Asëa Aranion - Healing and Death

Moved

skyfiery — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 04:39:21 +0000

Please go over there from now on, and update your links, if any.

Thanks!

(In progress) “Mystery” plant; rudbeckias

skyfiery — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 02:42:39 +0000

After nearly three weeks, one of my “mystery” plant’s seeds has sprouted! Of the four which I’d sowed, three of them didn’t sprout, and when I dug them out to throw them away, I found them infested with fruit fly maggots. So…

And while my rudbeckias did germinate, they seem to grow oh-so-slowly, until I’m getting rather impatient…

"Mystery" plant's seed has sprouted!

Rudbeckia 'toto rustic'

Rudbeckia hirta 'cherry brandy'

Note: This blog will be closed and used as an archive from the third week of July onwards. Please update your links to The Garden I Live In. Thank you.

(In progress) Plains coreopsis

skyfiery — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 09:13:47 +0000

As this is my first time growing the plains coreopsis, what more from seeds, I’m rather intrigued by the various stages the plant goes through, whether it’s in its changing leaf shape, or anything else.

With a passing glance, I thought that the plants I’d grown from seeds were simply just growing larger (and hopefully, healthier). But when I took the pot in to put some soil over the surface (they’re currently grown on pure compost), I saw that some of the leaves had different shapes than the rest. To be sure, it is currently a small ratio. But still, it’s quite intriguing.

Some of the leaves are starting to take on the shape and design unique to that of the plains coreopsis. It’s quite cute, I think, looking a little bit like cosmos leaves, or perhaps like dill.

I should probably be dividing the plants into at least one other pot this week, since roots have already started growing out from the drainage holes beneath the pots

I’m looking forward very much to growing this plant to its flowering stage.

Nice thick plantlets forming and growing

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(Flowering) Hoya lacunosa

skyfiery — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 13:36:20 +0000

The no ID hoya which a fellow gardener gave me in the form of cuttings in March has flowered. It’s been identified as the H. lacunosa.

Very tiny pretty flowers, with a subtly sweet scent.

It definitely was a very pleasant surprise. =)

Cute little cluster of flowers

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(Purchases) Nepenthes ampullaria and bicalcarata x ampullaria

skyfiery — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:43:03 +0000

I placed an order with Borneo Exotics through a mass order done by the local vendor in GCS a few months ago, and received both my plants today.

I’ve been eyeing these two plants for quite some time, and decided to splurge on them.

(Phone-quality images because I was busy potting (and then repotting!) them)

N. bicalcarata x ampullaria

N. ampullaria 'Borneo sunset'

N. ampullaria 'Borneo sunset' - one of the pitchers

N. ampullaria 'Borneo sunset' - basals! (And there are two more BABY basals which I was told to bury them just under the surface; those two are so young they are still albino! =D)

I’d actually planted them in peat moss mixed with LECA (Aquaclay brand), but felt very very uneasy about that because LECA is fired clay (clay potentially contains/contained minerals); so barely an hour after that, I went to mix peat moss with washed volcanic sand, and repotted both plants. All my CPs (especially nepenthes) have done well in this mix so far.

Note: This blog will be closed and used as an archive from the third week of July onwards. Please update your links to The Garden I Live In. Thank you.

(Misc.) First times

skyfiery — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 02:05:36 +0000

In gardening and growing plants, there is a lot of waiting and patience needed. From the time when seeds sprout to when a plant say, bears fruits or flowers, it can take months or even years.

It’s something terribly dull and boring.

But then, there are those first times which provide all the excitement in growing plants, all those first times where the ecstatic feeling just overwhelms me and I jump and bounce around and go squeeee.

The first time any seed shows signs of sprouting...it's extremely exciting!

The first time handling any plants which I have no experience with, and it sends out strong roots

The first time a plant flowers

The first time learning to grow a new plant and seeing it grow stronger and more healthily day by day

Of course, that is not to say that subsequent times are boring, that if a plant fruits again and again, each fruiting is not unique.

But, there is that special something in those first times, that special magic in getting to know a plant in its various forms.

To me, that delights me to no end.

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(Purchases) Hoya compacta and two other plants

skyfiery — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 10:30:55 +0000

My partner and I popped by the local pasar malam (Malay for ‘night market,’ although the stalls open some time in the afternoon and close late at night) near my house. There was a stall selling some assortment of plants, and I was drawn to the hanging ones: small little compact plants grown in snail shells.

Each cost $3. My partner bought me two, and one for my dad.

So fun and cute. =)

Hoya compacta aka Indian Rope Plant

I dunno what this is yet, but the variegated tiny leaves are cute.

This one for my dad.

