Gerber Daisy Transplant.... AGAIN

I don't know if it is good to keep repotting these propagations, but I feel like they outgrow their pots very quickly.   In this case, I don't think they had quite outgrown them, but I had gotten three pots on clearance and wanted to tidy up my kitchen display.

I found 3 plastic "sleeves" that were of an appropriate size to snuggle into my new pots, leaving enough space for a thin layer of stones at the bottom of the ceramic pot.

Most of the pots had roots poking out the bottom like this.

Hopefully now that they are all in the same sized pot, they will maintain a similar growth rate/pattern/size!

These new pots didn't need that much more soil, but I used what I had leftover from a previous potting session.  The soil was all kinds of mix and even had some river stones in it.  I don't think this composition was significant enough to impact future growth.  Below you can see the final display on my kitchen window sill.  Adjacent to the cyclamen, which really looks quite nice in its new configuration, and the original gerber.

Aluminum Plant: Kicking Ass and Taking Names

After just a short time on their own, these baby aluminums are beginning to flourish!  And the original plant is picking up right where it was cut off.

Below you can see some new growth on the 3 babes shown in the frame.

And the original plant, shown below, is sprouting up two shoots on either side of the stem where it was cut off.  I guess that means this plant is going to appear twice as full when those shoots really start to take off!  All the more opportunity for me to propagate again!

Fried Bamboo, What is the Deal!?

I am at a loss for what has happened to my bamboo plant.  It seems that after I repotted it in a new jar with just rocks, it's started to turn yellow and is now almost completely yellow.  The little pot it came in had rocks, but it also had some of that clear gel that absorbs water and slowly releases it.  Perhaps this bamboo variety is not accustomed to complete submersion in water, which is why they had the gels in there.  I thought the gels were more of a watering convenience for the greenhouse as it meant they would not have to water it as frequently.  But it certainly seems that I am incorrect.

Here is my bamboo shortly after repotting it a month and a half ago:

Here it is today:

Taking a closer look at the roots, most of them seem fine, those one has a bit of an orange tinge to it, which leads me to believe it is not enjoying the constant exposure to water.  I'm going to stop by Agway and pick up some of that gel in a fresh bag and throw it into the stone mix.  For now, I've just drained all of the water out of the jar and hope that helps to dry out the roots some.

When my Chinese evergreen started to turn yellow, the "root" of the problem was overwatering and zero drainage whereby the the majority of the roots had rotted out.  I'm not sure that this is an identical problem, but it's the only inference I can make at this time.  As usual, I will keep you posted!

Caladium Pest Problem... Eradicated!

It appears that my strategy for eliminating that unidentified life-sucking pest has succeeded!  Well, for the most part.  You may recall, my last ditch effort was to divide up the main tubular into individual chunks, giving each chunk a thorough cleanse in the sink and fresh new soil and container.  I ended up with 7 separate containers of itty bitty caladium parts.  Of those 7, 3 have begun to flourish and 4 have withered away.  I must not have been as thorough with the cleanse on those 4 because once again, almost over night, the pests returned and began to cover the entire stem and underside of the leaf.  If I had acted quickly, I probably could have repeated the cleaning and repotting strategy and saved those plants.  But I couldn't designate enough time in the middle of the week to execute and so they have perished.