What do you do in winter  Solved

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Rene G
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What do you do in winter

Post by Rene G »

What can you do in the winter, when its cold and the last Mesems are goin to sleep? The greenhouse is not very inviting, so keep warm, do some re-potting may be and check for reliable seed supliers, I gues? Oh, and check the heater ocasionally! But what else is there to do?
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Tony R
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Re: What do you do in winter

Post by Tony R »

Rene G wrote:But what else is there to do?
Lots! Yes, I've been busy today ....

1. Repotting plants in the greenhouse (just 50 today)
2. Scanning 'old' journals ready to make available electronically (Haworthiad, for those in the know)
3. Updating some of my talks ready for next year
4. Preparing to cook a 'Chinese Feast' tonight

but the best thing of all to do in the winter is to visit warmer countries looking for succulents (not this year for me though :sad: ).
Tony Roberts
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(Gasteria, Mammillaria, small Opuntia, Cleistocactus and Sempervivum are my current special interests)
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Peter
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Re: What do you do in winter

Post by Peter »

I go shopping with Mrs T, seeking Christmas presents and cards. I cannot put into words just how happy this makes me feel, especially when kamikaze women head straight for me and slam their shopping trollies into my midriff.

I did try the old dodge, saying that I'd left my wallet at home but fool that I am, she'd put my debit card in her purse when my back was turned.

This has only just started and I'm already exhausted. So many more shopping days to go.....
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iann
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Re: What do you do in winter

Post by iann »

Seeds :)
Cheshire, UK
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Aiko
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Re: What do you do in winter

Post by Aiko »

After bringing all plants indoors for their winter dormancy, and setting up a safekeeping area in the greenhouse for the winter active ones, shopping for seeds is basically my only remaining winter activity between early November and early February.
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JST
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Re: What do you do in winter

Post by JST »

Long overdue housework!
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jfabiao
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Re: What do you do in winter

Post by jfabiao »

Apart from the preparations for the coming season (seeds, mostly), I have a couple of boxes with fluorescent tubes that let me keep some plants ticking over winter, namely grafts I have playing with a lot lately.

Anyway, "winter" is a vastly different concept for us in southern europe and there's always something to do and flowers to see in the greenhouse.
Z

In sunny Lisbon, Portugal.
The Clumsy Gardener
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Re: What do you do in winter

Post by Terry S. »

If you grow a lot of plants from the Mediterranean climate area of South Africa, as I do, then there is still quite a lot of watering to do on bulbs, various mesembs, tylecodons , succulent pelargoniums, bulbines, etc. You have to keep a keen eye out for dead-heading too because botrytis can easily develop on fading flowers. My conophytums are badly in need of attention and I am still repotting some of those, just as long as the temperature is not too low in the shed. In the house, I am busy cleaning and packing seeds for a distribution and winter is the time to prepare new talks. There seem to be reducing numbers of speakers available to BCSS branches and we surviving ones need to produce new Powerpoints so that our local branches can be entertained every couple of years. I have given up field trips because I couldn't ascend big hills any more, so I have to think of increasingly inventive ways to recycle old slide material in combination with new digital images produced at home. Then there is proof reading, grant applications, etc. etc. Are there enough hours in the day?
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Hedge
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Re: What do you do in winter

Post by Hedge »

I do what the cacti do, and SLEEP
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Phil_SK
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Re: What do you do in winter

Post by Phil_SK »

Seed list browsing in Oct/Nov, seed sowing in late Jan. Lots of reading. No repotting until March as cold compost makes my fingers white and numb very quickly.
It's quite nice to forget all about the plants in the greenhouse as it makes the time spent rediscovering them in spring all the more enjoyable.
Phil Crewe, BCSS 38143. Mostly S. American cacti, esp. Lobivia, Sulcorebutia and little Opuntia
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