My collection so far...

[Scarecrow]

It's been a few years, but since summer started everything in my new greenhouse is exploding and my collection is finally starting to be worth showing. Big thanks to the Melbourne folks who helped me get a lot of these together toward the start... I'll be coming back to the meets with something to share in the near future

 

Ephedra sinica, sprouting from fresh seed. I found a research article with a propagation technique that had a high success rate and stuck to that. Used ordinary potting mix; made small indents in the soil about half an inch deep, put a seed in each, then gently dusted over it with a 50/50 mix of soil and propagation sand to lightly cover them. Keeping them in my greenhouse for now and spraying them once a day... I will move them out soon, I'm hoping for a few more babies to pop up. I used a nice deep pot after reading somewhere here that they tend to grow roots downward rather than outward. Would appreciate if anyone can verify the ID on these!

 

 

Goji. I'm surprised how resilient these are. They were both basically twigs when I got them and kept losing all their leaves every few months, but they somehow bounced back every time. I repotted them before summer and have been giving them a lot of water, and one of them has even started flowering! I don't know if this means it will fruit soon or if I need to do something to make that happen, though.

 

Valerian? The leaves don't look right to me. I harvested this and split the root a few years back and it started growing again recently. Still not entirely sure if the valerian is making a comeback or if this is just some weed. In any case I'll find out when I try to harvest it again... I nearly fell asleep cleaning the roots last time. The oils are super potent when it's fresh.

 

Turmeric. Woefully neglected. Honestly I thought these were dead a long time ago... I don't know why these are still alive, but I'll take it.

 

B. Caapi is producing more vine material than I know what to do with. Also surprising me with how resilient it is... it's seen some rough days prior to my acquisition of a new greenhouse.

 

Psychotria Carthagenensis is looking lively lately too.

 

Brugmansias are making progress as well, with another Psychotria in the back there. Again, you can see that I had no idea what to do with these cuttings. Somehow it worked out anyway.

 

Succulent friends... you can probably tell I had no idea what I was doing when I was potting these cuttings, but I've since learned my lesson. Progress has been slow with the trichos as a result, and I think I ought to repot them properly in the near future. The pereskiopsis only very recently started actually growing, so I might leave it alone for now. Bastard things tried to kill me when we first met anyway.

 

And last but not least... Sally D. The only one left of about 5 cuttings... it's also seen some hard times but it's finally thriving.

 

In case anyone was wondering, the Kava Kava didn't make it

 

Edited March 6, 2018 by Scarecrow