Lastly, are there any good high oxygen generating plants that do well in low light?

[Rev]

lol

brown alga

theres a plant i read about and have

not an ethno but takes low light and looks cool

Zamioculcas

http://members.chello.at/norbert.anderwald...cas/index_e.htm