Greenhouse update

Since I haven't been keeping up with this blog for a while I figured I should provide a little update on my greenhouse. When you have limited growing space (don't we all?) and an ever-growing appetite for plants, it's hard to make space for everything.

Many of my Encyclia orchids are kept together on this top shelf for the brightest light.

Another top shelf is filled with cacti and succulents.

Over the years some plants have been neglected. Some plants get over-watered or under-watered, depending on where they are located and how they are potted. Over the last month I have done the most comprehensive greenhouse cleanup since I first built it. I didn't quite take everything out, but I did go through all 7 shelving units and remove empty pots, sweep out all the leaves from the floor, remove all the junk that was being stored under benches, and repotted plants that were in need of new soil or more space. 

Quite a few plants are hanging in the center of the greenhouse, taking advantage of every bit of available sunlight. It makes for less room to stand in the greenhouse, but that is a secondary consideration.

It was a big undertaking, but I'm really glad I took this on before moving all my plants back into the greenhouse for the winter. Probably a third to half of my plants come out of the greenhouse for the warm part of the year, but have to move back in during the winter to survive our cold weather. 

Wide-angle view to show most of the greenhouse at once.

It's this time of year when I start worrying that I won't be able to fit everything in. This year I think there might be enough room to get my plants in and still have a spot for me to stand to water things. That would be a big win!

This mid-level shelf is more shaded and has tender new seedlings and other plants I need to keep a close eye on over the winter.

During the winter the heater will really dry out the air in the greenhouse, so it's important that I keep a close eye on plants that are sensitive to dry conditions. For this reason I've tried to position some of these plants in positions where I they are front and center when I walk in the greenhouse.

Here's to hoping that the plants are happy over the winter and next spring I have lots of plants to share with friends!

Seedling of Anthurium lezamae

I've really neglected this blog. I'm going to try to start posting more regularly once again.

Several years ago I visited the Missouri Botanical Gardens and got to tour the living collection of Aroids. I was given permission to collect some berries from a plant marked Anthurium lezamae. This plant was collected by Dewey Fisk from Chiapas, Mexico.

I successfully germinated one of the seeds and my plant has been slowly growing. This summer I repotted it and have been giving it a little extra attention and it has been doing really well. Now it has it's first inflorescence (that I have noticed).

I'm not certain that my plant is the species Anthurium lezamae, and it differs from the parent plant. That could be because my plant is still young, or it could be because the berries were produced from a cross with another plant, making mine a hybrid. Maybe with time I'll be able to tell.