They thrive in many places. In our house in Florida we had a staghorn that was at least 80 years old. They seem to just keep growing, with new fronds building on the old ones, so the plant always renews itself. I am very enamored of them.
Yes, my parents got their staghorn from my grandparents. They separated a chunk out and now that chunk is growing nicely in their backyard. I love how low-maintenance they are, especially since my parents are not gardeners at all.
No photo yet but I have three tiny bits of update. I was talking about my mini rose that only grew leaves since I took it home this April in the contest thread. Well, well, well, I decided to move it to a bigger pot and add more "nutrition", and soil of course. I swear the gardener looked like Edward Scissorhands doing random cut when the gardener demonstrated for me how to trim the rose properly when I bought it. Let me tell you he's not happy when I told him that. He assured me his scissor was not random. Since I can't master his art of cutting, I can only perform a bit of "creative" trimming myself. That was sometime last week. Guess what? I saw two tiny buds yesterday. I probably hadn't trimmed all the wrong branches for that to happen. I'll keep watching and see if I may have a rose picture to share in the future. Other than green leaves, I have no idea what color of flowers my rose will produce. Meanwhile, another tiny plant has been dying. I tried but can't find the English name nor picture for it online yet. It's nicknamed like "small fortune tree" in Chinese and very popular during Lunar New Year. Its "leaves" are like fatty cactus and looks very adorable. It grows upwards with new leaves in pairs. It had been going strong while my mini rose only carried green leaves until about 10 days ago. The edge of some leaves started turning brown and fall off when I watered the plant. More leaves dropped on a daily basis. I asked around and this old gentleman from the farmer's market told me I might have watered it too much + too mush sun exposure. If I just let it rest for say two weeks, things might be different, if it would make it. He said the roots might have been rotten. So, I am taking a watch-and-see approach with this almost leaves-less tiny plant right now. Hopefully I'll see it back in action and start growing paired fatty leaves again. Note from a very green lin821 with no green fingers. ps. My small bamboo houseplant has been steadily growing high and green though. A relief that I don't kill all my plants. Yet. I was told bamboo is hard to kill anyway.
That seems like a good diagnosis. Is excess water allowed to drain out of the pot? Did he say how often it should normally be watered? Is it something like this adenium? If so, search for that name to find growing tips. http://www.flickr.com/photos/salihan/1349619321/
We will enjoy seeing your rose. Roses are usually quite difficult to grow, and they do poorly here in Rio de Janeiro so I have none. I do enjoy seeing other people's success through. I imagine we have other people here who know about roses.
Yes Not exactly. He just said not daily. I used to water it when I attended the rose. No. That's not cactus-like leaves. The leaves are thicker and juicier look. Something like this: Leaves are smooth and a bit thicker, without thorns (& without those tiny fingers/flowers on the edge either). Grow in pairs
Not that one either.These type of "fortune trees" do have leaves like regular thin leaves but mine are cactus-like juicy leaves. And I mean thick leaves, really thick leaves like aloe. When I brought it home, I googled for it to find the caring tips. But all the sites I found were trees like what you has posted. That's not my "small fortune tree." I even went back to the store and asked if they mis-labeled it. They didn't. I wish I had taken a good photo when it's healthy. Now my "fortune tree" just looks like bald sticks. The leaves should look like this (not the one in the center but the one to the upper right, right next to the yellow sticker): When the new leaves are ready to grow, it will start with like a tiny "bud" in the center. When it grows more, two tips will show. Then eventually a pair of new "leaves" are formed. Then the stem where the leaves "rest" on will stretch upward a bit. Then the next cycle of leaves begins. The placement of the leaves are opposite. I have 3 "branches" in my tiny pot. The biggest one got to like 5 or 6 "layers" of cactus leaves before the brown edge and falling leaves started. My fortune tree was so cute when it's so alive. It came home with the rose the same time. I didn't even know I could have overwatered it since it's been growing and giving me more layers of cute leaves. From the look of the old gentleman at the farmers market, I can tell he's saying just pray. We don't know if nature will bring it back. So I am keeping my finger crossed at this point.
