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I bought a medusa head cactus (euphorbia flanaganii) at an indoor plant sale because I'd never seen anything like it before, and now I am more invested in it than any plant I have ever had and all I want in my life is for it to succeed and be happy. I don't speak plant very well though so I'd love some advice about what I should be doing for it. When I bought it I googled and saw that it wants at least 6 hours a day of direct sunlight and unlike most succulents it doesn't deal well without regular watering. At first I thought I might put it in my garden but after a couple of days sitting out there it looked really unhappy so I've brought it inside (I'd prefer it inside anyway where I can see it more often!). My house doesn't really get direct sunlight in so yesterday I bought it a little grow light. This is how it looks right now:   Questions: -Does it need a bigger pot? It looks a bit cramped in the current one and it's hard to pour water on the soil rather than onto the plant. -The internet tells me that a sign of it needing water is the branches(???) curling back in towards the centre. To me it looks like that's what's happening now but when I put a skewer into the dirt it does come back up damp so I also think it has enough water for now. Should I just ignore the internet telling me that or wait until it curls back even further? -Some of the spines have gone brown rather than the green they are supposed to be. Is this from a week of not enough light or from overwatering or from something else that I should change? -Should I leave the light on all the time or turn it off sometimes? Does "needs at least six hours of direct sunlight" translate to "needs six hours of grow light" or should I do longer?
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Mar 29, 2021 11:55
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Thanks! I will get some stuff on the weekend and try my hand at repotting.
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Mar 29, 2021 15:20
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Thanks! That's all extremely helpful. Once I've proven to myself that I can keep it alive I'm gonna try get a nice head-shaped planter so it can live its true snake hair destiny.
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Mar 30, 2021 12:27
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Yeah that's probably more sensible. Circumference is 34cm!
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Mar 30, 2021 12:43
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Extra row of tits posted:Ive very much enjoyed my short time in this thread, thank you all for being so welcoming and helpful. Is this the thread for asking new guy vegetable question in? I'm pretty sure most of my questioned could be Googled, but this is much more enjoyable. I have to say your username/posting style combo is delightful. In plant news I have successfully repotted my medusa head thing in terracotta! I have realised that the light I've got is not a very clever idea for it since it has to stab into the soil and the plant is very horizontal and will keep growing outwards, so I should really get a little lamp on a stand that I can move directly over it instead. Oh well, a problem for future me.
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Apr 7, 2021 11:16
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My garden problem is my little patch of front garden gets very little direct sunlight, and it seems like all the native plants from my region need full sun because Australia  I like natives and want to help out the local birds and also don't want to have to set up a sprinkler system but it's so hard to find something that will flourish in the shade.
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Apr 29, 2021 16:34
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My friend moved house recently and has a tree in her backyard which is turning yellow. It's autumn here so that could be it but we aren't sure what sort of tree it is so it may well be evergreen and in trouble. Anyone know what it is? She can get better pictures tomorrow if needed but I figured I'd post this current one just in case.
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May 3, 2021 12:52
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Fitzy Fitz posted:You usually need to be able to make out the details of the leaves and bark to ID a tree, plus your location. It looks like some branches have already been lopped off? We're in Perth, Western Australia. If it's deciduous then it's non-native so IDK how much the location helps. I'll let her know to get more detailed pictures tomorrow.
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May 3, 2021 14:09
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Fitzy Fitz posted:You usually need to be able to make out the details of the leaves and bark to ID a tree, plus your location. It looks like some branches have already been lopped off?    
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May 4, 2021 07:19
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I've been gifted a phalaenopsis orchid. The instructions for it say to put it somewhere humid with direct sunlight. I can offer it filtered light + humidity or direct light + not much humidity. Which one will keep it happier? Light?
