Viewing comments posted by tarev

I grow my Jade plant outdoors all year round. I potted it with cactus soil and added a good amount of perlite to make sure it has good drainage. Typically it gets watered once a week during cool season. Can go longer, just have to feel the soil. But during winter, I just let Mother Nature water it. During summer time, it will appreciate stepped-up watering, maybe twice a week, especially if the weather is very dry and hot like ours. We do not get any rain in summer, so the plant is dependent on my watering during that time. Like most succulents, it can take the cold temps, but not the combination of wet and cold. If the plant is mature enough, it can easily recover when warmer weather returns. If your plant is still very young, best to keep it indoors during winter.

This plant loves our area so much that it grows like a weed. It can take direct sun for a few hours, but it prefers part sun/part shade, especially in our area, where our summer temps rise to triple digits. It has very thick rhizomatous roots and it can conserve its water a lot, so even if you forget to water it for a couple of days, the plant will survive. Easily propagated by the plantlets formed at the end of a stalk. I usually wait for the roots to be more prominent before I sever a plantlet from the mother plant. It prefers to be pot bound and can easily deform or break your pot if it is very tightly growing in it. When that happens you can divide the plant to give away to friends or share with anyone else. Our winters are quite mild, no snow, so my plants can stay outdoors. I just let Mother Nature do the watering at that time. In other seasons, especially from late spring to early fall, watering every other day or daily when temps rise to the 100F's will be helpful for the plant to survive the extreme heat. It is prone to browned tips, I just trim those off, and from time to time I also pull out dead leaves to maintain the appearance of the plant.

It can be grown in soil, or if indoors I have grown it in just leca rocks and water, or leca rocks with water gel beads. Either way, the important factor is water. When I grow it in soil, I prefer to use regular potting soil, but I add some extra perlite to keep the mix open and not clumpy. I grow them also as hanging plants so the babies cascade nicely.

This Hoya shooting star prefers to sit literally in water. In our dry and hot weather, I guess the plant requires that for its humidity needs. If it gets too dry while a peduncle is growing or attempting to make buds, it will blast, so that moisture requirement is very important. The flowers flow with sugary sap, so remember that when you position your plants indoors. I usually find this plant more actively producing peduncles and buds when our temps hover in the low to mid 80's, but once it starts running into the higher 90's outside, somehow the plant senses it and it will abort any growth. Just the same, I keep the container sitting in water, so the plant will not languish. I grow this plant indoors near our west-facing window, protected by our white curtain, during the hottest part of the day and with the ceiling fan constantly running during the hot summer days.

When cooler temps arrive in winter, I do not allow it to sit in water.

Sadly this plant thrived in my place only during the cooler part of spring. As soon as warm to hot weather arrived, it dwindled and died. It was said to keep the leaves constantly moist. I tried my best to water and mist daily, but to no avail. I guess our hot weather and at times windy conditions were just too much for this plant to handle. The heat wave in early June 2013 sealed its fate.

In my very dry area, where our dry spells run for over 4 months and reach triple-digit heat, this plant loves to get daily watering, or at least some daily misting. I grow it in part shade. Otherwise, the leaves will burn. Sometimes I get the pinkish hue on leaves, or often just the cream or white and green color on the leaves. Not getting any blooms yet, just lengthening of the vine and some new leaves.

Loves cool and cooler temperatures.

In the Philippines, all parts of this tree have multi-uses.
The husk of the fruits, when dried, can be used as a homemade hardwood floor polisher . The oil and milk of the coconut fruit are used a lot in cooking. The meat of the fruit is also consumed as dessert.The juice of this fruit is said to be effective in kidney cleansing. The milk is also a good hair conditioner. The leaves of this tree can be used as roofing material,while other parts of the leaves can be used as spears or for torches. The trunk of this tree can be used for house posts. Other products derived from the coconut tree are coconut vinegar, coconut flour, coconut oil, and lubricant.

Having a coconut tree in one's backyard adds a tropical appeal to the garden landscape, but beware of getting hit on the head by the falling fruits. Thrives in very humid areas. This tree grows to 30-50 feet in height.

I got this plant initially as a tiny container plant sold in Walmart, and I kept it in a little pot indoors near a window because we did not have a big area in our apartment then. Finally, when we got into a better location, I moved it to a bigger pot and placed it outside where it gets full sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. The plant grew really quickly! It is now towering over my other plants and providing shade to my other plants. Best to trim close to the stem in late fall if the plant gets too tall. It will come back again in spring and will grow very fast once more from spring to fall. Loves moderately moist soil.

This succulent loves to show off its blooms when temperature hits the high 90's. As with any succulent, needs fast draining soil.

This cactus loves full sun to part shade in our garden. A slow grower, it needs fast-draining soil, and shelter if possible when there is a threat of a cold snap.