Acidic Houseplants

I provided the few acidic houseplants that I know of. I will continue looking and as I find more this page will be updated.

Philodendron*

Philodendron

One of the most popular varieties of house plant, philodendrons come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and foliage color. Native to the West Indies and tropical areas of the Americas, philodendron thrives in diffuse light, humidity and acidic soil with a pH of between 5.5 and 6.0. Coffee is a good home remedy for perking up slow-growing philodendrons, whether the grounds are mixed in with the potting soil or it is simply watered with a solution of half coffee, half water.

Some varieties are trained to grow on a pole to create a slender upright shaped plant. These pole plants must be continuously pruned to keep the vines on the pole.

These fast growing plants have vining tendencies. Most people prefer a full, leafy looking plant, so it is important to trim back new growth on the vine tips. This keeps the plant full and helps prevent the plant from looking stringy.

*Update: It was recently pointed out by an Anonymous viewer that this is a Pothos. Upon further research I learned that this plant is often called devil's ivy or variegated philodendron. Philodendron is what I have always known this plant as, hence the confusion. Thanks to Anonymous for pointing out that this is indeed a Pothos.

Snake Plant

Sansevieria trifasciata

Tall and sword-shaped variegated leaves distinguish the snake plant as one of the most popular houseplants. It is known for being low-maintenance and tolerant of neglect, although it responds nicely to an occasional cup of coffee. Native to tropical west Africa, snake plant grows best when given acidic soil with a pH of between 4.5 and 7.0. It requires low to moderate light and the occasional watering, especially if watered with a strong solution of three parts coffee to one part water. Best temps: 60-85F, 16-29C.

Be careful not to over-water.

This plant is known to be a good remover of formaldehyde, xylene and toluene from the atmosphere.

Spider Plant

Chlorophytum comosum

Also known as Airplane plant, this popular hanging plant, is known for its cascading fountains of thin, variegated leaves. Native to South Africa, they prefer well-draining, mildly-acidic potting soil and moderate to bright indirect light. Occasional watering with diluted coffee is beneficial to spider plant, helping to achieve their ideal soil pH of 6.1 to 6.5. The recommended ratio of coffee to water is one part coffee to three parts water.

Spider plants like to be root bound and will grow much better if there’s just a little extra room around the roots. Potting a small plant into a large pot can actually kill the plant!

Some varieties of Spider plants can be very sensitive to the chlorine found in tap water. And, sodium can also damage the plant. If you’d prefer you can water your plant with distilled water, filtered water or allow tap water to sit over night before using it.

Banana

Musa species

All species of banana plant prefer acidic soil, especially indoor varieties such as red torch banana (M. coccinea) and purple banana (M. velutina), which enjoy a soil pH of between 5.0 and 6.5. Native to Southeast Asia, banana plants are grown for their dramatic tropical foliage, as well as their fruiting capability. A half coffee, half water solution can be substituted for water during the growing season, although pure water should be given in small amounts throughout the rest of the year.

Many times bananas grown indoors will suffer from brown leaves if their humidity requirements can not be met.

Ghost Man

Pachypodium namaquanum

In its native habitat of Madagascar, the succulent ghost man thrives in highly acidic soil with a pH of between 3.5 to 5.0, although under home cultivation it can withstand much lower acidity.

Usually unbranched, heavy trunk about six feet (180cm) tall with spiraled tubercles and long spines in threes. Flowers emerge in a ring at the apex, dull green among the downy green leaves.

It does flower, however, usually only under ideal conditions: plenty of sunlight and temps 60-85F, 16-29C. The flowers are not fragrant.

 To achieve a suitable acid level, strong coffee can be given sparingly during the growing season. Ghost man is a succulent plant with a wide, fleshy trunk covered in one-inch long spines. A ring of deciduous leaves top it during the winter growing season following the short-lived appearance of numerous tubular, scarlet flowers.

Read more...

The Indoor Garden Needs Attention

In January, with the house closed up, the air has a tendency to get a bit dry. Some tips I have learned over the years are:

• Cluster houseplants together when humidity is low.
• Most houseplants are happiest when the relative humidity is 50% or higher. Although I can’t do much about this, I have found that sitting a pot of water among the plants all clustered together seems to help.
• Most flowering plants need to be within 3 feet of a sunny window.
• Repot any plants that are stressing from over crowded conditions.

Here are a few more growing tips for houseplants. Please feel free to add your own tips at the end of this page!

