I'm a bromeliad houseplant murderer. I've snuffed two already.
The first one I drowned and this last one I starved.
I feel horrible - both of them were gifts. I actually might be able to salvage some of the last one (it's flower spike simply keeled over taking a ring of leaves with it but there are some leaves/shoots that don't look too bad...).


HELP. Anyone out there with a knack for nurturing houseplant bromeliads?

Unfortunately not. I was given one at work last year and it's still alive, but doesn't look brilliant. The only thing I know about them is that you are only supposed to pour water in their leaf bundles and they are extremely difficult to reproduce.

I suppose I could use some help too.

*tip toes in*

Aren't those the ones that love shade and/or indirect sunlight? If so, we have one my dad got as a gift and mom does the watering down the center leaf cone thing and keeping it out of direct sun. I am the queen of killing plants, not because I don't love gardening or anything but because I never remember to water them. I have no idea if this will help.

*tip toes out*

I think you're right Pen. They don't like a lot of direct sunlight. Maybe mine is just getting too much sun. hmmmm....

Oops that explains why the flower spike keeled over after I put the plant in the window, not to mention I'm watering the poor dear all wrong.

Thanks Pen and Canute - maybe I can save number two yet.

*runs to put suffering bromeliad back in the shade*

I'm sure that's the plant we used to have on the windowsill. It lasted a few years before dying of thirst... yeah, I'm a murderer too.

Anyway, I googled bromeliads and came up with this website for the, wait for it, Bromeliad Society International. *laughs* It has a FAQ questions page including a useful My plant is dying. What can I do? section. Hope this helps!

Thanks Moon!!! ROFL I love the My plant is dying. What can I do? section - perfect for me. Who could imagine that there's an International Bromeliad Society? Then again, why not.

I'll let you know if number two survives

EDIT (26 March): ded

OK I'll admit that I'm double-posting but since the plant specimen is different and the time lapse beween posts is significant I'm giving myself permission.

While I was in the hospital one of my orchids was murdered (dehydration). Upon returning to the scene of the crime I thought that I might be able to resuscitate it and gave it plenty to drink - too much. It' ok, I've finished mourning the little guy. He left the house on Thursday in his pot. I did notice, as I was moving his pot away from the other plants, that there was evidence of a green algae looking substance inside the pot.

Another of my orchids, who looks like he's doing just fine for the moment, is presenting the same green algae symptoms in his pot (though certainly not as prominent as his recently deceased neighbour). Should I be worried? Should I repot? Help! (CMW - are you out there?)

*peeks head in*

Well, I'm guessing it's appropriate to start with a--Happy Arbor Day!--because that's what my post is about...trees.

I am now the proud parent of 3 baby (seedling) Colorado Blue Spruces. They aren't planted as of yet, seeing as we don't have any pots or soil, but they're sitting happily in their tall plastic bags with the little bit of soil around the roots and some water.

I don't know anything, really, about growing them, so if anyone has any sort of info on growing trees, that'd be wonderful. I know for sure that I'm not going to be using any store-bought fertilizer, in fact, I think I'm going to try my hand at making one of my own that is either low in nitrogen, or high in a natural substitute for nitrogen, or something like that. The reason for this(science/enviromental warning) is that, well...It's long..

1)You put the fertilizer on the plant/soil
2)It rains, causing the fertilizer to leach into the soil
3)As it rains, the water with a high level of nitrogen(from the fertilizer) joins various tributaries and eventually runs to a lake(in my case, since I live in Michigan)
4)When it reaches the lake, the nitrogen speeds up algae and other plant growth
5)The increased plant growth takes up more oxygen for cellular respiration
6)The amount of oxygen in the water decreases, leaving less available for other kinds of life(such as fish, mussels, etc.) that live in the lake
7)The algae continues to grow and die, then grow and die, eventually filling in the lake
8)After a while, the lake becomes land, therefore reducing the amount of water in planet Earth.

And yeah, that's just something that's stuck in my head since science last year. So if anybody knows of any good fertilizers that are fairly easy to make(I'm rather cooking retarded, so this one's rather imperative), that'd be wonderful.

Oh, and for anyone that wants to know, my plants' names are George, Gemini, and Gali.

Edit: I just did a google, and have come up with this lurvley site. If my little planteypies don't die, they're going to be about 50-75 feet tall! (about 15 meters-about 23 meters) And it looks like they should grow well here! *happy dance*

Hey Meggy!

Every day should be hug a tree day imho. It's great to hear you've got yourself some saplings ready to be planted. I think I've got two apple trees on the grow - but it's a bit soon to be certain (they look like apple trees but they're only 4 inches high).

An easy basic fertilizer I've come across is reusing tea (both from bags and loose) which works out great for me because I drink a lot of it. Simply dry out your tea (you'll need to empty your teabags into a container - don't cover it up though until the tea is completely dry or it will grow mold/or let the bags dry out thoroughly and then dump the contents into your container) and mix it in with your soil whenever your planting.

However, it's important to take into consideration that most plants have special feeding requirements and therefore the fertilizer you give them should coincide with their needs.

As you seem pretty familiar with web searches you should be able to find quite a bit of information on anything you've got on the grow. You can always check out the sticky The Greenhouse: Herbology Resources or if you don't find what you're looking for there, Wikipedia is usually pretty indepth.

