Tag Archives: greenhouse

Nightshift

I would usually do all my work in the greenhouse while the sun would shine, but I’ve recently installed some lights to work by! No longer limited by daylight hours, I can get a little bit more work done after hours. Sweet!

Greenhouse NightshiftLight it up.

Sarracenia flava v. cuprea
Sarracenia flava v. cuprea unfolding.

Sarracenia leucophylla "Purple Lips" x flava v. ornataSarracenia leucophylla “Purple Lips” x flava v. ornata

Sarracenia areolata x 'Dana's Delight'Sarracenia areolata x ‘Dana’s Delight’ flowers
Cross by Dr. Travis H. Wyman
(Here’s the plant back in October.)

Homecoming

There’s no place like home. Like I mentioned in my last post, I deeply enjoyed my visit up north (thanks again Mark!), but it feels great to be back home and with the plants again. Below are some photos from my first day back in the Asylum. A few traps here and there… as well as a few blooms, and a few buds that I’m really excited to work with! Enjoy!

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Greenhouse
The Asylum. It’s great to be home. 

Pinguicula Planter
Pinguicula doggy-piggy-bank planter, sending up a bloom!

Sarracenia 'Leah Wilkerson' x minor var. okefenokeensis
Sarracenia ‘Leah Wilkerson’ x minor var. okefenokeensis
Sown last year and growing quickly.

Sarracenia alata x rubra ssp. wherryi, MBRS clone
Sarracenia alata x rubra ssp. wherryi, MBRS clone.

Sarracenia ((rubra x oreophila) x flava v. rugelii) x 'Adrian Slack' - Select Clone
Sarracenia ((rubra x oreophila) x flava v. rugelii) x ‘Adrian Slack’
-Select Clone-
The pitchers from very late last season are still holding color well.

Sarracenia (leucophylla "red" x minor var. okefenokeensis) x (leucophylla x psittacina)
Sarracenia (leucophylla “red” x minor var. okefenokeensis) x (leucophylla x psittacina)  – cross by Dr. Travis H. Wyman.

Sarracenia 'Godzuki' x ((rubra x oreophila) x flava v. rugelii)
S. ‘Godzuki’ x ((rubra x oreophila) x flava v. rugelii)

Sarracenia flava "Heavy Veined"Sarracenia flava “Heavy Veined” flower breaking open.

Sarracenia 'Adrian Slack'
Sarracenia ‘Adrian Slack’
FINALLY, a BUD! After 2 years with no bloom, I finally get one this year!

Hope it survives and actually blooms for me though…

Sarracenia 'Smurf'
Ok, I know. It’s a freak. S. purpurea “Smurf” has a bud.
This should be interesting.

Sarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa var. burkii f. luteolaSarracenia purpurea subsp. venosa var. burkii f. luteola
Got another one with a bud! I wonder if I should cross with the Smurf? Hmm…

Sarracenia 'Reptilian Rose' x leucophylla "Pale" - Clone 1
Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x leucophylla “Pale” – clone 1
Cross by Dr. Travis H. Wyman

Sarracenia 'Reptilian Rose' x leucophylla "Pale" - Clone 7Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x leucophylla “Pale” – clone 7
Cross by Dr. Travis H. Wyman

2012: Transition

2012 has been a year marked with intense transition from one place to another, both personally and botanically. Indeed, this year was challenging. Each move was a monumental undertaking and ultimately resulted in increasing formidable awesomeness. I am thankful for it all and look forward to what the next season will bring.

To sum it all up…

Move
January, 2012.

From that, to this.

Then this.

And then finally this.

Garden Move Stage IIAugust, 2012.

On this eve of a new year I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude and say “thank you” for making 2012 so memorable. I am thankful for my family, friends, and you readers out there. (Yeah, I see you!) I really couldn’t of done 2012 without your continued support and encouragement. I wish you all continued success and growth in 2013. Cheers!

 

Quick Update

Hey everyone! I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted! Hope y’all been well! Honestly I haven’t been down to the greenhouse much recently just because things have been kinda busy. It’s all good. The plants are dormant or about to hit dormancy anyway. There’s still a few plants that look okay here and there, such as a few of the leucos and their hybrids – but for the most part the sleep has begun. I am still doing a lot of cleaning and organizing, and will be continually doing so throughout the course of the winter. I’ll probably bust the katana blade out later to do some slicing of old foliage… that should be fun.

During this time period, I keep the Sarracenia on the dryish side – not watering as much or as frequently. I just make sure that their soil is still moist/damp, but I don’t leave them constantly sitting in water as I would during active growth.

The cool thing is that the Nepenthes are sending out pitchers, so I’ll share a few photos of those in upcoming posts. I am also seeing pitchers grow and open up on the Cephalotus, as well as the Heliamphora. I will share those in a bit. For now here are a few photos of how things are goin’ in the Asylum.

