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Author Topic: Planning for winter, What are we going to do?  (Read 27916 times)
Darkhorse

Posts: 949



« Reply #15 on: October 31, 2009, 06:23:21 PM »

I am about to bring the rest of my hibs in for the winter.  I still have two big groups, the infested bedroom group and the hopefully-not-infested outside group.  Good news is we are in contract on a house so I should be moving by the end of Nov!!  One of my big criteria for my first place: lots of natural light.  We will have tons of windows and a skylight.  Room for a greenhouse in the backyard, although I suspect that will happen next summer.
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"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."  -Edgar Allan Poe
Charlie
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Posts: 3646



« Reply #16 on: November 01, 2009, 08:15:33 AM »

Jordan, that's fantastic! It will be so much easier to grow hibiscus with all that light and room!

BTW, if you ever have so many plants that watering becomes a pain, do what Cindy did - beg, demand, and insist that your significant other buy a Water Boy for the house. These watering devices have taken the work out of watering for us and I can't imagine being without one now. They are made for commercial plant care companies that take care of all those plants you see in stores and office buildings. Ours holds 26 gallons of water and allows for fertilizer to be mixed into the water when filling with a hose. The water is under pressure and the whole thing is mounted on a wheeled cart so all we have to do is push it into the room we want to water and then carry the watering wand to the plants that need watering. We can water all the plants twice before refilling the 26 gallon tank. Compare that to refilling a 2 gallon watering can 6 times whenever we needed to water, mixing the fertilizer each time we refilled the can. This is far faster and ensures that we don't neglect the plants - at least not often!

Here is a link to photos of the Water Boy http://www.chemsupplycompany.com/waterboy.htm

Anyway, congrats on the new place!

Charlie
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Darkhorse

Posts: 949



« Reply #17 on: November 01, 2009, 09:02:06 PM »

You read my mind, Charlie.  It is hard to water plants indoors.  I have been using the old bucket-and-cup method.  Water on the carpet, the furniture... I will def. look into the Water Boy.  Thanks!

Also, what do you use for your saucers?  I have some regular saucers for each pot, but they are nowhere near deep enough to give each plant enough water to ensure at least 10% runs through the soil.  I've had quite a few floods recently.   Lips sealed
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"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."  -Edgar Allan Poe
Cindy
Cindy Black, Webmaster, Customer Service
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Posts: 315



« Reply #18 on: November 02, 2009, 08:13:03 PM »

Hi Jordan,

I found some deep plastic liners at Armstrongs Garden Center down here in the San Diego area, so you could probably find some of the same kind in one of your nicer garden centers up there. I use them when I don't have anything better, although we have a 10-month-old puppy who drank the fertilizer water out of one once, and now I'm very careful where I use them. Or I try to put them down in deep baskets, like small bedroom trashcan sized baskets, so she can't get her nose down into them.

My favorite containers for water catchers are ceramic pots without holes in the bottom. They're deep enough to hold all kinds of water, even spillovers from the top when I water too fast. I use all kinds of ceramic containers, like ceramic pots for kitchen use. They're kind of hard to find in large sizes, let alone in the color scheme I want. So I comb thrift stores and garage sales for interesting ceramic containers, and it's amazing how many really good ones I've found that way. Charlie always teases me when I try to get him to stop at every garage sale we drive past, but most of my ceramic pots have come from those kinds of places.

I do love our Water Boy for watering, although we have some pretty funny stories to tell about it..... Like the time Charlie poured the houseplant formula into it, connected it to the hose, came back in the house to wait for it to fill up, and forgot about it.  An hour or so later, I was washing dishes in the kitchen sink, and there was brownish sudsy water on all my dishes, no matter how much I rinsed them. We have some ongoing plumbing issues with our house, and I didn't want to tell Charlie that they were worse than they've ever been before, so I just kept running more and more water to try to get rid of the light brown sudsy water - wondering (hoping!) it was my imagination.... But it didn't get better. So finally, I told Charlie about it, and we went to all the faucets in the house, and they all ran brown and sudsy. Then Charlie remembered the water boy, and realized the pressure in the water boy had pushed the water back up into all the pipes going to all places in the house, and the entire house system now had houseplant formula in it! LOL It was a mess, and we had to run a lot of water to get it all cleared out. So now we know what happens if we let the water boy stay connected to the hose after it has completely filled with water!

Cindy
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Cindy
Southern California
Darkhorse

Posts: 949



« Reply #19 on: November 03, 2009, 09:43:06 PM »

Cindy, great idea about the ceramic pots without holes... and the duct taping.  I'm getting to the point where I have so many hibs that I can't be ultra careful when I water.  And with us getting ready to put the new carpet in...


Will remember not to leave the Water Boy hooked up too long!!  lol!!  I would much rather my brown water be from houseplant formula... not from septic or something... Ew.
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"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."  -Edgar Allan Poe
Charlie
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Posts: 3646



« Reply #20 on: November 04, 2009, 11:49:49 AM »

No worries about the Water Boy. All you need is a cheap part from HD or similar store called a backflow preventer. Attach it to the hose bib and no water can flow back into the pipes. Cindy's story was a wakeup call for me to remember to buy one!

Charlie
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jpiper82

Posts: 178


« Reply #21 on: December 02, 2009, 03:12:23 PM »

Well it has happened! it is Dec 2nd and I woke up this morning to sleet and snow on the ground!  Winter in Texas!  HATE it!
Good news when I went out into the garage to check on my plants they were all 65 degrees. Outside was 32 deg.  I should be ok for the winter.

Best to all
John
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Charlie
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« Reply #22 on: December 03, 2009, 09:41:24 AM »

That's good news, John! If you can keep your hibiscus above 60F all winter they should make it through with few problems. One thing to watch for is fungus disease on leaves and stems due to more condensation or sometimes to flowers rotting on the plant without falling. If you see any off-color, rotting places on the plants cut them out before they can spread.

Good luck!

Charlie
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jpiper82

Posts: 178


« Reply #23 on: December 11, 2009, 11:29:04 AM »

We are well into winter around here in North Texas with night time lows down into the teens once and mid twentys during the day.  It is now starting to warm up into the 40's so that temp is surely welcome.  I keep the garage lights on 24/7 and the temps have not gone down below 50 at night.

Having pruned, repotted, and relocated all to the garage they have done well.  I lost a bunch of leafs, but the new growth coming in is excellent.  I gave them all an extra shot of iron and they loved it. I did have to learn how to water all over again, and now they only get water every 7-10 days. they seem to prefer a drier soil in winter.  That is it for now
Merry Xmas to all!,
John
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Charlie
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« Reply #24 on: December 14, 2009, 06:33:38 AM »

Hi John,

I'm glad the garage is working out so well. Keeping the temperature above 50F helps a lot, I'm sure. Growing on the dry side during winter will go a long way toward protecting hibiscus from fungus type diseases that cause rotting inside the plants.

Charlie

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