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(Compost) Greenback Manufacturing Plant Compost Excursion

skyfiery — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 11:46:01 +0000

Sample pack of Greenback compost

The Curious Gardener recently bought a lot of Greenback compost, and wrote a post about it over at her blog. She got invited to visit GB’s manufacturing plant, and was kind enough to invite me.

Of course I accepted! (Although my darned flu nearly made me unable to go, grrrr)

I’ve been using Greenback compost for a few months now, ever since my black soil from World Farm ran out, and I remembered I still had a large gurney sack of it from a mass order a fellow gardening friend joined in about two years back. I’d forgotten about it for over a year; reading about some members’ experience with using the compost from the MO also deterred me from using it, especially since she reported that her veggies had all conked. Of course, there were the other members who’d joined the MO, who claimed that their plants were doing well with the compost addition. But, being new to gardening then, I decided not to take the risk, and it laid forgotten till recently.

So far, I’ve had positive experiences using it. The compost is dry and crumbly, and smells really earthy (good!) to my nose. It encourages drainage, which is all the better for me since most of the herbs I grow hate wet feet. Another gardener gushed about how great the compost is.

With all these mixed reviews, I didn’t really use the compost leaning in any direction, but simply hoped that my plants would do well.

It was only after today’s excursion, and the intensive chatting with the owners of Greenback, that some things were impressed upon me:

Recommended mixing proportions

1. Don’t use the compost neat and pure. They and I aren’t sure why yet, but pure compost might (emphasis on MIGHT) be an overdose to the plant, and can potentially cause the plant to die off. Their recommended amendment is as such: 30% of GB to loamy soil; 50% to clayey soil; and 65% to sandy soil, as printed on their newest brochure;

2. I am extremely astounded at the sheer amount of horticultural waste which is produced just in Singapore alone. It pains my heart to know how much (potential) wastage there is, but it also heartens me a lot that I see the owners of Greenback turn this waste into a useful form;

3. Not all things which claim to be compost is compost. Greenback uses pure horticultural waste, which gives it a very big plus point in my view. After all, I really don’t like the idea of having manufactured wood (lacquer etc. anyone?) going into my soil, being absorbed into my plants, and me eating those plants. Ugh.

When all is said and done, however, the biggest visual proof to me that (their) compost works is the patch of land lining the back of their manufacturing plant. Rows of edible plants such as banana trees, papaya trees, rice plants, yam plants, huge patches of kang kong, and various other plants which I lack the skill to identify, are all thriving with the addition of their own compost to the soil. Now I wish I had taken pictures of the sheer sizes of the papayas and bananas! (I shall shout out to Curious Gardener for that, I hope!) And all from compost-turned-from-horticultural waste!

SO MANY EDIBLE PLANTS!!! I WANT THIS TO BE MY HOME!!!!!

Another small little structure housed some rows of vegetables, namely the lettuce and malabar spinach. The orange-brown clayey soil had also been amended with Greenback compost, and the plants all looked healthy despite the slight lack of direct sunlight in that area.

I absolutely LOVE the idea of this sustainable cycle – waste from plants is turned into something which sustains and helps plants grow; and those plants, in turn, if there are waste from them, can be turned into compost again to be used on them. This cycle is what I’ve been trying to do at home, and which I have only partially achieved. When I finally own my own farm one day after I migrate, I shall endeavor to create this sustainable cycle as much as I can!

All in all, I’ve had an enjoyable day interacting with the friendly guys who run Greenback, and have learned a lot from them.

Now that my current bag of GB compost is running out, I’m headed off to World Farm this Saturday to buy a few bags to top up!

Pasteurizing the in-progress compost to kill all pathogens etc.

Waste in the process of becoming useful compost

Amending the soil using Greenback compost (GB's own vegetable garden)

Blluuuuueeee skkkkyyyyy... | Machine: *roars*

Not waste anymore! =D

Black gold for plants. W00t!

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(Seed sowing) Yum yum

skyfiery — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:11:47 +0000

I’m not gonna reveal the name of this plant which the seeds came from yet…not until the seeds sprout for real, and the plants stabilize.

But, I am VERY excited about this. *crosses fingers* I sure hope they sprout and grow well!

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(In progress) Marigolds

skyfiery — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 02:57:42 +0000

All three marigolds

I’m quite surprised that the dwarf strains of all my marigolds (both targetes and calendula alike) grow so much more slowly than the strain of typical height.

The calendula officinalis has already started to grow its second pair of true leaves, and the leaves are rather healthy and large, since this is the typical strain where the plant grows to a few feet tall.

However, both the calendula officinalis nana and targetes etecta nana remain slow growers, with the former seemingly stuck at half-growing their first pair of true leaves.

It’s quite weird. Hm…

C. officinalis

C. officinalis nana

Targetes etecta nana

Note: This blog will be closed and used as an archive from the third week of July onwards. Please update your links to The Garden I Live In. Thank you.