Plants and Flowers

Encouraging these plants to bloom often depends only on sunlight, water and especially the age of your variety. Some cactus plants are ready to bloom in just a few years, and others need even decades before making their first flowers. If you are waiting for flowers, you should know that there many varieties which almost never bloom in room conditions. You shouldn’t think of cactus and succulent plants as some sort of garden vegetables in pots. Such considerations for garden plants as sunlight, water and soil nutrients are very important, but even sufficient amount of all this components not always can give desired results. These things really encourage flowers, but you should also remember about the specialized needs of succulent and cactus plants. The main thing to remember is seasonal changes and appropriate sunlight, water and soil nutrients.

Sunlight is very important in the growing seasons, and the amount of sun light for different species of cacti will also differ. Sunlight is the first thing to try for succulents which seem unwilling to bloom: find the brighter place for the plant. Most species will flower better if light is lowered during the winter period and then increased in the spring. If cactus plants are rather old to bloom but haven’t produced flowers yet, sun will also be the first and best thing to try.

The next step is to put roots in the correct way. There are many methods, but many experienced gardeners prefer using grafting tape. Ask somebody to help you: let he hold the roots in place, while you will wrap the grafting tape around the rock gently tightly, so that it cover the rock entirely except for the bottom, were the roots will go into the soil. Also check that there are no uncovered holes where roots can get through from holes in the grafting tape where they shouldn’t be.
When you have set roots, ensure that all of them are seen at bottom of the rock and then cover them with sand. The tree should be planted so that there are no visible parts of the rock.
The next important step is to water the tree and then just leave it in the pot for one to two years. The roots which may seem small and weak initially only in one season they will become thick and provided you have put the tree in the right place, will give you real pleasure.
In case when the plant grows fast or you have no patience, you may leave it for one year. If you get the plant out of the soil and see that roots haven’t thicken properly, you can just plant it back and wait for one more year.

First of all you will need suitable rock (for, example, Japanese Ibigawa Rock); plant which can be grown in root over rock style (Ficus Microcarpa); scissors; branch cutters; Bonsai secateurs; knife and clean sand.
When the roots of the tree are long enough, cut off all unneeded leaves and wash all soil that is possible taking care not to injure the roots. Remove soil at first, and then wash with a usual garden hose.
Next, take the rock and your tree and place it over the rock. From here on, choose what positions will looks best. Do not place all of the roots in one place, as your bonsai should be viewed from different directions. Find the interesting part of the rock and put the roots of the tree into these cracks – so that the finished bonsai looks naturally. You can even bind thin and undeveloped roots, which can merge together.

Bonsai is that very garden art which tries to imitate the objects and processes seen in nature. For this reason ‘root over rock’ style has been widely spread among bonsai-lovers. The roots of trees grown in this style are forced to ‘cling’ to and grasp a rock - and then to disappear into the soil. This style imitates growing of a tree in a small rock cleft when the tree tries to find more nutrients. When the roots get into soil, they harden up and grow ‘around’ the rock and the roots start to act as the tree’s trunk.

The first step for a ‘root on rock’ style is to prepare everything necessary. In this case plant and rock are equally important: you should find a suitable rock for this planting that looks attractive, natural and has suitable size for your plant. The tree which you are going to use should also be healthy and have extensive root system. You will need a plant with long, strong roots that will grow over the rock. If your plant does not have a very long root system, you can encourage growing of roots by planting the tree in a tall thin pot. Grow the tree for about a year until it will have long enough roots.

Pollen of the most ancient known to modern science orchid was found by group of paleontologists led by doctor Santiago R. Ramirez from Harvard University, USA.

Pollen of the dyed out species of orchids Meliorchis caribea has been found out in a piece of amber on a back of bee Proplebeia dominicana (these primitive bees without stings, also have not lived up to now). Scientists date this valuable find to 15-20 million years ago (Miocene epoch). The found pollen throws some light on early evolution of orchids. It is supposed that rapid speciation of orchids began at the end of the cretaceous period, 76-84 million years ago, after the mass extinction of many species, including dinosaurs, and the scale changes in ecosystems. The most interesting is question about ways of flower formation as quite often they are restricted to the only kind of an insect - pollinator.

Most people who are going to grow succulents or cactus plants in usual flower pots think that the clay pot are better than simple and cheap plastic ones. All this just depends on personal preference and individual habits. Any pot, plastic, plain clay or glazed clay pots will be good provided it has a hole in the bottom for water drainage. In any case, it is very important that the roots never soak for long time in standing water and avoid leaving standing water in a dish under a pot.
Roots need space to grow and the size of the pot is important as in case with any other pot plant. Often it is better to leave some space for the roots to grow than to try and take small one. It’s true that a smaller container will dry out more quickly, but if the roots are restricted in growth, it will put the plant at risk of a fungal infection. In fact, there are only several species which need to be restricted in pot, because they used to grow in the restricted spaces in rocks in nature, but most varieties are thrive when have a lot of space for growth.

Location is vital for any plant and it is often wrong belief that every succulent or cactus needs a lot of sun and should be placed in the sunniest south window of our apartment. Some varieties really will thrive in a south window but many of popular species will do better in an east or west window without full sun. If the plant is a partial shade lover, an enormous amount of sun can lead to some significant problems. Too much bright sunlight during the winter in warm indoor conditions can force some species to grow far too soon, as in spring period; other possible negative consequences include excessive dehydration and damage of the plant with sunburns. If cactus in your room continues to dry out too fast because of excessive sunlight, it needs to be watered to compensate for this condition and the plant will soon rot because of being over stressed. It is important to remember about natural habitat of your plant: some species grow out in open desolate places with plenty of full sun and other species do well in the partial shade of rocks, trees and grass. There are many exceptions, but you should try to create conditions close to its natural. The fewer spines the more shade and if a plant is more densely covered with spines it should have a brighter sunny location available. One of the best ways to determine the light demands for a succulent or cactus is to know the its name and learn about its growing conditions.