Sinningias

I received this plant from an experienced Gesneriad grower from Green Culture Singapore. It is a miniature Sinningia, as compared to my previous post on the  micro Sinningia “Little Wood Nymph”, it is much bigger than the latter. Sinningia belongs to a big plant family called Gesneriaceae, which also consist the African Violets (Saintpaulia ionantha), Gloxinia and Kohleria.

This plant has very similar leaves in a rosette arrangement as the African Violets. Flurry leaves and stem are nice to touch but delicate too. Water droplets on the leaves need to be removed to prevent “sunburn”. They are grown in the “universal” soiless mix with the wick-watering system.

Wick-watering is not a new horticultural methodology as it has been around for the past few decades. Using the capillary action, water is drawn up to the soil from a reservoir via a “wick”, which can be a cotton string or polyester string. Polyester string is preferred as it doesn’t break down like the cotton counterparts.

Bright-light and morning sun will be optimal for these plants and regular light feeding of fertilizers is preferred. They enjoy high humidity too, which I placed the entire plant in a much larger plastic cup so to retain the layer of humidity around the plant. This is one of the many gardening tips by our experienced growers from Green Culture Singapore.

 

Generally, Sinningias are hassle free and mini plants. Suitable candidate for office gardening. But these plants are hardly found in local nurseries and we got our plants from overseas orders or through the gardening enthusiasts.

 

Pretty Vining Plant

The Star Glory (Ipomoea quamoclit) is a species of Morning Glory native to South America. This is a long vining plant which can reach a height of 6 metres if grown under ideal conditions! It produces red star-shaped flowers about the size of a 10-cent coin in the typical morning glory trumpet shape.

Red Stars! 

The leaves resembles palm leaves which are deeply lobed, so that they can will not get lacerated by strong winds from their tremendous height. The Star Glory is an easy to grow plant which need at least 4-6 hours of direct sunlight and well-drained soil, makes a good candidate for apartment growers.

Developing fruit 

This is a very vigorous growing plant which hit my ceiling within a month when I planted it! The plant started slowly and picked up speed when it starts to vine. Flowers started to appear in the 5th week, and soon, the plant is decorated with small red stars. Unfortunately, the flowers only lasted a dayand quickly replaced by many emerging blooms! Also a common roadside plant, Star Glory is recommended to beginners too!

 

The “Universal” Potting Mix

I find it very amusing whenever my audience tell me that the “secret of growing plants” lies in the potting mix! The use of appropriate potting mix is no doubt an important aspect in gardening, but there is no secret about it. Different proportions of various media are dependent on growing conditions too, that is why not all potting mix will be successful for every gardener.

Clockwise from top left: Peat moss, Vermiculite, Sphagnum moss and Perlite

One of my commonly used potting mix is the peat moss, vermiculite and perlite combination. The main advantage of using such mix is it enables you to control water retention and draining capabilities by altering amounts of certain media. If water retention is preferred, more peat moss can be added. Same goes to water draining, where I will put more perlite into the mix.

Another positive point is the mix generally contain zero minerals. There is no nutrients in the media which I will be able to gauge the amount of fertilizers being added. This zero nutrient characteristic will mean it is also suitable to grow carnivorous plants!

Equal mix of 3 ingredients 

This mix is also known as the “soiless mix”, where the “ingredients” are mostly artificially processed. This non-natural mix is also an “open” mix, which is very well aerated and well –liked by many plants.

Additional media can be added to the mix too. Long fibre Sphagnum moss can be added to the bottom of the pot to stop leaking of potting mix or added to the top to increase water retention and lower evaporation rate. The basic rule to follow is equal parts of perlite, peat moss and vermiculite, and additional media depending on growing conditions.

I would recommend the use of this mix with smaller plants like Gesneriads (African Violets, Sinningia), bromeliads and carnivorous plants (Pitcher plants, Sundews). It would not be wise to use this mix on larger plants like Chiku or vegetables, as they prefer natural soil with nutrients and this mix can cost quite a bit when used in large quantities!

 

Chiku for everyone!

The Chiku plant (Manilkara zapota) can be a easy and rewarding plant to grow in your garden, even along apartment corridors. They are extremely hardy and adaptable to varying conditions.

Chiku, as known as Sapodilla, is an edible tropical fruit originate from the tropical Americas. The egg-shaped fruits are brown in colour and rough texture. The common chinese name for this fruits is “人心果” meaning human’s heart fruit as it has little resemblance. Malay name is “Buah Chiku”, simply means Chiku fruit.

Chiku flower 

The flowers are produced at the growing tips of the plant and usually produce singly or in a cluster. Therefore, it is not advisable to trim or prune the plant. Bear in mind that this plant is actually a tree! And can grow to enormous size! Pruning would be inevitable for apartment gardeners but they will still fruit all year round.

Full sunlight is the best condition for this plant but 4-6 hours of direct sunlight is good enough to maintain a healthy plant. It is not a very fast grower and flower and fruit regularly, makes this plant an ideal collection for any aspiring apartment gardeners!

 

Shui Mei

Shui Mei (Wrightia religiosa) is a very popular garden plant favoured by the experienced gardeners. The plant is known for its stunning fragrance and they flower all year round. There are a few hybrids or cultivars of this plant, and the most sought after cultivar is the Double Petal Wrightia religiosa.