Light

• Most flowering plants need to be within three feet of a sunny window.
• Most plants require 12 to 16 hours of light per day.

Water

• In late fall, begin watering houseplants sparingly until the light begins to increase in the new year. Drooping plants are a good sign of when plants need water.
• More houseplants die from over watering than from anything else.
• Water plants with room-temperature water. I fill up a gallon milk jug with water after watering so that its ready for next watering.
• Water houseplants in unglazed clay pots more frequently.
• Frequent mistings under the leaves of houseplants will discourage spider mites.

Humidity

• Most houseplants are happiest when the relative humidity is 50% or higher.
• Group houseplants near each other to form a support group to cope with the low humidity of most winter homes.

Fertilizer

• In winter, feed sparingly; house plants will be sensitive to overfeeding at this time of year.

Pests

• To get rid of bugs in houseplants, push a clove of garlic into the plant's soil. If the garlic sprouts and grows, just cut it back.
• If spider mites are becoming a problem, a solution of 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup buttermilk, and a gallon of cool water, applied in a mist, is a good organic deterrent.
• Your houseplants may sprout bugs once brought inside your house because they no longer have outdoor predators.
• Remove aphids from houseplants with a mixture of equal parts rubbing alcohol and water and add a drop of dishwashing detergent. Apply this to troubled plants with a soft brush.

Winter Months

• In colder regions, houseplants that have been outside for the summer should be brought in at the end of of July. A sudden cold spell will be too much of a shock for them to survive. This is also a good time to take cuttings.
• It's also good to bring in plants before you start heating your home. This gives them a chance to adjust. Wash them thoroughly before bringing them in to rid them of any pests and eggs.
• You can also dig up your rosemary, basil, tarragon, oregano, marjoram, English thyme, parsley, and chives to grow them inside as houseplants. Keep them in a cool, sunny spot, and allow the soil to dry out before watering. Snip off the leaves as needed in the kitchen, but do not strip them completely.
• Divide and re-pot any pot-bound plants so they will grow well during spring and summer. Prune judiciously to create a compact, attractive specimen.
• Provide extra protection to houseplants on window sills if it is very cold. Place cardboard between the plants and the glass. Be sure the plants don't touch the windowpanes.
• As houseplants are growing more slowly in December light, cut down on watering by half until active growth resumes. Hold off on fertilizing as well.
• If your plants seem a little worse for the winter, provide lots of sunlight, fresh air, and frequent bathing.

More Houseplant Tips

• Save the water from cooking pasta. Let it cool, then use it to water houseplants. If the soil of your houseplants get algae, loosen the dirt in your pots periodically.
• Pouring coffee or sprinkling coffee grounds helps acid loving plants.
• Open the doors and windows when temperatures permit to give your house a change of air. This will benefit you and your houseplants. Re-invigorate your houseplants by removing the top 1/4 inch of soil and top-dressing with fresh potting soil.

Read more...

