Cyperus papyrus

I have big problem when it comes to planting and sowing. No matter what time of the year it is I always have trust that seed/plant will grow. That was the case with papyrus. First seed was sowed indoors in December 2011. and...nothing. But I didn`t gave up, so I sowed more seed and few small and very fragile plants emerged from the soil. The mixture I used was half ordinary soil from the store/half cat litter sand. When seed starts to germinate root is very fragile so the soil must be wet and soft. Germination usually occurred within 7 to 14 days if it is kept in a warm place. Just to mention this; seed is very very tiny so be careful you don`t lose it!

I didn`t have much luck with papyrus first several months. Since it was wintertime there was very little or no sunlight, and daylight period was very

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Rice planting diary

When I got the idea of planting rice in an area that had only seen rice in groceries stores I must admit that I wasn`t sure how it will all turn up. Well, it turned up just fine and left me with question why people stick to growing cultures that they have been growing for decades especially now when you can get the seed very easily. It is much more practical to walk into the store and buy bag of rice but it is by far greater pleasure seeing something you saw grow and develop into strong plant and bare fruit. You will see that growing rice is not problem at all and it is very fun! OK, you have to put some muscle in it at the beginning but later comes the fun part. I have taken general description of rice from Wikipedia since there is no point in writing my own when there is already one well written.

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Summer 2012.

Here are some summer photos...

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Spring 2012

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Lotus from seed

This is how you can grow your own lotus from seed (latin name Nelumbo nucifera). When I started planting bamboos and other plants I wasn't planing on planting lotus until I received 4 complimentary seeds from 1949Store. Those seeds grew into nice plants very fast.

Before weather becomes warm enough for lotuses to grow outside, I am planting few indoors. Later they will be transplanted into big containers. Their root is very delicate so that job must be done carefully!

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Planting containers, sand, water plants

Spring is coming and it is time to prepare for sowing and planting new plants. Old ones are holding very well for now, although it doesn`t mean anything. Plants can sometimes survive the entire winter and then die in the spring; probably from exhaustion.

Spring sometimes also represent time when people spend money on planting containers that are usually used for short period of time: for growing seedlings. It is much cheaper to use what you have at home and make you own containers. I used aluminum foil, sticky tape and a box as a mold. This is the result:

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Winter 2011./2012.

This winter is all but not cold, at least for now. Temperatures are like those we have in spring and plants are loving it, especially those native to warmer climate. Chances that in February snow will cover everything are very high but nevertheless I am very pleased that we are having sunny and warm days. Although all of the plants are inside the house some of them are in heated and some in unheated places. Those that are more sensitive to cold and temperature changes have their permanent place in the heated parts of the house. 

Since winter is almost at its end I decided to sow some bamboo seeds (Bambusa arundinacea, Fargesia fungosa, Fargesia papyrifera). If I had known that winter will be so warm I would have planted more bamboos much earlier.

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