Meet the Houseplants: Part 3

Welcome back to Lost In the Farmer's Market where today the discussion focuses on some house plants you may not be familiar with. This is the third post of a series that could give you that critical gift idea for the gardener in your lives. 

Today we're taking a step away from succulents towards the Philodendrons and Monstera, both of which belong to the Araceae family which respectively is more commonly called the Arum family. For those not familiar with the Arum family, the arums are best known for the Malanga, Taro and Mexican Bread fruit. The family is also known for the staggering variety of plants under it's group of which a significant number are house plants or are famous horticultural curiosities such as the Titan Arum. For note the Titan Arum (Amorphopahllus titanium) by technicality is the largest cluster of flowers in the world, it common name is the 'Corpse Flower' due to it smelling like, well something died. From prior posts you might recall the Voodoo Lily (Amorphophallus) and, Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema), both of which are in the Arum grouping. Some other commonly seen relatives include Caladium (Elephant Ear), Calocasia (Taro), Xanthosoma (Malanga), Calla Lilies (Zantedeschia), Skunk Cabbage, Dieffenbachia (Dumb-Cane), Dracunculus (Dragon Arum),  Syngonium (Arrowhead Plant) and finally, Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily).

In short the number of members in the Arum Family is quite incredible but perhaps what is more amazing is that under the same heading both the monstera and philodendron groups are also noted to reside. They look nothing like the above list of plants and yet, there they are under the same family heading, talk about natural selection and adaptability! With all that said Monstera and Philodendron are both here because they are related from several points of perception. Today we will take a brief glance at several philodendrons and a rather unique example of a Monstera.

Philodendron cordatum – Heart Leaf Philodendron

The philodendron itself is best typified by its most common representative, Devil’s Ivy or Epipremnum aureum. Devils Ivy is an incredibly common garden center house plant but talk about that would be far too easy. For today’s post the focus are is on three philodendrons you may not be familiar with. The first and most durable, is the Heart-Leaf Philodendron which is a plain green Philodendron who can tolerate heat drought cold drafts and neglect with ease. Sadly it is not seen in the trade as much is should be given its durable qualities. All you have to remember is to not over water, and should this happen cuttings can be grown in water with ease. A regular potting soil mix and filtered light is all this houseplant asks for and in return you get a neat trailing plant that has deep green heart-shaped leaves and no pest problems. Heart-leaf philodendrons are probably the most forgiving of the philodendron family as they can thankfully can survive in pots long after the soil has become depleted even without extra fertilizer, for years without any sign of distress.

Philodendron erubescens – Blushing Philodendron

The blushing philodendron demonstrates that not all members of this large family are vine-like in growth. In this case the blushing philodendron is roughly upright growing with large arial roots that brace it as it gains height. Perhaps specimens such as this one demonstrate how closely related the Monstera and Philodendrons are as the growth habits of this Philodendron absolutely resemble those of Monstera Deliciosa or the Mexican Bread fruit plant. As far as care goes, regular potting soil is  acceptable with no real provision for special drainage, but you will need a tall pot as the roots dig deep. Cuttings can be had by cutting a 3” long section of stem with one leaf in the middle and the stem ends being dipped in rooting hormone. This cutting should be inserted into a pot preferably about 6” diameter filled with any basic potting medium. Cuttings can be rooted in water also for ease of propagation. The plant in the picture is just a few months old, and was propagated in the stem cutting method. As you can see in the picture it’s decent for a recently propagated plant and will likely make a nice houseplant at some point. This philodendron might be seen in as part of winter time collections of house plants in places like bLowes and Home Despot. No special care is needed and for note this species of philodendron got it’s common name for it’s reddish tinged leaves and red stems.

Philodendron hybrid ‘Duke of Orange’ -  Duke of Orange Philodendron

I got this plant at a supplier near Durham earlier in the year while looking for something else. I admit it was a complete impulse buy but then with such orange tinged leaves on something as easy to care for as a philodendron, it literally put most coleus out of business. I have to repeat that this guy is INCREDIBLY slow growing, having gained less then an inch over about four months, but then considering it’s new leaves are a sort of bronze-electric-orange color the growth speed is irrelevant. Like most philodendrons it seems to be soil insensitive, and is currently growing in basic potting soil.  It turns light green when exposed to a few hours of full sun a day but reverts back to that orange color when brought back inside and given filtered light. I have noticed it does respond somewhat to fertilizer but I would not suggest you go crazy feeding it. I imagine that if paired with the right pot this plant could be exceptional in any indoor setting as a striking centerpiece. In terms of availability I have seen this plant offered by numerous online green houses and though catalogs but surprisingly places like bLowes and Home Despot have not noticed it yet.