Dormancy approcachesPlants starting to go dormant. Again, I’m leaving most of the old long foliage on there and still letting plants get that light they have missed out on.

Young Sarracenia TableYes, I know it looks messy. These are young plants I am still growing out. Again, you can see the long and stretched foliage.

Nepenthes HouseThe Nepenthes are doing well and loving their dome!

Sphagnum mossIt doesn’t look like much, but I’m growing out some sphagnum moss. I basically took a pot of sphagnum and just tore it up and am growing them in trays.

AF TableHere’s the anthocyanin free section. You can see the older leaves browning up. I’m looking forward to watching this table grow out next year!

Out On The Table

September Coverage

You may of remembered that at beginning of this month, I was covering quite a few things up. Now, I’m finding myself laying it all out on the table. Well, tables. This last weekend, Dahlia and I spent the day doing some trimming, pulling the weeds out of the pots, and finally – getting the plants out to the tables. In the photo to the left, you can see a few of the tables covered up, finally. I’ve had the plants just bumbling along in their cement mixing tubs and other trays packed in somewhat tight (to save space.) This is great for moving and saving space. But now, I’m sure that the plants are happy to be moving from cramped quarters onto the water tables. The way they’re packed now leaves them desiring some room for improvement. Literally. See, although it’s brighter now, the plants aren’t getting all the light or air circulation that they could be getting since they’re packed close. Don’t get me wrong though! I’m in an area that’s much better – and now that the plants are getting spread out, they’ll really get hit with the light and air that they desire. What I’m hoping for is that the elongated foliage they developed at the old place would really be put to use now – acting as larger solar panels (for lack of better illustration) and absorb even more light to store in the rhizome for next season. Also, insects do find their way in because of the vents, so that’s more food for them! It isn’t pretty just yet, but next year should be quite a show. (I’m putting this down in this blog entry so that by the time next season comes around – I can test my theory out and see if my hypothesis is right.)

In the meantime, enjoy a few photos of the work in progress below! It’s not pretty as you’ll notice the long and stretched leaves that the plants produced. I was really tempted to cut most of those leaves off for aesthetic reasons/personal taste, but I know that the plants would benefit better if I left the foliage. Like I mentioned before — I’m hoping that those long leaves will be put to good use so I’m keeping a majority of them connected to the plant still. Also,  I won’t be dividing them just yet as I’d hate to disturb/shock them after all the crap they went through this year. I plan on doing some divisions later in the late fall/winter.

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After moving a few plants to the tables, the place really started to look like a nursery! It is truly a joy to see things come this far. That’s Dahlia in the back helping me weed/clean the plants. I grouped the plants together by genus/species/subspecies/variations as well. One of the things I’d like to do in the coming seasons is concentrate more on species and populations from different locations. Doing all of this hybridizing work really makes me appreciate the species so much more and makes me realize that keeping the genetic bloodlines is truly important.

I had species mixed up all over the place before. Now that I have room, it’s good to have things together. Another project in the future that I have in mind will be to do a census. I no longer keep a growlist as there have been too many changes in a short amount of time to even try to keep up with things. Freakin’ intense…

Above I’ve placed all Pinguicula, Dionaea, Drosera, Utricularia, and Darlingtonia together. I’ll be going through and dividing/propagating later, so keep checking back as I’ll make things available every now and then. And yeah, sorry for not updating the shop as often as I should, but — once things settle down and get organized, I hope to change that!

Sarracenia purpureas, psittacinas, and minors all together in this section. In the distance, you can see how friggin beat up the minors are from being in the low light conditions. Behind that are the leucophyllas.

Here’s a shot of the grouping of minors. So SAD! UGH! They are so beat up! The older traps are weak, elongated, and floppy. However, check out a few of the new traps as you can see those are strong and upright.

Here we have the grouping of Sarracenia rubra, and in the back is the Sarracenia leucophylla section. I’m keeping the rubras on the higher end/dryish part of the table. Fellow Sarracenia-phile Mike Wang suggests that S. rubras like things on the dryer side. I’ve been top watering and letting the excess run down to the rest of the table where the S. leucophyllas are sitting. Uneven tables: I guess that’s a good thing for situations like this.

Sarracenia leucophylla - 'Hurricane Creek White' clone D

Sarracenia leucophyllas are making a come back! S. leucophyllas throw pitchers up in the fall anyway – this is their time to shine! It’s nice to see them recovering and looking much happier now!

In this front section of this table are all of the S. ‘Reptilian Rose’ hybrids/seedlings that were created by Dr. Travis H. Wyman. I’m really spacing these out to get as much light and air to the plants as possible. I have great hopes for these babies, and I’m sure Dr. Wyman does too. In the back section are various other hybrids of similar shape/form all mixed in.

