[CanadaSue]

I'm limited to houseplants & baclondy planters living as I do in a 4th floor apartment north of The Maple Syrup Line.

I hate January. Most plants are dormant & as inclined to hibernate as I am. I've been stretching out plant maintenence chores over the last few days - trying to extract as much pleasure as I can out of it. The good news is - no losses yet this winter & my first effort at growing an orchid seems to be working out. It hasn't died & is actually putting out a new leaf.

Challenges for this year - get my wretched hoya to bloom, get the orchid to flower as well & see how well I can do with my sedum morganinaium, (burro's tail cactus). The last one I started from a tiny clipping & it's finally looking like a plant.

Anyone know anything abnout Ming Aralias? A plant maintenence guy gave me a snipping from a tree sized one at the mall last summer. It's finally growing but I know nothing about them.

[booger]

I don't do houseplants--that's DH's thing. Unless it's something I can eat. :D But...

Have you searched over at www.gardenweb.com? There are a million various forums on specific gardening subjects/areas. And, by "gardening", I mean anything to do with any kind of plant: inside, outside, edible, or just plain pretty, foo-foo houseplants. Zillions of topical forums. There's a search that goes through the whole site. Or, you can go to the appropriate forum and do a specific search there. Or just ask. I know you'll find someone there who knows more than you'll ever care to know.

By the way, do you grow anything edible? If not, why? If not, for shame! If not, I shall covert you. You can run but you cannot hide under your puny, potted, urban houseplants. There is no escape. :buttkick: :woot:

[Crabapple Plum]

I have my own houseplant hell going on here. When I bought fruit trees 5 years ago, I got a little carried away and got a Clementine tangerene tree. With no greenhouse or solarium, it grows in my small living room.

It bloomed profusely this year and is covered in little green tangerenes..... and scale bugs. It is a daily battle to wipe these armored critters off the tree. I am trying to avoid using a systemic poison because I would like to eat the fruit if it ever ripens.

All the inedibles are getting systemic poison. That stuff stinks like rotting cabbage.

Yup. Houseplant Hell.

[LillyDayStar]

CanadaSue, I have had a Ming Aralia for 15 years. They love bright indirect light, medium dry soil, love to be misted, and kept in a warm area in the winter. They are very slow growers. Let me know if you have any specific questions. Lilly

[Yammy]

CanadaSue,
Ming Arailias are one of my very favorites, hope it keeps going for you.
My house plants as well seem to be a bit slow in the winter with the expections of my christmas catus that is putting out tons of new leaves instead of blooming,and my purple passion plant. (let me know if you'd like a clipping cuz it's time to give it a trim again)

Love your sig line, it's just seems like the truth....

[blue gecko]

In the winter my house becomes "the Jungle". The house is partial solar and we have a solarium 10 x 11 and 2 stories. Its a blessing and a curse. The curse part is that I can't say no to tender lovelies: 2 ficus (1 is over 10'tall), assorted bromiliads, several citrus (orange, lime, lemon and tangerine), bouganvilla (up the wall and into the main floor ceiling rafters), ferns, tea tree, cacti, begonias etc etc. It's a beautiful place but I sure am glad when warm weather comes and everything (mostly) goes outside. Then there's the other plants tucked here and there around the house. I do have a nice ming arailia and find it to be a very easy keeper and not too finicky about its light or water requirements. I give it a good soak now and then and then let it dry. I've started several cuttings just by snipping young 'branches' and putting them in damp soil. It develops a nice woody trunk and responds well to bonsai type training. The winter chore is keeping everything watered and cleaned up...things could be worse. When I have trouble with bugs I like to use Volck oil spray and if they are a real problem I use Neem oil. I just have to be careful about the fish and tree frogs...did I mention that there is a small pond and waterfall? The tree frogs are so cute, they live in the bromeliads and on warm days sing. The doves and quaker parrot are in heaven as well...life is good. BG

[Brooks]

CSue, the forum at www.gardenweb.com probably has information about the mings.

I'm pretty good with outside stuff. Balances out my ability to kill inside stuff.

[occupant]

I think we're at that point of the year, where everything we hauled inside to winter over, is looking very POOPY,right now. Not enough good sunlight to keep things green.Even my low light plants are getting spindly.
As a matter of fact, at this point of the year, I'M prolly looking a lil' POOPY, myself. I need some soul nourishing sunlight,too. Ya don't get much of that, in winter in Michigan.
P.S..C.S. ~ I'm loving my new discovery of "Orchids" Mine got a new leaf too, it grew Sooo fast ! And now it's getting lots of those dangly above ground roots. Double stems seem to have died off. I don't know if I should trim them, or leave 'em alone. Guess I'll have to hop over to Garden web. Thanx, Booger.

[CanadaSue]

Actually the plants are hibernating in what appears to be a healthy way - LOL.

Nothing's died yet this winter & I generally lose a few by now. I my one snake plant is now 3 healthy clumps. My minischefflera needs dividing again & the broken brnach of a tree sized variegated scheffie I rescued from a dumpster has rooted & will make a nice tree some day.

Still have to scrub the rubber plant - not fond of those but DH loves them...