Monstera friedrichsthalii – Swiss Cheese Plant

Our last entry in today’s post is the botanical star of this year’s Urban Farm Day and a favorite in the plant giveaway at the Sustainable Neighbor’s Meetings.  Swiss Cheese plant as a common name can refer to a number of plants in the Philodendron and Monstera family however if you are to seek this plant out make sure to use the Latin name. As far as house plants go this one is relatively quick growing and quite respectable as far as durability and ease of propagation are concerned.  The plant pictured is the mother plant for all of the swiss cheese plants sold and or given away, and while it has lost something like 95% of it’s mass by next year it will make a full recovery at which I can take the same quantity if cuttings and let it regenerate itself again. Left to it’s own devices with ample fertilizer and regular water it can grow about a third of an inch a day. Propagation can be accomplished by rooting cuttings in water or by soil layering the stems. Soil layering is when you allow a plant’s stem to come into contact with the soil and weigh the stem down with a stone or pin to promote root formation at the point of contact.  As far as care goes this plant seems to be accepting of all but extreme cold and long dry spells.

As a final biological note for this post, both Devil's Ivy (Epipremnum aureum) and Heart-Leaf Philodendron (Philodendron cordatum ) are both known for the ability to exude excess water from the tips (apex) or edges (margins) of their leaves. From a biological stand point this may be a method to attract insects to protect the plant or a way to counter a long wet season. It is possible this ability developed to increase local humidity. Once thing is certain, if you find droplets of water on the leaf tips of your philodendron, and you also watered recently you are over watering and should ease off for a bit.

This brings another episode of LITFM to a close, I hope you found the plants discussed interesting, maybe they have given you an idea for a gift for someone you know. Next week which is the first of December will hopefully see the continuation of the food security topic and a few more ideas for house plants. As always Keep ‘em Growing and see you here next week!

Meet the Houseplants: Part 2

Season's Greetings and welcome back to another episode of Lost in the farmer's market, in the interest of keeping the content flowing before December arrives we will dive straight into the topic at hand, the rhipsalis relatives of the holiday cacti.

So keeping to the houseplant theme this post’s plants of notice are from the Rhipsalis group of which I have three in the collection to introduce you to. As noted in the prior post, the Rhipsalis groups are related to the Schlumberiga group (Christmas cactus). The most famous Rhipsalis is the ‘Easter Cactus’ which is Rhipsalidopsis gaetneri. It is important to consider that Rhipsalis are epiphytic and thus are suited to high organic matter soils with limited moisture retention, or are rapid draining. Also any part of the stem segments that should break off and land in another potted plant or should come into contact with soil can potentially root making for an easy to propagate houseplant.  Like all succulents the big enemy of a Rhipsalis is overwatering which can cause root rot rather quickly. In terms of exposure I’ve found that at least in the case of ‘Drunkards Dream’ these plants can handle a few hours of direct sun per day. Much like with aloe, if you see the stems reddening it means that your Rhipsalis is getting it’s maximum limits in terms of light exposure. Since most rhipsalis are used to growing somewhere under the canopy of a tree filtered light is best with additional light provided in the summer.

As for plant examples to say we have three plants from the collection that demonstrate the range of forms that this plant can come in. Now admittedly the Easter Cactus has a differing stem shape and I don’t have a specimen to show but the ones below are more readily available in the trade to the point you can find them almost year round in bLowes and Home Despot.

Drunkards dream is a loosely trailing mounding sort of succulent.

Look carefully at the stem segments to see the little 'bottles' for which the plant is named.

A very close in shot showing the variance in stem segment shapes, some are oblong and others are thin, others still have any number of variations on the bottle shape. It is almost as if the entire plant due to it's name is effected by delirium tremens

Talk about aptly named! This rhipsalis is named for its bottle-shaped stem segments and the pictured specimen has colonized at least two other potted plants in the collection including the crab cactus pictured in the last post. The durability of this plant is quite incredible as it was one of the plants that survived the trip from New Jersey to North Carolina and put on an incredible amount of size after the move. Drunkards dream is very available through a number of vendors and the original plant came from Home Despot but I have seen it recently in the succulent plant rack at bLowes on a yearly basis. The only care this guy needs is occasional repotting, and light watering perhaps once a week or when dry during the cold season. The flowers look like Christmas cactus flowers but are tiny and Canary yellow. You can expect flowers around Easter on a mature plant

This plant is very similar to drunkards dream but with much longer stems.

Old man’s Beard takes the same care as drunkard’s dream but, seems to be slower growing. I got this plant as a salvage cutting that is the cutting was shed by the plant probably due to stress and was found on the floor at a bLowes, so it took a while to recover root and gain any size. As you can see this rhipsalis grows around long central stems that end in a spray of much shorter ones. Overall, it seems to be an absolute hanging form and thus looks best in a hanging basket or a angular pot where the stems can dangle. I’ve only had this specimen for about a year and I doubt it is mature enough to bloom but if it does you will see it here. Angel Plants whom sells this variety seems to have no clear information on when this rhipsalis blooms or what it looks like when it does.

As you can see the stem segments are oddly shaped like bizarre trapezoids or rhomboids hence the 'Rhombea' in the name.

