Gma's indoor winter gardening (and Sulcata brag) thread

Odin's Gma

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The geranium has finally rebounded fully, now just waiting for some flowers *fingers crossed*023.JPG



The mini tray of dandelion, nasturtium, marigold and assorted clover is a snacking dream.024.JPG



And the big pot of marigold is finally getting ready to flower!026.JPG 027.JPG



The basil is getting huge! Over a foot high! It's mostly for us primates, but every now and again he takes a bite or two.029.JPG



Green grass in the winter, it's a beautiful thing. :)031.JPG



And tasty geranium leaves that you could nap under if they weren't so darn tasty!033.JPG



And Mr. Hibiscus getting another whitefly treatment in the shower. It's been a week since the last one and the problem seems to be nearly resolved. Have only spotted a few of the pests in the last couple of days. YAY!!!!034.JPG
 

puffy137

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Don't forget the old Miracle Grow for your geraniums , they thrive on a feed. I at last figured out how much to add to the watering can. Your hibiscus made me go shopping , didn't find a hibiscus , but I did come home with some bougainvilleas , which I will photograph & share with you soon.:):):)
Lovely to see your hibiscus in the shower, I had my dusty old yuka out on the lawn for a quick douse , its now looking better.
 

Odin's Gma

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They always seem happier after a nice shower, but the hibiscus is the only one that requires the actual shower for his. The rest get theirs in the kitchen sink.
 

Odin's Gma

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Best day ever! Not only is it going to be sunny and beautiful and get up to the mid 40's (F) today, I was giving Odin's garden their morning misting and I noticed something wonderful in the hibiscus pot!
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A baby hibiscus plant! I don't know how long it's been there but I am over the moon about it! I have made several attempts at rooting cuttings and have had no luck, so this is just a fantastic surprise.003.JPG

Also the first marigold on the new plants with several other buds coming along.007.JPG


And a couple of new mini rose buds! 008.JPG
 

Odin's Gma

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Odin was not nearly as excited as I was about the hibiscus shoot, or anything else. He is throwing his typical, post-Mazuri, temper tantrum. He sat in the middle of the garden with his grump-face on until he saw the edge of the garden and then promptly belly-slid out and tried to escape. (it's only a couple of inches and we lay cardboard around them to soften his landing. We also are always sitting right there watching, so he never gets far.)
But that's okay, the next few days are supposed to continue to be beautiful and i'm sure a fresh marigold flower will help his mood.038.JPG 041.JPG 042.JPG 043.JPG 044.JPG 045.JPG 046.JPG
 

Odin's Gma

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Oh! In my amusement over our adorable little grouch, I almost forgot the other fantastic news! More new grass seeds came in the mail in the last couple of days!
(Also, blue fescue, not pictured) it's all been planted and I am anxiously awaiting sprouts, not that I will probably be able to tell what's what since I randomly seed each garden with whatever I grab to keep as much variety in each tray as possible, I mean, grass is grass to me, but still! So excited...for Odin.

(okay, me too! Each new sprout fills me with joy and pride! I know, I know. :rolleyes:)
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puffy137

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I'm feeling guilty for not trying to grow tort food , but in this climate & with so many there would never be enough.However here is a pic of the geraniums & the bougainvilleas ( horrible name , why can't they find a pretty name for that plant like Clover or Willow ?') that I bought day before yesterday , after not finding a hibiscus . Madeline & the torts like geranium flowers & leaves . & petunias are always welcome. The last one is a shot of the flowers emerging on the Camel's Foot tree.2015-03-08 12.10.52.jpg 2015-03-08 12.11.13.jpg 2015-03-08 12.11.36.jpg 2015-03-08 12.11.13.jpg 2015-03-08 12.11.36.jpg
 

Odin's Gma

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This is more exciting than the delicious smothered burrito this container once held! (recycling for the win!)

My cactus seeds came!

I have never grown cactus before, much less from seed, so I have no idea if they will work, but for the price (about 6$ for 20 seeds) if only one grows I will have gotten my moneys worth and more. As a free gift, they also sent me chia seeds, I have read that torts aren't very interested in them, but I threw a few in one of Odin's trays to try it out. Yay!

