# Look at the size of these pothos. Yeah Baby!



## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

So being down in south Texas in the tropical zone has been awesome. Our new horticulturist friend as I've discussed before is CITES permitted for plants. He has all sorts of parent plants from all over the world. He has been landscaping my moms portion of the property and entire landscaping of the park once it's ready. We've already planted bananas from sir lanka, South Africa, west Africa, plantains from Central America, palms from Madagascar, cycads from New Zealand and have these giant golden pothos from South American Brazilian rainforests (which they are not native too down there but will thrive very well in wet forests) This leaf isn't even mature. Had to be clipped from a node were using to grow up some Ebony trees. The leaves on mature vines at his place are 4' long and about 3' wide. Spectacular plants.


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## Jacqui (May 31, 2016)

All I can say is, "show off" and of course I am green with envy.


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## N2TORTS (May 31, 2016)

"Huge"......or just a mini suds bottle....


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## bouaboua (May 31, 2016)

Looks like you would also have a Botanical Garden going there......Free admission also???


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## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

N2TORTS said:


> "Huge"......or just a mini suds bottle....


Huge. And these clippings came off a 6 month old new vine. He's also going to start some white giant pothos. Same thing as these giant golden but the leaves are silly white.


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## ZEROPILOT (May 31, 2016)

I planted six tiny potted pothos around my fish pond when I first dug it out about 7 years ago.
I also have Ginormous leaves. And enough plant cover to coat an entire back yard.


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## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

ZEROPILOT said:


> I planted six tiny potted pothos around my fish pond when I first dug it out about 7 years ago.
> I also have Ginormous leaves. And enough plant cover to coat an entire back yard.


Fantastic. If you have Manouria they love to eat this stuff. It's considered toxic and do not feed. But I've had no issues in the 15 years I've kept Manouria. Actually impressa is a staple diet item. Also seen indotestudo consume it heavily too.


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## N2TORTS (May 31, 2016)

tortadise said:


> Huge. And these clippings came off a 6 month old new vine. He's also going to start some white giant pothos. Same thing as these giant golden but the leaves are silly white.


I Love the "exotics" .......we may have to trade some cuttings ....hint hint ....I just received some exotic bananas....as well as a very rare " Black elephant ear" ....or otherwise known as Taro . You see the green all the time , but not the black.


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## N2TORTS (May 31, 2016)

1,000 finger Banana




Black Taro


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## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

N2TORTS said:


> I Love the "exotics" .......we may have to trade some cuttings ....hint hint ....I just received some exotic bananas....as well as a very rare " Black elephant ear" ....or otherwise known as Taro . You see the green all the time , but not the black.


Most excellent. Are the taro you got aquatic or terrestrial? We recently purchased a boat load of plants and I have never seen these before. They are a taro but full aquatic. Don't know names. But they are quite cool. Let
Me see if I can find a picture of em. I love trading.


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## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

Found it.


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## N2TORTS (May 31, 2016)

The Ones I have are terrestrial .......do well in a damp , shaded area. I have a really neat (but sorta common) Pencil plant . I get tons of cuttings, they root well, super easy to grow , drought tolerant. This variety is a "fire Type" with new growth having red / orange. Are these common in your aera, or have you seen them?
Left middle of the Cove' Shot. This plant was a foot tall 3 years ago and now reaches about 7'.






Here is a Red Banana.......in case you missed this from an old thread ....


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## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

And then here's a sneak peak of some of the stuff we got. Nursery got damaged from a fire at the main building. So the old man is shutting down. Madagascar thorny plants 6-7' tall for $20 bucks. Haha. All sorts of great stuff we picked up. My mom is going again this Friday. It's time to start making the pathways full of exotic plants. All sorts of great stuff. Got 6 new species of hibiscus too. Biggest flowers I've ever seen. Size of a dinner plate.


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## bouaboua (May 31, 2016)

N2TORTS said:


> The Ones I have are terrestrial .......do well in a damp , shaded area. I have a really neat (but sorta common) Pencil plant . I get tons of cuttings, they root well, super easy to grow , drought tolerant. This variety is a "fire Type" with new growth having red / orange. Are these common in your aera, or have you seen them?
> Left middle of the Cove' Shot. This plant was a foot tall 3 years ago and now reaches about 7'.
> 
> 
> ...


Never tired of looking at your yard.


