Golden Apple Snails

 

I have written about our water plants and goldfish, but I haven’t mentioned about our golden apple snails. Yes, I have been unfair for not mentioning this very useful animal. I think it is because of the fact that I hate snails, I mean garden snails. They are filthy and slimy suckers that damage plants in the garden, but I must admit that water snails are different………….These snails have creamy yellow flesh that look neat and clean:)

Unlike garden snails that eat plants, apple snails don’t normally eat water plants, although many people will say the opposite! However, from what I see so far, my golden apple snails choose to eat algae, fish food and other rotting plant materials in the water. Slowly they crawl along the sides of the water tub cleaning the surface from algae. Even the edges of the Papyrus pot that was black of algae before now it is pretty clean since I have added the snails. Many times I saw them walk along the water lily stems, underneath the leaves and even on the flower bud without even trying to nibble on them. They love to eat debris that sit on the anacharis/elodea plants without eating them.

Golden Apple snails are one type of water snail species Pomacea bridgesii (= P. Canaliculata). They come in several colours; yellow, blue or yellow and red stripes. Female snails lay a cluster of up to a hundred pinkish eggs on the side of tubs or aquariums near the surface of the water. My snails have never laid eggs before but I hear that big goldfish love to eat baby snails that just hatched. To me it is good as I don’t expect to have too many snails and the population will be under control. They thrive in tropical/semi tropical water and are originally found in South America but have been introduced in many places worldwide. In many tropical countries, they have become introduced pests. For this reason, it is better not to release them in local ponds, lakes or rivers.

Duranta the ‘Geisha Girl’

If you love prolific small purple flowers, perhaps Duranta ‘Geisha Girl” is for you. I have no idea why they name this modern-day cultivar of Duranta repens ‘Geisha Girl”. It could be the fact that this cultivar is originated in Japan.

While Duranta itself is native to Central America and it is classified as tropical or semi tropical plant; Geisha Girl tolerates colder frost-free climate. It is thriving here in Melbourne. If it is left alone it can grow up to 2 meters high, but the weeping branches can be trimmed into more compact and attractive shape. It also can be grown as a standard plant. I trim mine regularly to have a round shape.

Growing requirements for Duranta repens “Geisha Girl”:

• Best to be grown in full sun or partly shade.
• Well drain soil.
• Water regularly until the plant established. Once established it can tolerate drier condition.
• Fertilized with slow released fertiliser about 3 times a year.
• Trim regularly for compact growth and more flowers. The pruning is the best done after finish flowering.
• Tolerates hot or cold climate. If grown in colder climate, protect the plant from frost

The deep purple blue colour with slightly crinkle white edges makes the flowers look very pretty. Duranta ‘Geisha Girl’ is very easy to grow and the small blooms will attract butterflies to visit your garden.

Happy Gardening!!!!

Fresh Salad for Our Goldfish:)

One day I read that all goldfish like to eat “duck-weeds”. In the wild, goldfish eats more underwater greeneries, so I thought it would be a good idea to give them their “fresh salad” as a healthy treat.

I remember that duck-weeds are sold in the water garden shop in Garden World. Few weeks ago, I got a litlle bag of fresh duck-weeds there and it cost me $5.00. Once arrived home, straight away I tip the whole content of the little bag into the tub where we keep 7 goldfish. I was a bit shocked when I saw that those tiny plants spread and they covered most of the empty water surface. It kind of looked ugly and untidy. I never thought that too many duck weeds could fit in that little plastic bag.

The next day, more than half of the duck-weeds were gone already eaten by the goldfish. In 3 days to my relief,  hardly any left and my water garden tub looked nice and tidy again.

Since then, I have bought one more bag of duckweeds but I put them in a separate container with water in it to grow. Everyday, I give about one table spoon of duckweeds to the fish. They eat their fresh salad quickly and greedily:) I feed them much less bought goldfish food.

Duckweed (botanically known as Lemnaceae) is a stemless, aquatic flowering plant. Duckweed is a small and free floating and grows on the surface of still or slow moving water in carpet-like groups. Duckweed produces minute flowers. It is known that this tiny floating plants can act as water purifier against the unsightful green algae.

Update images of our Water Garden taken very recently in February 2010:

The first images are from the Tub Water Garden near the back door. The second images are from near the front door:

My Water Garden – An Update

Both my round tub and water fountain were too small for all the plants and the gold fish. We had moved them in bigger containers. One of the tubs can hold 220 litres and it is located in front of the front door. The other one is smaller (120 litres) and it is in the covered patio near the back door.

My husband built wooden frame around the bigger tub to protect the plastic from the sun in order to make it last longer and also to make it look nicer. I think the goldfishes are much happier now and I notice that they are getting bigger and bigger. I just hope that they will not multiply as we have no place to put them and too many fish will spoil the ecological balance.