This rhipsalis was bought at Home Despot in a tiny 2” pot and was propagated by Altman Plants. It’s latin name and identity has been verified through several sources since it’s purchase and it seems to be the most drought tolerant of the three plants pictured. I admit to being a tad lazy about repotting and it remained in it’s 2” pot all summer drying out repeatedly to the point it had to be dunked underwater to moisten the potting mix. I was finally repotted a month or two ago to the pot you see. As far as survival of neglect goes this one is really good if you can find it in stores. The odd geometric leaf-pads are where the name rhombea comes from and I have no idea what the bloom color looks like but perhaps we’ll find out next year?  It seems content with standard potting mix with no provisions for extra drainage and can handle being dry for long periods. Ironically I didn’t buy this plant because it was a rhipsalis, I mistook it for a queen of the Night cactus which was a perennial favorite at Van Vleck for it’s blooms that opened around midnight and were open for just one night following the hottest days of the year.

If you can find one of these three they are good spine and thorn free house plants to consider for gifts for that gardening-minded person you know.  Chances are the recipient will have likely never seen these plants before and you are picking something really unique. After all a gift like this completely beats a gift card any day of the week! Check our next post where I take this discussion into the land of philodendrons and Monstera, also as always folks, Keep ‘em Growing!

Meet the Houseplants: Part 1

Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmer's Market As you may have noticed due to the holidays and college assignments there have not been updates in the prior weeks. You need not worry, the replacement posts are coming shortly starting with this one. Originally I was planning to talk about food security some more but again due to the number of papers due for college assignments the food security research has been shelved for a later date when I’m not buried in assignments. Instead of food security today’s topic is about a commonly seen house plant that has started to show up for sale in stores in droves.

So in keeping with the line of discussion which for this time of the year leans into houseplant territory I would like to talk about one of the few houseplants that I can honestly say for the longest time I did not like.  Generally around the holidays the two plants seen the most in stores are Poinsettias and the two species of holiday cactus. For the purposes of this article I am speaking of the latter rather then the former. For those who know it by other names 'Holiday' cactus is my generalized term for a group of succulents that are known for the bloom times which correspond with one of three holidays, Easter, Christmas or thanksgiving.   The three species are as follows below:

[No picture available]

Rhipsalidopsis gaetneri - Easter Cactus

A group of cactus blooms as seen from above in several states of opening.

The blooms from a below angle

Note the angular parts of the leaf-pads, someone at some point they resembled the bodies of crabs and thus the common name 'Crab Cactus' came about.

Admittedly I do not have a photo of an Easter cactus but I do have images from the collection of the other two. My Christmas cactus however is too young to bloom so only the pads are pictured to show their shape.

I encountered the Christmas cacti group around 1999, when I went to work at Van Vleck House and Gardens, which was a private botanical garden located in Montclair New Jersey. The Horticultural director there was a guy named Stephan Schuckman. What made it interesting was that he was a complete and absolute Christmas cacti aficionado, literally there were hundreds of varieties there at the time in numerous shades, shapes and, colors. At the time, I had not gained an appreciation for cacti and succulents at the time and wrote the following in my horticultural notes regarding the Christmas cacti.

"There is no other plant I know that is so incredibly boring for about eleven months a year just to get a brief two-week bloom."

For those of you who don’t know it is important to note that the holiday cactus is actually succulents, and they come from South America. This actually makes them epiphytic or semi-epiphytic as their biology is designed to propagate the plants with or without seed production. Generally holiday cactus and other similar species of segmented succulents can self propagate by a process called shattering. Shattering occurs when the given plant is under extreme stress, and the response is the separation of the individual pads or leaf segments which hopefully are moved by animals wind or water to better conditions. Root rot actually can cause shattering in holiday cactus which can be a method of rescuing a specimen that has caught a root disease.

What makes the holiday cactus plants so wide spread as gifts during the holidays is their incredible ease of care. Their soil should be a basic potting mix with a little extra sand for drainage.  Unlike a lot of true cactus and some varieties of succulents holiday cacti literally can grow successfully in the same sorts of potting mixes you would use for a common house plant such as a Philodendron as long as you mind how often you water. The plants pictured in this article are generally watered perhaps once every two weeks and even then not enough that there is runoff. Additionally unlike a number of house plants Christmas cacti benefit from being outside for as long as the temperatures permit as the natural light aids in bud formation. Much like poinsettias and chrysanthemums holiday cactus's flower formation is relative to the length and intensity of daylight, as the shortening of day length prompts these plants to bloom.

The irony is now; there is always at least one holiday cactus in my collection as I've come to appreciate the key aspects of the plant.  It spends most of the year sandwiched between the Rhipsalis out on the deck, but as the photos show when it is blooming it becomes a table decoration to brighten up the holidays. In that light, it is also quite amazing how your mind can change with time and experience, to that end I suggest you try a holiday cactus as far as easy house plants go I would say this one if pretty easy and they make a nice colorful gift.

I have to say this post replaced the original planned post about food security for several reasons, most of which pertain to research issues and college workload. Don’t worry the food security stuff will be back as soon as I get a moment to really dig into the information and verify the facts around it.  My next post will cover a relative of Holiday cactus, the Rhipsalis genus. For note both schlumbergia and rhipsalis belong to the Rhipsalideae 'tribe' so they are distinctly related, but it is not clear until they bloom.

Happy thanks giving and as always folks Keep 'em growing!

