Post by grace on Feb 4, 2024 19:02:23 GMT -5
I've had a dewy pine since spring of 2023, planted in its seedling peat pot into a 12-inch terra cotta pot, using Savage Garden's soil recipe of “one part each of the following: horticultural sand, perlite, pumice, lava rock, and sphagnum peat". I had it outdoors here in northern New England, under the wide eaves of my house to shelter it from too much rain, and up against the stucco wall of the house. It grew rapidly and was always covered with prey. (Another, received at the same time and planted identically, also did well. But I gave that one to a friend and it promptly died.)
Of course it had to come inside for the winter here in the northeast, so I put it in a south-facing window so that it would get as much sun as possible, and put grow lights over it and a few other plants in that window. (I had these on them: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NVGNYNH/. So, four SANSI bulbs, total 804 μmol/s/㎡@1ft, but not all focused on the dewy pines, and probably 4 feet away, so maybe 20 μmol/s/㎡ on the dewy pine itself. I suspect that my supplemental light was fine until we had that long run of cloudy days -- clouds are normal, here, but 11 days straight of overcast is not.)
All was well; it continued to grow and produce dew, and it even flowered. I found nothing online suggesting that I pinch the flowers, so I didn't. (I now see that Savage Garden recommends nipping the flowers in the first year.)
Today was our first sunny day after 12 days of complete cloudcover. Two days ago I noticed that it seemed to be drooping, and today the flower stalk had fallen over. Close inspection shows not much dew, and a number of its fronts look dry where they come off of the main stalk. There is another growth point on one side which seems greener.
I watered it, moved the grow lights closer to it to really inundate it with light, and, since there aren't many insects inside the house right now (almost none), gave it a dilute foliar fertilizer.
Is my dewy pine a goner? Any thoughts?
Of course it had to come inside for the winter here in the northeast, so I put it in a south-facing window so that it would get as much sun as possible, and put grow lights over it and a few other plants in that window. (I had these on them: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NVGNYNH/. So, four SANSI bulbs, total 804 μmol/s/㎡@1ft, but not all focused on the dewy pines, and probably 4 feet away, so maybe 20 μmol/s/㎡ on the dewy pine itself. I suspect that my supplemental light was fine until we had that long run of cloudy days -- clouds are normal, here, but 11 days straight of overcast is not.)
All was well; it continued to grow and produce dew, and it even flowered. I found nothing online suggesting that I pinch the flowers, so I didn't. (I now see that Savage Garden recommends nipping the flowers in the first year.)
Today was our first sunny day after 12 days of complete cloudcover. Two days ago I noticed that it seemed to be drooping, and today the flower stalk had fallen over. Close inspection shows not much dew, and a number of its fronts look dry where they come off of the main stalk. There is another growth point on one side which seems greener.
I watered it, moved the grow lights closer to it to really inundate it with light, and, since there aren't many insects inside the house right now (almost none), gave it a dilute foliar fertilizer.
Is my dewy pine a goner? Any thoughts?