Self- Peeling Banana?

Oh yes, it is known as self peeling banana! I came across this banana plant on my recent nursery trip and it’s definitely a pleasant discovery. Musa velutina, also known as the Velvet Pink Banana, bear short and stout looking fruits which are very different from those we had seen in the supermarket.

But why does it peel by itself? A good answer would be to attract birds and other animals to disperse the seeds. Everyone enjoy convenience, isn’t it? This plant has a good advertisement strategy! The flowers and fruits are covered with short hairs which give them the velvety touch.

Many would ask “Are the fruits edible?”. The answer is unknown but probably not as it will not be a good experience as the fruit is filled with black seeds! It is not a tall plant and can be a fast grower, perfect candidate for an interesting community garden!  

Dwarf Pineapples…

Remember the dwarf pineapple i blogged about? Not long ago I visited my aunt’s place and saw the “mother” plant where the pups were passed to me a few months back. I was amazed and delighted to see the plant was flowering again. Not only the mother plant is flowering, even the two pups beside it flowered at the same time! Three flower spikes were arranged in an orderly straight line and bear some reddish colour!

 

 

From my understanding, this plant is grown along the corridor and exposed to only direct morning sun and bright light throughout the day with frequent wind.The leaves are longer and narrower than mine, which yet to flower under my direct afternoon sun and windy condition. My dwarf pineapple plant are greener and have broader leaves as compared to the mother plant.

It’s definitely a pleasant sight to see these unique flowers bloom along your corridor. As the dialect name “ong-lai”, which translate into chinese as 旺来, meaning arrival of prosperity, it’s definitely a good omen for many! Pineapple plants are generally easy to grow and suitable for most growing conditions. They can get fairly big even they are “dwarf” and be careful of their serrated leaves which got my hands painful stings when watering the plant. Ouch!

Pruning Adeniums

In order to induce branching, many gardeners do pruning of their valued Adeniums. Pruning itself intimidates many gardeners as can be a tricky issue where many things can get a bit too complicated to handle. So make sure you get all the details right before you actually start pruning! As many will know, Adeniums flower at the growing rosette of new leaves. Therefore, having more branches would mean more growing tips which will produce more flowers!And also, pruning make the Adeniums look more compact the leafy.

When you start pruning, make sure you use a sterilized scissors or shears. This will ensure that a diseased branch you pruned will spread over to the other plants. Make sure it is sharp too, sharp blades make cleaner cuts that heal faster. Make a straight cut to minimise the exposed area of the branch and at an appropriate height, not too low or it will hurt the plant and not too high which make the plant look very weird.

Depending on the growing conditions, Adenium plant will produce one or more (if you are lucky you can get even four!) new growths. You will see new leaves started to emerged and soon enough, you have a good looking Adenium. Don’t just throw away the cut branches, as they can be rooted to become new plants! However these cut branches will not have the large caudex the seed grown Adeniums have.

Video Blog #2: Propagating your Rosemary Plant

In this 2nd episode, I will share how to propagate rosemary plant by stem cuttings. There are various ways to do stem cuttings and the way I shown here has been very successful for me.

 

Rosemary plant is an easy to grow herb. As long as the soil is draining and fertile, it will grow very well in various growing environments. Hope you enjoy this video blogs. More to come!!

Dendrobium Orchids

It seems like the flowering season of orchids has arrived! Two of my Dendrobium Orchids are putting out numerous flower spikes, turning my garden from a lush green setting to a colourful and vibrant garden! Both are hybrids and available at many nurseries around Singapore.

 Dendrobium hybrid with “antelope” flowers

Dendrobiums orchids are much easier to grow than their cousins, as they are more hardy and less fussy about their growing environment. Being epiphytic in nature, there is no need to worry about potting media! They typically enjoy lots of sunlight, although some may develop “burn” spots if introduced suddenly to high amount of light.

Flower spikes emerge from the pseudobulbs, usually between or at the sides of the leaves. Flowers that around 2 week to open and they will last for another 4 to 6 weeks.

Dwarf Pineapple

Ananas nanus, commonly known as Dwarf Pineapple, can be an interesting plant to grow. Gardeners grow them for their flowers, which resemble  “mini” version of pineapples! I got mine as a baby pup from my Aunt’s flowering plant and it has been growing very well. I have put up a photo of this very plant in my earlier post. See how big it has grown!

 

Being in the same family of Bromeliads, they have rosettes of very stiff leaves with sharp edges, and therefore not suitable to grow beside a pathway. They are best grown under full sun and still do very well in bright light with occasional sun.

                      new pup!                                           New leaves in rossette arrangement

They produce offshoots, which emerge from the base, and these shoots can be separated to form new plants. Just like any other bromeliads, the plant will die away slowly after flowering. But in most cases, they have already produced many pups which are soon flowering!

Flowering Hoya

It has been a long wait since the last flowering of my Hoya nummulariodes. This extremely fragrant Hoya produces 50-cent coin size umbels of flowers. The plastic-like flowers earn Hoya’s common name, Wax flowers, give off very strong fragrance. The fragrance of this particular Hoya is so strong that it is overpowering. It is nice to smell it in the wind but it definitely not if you sniff the flowers under your nose!

An umbel of flowers (Hoya nummulariodes)

Unlike other Hoyas like Hoya obscura and Hoya lacunosa, Hoya nummulariodes is not a frequent flowering plant. It is a very slow grower and has grow less than a centimetre since I got it in January. The pink-centered white flowers are a sight to behold, the translucent centre of the plant, possibly the stamens, resemble stars.

Hoyas generally need 4-5 hours of sunlight and bright light throughout the day to do well. High humidity is also preferred. Hoya nummulariodes is an easy plant to keep and no repotting is needed. Not only a good candidate for apartment gardens, it is a Hoya and fragrant flowers collector must-have plant!

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!

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!