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old radiators and humidity


>It's great to hear that everyone is, still, keeping an eye on their plants,
>and how well most of them are doing.  My own are suffering in a big way.  I
>suspect that it has to do with living in an old apartment in New York City
>(those old radiators do a number on my plants that sit on cold drafty
>windowsills behind the radiators!).  My kalanchoe refuses to re-bloom and is
>developing funny white patches on some leaves.  My miniature roses got
>attacked by some web-making mite looking things.  The peace lily is
>sprouting leaves like nothing but no flowers.  The only things still going
>are the geranium - they don't seem to mind the adverse conditions of my
>living space!
>
>Oh well. At least my Christmas tree is looking colorful and cheery!
>
>Hope everyone is well, and best wishes for the season -
>
>Helen in NYC.
>

Hi Helen,

 It sounds like you probably have spider mites on your roses and scale on
your kalanchoe. Both of these pests prefer a low humidity environment.

 Your old radiatiors are wonderful, if you can rig up something for the top
of them. Most of ours have a flat top. We put a 1x10 or 2x8 or whatever wide
flat scrap wood we have handy on top of them. Stick a cheap plastic window
box on that, then fill it with crushed rock and water. Refill about once a
week. It will do wonders for increasing the humidity in your rooms, and for
your plants.

 At my wife's request, I try to keep it looking reasonably presentable. We
use a single piece of wood, preferably 2"x8" x the length of the radiator.
It looks a lot more substantial than a 1X . And the narrow 8" depth keeps me
from getting too carried away with new shelf space!
 You could paint the wood to match the walls or the radiator, or simply
cover it with contact paper. I just leave ours "rustic". :-)
 If your radiator tops are curved, you could try tracing the top edge on a
piece of paper. It shouldn't be too hard to find someone with a band saw
that would be willing to cut a few 3-4" high pieces of 2x8 wood with a
concave curve.(assuming you yourself don't already enjoy woodworking) Just
nail the top board to these, and you're all set.

 If you recently won the lottery, you could go for something I saw in
someone elses home a while back. They had 2" slabs of polished white marble
over their radiators. Maybe someday...


 Most of our radiators require 2 smaller window boxes, 1 large one usually
doesn't stretch far enough. Try to split the difference and use 2 smaller
window boxes the same length, it looks a little more finished.  If you have
choices between Walmart and Kmart and HQ, HopeDepot etc. Spend a few days
shopping to find the box trim and side panel style that you like. I feel
safer with the plastic boxes that need to have the holes punched out for
drainage, instead of the ones with removable plugs in the bottom.
 Most of the plastic boxes are in the $3-6 range. Around here they come in
dark green, white(ours), a gray stone look(like faux granite), and the faux
terra cotta look.

 We use the 50lb bags of crushed white marble from any Megamart. other
choices might be the river pebbles (buff colors) or the red lava rock. Come
to think of it, the lava rock would be a lot more porous and probably do a
much better job of humidifying. It would also be a little lighter to drag
home. The white box and rocks is a little less noticable though. We use
about half a 50lb bag per window.
 I would probable skip aquarium gravel, unless you have a cheap supply of it.
 A beautiful shiny black and silver aquarium gravel cost me $1 a pound when
I bought some to cover the lily pots in our pond. The 50lb bags of crushed
marble run about $3.


 As a general rule, clay pots work better for plants sitting on top of a
radiator. The pots breath a lot better and also help humidify the air a
little bit as they dry out. The plants in plastic pots that I've stuck on
the radiator tend towards swampy dirt and scorched leaves.

 I hope my suggestions aren't too belabored. The only memory I have of
gardening in NYC was being stationed out on Govenors Island in the Coast
Guard. Not much room there for a scrap wood pile, or too many megamart
hardware stores to scrounge through downtown.
 I stopped in a plant shop in the village one day, bought a few more small
plants and pots than I could comfortably carry, ;-), then had to drag it all
home on the subway and the ferry.


Have a great Christmas,



Matt Trahan <matttrahan@ecsu.campus.mci.net>
USDA zone 8, Sunset zone 31, AHS heat zone 7, northeastern N.C.

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/7478/
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