Episode 179: citrus and more with HGTV’s Marianne Canada
Transcript
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It’s a guest swap! I talk growing indoor citrus and much more with HGTV’s Marianne Canada (just call her the lemon whisperer) and answer a question about Philodendron vs Monstera.
You can hear my interview on the HGTV Obsessed podcast here.
This week’s guest
Marianne Canada is an executive producer and lifestyle expert at HGTV.com and the host of the HGTV Obsessed podcast.
When not watching (and talking about) HGTV, she’s making crafty videos for HGTV Handmade, cooking, gardening or working on renovating her house. A passionate thrifter, Marianne relishes finding treasures and often can be found sharing her thrifting haul online.
How to keep your citrus happy indoors
Marianne recommends trying Meyer lemons, aka Citrus × meyeri, if you’d like to grow citrus indoors, as well as the calamondin orange, Citrus × microcarpa, and finger limes aka Citrus australasica.
The citrus tree that my hairdresser discovered on a trip to a spa is the commander pear, Citrus lumia pyriformis.
One of the key needs of citrus is maximum light: put your citrus pot on a wheeled stand so you can move it to maximise its light exposure: something like this.
Use specialist citrus potting mix rather than regular houseplant substrate: you can mix in some hardwood mulch, one third mulch to two thirds potting medium.
Fertiliser needs to be specialist too: look for a specialist citrus feed such as Citrus Focus.
Other notes from the interview
Never seen a Globe Wernicke bookcase? Here’s a guide.
Want to try out that under water trick for making holes in the bottom of pots? Check this video out.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Clara, like so many people, got into houseplants during the course of the pandemic. She wants to buy a swiss cheese plant, but is confused by the labels: is it Monstera deliciosa, Philodendron ‘monstera deliciosa’, philodendron monstera, split leaf philodendron, or something else? She discovered that monsteras and philodendrons are two separate genera - so, Clara wants to know, how can there be such a thing as a philodendron monstera?
Good question Clara! There’s a lot to unpack here. First off - Monstera and Philodendron are different genera, although they both belong to the Araceae family, aka the aroids, so they are related.
A genus is the plant equivalent of a surname, the family to which the plant belongs. The current botanical Latin (aka scientific) name for the species commonly known as swiss cheese plant is Monstera deliciosa. That means it’s a member of the Monstera genus, while the deliciosa bit identifies the species - the equivalent of a human first name.
The naming gets confusing because plant sellers are not very good at accurately labelling their plants. So they mix up Philodendron and Monstera, mix common names and scientific names and cause a huge mess. The common name split leaf philodendron is sometimes used for Monstera deliciosa, for instance. This is why scientific names are so useful, because they are the same across the world. I’d love it if growers started labelling plants more accurately, but that’s only going to happen if we as consumers keep complaining about poor quality labels when we see them.
That said, scientific names do change - the snake plant, which was genus Sansevieria, is now in the genus Dracaena, for instance, due to findings from DNA analysis of plants. Some Sansevieria experts disagree and are sticking to using the name Sansevieria, however.
For more on scientific names and how they work, do check out my episode devoted to this topic. You can hear my Monstera episode here.
Want to ask me a question? Email ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com. The more information you can include, the better - pictures of your plant, details of your location and how long you have had the plant are always useful to help solve your issue!
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CREDITS
This week's show featured the tracks Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops, Quasi Motion by Kevin MacleodWhistle by BenJamin Banger (@benjaminbanger on Insta; website benjaminbanger.com).