Back from Hiatus, and Ready to Rock (and a terrarium review)

    Hello! I'm back from my months long Hiatus from this blog, so yay! Things got crazy because I visited Alaska for the summer, and I've just been super busy with school. So for my first post back, I decided to do something new. Instead of Writing and posting photos, which is always frustrating because of the way Blogger is formatted, I am going to post a YouTube video I uploaded. It's a terrarium, I used pretty much the same technique as all my other ones, so without further ado, here is the video! Hope you like it, and make sure to like, comment, and subscribe!

Japanese Maples Update 3

Hey sorry for the hiatus! For this post I'm just going to show some pictures and give you guys an update on the Acer palmatum (also known as Japanese Maple) seedlings. So without further ado, here are the pictures. This is the fifth week since I took them home.

Big Bubba

Sadly some of the maples did die, but a majority of them did make it through, and a couple have made giant leaps of growth since then! I think part of the reason why some of them died was overcrowding. I had them in 4" pots, and some plants were 2-3 per pot. I did transplant quite a few into their own pots, but not before some died. The one labeled in the pictures as "Big Bubba" definantly won the award for most growth. most seem to be at about the same growth as before, though several show little new growth buds, so that's good. I have been keeping them pretty well watered, though I try to let them dry out before waterings, which is what most tree like.

   Anyways, today is just a short little update, but I hoped you like it! I know I really love to see plants growth, it's just kinda cool to see things get bigger and change. Please share this post with a friend, anyone who might be interested. Thanks for reading, bye!

Succulent cuttings

Moss Stonecrop Sedum 

Hey, so, as promised, I'm going to post some pictures of the cuttings that I took. This post is just going to be the Succulent cuttings that I took, Sedum to be specific.

Rooting Hormone

Trailing Sedum

Cutting 

Cutting Dipped in Hormone

Flowering

So I followed the steps from my How to take cuttings Post. They are doing well, And I expect to see growth in a few weeks to a month.

That's about all I have for now, Please comment if you have any questions, concerns, and comments. Please Share this with a friend, and thanks for reading!

How to take cuttings from plants

     Hey Guys! Today I'm going to teach you crazy kids how to propagate from cuttings! Taking a cutting from a plant is super easy, and it's nice because the cutting is going to be exactly the same genetically as the parent. So if you have a plant that say, produces really sweet fruit, a cutting from a sweet fruit tree might just be what you need. Many plants can be started from cuttings, such as (just off the top of my head), Ivy, wisteria, jades, most succulents, tomato plants, african violets, bamboo, and many more!

     Steps

1) Find a plant that you would like to take a cutting from

2) Cut a new growth branch (not woody), at least three nodes long

3) Strip the cuttings leaves, leaving only a few at the top, 

4) Take the end that you are going to root, and slice diagonally, this helps to get as much area as possible for rooting.

5) wet the rooting end

6) Dip the rooting end in a growth hormone of your choice

7) Poke your finger, a pencil, ect, and make a hole in a container of potting soil.

8) Plant cutting in hole

Notes

     If you do not have a rooting hormone, it's ok. Just follow the other steps. Rooting hormones just help to make sure the plant roots, and can be a bit faster than without. I heard you can make a rooting hormone from honey, though I have never tried.

     A good medium to grow cuttings is a mix of peat moss and perlite. Half and half should do the trick, although I do suggest you experiment and find out your preference.

     If you're plant seems to be wilting, cut the leaves in half, this helps the plant to focus more on rooting, and less on leaves.

     Later this weekend I will make some posts about some succulent cuttings that I took, One that I took and while back and how it's doing, and some wisteria cuttings that I took.

     Thanks for reading! Please share this with a friend, and make sure to come back, I make a post at least once a week. Hoped this post helped! Byeeeeee!

   

     

Japanese Maple Seedlings 2

     Hey there! For this post I would like to post updates on the Japanese Maple Seedlings I got. For the most part, they are doing pretty well. On some the leaves are drying up, which can't be a good sign. I was reading and I've come to the conlusion that they are doing this due to stress of being potted and moved. I still have hope that they will make it. Also, some of the leaves are turning red, which they do in the fall when their leaves are about to fall off. I think this is also because of stress.

