Fresh Spring Day
01 May 2010 20:23:57
nepenthes
Despite a trip to Wexford this afternoon, I managed to catch up on a few niggly pieces. And, believe it or not, I didn't drop into Woodies to look for bargain orchids when I was in town!
The main job I did was to re-pot two of my Nepenthes. Spring is the ideal time and I was anxious to re-pot these two because they were still in their original compost (probably pure peat so not the best for drainage) which isn't good. I wanted to re-pot them before the first pitchers opened as it can be very annoying when you accidentally spill dodgy liquid and half digested insects on your kitchen counter!
Finally I am able to do the re-potting as I got my hands on plain orchid bark at the recent Botanic Gardens Orchid Fair. What is sold as orchid compost in Garden Centres is not suitable. Carnivorous plants are very sensitive to poisoning. The mix I use for Nepenthes is 1 part moss peat, 1 part perlite, 1 part orchid bark.
I also potted up some bulbs - 20 Crocus 'Ruby Giant' (thanks, Wayne), my final 10 Acidanthera and 10 Oxalis (my son Sammy's favourite flower and a Mother's Day gift from my daughter).
I also potted on the Musa rubra (banana) Bill gave me last year. Actually, I find it very hard to remember what needs to be potted on right now as I have plants in every room in the house. A lot of them need to be in the greenhouse too. A ginger and the banana went out today but i confess that my approach is a bit scatter gun. I must get more organised.