Passiflora Incense Repotting Adventure

Around 10:00 AM, R and I went to Home Depot in her vehicle which, being pirates for the day, we dubbed the Rusty Barnacle. After spending enormous amounts of money (well, for grad students, anyway) at Home Depot, Costco, Trader Joe's, and some cafe whose name now eludes me, we eventually found our way back to my shady little housing complex. Thence the main action in our Repotting Adventure commenced.


Passiflora Incense: Repotting setup

We first thoroughly wet the soil of our Passiflora Incense starts in the 3-inch pots they came in. They were already rootbound, but we weren't too worried since most passiflora are hardy little buggers. Then we filled our 10-inch plastic planters with potting soil and some granulated fertilizer (15-30-15).


Passiflora Incense: R weaving twine around bamboo trellis

After making a depression in the potting soil and sticking in some additional granulated fertilizer in the hole, we plopped the roots of each Passiflora Incense plant in, then added more potting soil on and around the base of each plant.


Passiflora Incense: R finishing last twining job

Next, we stuck in bamboo trellises and deeply watered M's and my plant and misted each plants' leaves. We didn't water R's plant since R would drive home and then water the prisoner there.

Yar! Then came time for a test: the test of a skill all good pirates should have, the ability to work with rope; well, in this case it was wussy twine, but you get the picture. R carefully wove twine in a zig-zag pattern around the trellises, and though the salty tar needs to work on knotting, everything came out okay.

Here is a pic of M's plant. It currently reaches just below 5 twine X's down from the top.


Passiflora Incense: M's finished repotting job

R's plant reaches around 7 twine X's down from the top of the bamboo trellis.


Passiflora Incense - R's finished repotting job

My glorious passiflora reaches 4 twine X's down from the top of the bamboo trellis.


Passiflora Incense: My plant's finished repotting job

Now here are the 3 passies before they are cruelly separated, never to see each other again.


Passiflora Incense: The Three Amigos, happy as stoats in their new homes. From left to right, R's, M's, and my plant.

R helped me move the remaining prisoners to the sunny "deck" in front of my cabin. I later tied our rescued Tillandsia ? onto the side of my plant's trellis. Then R sailed off in the Rusty Barnacle. Hopefully R will update me on whether the captive survived the trip.

But my adventure did not end. No, it did not. I spent the next hour cutting a rough window screen for my suite's bathroom, as it appears someone in the housing complex, before I moved in, may have stolen the window screen to fit in their own room's window.


Passiflora Incense: My plant in its semi-permanent home in the sun with Tillandsia ? on the side.

I'd take a picture of my handiwork, but it looks awful. I wasted a lot of packing tape to stick the screen up on the outside wall of the bathroom, and it shows. One of my fellow pirates in the unit saw the work and laughed.

My intent is to shame the scurvy dogs who manage my building into doing the maintence work I requested more than a month ago, which includes installing a window screen in the bathroom window. The reason I consider the matter somewhat urgent is that I just killed 2 mosquitoes last night in the bathroom.

Mysterious tree on Del Playa

One day during my morning constitutional I saw a weird looking tree growing along that party row known as Del Playa. It was still slightly dark so I couldn't believe my eyes when I beheld this tree that looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.


Puffball Tree on Del Playa

I had forgotten to bring my camera, so today I went back and shot pictures of the tree during lighter conditions. It's not really called a puffball tree, but I couldn't figure out a more eloquent way of describing its blossoms.


Puffballs blossoms up close

Passiflora Incense -- 3 plants via ebay

Passiflora Incense is supposedly one of the fragrant Passiflora varieties. I'm a sucker for fragrant plants, so I searched around for a cheap local supplier. No such luck. Instead, I turned to Ebay.


Passiflora Incense starts: all 3, 1 day after getting them in the email.

Here are 3 passiflora I got in a Dutch auction on Ebay. It was $3.50 + $6.00 S&H total for the 3 plants. Two other people in my lab group (R & M) will be raising plants along with me.

