Getting the ornata cosey for the winter

Olafhenny · 10-06-2014, 08:59 PM

I am writing up the following in great detail, hoping that it contains sliver of information,
which some might not have thought of; after all, see my sig.

The night to the day before yesterday the temperature sank to 3^C (36^F) and a few
days earlier even to 2^C (35^F), While that is still quite alright for my basjoos, which I
usully pack up for the winter only after most of the leaves have frozen off, it was time to
prepare the ornata for the winter in out living room.

The first order of business is to get it out of its summer pot. For that it helps a lot, that I
had used a conical pot without any inside rim. Nevertheless, this is still usually quite a
chore. So I set the spray nozzle of the garden hose on ’jet’ and stuck it in turn into each
of the three drain holes and gave them a 5 to 10 seconds blast.

I rolled the thusly treated pot a couple of times from side to side and before I could
gather my wits enough to take a picture of the procedure, the ornata slipped right out of
the pot.

You can see the empty summer pot on the right and the black winter pot to the left
in this picture, awaiting to be filled. (Click on the thumb print to ’get the picture’)

But before that can happen I had to get rid of that spent soil between the roots. I
used for that again the trusty ‘jet-setting’ of my garden hose. Oh my gosh, look
at all the dirt on my nice grass!

Another thing was also important, to place a sheet of landscaping cloth on the
bottom of the pot. It lets the water through, but keeps all the dirt in. For outdoor
potting I use fly screen

Then I had to fill my patented three buckets of screened compost to one of sphagnum
peat moss potting soil into the pot and between the roots, I did that in several stages,
using plenty water washing it in.

I had to use a hand truck to haul it down 5 steps to the lower part of our yard, where I let
it settle overnight before bringing it to its final destination for the winter.

Here she is, newly established in her winter quarters. Ain’t she a beauty?

If anybody can still remember my photo of last winter, with the deer greedily viewing
the predecessor of this one (the mama meanwhile has bloomed and fruited and was
cut off), this is a deer eye view of the new edition.

Note: I have some time ago met my limit of space allotment for pictures here in
'bananas' and Flickr keeps on changing the method of transferring photos, every time
I open the thing up. What they have come up now is IMOEO a genuine pain, where
the sun does not shine

cincinnana · 10-10-2014, 03:46 PM

Olaf
The root mass and distribution of roots in the container is impressive.
What did you feed those plants to make them do that?

Do you do a soil change every fall?

10-06-2014, 08:59 PM	#1 (permalink)
Olafhenny Olafhenny's Photo Gallery Location: Penticton, BC, Okanagan Valley, Canada Find me on the map! Zone: Hardiness Zone 6 Name: Olaf Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 1,705 BananaBucks : 277,002 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 2,050 Times Was Thanked 2,012 Times in 876 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 77 Times	Getting the ornata cosey for the winter I am writing up the following in great detail, hoping that it contains sliver of information, which some might not have thought of; after all, see my sig. The night to the day before yesterday the temperature sank to 3^C (36^F) and a few days earlier even to 2^C (35^F), While that is still quite alright for my basjoos, which I usully pack up for the winter only after most of the leaves have frozen off, it was time to prepare the ornata for the winter in out living room. The first order of business is to get it out of its summer pot. For that it helps a lot, that I had used a conical pot without any inside rim. Nevertheless, this is still usually quite a chore. So I set the spray nozzle of the garden hose on ’jet’ and stuck it in turn into each of the three drain holes and gave them a 5 to 10 seconds blast. I rolled the thusly treated pot a couple of times from side to side and before I could gather my wits enough to take a picture of the procedure, the ornata slipped right out of the pot. You can see the empty summer pot on the right and the black winter pot to the left in this picture, awaiting to be filled. (Click on the thumb print to ’get the picture’) But before that can happen I had to get rid of that spent soil between the roots. I used for that again the trusty ‘jet-setting’ of my garden hose. Oh my gosh, look at all the dirt on my nice grass! Another thing was also important, to place a sheet of landscaping cloth on the bottom of the pot. It lets the water through, but keeps all the dirt in. For outdoor potting I use fly screen Then I had to fill my patented three buckets of screened compost to one of sphagnum peat moss potting soil into the pot and between the roots, I did that in several stages, using plenty water washing it in. I had to use a hand truck to haul it down 5 steps to the lower part of our yard, where I let it settle overnight before bringing it to its final destination for the winter. Here she is, newly established in her winter quarters. Ain’t she a beauty? If anybody can still remember my photo of last winter, with the deer greedily viewing the predecessor of this one (the mama meanwhile has bloomed and fruited and was cut off), this is a deer eye view of the new edition. Note: I have some time ago met my limit of space allotment for pictures here in 'bananas' and Flickr keeps on changing the method of transferring photos, every time I open the thing up. What they have come up now is IMOEO a genuine pain, where the sun does not shine __________________ The reason I joined this forum was to share experiences, my own and those of others and to learn from them. Last edited by Olafhenny : 10-06-2014 at 09:09 PM. Reason: Add note

10-10-2014, 03:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
cincinnana container grower Location: Southwest Ohio U.S.A.🇺🇸 Find me on the map! Zone: HZ 6/5 Microclimate - Elevation 750 feet- 228.60 meters Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 8,878 BananaBucks : 7,062 Feedback: 7 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,914 Times Was Thanked 11,779 Times in 4,912 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 1,957 Times	Re: Getting the ornata cosey for the winter Olaf The root mass and distribution of roots in the container is impressive. What did you feed those plants to make them do that? Do you do a soil change every fall? __________________ Cincinnana/Hostafarians Photo Gallery 🌴

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