h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm currently hard at work every day getting my plants ready for Spring. The rains usually start in October to November, but we might get rain in September as well. The rain season is the official 'growing' season here, but actually most plants can grow throughout the year - except for some that have an obligatory dry-season dormancy. Those must not be watered in Autumn and Winter, and sometimes early Spring as well. If they are watered during these times, they tend to rot.

Many of my succulent plants are very drought-adapted, but cannot tolerate wet conditions. These have to be properly 'prepared' to withstand the rain season, or else they rot. I usually lose a few plants each rain season but I'm trying to minimise this. So what I'm doing at the moment is preparing my plants for the coming Spring!

Plants like carrion flowers and tackies, I am currently cleaning up, dividing and re-planting. The carrion flowers tend, over time, to succumb to insect pests, or to fungi. They get scale-bugs on the stems, and woolly-lice in the roots. So I'm now taking out the older plants, and cleaning them up.

I take them completely out of the soil, and then manually brush the woolly-lice off the roots, and the scale bugs off the stems. I also divide the clumps of stems, making several new plants out of each old one. I will leave them to dry out for a week or so and then re-plant them.

Some of my plants that are not ready to be divided yet, I will treat with insecticide to limit the bug infestations. Some will be treated with fungicide. I don't like using poisons, but will use them in small amounts for my most sensitive and rare specimens. I've found for most plants, the 'manual treatment' - brushing off the bugs - works well; also, I spray on a soap-solution to discourage scale bugs, but sometimes this doesn't get rid of them all.

Also, to limit fungus infestations, it helps putting the vulnerable plants in the right kind of soil - well-draining, often with lots of sand, and also in a position with good air flow and bright sunlight. It also helps to re-plant them frequently. Attacks by woolly lice can make the plants more susceptible to fungus attacks so it helps to take them out each year or two and inspect the roots.

So, I have to re-plant what needs to be re-planted; I need to shift the bags around so the plants that need bright light can get it. I must progressively move plants from more shady positions to more sunny positions - many plants are best started off in a shady place but cannot then be moved to bright sunlight directly - they would be scorched. So I have to 'time' the movements right - to make sure that when the rains start, the plants are where they should be to make them minimally susceptible to rotting.

Then there are plants getting too big for their bags. A few of my impala lilies have burst their bags and must be re-bagged. They are a species needing a strict dry-season dormancy so they can only first be watered at the start of September. Some other Winter-dormant plants that will have to be watered early September are the baobabs, the star chestnuts, and the helicopter trees. A large number of baobabs must be shifted - currently standing in a lightly- shady spot, they can now be moved to full sun.

Some of my winter-dormant caudiciform plants that start 'early' (first leaves late Winter) are the kudu lilies and the Adenias; they must be watered from about the fifteenth August to the start of September. I must remember that.

Other caudiciforms - Dioscorea sylvatica, and Ipomoea albivenia, growing several together in each bag, must be planted out individually into new bags.

Some plants are now just right to be divided and thus multiplied. Many of the plants I have can be multiplied with cuttings. Brittle-tackies, Adromischus, can be multiplied from leaves. Plants like Kleinia stapeliiformes and Senecio articulatus can be multiplied from stem cuttings. The start of Spring is a good time for making these cuttings.

Then there are a number of Winter-growing plants that cannot tolerate water in Summer, that are currently standing outside. They have to be moved under a protective canopy to keep the rain off.

There are a number of bulbous plants that are currently dormant, lots of bulbs in each bag. I have to take the bulbs out and plant them individually, and they too must be watered first in September. There are a few tuberous species as well, like the Cyphostemma lanigerum and the Senecio oxyrifolius, that are currently reduced to underground tubers, that have been multiplying for a few years and can now be planted into separate bags.

Then there are seeds that must be planted - the best time is actually just when the rains start, so, October or November. They include a number of carrion flowers; Gasterias; and Pterodiscus - these are the ones I want to get started most of all. I will need to fill bags with soil mix for these plantings.

