Lots of people in warmer climates grow Streptocarpus outdoors, but what about growing them outdoors in colder climates where winter is so cold that they won’t survive?
It does not seem to be a common practice, but since I do a lot of outdoor gardening in zone 5, I had to try it. Here is what I have learned.
Purchase Streptocarpus seeds, leaves, and plants.
The common advice for growing streptocarpus is to plant fairly shallow. Soil should not go much higher than the top of the root ball, or the plant will rot and die.
However, you are also told that to propagate the plant vegetatively, you should take a leaf or part of a leaf and plant it an inch or two deep. I usually plant these leaves about an inch deep, and they grow just fine.
Streptocarpus are also known to form plantlets from roots, deep in the pot (see image further down in this post). These grow underground for quite a long time before the tips reach above the surface of the soil.
How can all of this conflicting information be correct? Is this another Streptocarpus myth? I decided to test the claim that planting deep will cause Streptocarpus to rot and die.
Japanese knotweed is one of the most notorious invasive plants in temperate gardens—but it’s also one of the most misunderstood. Let’s bust some myths and explain the latest science on how to control it.
Bats have long been shrouded in mystery and misconception. Their nocturnal habits, unique appearance, and association with darkness have fueled numerous myths and superstitions. This article aims to dispel these falsehoods, revealing the true nature of these vital mammals. Learn to appreciate and understand them.
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Fertilizer prices have gone up quite a bit in the last few years and that is especially true for commercial gardening products. There is also a wide range of prices for similar looking products.
Are the higher prices worth it? Are you paying too much?
In this post, I’ll show you a simple way to compare the real cost of fertilizer so that you can make an informed buying decision.
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Last week we reached the 20 million visitor mark on this blog and I want to thank all of you for supporting this site.
The very first post was called, What Does Organic Mean, and it was posted on September 6, 2012. I was getting fed up with all the myths I was seeing in gardening literature and online and thought that I might be able to change a few minds. At the time, I figured I had enough material for about 100 myths. I have now posted 688 articles containing some 2,000 myths and have another 326 drafts started. I won’t run out of material any time soon!
I’d like to thank you for reading my posts and I want to ask for your help. Go to your favorite social media outlet and post a link to this post. Let others know how much you like this site. Let’s get to 30 million soon.
To celebrate I thought I would go back in time and review some of the most important articles.
I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Joe Gardener Show Podcast where we discussed my new book, Microbe Science for Gardeners.
Join Joe and myself as we discuss interesting things about microbes and their interaction with plants.
Listen to the Joe Gardener podcast now
Homeowners and DIYers call them clay pot heaters, while commercial outlets make them sound fancy using terms like Tea Light Oven, Ceramic Radiators, or Terracotta Candle Heaters. Fancy ones on Etsy will run you $300 US? DIY options can be made for $15.
This idea may have started on TikTok a number of years ago, and it is still being promoted to heat rooms, trailer homes, and greenhouses. If you need to heat a space at a low cost, clay pot heaters might fit the bill – but do they work?
Knowledge of plant names is the foundation of gardening and they help gardeners select plants and determine how to grow them. Many gardeners obtain or share knowledge by communicating with other plant enthusiasts from around the world. A good grasp of plant names and how to use them, will save you significant time, effort, and money.
The proper use of plant names becomes more complicated when we consider varieties, cultivars, hybrids, and regional differences between common names.
A rose by any other name might not smell as sweet…because it’s an entirely different plant!
To celebrate the new year, lets look back at the top gardening myths of 2019. These myths were selected based on a number of criteria.
Hoe, hoe, hoe ….. it’s Christmas time and a good time to expose myths about Christmas trees. How do you keep Christmas trees hydrated? Should you add diapers to the tree stand? Are artificial trees more eco-friendly? Do they still contain lead? Can you reuse trees grown in pots? How do you cut the bottom of the tree? These and many more questions will be answered in this holiday gift to you.
The Guelph Organic Conference is an annual event that attracts organic minded people from across Canada and northern parts of the US. Much of the focus is on farming, producing organic food and smaller backyard operations. This year, I was an invited speaker and talked about Growing Food in Ponds. The publisher of my book, Building Natural Ponds, New Society Publishing, is a sponsor of the event and we wanted to find a topic that would interest organic gardeners and help promote my book. It was an extremely popular topic.
The conference also holds a large Trade Show which gave me the opportunity to speak to a number of vendors. I thought it would be fun and educational to review some of my discussions and observations.
If you are one of my regular readers you will know that I am organically minded, believe in the basic organic philosophies, but I don’t blindly follow all of the dogma that is preached. Unfortunately there are many snake-oil salespeople in the organic movement.
