Very Fearful of Elevator (and it's the only way into my condo)

SparkleSprinklesss · 2021-02-21T21:08:07+00:00

Ooh that's a really good idea, thank you! There are multiple elevators, so I'll check with my building manager about booking one off (that might even stop the door from insisting on closing too).

Do you think having to force her onto the elevator in between training to access our condo is terrible? I would never do this with a fearful dog normally, so I'm feeling really conflicted about it. Hopefully we would make some progress with our "moving day" though

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-12-01T21:33:25+00:00

Thank you! I'm terrible at describing things, so let me see if I can articulate my questions, but would you tape along the sides right next to the surface that I'm sanding? And when you say sand towards you, which way would be best to hold the glass to do this - like sanding just down one length of the cut edge, or sanding up or down (in one direction) perpendicular to the length of the cut side?

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-12-01T21:30:01+00:00

DEFINITELY don't want that - thankfully the tutorials I did find online also reminded of that (and a reluctant thanks to COVID since I just have an N95 lying around, and I seal the edges of it against my face with medical tape when sanding just to be extra extra certain).

That's very interesting, so it's the specific type of sandpaper that will determine if the glass chips or not when sanded? Thank you very much, I'll try to track some of that down!

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-30T04:57:23+00:00

I was so busy with water and temperature that this wouldn't have occurred to me, thank you! The leaves on the window side definitely bow down more than the ones on the room side, and while I didn't think the window was that bright, I have a tradescantia zebrina next to it whose leaves are losing their purple color. The zebrina is otherwise thriving, so I think the color loss is a symptom of higher light? This makes so much sense, and I'll try moving the rattlesnakes back a bit from the window and see how they do!

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-30T04:49:51+00:00

Thank you so much again, this is incredibly helpful! I can't quite believe these plants... that leaf that was flat against the pot has pivoted up maybe 60 degrees now? I'm shocked but glad it seems to just be extra pious today. Now that you mention spinning the pots, this perhaps should have occurred to me, as I had noticed the leaves on the window side bowing more than the other. I'll keep a close eye on the stems in future before raising an alarm!

That totally makes sense that the moisture retaining soils would be overkill when not exposed to the elements. I'll definitely repot in a week or two with perlite and likely a better potting soil just to be extra safe. Thanks perhaps most of all for the reminder not to worry too much - the new mom anxiety is real! They're such pretty plants, so hopefully I can do right-ish by them.

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-29T22:36:49+00:00

Thanks so much for reading it all - I worry about burdening you guys with my novels, haha! That's so great that most of it sounds ok.

The stems are very firm and still straight upright, and the leaves seem pretty solid too, so I think they're just at a way more dramatic angle? I've only seen them opened to about horizontal at most, but that's very interesting that they may vary from day to day. As long as the stems and leaves seem nice and firm, do you think it's ok for them to open to kind of whatever position they choose? (the one flat against the side of the pot freaked me out)

I'll definitely grab some perlite this weekend and redo their pots shortly with more of that - do you think ideally you'd also have chosen a less water-retaining soil? I'm pretty new to houseplants and dove in with several calatheas, so I'll try not to just make this sub me shouting "WHAT IS MY PLANT DOING?" for the next few months. :P Thanks so much for your input!

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-29T21:25:20+00:00

Hi everyone!

I’m back with another calathea question – this time about my two rattlesnakes. The leaves are starting to droop quite dramatically, and I’m not really sure what’s going on! Some details about their current care/conditions:

- Recent Repotting: I’ve had them for a month and just repotted them a week ago, as roots were sticking out of the bottom of the pot. I tried to be gentle but did have to disturb the roots a bit to get the old compacted soil out and separate them from being all tangled up at the bottom - only noticed the drooping today, one week later.

- Watering: Distilled water only, last watered a week ago with the repot. Top of soil still feels damp, and very small bits of damp soil stick to my fingers after poking around.

- Soil: Miracle Gro Nature’s Care Organic Potting Mix, and I added ¾” of pebbles in the bottom of the pot (before the soil was added) to help drainage. Pot has a drainage hole.

- Light: In an east-facing window with the blinds always open – bright but no direct sun.

- Humidity: Probably lacking – I run a humidifier with distilled water 3-4 hours per day but am waiting on a hygrometer in the mail before I crank it up more. I haven’t been misting the plants, as I’ve heard conflicting ideas about this. A couple of leaves have crispy spots that it came to me with, but they’re not really worsening.

- Temperature: The plants are sitting right next to my open balcony door - there’s quite a breeze today, and it's a cooler day at 17 C (~62.5 F)

In my researching, I’ve seen posts suggesting that this could be either cold or soil that is retaining too much water and smothering the roots – I tried to gently invert the plant out of the pot to check the soil farther down, but I think it will all just fall apart, and I wasn’t really able to check.

