Thursday, 23 January 2014

A green house as a greenhouse

I don't usually call this a green house. For a start it's white. I certainly don't want to call it the White House. I think the "green" adjective has been used so variously, vaguely and virulently that it has lost a lot of the power it needs. Also, I'm not so keen on greenhouse gases, which are very clearly defined.

But it is certainly working as a greenhouse. In one sense it is trapping the heat of the sun with it's very own greenhouse effect. Luckily this is not due to a build up of atmospheric carbon dioxide, as we have our own ventilation system. We also have a few house plants.

And the plants are all doing really well, what with the bathing in sunlight and the temperatures kept above freezing. It's amazing how many plants just die when water freezes. Perhaps not all that surprising though. It's even more amazing how many plants survive frost.

We had a Christmas cactus in our old house that had survived for several years, but it flowered for the first time after we moved into this house.

Also since moving, for the first time we have kept a cyclamen alive until the following year. 

We got an avocado going this year too, and it's now about twenty centimetres tall. When growing plants from seed, there is usually a danger of getting over-excited when you see a green shoot coming out, only to be disappointed that it was one of the weeds in the garden that had left its seed in the soil you are using. Since avocado seeds are centimetres across, and you can get them to germinate by placing them in a cup of water, held pointing upright by three cocktail sticks stuck into the sides, there is no danger of getting the wrong plant. It did spend a couple of months in the cup before sprouting roots, then a few weeks in a pot of soil before the growing head broke through, but now it is racing away. 

In the spring we should be able to get a little nursery going to get some seedlings for the garden.