Yucca rostrata Transplant, Musa basjoo, stevia

Not only did my banana make it across the country without even the slightest amount of mould, but it is now thriving! All four of the pups survived and have grown considerable. The only thing slowing growth is a lack of water. Every night I soak it and by the end of the next day it is dried out and often wilting. I might need to stand it in a tray.


It's really crazy in Vancouver. You see bananas everywhere. Musa basjoo is hardy here and often the stems will survive the winter unprotected. Cold spell will however kill them down to the rhizome so many people wrap them.


My Yucca rostrata have also been doing well. They desperately need to be repotted. They look small but I checked the roots. The one on the right has the upper soil washed away. I need to repot it soon because the growth is clearly lagging behind the other.


Now stevia! it is sweet. Unfortunately some other animal realizes that as well and has been routinely munching on it. I think I might bring them to my community plot. It seems like they're finally large enough.

Quasi-Mega Plant Update

It's been a while since I've done a full on plant update so I figured it was about time!

I'll start with what I did today.  There is a large mulberry tree in Cottonwood Community Garden.  It's currently covered with mulberries.  James and I LOVE mulberries.  I noticed a branch that was hanging really low (into a hydrangea) and decided why not try some cuttings.

Apparently they are quite easy to start.  It's recommended to try in spring or summer but I figured why not try now.  You can see they are different sizes so hopefully the variety will end with something that roots.  Each twig has at least two buds in the soil.

I also ripped out my spinach and pak choi because they were covered with flowers.  Then I went to Plant Works expecting to come back with enough plants to fill the rest of my plot.  Nope.  Sometimes I forget how expensive things are.  Like when I think $9 for a shirt is ridiculously expensive.  I think I may be a bit cheap.  I ended up spending about $15 on some petunias and reasonably drought tolerant, discounted, slightly sickly looking plants.  I dropped them in the plot but forgot to take a picture.  Next time.

Now for the Trachycarpus fortunei sprouts.  I've counted a total of 14!  There aren't any actual leaves yet but I'm still excited.  They won't even have leaves resembling a fan for at least two years.  Some of the seeds were picked off a tree and the others were grabbed from the ground (probably one and two years old, so not very fresh).  I don't think I'll split them up until after the second leaves are out.

These are the Yucca rostrata that I started from seed.  I had three but left one at The University of Western Ontario Greenhouses.  The one of the right has started growing again and has produced several healthy new leaves.

My Musa basjoo has recovered.  This is the one that I chopped in half, destroyed the roots and wrapped in a bag.  Apparently they can put up with quite a bit.  All four pups even made it!  I probably won't split any of them off until next year.  I got this one as a 20cm plant at Home Depot.

BTW My landlords are gone so may plants are strewn across their yard.  You can see their children's toys randomly scattered in some of the pictures.

Here are my Stevia seedlings.  Only a few sprouted and they were growing really slowly.  In the last few days they've really started to pick up and have almost doubled in size.  I'm can't wait to try them as a sweetener!

I have my Adenium arabicum located in three different spots (two outside and one inside).  These are the saddest.  They were hit with a basketball and then attacked by aphids.  I was extremely angry at the time but now I'm just a little annoyed.  I figure the aphids attacked because they were stressed, as plants in the other location seem fine.  They'll be almost a year old at the end of August.  The other plants look much better (not pictured here).

I split my Moringa stenopetala between my community plot and these three pots in the backyard.  These ones were hit with a rather bad attack of aphids.  I think they were stressed because as far as I know aphids aren't very common for Moringa.  I sprayed them with a water/onion/garlic mix and I think it's been working.

I'll end off with my Brugmansia.  I started this one from seed in early spring.  It's the only one that I ended up taking across the country.  You can see from the trunk that it got a little bent during the trip.  There is a lot of new growth towards the top and offshoots along the entire stem.  I'm hoping for some flowers this year but don't expect to see any.

Hope you enjoyed this long and arduous post!  I've been a little MIA the last two months. ;)  I also got recognized today!  "Hey, aren't you the guy with the blog?"  Yeah!  I'm famous!  I've officially arrived!!!  If anyone would like an autographed seed packet, send money to...  :P

Around the Basement

So it was rainy and really cold all day and I didn't leave the house.  I spent most of my day working on job applications and school assignments.  I did get a chance to transplant my Datura.  In the hopes of conserving room I put them in 4" pots in pairs.  I noticed the lower leaves were beginning to turn yellow.  I think this is because they were getting way too large for those little nine cell starters.  I'll also start fertilizing them.

 This week we're suppose to get temperatures up to 21C (70F)!!  I'm super excited.  I'll actually be able to leave some plants outside and not have to bring them in for the night.  I think I might start soaking some castor bean seeds tomorrow.  I gathered a bunch of from the municipal gardens last year before they cut down the stalks.

Warmer temperatures are a relief for the basement plants.  They've survived, but really don't look too happy.  Below you can see a few photos.  The window sill has some dwarf cavendish bananas and Yucca rostrata.

The little green frame thing below only cost $15!  It even has a clear plastic overcoat to keep things warm outside in the spring, but I've kept it off so the plants can get enough light.  The burnt looking plant is decorative ginger that I started from seed.  The grow lights were too bright so I've moved it here and it stopped growing.  The light is a bit low but I think it's mostly due to the cooler temperatures.

My Hippeastrum seedlings are also still holding on.  Growth has been very slow but I expect it to pick up when I start putting them outside.  I really hope I get some interesting flowers!

Young Plants

Well I forgot to bring my camera to work today so I figured I'd upload a few pictures of things I have growing around the house. Last fall I collected some Hosta seeds from a local municipal garden. I left them in the basement all winter and then planted them this spring. They seem to grow incredibly slow and are still very tiny. The grass on the left will hopefully be an ornamental grass and not just a weed.



The next picture has a large variety of plants. The three plants in the pots on the left are Yucca rostrata (Beaked Yucca). This is a gorgeous plant that is supposedly hardy in my zone (5b-6a). I haven't left them outside yet though because I don't want to loose them. The plants are about 10 months old.

The plant in the black pot is a Kentucky Coffee Tree. I collected the seeds this spring, and in about 3 months it has grown to the size it is now. I had to file through the hard seed shell, and then soaked the seeds in water. Only one of the three ended up sprouting. I recently planted about six more and expect to see the first few sprouts in about a month.

In the right there is some orange Trumpet Vine which I grew from seeds started outside this spring. In the back you can see a Super-Dwarf Cavendish Banana that needs to be divided.



Here's a picture of our small vegetable garden. It has Beefstake Tomatoes in the back and Brussel Sprouts along the front. I think I may have planted them too close together.



Now for my first bamboo plant!! It was $45 with tax, but I've wanted one for years and it seemed like the right time. The species name is Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'Alata'. In full sun the canes will turn a bright yellow. This subspecies is also know to have 'zigzag' stems giving it the common name Crookstem Bamboo. It is running, wind tolerant, should have minimal leaf burn in the winter, and has edible young culms. It can grow up to 10m with an average stem diameter of 5.5cm. It was expensive and is only about 50cm tall but I think it will be well worth it in the end. Behind the bamboo you can see a young Musa basjoo. I haven't overwintered it outdoors yet and I think I'll dig it up and bring it inside again this year.