The plant I picked out came with a smooshed purple flower. Very sad, but as soon as I repot all the plants hopefully the growth will pick up again.


Passiflora Incense - My plant

Here's M's plant. It is slightly shorter than the other 2 plants, but its leaves are healthier than mine. Growth along its tip has also rapidly developed since the plant was freed from its packaging.


Passiflora Incense - M's plant

Lastly here is R's plant. Its leaves are very healthy too, but I'm worried since the soil it came packed with seems to have overturned a bit during shipping and I see a few roots showing.


Passiflora Incense - R's plant

I'll be less anxious once L and I repot the Passiflora Incense on Saturday after a trip to the local Home Depot for gardening supplies.

L's Garden Checkpoint 2 -- 2 weeks later

Well, here we are, about 2 weeks later. L's garden has certainly changed a bit. L had P take the following pictures, as I was unable to return to L's place and take them myself. Below is L's Mountain Apple Tree, with its lush foliage.


Mountain Apple Tree

I'm not sure, but this might be the flower bud I saw 2 weeks ago but hadn't opened yet. Here it is now, all by its lonesome self amid the Mountain Apple leaves.


Mountain Apple Tree blossom

One noticeable difference in L's garden is the state of the Michelia x Alba L bought for E. Its leaves have lightened and are drooping considerably. Is it iron chlorosis? Whatever it is, it seems to be bad. Maybe it's some other mineral deficiency.


Unhappy Michelia x Alba

I saved the most important pics for last. Yes, that's right, the tomato plant pics!

This Russian black tomato is growing slowly. There are very few flowers, and I'm wondering if it's the fact that it's in the container. Perhaps it is just because it is a later maturing tomato plant?


Heirloom Tomato: Black Seaman

Next up is the Italian tomato Principe Borghese. L tells me this is the only other plant growing tomatoes right now, aside from the cherry tomato. It isn't growing very tall, but is certainly growing bushy.


Heirloom Tomato: Principe Borghese

The ?Lebanese? variety Omar's Lebanese seems to be growing the most robustly out of all the non-cherry tomato plants. L has yet to see any fruit, but the plant sure does look healthy. I was afraid the container size was hindering the size of the tomato plants too much, but this picture reassures me that that's not the case. Omar's Lebanese tomatoes are supposed to grow big.


Heirloom Tomato: Omar's Lebanese

Here's another short tomato plant, but I've heard the French Carmello can produce fruit in cooler temperatures than most other tomatoes. August will still be sunny and hot, as will most of September, so the tomatoes still have time.

To the left of the Carmello plant is a container containing Ping Tung eggplant seedlings that L germinated earlier. We don't have too much hope that the eggplant will actually be able to fruit before the cold kills it, since eggplants require more sun and heat than tomatoes.


Hybrid Tomato: Carmello

The most prolific plant, as anticipated, is the cherry tomato hybrid Sweet Millions. Its foliage still droops, but the plant looks healthy. More flowers are setting, and more fruit appearing. No fruit have ripened yet, though. Hopefully within another 2 weeks the earliest fruits will start to ripen.


Hybrid Tomato: Sweet Millions

The saddest plant is the heirloom Aunt Ruby's German Green. The plant looks much more sickly than it did 2 weeks ago. L thinks it is because it was stuck in an area that received much more sun and heat, but I think it might be some wilt or other disease. I hope I'm wrong, since those conditions are contagious.


Heirloom Tomato: A sickly Aunt Ruby's German Green

If the tomato plant doesn't recover within the next few weeks, L will likely toss the plant to prevent infecting the others.

Tillandsia and its pink blush

Lately I've been noticing how our Tillandsia, rescued from atop a garbage can, is slowly developing a pink/magenta blush along the areas where leaves meet.


Tillandsia - perched between wooden boards.

I'm hoping this is just an indication that it is recovering from its ordeal. I was also hoping that it would give me a clue as to what precise Tillandsia it is, but so far I'm still unable to identify it.


