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#31
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
A number of years ago I started making my own rhizome clips for plastic
pots since the regular ones don't work too well on plastic. Grab a piece of wire with pliers so the wire is in the jaws from the side. Wrap the wire 2-3 time around the pliers jaws in a 1/2 to 3/4 in circle. Keep the circles close. After the last wrap, pull the rest of the wire to a right angle to the loops and clip off about 4" long. The loops fit down over the edge of the pot snuggly, no matter what size pot and the 4" protrusion can be shaped to curve down over the rhizome or press across the top of it. If I had any sense, I would have marketed these somehow. I have seen these recently in some catalog somewhere, I really can't remember where (Charlie's maybe?). Once you learn how to make them, they're quick & simple and extremely effective. So when you run out, just sit down and make a few from a roll of galvanized. A take off on this is to make the 4" tail as long as you like and keep it in the same plane as the loops. Fasten the loops down over the edge of the pot and your wire sticks straight up to tie any plant parts to. You can branch out and get a little fancier making "cup-holders" for 4" pots with a loop upward for hanging. Gary "wendy7" wrote in message news:0o%Hc.312$f9.280@fed1read02... For example, when I am potting, I use an old lazy susan. I put it in a wide flat bowl which catches any spillage & is clean enough to use. -- Cheers Wendy Remove PETERPAN for email reply |
#32
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
Good one Elinor, I may even have a palette knife in my box of oil painting
goodies. It would probably be easier to buy one than find mine as it has been packed away in the attic for a score! Wondering if the palette would work on clay pots? -- Cheers Wendy Remove PETERPAN for email reply ARIET B wrote: There have been SO many good ideas here! But I hope you ALL have used this one. Go to the art store, and buy a palette knife. It is just a little thing with a VERY flexible blade. When you repot- first soak your plant in a pan/bucket(whatever is appropriate for your plant) of water for a couple hours. I have found that "overnight" is not too much, but it IS a bit scary. Then when ready to dump the plant out- use the palette knife to gently remove the roots from the pot. Works like magic- you can just slide the thing under to "stuck-on" roots, and they come right off. No home should be without one. When you tire of your orchids, you can slop artist's paints- acrylic/oil onto a palette, and then apply it to the canvas, just like Van Gogh. Elinor |
#33
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
I'm not to the part where I can go all Martha Stewart, but I use Q-tips
cotton swabs to stick down in the medium (Assuming that its not mounted) To see if it's still moist or when the medium's dry. -Sin |
#34
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
Prem: No problems with the galvanized hurting the plants?
I've been using "Glide" dental tape to affix very small orchids to plaques. It's wide enough that it doesn't cut into plants, unlike monofilament, and you can tie pretty good knots into it. Although, I confess, I sometimes have to use hemostats or tweezers to do so. Sometimes it's more like tying flies than mounting orchids! The e-mail address in the header isn't valid. Send no mail there. -AJHicks Chandler, AZ |
#35
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
I use a kind of wire that is covered in dark green plastic. I adore it.
Maybe it's something like that Prem uses? I can recommend the plastic-covered kind. I use it to anything orchidrelated when needing support or thread. It is also possible to make baskets of it, if you have some patience and creativity. /Hillevi Sweden "Aaron Hicks" skrev i meddelandet ... Prem: No problems with the galvanized hurting the plants? I've been using "Glide" dental tape to affix very small orchids to plaques. It's wide enough that it doesn't cut into plants, unlike monofilament, and you can tie pretty good knots into it. Although, I confess, I sometimes have to use hemostats or tweezers to do so. Sometimes it's more like tying flies than mounting orchids! The e-mail address in the header isn't valid. Send no mail there. -AJHicks Chandler, AZ |
#36
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
Aaron: Swallow your masculine pride, go to your closest Eckerd or
equivalent [drug store, sometimes also available at grocery stores], and pick up however many you need of 69 cent queensize pantyhose. Cut off the "panty" part and discard. Slice the legs into 1/2" strips, best thing you can possibly find for mounting orchids onto trees or plaques. You should be able to mount at least 10 small to medium plants with what you get out of one pair -- no tweezers or hemostats required and, barring the selection of a hideous color, a fairly unobtrusive appearance [most of the "beige" and "suntan" shades tend to blend in fairly well with wood mounts]. Some folks also like to make little "bags" from the toe sections, to hold time-release fert. for hanging plants [tied above the plant]. If you're a snow- or sun-bird, not home to fertilize for lengthy perionds, this may be better than nothing, but it doesn't really replace regular spray feeding. -- Kenni Judd Juno Beach Orchids http://www.jborchids.com "Aaron Hicks" wrote in message ... Prem: No problems with the galvanized hurting the plants? I've been using "Glide" dental tape to affix very small orchids to plaques. It's wide enough that it doesn't cut into plants, unlike monofilament, and you can tie pretty good knots into it. Although, I confess, I sometimes have to use hemostats or tweezers to do so. Sometimes it's more like tying flies than mounting orchids! The e-mail address in the header isn't valid. Send no mail there. -AJHicks Chandler, AZ |
#37
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
G'Day from the Southern Hemisphere,