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## Yvonne G (May 31, 2016)

The pencil plant is Euphorbia tirucalli. The sap is toxic.


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## bouaboua (May 31, 2016)

tortadise said:


> And then here's a sneak peak of some of the stuff we got. Nursery got damaged from a fire at the main building. So the old man is shutting down. Madagascar thorny plants 6-7' tall for $20 bucks. Haha. All sorts of great stuff we picked up. My mom is going again this Friday. It's time to start making the pathways full of exotic plants. All sorts of great stuff. Got 6 new species of hibiscus too. Biggest flowers I've ever seen. Size of a dinner plate.
> View attachment 175654
> View attachment 175656
> View attachment 175657


Never tired of yours also......


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## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

N2TORTS said:


> 1,000 finger Banana
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sweeeet. That banana is awesome. I gotta have one. So far, we have Sri Lankan true banana, Central American plantains, South American banana, a South African banana, which kinda looks like your red/black banana. Not sure if it fruits or not. Alvin basically comes over every Friday and Saturday with a truck load of plants. Lol. I don't mind. It's super cheap. He donates a lot of his too. He has the most phenomenal plants you can imagine. I'll try and dig some photos up of stuff he has in his garden(-about 6 acres worth)


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## Yvonne G (May 31, 2016)

tortadise said:


> Sweeeet. That banana is awesome. I gotta have one. So far, we have Sri Lankan true banana, Central American plantains, South American banana, a South African banana, which kinda looks like your red/black banana. Not sure if it fruits or not. Alvin basically comes over every Friday and Saturday with a truck load of plants. Lol. I don't mind. It's super cheap. He donates a lot of his too. He has the most phenomenal plants you can imagine. I'll try and dig some photos up of stuff he has in his garden(-about 6 acres worth)



Do a Google image search for the 1000 finger banana. It's quite amazing!!!


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## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

Can't remember any of the names of things though. But this one is super awesome. I call it the giraffe tree. Haha


Again don't remember any of the names. This one was awesome smelled like a perfume factory. Flower was massive as well.


This one I know. Madagascar Palm. Silver. This plant is only 4 years old. Cooliest Palm every I've got 6 small ones to plant along the pathways. But have to have a huge open area as you can see they get massive very quick.


Lots of cycads too. 








That's about all I remembered to take photos of unfortunately. His place is crazy. The park will pretty much look like this in a few years. Slowly planting and planting and planting and building.


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## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

Yvonne G said:


> Do a Google image search for the 1000 finger banana. It's quite amazing!!!


I'm going to. Actually send the species name to Alvin and see if he can get me some. I've never seen anything like that. Sure does fit in with all the super crazy exotic flora down here.


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## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

South Texas has got me so excited about outdoors and growing a dream. I can't wait to get it open to the public and all
Landscaped and have y'all come out and enjoy crazy turtles, torts, birds and plants.


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## Yvonne G (May 31, 2016)

tortadise said:


> I'm going to. Actually send the species name to Alvin and see if he can get me some. I've never seen anything like that. Sure does fit in with all the super crazy exotic flora down here.



Pisang Seribu ???


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## N2TORTS (May 31, 2016)

Yvonne G said:


> The pencil plant is Euphorbia tirucalli. The sap is toxic.


Yes it is .......keep well trimmed ... above torts reach ...I have never has a problem with them even trying to eat it .


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## N2TORTS (May 31, 2016)

tortadise said:


> Can't remember any of the names of things though. But this one is super awesome. I call it the giraffe tree. Haha
> View attachment 175664
> 
> Again don't remember any of the names. This one was awesome smelled like a perfume factory. Flower was massive as well.
> ...


Love the split leaf split-leaf philodendron....I have some of those myself .....

I just took these while we have been chatting hope you don't mind sharing on your thread ......
Nothing wrong with a little color and some edibles too.....


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## N2TORTS (May 31, 2016)

Kelly Here are some neat palms to add as well .....
A Bismark palm.....has a neat 'blue/grey to it)






or the "fish tail Palm" ....my Favo ....







Look at the size of this cacti....




The black bamboo is always a hit and provides a nice wall barrier ....but is a rhizome runner




and the good ol' Australian Tree Fern....


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## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

N2TORTS said:


> Love the split leaf split-leaf philodendron....I have some of those myself .....
> 
> I just took these while we have been chatting hope you don't mind sharing on your thread ......
> Nothing wrong with a little color and some edibles too.....