Another angle of the Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ hybrid section. You can see the old lanky growth vs. the stronger upright recent growth on some of these plants.

OH MY! The anthocyanin free section. OF COURSE! Y’all should know me by now. I am an anthocyanin free addict!

Here’s a few of the Sarracenia courtii AF x “Green Monster” crosses I did from 2009. They are on the road to recovery!

The field of screams! The Dionaea group. They’ve really turned around since the move into The Asylum.

Hope you enjoyed this quick update – will be working on putting the rest of the tables together and moving plants over the course of the next few weeks. Good times indeed!

September Update

Hello September! Crazy to think that this year is already winding down. For me, it feels as if my season has only begun. After all, it’s the first time this year where I can actually let the plants grow correctly! It’s been a busy these past couple of weeks, but I’ve finally had time to get a little work done in the greenhouse. I’ve begun to get things covered!  My two projects as of late have been the water tables and the dome. The dome will serve as a Nepenthes house. Here’s a few photos from Saturday, 1 September 2012 documenting some progress. YEAH! Finally!

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September Coverage
The dome got covered. I don’t have all the greenhouse clamps in for the plastic so it’s still a little rough looking. It will all get tightened up once greenhouse snap clamps arrive. I originally ordered 20, but quickly found that it was not enough for something of this size.

September CoverageInside the dome. Still a little bit of clean up but it’s looking a lot better than when I first moved in. Weeds in this area are now under control and the shade cloth is up, but not completely fastend.  The shade cloth will be secured once those clamps come in.

September CoverageNaked water tables! Before I moved in, these were previously covered with plain ol’ painting plastic. I mean, that’s fine for like — five minutes.  The UV and direct sun will bake that and the stuff will go crumbling like I mentioned here. That’s one mess that I do not want to deal with. I got special UV treated greenhouse plastic to use for these giant watering tray tables and the stuff can last for years.

September CoveragePlastic cut to the width of the tables.  Time to unfold!

September CoverageWith the help of my awesome wifey, Dahlia,  we got 5 tables covered in about an hour or so. There’s 2 more tables on the other side of the greenhouse but I just need to pick up some more specialty screws/fastener thingmabobbers that secure the plastic to. I’m not sure I need the other tables covered just yet – but being that the carnivorous collection already covers about 5 tables, I may just go ahead and cover those other 2 tables soon. I still have to level a few of these tables but as far as I’m concerned, I like this set up much better! No more watering many many trays, but rather just one large tray at a time.

Wang’s Crops + Work Day With Drew

Last weekend a few of the carni-heads got together to assit fellow grower and carni-phile Drew Martinez in constructing/covering his greenhouse. It was nice to get together with Mike, Mike, Josh, and Drew & Selina to take part in this greatness. I know first hand what it’s like to move and expand the grow area – always fun stuff and know that an extra set of hands can be useful. I headed over to Mike Wang’s place first to see how his crops were doing before we headed off to help Drew. Mike’s crops indeed were blingin’ as usual and a nice prelude to the full work day ahead of us.

Below are a couple slide shows and highlight photos from that day. The first show is of Mike’s blingin’ August crops. The second show is a photo documentary of Drew’s greenhouse being pieced together and partially covered. Drew and Selina – thanks again for having us over. 🙂 Can’t wait to see these new greenhouses packed!

Full screen show of Mike’s blingin’ August crops here.
Full screen show of the work day at Drew’s here.

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1: Prelude – The Wang’s Crops

2: Drew, We Got You Covered. Almost.

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Sarracenias of Wang 19 Aug 2012

Sarracenias of Wang 19 Aug 2012

Sarracenias of Wang 19 Aug 2012

Sarracenias of Wang 19 Aug 2012

Sarracenias of Wang 19 Aug 2012

Sarracenias of Wang 19 Aug 2012

Sarracenias of Wang 19 Aug 2012

Sarracenias of Wang 19 Aug 2012

Sarracenias of Wang 19 Aug 2012

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Martinez Greenhouse Workday 19 Aug 2012

Martinez Greenhouse Workday 19 Aug 2012

Martinez Greenhouse Workday 19 Aug 2012

Martinez Greenhouse Workday 19 Aug 2012

Martinez Greenhouse Workday 19 Aug 2012

Martinez Greenhouse Workday 19 Aug 2012

Martinez Greenhouse Workday 19 Aug 2012

Martinez Greenhouse Workday 19 Aug 2012

Martinez Greenhouse Workday 19 Aug 2012

Martinez Greenhouse Workday 19 Aug 2012

Martinez Greenhouse Workday 19 Aug 2012