Tillandsia -- pink blush developing along base/stem

Isla Vista passiflora running rampant

One morning I was out for a walk and spied many unripe fruit that looked like passionfruit hanging amid a profusion of vines. I walked closer, and lo and behold, I discovered it really was a passiflora vine.


Massive passiflora in I.V.

The house/lot where the passiflora vine (vines?) is growing doesn't appear to be currently lived in. It looks like some remodeling is being done on the outside.


Passiflora fruits, pic 1

I took these pictures because I think the passiflora is passiflora edulis, the same as L's vine. But L's only has one measly fruit, whereas the vine in these pictures has so many.


Passiflora fruits, pic 2

I think L ought to help her passionfruit vine along with the pollination.


Passiflora fruits, pic 3

Even though L's vine is in a container, it has been producing many flowers, so I think L's vine has a chance at better fruit production.


Passiflora fruits, pic 4 (up close)

I'd like to take one of these fruits once they mature and save the seeds to start a plant of my own.

Mystery -- Disappearing oregano seedlings...

L told me just the other day that one small compartment of oregano seedlings has disappeared. Likely some pest ate them all up. I hope she starts sowing some more. I guess oregano are only hardy, thriving plants once they grow past the small seedling stage.

Random tomato growing on campus

A month ago my labmate R and I were walking back to the lab when we spied a mass of green growing amid a background of dusty brown mulch. It was a tomato, thriving in spite of neglect!


Random tomato plant: by the physics building on the UCSB campus

We're puzzled why we didn't notice it earlier since we often walk by the physics building Broida Hall on the way to/from the lab. I had always thought that the tangle of green on that brown patch of mulch was a weed, and had never looked closely at it until that fateful moment when R noticed and said: hey, there are tomatoes growing off that plant.


Nice healthy tomatoes up close

The tomato plant hasn't been staked, but its many fruit are looking very healthy. I have seen some ants crawling on the fruit surface, but nothing else. I can only hope L's tomatoes grow as well.

A new plant!

My labmate R was walking to the bus to get to the lab today when she spied a trashcan with garden waste piled on top. Included in that pile were tillandsia, part of the Bromeliad family.


Tillandsia ?? -- bad lighting pic

Tillandsias are weird plants -- they are often found growing on trees and rocks, and are epiphytic, so they don't require soil. They do, however, still need to be watered and still need nutrients.


Tillandsia ?? -- outside on concrete

We're hoping this tillandsia cutting survives. Tillandsia roots are used only for securing the plant to some anchor; it's the scales on the leaves that absorb water and nutrients.

If anyone can identify this tillandsia, we'd be very grateful. Otherwise, we'll have to wait until it flowers.

Garden pics -- first checkpoint

These photos were taken in the early afternoon on Sat., July 16 2005. They are intended for charting our garden's progress, especially that of the tomatoes. By this time the tomato seedlings we received are about 2-3 weeks old.

Click on an image for a higher resolution view.


Neighbor's Passiflora Caerulea (vine), Bleeding Heart Vine

The across-the-wall neighbor's passionfruit (golden/orange-skinned with scarlet pulp) is extremely prolific. Hopefully our Passiflora Edulis (purple skinned) will also do well in this area.


Common Area -- side plot next to house; waiting to be gardened?

We'd really like to use this side area near the house for additional gardening, but technically it is designated as part of the "common area". I don't think anyone will mind, though, as it is closest to our house. It's just something that needs to be brought up at the HOA meeting.


白玉蘭: Michelia x. Alba

This plant, native to China, produces highly fragrant flowers. It is expensive in the U.S. as it is difficult to start from seed. Also known as the White Champak, and occasionally though erroneously known as the Michelia Champaca Alba, it can grow > 20 feet. L will be pruning it regularly once it gets bigger. Hopefully in 3 years we'll have a profusion of creamy white flowers from this plant to scent up the air. L still doesn't know where to stick it.


含笑: Young Michelia Figo (Banana Shrub)

The banana shrub is another highly fragrant plant from China, related to the prior plant. When we were at the Black Pearl Nursery, the manager snipped off a flower for us to smell; since it was before noon, we couldn't smell anything. One hour later, as we were preparing to leave and the sun was out in full blast, we sniffed the flower and it was pretty potent. It had a strong banana smell, but if one stuck it too close to her nose, it was too strong and had this almost nail-polish-remover-like smell.


