Saturday, September 18, 2010

New Plants & Looking for More!

I've purchased a few more plants that I was either desperately in love with or were on sale for various reasons and super cheap. I'm also looking for more! If anyone in the Vancouver area has some extra houseplants or would like to donate some leaves for cuttings or plantlets it would be much appreciated!

The reason for this resurgence of plant purchases... the free section of craigslist. I received 3 - 4ft light fixtures with two bulbs each. The bulbs themselves are brand new and have a reasonably good spectrum (not ideal but I can replace a few).


I've just tossed the plants if for now but you can see most of them in this photo. You may notice I am extremely fond of plants with reddish or striped leaves. So clockwise from the bottom left:

(1) Alocasia x amazonica (I've seen this mislabeled as Alocasia 'Purple Prince' and 'Metallica' so please let me know if my ID is incorrect)
(2) Calathea roseopicta 'Medallion'
(3) Anthurium amnicola (with deep almost black flowers but NOT Anthurium watermeliense)
(4) Schefflera (old news)
(5) Ficus elastica 'Burgundy' (also old news)
(6) Spathiphyllum wallisii ($1.99 because it was slightly wilted, barely visible)
(7) Cattleya NOID ($7 marked down from $25)

Front Tray, left to right:

(1) Aphelandra squarrosa
(2) Ficus pumila (which I purchased and immediate took 5 cuttings of)
(3) Fernicus unknownicus (seriously, I have no idea, some fern)

The red container has three papaya sprouts. There are also my Tracycarpus and Chamaerops palm sprouts as well as my unsprouted Jubaea hidden in the back. Now...

Can anyone ID this fern? I have no idea what it is. It reminds me of a Microsorium pteropus 'windelov' but the edges of the one I have are not smooth but slightly saw-like. It's the one I split into three in the picture above. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

9 comments:

  1. Fernicus = Pteris cretica? I'm only about 35% sure on this, but that's my best guess.

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  2. I think you got it! I'm thinking Pteris cretica 'roeweri'. How ever 'crestata' also looks close, maybe to yellow though. I don't think it's Pteris multifida. Thanks!

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  3. Interesting fern! I have no idea, sadly! Hey, my Moms Papaya trees (grown from seed) are loaded up with so many fruits it is amazing! The taste has been odd so far too. The first fruit tasted like butternut squash, and now the second one tastes faintly of jasmine flowers! This is so fun...we wonder what the 3rd will bring. LOL.

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  4. Hi! i am a fellow engineering gardener
    I just discovered your blog, it looks great!
    good luck finding the name of the fern, I have no idea.

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  5. P. cretica is my guess as well; there are so many varieties. It looks like a green version of mine. Don't let it dry out, the fronds won't recover and you'll be forced to give it a bad haircut :(

    I'd say all but the cattleya will do fine under tubes (personal experience). If you don't have a sunny window for that one, you could try a bright CFL (household "twirly") with a reflector, at least a 23 watt/100 watt output equivalent. I've had great results with these for plants that need higher light levels (I'm raising cactus and succulent seedlings under them), but the glass does get hot, so don't let it touch the leaves. A small fan helps; if you opt for one, get the quietest one you can find, the kind for electronics are excellent. Good luck!

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  6. @Julie, weird! Hopefully the next one tastes incredible.

    @~fer, I took a look at your blog, very nice! Always good to have another engineer gardener!

    @Thomas, I'm glad I've been keeping them soaked. I have a 'high-light' plan for the Cattleya. Needs to wait about a month though. I'm glad the other ones should be fine. I think I'll have to move my Lithops and Adenium under the lights. They just won't get enough in a rainy window sill all winter.

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  7. Yup, definitely amazonica! I'm glad you got so many great plants! A word of advice on the ficus pumila... water it! I've lost a couple by missing a watering. I'm glad you scored a non blooming orchid! Not only cheap, but rewarding as well!

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  8. The last time I went gardening, all of the plants died a horrible death. My dog trampled and dug holes where the plants were. :(

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  9. @Rainforest Gardener, Thanks for the ficus info. I'm keeping it near the Pteris which also doesn't like to dry out so hopefully they never do. Yeah for non-blooming expense plants that are marked down!

    @Beth, Have you thought about container gardening? Or maybe using more resistant shrubs like conifers?

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