Keeping Goldfish Naturally

We have several gold fish outdoor in a big tub and a water fountain. They live healthy and happy in a natural setting without modern filtering system or chemicals added into the water.

Keeping water garden in form of an aquarium or man made pond today rely on technology supports such as chemicals to remove traces of unwanted chlorine from tap water, filtering systems that use electricity and regular water testing. Isn’t it possible to make a living water garden by mimicking the ecological balance of nature? They don’t use all of those complicated gadgets and treatments.

I always question myself how rivers and natural lakes or ponds work for all the fish and the water plants to flourish without manmade technology? Many say that rain water is too soft for the gold fish as it is lacking of minerals so the experts say that it is better to use tap water with chemicals added to remove traces of harmful chlorine.

However, I learned from many articles that the natural balance of aquatic livings can be achieved naturally. Rain water, plants and fish can support each other to create a healthy environment for them to survive.

To live a healthy ecological balance, both water plants and fish can support each other to form a healthy environment. Fish will need oxygen in the water which is provided by submerge plants that act as oxygenators. On the other hands, water plants will need nutrients by feeding the waste that is excreted by the fish. These plants will provide oxygen during the day and absorb carbon dioxide at night. The submerge water plants also act as purifier as it feeds on the waste in the water both from the fish or traces of uneaten food. The most popular submerge oxygenator plants are: Anacharis, Vallisneria, Hornwort, Red Ludwigia, Cabomba. I use anacharis for my water garden.

To add beauty for the water setting and to reduce algae growing rampant in the water, semi floating plant such as water lilies, lotus, nardoo, water poppy or water hawthorn can be added. These plants have the roots submerged in water but the foliage will be on the water surface. The foliage will provide shades for the fish and for reducing algae. These plants will also get the nutrients from the waste in the water so they will help to clear the water. I use water lily for our mini water garden.

Completely floating water plants are also good for reducing algae, providing shelter for fish and the floating roots are also beneficial for cleaning water. Common floating water plants that are used for water garden are water lettuces, duckweeds, water hyacinths or fairy moss.

I use water from our rain water catchment and the only additive that I add to the water is pure sea salt. This is an old practice to help goldfish healthy by preventing fungal diseases and also acts as a tonic for the fish. I use one tea spoon of pure sea salt (or aquarium salt) for every 10 gallon of water (about 37 litres).

To keep the ecological balance, it is important not to keep too many fish. One mature fish for at least every 40 litres of water is desirable. It is also not to over feed, I feed our goldfish once a day with just use enough food for the fish to eat in 3 minutes. After 3 minutes and if there is still some food uneaten, it is better to remove it. It is also needed to trim the water plants to prevent them from overcrowding and to remove dead foliage and roots.

To know if the habitat for both fish and plants is in good balance, the water should stay clear all the time and both the fish and the plants are happy and healthy. If you are planning to have a water garden, it is important to set the plants life going for a week or so before adding fish to establish the growing of beneficial organisms.

If the ecological balance is working there is no need to change water except to add more rain water if the water is low. If the water is loss by evaporation, there is no need to add more sea salt as salt does not evaporate.

A good read on water garden:

http://www.gedye.com.au/culture.html

http://www.greengold.com.au/greengold/CARENOTES/CARENOTES/aquatic%20plants.htm

My other blogs on Goldfish:

https://kiyanti2008.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/my-water-garden-%e2%80%93-an-update/

Latest update today February 10,2010:

After having goldfish for over a year, I’ve found out that keeping goldfish without any chemicals added into the water is possible especially for tubs or ponds outside the house. I keep my goldfish in large tubs and I also have water lily, elodea/anacharis, and marginal water plants. I don’t use tap water at all because I don’t want to use chemical to remove chlorine. Instead I use 100 % rain water as we have many tanks to catch rain water from the gutters.

At first, I did not use filtering system at all , but it was very hard to keep the water clear. I don’t want to use chemical to keep the water clear. So for almost 6 months I have started to use filters that I made them myself to keep the costs minimal.

I use a small submersible water pump for each tub (cost only about $15 – 20 AUD). The pump is connected to a filtering system which consist of  plastic scourers (used for washing dishes), abbrasive pads (also for washing dishes), small pebbles or scorias. I pack these filtering mediums into a plastic drinking bottle with wide neck.

The water from the pump goes to the top of the bottle and runs through filtering mediums and runs out through an opening at the bottom of the bottle. I just hang this filter over the fish tub so the filtered water runs freely back (like tap water).

Once a week, I take the filtering mediums out of the bottle and wash them. Don’t use soap at all as it will kill the good bacterias that feeding on the fish waste. The scourers are reusable until many months later when they have started to fall apart. It is very cheap, very simple to make and most importantly it is working for my fish tubs. You can use the dirty water (from washing the filter) to water plants in the garden. You will imagine that the dirty water from the filter smells bad, but if the whole system works, it will not smell bad at all. There is no fishy smell, just fresh earthy smell.

