I know, it's been what seems like ages since I have actually made a post to my @homestead group. I appologize for my lazziness. I'm not gonna make a bunch of excuses. @goldendawne, @walkerland, @borrowedearth, @mountainjewel, @sagescrub, you folks and many others, are such a fountain of really good information. I have been inspired by your love of the land and drive towards self sufficiency. I have been watching and reading alot of the amazing articles. You folks really know your stuff. I'm always happy to hear of new techniques and processes.
I have been wanting to do an update on the progress of the Crown of Thorns plant I propogated a couple months ago. The link for the original article is here.
https://steemit.com/macrophotography/@warpedweaver/propogating-a-crown-of-thorns-plant
Having never performed such an operation before, I really wasn't sure what the outcome would be. I just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
It seems this is a very slow growing plant and prone to shock. Who would of thunk it! LOL As you can see from the original post, the bottom of the plant had only one leaf set on it. Most of the growth was litteraly at the top and looked like a beautiful pom pom.
Almost immediatley most of the leaves dropped from one side of the top portion and a wierd little "kink" developed in the stem portion. The portion from the pot actually seems to have shrunk in diameter slightly, but is solid and sturdy. I have no clue as to why these malformations took place and if any one on the #homesteadersonline group has an idea of what happened, please let me know. The only thing I can guess is, this plant is confused about whether to make root or leaf. Poor baby. There are signs of new leaf at the very top and a couple of nodes where leaves have dropped are starting to show signs of life as well.
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I think this beautiful plant is going to make it.
The bottom portion of the plant has done quite well as you can see. I am very pleased with it's progress.
All in all I would say the operation was mostly a success. Now i have two of these amazingly unique plants.
Once the thumbs start to twitch and turn green I get all kinds of other crazy ideas. Last year @fishyculture and @longsilver gave me the most beautiful white bleeding heart plant. I'm so glad I didn't put it in the garden since we had the epic grasshopper invasion that totally destroyed our gardens, but I'm afraid it did get a little neglected on the balcony. I was worried that I had killed it, so... being the curious person I am, I decided to tip the pot over and see if anything was alive in there. YEAH, much to my relief, the root ball is alive and starting to send shoots. Gosh, I hope I didn't mess it up by peaking! Quicky I put it back in the pot and said a little prayer.
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The shoots haven't broke through the soil yet, but it is still early in the season. I'm not sure it will make it to the garden this year either. I'm seeing so many great articles from my @homestead family on container gardening, that I am seriously going to give it a try this year. Containers may be the only way to save the plants from the pests.
I have several projects to complete this spring. The old garden boxes are falling apart, fences around the garden spaces need repair. I was beginning to wonder how I would get all of these projects done, when the phone rang and a childhood friend on the other end, asked if I still had a place for him here on the #homestead. Dear God, yes. It will be crowded here in the Attic, but the weather is warmer now and he can sleep on the balcony. He and I rocked this place when he was here several years ago. I'm so looking forward to his help again. We are both in our late 60's, but we putter along pretty good together. I warned him there was a lot of work to do. I think we can handle it. :) God is good and a great and faithful provider.
I'll be posting as we go. Thanks for all the wonderful articles and positive support the @homesteaders group provide. It's going to be an awesome year.
An extra pair of hands is always a welcome addition to the homestead! I can't wait to see how the garden grows this year. Hopefully, there won't be any vermin this year!
When I first bought this place 12 years ago, he was involved in a lot of the original infastructure. I am grateful for his help.
thanks for this excellent post~ you've been featured in this week's curation digest @the-hearth :)
Thank you @mountainjewel. So appreciate all you do. This is exactly the type of support and inspiration I was talking about. The other contributers have amazing articles as well. Looking forward to seeing more.
Oh my... I love the view it has!
And I always wanted one of those.... There is a big pot with this plant outside one of the houses. It must be many, many years old. Looks so amazing when it blooms.
They have a beautiful bloom for sure. It was a cloudy day when I took this picture. Behind that cloud are beautiful mountains. :)
That crown of thorns plant looks extremely pokey. What do you plan on using it for?
Mostly just to look at. It is unique for sure. The white sap it oozes at cutting was used on arrow tips to stupify fish. It is quite poisonous. Hands should be washed after even picking up fallen leaves. It can cause a rash and should be avoided by children and animals. Thanks for coming by @canadianrenegade.
Sounds like nasty stuff, yikes!
I wore my gloves when I did my propogation. It is the only plant I have that has a warning label. The tiny red flowers are so beautiful and the way the stalks grow in knarled patterns is so interesting. This plant came from a plant i gave a friend over 20years ago. Full circle. :)