Food Security Part One

Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmer’s Market, due to college work load, and the extra time needed to pull information for this post it was significantly delayed. Due to length the post was broken into two parts with the second half to be posted this weekend. The topic is a bit more serious then is generally covered, as I am posting about food security. The first half is an introduction to it and the second half is about the things you personally can do to achieve some measure of food security on a local level. As they say with politics, all politics are local politics and thus in the case of food security it all centers on the local regions. Before we get to the discussion of food security I have a few pictures from the feild you might like.

This is the dark color that 'Red Giant' Mustard turns when exposed to regular cold temperatures.

This mustard plant displays the other end of the coloration spectrum, where the new leaves take on the deep red color on the margins. Also, some leaves will display characteristic marbled color as the leaf in the lower center.

Black pearl peppers are quite striking with their black-marble shaped fruit and dark foliage which is quite striking against the light foliage of another plant such as artemesia.

When ornamental peppers finally turn red from whatever color they used to be, the seeds generally are ripe, but you want to pick the peppers for harvesting seed once the peppers have started to dry and are crinkled.

A large cotton plant can be quite showy even without the visible presence of cotton bolls.

The calyx of a cotton plant's flower before the flower even opens.

I see these large green garden spiders all the time in North Carolina, this one was protecting it's brood between the branches of a Lantana plant.

I included because it's cool looking, I found it scrambling amongst mulch as I planted pansies in a front yard this week. Not a clue what it is but body shape and size suggests a flightless wasp of some sort. It was about two inches long which makes it a bit big for an ant and the wrong body type and color to be any sort of termite.

While considering the issues we face today I would say that food security is likely one of our biggest weaknesses. The issue is corporate agriculture where absolute profit is the driving motivation, instead of good land stewardship with profit as a secondary motive. It is rare outside of certain limited magazine publications that this topic is ever discussed in any detail and rarer still to have the topic handled by anyone who is an actual expert on the topic with supporting credentials. The lack of discussion leaves one to try and piece the data together themselves, which can lead to confusion on the topic. I think we can all remember how in the 1990's not everyone was entirely sure what the word 'organic' was precisely supposed to mean.

The term 'Food Security' can be referred to in several differing definitions. According to the World Health Organization it has three aspects, food availability, food access and food use. The former of the three is simply having sufficient quantities of food on a consistent basis. The second of the three, food access is having the resources (economic and physical) to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet. The latter of the three parts is is the correct use of food based upon information of basic nutrition and care as well as access to clean water and sanitation facilities.  The Food and Agriculture Organization goes as far as to add a fourth part to the three parts proposed by the WHO. The fourth part to food security is Food Stability which refers to the other three parts but over a time rather then immediately.

For the purposes of this post I'm more or less referring to the fourth definition with an addition; that is, part of our problem is that currently the United States is a monoculture sort of producer. That is we produce a whole lot of a few things that are massed in one place and in doing so attract greater problems such as pests and weeds with chemical resistance. But at the same time due to agribusiness's business model we have chemical runoff into waterways and polluted soils not to mention what gets back to the consumer on and inside the produce. Consider that the average head of lettuce from a major producer may travel hundreds of miles to get to a warehouse before it gets to the market, where you can buy it. Since this is the case you must consider then that all it takes to cripple the system is a critical failing of infrastructure, major natural storm (hurricane sandy, Katrina and Andrew), some major fuel shortage or worse a new strain of disease or pest to cripple the food supply system. Also it is important to note that someone with sufficient ambition and malicious intent could conceivably damage the digital system that keeps our transportation system running.

We simply do not talk about food security enough these days, especially in the light of the limits of our own food system in the USA. For instance did you know that there are roughly 7,000 food plants that are safe for human consumption and of those only about 140 are grown in any real quantity? Out of those 140 we expressly rely on only 12, but in America the top five agricultural products aren't what you would think. As for America's top five products are Corn, Cattle (beef), Cow's Milk, Chicken Meat, and Soybeans in that order. With the aforementioned facts* in mind, one has to ask, we rely on 12 food crops, the agricultural plant products in the USA that are produced the most are corn, soy and wheat all of which have been extensively genetically modified and may have lingering health effects on the population. Not to mention these 'super crops' also require more chemical intervention to get a successful product and they are implicated in disrupting local biodiversity. With all that said perhaps there is in fact a fifth facet to food security, ‘Product Integrity’. Knowing what you are to eat and having accurate information to make the choices that benefit your own health in the way you wish it to.

To summarize, Food security isn't a national thing, it is a world wide thing, but we America seem to want to ignore it. It is almost as if we as a people are afraid of having to do things differently much less to have the conversation. Ironically fuel security is talked to death, as is national security, however if you have a nation of starving people those other two stop being relevant.

*All numerical information in this post was pulled from three sources, The World Health Organization, the United States Department of Agriculture and the Food and Agriculture Organization’s respective web sites.

Double your posting, double your plants!

Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmers Market. 