If you want to mix a large amount of compost, uniformly, there are at least two ways (again used by local growers from whom I learnt): Use a rotatable composting bin to mix your potting mix ingredients, be they bark & charcoal of various grades, peat & perlite, sphagnum and styrofoam, whatever. Do it in a cheap concrete mixer, hand rotatable or motor driven. If your quantity of compost requirements are modest, do it by hand. But for larger accumulations/collections of orchids, why waste time and break your back? Cordially, Phil (Brisbane Australia). PS G'Day Kye. Haven't seen you for a while mate. "K Barrett" writes: I've been using a large tub used to mix small batches of concrete for a potting tub. Holds a lot of medium. Also makes a nice tray to cart potting materials around in. (Stakes, bark mix, wires, pots, cutters, torch - you know... all the "stuff") I used to put this stuff in a kitty litter pan, but it just wasn't large enough. K Barrett -- ################################################## ############################# Dr Phil Diamond Department of Mathematics, University of Queensland, Brisbane,AUSTRALIA 4072. Tel +61 7 3365 3253 Fax +61 7 3365 1477 |
#38
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
You know what else works for removing roots? A plastic plant tag,
preferably a fairly rigid one. Diana "wendy7" wrote in message news:bevKc.21279$9I.9316@okepread02... Good one Elinor, I may even have a palette knife in my box of oil painting goodies. It would probably be easier to buy one than find mine as it has been packed away in the attic for a score! Wondering if the palette would work on clay pots? -- Cheers Wendy Remove PETERPAN for email reply ARIET B wrote: There have been SO many good ideas here! But I hope you ALL have used this one. Go to the art store, and buy a palette knife. It is just a little thing with a VERY flexible blade. When you repot- first soak your plant in a pan/bucket(whatever is appropriate for your plant) of water for a couple hours. I have found that "overnight" is not too much, but it IS a bit scary. Then when ready to dump the plant out- use the palette knife to gently remove the roots from the pot. Works like magic- you can just slide the thing under to "stuck-on" roots, and they come right off. No home should be without one. When you tire of your orchids, you can slop artist's paints- acrylic/oil onto a palette, and then apply it to the canvas, just like Van Gogh. Elinor |
#39
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 18:52:22 -0700, "wendy7"
wrote: Super great ideas so far everyone! Hope we can keep this going & going. How about tag colours & the use of them. I use yellow ones for all the species, white for hybrids. An added red tag is for bug treated plants. I tried colors once for potting date. I label everything with the P-touch type of label maker and tape - black type on white plastic with clear tape. So I tried blue and yellow. The first year every pot got a blue tag with the date written on it. - Just the date. Any pot not tagged in blue - needed repotting. Second year the tag color was yellow, any blue tags were to be repotted... Ran out of tags and mixed colors and did not get done.. gave up. I could not see the tags often. I also tried colored tag to tell me this was one I wanted to sell at the next os meeting or the next time I had a chance. SuE http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php |
#40
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
I havent give this a try yet , but a friend mentioned to me about saving old
cattleya potting media , re-sterilizing it and using in paph mix...Hmmmm , perhaps , but I'm not so sure, and if you guys have any thoughts on this? as it sounds frugal to me maybe I'll give it a shot , and boil up some bark...hehehehe Bright days & good growing Todd "Diana Kulaga" wrote in message nk.net... You know what else works for removing roots? A plastic plant tag, preferably a fairly rigid one. Diana "wendy7" wrote in message news:bevKc.21279$9I.9316@okepread02... Good one Elinor, I may even have a palette knife in my box of oil painting goodies. It would probably be easier to buy one than find mine as it has been packed away in the attic for a score! Wondering if the palette would work on clay pots? -- Cheers Wendy Remove PETERPAN for email reply ARIET B wrote: There have been SO many good ideas here! But I hope you ALL have used this one. Go to the art store, and buy a palette knife. It is just a little thing with a VERY flexible blade. When you repot- first soak your plant in a pan/bucket(whatever is appropriate for your plant) of water for a couple hours. I have found that "overnight" is not too much, but it IS a bit scary. Then when ready to dump the plant out- use the palette knife to gently remove the roots from the pot. Works like magic- you can just slide the thing under to "stuck-on" roots, and they come right off. No home should be without one. When you tire of your orchids, you can slop artist's paints- acrylic/oil onto a palette, and then apply it to the canvas, just like Van Gogh. Elinor |
#41
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
I don't reuse media for plant other than the one that was planted in it
