Thursday, October 20, 2005

My Tropical Grow-op and Fungal infection

Those who really get to know me know that I have a tropical plant obsession. I love cacti and succulents. I think that in my bathroom alone I have about 8 plants. They range in size of my small "Moses on a Boat" to my nearly 6 foot tall Madagascar Palm which I've had since I was in Grade 1.

I also have at least 10 other tropical plants strewn through the house. It has become so bad that I have a venus fly trap in the kitchen and my sago palm (cycad) in my parents bathroom and many other plants occupying a whole desk in the library.

Perhaps the success of these plants is partly due to the two skylights and many windows that we have in the house. It could also be that I really have a green thumb and treat these plants nicely.

Because of my love for the plants, I decided to purchase some seeds off of ebay. For about $5 I got 10 Madagascar Palm seeds and 50 Mexican Fan Palm seeds. It took me over 5 months, but I finally got myself organized about two weeks ago. I have a seed planter, perlite, moss, and a heating pad to grow my seeds and with the help of my dad I became a farmer.

I only planted about half of them because I didn't want to . Today I checked on them and at first I was initially dismayed. The moss that I purchased was supposed to be sterile but sadly there was some fungus in it. This was evidenced by the yellow hyphae growing out of my moss. However, there were 3 Madagascar seeds that have germinated. In less than two weeks I have 3 plants that are growing. The instructions I got on ebay said that it was going to take at LEAST 6 weeks. Either I'm incredibly amazing or the sheets were just a 'stock' form of information.

Now, I just have to deal with the fungus problem. I have to go to a greenhouse tomorrow and look for some Anti-Fungal Spray. That will be the only way I think that I can salvage my seeds that have not germinated. For the plants that have germinated I think I will transport them to another location as to not get infected anymore by that evil fungus.

Can you tell I'm obsessed?

1 Comments:

At 8:18 PM, Blogger Chauntille said...

I have a fungus problem too.... it's growing on my body. Yep, good ol' ringworm. That's what I get for touching people all day long. But have no fear -- my treatment is under way. Good thing I know a doctor or two, huh?

On another note, I had no idea that all those plants in the house were yours! I just assumed they were your parents. You'll have to teach me a thing or two -- I can't manage to keep my plant healthy. I'll be waiting for my first lesson.

 

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