Maintaining and Storing Tropical Plants
Rainy autumn days are perfect for working inside the greenhouses.
I have quite a large collection of warm weather plants at my farm, including citrus trees and other tropical specimens. Because I live in a four-season region, during colder months, it’s vital these plants move indoors, where the temperature and humidity levels can be controlled. Plants that spent the summer at Skylands, my home in Maine, are also brought back to Bedford for storage. Most of them are kept in one of two hoop houses designated specifically for these plants. They are all thriving, and have grown quite well in the last year - some grew too big for their pots, and needed to be removed, trimmed, and repotted into new containers. It’s a tedious process to put all these container plants away, but a very important one that keeps all my plants healthy.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Here is a section of bird’s nest ferns, Asplenium nidus, stored on a new gardening table in my citrus house. As each plant is placed in here for storage, it is inspected, groomed or repotted if necessary, and then placed with other like plants. Bird’s-nest fern is a common name applied to several related species of epiphytic ferns in the genus Asplenium.
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- The bird’s nest fern is known for its tropical fronds that grow out of a central rosette.
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- Bird’s nest ferns reproduce through spores, which appear as little brown spots on the undersides of the fronds.
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- These are all potted, dormant cannas, tropical plants that are often planted for their colorful foliage varieties. In cool climates, canna bulbs are planted each spring, then in fall they are dug up, divided and stored away from the winter chill to be replanted again the next year.
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- Here, Brian uses a long knife to cut around the inside of the pot to loosen the canna plant. Always do this first, so the plant comes out intact and the roots undisturbed.
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- Using his pruners, Brian also cuts down the stems. Transplanting and dividing cannas should be done every few years to prevent overcrowding, disease, and pests.
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- Here is the root ball after it is removed from its former pot and its stems cut back.
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- Like iris plants, canna rhizomes multiply quickly and eventually older rhizomes in the center of the mass can be choked out. Dividing perennial grown cannas keeps them growing in smaller healthier clumps. Brian divides it into smaller manageable pieces.
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- Brian does this for several of the canna plants.
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- He brushes off any soil stuck to the rhizomes so he can see the joints where new rhizomes are growing. They usually break apart cleanly and easily. This one can now be repotted. Each section should have at least one eye and preferably some roots.
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- Here’s Phurba working in a production line process planting all the cannas as they are divided.
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- This greenhouse is called the “citrus” house, where I store my citrus collection and other tropicals needing similar conditions. It is covered with heavy-duty, woven polyethylene that features an anti-condensate additive to reduce moisture buildup and dripping. It is also covered with a layer that contains UV additives that allow the fabric to maintain its strength. This greenhouse works by heating and circulating air to create an artificial tropical environment.
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- A heater in the back of the hoop house keeps the space warm. And, like many hoop houses and greenhouses, light from the sun enters the plastic and is trapped, keeping the interior several degrees warmer than the exterior.
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- This greenhouse is also equipped with three circulation fans.
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- Brian and Phurba also tend to the alocasias. Alocasia is a genus of broad-leaved, rhizomatous, or tuberous perennial flowering plants from the family Araceae. There are 97 accepted species native to tropical and subtropical Asia and Eastern Australia. Around the world, many growers widely cultivate a range of hybrids and cultivars.
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- Alocasias are known for their distinctive and stunning foliage – broad heart or arrowhead-shaped, textured leaves that feature flat or wavy edges.
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- Norfolk Island pine trees, Araucaria heterophylla, make great houseplants. They are native to the South Pacific, so Norfolk Island pines prefer warmer, wetter climates between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit – similar needs as my citrus trees.
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- The foliage is medium green and needlelike with an awl shape.
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- The foliage of philodendrons is usually green but may be coppery, red, or purplish with parallel leaf veins that are green or sometimes red or white. Shape, size, and texture of the leaves vary considerably, depending on species and maturity of the plant. I have many philodendrons that are growing so well here at Bedford.
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- All varieties of Philodendron produce what are called aerial roots. These roots grow above the soil off the stems of the plant and are meant to help stabilize the plant as it grows.
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- And here is one of several sword ferns, Polystichum munitum, the western swordfern, is an evergreen fern native to western North America, where it is one of the most abundant ferns. Each day, more and more plants are stored in the greenhouses all set for the winter ahead. We still have a lot more to put indoors, but I am glad we’re getting it all done quickly, neatly, and efficiently.
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