DND, forget the ice cubes! That's a marketing ploy that doesn't work! Just give them bright indirect or a few hours of morning light. Yellow leaves can mean too much water or too much sun. Once a week, take them to the sink and douse them with water. Let it drain, then put them back.

My coworker does this with 2 orchids and they bloom almost all year long.

I know about the food coloring when a different coworker got a blue one as a gift. The next time it bloomed the flowers were white. But just think, you can make a white orchid into any color at all-even black for Halloween!

Elena, do you pull them out of the pot/'soil' to douse them, or do you water the whole thing and then drain the water out of the bark mix?

Water the whole thing and let the bark mix drain. It drains pretty quickly so the whole process takes only a minute or two.

They live naturally on other plants so they don't take up much water or nutrients from the roots. The leaves do most of that so misting them when the humidity is low is a good idea (but not necessary).

I don't have moth orchids like you but have a pansy orchid and a cattleya. So far they are growing well (getting new leaves) under grow lights. For winter I need to put the pansy orchid somplace colder though.

Pretty Orchids ,. House plants are nice , especially as that ,
I am still watching weirdness here ,
Missed cucumber seeds that fell in the Garden are now standing plants from 4 to 9 inches Several , velvet leaf sprouting and getting ready to bloom ,

Here is a Coin Gold Marigold , First bloom from scatter sow , way too late for all this Trees are going dormant so now flowers decide to bloom , it's a cartoon ,,

and this poofed up real quick
Nasturtium Majus




Coin Gold Marigold

Hey ya'll!

I need a bit of help from some that may know better than me. Today I had to take my dil to the dentist. As I was walking in I saw this gorgeous geranium. I asked for it. It took a bit of time, but the girl finally walked out and said no one would notice if I took it. So I did. This geranium is even darker than this photo.




Here's what I need to know. Is it better if I let this hang to dry or will it be better if I put it in my south facing window and keep it watered when dry this winter? I've never overwintered a geranium and was hoping for some good advice as I really don't want to lose this one. Thanks!

Moved from the Wish-List thread:

Gerry, how do you feel about OLD seeds? I had some unusual very hot pepper seeds from Smokemaster and others, but I probably got them in trade around 2011-2012. (One packet of each.)

If you would be interested, I'll check to see what I have left and list them.

P.S. I've read since then that pepper seeds might only last 3 years. And these are probably 4+ years old.

Karen I have kept geraniums growing a few seasons Mine were kept in reduced light and a little dryer than outside , However a sunny window and regular water will work better (I don't have that here The difficult came when adjusting them back outside in spring . (I lost mine then ,


Epilobium



Fall blooming Violet ,

Karen I've over wintered Martha Washington geraniums but I used grow lights and kept them pretty well watered.

Jim, I waited for the temps to get consistently warm before putting them in a sheltered spot. After a week or two I potted them into a larger pot and moved them to a sunnier position.

I goof a bunch , time to place , where to place , need of kitten proof place ,
I am going to do more flower seeds as soon as I get through the weeds ( which I grow for myself)

I was hoping some snapdragons would rebloom but not a happen,

Jim I'm surprised about the snaps. My have been blooming like crazy since the weather cooled. Are they loaded with seed pods?

I have the same problem with trying to find space in the winter for plants and seed starting. I was going to buy new grow lights but my cat just was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis so he's being hospitalized now. I've already spent more than the cost of the grow lights for his care and there's still more bills to come. He's lucky he's my favorite!

Elena The Snaps Here no blooms , no pods ,, Here shortly though if all goes well , the ruffle Basil , the Camphor Basil Some Foxglove Several flower seeds
I kept a couple,, only most of cats here are Ferrel common things ,
My oldest from 2002 is a big brown furry one that hates everybody One that showed up about the same time looked like a Russian blue only it got ate by a Hawk , Another by a large snake , My big Brown one has fish knife claws and is slightly saber fanged ,, Fist time he got about a year old he would climb up on waste cans and jump down on dogs next to drive , He was mean for a long while , a little more docile now ,

Jim my first cat was like your brown one. She'd walk along the back of the sofa and bite you on the neck. Or she'd hide under a table until someone walked by & run up and scratch them down their calves. She was a monster! She lived to be 20 and was quite nice the last 5 or so years of her life. So there's hope!