Star/Confederate Jasmine (Trachelospermum Jasminoides)

We wanted a quick-growing scented plant to provide some cover on the fence, so we got this star jasmine, another fragrant plant native to China. It isn't a real jasmine, but smells nice.


Started from seed: Taiwanese Ping Tung eggplant, certified organic Sweet Genovese Basil and Greek Oregano

I got L some certified organic seeds (whatever that means when it comes to seeds) to plant; the developer planted numerous rosemary and lavender and some kind of allium clumps around the housing complex, so I thought L should plant other herbs. The eggplant seeds I got just because I like eggplant and it's somewhat expensive to buy in the supermarket.


Front steps container plants

L doesn't have as much garden space as E, so she's settling for a small container garden at the moment. She wants to get nicer pots for the front door. There is a small jade tree plant, a dwarf gardenia, and 2 other plants she should comment on here.


Another common area side plot next to house -- overgrown with lavender.

If L could rip out the unknown tree currently in this small plot to the right of her front steps, she could plant her Michelia Alba here, and her herbs as well. The lavender and another bushy evergreen shrub have overrun the area and look bad. L will have to speak to the other homeowners to get their approval.


Walkway to E's house.

The common area walkways are lined with rosemary, osmanthus, and lavender plants, as well as bleeding heart vines.


Plumeria cutting -- waiting to root.

Here's a plumeria/frangipani cutting that we're hopeful but doubtful will root. We could've bought a rooted cutting in the nursery, but that would've been > $60 bucks. The cutting was about $4 shipped from Hawaii, so it's no big loss if it joins the other cuttings that rotted.


Another jasmine -- young cutting.

L needs to tell me what kind of jasmine this is. I think it's a true jasmine -- a popcorn jasmine?


Heirloom tomato plant surrounded by rosemary plants.

Heh here's a tomato we stuck in a dirt plot lining the walkway. It is surrounded by woody rosemary plants. We've even ripped out several rosemary plants, and they still are all over the place.


Closeup: Aunt Ruby's German Green plant

Here's a closeup of the heirloom tomato plant shown earlier -- it is green with an amber blush when ripe, Aunt Ruby's German Green.


Golden-leafed false heather plant

More ground cover that L bought on a whim from the nursery.


Front plot of land, to the right of E's front steps

L planted gardenia ('Mystery') and chrysanthemums here in front of E's house, not that the ungrateful lout appreciates it. The gardenia scent wafts strongly in the breeze.


米仔蘭: Aglaia Odorata (Chinese Rice Flower AKA Mock Lime) -- tiny fragrant yellow flowers.

Two Aglaia odorata surround E's front door. I've heard they grow very slowly and prefer shade/filtered sun.


E's front steps: orchid in pot

I don't know where the orchid in the pot came from. L needs to comment.



Various plants planted before move-in by developer

We only ripped out 1 rosemary plant from this area, as it looks nice. The developer hired gardeners who planted cheap, fast growing plants to fill out the area. Technically these plots of land right near E's place are the common area, but since he's at the end of the complex I doubt many people will complain about our modifications.


蓮霧: Mountain Apple Tree

Here's the first pic of E's garden. L purchased several Asian fruit trees to plant here. This is a mountain apple tree -- the fruit shape has always reminded me of a cross between a red apple and a red bell pepper. I've had the fruit before in Taiwan -- not bad at all.


白玉蘭: E's Michelia x. Alba

L got E his own Michelia Alba, not that he realizes how wonderful the plant's blossoms will smell in a few years. Lout!


E's backyard -- unknown tree planted by developer

We have no idea what trees these are, and the developer never told us. It's no use going to the original gardeners, as they have been replaced. Sigh. I'd like to uproot them and plant another fragrant or fruiting tree.


Picture from lawn facing cement patio area.

