marco
12-12-2007, 10:54 AM
Inside the entrance to our home we've got an exposed ledge above a closet that stands free about 8 ' from the ground.
A few years ago, when my wife remodeled the living room she thought it would be pretty cool to buy these big black bamboo decorative ' ladders ' to adorn the wall behind our living areas.
I decided that if we're going to spend bucco $$$ on ladders that I'm never going to be able to climb, that I may as well buy one more and put it under the 8' aforementioned ledge. Then of course I'd have to work tirelessly to grow something, ( I chose 'pothos vine') to grow 'down the ladder' to create a show of 'green' for us, and for house guests who should walk by it on their way to the can.
Well, the ladder thing in and of itself looks nice. And the pothos that had been growing well in another location had been moved to the 8' ledge and into a terra cotta planter. All went very well for about 2 years......and then
nothing!
The pothos stopped growing 'downward' after only reaching about 18" in length.
And granted, I was somewhat worried about the amount of 'quality' light available for ANY plant. There is a small window in the vicinity of the plant, but the exterior overhang of the eves blocks any real good refection.
So what I did was go out and buy a little directional 10 watt spot light with a 'honeycomb' filter.
I mounted it on the ladder about 3 'steps' from the top rung, and to hide it, I ran the cord inside the hollow interior of the bamboo to the floor.
So here I am now. Sigh........
I'm not ready by any means to give up on the idea of 'greening up the ladder', especially now since I've gone to the trouble of electifying the thing and all.
Anyone have any successes with OTHER interior vines that they've had grown in this manner?
In low light conditions year round, with varying humidity depending on season and temps ranging between 65 and 90 F ? (We're old fashioned. We open doors and windows in summer. Have lots of shade trees and breeze. Use as little A.C. as possible)
Maybe I did something wrong with the soil?
I thought I used a fairly 'lightweight' mix with perlite.
What soil would you ( or did you ) use ) ?
A few years ago, when my wife remodeled the living room she thought it would be pretty cool to buy these big black bamboo decorative ' ladders ' to adorn the wall behind our living areas.
I decided that if we're going to spend bucco $$$ on ladders that I'm never going to be able to climb, that I may as well buy one more and put it under the 8' aforementioned ledge. Then of course I'd have to work tirelessly to grow something, ( I chose 'pothos vine') to grow 'down the ladder' to create a show of 'green' for us, and for house guests who should walk by it on their way to the can.
Well, the ladder thing in and of itself looks nice. And the pothos that had been growing well in another location had been moved to the 8' ledge and into a terra cotta planter. All went very well for about 2 years......and then
nothing!
The pothos stopped growing 'downward' after only reaching about 18" in length.
And granted, I was somewhat worried about the amount of 'quality' light available for ANY plant. There is a small window in the vicinity of the plant, but the exterior overhang of the eves blocks any real good refection.
So what I did was go out and buy a little directional 10 watt spot light with a 'honeycomb' filter.
I mounted it on the ladder about 3 'steps' from the top rung, and to hide it, I ran the cord inside the hollow interior of the bamboo to the floor.
So here I am now. Sigh........
I'm not ready by any means to give up on the idea of 'greening up the ladder', especially now since I've gone to the trouble of electifying the thing and all.
Anyone have any successes with OTHER interior vines that they've had grown in this manner?
In low light conditions year round, with varying humidity depending on season and temps ranging between 65 and 90 F ? (We're old fashioned. We open doors and windows in summer. Have lots of shade trees and breeze. Use as little A.C. as possible)
Maybe I did something wrong with the soil?
I thought I used a fairly 'lightweight' mix with perlite.
What soil would you ( or did you ) use ) ?