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HLogic

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This is more exciting than the delicious smothered burrito this container once held! (recycling for the win!)

My cactus seeds came!

I have never grown cactus before, much less from seed, so I have no idea if they will work, but for the price (about 6$ for 20 seeds) if only one grows I will have gotten my moneys worth and more. As a free gift, they also sent me chia seeds, I have read that torts aren't very interested in them, but I threw a few in one of Odin's trays to try it out. Yay!

View attachment 121618 View attachment 121619

Do not let the chia get loose outside! I can't tell you how many hours I have spent pulling those annoying plants from a couple of my enclosures. None of my torts would give it a second look. Any pieces of it contacting the ground will root and continue the propagation of this nefarious weed.
 

Odin's Gma

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Do not let the chia get loose outside! I can't tell you how many hours I have spent pulling those annoying plants from a couple of my enclosures. None of my torts would give it a second look. Any pieces of it contacting the ground will root and continue the propagation of this nefarious weed.
No worries! I am in Minnesota, those pesky buggers won't stand a chance outdoors up here. :)
 

HLogic

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It froze here and they were unphased...nothing like MN but I wouldn't take a chance.
 

Odin's Gma

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It froze here and they were unphased...nothing like MN but I wouldn't take a chance.
I won't do it intentionally, but if an errant seed escapes the confines of the house I won't be worried. I am in the far north of zone 4B, nearly 4A.
 

Odin's Gma

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I have stopped in a few times, and I will sure be back!

Odin the trouble maker took a bath while I did a little maintenance in his enclosure today:001.JPG
Notice the reason?
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It was because Somebody decided that pruning his own personal aloe nearly down to the substrate was a good idea this week (I think he was staring at it and trying to will it to regrow. :D )004.JPG

Fortunately I have aloe plants to spare, so after some playing in the dirt and repotting he got 3 beautiful new plants today!006.JPG

This is the poor thing I dug out. :(
Since the root and base still look so good and strong I am going to try and give it a second shot at life007.JPG

Happy repotted far away from that little stinker in a new pot with some friends.008.JPG

And THIS!!!!!!!!!
I don't yet know if an errant seed somehow ended up in the agave tray or if this is my first seedling, but I am very excited!012.JPG

All closed back up and humid as heck next to Odin's snack tray.014.JPG

And the next two trays in the line up, doing well. YAY!016.JPG
 

leigti

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This thread makes me want to go get one of those little green houses. I mean it really really really does :) i'm going to plant a few seeds in my garden today. But it's not warm enough yet to plant the garden totally.
 

leigti

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It's so funny how your tortoise will "prune" for you. My Russian will definitely do that, I put in a bunch of hens and chicks for her, by the time I got home from work the next day they were gone.
 

Odin's Gma

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This thread makes me want to go get one of those little green houses. I mean it really really really does :) .

Me too! Except BIG! I would love spending all day just pruning and misting and seeding.....

OH! And my geranium is starting to bud! Odin will be so happy. :)

It's so funny how your tortoise will "prune" for you. My Russian will definitely do that, I put in a bunch of hens and chicks for her, by the time I got home from work the next day they were gone.

I was honestly surprised the aloe lasted as long as it did in his enclosure, and the christmas cactus has had remarkable luck! I imagine keeping the fresh trays coming every week has gone a long way toward that.

I should probably mention that. Right now we have 4 large trays (standard seed trays, @11" x 22") going for him, obviously with a lot of other assorted offerings, but the trays we drop into his enclosure are randomly seeded with whatever I grab each time we pull them out of his enclosure, and right now we are dropping in a fresh tray roughly once a week. He is 10 months old and 143 gms as of last week.
We pull them before he eats everything completely, usually there are just tufts of sad, trampled and munched grass left. So, when I pull them each tray has roughly 3 weeks to rebound and sprout before being devoured. It is working better than I had hoped!
 

Odin's Gma

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Awesome gardening day! I am seeing flower buds almost everywhere!
Geranium023.JPG

Roses024.JPG

Marigold025.JPG

African Violet026.JPG

And one of my orchids!!!!!!! I don't recall ever getting an orchid to rebloom! (not tort food, obviously)027.JPG
 
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