I also must check out online for new seed stocks at Silverhill Seeds. I want to order at least a large number of Lithops seed - plants that mimick stones! They are great but I've been having difficulty growing them.

I've still a few aloe plants lying high and dry on the ground in the back yard - they've been donated to me. I must get them in the soil; they can be watered now and will be ready for the spring growth season.

Then I also must plant a number of my specimens in the back yard, out into the showcase-bed in the front garden. A few of the plants in the front garden need to be moved - the beds are becoming too crowded. I must make new beds and plant some of them out into those.

So... I've quite a lot of work ahead of me, so if I'm not very active here over the coming few weeks, you know why!

Oh dear Willem, It made my heart sore to hear you talking about all those lovely South african Flowers, 'bulbs, plants, trees. And I remember when you first planted out the baobab, they are such exstraordinary looking trees ; indigenous to Namibia I believe. But perhaps they also grow in the N. Transvaal.

Lithops - so life-like looking "stones" - I bought a couple of pots of them when travelling badk with my husband from Namaqualand. I am afraic I never grew anything from seed - I always bought the plant. !1. Just as well as I would never have seen them flowering.

It is extraordinary to think that the humble Barberton daisy that grows in the low veld should have been hybridised into such an expensive and beautiful f;pwer - oh dear for the moment the name escapes me - and is so welll known abroad.

I notice that you plant them in bags. don't you have white ants there that gobble up the bags? We had them in Zim. I used to go to pick up a bag in the greenhouse and the bottom would fall out. !!

I had forgotten about that. A really wonderful and very very accurate story opf what you are busy doing in the garden now for the Spring which is coming.

With affection

Christiane.
Alsoswam
AR80

Hello AR80! I am soon going to start putting pictures of my plants and flowers online - I am sure you will enjoy them a lot! When I'm less busy ... currently so hard at work, not finding time to take photographs! But once Spring has sprung and the plants have started growing and I have a bit of a breather, I'll start!

Baobabs do indeed grow here in the north ... it's no longer called Transvaal, it's called Limpopop Province.

The ants are not such a big problem here! Actually I like ants! I see them occasionally in the bags but so far they've not gobbled them up entirely.

I'm going to use this thread just to note what I've been doing plant-wise so later I can look back and see how much work it is possible for me to do with the Spring preparations.

Today I did the following:

1. Planted cuttings of a small carrion flower, Echidnopsis nubica. Four bags, about 24 cuttings. Took new cuttings as well. Actually these plants are jointed and a joint can be broken off with ease, and then planted.

2. Planted cuttings of Cissus quadrangularis under the Bauhinia galpinii bush. Bauhinia galpinii is called 'Pride of De-Kaap' and is a large and vigorous shrub with pinkish-red flowers. The Cissus quadrangularis is a succulent vine in the grape-vine family. It is also jointed with four-angled green stems. It is a climbing or scrambling plant; the idea I have for it is that it should scramble up into the Bauhinia bush. It has grape-like fruit and I want to see if any birds eat it.

3. Planted out the Aloe globuligemma plants my elderly friend donated to me. Seven plants, planted in large bags that have been standing empty under the Blue Guarri tree.

4. Moved about 40 bags with baobab trees out from under the shade of the Boer Bean Tree, Schotia brachypetala, into a sunny spot next to a wall.

5. Made cuttings of another carrion flower, a Stapelia leendertziae. A small and neat carrion flower plant that would do well in small pots.

Ok thats the work I've done today. Now I want to enjoy my lunch!

How on earth did you do so much?

Were the boababS seedlings you planted out the ones that you sowed as seed It is important to note that, and also when you planted them and how long it took you to transplant them to a bigger container. !!

I dislike stapelias intensely - in facdt I dislike all plants that eat insects. I am very prejudiced!1

Go well. I hope you will not mind a few remarks. You can always cut them out - after you gave considered my comments. !!

With affection.

What about the "kaffir-boom tree? Or is the name for that changed as well.? You must remember than I am a very ou meisie!! (well ouma then!)