originally. Sometimes the aliflor can be easily picked out of the mix if the cocohusk has all fallen apart and most of it disolved in water and washed through the hole in the bottom of the pot. I don't find any value in using it for other orchids since it's broken down and will just mean I'll have to repot again in a few months. I do reuse media for topping off other house plants and hanging baskets in the yard. I like to use old orchid mix this way so that the dirt doesn't splash out when the rain hits the dirt or I squirt them with the hose. Also, this gives the houseplants and hanging baskets a finished look that you don't get with plain ole dirt. Good growing, Gene "Orchidguy" wrote in message om... I havent give this a try yet , but a friend mentioned to me about saving old cattleya potting media , re-sterilizing it and using in paph mix...Hmmmm , perhaps , but I'm not so sure, and if you guys have any thoughts on this? as it sounds frugal to me maybe I'll give it a shot , and boil up some bark...hehehehe Bright days & good growing Todd "Diana Kulaga" wrote in message nk.net... You know what else works for removing roots? A plastic plant tag, preferably a fairly rigid one. Diana "wendy7" wrote in message news:bevKc.21279$9I.9316@okepread02... Good one Elinor, I may even have a palette knife in my box of oil painting goodies. It would probably be easier to buy one than find mine as it has been packed away in the attic for a score! Wondering if the palette would work on clay pots? -- Cheers Wendy Remove PETERPAN for email reply ARIET B wrote: There have been SO many good ideas here! But I hope you ALL have used this one. Go to the art store, and buy a palette knife. It is just a little thing with a VERY flexible blade. When you repot- first soak your plant in a pan/bucket(whatever is appropriate for your plant) of water for a couple hours. I have found that "overnight" is not too much, but it IS a bit scary. Then when ready to dump the plant out- use the palette knife to gently remove the roots from the pot. Works like magic- you can just slide the thing under to "stuck-on" roots, and they come right off. No home should be without one. When you tire of your orchids, you can slop artist's paints- acrylic/oil onto a palette, and then apply it to the canvas, just like Van Gogh. Elinor |
#42
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
Can't help but notice that colour coding seems to be the theme for
tracking various things like watering/fertilizing...etc. This might sound dumb, but personally, I use the good old fashioned pen + paper method and just record the dates. Cheers, Xi Susan Erickson wrote: On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 18:52:22 -0700, "wendy7" wrote: Super great ideas so far everyone! Hope we can keep this going & going. How about tag colours & the use of them. I use yellow ones for all the species, white for hybrids. An added red tag is for bug treated plants. I tried colors once for potting date. I label everything with the P-touch type of label maker and tape - black type on white plastic with clear tape. So I tried blue and yellow. The first year every pot got a blue tag with the date written on it. - Just the date. Any pot not tagged in blue - needed repotting. Second year the tag color was yellow, any blue tags were to be repotted... Ran out of tags and mixed colors and did not get done.. gave up. I could not see the tags often. I also tried colored tag to tell me this was one I wanted to sell at the next os meeting or the next time I had a chance. SuE http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php |
#43
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 02:38:10 GMT, "Gene Schurg"
wrote: I do reuse media for topping off other house plants and hanging baskets in the yard. I like to use old orchid mix this way so that the dirt doesn't splash out when the rain hits the dirt or I squirt them with the hose. Also, this gives the houseplants and hanging baskets a finished look that you don't get with plain ole dirt. Good growing, Gene A friend with a good sized collection in Chicago used to dump it for mulch under the summer plant area. Turned out to be several inches deep after a couple of years. Best all weather walk because it was "mulch" and because it was partially broken down it packed in well. SuE http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php |
#44
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
All kinds of reused potting soil, Orchid media, ect, are great, in my
experience for filling in the very bottom of huge planters, which take a lot of soil. Especially if the plants you're planting in it won't get huge amounts of roots, like annuals. Murri "Susan Erickson" wrote in message ... On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 02:38:10 GMT, "Gene Schurg" wrote: I do reuse media for topping off other house plants and hanging baskets in the yard. I like to use old orchid mix this way so that the dirt doesn't splash out when the rain hits the dirt or I squirt them with the hose. Also, this gives the houseplants and hanging baskets a finished look that you don't get with plain ole dirt. Good growing, Gene A friend with a good sized collection in Chicago used to dump it for mulch under the summer plant area. Turned out to be several inches deep after a couple of years. Best all weather walk because it was "mulch" and because it was partially broken down it packed in well. SuE http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php |
#45
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Let's Start a Good Idea, Tips Thread.
You know what else works for removing roots? A plastic plant tag,
preferably a fairly rigid one. Diana "wendy7" wrote in message news:bevKc.21279$9I.9316@okepread02... Good one Elinor, I may even have a palette knife in my box of oil painting goodies. It would probably be easier to buy one than find mine as it has been packed away in the attic for a score! Wondering if the palette would work on clay pots? -- Cheers Wendy Remove PETERPAN for email reply ARIET B wrote: There have been SO many good ideas here! But I hope you ALL have used this one. Go to the art store, and buy a palette knife. It is just a little thing with a VERY flexible blade. When you repot- first soak your plant in a pan/bucket(whatever is appropriate for your plant) of water for a couple hours. I have found that "overnight" is not too much, but it IS a bit scary. Then when ready to dump the plant out- use the palette knife to gently remove the roots from the pot. Works like magic- you can just slide the thing under to "stuck-on" roots, and they come right off. No home should be without one. When you tire of your orchids, you can slop artist's paints- acrylic/oil onto a palette, and then apply it to the canvas, just like Van Gogh. Elinor |
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