     Here are some pictures.

Dried-up leaves

 


















As you can probably see, some of the leaves have turned red. I am thinking that maybe they are not getting enough sun. The ones on top of my bonsai stand are doing well. They tolerate moderate shade, but I will give them more sunlight and see what happens.

Thanks for reading! I will make another post sometime this week. Comment what you would like to see me do a post about, anything with plants or mycology. Please share this post with a friend, it means a lot. See ya!

Mother's day Project

          As promised, another post! Since today is Mother's day, I thought I'd post about the project I did for my aunt, who has raised me since I was just a wee lad. First I'm going to post the end results, then I'll break down what I did.

              This project was extremely inexpensive but was satisfying to do, and gave my aunt a big smile! I got the jar from my neighbor, I noticed he was about to throw it away, and asked if I could have it. The plant was actually free, a local person had grown too many and was giving away some for free.

Steps
1. Washed out jar
2. Poured some aquarium gravel over the bottom of the jar
3. Sprinkled some charcoal over the gravel
4. Made a soil mix from compost from my compost pile and sand-like soil from a mole hill.
5. Planted the Succulent (Hen and Chicks, or Echeveria)
6. Put some soil over the top, followed by more gravel for aesthetics.
7. Tied some ribbon around the jar in a bow.
8. Made my aunt's day!


           Well there you have it. An awesome gift, that is also nice to the wallet! Please do something kind for your mother on this day, they (probably) deserve it.

           Thanks for reading, please be sure to share this with a friend, it would mean a lot to me. I come up with at least one post a week, though I think I may amp that up soon. Happy Mother's day!

Japanese Maple Seedlings

Hey guys just going to make a quick post, I'm probably going to make another one soon because this one is just too short and more personal than informational. Regardless, this post is pretty exciting! At one of my schools, there is a Japanese Maple tree, and this week I found that by it were a lot of seedlings, just sprouted. Some of them had just gotten their first set of true leaves. So Today two friends and I dug them up, potted them, and adopted them! I'm a little anxious to see how they do, I'm hoping that at least most of them make it into sapling-hood.

Acer palmatum is a great tree for bonsai, and there are many different cultivars of Japanese Maple. I will edit this and put what type of seedlings I have when I find out. Here are some pictures.

These are the seedlings I took today. All 38 of them. For care I watered them, which is what you should do to most transplants, and I'm giving them lots of shade. I will try to transplant them into separate pots when they are a little bigger. right now there are 1-3 seedlings in each pot. I also gave them some Miracle-Gro liquid plant fertilizer.

Two seedlings

Two seedlings

These are two seedlings that I took earlier in the week. They are still doing good! The small one had only had it's first set of true leaves.

Two seedlings

Anyhow, Thanks for reading! I will try to come up with another post this weekend, since this one was more of a rant. I will post more updates on these seedlings, maybe like once every two to three weeks. Make sure to share this page with any friends who might like plants or mycology, and have a great weekend!

Two seedlings

Succulent Garden Update

It's another weekend, and you know what that means... Another post! For this post I am just going to update you guys on how my succulent garden that I made is doing. If you didn't catch that post, you can view it here.

As you can see there it has grown quite a bit since I made it. I actually have trimmed some of the sedum a couple of times. I had the garden inside on a window sill for a couple weeks, but it was just not getting enough sunlight so I brought it outside. It's warm enough now to not hurt the plants, or the glass terrarium its in. You can tell if a succulent is not getting enough sunlight because it gets very leggy, in other words, the growth between nodes is very long.

The picture to the right is of one of the succulents (Sorry I don't know the name) that actually was a cutting that I stuck in the ground. Since then it has at least doubled in size, and has rooted very well.

My tips for making one of these babies is to  give them lots of sunlight, water moderately, and make sure to cover the dirt with gravel and a few bigger polished rocks.

Well there you go! A post that's short and sweet. Make sure to check regularly for new posts, I am going to be posting about all my little projects and mycological things that I find. Make sure to share this post with a friend or someone! Thanks for reading!

