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Mother in Laws Tongue
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Posted by trancegemini_wa Aust (My Page) on Fri, Feb 24, 06 at 22:56
| I have two garden beds which are about 1m wide and 6m long and I was thinking of planting some mil tongue which I have in a pot, dotted in a few places in the beds with some other plants. Ive never had them in the ground before so Im wondering if theyll just go beserk and take over (I dont want to be constantly digging them up or dividing). will they take over in the ground or get huge and start coming up everywhere in the beds do you think? has anyone grown them in the ground and how did they behave over time?
thanks,
trancegemini |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Mother in Laws Tongue
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Hi TG...I have one plant growing in my Mexician Garden it has been in the ground for about 18-24 months not quite sure..It is planted in the soil under weed mat with small pebbles on top. When I planted it there was only one spike or leaf now there are six...See pic front and back..It never gets watered so I would imagine if it did it would most likely muliply a lot more It is about 40cms tall.....Cheers..MM.
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RE: Mother in Laws Tongue
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| I don't want to be alarmist or to say don't do it, but I thought I would mention that they are classed as a potential weed on the Aust. gov. D.E.H. site. They have apparently naturalised significantly in urban bushland in the Brisbane area. Cheers,
Dee. |
RE: Mother in Laws Tongue
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| They dont like frost! Is this likely to be a problem? My grandmother grew them in Victoria and after many, many yrs they made a clump about 1m accross. It does depend on the type you grow as they all grow at different rates. I would say that you may have to pull some out every 5 years or so. They become weeds because they are dumped in the bush. You can cut a leaf into sections and plant them and each section will develop into a small plant, but it does take quite a few months to happen. Brisbane is a lot different to WA but I put 8 in a 450ml pot 3 years ago and it is now packed tight, but, like some aloes, they produce lots of offsets when they hit the side of the pot so in the ground they will not reproduce so rapidly. They are very shallow rooted and are not difficult to remove. Hope this helps. Robyn |
RE: Mother in Laws Tongue
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Hi Dee....Thanks ...Can you please link me with the page it is on as I cannot seem to bring it up.
I am keeping a careful watch on this plant and will pull it out if need to.
But there is no way it can escape into bushland from my little garden it is in.
There is so much of it growing around this area too ...Cheers.. .MM.
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RE: Mother in Laws Tongue
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| g'day trancegemini, yes they get a bit rampant in the garden also can look scrappy most of the time, if you have a specific dry area that grows nothing else maybe use them but seek out the many variations so you don't have a mono-culture. len |
Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page
RE: Mother in Laws Tongue
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- Posted by deejaus Melb.Vic. Aust (My Page) on
Sat, Feb 25, 06 at 17:55
| Hi MM, First of all, I have to agree with Robyn; "They become weeds because they are dumped in the bush". I don't think yours will become a problem because you are a responsible gardener. I have included the link anyway. Cheers,
Dee. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Potential weeds. DEH.
RE: Mother in Laws Tongue
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| deejaus they've naturalised quite readily in a small creek near my place, some of you might remember the heliconia lobster claw pics I posted a few months back, just up from there there's dozens of MILTs with leaves about 1 1/2 metres high |
RE: Mother in Laws Tongue
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| thanks everyone for your help, mm thanks for the pics, I think mine is probably the same type as yours with that yellow strip down the side and yours seems to be behaving itself there. I love the sound of your "mexican garden". dee I will check our local wa site and see what they say about it, Im a long way from any bushland though so it shouldnt be a problem, they wont escape from these beds because it's all surrounded by paving and they wouldnt have anywhere to go if they tried. robyn thanks for that info, frost wont be a problem and our overnight winter temps normally range between about 3-10c and it's pretty unusual for them to go much lower. "they produce lots of offsets when they hit the side of the pot so in the ground they will not reproduce so rapidly." that is very interesting because it explains what mine is doing. Ive had this plant in a smallish pot for about 12 months and all of sudden there are about 4 offsets coming up on the edge of the pot and the pot is getting all stretched out of shape where they are growing. at least I know now if I have to remove them it wont be too hard. thanks robyn. hi len, I'll only put a few of them in there and surround them with a mix of other plants, I dont like the look of just one plant mass planted so I always mix things up together. trancegemini
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RE: Mother in Laws Tongue
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- Posted by doona NSW Australia (My Page) on
Tue, Feb 28, 06 at 0:59
| They also say the rhapis palm can get out of control. Ha! It's kind of like Grandpa Simpson trying to get his teeth back from that tortiose he couldn't catch. I think there's plenty of time to pull certain potential weeds out before they become a nuisance. The idea is to make sure you do, if it's in your life time. I have some m-i-l toungues in my garden here and there and they have been there for years. Some are only just starting to send up new ones for the first time. |
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