As you may have seen today has had a double post, the earlier one is for  the weekend before last and this one is for the weekend just passed. Unfortunately it was course work that bogged me down so much the posts just never made it on time. But that aside talk about strange, as we head towards election day, as it turns out those who early voted may decide the out come in several states as sandy has pummeled the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey & Connecticut). While I wont get into the politics I will say this;  folks if you have not already then please go out and vote. 

I might also add that the erratic behavior of the latest hurricane literally puts another feather in the cap for the argument regarding the realities of climate change. The hurricane season seems to be getting longer, and the storms more devastating. We also are coming off a year with the highest temperatures and longest biggest drought in quite some time. I know that for some of you reading what has been said is  pretty much preaching to the proverbial choir. But for the rest of you considering climate change I urge you to look at the temperature records available through he USDA as well as the drought records and see if you cant reconsider what you thought you knew. With that said time to get off the soap box and back into the fields!

In terms of today’s trio of plants we have the Asphodeloideae family, best known for it’s two most famous members Aloe and Kniphofia (red hot poker). However for the purposes of the trio in this episode I am referring to Aloe, Gasteria and Haworthia and their assorted hybrids. In the plant trade occasionally you will see man-made or natural crosses of similar plants however the three plants noted above can produce hybrids through natural crosses if given the opportunity. What makes these three genus of house plants interesting is their ability to photosynthesize using CAM photosynthesis. Now for those of you who missed the last post CAM photosynthesis is noted as the following.

“CAM or Crassulacean Acid Metabolism, the plant stores carbon dioxide in an acid form before it is used in photosynthesis. CAM is commonly seen in the crassula family which includes the Jade Plant. This form of photosynthesis is incredibly efficient and allows the plant to metabolize the carbonic acids whenever the environmental conditions favor thus allowing a plant to survive arid conditions for long periods.”

What this means is that all three plants are incredibly durable versus drought and heat, and thus do not tolerate being wet for any long period of time. Also it means they benefit from having a poor but well drained soil as well as being pot bound as they tend to both offset and bloom more frequently when cramped. Consider all three as succulents and not cactus because because they lack several critical features that differentiate the two. As the old rule goes, ‘All cacti are succulents but not all succulents are cacti.’ 

Here comes the brief biology lesson for today’s post. Since it is clear that cacti are succulent but succulents are not cacti what makes them different. First off cactus generally belong to the family Cactaceae where as succulents come from a number of families. Additionally in the case of cactus the spines are directly attached to the individual stem segments which respectively are called pads. In cacti the pads often fill a mixture of the role of leaf and stem as true leaves in their case have been replaced by the spines and the finer smaller spines known as glochids. I might also add that the vast majority if not all cacti are endemic to the Americas, where as succulents can be found on almost every landmass in some form or shape. I might also add a bit from personal experience, I have successfully grown Opuntia microdasys ‘Teddy Bear’ out doors in northern New Jersey for several years in the past. Despite this I have never successfully grown any succulent species outdoors in  the same conditions all year long.

The Aloe Genus

The aloe family is best known for Medicinal Aloe which now is found in some amount in medical supplies lotions and anything generally used to treat skin ailments. What is often ignored is that the aloe family is a large and diverse group of succulents that have varied and unique shapes and forms most of which are considered tender perennials in the south east and absolute house plants in the north east. A prime example of the variability of aloes can bee seen with the below pictures of traditional medicinal aloe and an ornamental aloe species.

Aloe vera – Medicinal Aloe

 I might add aloe is one of those odd plants where the succulent top of the plant holds so much moisture on average that the above ground growth is often heavier then anything in the pot below. With age they can become quite top-heavy. If there's ever a burn injury at the ranch we are completely prepared!

Aloe quicksilver x rare flare – Silver Ridge Aloe

The Silver Ridge aloe is a ornamental type of aloe that is incredibly neglect and drought tolerant. I have had this specimen for about two years. Since I've had it it's needed  one re-potting and it filled the original pot with offsets to the extent it it became impossible to water from above. I eventually had to dunk the plant, pot and all in a bucket of water until I stopped hearing bubbles and let it drain to water it every month or so.

The flower of the Silver ridge aloe.

Aloe haworthioides Var. aurantiaca - Faux Haworthia

Aloe-Haworthia hybrids are not commonly seen in the trade due to incorrect identification and possibly the lack of interest. Even so from a biological standpoint you can see the aloe influences in the especially fat  stems which are a clear aloe genetic influence. The Haworthia genetics are visible in the little white dots, and soft spines spread across the stems. Also the sharply triangular shape of the leaves and the relative lack of leaf size and length are both clear haworthia heritage effects.

The Gasteria Genus

Gasteria derives its name from the unusual shape fo the flowers which resembles little stomachs roughly. The name is in part due to the pink coloration of the flowers and the actual curved shapes. In respects Gasteria is incredibly slow-growing, absolutely intolerant of wet soil but easy to care for. Only one member of the gasteria family (G. batesiana) is noted for any medical usage. I might add that the medicinal species of gasteria is almost extinct in its native range and may only be found in commercial propagation. Gasteria are often known as a whole under the names ‘cow-tongue cactus’, ‘Lawyer’s Tongue’, ‘Mother-in-law’s tongue’ and ‘ox-tongue’.