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Sep 9, 2021 02:49
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Pot: Plant: 
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Sep 9, 2021 12:24
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Actually, if I'm going to end up at Bunnings this weekend anyway buying plant stuff I should probably sort out this too: when I bought the medusa head plant I've posted about before I also on a whim bought a plant for my bathroom, which I assumed would eventually die due to me being bad at plants. It's actually been hanging on pretty well and growing and getting flowers, so I figure I actually should learn what it is and get it into proper potting mix and a better pot. So, what should I be buying for this guy: 
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Sep 9, 2021 12:31
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Wallet posted:Looks like a Begonia. It probably likes the humidity it's getting in your bathroom but they also want good drainage. Thanks, that's right I just keep remembering it as an old-lady-sounding-plant but can never remember which one. What does that translate to in a practical sense for a plant newbie? I have some succulent potting mix, should I put it in that or is that too much drainage? Is there a particular sort of pot I should put it in?
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Sep 11, 2021 10:32
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I bought some fertiliser for my indoor begonia because although I have repotted it successfully (thanks thread) it could be happier and I hear feeding plants is good for them. The fertiliser advertises itself as indoor plant fertiliser and lists species included palms and ferns and geraniums. Can I use the same fertiliser for my euphorbia as well or would I really need to buy a whole other fertiliser of specifically succulent food? Kind of regretting that right now my indoor plants consist of three totally different species with totally different care requirements but I think I'm down the rabbithole now so I'm sure more will join them sooner or later. This is the stuff I bought! Organza Quiz fucked around with this message at 14:46 on Sep 25, 2021 |
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Sep 25, 2021 14:42
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Perfect thanks! I thought it might be one of those areas where there are tons of slightly different products but they're all basically similar but wasn't sure.
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Sep 25, 2021 16:52
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Honestly I was gonna say something about how very jarring it is to be reading people talking about eradicating a thing named after my ethnic group, so I'm glad it got brought up. It might sound silly to call it dew or something else that sounds similar but tbh it's night and day if you're just browsing your favourite dead gay internet forum and don't have to see that.
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Oct 6, 2021 14:06
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Imagine how weird it is when you've never really heard of it before waking up to see that!
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Oct 6, 2021 14:50
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Why is my medusa euphorbia doing this? It's definitely not being over watered, but maybe underwatered? I know they don't like being thirsty as much as some other euphorbias and I've been watering whenever the stems feel a bit thin and droopy instead of big and firm, but that's maybe every four weeks or longer. Does that sound too infrequent? My original theory was lack of light since the yellowing stems were originally all ones coming up from underneath, and the windowsill it's on has sort of stopped getting direct sunlight due to the change in sun angle heading into summer. I've started using the artificial light I got for it originally again but now some further up stems are also dying off so maybe it wasn't that in the first place. A lot of the living stems are putting on a ton of new growth in the last few weeks so I feel like it can't be that unhappy, but the increasing yellow stems are worrying me.
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Nov 24, 2021 15:17
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Thanks! No worries then if it's not something obvious, I will experiment until morale improves. It's just my first ever plant that I've actually cared about so I want it to thrive!
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Nov 25, 2021 04:10
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Is bark for reptiles/other pets okay as bark to use in orchid medium or does it have stuff done to it?
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Jan 3, 2022 04:32
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Wallet posted:This is all that counts. gently caress plant snobs. If I like a plant I don't really give a poo poo if it's an expensive exotic or something I can get for $3.50 at a supermarket (unless it's a trendy exotic and then gently caress those instagram people for driving up prices). Depends on the cat, and you're betting its health on it not suddenly deciding to have a munch. I have cats and plants that aren't good for cats but I'm very careful to only put them in places that I'm 100% certain the cats won't get to them, and I'm lucky not to have particularly adventurous/determined cats. I also don't have anything that would pose a very serious immediate risk to their health if they did have a nibble.
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Jan 20, 2022 15:55
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Yeah but then you have the problem of them chewing on it too much. I got one once and had to relocate it to my office because the cat wouldn't stop munching it and it looked terrible.
