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Weather is great in Orlando for plants.

Category: Garden, Flowers and Citrus in Orlando, FL | Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:41 pm

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Our weather is so nice here for the Thanksgiving holidays. I am picking green string beans and a few green peppers from my fall garden. I boiled my home grown sweet potatoes and froze them in 7 quart size freezer bags.The green peppers I have been freezing during the summer months and now have about 8 quarts to use this winter.

I am ready to use Osmocote fertilizer on my potted amaryllis bulbs and also add potting soil when needed.
I keep 30 or so potted so I can move them around so I can enjoy the blooms. There are many in the flower bed next to the pool deck. I have had some of these amaryllis for 40 years. I started buying them in North Carolina in the 70's. I moved to PA in 1975 and then to Orlando in 1985. I always took my amaryllis with me and they have multiplied. Here in FL I don't have to worry much about them freezing. When it gets to the low 30's I cover them with some blankets.


Amaryllis in a pot in 2009 ( photo / image / picture from orlandotwin's Garden )





Last edited: Mon Nov 22, 2010 9:22 pm

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Orlandotwin Air Plants on Driftwood.

Category: Garden, Flowers and Citrus in Orlando, FL | Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:37 pm

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My air plants are so colorful in November. I decided to tie some of them to a piece of driftwood I collected from a SC lake. I used fish line to hold them on the piece of wood. These Tillandsia plants stay on my pool deck all year except when the weather is to drop to 40 degrees of below. Then I move them all to my enclosed heated porch. Sometimes I have lizards inside too because they love to hide in these plants.






Tillandsia air plants on driftwood ( photo / image / picture from orlandotwin's Garden )






( photo / image / picture from orlandotwin's Garden )






( photo / image / picture from orlandotwin's Garden )






( photo / image / picture from orlandotwin's Garden )










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How I grow my favorite plants!

Category: Garden, Flowers and Citrus in Orlando, FL | Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 2:52 am

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I am here in Orlando, FL hoping we will get some rain soon. It has been 20 days since we have had any rain here. I have to depend on my sprinkler system for the yard and plants to get enough water.

I have two large pony tail plants in my yard and they both sprouted small pony tail plants out of the trunk of the tree. I sawed off the 7 plants and hope to get them to grow, I used Root Tone on the stems before I planted the trees. The two mature pony tail trees I have in the yard started out as 8 inch plants about 25 years ago. I kept the trees on my patio for years before I put them in the yard.

I like growing plants that bloom or have pretty leaves. The most fun is rooting plants to get more plants for my yard. My favorite types are Bromeliards, Caladiums and Amaryllis. These plants are easy to take care of here in Orlando with our warm winters. The airplants I have are coming into their blooming season where they turn red and have purple flowers in the center of each plant. All year they look light green. They are on cypress wood.

I am growing orchids on a ficus tree that has been on my pool deck for 25 years, I tie the plants on the limbs with moss, fish line and stretch dog wrap around the moss and roots. I cover the orchids with frost proof material when the weather drops to the mid 30's in the winter. I also put light bulbs under the material for heat. I sew the frost proof cloth into pillow shape and slide the cloth over the tree and use clothes-pins to keep everything tight.

Last edited: Sat Oct 23, 2010 1:50 pm

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Fall gardening in Orlando, Florida

Category: Garden, Flowers and Citrus in Orlando, FL | Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 2:15 am

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October 9, 2010

I am planting my fall garden. For two days I have pulled sweet potato vines and dug the dirt looking for the sweet potatoes. So far I have dug 30 pounds and I am letting them dry for a few days before I cook and freeze some for use during the winter. The very small potatoes I will use to plant in February for an early crop in 2011.

Today I transplanted 50 string-bean plants to the garden where the sweet potatoes were growing. I used my miser irrigation for several hours to be sure the soil was wet. The cucumber seeds I planted about 12 days ago are not ready to put in the garden. I aim to buy 4 tomato plants to plant in my earth boxes. I have one eggplant that did nothing during the summer months but now has blooms and two eggplant growing on it. My pepper plants are still blooming and putting on peppers from the spring planting. I froze so many quart bags of peppers to use in my cooking this winter.

The citrus trees produced so much fruit last year. There is a good crop of citrus on each of the tangerine tree, the two orange trees and the grapefruit tree for this season. I will be shipping it to my family and friends.

My squash plants this summer did not produce any squash. The leaves were big and beautiful and I had lots of blooms but they did not set squash. I was very disappointed in this vegetable. The radish plants grew big leaves but did not make many radishes. My cucumbers were wonderful to eat during the summer. The lettuce I grew in the earth boxes did very well till it got hot here.

I will send pictures later.
Orlandotwin

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Working in my garden.

Category: Garden, Flowers and Citrus in Orlando, FL | Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 1:17 am

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I had two cups of coffee and read the Sunday newspaper before taking a walk through my yard to inspect the plants. I spotted a few holes here and there in the yard and garden, which I think maybe from a possum. All the vegetables are growing fast this year. We put in a truckload of compost in the garden before we planted our first plant. I used a bag of weed proventer and it has kept me from having to weed everyday. Today I sprinkled Osmocote fertilizer on the garden. The plastic can says it should last 6 months and it does not burn the plants.

I notice the tangerine tree, orange trees and grapefruit tree have already set tiny fruits for next year.
We have oranges and grapefruit still to be picked from the trees. The tangerine tree we picked clean because we were having problems with the squirrels eating the tangerines on our screen over the pool.

The barrel of nutrients was emptied today and refilled with fresh water. More liquid fertilizer was added to keep the seven tomatoes plants growing. It is all automatic to fill the pots and then empty them 6 times a day. When the weather gets hotter, we may go to 8 times a day to keep the tomatoes from wilting in the hot sun.



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Gardening in Orlando, FL

Category: Garden, Flowers and Citrus in Orlando, FL | Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 7:52 pm

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I have been living in Orlando for 25 years. Our weather is hot and humid and we seldom get any freezing weather. When the weatherman tells us it will be in the middle 30's, I start to worry. You will find me getting out all the old bedspreads, blankets, sheets and other material ready to cover my plants. Our tangerine tree, grapefruit tree and two orange trees are too big to cover.

My small garden is located on the outside of a screen swimming pool. I am using Earth Boxes for some vegetables. They work very well for me. I have a barrel that has liquid fertilizer for the tomato plants that I have on the swimming pool deck. The liquid is pumped in about 6 times a day and it stays for 15 minutes in each pot and is then pumped back to the barrel. The plants are all blooming and I have lots of tomatoes growing on the plants.

I will put up some pictures. Thanks for looking.



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