Gasteria pillansii var. pillansii - Ox Tongue

 This is a gasteria that has been int he collection for about three years, it came from a  cutting acquired through Fayetteville Technical Community College's Horticultural program. Admittedly int hat time it has grown just a few inches at best and the small offets near the base of the parent plant appeared late last year. As far as house plants go, gasteria seems to take whatever it gets. I barely water it, it gets virtually no fertilizer, and it seems not to care. I might add it requires so little that the plant that shared it's pot has long since died and the gasteria is moving along as if it was never there.

Gasteria x Aloe ‘Green Gold‘ - Gasteraloe

 As noted in the picture info this plant is a Gatsteria Aloe hybrid produced by Altman Plants and bought at bLowes from the succulent plant rack.  I've only had it in the collection for about two months, and re-potted it a few weeks ago into the clay pot you see above. As far as I can tell from the gasteria genetics side of things the speckling on the leaves, and sloe growth rate plus the seeming lack of offsets are what it inherited from the cross. On the aloe side of it's genetics it seems to have gotten a rosette form where leaves emerge in a loose radial arrangement. Additionally the swollen stems of the aloe half of the cross as well as their general shape seems to have trumped a lot of the gasteria genetics. Time will tell what this hybrid becomes.

The Haworthia Genus

The first thing to know is that the Haworthia family is named in honor of Adrian Hardy Haworth (1768-1883). The haworthia family is physically shaped a lot like the aloes and some of the gasteria family.  Much like the other two groups the haworthias are succulents that prefer soil with excellent drainage and will not tolerate being wet for long periods. Not surprisingly at least one species of Haworththia (H. maxima) is noted for being used as a skin softener in its native country.

The most common example of this plant species in the trade is Zebra plant or Haworthia attenuata which can be found in most house plant racks in most stores. In fact it looks a lot like faux Haworthia  but you can type in the latin name and find images of it by the boat load on the internet.

Haworthia cuspidate - Star Window Plant – (cross of H. retusa and H. cymbiformis)

The star window plant is without a doubt one of my long standing favorite haworthias. Not only is it largely care free but it blooms a few times a year and is a mobile biology lesson on biological diversity and evolution. This plant has evolved to have little windows on it's leaf tips to allow sunlight to shine in at a set angle to maximize photosynthesis using the least external surface area. This adaptation means that it is incredibly water-efficient because there is little external surface area where photosynthesis is going on proportionately thus less gas exchange and evaporation of moisture.

Haworthia resendeana - [No Common Name]

Occasionally in the plant trade you will find plants who have  Latin name but no common name and this haworthia is one of them. While theorized to be some kind of H. coarcata hybrid there is no certain information to prove of debunk the theory. As noted in the picture information this specimen albeit a lot smaller survived the trip from New Jersey to North Carolina some years ago and has put on incredible growth requiring several transplanting operations. As far as care is concerned it is somewhat slow growing, largely neglect proofed and responds well to fertilizer.

So with that said this wraps up October’s episodes of Lost in the farmers Market.  I know the talk of house plants is not normal for the time of year however I thought it was a unique topic. Since the holidays are rapidly approaching some of this might make your selection of gifts a bit easier for those gardening-inclined people you know. In the meanwhile  remember that we are approaching the last weeks of the year in which you can plant your crops, if you have not done it do it now.

So remember folks, Keep ‘em Growin!

Always something out there

Here we are at the juncture of summer and fall; up north there is no doubt that the deciduous trees are already showing color. In the south I can clearly see the dog woods are turning their own special shades of red. That observation brings us to the annual fall showcase. As those of you who live in the south east know the tree foliage is somewhat lacking more often then not due to the large numbers of conifers. Honestly as much as I appreciate conifers and their role in the biology, they are somewhat lacking in the color department simply because they are some special shade of green all year long. Keep in mind the golden color of pine straw it self is its own seasonal color that I honestly appreciate in the landscape for what it is and does.

 Portulacaria afra - Elephant bush

In the category of unique plants you never knew you can eat today we have a very cool entry and it’s a common house plant that you can get at places at like ‘bLowes’ and ‘Home Despot’.  Perhaps some of you have heard of Portulacaria afra. This plant’s common names include elephant bush or mini-jade plant. The former name comes from the fact that in its native habitat this plant can get quite large and is in fact eaten by elephants in the wild. The second common name stems from the resemblance to Jade plants which belong in a different family. I might also add it has a number of names in its native habitat of Africa such as iGwanishe/iGwanitsha (Xosha name), isAmbilane/isiCococo/inDibili-enkula/umDondwane/iNdibili/iNtelezi(Zulu names), also it’s Afrikaans name is Spekboom which means porkwood, bacontree or fat tree.

