Vine maintenance

Today it seems B... and Curator J... had not planned anything for me to do. So we all scratched our heads, so to speak, for a few minutes while Al and B considered the possibilities. Finally, we decided there are several plants, particularly on the vine bench, in need of cleaning. The scale insects and subsequent black sooty mold collect on the leaves and decrease the plant’s vigor. And, the black curled leaves are unsightly.

I collected three of the vines and brought them outside to the little courtyard next to the workroom. Outside I was able to freely move around the plants scrubbing off the mold and the scale insects. The most affected vine was the Thunbergia mysorensis. The other two vines were Euphorbia heterophylla (Mexican fire plant) and Tetrastigma voinierianum (chestnut vine).

After cleaning, pruning, and repositioning the vines, B mentioned the Zamia plants across from the vines were also heavily infested with scale insects and sooty mold. I spent the last half hour cleaning two of the small plants. But, there are more on the bench in need of cleaning. I will add them to my list for next week.

Meanwhile, spring continues in the greenhouse. These plants are all located close to the vine bench. Two of them are close to my heart:

On the left is Medinilla magnifica from Asia; on the right is Begonia brevirimosa from Malaysia.

Sidenote: B told me that the new student-worker V... had caught a cockroach in the hall. He brought it into the greenhouse and fed it to one of the pitcher plants!