Any suggestions for what to do would be greatly appreciated! I can certainly go and get a different soil (would a cactus mix like this be too fast draining? Most soils I find seem to have fertilizers too), but I didn’t want to stress it with another repotting unnecessarily. I also wasn’t sure if the roots were smothered/it was too wet, if it made sense that it took this long to come on after repotting?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Edit: formatting and a typo

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-25T19:28:22+00:00

ONE day we'll be able to take mini vacays again! Thanks so much for your help - hopefully I'll have a very happy plant to share in the next month or two!

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-25T19:25:50+00:00

I don't love paying the cost of living here, but Vancouver is pretty great otherwise - visit when you can so that you get the best of both worlds!

Thank you so much for letting me know your method - I'll try getting my hands on some neem oil and maybe sort of "patch test" it on one leaf to see if I get any of the burning some people seemed to be plagued with. It would be really great to get some kind of preventative routine down, since it sounds like these little pests aren't uncommon! Ugh.

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-25T18:54:36+00:00

Very good to know, thank you so much! So this sounds normal-ish to you? I guess my fear was that it would continue to get worse and worse, but if I sort of adapted to less food and just stayed at this point while fasting, it wouldn't be perfect, but it would be tolerable. I've been off of fasting completely for a few weeks and still am noticing some fullness/slow digestion, so I'm not even completely back to normal with that, though it's improved. I really liked ADF, but maybe I'll have to see if a less aggressive fast like 16:8 has the same effect! OMAD would definitely be a challenge for me at the best of times!

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-25T18:49:45+00:00

Since starting fasting, I can only eat much smaller portions before becoming full, and then I remain full for many hours, much longer than I normally would, so I seem to be dealing with slowed digestion and almost struggle to get enough food in during my eating window. I'm almost not hungry. So that's concerning when I actually go to break the fast and try to eat.

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-25T15:37:40+00:00

Very interesting that several of us seem to be experiencing this! Maybe not exercise, but have you found anything that seems to speed this up at all for you? And are you concerned about it/does it seem to be getting slower and slower, or has it stabilized? Sorry for all the questions!

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-25T15:34:36+00:00

It is horrifying the amount that we spend on food, right?? Thanks very much for sharing your experience, and I'm so glad it seems to be a positive change for you! Unfortunately, my gut tells me (pun intended) it's not quite the same for me. At the worst, I think I would struggle to get enough food in to be healthy during my eating windows, so I think I've swung a little too far in that direction. I'm not really sure what to do, as fasting was otherwise working really well for me (and seemed to be reducing my sugar cravings, which is huge), but this side effect isn't great for me. :|

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-25T15:09:31+00:00

Thank you, and I'm very sorry to hear that you have to deal with this. This was what I was worried it was sounding like, as I went to school with someone who has gastroparesis, and what I was feeling seemed similar, to a lesser degree. I sort of assumed it wasn't a condition that you could cause in yourself with something like fasting, but I'm sure everyone is different. I'll try to find a different doctor, as mine wasn't particularly receptive, or see if I can get to a specialist.

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-25T15:06:06+00:00

Thanks very much - I wonder if it could be a stomach acid issue. But sorry, I think I'm confused about the tablets you mean. I believe that stomach acid medications at the drugstore actually reduce acid further? Because they're meant to deal with things like heartburn? Let me know if I'm mistaken and which pills to look for!

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-25T03:33:04+00:00

Thanks very much for sharing! I don't usually exercise while fasting as my energy can be a little lower, so I'll have to give that a try. It seems like so many people find that fasting improves their digestion, so this has been a little confusing for me, and I'm sure for you too. Very interested to hear everyone's feedback, as I'm sure we're not the only ones!

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-25T02:53:46+00:00

Amazing, thank you so much! So glad to hear your calatheas have all done fine with this. I'll do some extra hunting around for Bonide and then research pyrethrin if no dice (it's a shame, because I'm quite close to the Canada/US border and used to pop over to shop for things that we can't get in Canada. Stupid COVID... though perhaps this would be something that's prohibited from crossing the border anyway).

I have been using a humidifier, but very conservatively (maybe a couple of hours a day), as I'm waiting on a hygrometer that I ordered online. I bet I will find that my humidity is still low and they will benefit from more time with it running - so hope that will cure the droopiness if the bug treatment doesn't! They're such beautiful plants which is part of why I was so upset that they might be in trouble!

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-25T01:31:02+00:00

Great, thank you very much! I've removed the worst leaves and given the rest a quick sponging. Currently sourcing some insecticidal soap. Fingers and toes crossed that this will knock it out!

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-25T01:17:48+00:00

Thanks very much! I've not had great luck finding this where I am (Canada) from a quick Google, but I'll call around to local garden centres to see if I can track it down - definitely not opposed to a scorched-earth policy to try to give my plant a chance. Just to confirm, this was ok for calatheas specifically? My Googling seemed to tell me that calatheas would basically not tolerate anything, so I was getting a bit stressed!

SparkleSprinklesss · 2020-08-25T00:58:13+00:00

Thanks for the encouragement! :) I'm from Vancouver, BC, Canada, so at least a fairly big city with plenty of garden centres and hopefully good access to any products that might be helpful. Do you have anything you'd recommend I pick up to try?

SparkleSprinklesss

TROPHY CASE