Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Biology Day Problems

Today is Biology Day here at The Edge.  This is the day where I take care of all living things that live under my roof and are not primates (that rules out The Husband.  He can fend for himself).  The major chores involve house plant maintenance and indoor water garden (nee aquarium) maintenance. 

I will water all of the houseplants, fertilize those that need it, repot as needed, prune out dead as needed.  This week the problem is with the hanging baskets.  See, when I water I let the water flow all the way through the pot.  With my non-hanging plants this is not a problem since I use over-sized saucers and can stop watering as soon as the water appears in the saucer.  Hanging baskets either have small, close fitting saucers or none at all.  Normally I haul them into the main floor bathroom, set them in the tub and water like I do everything else.

This is what the main floor bathroom tub area looks like today. 


If I tried to water the hanging baskets the overflow would drip between the boards and into the basement.  Not exactly how I want to do things.

So I'm improvising.  The hanging baskets are going into the kitchen sink one by one.  It's a much slower process.


Hmmm, what did you ask?  Yes, yes, I do have another shower, upstairs, but it is TINY and would require hauling the hanging baskets upstairs, watering them (and only one or maybe two would fit in the shower at a time.  It's THAT tiny).  [I don't smell THAT bad today, do I?  So bad you can smell me over the internet?  I guess I'm better find a stronger deodorant.]

This process of watering hanging baskets should explain the stainless steel rod I'm trying to get installed down the length of the new tub/shower on the main floor.  So I can water my hanging baskets while they are HANGING and not run the risk of damaging foliage.  It makes perfect sense to me, I'm not sure why The Husband is fighting it.  He just has to remember to duck when he uses the shower.

The OTHER big issue is with the indoor water gardens.  I have two large tanks filled with live aquatic plants (and a few fish, too).  One tank is 55 gallons and the other contains 120 gallons.  I change out half the water each week.  This chore is actually not too bad.  I  have a looooong, specialized hose that can run out the window into the gardens ("free" water for the plants that comes with a small nitrogen boost from fish waste).  When we picked out the faucet for the bathroom we made sure to get one that I could connect the hose to so that I can fill the tanks straight from the bathroom sink. 

Guess what else I don't have right now.  

I can still use the hose to drain water from the tanks but the process of refilling them now requires hauling five gallon buckets.  I'm thinking the 120 gallon tank is not going to be cleaned as often as normal.  Hauling 60 gallons of water in buckets is not my idea of fun!

And now for a gratuitous photo of a Panicum virgatum (switchgrass)  'Heavy Metal'


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