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Apr 28, 2022 14:51
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Do people ever grow epiphytic orchids on an actual tree branch as an indoor plant? Seems like it would be really cool aesthetically but I guess annoying to water? Does the branch have to be alive for some reason? ETA: google says absolutely doable, hm maybe I have a new plant experiment on the way. Organza Quiz fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Jun 14, 2022 |
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Jun 14, 2022 15:45
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My random shop phalaenopsis I was given last year seems to be pretty happy, but is there anything I should be doing to help it out with flowering? It seems like it wants its flowers to be really close to the light but I'm worried if I move it actually onto the windowsill the leaves will burn from too much direct sunlight. Should I fertilise it? I have some generic orchid fertiliser liquid I could give it, but I'd have to make up a pretty big quantity from the concentrate I think in one go. Could I just store the rest and use it up gradually? Basically I'm delighted with its flower spike and all its buds but now I'm paranoid that the buds won't fully develop.
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Jul 17, 2022 03:29
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BigFactory posted:I would suggest just being patient. It takes a long time. Thanks, I'm cool with patience! I'm just a nervous plant parent cause this is the first time I've managed to keep a plant alive for this long much less happy enough to flower.
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Jul 17, 2022 14:27
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I did it! I kept my orchid alive and happy long enough for a new round of flowers!
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Aug 14, 2022 05:55
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BIG-DICK-BUTT-gently caress posted:V nice. I saw you had asked about fertilizing .. in my experience, fertilizing an orchid that's about to flower can cause it to stop/delay flowering in favor of vegetative growth (leaves n roots). So don't fertilize when you have a flower spike! otherwise, i like to do 1/2 strength fertilizer 1x per week . "Weekly, weakly". Thanks! I won't worry about fertiliser then for now. I actually repotted it into chips already last year, a little ill-advisedly since it still had its flowers at the time but it kept them quite happily for months afterwards so dodged that bullet.
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Aug 14, 2022 12:54
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Ok new newbie orchid question: flowers are going great but some of it is a bit squished up. Is there a way I can move them apart further so they have room or should I leave it to sort itself out itself or should I prune off the buds that are stuck behind that one squished up flower?  
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Aug 28, 2022 03:19
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Thanks, good point I have tons of wire lying around from craft projects. I've rigged up the problem bit like this for now:
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Aug 28, 2022 04:20
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Peace lilies aren't particularly toxic to cats, they're just unpleasant for them and anything other than a really dumb persistent cat would figure out not to eat the thing that makes them feel bad. It's true lilies that are an instant emergency if a cat nibbles on it.
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Oct 25, 2022 12:14
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I bought a tiny phalaenopsis which has been a bit of an experiment in seeing if it will survive in its current pot on my desk at work. I had some issues with it being waterlogged which has led to it having its roots rot, trying to grow some more and then having them rot as well. I think I've now got the moisture issue solved but is it worth watering it now before it attempts to put out more roots? Or should I just keep an eye on it until I see more roots (or it gives up and dies)? I promise I have happy phalaenopsises at home this one has just been an experiment which has gone a little badly so far.
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Nov 22, 2023 10:53
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Oh I've already figured out the problem that was keeping it waterlogged, it was that water was sitting in the inner pot. The question was more whether watering it currently will do it any good if it doesn't have any roots currently. I assume it will try to grow some more at some point, and these ones should survive now that I've worked out the issue.
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Nov 23, 2023 13:24
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indigi posted:can sphagnum moss come back to life? I have some orchids on a pebble tray filled with water to keep them appropriately humid, and over time due to picking up the pots to water/care for the plants, some moss has fell out onto the pebbles. I haven't cleaned it up because I figured it'd just help with evaporation and moisture retention, but I just noticed this morning that some of it has turned green, and seems to be revived, living moss. Same question but it's some of the moss in my orchid's container! I guess the answer has to be yes because it's definitely turned a very live green but is that weird or bad?