PS. I'm still requiring urgent orchid asistance (see previous Boepost)!

I need to go back and read what's been posted thus far, but I wanted to share our news of our spring plantings. We pulled dead shrubs out of our front beds and planted 4 gardenias. They're growing well, and I'm hopeful we might get a bloom or two, even though they're quite young.

We also planted a garden for the first time! We've got tomatoes, 1 pepper plant, yellow crookneck squash, zucchini squash, watermelons, strawberries, and we even threw some potatoes and onions that sprouted in the pantry out there. I don't expect the potatoes will do well in our climate, but at least they'll decompose and add nutrients back to the soil. I need to hunt up some pumpkin seeds we saved from last October. I think it's a little late to start them from seed, but part of this is the learning experince for the kids.

I'll try to update with pictures as the plants grow.

We're also considering some sort of herb garden in containers on our back deck. It should add much needed pretty and aid my cooking too.

As for questions on house plants, keep them away from me, I am hopeless about remembering to water. I may run the queries by my mom though, she's got a decent green thumb.

Yeah! for gardening - the vegetables sound great! Froggy says that it's still time to plant the pumpkins. You might want to germ them in a wet paper towel, but pumpkins often take pretty well.

The herb garden sounds like a fabulous idea. Any idea which herbs you're thinking of starting off with? In the heat I would think that rosemary and thyme would do particularly well.

Do post pics when you get a chance so we can see how it's growing.

So far my orchid is still alive and doesn't look like it's suffering too much. I've stopped drowning it - but now I'm worried about going to the other extreme! Ahhh, if knowing when to and how much, watering would be so much easier.

I’ve been meaning to post in here for a while, but kept forgetting, except when I was no where near a computer, i.e. when I was walking the dogs, or was up to my elbows in dirt.

I’ve been doing my re-potting for the year and have been adding the gravel / hydro culture stones to the soil for better drainage. Question: Should I be mixing it in with the soil of just putting in a layer. I’m afraid I’ve done both, but no longer remember which plant got which method. I’m hoping it will improve the quality of some of my plants at home. I had one plant that I re-potted in its old pot since the root system was so small. The soil just seems to have compacted in the pot. Seriously, the pot was half empty of soil and I don’t know where else it would have gone.

Anyway, I’m back to wondering if some of them will survive since some of the plants at work were seriously, terribly, horribly pot-bound. I almost had to break the pots of two of them to get the plants out, it was that bad. They look OK for the moment, but we’ll see if they’re still alive in a few weeks time.

I do have one ”success” story: A year or so ago I re-potted my boss’ beaucarnea recurvata (Pony Tail Palm or Bottle Palm) and it DIED. It looked pretty much like a stick in the ground, except that it still had one little spot where a new branch was growing. So I left it and nothing happened for a very long time, except that everyone started making fun of my stick. However, a little while ago, it started sprouting out of the trunk, so now I’ve got three or four new little plants growing. Unfortunately, they’re growing out of the sides, but it still growth. It’s gone from being a joke to being an office topic – how’s it doing today sort of thing.

I’m sure they’re was something else I wanted to mention – oh yes, both of my passiflora have been re-potted (in huge buckets) and are now doing well on the balcony. One has bloomed and the other has started to. It’s now got new growth with lots of flower bulbs growing on it, so I’m hoping for a good “crop”.

ETA: the Bromeliad still lives. It's ugly, but alive.

I am an unwitting torture-er of house plants. Mine always die before they need repotting, so I'm of no help on your question Canute.

I just wanted to pop in and say our garden is doing well! We have more zuchini than I can eat. (Sharing!) We also have plenty of cucumbers, some strawberries, jalepenos, and our first crookneck squash. Buggies got into the tomatoes early on and we've had to throw out several, but healthy ones are on the way!

Oh, and I never sprouted/planted the pumpkin seeds because when I found them, they were watermelon. *eyeroll* Some of the watermelon vines we planted are flourishing, others are sickly. That happened last year too. *shrugs*

And for those who followed the saga of the fence on LJ: So far the rabbits have not bothered to burrow under the fence. I am pleased, but shocked. I think it may be because there are other, unfenced gardens nearby. Why work for your supper?

Dexy, I think it's great that the rabbits aren't hopping over nor burrowing under the fence. It must be a sign that they're well fed.

Wow your garden is really growing well Dexy. My RL mum said that they've been having quite a bit of rain out there. Not sure if the storms have been affecting you but it must be a small relief from having to water in the Texan heat. I only hope your veg haven't suffered storm damage.

My balcony is flourishing! My begonias are back and flowering and my marigolds are doing fantastically. I've even got cherry tomatoes growing again despite the fact that I didn't plant any! Apparently they self-seed if even one tiny tomato is left on the soil: makes sense. I've done cuttings of my fuchsia, clematis and ivy - so I'm just waiting to see if they survive.

Canute I'm so jealous of your thriving passiflores. Regarding drainage it sounds like you're doing the right thing by mixing it in with the soil. Most plants need good drainage and the best way to give them what they need is by lightening the soil in which their roots sit. Mix up the gravel throughout your soil mixture so that all the roots benefit.

In other news there's a new species of tree a Catacol whitebeam (Sorbus pseudomeincichii) that is not thought to grow anywhere else in the world has been found on an island off the west coast of Scotland.