Aquariums and gardening.

[esoxlucius]

An early update on this little guy. It came in the post a little worse for wear. It had three floppy and very pale leaves, one which had to be cut off the day after as it had sustained too much stem damage in the post. At this point there was no sign of any new growth, or indeed if it would even survive, but....

On Wednesday morning, yes, only two days ago, a tiny tip of new leaf looked to be protruding from the main stem. It is now Friday morning and my new leaf is 7" long!!!

If this speed of growth is anything to go by then wow, I'm in for some display when I finally plant it in the garden next year! And Stanzzzz7 , the only reason I didn't follow your advice and put it outside now is that we have some awful big slugs and snails up here. I didn't want to chance it.

But so far so good, I mist it daily, and make sure it's not over watered.

 

[esoxlucius]

Old wood in the shed + some thin corrugated plastic sheets from work + a few screws + a lick of stainer + a bit of my time = a tidy little planter.

Just needs holes drilling in the bottom for drainage and a couple more coats of stainer and it's good to go.

Something like this at my local garden centre will set me back about £40, at least!

 

[tlindsey]

Old wood in the shed + some thin corrugated plastic sheets from work + a few screws + a lick of stainer + a bit of my time = a tidy little planter.

Just needs holes drilling in the bottom for drainage and a couple more coats of stainer and it's good to go.

Something like this at my local garden centre will set me back about £40, at least!

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Very nice planter! You are a crafty rascal?

 

[Deadeye]

How’s your banana plant doing? Mine has been popping out new leaves steadily, but old ones are starting to wilt. I should probably get it in a bigger pot (don’t want to put it out yet with winter on its way).

 

[esoxlucius]

How’s your banana plant doing? Mine has been popping out new leaves steadily, but old ones are starting to wilt. I should probably get it in a bigger pot (don’t want to put it out yet with winter on its way).

It's amazing. It's absolutely thriving. It came with three straggly wimpy leaves. I had to cut one off because it was damaged too badly to carry on growing. So it had two leaves and wasn't showing any signs of getting a third. And then all of a sudden it picked up. A third came, very quickly, then a fourth, and now a fifth is about to open.

I'm leaving mine indoors for now because I don't trust the slugs and snails which are still active at this time of year. Next year it will go outside, maybe in my new planter, and I'll monitor it's progress. All being well, the year after that I will plant it outside. That's the current plan.

 

[esoxlucius]

I put the finishing touches to my planter, and then had enough scraps left over to make a second!

My plan is to put a Cordyline in each of these. Fishman Dave , am I better leaving it until spring next year now that autumn is well on its way, or could I buy two now and get them planted? Cordylines are extremely hardy too I believe? How long do you reckon they'd last in these tubs before moving on to something bigger?

 

[Fishman Dave]

With the Cordylines it’s a bit stuck between rock and a hard place. Now is the time that the price drops on them at the garden centres but ideally you would have liked to get them in before now and get the roots growing, this way they over winter a little easier. That said, bad winters effect established ones just as much as new ones when temperatures drop below -5.
If you can put them in a sheltered spot near a house or fence corner for winter this will help, especially if you can then cover it with some bubble wrap.
I didn’t cover my 6ft red one last year and as such the bottom 2ft of leaves drooped during winter and had to be completely removed in spring as we’re not recovering. Our six foot one is in a 2x2x2 cube planter just like these and will stay there alap.
I would suggest you should get a good three or four years in the planters before needing larger ones (less if you were on the warmer south coast!).
with them they don’t mind too much if the roots get a little pot bound or a bit too dry. A really decent water once a week (with my fish water) is better than keeping them moist all the time in my experience. Lost a couple through being moist - especially as the weather starts to turn colder.

 

[esoxlucius]

With the Cordylines it’s a bit stuck between rock and a hard place. Now is the time that the price drops on them at the garden centres but ideally you would have liked to get them in before now and get the roots growing, this way they over winter a little easier. That said, bad winters effect established ones just as much as new ones when temperatures drop below -5.
If you can put them in a sheltered spot near a house or fence corner for winter this will help, especially if you can then cover it with some bubble wrap.
I didn’t cover my 6ft red one last year and as such the bottom 2ft of leaves drooped during winter and had to be completely removed in spring as we’re not recovering. Our six foot one is in a 2x2x2 cube planter just like these and will stay there alap.
I would suggest you should get a good three or four years in the planters before needing larger ones (less if you were on the warmer south coast!).
with them they don’t mind too much if the roots get a little pot bound or a bit too dry. A really decent water once a week (with my fish water) is better than keeping them moist all the time in my experience. Lost a couple through being moist - especially as the weather starts to turn colder.

I'll leave it until next spring now then, just to give them the best possible start. I'll be opting for the standard green variety too, which I believe are hardier than the reds and variegated varieties. Thanks for that.

 

[duanes]

There's a hummingbird hiding/resting in this shot

 

[esoxlucius]

At the garden centre today they'd reduced the prices on the Cordyline Australis. My plan was to wait until next year now but because of the price reduction I got two today. They will overwinter inside whilst they are small and vulnerable. Next spring they will go in my home made planters.