Today I had a HASfit workout planned, but plant moving happened instead, thanks to Chris for suggesting this lugging about and lifting and puffing is a good substitute.
Soooo I found myself at the sink. No matter where a lady's ambition takes her, sooner or later she's at a sink.
Today it was about retrieving the giant saucer for the ficus, and realizing I needed to scrub off a year's detritus before bringing it into the house.
Then came the surgery on what I now realize is the dieffenbachia, always call it dracaena, sorry. This involved finding out the plant saucers were also desperately in need of scrubbing. So that happened.
Now, this looks savage but is a way I've successfully restarted leggy, failing dieffenbachia plants. This one had reached over five feet tall, outgrowing its strength and my patience.
Last time the stump sent up a lovely big new plant, which is the one I'm now cutting back. Then the top, like this
also developed into a healthy plant which now lives next door. The center several feet of stem went nowhere, so this time I just tossed it out into the trees to rot down and feed the earth.
So now I have two going and a third,a little offshoot I potted up a while back and it hasn't decided whether to grow yet or just sit there defiantly. No, I don't use rooting hormone. Never have, and plants still seem to germinate. I think it's one of those nice but not necessary touches publicized by the Rooting Hormone Board.
That freed up the wallhook situation so I brought in the ficus. And, after a bit of combat, with her swerving about trying to escape, and sticking twigs in my face, got her secured more or less in place.
Then I shook the rugs, swept the deck, and declared the area winterized. Before I remembered I still have to drain and turn off the water to the outside faucet.
This involves charging up and down a flight of stairs like a piston rod, getting the upstairs valve,great house design, fully off, the downstairs tap open, but not dripping, ha! and the eerie groaning noises it makes while it's still not.quite.off, silenced.
Not up to it today. That can take the place of HASfit next time.
Yep - lugging plants around is always a good exercise. Winterizing already? In September? Sigh, sounds nice. It's still summer here.
ReplyDeleteAll I need to do for winter is drain the outside faucets and bring in one houseplant! That's it. There will be weeks of warm weather yet. Farmstand open to Thanksgiving.
DeleteFor summer I just reverse the two tasks!
Great job done. Plants amaze me in their ability to recover from pruning. It keeps us active too which is always a good thing.
ReplyDeletePlants take a lot of nurturing. And there's plenty of physical activity involved in that. Good job!
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to read about winterizing.
ReplyDelete:)
Our nights are suddenly turning chilly and while I welcome it, I don't want to bring my plants in already. I know I need to get in that mindset, though, and be ready when the time is right. I probably need to do better about acclimating my plants this year. I do love this time of year.
ReplyDeleteChilly nights here too, but not too bad. Thanks for the reminder of some chores that still need to be done.
ReplyDeletegardening, even if it's in pots, is definitely exercise. I won't bring my plants in til a few days before the first predicted frost. and I have at least as many plumerias alone as your total.
ReplyDeleteThat would be my preference too, about timing. But the imminent arrival of the fence people made it important to get the ficus out of harm's way. So she's inside a couple of weeks earlier than usual.
DeleteOur lemon tree is braving the elements for a bit longer before she gets lugged indoors. Resident Chef keeps making noises that if she freezes it would be no sad loss so not quite sure what he plans. He started it from a seed and has muttered mightily that said lemon tree should at least produce ONE lemon to justify an existence. Alas no sign so this might be the year it gets 'accidently' frozen.
ReplyDeleteHas there been any chance at being fertilized? It may take two to tango. Otherwise foliage only. I'm just surmising, haven't tried it.
DeleteThe lemon tree gets fertilizer regularly but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Maybe it's just the wrong type of fertilizer. If she survives long enough to make it inside again I'll have to do some research.
DeleteI'm talking about the pollinating kind of fertilizing. With a lot of trees you need male and female to make fruit. I haven't studied lemons but eg I know you won't get berries on a female holly unless there's a male holly somewhere close
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