What makes this plant interesting from a biological standpoint is that it unlike other plants performs the processes of photosynthesis. Unlike a number of other plants whom perform the functions of photosynthesis primarily during the daylight hours Elephant bush performs what is called C4 photosynthesis. Keep in mind for plants there are three basic methods of photosynthesis, CAM, C3 and C4. CAM or Crassulacean Acid Metabolism, the plant stores carbon dioxide in an acid form before it is used in photosynthesis. CAM is commonly seen in the crassula family which includes the Jade Plant. This form of photosynthesis is incredibly efficient and allows the plant to metabolize the carbonic acids whenever the environmental conditions favor thus allowing a plant to survive arid conditions for long periods. C3 photosynthesis is named as it is because it incorporates carbon dioxide into a 3-carbon compound. C3 is the method by which most plants perform photosynthesis.  Now C4 photosynthesis is different because it bonds carbon dioxide into a 4-carbon compound and the photosynthesis takes place internally as opposed to in cells near the surface of the plant’s leaves. For note this is why the leaves on elephant bush seem to be somewhat translucent. Other plants in this group include Corn, and most of the expressly summer annual plants. In short, C4 is very efficient and allow the plant to survive high light intensities and it makes the plants extremely water-efficient.

Beyond the biology, why this plant is a feature in today’s overdue post is simply because we at LITFM as noted above found out rather recently that it is safely edible. After some checking as it turns out elephant bush is a relative of Purselane. Much like Purselane and Moss Rose the fleshy leaves are edible. In fact there are two species of purselane found as common lawn weeds that are edible and were covered in detail during the ‘weeds you can eat’ series earlier in the year. I know what some of you might be thinking ‘Ugh! ok I can eat it…does it taste any good?’ The answer is simple, it is an interesting taste, the leaves are crunchy, a bit sour and they have a taste similar to some forms of mesclun mix. If it were mixed with a conventional salad or paired with a sweet salad dressing such as walnut vinaigrette it would be quite good as a fresh green. From what I have been able to find most aspects of it nutritional value indicate it is a low protein (2.3g per 100g of leaves). It is noted that the leaves generally contain B1, B2, C, Carotene, Potassium salts, glucose, Cellulose, calcium, Phosphorous and iron. The list of nutrients in the leaves goes on but the aforementioned ones are in the highest amounts.

It is important to note this information only refers to the non-variegated types and before you try this plant in any quantity you should test taste a single leaf on an empty stomach to check for allergic reactions. Also there is another plant called the elephant bush which is often grafted to P. afra root stock. This ‘name-alike’ plant is known as Ceraria namaquensis and it is not edible.

 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat

I thought I'd post a picture of the loquat plant in full bloom. This is one of the sustainable 365 plants I've spoken of before in both lecture and blog post. Generally a loquat will bloom sometime between late September through early November and be full of fruit somewhere between late February and April. The fruits are small and orange with relatively large seeds but the flavor is tart and sweet and very strong given the size of the fruit. This is one of the few winter-ripening fruits that works especially well in North Carolina. I might add these plants with time can take on a tree form and are evergreen, so in landscape use they present evergreen exotic foliage. I might add this plant is not related to the Kumquat which is a citrus under the scientific name of Citrus japonica.

 

The above to pictures serve as a reminder, just because it has cooled down does not mean some pests are not out causing mischief. This was the last rainbow bell pepper of the season and as you can see it was all set to take on color and possible be the largest. If the top photo is any indicator it would have been a purple color. The second picture shows where a slug chewed away where the fleshy parts of the green cap over the fruit. The worst part about this damage is that the slug usually stops after effectively eating that part and ruining the fruit. Remember, beer traps and diatomaeceous Earth are your most effective way to handle slug problems.

 Lastly we have a picture of Siam Thai Queen Basil in full bloom Most gardeners seem to pass up siam basil  possibly because they are not familiar with it or, do not know how to cook with it. I first encountered this variety of basil in Canada at a Vietnamese restaurant in Montreal. The restaurant used it as flavorful addition to the noodle soups they served. Basically they would stick a 2" sprig in the soup so the warm broth would volatilize the essential oils of the basil. The first thing you would smell when you were served your soup was this basil. Compared to Sweet basil it has a more licorice-anise effect but it does not linger on the palate long enough to be overwhelming. In North Carolina this basil will self-slow itself if given the chance but it is not a perennial..

That said this brings to an end a greatly belated episode of lost in the farmer’s market. In the next post which will be coming shortly, we will be covering a trio of house plants that are related each of which has a medicinal use. Thank you for reading and for bearing with us and the academia-related posting delays finals are coming soon so there is light at the end of the tunnel.

As always Keep ‘em Growing!

Cold-Weather Projects

 

The wonderment of autumn is best seen through a lens that only the rapid color change of deciduous foliage can cast. Here we are with another episode of Lost In the Farmers market, a web log devoted to the promotion of good horticultural practices, and the expansion of variety in the average garden. Today we have a couple of really cool things to cover I think you will find this episode of LITFM both useful and interesting.

Ficus afghanistanica ‘Silver Lyre’ – Afghan Fig

Sometimes in the trade you see something in the landscape that strikes you so greatly for reasons untold that you decide you absolutely must have one. In that light it becomes easy to understand the early plant craze known as tulip mania. I would not have known about Afghan figs had I not seen a specimen of the normal green type at Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh North Carolina late last year. The Afghan fig at Raulston had small unripe fruit on it proving that it was both vigorous and productive. Inevitably I had to track down the horticultural director to find out where they had gotten their plants from. They were incredibly helpful in giving me the contact information for their supplier Cistus Nursery in Portland Oregon.  As soon as I have more detailed information I will post it here, the two examples of this plant in the test gardens will no doubt prove interesting.

