Vine maintenane

The temperature outside was 94F degrees, and very muggy, as I cycled home from the GH. But, while riding a bicycle there is a natural, built-in breeze which made me feel cooler. The mugginess was  notable at the GH too, where the rainforest rooms were especially warm and muggy. Surprisingly, the desert rooms felt cooler and drier than the outside air! 

My first task was to repot a climbing clematis vine in room C1, it had become completely root-bound in its small 9-inch pot. I replaced the pot with a 12-inch deep pot to give the expanding roots extra room. We used arid soil mix to provide good drainage. The vine had been growing up one of the I-beams which support the roof of the GH. I couldn’t take down the vine, so I had to repot the plant in situ. To complete the task, B found an eight-foot ladder from the maintenance crew, which I used to train the vine along a stainless steel cable - which had been installed for that purpose. 

Since I had the ladder already, I also tidied up the climbing vines in room C2. In particular I spent almost an hour pruning a climbing palm onto a steel cable on the vine bench.

Just before hopping back onto the bike for the return ride, I had been picking up leaves and pruning back large plants in the display rooms 1 through 4. There wasn’t much to collect, one large bucket worth, but I think the rooms looked just a bit tidier after the clean-up.