Double Petal Shui Mei

I managed to get a pot of Double Petal Shui Mei from Ji Mei a week ago. The plant is small but to my delight, it is flowering profusely! It is also a popular plant for bonsai, as this plant can be pruned and shaped.

Some senior gardeners told me that removing all their leaves will induce flowering which I have yet to try! I visited some of their gardeners and amazed by the curled branches of this plant! They told me that this curled branches are made by curling it under the hot sun when the branches are soft. And indeed the plant looks gorgeous!

 

My Garden!!

It’s been some time since I last talk about my garden… Well, there are new additions to my already crowded garden and many of them are flowering too! My latest addition is the Star Glory (Ipomoea quamoclit). This vining plant produce small red star-shaped flowers but mine has yet to bloom. I attached a very long string for it to climb and within a week, it had already hit the top of the ceiling! The leaves looked special and resemble palm leaves. From the information I gathered, this particular plant can climb to a height of 6 metres!

Ipomoea quamoclit

Remember my cherry plant (Malpighia glabra)? They are fruiting like no tomorrow and this time round the fruits turned burgundy red! They fruit in bunches of two and three and definitely a very beautiful sight to behold!  Some of my friends who visited even tasted these sour but full of vitamin C fruits!

Malpighia glabra 

My Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) is going for a second round of flowering and this time even more spectacular. The flowers are arranged in an encircled manner and flowers point to all directions! It has been a year or so without flowers but the wait is definitely worth it!

 Adenium obesum

My signature plant, the Flamingo Flower (Anthurium andraeanum) is still at its best condition, keeping the constant number of ten flowers for at least a year! There are new shoots and growing fast, even some have started to flower!

Orchids

I got some orchids flowering too! Two of my mini Dendrobiums are putting out flowers now and add to the already very colourful garden! Their coloured and patterned blooms brings more exciting colours and you can’t resist not looking at them.

Rosemary                                           Nepenthes veitchii

My rosemary plant is growing taller and bushier now. Every time I am watering plants, the fragrance of this plant can be even detected at a further distance! And brushing your hand against the leaves will leave a strong aroma that lingers around you for a long time!

 

Finally my carnivorous plants, strong winds have resulted in strong fluctuations in humidity makes the plants grow slower and losing quite a number of pitchers. But my Nepenthes veitchii is still growing strong putting out the biggest pitcher for me! Soon, the monsoon season will come and this beautiful sight may not last long. So I have been spending more time admiring my plants before it is too late!!

 

Fragrant Shrub..

I bought a small shrub of Aglaia dupperreana from a night market during the Chinese New Year season which was recommended by the nursery staff as a very fragrant plant. And indeed, it is extremely fragrant!

               Small yellow inflorescences!                        Sweet-smelling Flowers

Recently my plant has been flowering profusely and bear flowers on every branch! The flowers are yellow and oval in shape, with no distinct petals. Look like a bunch of berries, the fragrant from these flowers is hard to describe. It is more of a very fruity and berry-like fragrant, rather than the typical flora scent.

The fragrant lingers around the area and as the wind blows, the scent of it is heavenly! Even my neighbours came out to take a look of this plant! Aglaia dupperreana is an easy plant to grow, and they need at least 5 hours of direct sunlight and lots of watering. Their leaves are in the shape of elongated ovals and thin.

I would say this is a plant you must have if you like fragrant and flowering plants!

 

Flowering Hoya…

This Hoya obscura is a cutting I got from Wilson three months ago. I am surprised by this plant, although its a cutting, it flowers for me the third time! I potted it in an equal mix of long-fibre sphagnum and perlite, with watering every day.

                                                   

                                                                               Hoya obscura

Just like it cousin Hoya lacunosa, the umbels of flowers resembles miniature Tu-Tu Kueh. The leaves are leathery and stiff.When grown under good sunlight, the leaves can bear a hint of red, which makes the plant look very attractive!

                  A pair of young leaves                                 Can you see the new shoot?

Also, the plant started to put out new shoots and leaves from the existing leaf nodes and even on the flower spike! Special thing about Hoyas is that new flowers will grow from the same flower spike over and over again, and after a long time the spike looks like cordyceps!

 

My blog is also on Twitter now!

Being a new age gardener and bridging technology to gardening, I have integrated the new Twitter platform for my blog! Twitter is now a platform where users can ask questions or share their experiences and get answers and comments not only from me, but also other like-minded friends!

                                                           

I will also post short notes or announcements about latest gardening events on Twitter, which will also be shown on the Twitter link on the right panel of this page. As this is a new platform, there is a learning curve for everyone, there will be tweaks and bugs on this new platform and I hope everyone will eventually get used to it and use it as a platform to ask questions and share problems!

My Twitter link is http://twitter.com/Dreamandgrowit

 

Flowering Sugarcane!!

I was at Hortpark attending Wilson’s Easter gardening talk last Saturday. He brought me to see a flowering Sugarcane plant (Saccharum officinarum)! This was the first time I saw sugarcane flowering and was amazed by the thin inflorescence it put out. The flowers are very similar to many species of grasses, as it belongs to the Poaceae family.

 

 

Like grasses, the inflorescence is put out high up above all its leaves and the tiny flowers opened on the extended flower stalks. The flowers do not have any showy petals and and not very visible. The inflorescence is beige in colour and very eye catching when you can see it sway side to side in the wind!