Looking at the photo does establish that it is a succulent. Thus the care tips above for zz will still apply, pretty much. From the looks I think it will need some moderate sun regularly too, and the soil should probably be sandy and not too rich. It all teh leaves are gone I would transplant it to dryer soil to try to save it. Succulents are hardy but overwatering does kill them. I have saved a few by transplanting them; know that is a desperate move. I have lost them too, but that was when the roots were mildewed. Good luck!
Here's two photos I'm really proud of this year. 1) My blooming Thompson Yucca. Best bloom ever and when i first brought it in (brought it up from the Santa Fe area), neighbors thought I had planted a palm tree in my yard. It had a twin but after two years the twin died—very disappointed. 2) As well, my Daisies did great this year against the Royal Candles and fronted by the Coreopsis (Tickseed) (can't remember if they are sunray or moonbeam) with a little Snow-In-Summer off to the right.
That's it! This is it! Thank you! I found my fortune tree! Isn't it cute? At least mine was before the leaves start falling like snow (in green, of course): Is Jade Plant the proper name for my seemingly-dying tree? The Taiwanese street name for it is "fortune tree." But there are also varieties of "fortune trees." Almost like playing Houseplant Jeopardy that this non-green-finger has to come up with those clueless clues & seemingly matching photos for you guys to come up with the right answer. Yes, we did it! Some of the leaves fell off by themselves (without any brown edges), some I cut off when they turned much "brownier" by the edge that I knew their time was up. Now for my 3 branches in the pot: -- one looks like a stick (leaf-less); -- one has one leaf at the bottom "layer"; -- and the last one has two leaves at the lowest level. I also trimmed off the "extra" sticks of the two with bottom leaves attached. Not sure if that's the right move though. But they are what they are now. It's still in its original 3" pot and soil. Transplanting was the first thing I asked the old farmer's market guy, thinking with a bigger new pot and some new soil that might give the plant a better chance to fight for its life, possibly growing new roots or something. The man vetoed it. He suggested to leave it alone for two more weeks, moving it indoors, and see if it regains some vital signs. If not, just declare time of death. Now you "CSI-Plant Squad" had successfully IDed my "fortune tree", what do you guys suggest me to do? More sandy soil? Transplanting? I want to try everything I can to save if before throwing in my towel.
It is very pretty. I would follow the farmers market guy's advice with one exception. I'd stick a stick or knife in the soil to the bottom to see if when you pull it out the stick is wet. If it is I'd risk transplant. if not I'd wait it out. If you have new shoots beginning you do have hope. That simple test will let you know if you're still with excess water, so if you're not just don't look at it for a week or so, and leave it where it will get some sunlight, but not a huge amount. You'll have good fortune indeed when it recovers!
if indeed over watering is a culprit -- i never water my Jade plants more than twice a month, you might consider a drastic change to the soil. I recall the Jade's prefer a bit of a sandy soil, i might advise adding in just a small amount of coarse gravel to the mix as well. This actually helps sand and your normal potting soil open up a bit and provides some excellent drainage to those plants they can exhibit signs of overwatering. The Jade plant is one of my all-time faves when healthy and here's to your "good fortune" in saving this one. Think small amounts of gravel!
Yes, good drainage is important for jade plants and other succulents. Put some pebbles in the bottom of its pot, too.
Here is a picture of my oldest houseplant - a Norfolk Island Pine that I have had for about 20 years (with some smaller pines in the same pot that 12-15 years old).
I'm plant sitting a philodendron for a friend and want to take a cutting to root. Does anyone have an idea where I should take the cut?
http://www.bhg.com/advice/gardening/indoor-plants/how-do-i-propagate-a-philodendron/ That should answer questions about cutting it. If it were me, I'd probably root it in a glass of water for a couple weeks before planting it in soil, though.
One of our orchids is blooming so happily now that I thought i should share it with you. We keep our orchids outside, but the nicest blooms we bring inside while they are at their best. This one is in our living room now. I brought it in yesterday. Several types, like this one, bloom in the late winter/early spring so we are now beginning to get many beautiful blooms.