Have at it. It's a cool thread so far


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## MPRC (May 31, 2016)

I need to move south. My "black thumb of death" is green with envy.


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## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

LaDukePhoto said:


> I need to move south. My "black thumb of death" is green with envy.


They call it magic valley for a reason. Everything grows like "magic". In all seriousness you can literally wake up at the crack of dawn while the sun rises and the overnight dew and watch grass and things grow whilst drinking coffee. Haha


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## Yvonne G (May 31, 2016)

But now tell me about the hurricanes...


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## wellington (May 31, 2016)

Keep all the updates coming. It's looking and sounding fabulous. You and Jeff both are lucky to have such great weather for the plants. I would love to grow any of them. Can't wait to see everything in its place


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## Rue (May 31, 2016)

LaDukePhoto said:


> I need to move south. My "black thumb of death" is green with envy.



I call our place "The Acreage of Death". Sandy saline soil and well water high in tannins and other things the plants don't like...like manganese...


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## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

Yvonne G said:


> But now tell me about the hurricanes...


Eh no big deal. Lots of rain usually. Been hit down there only a handful of times over the past few decades.


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## tortadise (May 31, 2016)

Rue said:


> I call our place "The Acreage of Death". Sandy saline soil and well water high in tannins and other things the plants don't like...like manganese...


How deep is your well? Sounds like surface water? Have you tried getting it tastes and putting an RO or water softener system on it?


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## Rue (May 31, 2016)

Our well is 180 feet deep I think. We have an RO system which I use for our drinking water. It would cost too much in maintenance to use it for more than that. We have a water softener too. I was wondering if the salt from that was more of a problem than the tannins and manganese? I can't figure out how to by pass it when we water the garden.

I refuse to pay for a tannin filter too. So we're sucking it up on the visually unappealing look of our water.

It is potable however. The dogs drink it. The horses drink it. Goldfish can survive in it. I cook with it...but it does weird things to pasta and potatoes.


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## MPRC (May 31, 2016)

We had a terrible well. The water stank to high heavens and ran right through you...like Mexican tap water. 
The landlord refused to fix the filter/softner/anything. It was gross


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## ZEROPILOT (Jun 1, 2016)

My pothos


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## tortadise (Jun 1, 2016)

ZEROPILOT said:


> My pothos


Fantastic


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## Jacqui (Jun 1, 2016)

LaDukePhoto said:


> I need to move south. My "black thumb of death" is green with envy.



Lol I was thinking the same thing.


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## tortadise (Jun 20, 2016)

Lovely weekend. Our botonists friend got a nursery to donate some massive palms to help the landscape look of the first portion of the park. Was thrilled. These plants were quite expensive if purchased. 

First one is the show piece palm you will see when you venture on the walking trail that takes you to the screen house with a bunch of aquatics, and then the pavilion house that will house some large aquatics and South American species. Anyways here is a massive clumped fishtail Palm. Stands about 16' tall. It's a biggen. Required a backhoe to install it.



These are dwarf Orinoco banana trees. These are a native South American species of banana that does not fruit. Alvin (our Botonist) says they must have dwarfed over the years due to the rise and drops of flooding in the Amazon basin area. Very cool plants.(haha look at the chickens on the chair in the background) 



Some lovely bromeliads added to a huge 80+ year old Ebony tree on the beginning of the walkway.


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## Yvonne G (Jun 20, 2016)

Moving right along, eh Kelly? I love that fishtail palm.


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## tortadise (Jun 20, 2016)

Yvonne G said:


> Moving right along, eh Kelly? I love that fishtail palm.


It's so cool. I was shocked when they said they would donate it. I took more photos on my new camera than my phone. Of course I forgot to bring it back with me. But they also donated a 20' tall Everglades Palm. It's quite cool. It's clumped like this fishtail palm, but has numerous stocks on it like a traditional Palm.


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## tortadise (Jun 20, 2016)

This isn't the one planted but a representation of the species. Pretty cool trees


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## tortadise (Jun 22, 2016)

Had my brother download the pics off the camera.

The Everglades Palm.





And the fishtail.





Pothos starting to take off. This leaf is about 16"


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## tortadise (Jul 19, 2016)

Some more random awesome plants we got to Dispurse among the property.

Some bromeliads 










And the Everglades palm is doing quite well. Started growing new fans.


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