Incidentally I also love ants. Have you read that quite magnificent story ocalled !The soul of the white ant! For the moment I cannot remember who wwrote it but it is a well known South african author. Dit is wonderlik,

Cme AlsoRan80
Thursday 13 August, 2008
Folkestone Uk.
Willem is doing all his horticultural activities in the
Limpopo Province (ex Transvaal of South Africa.

It has it's boundaries with Zimbabwe and Mocambique. on rhe EAST and probably the northern cape Botswana and maybe Namibia in the West. !! !

You shouyld draw me a map please my friend - when you have time. !!

Willem,

Have you changed your email address? I sent you one twice and each time it has come back undelivered

Websailor

Hello Websailor! I'm really sorry - yes my email address did change recently and I've just been too busy to correct it up here! My new email address is:

[email protected]

(I think! I had a tough time getting it set up and am still confused!)

Please try that and tell me if it works! Again, I'm sorry Websailor!

AR80 I'll reply to you later today! Now it's lunchtime again. I did another bit of plant work this morning!

Hello AR80 and thanks for your posting!

Yes these Baobabs I grew from seeds. They are all still growing in the bags I planted them in originally - they are now all about 5 ft to 6 ft tall! They can grow for another season or two in the bags they're in. Actually I hope to sell them before then!

Stapelias DO NOT eat insects! They merely trick them into pollinating their flowers!

The tree you mention is currently called a 'Coral Tree'! Yes I love them - I do grow a few of them as well; they are very easy to grow and have been extensively planted here in Pietersburg/Polokwane. They are drought-resistant, fast growing, and with lovely red flowers!

The book 'The Soul of the White Ant' is a book I've already read when quite young and it made a great impression on me! Its author is Eugène Marais, who's written some amazing stuff about his observations of nature.

Yes you are right, Limpopo Province borders on Mozambique (east), Zimbabwe (north) and Botswana (west). Actually it does not border on the northern Cape. Instead it borders on the Northwest Province - a new province made of bits of the old Transvaal and old Northern Cape. On the South, Limpopo borders on two new provinces, Gauteng and Mpumalanga. I certainly will draw you a map and post it online as well - when I have time!

OK this is what I did today:

Fungicide treatment for fungus-susceptible succulents:

In the 'plant house', treated carrion flowers:

Duvalia corderoyi; Huernia hislopii; Huernia whitesloaniana; Huernia pendula; Huernia hystrix; Huernia stapelioides; Orbea hardyi; Orbea schweinfurthii; Orbea dummeri; Stapelia unicornis; Stapelia schinzii; and a natural hybrid of Huernia leachii and Huernia hislopii.

Also fungicide-ed some Adenia glauca, and Pachypodium saundersii (Kudu lily).

Also some Euphorbias: E. limpopoana (I think) and some of the E. schinzii-group.

Outside, fungicide-ed some Huernia longituba, H. blyderiverensis, H. echidnopsioides, Duvalia polita; Orbea gerstneri and Stapelia schinzii. Also a small mesemb, Bijlia dilatata, that tends to get fungal black spots on the leaves.

Transplanted three tacky-plants, Kalanchoe longiflora, that were growing in the same bags with the Adenia's.

Divided into many bits, and cleaned lots of scale bugs off some Huernia zebrinas - the Kwazulu-Natal form. This is a very pretty carrion flower, with yellow-and-red striped flowers, suitable for small pots. But best re-planted each year or two ... I neglected mine for too long, letting them get infested with those darned scale bugs!

Pruned into a more compact and (hopefully!) neater shape, four Senecio barbertonicus plants. This is a member of the Daisy family, growing into a shrub or small tree, with succulent, finger-like leaves.

Today I cleaned up the front garden. The plants were crowding together too much. As a result some of the carrion flowers were not getting enough sunlight, and some of the more vigorous ones were crowding out the less vigorous ones. Also, a clump of Aloe globuligemma plants were hidden by a large pig's ear tacky plant as well as a bonsai tacky plant. So I removed the pig's ear tacky ... as I did I noticed there was a bit of root-rot. I divided the plant into seven healthy bits and discarded the rest. The healthy bits will now dry out a week or two and then I'll plant them in separate bags and let them grow a season or two before planting them out again.