Here's a bad picture of the patio area. We've decided to keep most of the garden a nice flat grassy area, but plant along certain areas of the patio and in containers. It took me and L and her mother a long time to uproot the original shrubs and make the trek down to the dumpsters. Yeah, you can guess whose job that was. E had, fortuitously for him, disappeared that day.


Assorted container plants purchased by L; guava tree planted in soil, as well as another gardenia ('Mystery')

L went crazy one day and bought a bunch of flowers to brighten up the area after filling it in with rocks. The guava tree yields white-fleshed guavas.


More colorful flowers in pots.

I don't know what these plants are. L should comment.

Update: The white flowers flowers are lilies, and the one toward the back next to the colorful medley of flowers is a Texas bluebell called 'Mariachi Blue.' The purple/magenta flowers are chrysanthemums. L let her mother pick the colorful flower mix. You can barely see them, but L stuck a small Gardenia Radicans plant into the ground. It currently isn't blooming.


Strawberry guava tree

Here is the other guava tree L nurtured on her balcony at the old place. The fruit from this tree has dark pink flesh.


Plumeria cutting 2 -- may not survive.

Again, another lone plumeria cutting trying to root.


龍眼: Longan tree in foreground along with Bleeding Heart vines; 蘆橘/枇杷: loquat tree in back.

Longan and loquat trees are planted in the center. In a few years hopefully L will never have to buy these fruits from the supermarket again.

In the back up against the patio is a dahlia plant, and to its right is another lily.


Look at neighbor's behind-the-patio garden area -- this was what our behind the patio garden area looked like before we ripped out the plants and filled it with rocks.

This picture shows what the strip of land where L's longan tree is planted looked like before E moved into his new house. It turns out the job the contractors did on finishing the side of the cement patio was awful, so they told the gardeners to truck in some bushy plants to cover the damage. Geez.


Pepper plant (will yield tiny purple peppers)

What edible pepper is this? L got this from a coworker?


Left extension of Passiflora Edulis

Here's the leftmost part of the passiflora edulis, extending several feet from where the main plant stems are.


Passiflora Edulis (purple passionfruit vine)

This passionfruit vine is thriving in the California weather; it has produced many blooms that drop off in 24 hours, but so far not many fruits. I guess the bees aren't coming around here much or aren't attracted by our passiflora.


First passionfruit off this plant -- hiding behind grille

Here's the lone fruit from this vine. We may not even be able to eat is since it might drop off into the driveway area.


Side view of hiding passionfruit

Another more revealing view of the lone hiding passionfruit.


Passiflora Edulis -- one open blossom

Passiflora blossoms look weird. My coworker loves them; she calls them alien flowers.


Closeup -- Passiflora Edulis blossom 2

Here's a nicer picture.


Closeup -- Passiflora Edulis blossom 2, side view

And a side view.


More Passiflora Edulis, another pepper plant in far right corner (tiny green peppers turn red).

In the right corner is a pepper plant L had tended on her balcony at the old place. She said it is growing wonderfully in its new spot.


Black Sea Man Heirloom tomato (Russian variety)

Now comes a series of tomato plants, growing in containers. This is a Black Sea Man heirloom tomato, a Russian variety.


Principe Borghese Heirloom tomato plant (Italian)

This is Principe Borghese, and Italian variety that is supposed to be good as sun-dried tomatoes.


Omar's Lebanese Heirloom tomato plant (Lebanese variety?)

Omar's Lebanese are supposed to grow great hulking tomatoes. Not sure how big they'll get when growing in containers.


Carmello Hybrid tomato plant (French variety)

Carmello is a popular French variety.


Sweet Millions hybrid cherry tomato plant

Here's the only cherry of the bunch, Sweet Millions, a quick growing cherry tomato plant. Unfortunately, it appears to be suffering from something. Maybe it needs more water, as it has grown much bigger and faster than the heirlooms.


First cherry tomatoes from Sweet Millions plant

Here are the first fruits of the Sweet Millions hybrid plant. I hope L will be vigilant in guarding the tomatoes from birds and other pests.