Eupatorium coelestinum – Mist Flower, Hardy Ageratum

This is a Hardy Ageratum, one of the many members of the Eupatorium family. This group of generally perennial herbs is best known by its most famous member Joe Pye Weed. For note these plants get their name Eupatorium from Mithridates Eupator the king of Pontus. In the case the Hardy Ageratum as the picture shows these perennials outwardly resemble common annual ageratum. The key difference is that the hardy ageratum tends to grow up to three feet tall and form dense herbaceous colonies. Hardy Ageratum also spreads by underground stolons and can colonize in even the poorest soils. This particular hardy ageratum is well noted for its drought tolerance and blight cheery sky blue blooms starting in summer through fall. I might add and this warrants further testing, Fire Ants seem not to want to colonize where this plant grows. Once the hardy ageratum began to grow around the compost pile the pile stopped having ant problems.

Eupatorium greggii - West Texas Mist Flower

This member of the Eupatorium family is a deciduous perennial like most eupatorium it spreads by seed and underground runners forming impressive seasonal colonies. The bloom resembles Ageratum but is limited to appearing in late-summer.  What makes this species interesting is that it has dark colored stems and bright green leaves with deeply serrated margins. The effect is a striking plant on par for use with Russian Sage, minus some unwanted aspects such as being borderline invasive.

With all that plant geek action covered here is the main topic. Now you may have heard that I make extensive use of raised beds in the test gardens. All the raised beds are supported by stone work which costs more in the short term but allows an extension of the growing season thus paying back the investments rather heavily. The main reasons for the raised beds are the ability to limit erosion, maintain soil fertility and quality and, it makes spotting my produce much easier. Plus, *knocks on wood* the voles seem unable to find my crops in raised beds. Some of you out there have heard of the high production beds, these were the first beds to be cut and the most heavily refined since their construction. Below is a picture of how they appeared just before today’s project began.

This is a picture of the high production beds.  Just outside the picture is high production bed #3 which will remain separate for the purpose of this project. On the right is HP1, in the middle is the asparagus bed and on the left is HP2.

The first steps to the process of combining and rebuilding these beds are to clear the remaining summer crops, harvest what you can and remove the residual mulch. After the mulch and crops are gone I carefully dug up the asparagus crowns and, set them aside on a tarp. If you are unable to replant the crowns the same day, you can put them in a bucket filled with water until you are able to replant them.

 

The next step is to remove stone work as needed, and lay bricks as needed to connect the beds.  At this point once one connecting wall is installed you can begin to move in the first loads of fill soil. In this case I am using raw compost because it has enough nutrient to feed the asparagus over time.

Following the last step is the continued filling of the middle area. At some point you can lay the opposite wall, and begin to add compost by shovel while smoothing the soil with a spring rake or hard rake as needed.

In the case of this project I mounded the compost up, and planted the asparagus in the peak of the mound. This is where the use of raw compost is important; raw compost still has coarse materials that can aid in countering soil erosion until the asparagus recovers.

In this picture, the mound is covered with 20 pounds of poultry manure compost. The addition of the manure is there to both increase soil fertility and promote rapid growth of the asparagus crowns.

 

After the manure is applied 2” of topsoil is scraped off the existing HP1 & HP2 beds and placed over the surface of the mound.

 

Next is the addition of 60 pounds of composted poultry manure over the entire soil surface area. According to the application information it says 10 pounds per hundred square feet.  The additional amounts are to compensate for several years of heavy feeding crops and to reduce the need for soil amendments and fertilizers next year.

In this picture the soil is smoothed out and the final soil amendment is being applied. I'm using organic composted turkey manure which is a much more sustainable soil conditioner then the wood ship fines you see at big box stores.

Special attention has been paid to the contours of the mound and keeping the soil as level as possible. The new dimensions of the bed are 8’ 4 ¼” by 8’ 4 ¼”  by 14" tall on average which amounts to 60.06 square feet and 71.33 cubic feet.

The next to last step is the planting of seasonal crops. In this case 27 lettuce plants, 9 collard plants, 5 red cabbage plants, and 20 mustard plants have been planted.  All of these seasonal plants are biennial which means a relatively consistent source of greens from fall through mid-spring.

 The final steps in this project are to water the plants individually and then lay pine straw.            

After the pine straw is applied the bed is watered heavily using a rain wand to both settle the soil and ensure uniformly moist soil strata.

That is how you combine existing beds with an eye for heavy productivity. This method will not be for everyone, but the rewards are worth it, for a few short hours work you get months of food production which can put a size able dent in your grocery bill. In our next episode we will cover more of the cold season preparations, and how to save seed since by now you no doubt have some ready to collect.  Remember you have about three to four weeks before it’s just about too late to plant cold-season crops, if you are going to start don’t delay.

Until next time; Keep ‘em growing!