I'm still waiting on dahlia seeds. They are about the only thing blooming besides the runaway petunias so the bees are happily pollinating away. But the dead flowers seem to be holding a lot of moisture (very little rain these days) so maybe the seeds are rotting? I haven't found anything that even looks remotely like a seed!

Elena Chicory , aster , That bog Willow above , my zinnia , the Tithonia , the Foxglove , the Basil the morning glory all still blooming here That is not all that impressive as most are common but I sure enjoy them
Mostly the older cat lays around now

Also I am trying to fall start my Lupine from this past trade , They do better fall started I have a few that lasted several years that way Something almost always eats the lupine when they arrive in spring ,They have to come back strong from fall planting to survive I have some small plants to set out only kittens get into everything ,and setting them in a pot where their to be planted makes them an instant target .
Good thing is , I should have several blooms for next year

This for Karen , etc , You talking about actual color , Well the red is not as red in photo as it really is , However This is two roots of the same plant

Orange


red


both the same plant

bxncbx said:I was going to buy new grow lights but my cat just was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis so he's being hospitalized now. I've already spent more than the cost of the grow lights for his care and there's still more bills to come. He's lucky he's my favorite!

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. My dog was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and I'd on a very very strict diet. She barely got people food before her pancreatitis attack as it was, now treats are almost nonexistent for her.

I'm so sorry to hear that DND. The vet called today and said all the blood work & scans are normal but the dumb cat is now anorexic! He gets a feeding tube tomorrow if he doesn't start eating on his own.

I think my cat got it from an antibiotic shot the vet gave him a few weeks ago. I'm hoping he can go back to his normal food. Maybe dogs are different but for acute cases most cats get it once and then are normal. They usually don't have to change their food permenantly, just while the attack is happening.

Normally, for dogs, that is the case, too. For some reason, though, my vet(s) told me to never free her treats again and she needs to be on her new food for life.

Sorry to hear about the anorexia, that seems so counterintuitive. Pancreatitis usually happens when a pet gets too much fatty food and not enough of the enzyme to break it down properly (although I've read that in the wild they absorb those enzymes from eating the whole animal, including the pancreas). How can he be eating too much fatty food and also be anorexic? Unless he just produces unnaturally low levels of the enzyme? Either way, he's a really pretty cat! ...I hope he gets better soon. Maybe the anorexia comes is due to blame for from the diet change?..

DND I swear my cat needs a shrink! He's very superstitious and I think he now equates eating with vomiting so he won't eat! He is drinking so that's one good thing.

You may want to check online (I only searched about cats) and see if your vets are right. There are other causes and if you can identify one you might get them to agree to at least some treats. Plus, I don't see why they'd be opposed to chicken breast as a treat since it is low in fat. I'd just avoid peanut butter based treats.

I just re-read my last post and realized there were some autocorrect typos in there that don't make any sense.

I've recently started doing occasional low-fat treats--shhh, don't tell my vet!--because I also don't see how low-fat treats can hurt, as long as they aren't filling her up too much (to where she doesn't eat enough of her 'nutritious' dog food) and they are lower fat than her food. So far I don't see that they are causing any issues. I wouldn't normally disobey a vet's orders, but they have no idea what caused her pancreatitis or why she always has high lipid levels in her blood for every blood test. I, personally, think it's because of the previous prescription diet she was on; she had bladder stones as a puppy and the prescription food dissolved the stones and, thankfully, made invasive surgery unnecessary, but then it was recommended to simply keep her on that food and it was a very high-fat food, so I have my suspicions.

You are probably right about the first food she was on. That may have been what caused it. I won't tell the vet about the treats, I promise!