Blogs I Follow

Websites of Interest

Greenview Calendar          Grist         Mother Earth News


National Gardening Association     Old Farmers Almanac     

Organic Gardening      P. Allen Smith     Victory Garden  

 Gardening in Australia

A Growing Delight        Hills and Plains Seedsavers    

nirvana organic farm          Scarecrow’s Garden   

Gardening in Canada

Friendly Worm Guy-Ontario        Heavy Petal-Vancouver   
           

Playing in the Dirt        Red Worm Composting-Ontario 


Kate smudges in earth, paint, and life-Saskatchewan 


You Grow Girl  

Gardening in Europe

The Patient Gardener’s Weblog-England       Bliss-Netherlands    


olives and artichokes-France     Andrea’s Garden Blog-Germany      

Ewa in the Garden-Poland         Kitchen Garden in France      

 My Tiny Plot-England    

Gardening in the USA

Blackswampgirl’s Garden-OH      A Taste of the Earth-MT   


  A Way to Garden-NY     Backyard Gardening Blog-MI      

 Blithewood-RI         Bugs for Thugs-NY

clay and limestone-TN        DragonFly Garden-FL        Fairegarden-TN

Farmers Almanac TV         fast grow the weeds-MI    



  Garden Desk-KY     Garden Journal by Ilona-OH 

  Garden Rant-DC          Gardening Gone Wild      

Gotta Garden-VA        Gardens of the Wild Wild West-ID


In My Kitchen Garden-MD      Kerry’s Garden-KY

 Kitchen Gardeners International    Leave me alone, I’m gardening-NC

Lehman’s Country Life-OH       Little Homestead in the City-CA

Lost Roses-CO         May Dreams Gardens-IN       


  Mr Brown Thumb-IL       Mr. McGregor’s Daughter-IL 

NorCal Katie-CA       Notes from a Cottage Garden-ID

Our Little Acre-OH        Petunia’s Garden-WA   



pollinators welcome-IL      Robins Nesting Place-IN 

 Skippy’s Vegetable Garden-MA     Suburban Wildlife Garden-TX

The Blogging Nurseryman-CA      The Door Garden-MS  



The Inadvertent Gardener-CA      The Modern Homestead      

 The Obsessive Gardener-WI       The Slow Cook-DC   

 This Garden is Illegal-OH          Veggie Gardening Tips-PA

Read more...

Fuller’s teasel Dipsacus fullonum

Gee whiz, is it really time to start thinking about these things again?

I got this from Garden Gate magazine.

 

IDENTIFICATION — Originally introduced from Europe for use as a dried flower, Fuller’s teasel has naturalized in much of North America. The first year, this biennial forms a rosette of oblong leaves that may grow to nearly 12 in. long. During the second year, several flower stalks with spines shoot up nearly 6 ft. The spiny, egg-shaped lavender flowers bloom from June to October. After flowering and producing seed, the plant dies.

FAVORITE CONDITIONS — Fuller’s teasel prefers open, sunny sites like roadsides and disturbed areas, although it may grow in your lawn or garden. It’s a particular pest for restored prairies and wildlife areas because each plant is capable of producing more than 2,000 seeds and most of them will germinate. Under favorable growing conditions, it can actually out-compete native prairie plants.

CONTROL — As with all biennial weeds, it’s easier to manage Fuller’s teasel in the rosette stage. Use a dandelion-puller to pull out the long tap root or slice it off, below the soil, with a sharp spade. And as with dandelions, be sure to get as much of the root as possible so it won’t resprout. You can cut off the flower head to prevent it from going to seed.

Herbicides that contain triclopyr or glyphosate can also be used, but are most effective when applied while the plants are in the rosette stage before they flower.

Read more...

Press reset and try again

In my attempt to see every garden blog and website in cyberspace I find many new ideas that appeal to me. I am not above shamefully using these ideas in my own garden in my pursuit to make my garden’s layout more efficient, to be more productive, or in any way make it look better. But when I do use someone else’s idea I promise to give credit to the site I stole the idea from. I hope I can be forgiven for my weakness.

At this beginning of the year, as with every year, my goal is to grow enough food to fill my families larder. And at the end of every year I realize that I have fallen short.

I love gardening, but doggone it I ca’t seem to make these plants produce to their fullest. I am not discouraged, I am not so frustrated that I have ever considered throwing in the towel. I just figure there is more for me to learn. Now, if only I would hurry up and learn it!

Planning the next years garden during winter’s down time is always fun. Deciding where to put plants always leads to visions of over-producing raised beds and trellises trembling with the weight of fat bean, pea vines. Tomatoes as big as my fist, and squash as thick as my arm, always exceed my expectations.

Winter is the great reset button. The slate is wiped clean of last season’s successes and failures to allow us to begin again, to gather up our collective learning experiences and participate once again in nature’s great classroom. We humans have a remarkable talent for remembering mistakes, learning from them and not allowing them to dampen the spirirt that keeps us going back for more.

The promise of next years bounty urges us to take up pencil and paper to put some shape to where we will place this years tomato crop, where to start a new variety of herb or annual flower. A picture of the plot at the front door comes flooding back and alternatives begin to take shape. Maybe we start to envision that new bed on the side of the shed.

You get busy making lists of seeds to start, you prepare containers for winter sowing and seed trays for plants to set out in Spring. Ah, Spring, fresh flowery fragrances riding on warm breezes fill you with the desire to put on your garden gloves and reach for the trowel. Vines reaching for the sun, bees buzzing, birds singing, the fruit of your labors magically ripening ready for picking, meals on the deck with family and friends, winter’s cold wind blowing. . . what? Reality sets in and you find yourself wrapped in a warm blanket sitting in your favorite chair letting your hot chocolate grow cold while you dreamed through next year’s entire growing season.

You sign deeply as you gaze through the window at a foot of snow and remember winter had only just pressed the reset button.

Read more...