Post by jasonksepka on Mar 26, 2014 16:25:08 GMT -5
So I finally got around to posting something on the forum. Could hardly help myself after the excitement of spring-cleaning! This year I am in a very transitional stage and do not have the benefits of a heated greenhouse or stable environment to house my plants. I needed a temporary “fix” to get my plants through the winter. The most basic thing I could think of was a shallow basin to hold water, and a mulch covering. I brought my plants to a friend’s house and using a sheet of plastic, a few bits of lumber, and some odds and ends, I “constructed” a basin that hopefully would work. When finished and plants in place, I covered them with oak leaves to get this…
This shot shows a partial removal of leaves and plants to show depth of mulch and basic construction. Notice that the end closest to the camera is enclosed by simply laying plastic against bricks and rock. Nothing was held together, just laid together. The back (left side of this shot), didn’t even have a piece of lumber or rocks, the plastic was held against a chicken wire fence buy the potted plants.
Here we are after uncovering and cleaning/trimming things up. I was expecting a high mortality, but didn’t really have much choice. But I was pleased that I only lost one S. purpurea, another S. purp. montana that seems to have been attacked by mold, but might make it. My S. oreophyllas held their phyllodia well, but seems to dislike the lack of airflow, as there was some rot in the rhizomes. But they still look like they will be fine unless the rot gets out of hand. But all in all, everything came through very well! Lillium catesbaei, Drosera tracyi, Gentiana penneliana, all of my Sarracenia, surprisingly, the S. psittacinas look like they had a very good winter, and they usually don’t like a NJ winter.
Another shot of the same, showing the shoddy workmanship ?
And before I left for the day, I covered up the more delicate stuff with a thin layer of leaves, for the upcoming cold nights.
This shot shows a partial removal of leaves and plants to show depth of mulch and basic construction. Notice that the end closest to the camera is enclosed by simply laying plastic against bricks and rock. Nothing was held together, just laid together. The back (left side of this shot), didn’t even have a piece of lumber or rocks, the plastic was held against a chicken wire fence buy the potted plants.
Here we are after uncovering and cleaning/trimming things up. I was expecting a high mortality, but didn’t really have much choice. But I was pleased that I only lost one S. purpurea, another S. purp. montana that seems to have been attacked by mold, but might make it. My S. oreophyllas held their phyllodia well, but seems to dislike the lack of airflow, as there was some rot in the rhizomes. But they still look like they will be fine unless the rot gets out of hand. But all in all, everything came through very well! Lillium catesbaei, Drosera tracyi, Gentiana penneliana, all of my Sarracenia, surprisingly, the S. psittacinas look like they had a very good winter, and they usually don’t like a NJ winter.
Another shot of the same, showing the shoddy workmanship ?
And before I left for the day, I covered up the more delicate stuff with a thin layer of leaves, for the upcoming cold nights.