The bonsai tacky I removed as well - a very healthy plant, healthy roots ... I only severed a single root in removing it, this wound ought not to discomfit the plant much. There was a small bonsai-tacky that had been growing beside it - probably a little twig that fell off the big one and rooted. This plant I also planted out elsewhere - on a bare patch in front of the security gate a few meters to the south of where it was.

The aloes are now actually visible again! I saw the clump had already produced a number of new little plants the past season.

I also moved a lot of carrion flowers. The one I'm concerned about is the species orbea lutea. These plants come from cuttings of a plant I found growing in grassland a few dozens of kilometers to the northeast of Polokwane. In the grassland they get lots of sun. Now with the crowding in the bed they've been shaded too much. So I removed the plants ... lots of them were rotting, and also infested with scale bugs. I cut off and threw away the rotting sections and brushed off the scale bugs. 'Healthy' and complete bits I replanted in an open, sunny spot, and the cuttings I put in the shade to dry out for a week or so before re-planting them.

I also removed some rotting bits of other carrion flower species growing in the bed, most particularly Stapelia leendertziae. Though this is a very vigorously growing species, it also rots rather easily. I've come to the conclusion it is best grown in full sun and also, it should be inspected regularly for any signs of rot or fungus attacks or scale bug infestations. The thing to do is to just cut off the rotting or fungus-affected bits, brush off the scale bugs (or cut off the scale-bug infested bits as well) and re-root the healthy bits.

What helps for *preventing* scale-bug attacks, is spraying the plants with a mixture of water and dishwashing liquid.

Well-draining soil, lots of sun, good air circulation, and watering sparingly, is good for avoiding fungus attacks and rotting.

Carrion flowers do need this sort of consistent care. I'm still learning! If these - or any - plants are cared for in the right way, they're very rewarding to grow.

Part of this front-garden cleanup also entailed cutting off the old inflorescences of the aloes that had recently flowered. They look a bit untidy for a while with the old inflorescences on them, until they dry out and fall off naturally.

Anyways that's what I did today and I'm now going to immensely enjoy my lunch!

Tomorrow will just be the general nursery inspection ... walking through and looking over all the plants growing in bags, to see if there are problems and to determine what needs to be done next.

Just to make things clear: the spraying with dishwashing liquid can be done as soon as scale bugs are noticed and will (hopefully) stop them in their tracks. If not, spray again after a few weeks, and if that don't help, spray again, and if that still don't help, brush the bugs off with an old toothbrush or nail brush.

Oh Willem,

I have just lost two letters which I wrote to you. thank you for all those details. I am finding that waking up at 3 a.m. to watch the Olympics is not good for an old biddy like me.

Wull reply and ask more questions later. In the meantime do not do too hard!! So pleased I rememberd about you planting the baobabs from seed. I am not yet totally deurmekaar!!.

Regards to all

Christiane AlsoSwam20
AlsoRan80

Hello again AR80! Sorry to hear you've lost postings! I would love to have know what you wrote!

Today was a more relaxed day. I went round and inspected all the bags. I noted some more scale bug infestations, this time in some of my mesembs and euphorbias. I will douse them with a soapy water solution tomorrow! Also I noted that some of my tuberous plants are 'waking up'. There are some senecio oxyrifolius plants in a bag. This plant has underground tubers from which annual shoots emerge each spring. Over time the tubers multiply. These tubers I will now divide and plant out into separate bags. There's also another similar plant, a cyphostemma lanigerum. This one too must be divided and planted into separate bags. I see the leaf buds are starting to come to life on this one.

There are also some other bulbs ... Albucas, Ledebourias, and others ... that have been multiplying in their bags and which it would be well to dig out and plant into separate bags right now.

So I've my work lined up for tomorrow!

I also did a bit of pruning and re-arranging of the bags. And I accidentally pruned one of my fingers as well! Luckily I did not prune it *off*, but put a bit of a slice in the tip. Now I'm typing rather clumsily with the sticking plaster on my left hand!