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Feb 14, 2024 04:19
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Mad Hamish posted:Well, in their natural environment things like phalaenopsis and other houseplant orchids are epiphytes, which means they grow on other plants. Phalaenopsis will grow in pockets of detritus on the limbs of trees, which would be things like fallen leaves, twigs, bits of bark, moss, that sort of thing. I doubt it would cause any trouble for your orchid but I'm wondering how it would manage to photosynthesize in an orchid pot. In my case they're clear plastic orchid pots! I'm a bit more worried that it's a sign that the pot is too damp and needs more airflow but one of the two pots it's happening in has great big holes in it so it might be fine.
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Feb 14, 2024 14:01
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Ok yeah now that you mention it I went to look again and that definitely looks like algae, I just didn't realise what I was looking at! It's really taking over one of the pots so I will try the hydrogen peroxide trick and report back. In other news I have a little mostly-native balcony garden now and I'm very pleased with how it's doing!   The plant on the far right of the first pic is a special purple kangaroo paw hybrid but it was past flowering season when I got it so I've gotta keep it happy all the way until spring to see it!
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Feb 22, 2024 02:41
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Took a few steps further down the orchid rabbit hole:  A very pretty nice smelling cattelya hybrid and cymbidium heaven scent rainbow. Hopefully I can keep them happy! Meanwhile in outdoor plant news my grevillea is finally producing a somewhat decent flower!  Before now basically all the little buds were falling off before they could develop, which I was worried was due to the wind up here but the internet tells me it's due to high temperatures. Sure enough, now that the weather has calmed down slightly I've got a basically okay looking one! I have high hopes for the two in that photo that are still in the bud stage. Now someone just needs to remind the honeyeaters to check my balcony again for lunch. I have food for you now!
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Apr 3, 2024 02:26
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huh posted:I had a potted grevillea that was going swimmingly until we had a week or so of very high temps and it died pretty quickly, despite me watering it frequently. I was devastated. Oh no! I only planted this one in December and it's doing great so far so hopefully it'll be fine for subsequent summers. It does get shade in the afternoon so maybe that helps. What sort of temps are you talking? I wouldn't have thought grevilleas would be bothered by heat that much but I guess there must be varieties from colder parts of the country.
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Apr 4, 2024 00:53
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huh posted:I think the max was 35 Celsius for a couple of days. It was originally a Bunnings plant, so it probably spent most of it's life in a greenhouse down south somewhere. I bought it in winter and had it for 6 months before it died. cest la vie Ah yeah, I'm in Perth so we already had a ton of 35+ in Feb and it was fine. Came from a specialty nursery but I'm not sure where the variety is from originally, I just picked it up because it said compact and good for pots. I'm interested in picking up a groundcover type as well and seeing if I can get it spilling out of a pot.
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Apr 4, 2024 12:11
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huh posted:That's a nice idea. I've got a native violet (viola hederacea) that is a ground covering plant but it's in a hanging pot, so it spills over the pot in a lovely way. Until I cut it last weekend it was hanging down about 1.5 metres. Cute! One day I will get around to organising hanging pots but ground pots will do for now. Here's what I've got growing on my balcony:  I planted them all right before it got super hot because that's just the time I had brain available to organise it but they've all survived the summer pretty happily. So if you're looking for a grevillea that won't mind being thrown into 40+ temps I can recommend this one. I'm especially excited about the King's Park Royale kangaroo paw, I bought it when flowering was already finished so if I can keep it happy until spring I'll get gorgeous red/purple flowers.
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Apr 7, 2024 02:50
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Lovely! Grevilleas are so cool, I never realised how varied they can be before I started looking in to growing them. My mother's had a standard grevillea (ie grafted onto a tree trunk) for many years and the birds and bees both love it. I probably don't need to say this but make sure you do King's Park if you do come over this end of the world, they have a fantastic botanic garden.
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Apr 7, 2024 07:57
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