Can't wait to see what you find out. I had a teacher who used to root all his cuttings in Decomposed granite. He said the minerals made amazing root growth. Just some fun information.

Sinha I am also looking forward to seeing how your experiment turns out. Are the brick pieces of a certain size range? Or are they random sizes?

Please take lots of photos!

Tracy

Ooooh this is exciting, Sin. It will never work in my climate but I'd love to see how it will work out.

Pagan

Anxiously awaiting updates on this experiment. Great idea with the bricks. Did you sift the brick dust out or leave it in the mix?

Great plan. Keep us up to date. Where does one get decomposed granite?

@Nicholas: small pieces at the bottom and dust mixed with manure in the centre around the plant

@Cynthia: No idea as to what is decomposed granite and where to find it.

I looked up decomposed granite. I e seen some fools claim it is great for drainage and minerals. It is broken and weathered pieces and dust from granite, used in landscaping and horticulture. Available at Home Depot for

This is great forum, we are learning from each other.

Marie

Cynthia Curry Russo,

"Decomposed granite soils are often sandy in texture, drain too quickly and dry out easily. They are also usually deficient
in essential plant nutrients. Without amendments to improve them, these
soils may not support healthy, vigorous plants. Organic amendments can
improve their moisture and nutrient holding capacities." http://homeguides.sfgate.com/decomposed-granite-plants-57159.html

It is permeable which is why it is used in landscaping for walkways etc. I never claimed that it was good for drainage in soil, however some claim it can help (probably as much as sand but that's an assumption.) I would never try to use it as a total plant medium. but in the case of cuttings you usually wet the media once and spray the plant to help with transpiration the rest of the time. It is a mineral its self and like I said my Horticulture teacher in the past was very successful and impressed with the root production it caused with his cuttings. He assumed it was from its mineral content(although it obviously does not have all the minerals plants require to thrive) , and he obviously thought of it so, that he mentioned it in a propagation class. However we always either used vermiculite, or perlite if not a mixture of the two. I do plan on doing some playing around with it come spring with DG as well as Green Sand for cuttings.

Sinha,

Sorry for going off topic of your seedlings and on topic of cuttings. Keep us posted with their growth.

Thanks, Sinha. I was just curious, as I really knew little of its use. And I'm always eager to learn. I've got plenty of sand here in FL, and use a lot of perlite in my potting mix to,improve drainage, especially with the heavy summer rains. It's usually much drier in the winter months.

I'm now living where all I see is natural decomposed granite. I've just used some in a mixture for one of my greenhouse raised beds. I'll be watching to see how it goes, but I just watered the new bed, and it drained very well. It is about half granite, and half things which hold water.

I forgot to say that I'll be interested to see how your experiments turn out, Sinha.

Wow, it's huge! I'm sure you will have hundreds of plants in there! I've always wanted one, but over here in High Desert we have a lot of wind, it would be blown away with the first gust, lol. I just got interested in plumeria too, but all my plants will have to go indoor for the winter.

That's a proper big boys grow tunnel, good work there dude :-)

Thanks its 15 feet long, roughly 9 1/2 ft tall and almost about the same width as height. I need to get a second layer of plastic on this week and cover the ends. I am going to add a pvc frame door with a zipper In the middle to open the plastic like a tent that I found at home depot for 10 dollars. it adheres to the plastic then you cut in the middle of the zipper. I found in the painting area around the plastic. I then hope to eventually put a pvc picket fence around the front, to spice it up a little. Ill get pics up in another thread when I am finished.

That is great Bob. Are you going to inflate the two pieces of plastic w air to form an insulation barrier? Works tremendously well.

Nice set up and good to have the height also.

Rick

Hi Bob, very good green house.Wishing you lots of pachys, adeniums & plumerias blooming inside this green house! Since it is DIY....great effort with great result.

Bob I am wishing that I had one of these ready for my trees. All of mine have been brought inside due to the cold weather. Are those Plumeria I see in the aqua and white bowls? I could fill this bad boy quickly! What are the PVC structures for next to the plants?

Tracy

Bob, looks like a great space for growing tropicals! Elena, we are in the high desert on top of a hill. We have winds all year, and some go very high. We have a new dome greenhouse which stands up to wind extremely well because of the shape. I have my Adeniums, plumeria, Hibiscus, crown of thorns, plumbago, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and peppers for my salsa. :) You can see the dome greenhouses here.

http://geodesic-greenhouse-kits.com/

I don't plan on inflating between the plastic. I really hadn't put thought into that. sounds like a great idea though. I do plan on doing a second layer of plastic, and I still have to cover the ends. they will get double plastic as well. and I am going to install a zipper door. The temps are only dipping down to about 55*F currently. I hope to get the rest of the plastic up sometime this week.

Yes those are my plumerias, I have three. I recently picked them up at a local home depot. they were 13" tall when I got them. I originally bought two. Topped one, but still left 4 leaves on it. I came onto the forum and read that it would probably die being topped at that size. good news is it just started branching where I chopped it. So it made it so far! I am very happy. But as soon as I read that I possibly killed my plumeria (which I didn't) I ran out and bought a third plant. I can't wait til they are big enough to take cuttings.

The plastic pvc structure that is around the plants is just peace of mind to make sure they don't get too cold at night. This will be my first winter in 9b trying to overwinter tropicals and I love my plants and am very nervous!

PMKaren, That is a nice looking kit. I really wanted a green house kit but I rent right now. and the hoop house allows me more flexibility. It will act as a greenhouse in the winter or a place to provide partial shade in the summer, while in spring it will probably remain open. I don't know if I am going to run more pvc from the side pipes to the top center pipe, to create a lath house or if I am going to just get a shade cloth to throw over it. Probably a shade cloth though. However I wish I could have a year round green house. I figured after I obtain the plastic at the hydro store to do the rest of the covering I will have spent 185 dollars roughly on constructing it. Not including the inner covering that you can only see the skeleton of around the plant shelf.

Oh yeah the person in the picture isn't me. he helped me put it up. I was taking the picture. it was pretty windy out so we put some chairs in their to experience what the plants were experiencing. Thought it would act as a wind tunnel, but I guess because the way the wind was blowing, it was going over it and not threw it. i cut some 3/4 inch poly tubing to use as clamps I still have to order proper ones.

Wow, those are awesome! Thank you for the link! I always wanted a little greenhouse and these are the best!

That company can probably put you in touch with someone in your area who has a growing dome, Elena, We saw one in person, and were hooked.