originally, i had created a topic called "plants" directly before this one. but in the middle of transmitting, i changed my mind. this topic "houseplants" is the place to discuss your collection of plants!

I need help with an ivy that's having some issues... Leaves are browning up. I noticed that the soil gets this whitish fugus(?) looking thing to it... what can I do before my ivy croaks?!?!

try moving it to a cooler location. ivy's hate to be hot and dry. cut back the brown stuff, let the soil dry before watering again and move to a cooler spot (say out of direct light) and mist it once or twice a day. don't repot it until it recovers from the move and starts putting out healthy shoots.

oh, i guess i should have asked what type of ivy it is. the true ivy (needlepoint, silver dollar) is what i was refering to. pothos ivy, philodendron (sweetheart ivy) will usually survive harsh conditions including neglect. but the above info is good for all the vining type plants.

well the problem is it's still putting out new shoots and they look healthy (for about two weeks) and then they go uggo. I shall try it though, THANKS!

oh, the kind of ivy... well, it was given to me by my sweetheart... does that make it the obvious sweetheart ivy?

*lol* no...haha, that was cute though! yeah, if they're too hot, they'll do that. let me ask this to help determine your plant: does it have heart shaped leaves or leaves like the ivy you see crawling up walls?

kinda heart-shaped, kinda like the wall crawling type... i'm not being very helpful am I?

no! the pothos and sweetheart ivy have no breaks in the leaf edges. ivy has more of a-oh what the hell--lemme scan a couple of samples for you!

ok, here's my sample pic, sorry if it's too big:

(sorry about the text color, had probs changing it)

oops, lemme get onto a browser then...

the two philodendrons are in the same family but look a bit different. the smaller one (on top) has bright green, shiny leaves. the bottom one is more of a purplish-green with velvety leaves and a burgundy underside.

silver dollar true ivy!!! woo woo! Thanks for the visuals... that certainly helped, no?

i think so! so, yeah, you need to move the ivy to a cooler spot with indirect light. in other words, a south window is too hot, move it to east or north. spritz the leaves once or twice a day to keep it cooled off (and it will increase the humidity level around it)....

I'll get to it!!!! THANK YOU!!!

anytime!!

ok, are you ready for this? my houseplant collection is growing. my african violet collection just increased by 3 or 4 plus i picked up a gloxinia. can't help myself. they're like chocolate for my green thumb.

Unfortunatly I lost a few from my collection while we were away. The friend who was housesitting had a rather difficult time with them! But the up side is that my hyacinths, tulips and violas are blooming in the yard!!!

Ooh, sorry to hear that. Fortunately, I had more luck, when I went to Hamburg. (a) that was only for five days, (b) I had somebody coming over who took extremely well care of things and significants.

well, i lost several african violets in my collection due to my going away to school and someone neglecting them. picked up two more orchids at lowe's: oncidium sharry baby-it's in bloom and smells just like roses and chocolate. phal. art's kaala x phal. winter kaala (basically it's a phal cross). not in bloom but in a well for wick-watering. it has beautiful healthy leaves so i'll wait and see what she looks like.

Most interested in your new Phal. It should do very well in your humidity if you keep it warm enough (but, you know that! Far too wet here for African Violets...

all my violets and orchids are inside. only the orchids go out during the summer. i suppose i could put out the violets in the shade but am afraid to try it!

African Violets get root rot and all sorts of ailments outdoors. They are definitely indoor plants even in Hawaii. Your orchids should like the moist heat there in the summer!

they love it but i can't get them to bloom. my first two phals (who were stuck together in the same pot--what a buy) took a long time to finally appear to be settling in. one of them has a new leaf. i took them outside during the first few weeks of cooler temps and hope they will put out a stalk this jan-feb. *fingers crossed*

oh, forgot to mention, there are vanilla orchids in stalk at lowes right now. thinking about going back to get one before they're gone. they'll smell lovely!

Real Vanilla orchids? The ones which give us the seasoning? How nice!!!

the very same (and it should've read in stock not stalk *grin*)

Gonna make your own extract? Stickum in a small bottle of vodka (like when you make home-spiced vinegars and such)...or lab alcohol if you can get it.

right now, i just want some flowers!

Yeah, I think they're pretty important in the whole scheme of things. Then you probably need some exotic hummingbird or insect to pollenate them...*sigh* Have to check in my book.

i can pollinate them. just buy two and manually perform the act unless they're self-pollinators. hmmmm....right now, i just would really like some blooms. a couple of orchids i've had for 2 years and haven't done much of anything except put out more plants. so they're happy that way, just need to figure out a way to get them even happier.

When I first moved to Hilo, I had the lovliest green leafy sprouting orchid plants you ever saw, but they never bloomed. I asked my neighbor what was the problem. She told me that I could leave them in the shade and feed them a lot and water them a lot and I would have lovely green plants. Or, I could stick them out in the sun and forget about them and have yellowish plants which look miserable but put forth lovely flower stalks. Now, if you are getting that many shoots and no flowers, cut back on the water and food and put them in more sunlight. Just don't cook them by putting them in a sunny window where they will get too hot! Just a thought. My Dad pollinated his with a sable brush!

mine are under lights and during the summer, they get a couple of hours of morning sun and it's still bright in the shade.

we;;, then make them thirst and hunger a little...

what? i should neglect them a bit?

I have had to put mine on a grow table or in my biggest tree where I cannot get to them easily. Otherwise I will fidgit them to death and overfeed them. Be sure they can climb out of the pot easily. They *are* epiphytes, after all!

yes, they are. none of mine are terrestrial (there are some that can be grown outdoors-even in Louisiana-in the dirt!) and african violets are epiphytes as well. for those that don't know, epiphytes means they live on other plants like trees with their roots exposed to grab moisture from the air. they are not parasitical, meaning they do not harm the host. it is very easy to make your own epiphyte community. just take a good piece of wood (even a 2x4 works) and secure it in a pot with stones or concrete. then select the epiphyte plants you want to use (orchids, african violets, bromeliads). place the roots close to the tree and wrap with sphagum moss and some fishing line to hold it securely in place and mist w/water at air temp. keep the air humid by misting and you won't ever have to water. you can even make one using a grapevine wreath if you don't have the room. and instead of using a limb or 2x4, use the supports commonly seen in pothos pots (can't remember what they're called) or stick them onto your live ficus trees. have fun!

The only thing I would add to that is be sure you are not using treated wood. (termite proofed stuff)

good point, thanks marcia!

Here people make orchid or other epiphyte hangers using hapu'u (tree fern trunks shredded) irother weathered tree part still having part of the bark on (don't use driftwood from the sea)or"blast wood" from the volcano area. Just be sure you sprinkle them to keep them moist if you are having a really dry spell.

these plaques can be hung indoors and outdoors. you can also hang your ferns from them as well. a little something i learned in biology, ferns are also epiphytes and would rather be watered from above than below. which would be the reason that any fern i had died! you can mount the plaques to an ordinary metal hangar by bending the hangar into a straight shape and using the hook part to hang the whole thing. mount the wood to the hanger with more fishing line or hot glue. (note that hot glue has a tendancy to come undone in hot areas).

You got that right about low temp melt glue for sure and for some hot melt as well. We either use clear plumbling caulk or wire things into place. We never plant ferns. I weed them out of just about every plant I own and trees too. They shed spores and will grow on just barely cooled lava!