This is the picture of a filter that I made for the small plastic tub where I keep goldfish babies. So far our gold fishes have more than 10 babies. Some are still together with the parents in the other tank. It is very hard to see and to catch them as they like to hide:o)

The picture below is our new ceramic tub to replace the plastic one near the back door.

Gardenia

When summer is approaching and the gardenias are blooming, the heat of a slightly balmy evening heightens the sweet sensuous fragrance. I don’t know why, but I think the best perfumed flowers are white in colour, like for examples Jasmine and Tuberose.

https://kiyanti2008.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/jasmine-flower/

https://kiyanti2008.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/tuberose/

Gardenia  is native to the tropics and subtropics of Africa, southern Asia, Australasia and Oceania. In Indonesia it is called kaca piring. There are approximately 250 species of gardenia and they belong to the coffee family Rubiaceae.

The name Gardenia came from a Scottish American naturalist, Dr. Alexander Garden.

Most gardenias are milky white that will become yellowish by age, while few species are real yellow. The most common varieties grown here in Australia are from two different species: G.augusta and G. thunbergia.

The most popular Gardenia augusta species are Florida, Aimee Yoshiba, Magnifica, Fortuniana , Prof. Pucci, Golden Magic and the prostate dwarf variety is Radicans. These species have attractive deep green foliage with double flowers.Gardenia thunbergia is also known as star gardenia which has single petals. This species originally found in South Africa and it is also known as wild gardenia of forest gardenia.

Gardenias grow best in warmer, moderate and humid climate. It hates frost and cold temperature. Can be grown in partly shade area for hotter climate or in moderate climate it will be happy to be in full sun. The soil has to be rich and well drain. As gardenia tend to lose traces elements in soil (yellowing of the leaves), it is good to apply a complete fertilizer which contains major trace elements. Once the plants are established, they only need to be fully watered once every forth night.

Gardenias are prone to have problems with scales and mealy bugs so regular spray of white oil will help to keep these bugs away.

If you love white flowers and you enjoy the sweet sensation of lingering fragrance in your   garden or verandas, gardenia will certainly fill this purpose. As gardenias will continue to bloom from late Spring to Autumn, the beautiful scents of this versatile flowers will greet you for longer time.

This is an old song by The Deans with the title “Little White Gardenia” 🙂 The gardenias always remind me of this song…….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cWB7zVdCFw

Happy Gardening!

Our Jungle Cacti

Most cactus plants originally grow in sandy desert, but the moist and humid forests in South America have their very own species. Most of them, in natural environment live as epiphytic plants that grow in tree or rock crevices.

There are many species of jungle cacti and the most common name for them is “Holiday Cacti” like for example Thanks Giving, Christmas, and Easter Cacti. For me personally, these holiday names are very confusing and I am more familiar with the proper names for them. At home we have three kinds of jungle cacti:  Epiphyllum (=Epis, Orchid Cactus); Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri (Sunrise cactus) and Zygocactus truncates (Schlumbergera truncata Hybrids/Crab’s Claw cactus)

At the moment as the last month of spring is warming up here in the Southern part of the world (Australia), only the Epis and the Rhipsalidopsis are blooming. Zygocactus will flower later in the summer time in late autumn to early winter.

• Epiphyllum: It is said that originally natural Epis have mostly white or creamy colour flowers. Only the hybrid varieties have more colourful colours like red, pink, salmon or mauve. The ones that we have is a bigger variety with large bright red blooms and the other one is smaller variety with pink and white colour. Unfortunately we have no records of the cultivar names.

Although these three species have flat stems (leaves), Epiphyllum consists of broad and  long flat stems with lobed edges (without sections). The flowers grow from the aereole on the outer edge of the stems.

• Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri has smaller flat stems (leaves) which come in sections. The edges of the stems are rounder and the flowers grow from the tip of the stems. The bright coloured blooms are star shaped and they are closed at night and will open up when exposed to the sunlight during the day.This is why it is also named Sunrise cactus.

• Zygocactus has claw like stems (leaves) which grow in sections. The flowers that grow from the tip of the stems are irregular/ asymmetrical in shape and come in many different colours such as red, pink, salmon, white, mauve or purple.

The easiest way to differentiate these three plants is by looking at the shape of the leaves. They are hardy and easy to grow in warmer areas. The smaller varieties are suitable to grow in hanging pots for a beautiful display of flowers.

Happy Gardening!

November 13, 2009

Photo update of the pink Epiphyllum hybrid (Deutsche Kaiserin).  Now in full bloom………….

