WHAT'S LOOKING EXOTIC IN 2015

It's arrived!!!

There is no way I am getting *that* close

 

This was taken when I was naïve: ...



Then I noticed a tell tale sign (as will the eagle eyed!) ...



Who needs smelly-vision to get the real idea (just look at who it attracts!)



So, for perspective, this was from the bathroom window (because there is no way I'm getting *any* closer now I know the score )

 

I was mildly disappointed that mine didnt smell worse - but possibly the regular muck spreading by the local farmers has desensitised me somewhat !

 

Minging ain't it

 

I think they smell more with higher temperatures.
I noticed mine was open the other evening, when it was warm, some years they just dont smell at all.

 

Ok- mark 2015 down as the year it ponged

 

Get ready for mid week then, temperature set to hit 33 deg.

 

Does this take the record for the biggest plant in the smallest pot?
Musa cavendish.





Or maybe this one, 24 hours after its first watering of 2015 it did this.
I think its trying to tell me something.

 

Although mines not that big, I know the feeling with the Beaucarnea cracking it's pot.

 

Two fantastic pictures Pete. But how long does it take for a Beaucarnea to get that size.

And you say "first watering" - do they like to be pretty dry. My very small one is in my conservatory, and gets misted 3 times a day along with all the tropical vines and bananas. It doesn't show any distress, but I keep thinking it probably won't like it.

 

Can you tell me what are the most important conditions to grow these kinds of plants?

 

Which plants in particular? The conditions required are very diverse so there is not one answer.

 

Hi Harrison - and a very warm welcome to Gardeners Corner.

There are a number of us who are into growing tropical plants, and its very much a learning curve for us all. Pete with his two wonderfully mature plants above has probably been at it for longer than anyone else.

The simplest answer is a tropical climate - they all grow wild wherever you have that. However most of the plants people are growing on this forum, will grow outside in the British summer - depending where you are. So the main requirement becomes the ability to overwinter them. Pete is in Kent and is able to overwinter an amazing number of exotic plants outside even over the winter. But I live in Yorkshire, where its noticeably colder and for me I have to either keep things in the house as house plants ( I once overwintered a 9 foot Echium pininana in my 8 ft hall ), or overwinter them in a frost free greenhouse.

Some stuff will take a little frost, so in some parts of the country you don't even need to heat the greenhouse. But the safest way is to provide enough heat to keep the greenhouse frost free. It doesn't have to be very expensive, when I started 10 years ago I had a 10ft by 8ft summerhouse with an electric heater and it cost just £3 to keep it frost free over the winter - though that rose in a really cold winter. I have since had a conservatory built and keep it at a minimum of 10C over the winter. But you don't need to go that far.

Harrison - do tell us roughly where you live and what sort of plants you are interested in.

 

Harrison,
Do some reseach. There are tropical looking plants that are bone hardy.
Start with those.
When you get more experience, you can try the less hardy species that need a bit of extra care over winter.