And now I'm going to enjoy my lunch. Will try to be back here later this day and write something about depression.

Today I did the following:

1. Watered some of my Haworthia cymbiformis and Faucaria tuberculata plants. The first has small aloe-like rosettes, the second is called a 'Tigerjaw' mesemb: it has small rosettes of leaves with teeth along the margins making one think of the fangs in the jaw of a tiger!

2. Sprayed some soapy liquid on some other plants to discourage scale bugs and mites: some of my Aloe variegatas (getting mite infestations); some of my Aloinopsis spatulathas; my Cyllindrophyllum comptoni's; some Faucaria subintegra's; my Kalanchoe crundallii plant; and some of my Euphorbia limpopoana plants.

3. Dug up and separated tubers of Senecio oxyrifolius! The plant had an incredible amount of tuberous roots on it. I divided them and will now let them dry out a week and re-plant them; if all goes well, my 1 plant will now suddenly be 30 or 40 plants!

4. Dug up and separated Cyphostemma lanigerum tubers. This plant is now 3 plants. Not nearly as proliferous as the Senecio, but still, it's a nice plant and I'm happy to have multiplied it!

5. I took out some bulbs of Ammocharis coranica and another plant I haven't yet identified, and planted them into separate bags. I now have 15 bags of Ammocharis and 15 bags of the other kind of bulb. There are still a lot of bulbs I'll have to transplant.

OK now ... tomorrow, I will plant some of the cuttings I made last week.

Dp be careful do not prune your fingers.

Am glued to the box so will write when it is over.

With all good wishes

CME
AlsoSwam20
AlsoRan80

Hello AR80! I usually attempt not to prune my fingers.

Today was a really cold and dreary day! So it was not much fun being outside. Nevertheless I did some work, mainly planting out cuttings.

1. Orbea variegata cuttings made last week; filled 23 plant bags with them!

2. Echidnopsis nubica cuttings, five bags, about seven to ten cuttings per bag.

3. Kleinia fulgens plant divided into 3: 2 cuttings and at tuber, planted in 3 bags. This Kleinia plant may be a new form or even a new species since it's very different from my other Kleinia fulgens plants. The 'regular' Kleinias have thick, perennial basal stems; this one has slender above-ground stems that sprout annually from an underground tuber and die back in winter.

4. A few cuttings of Crassula rupestris, the 'shish-ka-bob' tacky.

Tomorrow I will plant some more cuttings, if all goes well!

Hi Willem So what do you call cold?

Anoldgreymoonraker, I generally feel 'cold' when the temperature goes below 20 degrees Celsius! Here today we've had a high of 15 degrees.

Today we had a low of 25 c and a high of 34 c first time since May but it won't stay that low it will go back up . yes you had a cold day

Wow it seems it's really hot there Anoldgreymoonraker! Over here we've had a much more pleasant day today: only light cloud cover and it reached a high of about 25 degrees and stayed there ... still there as far as I know (about 14:10 here right now).

Today I planted out cuttings:

1. Eight bags with Stapelia leendertziae cuttings;
2. Seventeen bags with Huernia zebrina (Kwazulu-Natal form).
3. 2 Bags with Ledebouria bulbs.

I also made cuttings of a small aloe I don't know the name of, that I bought at a local nursery - but it's a pretty little plant!

I also watered some of the bonsai tacky plants I transplanted last week.

Tomorrow will be inspection & watering again.

Where are you? I must get myself a barometer and then I shall know what the weather is like.

It changes so quickly next to the Channel. One minute it is lovely and then a icy wind comes tearing down from the Artic Circle and it is freezing. However, I also think that it is very healthy!!

I know that we used to experience a temperature of 25 - 30 in Summer in Mashonaland as we were very near the Equator, but in Matabeleland where my children were at school, the weather used to go up to 42. K. my son wrote a wonderful poem about trying to do mathematics when the weather was so hot.

I thought that Japan was quite cold.

Christiane AR80
AlsoSwam20