Repotting succulents from Africa

Both Director A... and B... were back in the greenhouse this week, having been away last week.

My first task was to pot a couple of cactus-like plants in the aster family: Kleinia pendula (inchworm plant); and K stapeliiformis (pickle plant). Both are finger-like succulents with spines like a cactus or euphorbia. They originate from Africa. Each variety had approx 8 10-inch stems which (previously calloused overnight) I inserted into an arid mix, all in one terra cotta pot. The plants were donated by Madison (I assume UW at Madison WI). I was asked to bury a label deep in the base of each pot with the plant’s name, date, and my initials.

I also repotted a couple of small agave-like plants in the asparagus family, which originate from S. America: Furcraea guerrerensis. They were each planted into 6-inch terracotta pots with an arid mix. The plants were donated by Madison (I assume UW at Madison WI). I was asked to bury a label deep in the base of each pot with the plant’s name, date, and my initials.

I noticed the bin of arid mix was pretty low, almost empty. I refilled the arid mix bin, approximately ⅔ full. I rolled the bin into the well-ventilated hall next to the store room. I mixed the soil with a spade in that hallway because the charcoal is so dusty when agitated. The charcoal dust is overwhelming if mixed in the small storeroom.

During the weekly morning meeting I grabbed a pail and sheers, visiting the display rooms to trim and pick up dead leaves.

Finally, for the day Director A... asked me to shield the vanilla vines from the spray of the nearby mist tent. The vanilla pots were too soggy from the excess spray. Rather than shield the vines using a fabric barrier, we decided to put a shut-off valve on the spray head nearest the vanilla vines (see photo). A showed me to the boxes containing spare parts, located in the store room. The tubing parts are similar to those that I use at home.

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