English Ivy Bonsai (One Dollar Bonsai)

Ciao Bella! For this post I am just going to talk about a cool Ivy start that I recently acquired. I got it at the nursery where I take my bonsai class, which I recently started going to again. I was looking at the discount section of the nursery. I usually do not find anything really to speak of, but this time was different. After looking for about thirty seconds, I saw some Ivy in a four inch pot. The leaves were yellow, but it didn't look too bad, and I saw potential. The total cost for it was a whopping $1.08! That same weekend, I got a nice pumice container from my sister's adoptive grandma. Here are some pictures.

Pumice Pot

 These are the before photos that I took. As you can see the leaves look a yellowish-green. The Plant was doing better than when I got it though. I didn't do much, besides cutting some of the dead wood off.
 This is the Needlepoint Variety of English Ivy. They have a different leaf shape than regular ivy, and also is not really invasive, unlike most types. This is so because the aerial roots don't dig into the trees they grow on, therefor not damaging it. Just a fun fact. Here are some pictures of the plant after I planted and wired it.

 I personally think it looks pretty good! Hope the pictures are good enough. As you can (hopefully) see, I wired the two main branches, and made them cascade over the tall pot. This is a good look for ivy, and since ivy is a vine, this also plays to the way the ivy will grow. Eventually the Ivy will just flow over the container. That's my plan anyways. In the future I might remove one of the branches so there is just one main branch, though I am not sure.
Quick care tips: Ivy likes to be dry for the most part. Don't over-water. Though if your's is outdoors, and it rains frequently, it probably won't hurt the plant, though Ivy is prone to fungal disease in soaked soil. I live in Washington, and Ivy grows (literally) like a weed here. Though it is not the Needlepoint variety. Ivy also likes shade. try to put it somewhere away from the sun, you could use a north facing window, or if it's outdoors, put it underneath a shady tree (or something like one). The one thing that worries me about this bonsai are the roots, the roots took up quite a bit of the space, so I was not able to put a lot of soil for some of it. I am worried that the roots will get too much air. We will have to wait and see.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you liked my post, sorry that it was kind of long. I hope it was at least slightly interesting, and that you learned something! Please share this with someone, weather it be friend,foe, a guy you met at a bookstore, whoever! I will come out with a new post next week, so come back then! Bye!

Fungi Basics: Mushrooms

             Hello there! for this post I will be talking about the fundamentals of fungi, or, the fungimentals (was worth a shot). There are so many things with fungi, and there are so many different types of fungi, but for this post I will be talking mostly about fruiting fungi, or mushrooms. Alright well lets dive in!
           
             Lets start below and work our way up. Most fungi start out with Hyphae, which are like very small threads that grow and branch out. when Hyphae grow bigger and connect, they make up mycelium, which in mushrooms, serve mainly as the roots of the mushroom.

Oyster mushroom ( Pleurotus ostreatus)growing in coffee grounds

In some fungi, they have a fruit to help spread it's spores, which are like the seeds of a fungi. the fruit is known as a mushroom. The mushrooms can be identified many different ways, some of which being color, texture,anatomy (e.g. gills, cap), and even taste ( usually only if fairly sure).

mushrooms can look very different, while others can look very similar. It's not always easy to tell a poisonous mushroom from a choice edible one. I like to refer to a field guide. I use the "National Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms". it is very easy to use, and has many different mushrooms. It gives a brief description of the mushroom, whether it is edible, poisonous, or hallucinogenic, where it is located, season, and even look-alikes! Never eat a mushroom if you are not 100% sure on what it is.

Mushrooms have multiple parts, such as the stalk, which is the part of the fruit the goes from the ground up to the cap, the gills, which are the underneath of the cap, where the spores are stored, a ring, which is underneath the cap on the stalk, and looks like an extra layer of "skin" and the volva, which is where the mushroom sprout from the ground. not every mushroom has all these things. most shelf fungi don't have spores, for example.

              Thanks for reading! I will probably edit this post, to add more information has it occurs to me. Please share this with a friend or someone you know, hopefully one who likes plants and mycology! I will come up with a new post next week, until then, Ciao!