Update: Friday August 6,2010:

I was cleaning one of the ceramic jars and in there I found an old tag of the pink orchid cactus above that was long forgotten. The botanic name is Nopalxochia phyllanthoides and apparently it is also called: Epiphyllum ‘Deutsche Kaiserin’ . This is the tag with picture and plant info:

Genista racemosa

Our G. racemosa at the entrance of the driveway

If you love bright yellow flowers, Genista racemosa can be the plant for you to grow. Last year’s long drought in Victoria (Australia) did not affect the performance of this tough plant. Now during the Australian spring time,  it is showing off masses of pealike blooms that cover the whole plant. I have shaped it into a rounded topiary and year after year it awards me with a showy display of golden colour.

This hardy evergreen plant is also known as Sweet Broom, Canary Island Broom or Cystisus spachianus. Originally it is from Canary Islands. A very quick growing plant which can grow up to 2 meters (6 ft) high. It is perfect to make a topiary. It has a small compound leaves which consist of three oval leaflets. Best grown in warmer area and it needs very low maintenance. Will do well in average well drain soil with full sun position and it hardly needs any fertilizer.

It is said that this plant is regarded as an invasive weed, so it will affect the market availability in some area. However, I have grown G. racemosa for many years and I have never had any problem with growing seeds that invade my garden bed at all. In comparison, I have continuous problems with next door loquat tree (Eriobotrya japonica) where the seeds of the mature fruits grow everywhere in my garden bed and I have a problem of pulling them off the ground.

Useful Hint: If you have already planted it and you have problems with invasive new shoots around your garden bed, it is better to prune the finish flowers as quick as possible before the pods are mature. This way the possibility for the seeds to fall and to grow out of control will be completely reduced. Pruning and shaping G. racemosa after flowering will also give the plant a nice and compact shape and more flowers in following spring time.

Happy gardening.

Update March 23,2010

Our Genista racemosa was badly damaged by caterpilars. All of sudden I noticed that this supposedly evergreen little tree had become completely bare. When I looked closely I notice that the plant was practically covered by hundreds of tiny caterpilars. So quickly I sprayed it with Perythrum insecticide. Very quickly those nasty pests were wriggling themselves to death. Hopefully the plant will recover………..

Jan. 2010:

Link to other blogs about this plant:

https://kiyanti2008.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/genista-racemosa-after-the-attack/

https://kiyanti2008.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/genista-racemosa-follow-up/

My New Cymbidium Orchid

Few weeks ago, there was a stand from one of Orchids Societies/Clubs in Brandon Park Shopping Centre (Melbourne, Australia). There were many displays of the contest winning orchids which were not for sale, but they also sold other orchids which were mostly cymbidium varieties.

I wish I could grow orchids as good as those people. Only lately I could make my very few cymbidium orchids bloom. I found that Cymbidium orchids will grow better and will flower if I use orchid fertilizer and occasional feed of seaweed or fish emulsion. It has to be enough sunlight, if your orchid foliage is very luscious and too green but refuse to flower, it means it does not get enough sunlight. Cymbidiums that receive enough sunlight will tend to have slightly yellowish leaves. Also Cymbies will do better in a slightly crowded pot. If re-potting and dividing cymbidium orchid do not use pots that are too big.

Anyway, back to the stand from the Orchid Society in Brandon Park Shopping centre. I bought a small variety – Cymbidium Sarah Jean ‘Ice Cascade’. It is a cascading variety with small, almost pure white flowers. With compact growth habit and cascading blooms, this variety is perfect for hanging pots.

Spring Garden 2009

Spring here in Victoria, Australia is coming although it seems to be reluctant to warm up quickly. So far it was more cold days than the warm ones. Now it is grey and drizzly.

At last the back garden is done now. It took us few months to rearrange everything as I only did it when I had time or when I felt like it. Ha….

Nothing really changes much in the front garden, except that I had planted a lot more succulents (echeverias, crassulas, aeoniums and mesembryanthemums) to replace some plants that had refused to survive during the long drought. The crassulas (jade) flowered profusely in late winter and now they have become dried and brown.  I should have cut them off to make the garden looks tidier.

What we have done with the back yard is to rearrange all my bonsai trees to the back part of the garden along the back fence. The tiny backyard garden has a U-shape and on the other side I planted new plants:

• Enkianthus campalunatus which is native to Japan and it has little bell flowers
• Salvia greggii (Heatwave Blaze)
• Convolvulus cneorum which is commonly known as silverbush
• English lavender
• Hemizygia ‘Candy Kisses’ with it’s colourful tiny folliage
• White and pink tree Begonias sanguine with the angel wing like leaves
• Gardenia radicans, the small prostate gardenia
• Murraya peniculata that also has fragrant flowers and
• Some double Daffodils “white lion” which have finished flowering.

I am really glad that it is all done and the back garden looks a lot better now.

To read my previous notes about my garden:

https://kiyanti2008.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/our-garden-history/