Learning and Growing

[Mindibun]

Ok, so I've recently posted about some plant troubles. One thread gave some helpful advice, and the other ... well, made me feel silly.

But I am all for learning from mistakes, so I have decided I'm going to try to learn more about plants and home growing.

I did a lot of research and figured out some things that were wrong with my plant set-up. I went to walmart today and bought a better pot for my sick plant. The problem was two-fold: 1- The pot was not allowing water to drain, so the roots were drowning in a puddle of yucky, smelly, old water. 2- The plant had bugs in it.

So I sprayed Sevin dust for the bugs, and moved the plant into a smaller, clay pot, which will allow for better drainage and is a much better size for the plant.
Here's an old picture, and an update. The flowers are behind the plant, not part of it.


And the new set-up:

You can already see where the water is starting to drain out the bottom.

I also trimmed back an older, happy plant. I'd been letting it run rampant and decided it was time to get it into a nice shape.
Here's the before:


And the after:

I took off more than I left on! But it will be better in the long run. Kind of a life lesson, huh? Sometimes you gotta trim off some bad stuff to let the plant grow better.

I also found two new additions to my plant family. 98 cents each - can't beat that with a stick.




We'll see how they do. If anyone can ID that second plant, I'd be grateful. The tag only labels it as "assorted foliage".

Sorry for the long post, guys. I'm just very proud of myself for getting things set right. Plus, there's just something about plants. I love it. I love being able to go to the store and purchase such a wide variety of beautiful plants for next to nothing. Its this living, "breathing" thing that helps to clean your air and make your corner of the world a better place.

Now I just have to keep them alive...
They're a lot like snakes, actually. If the enclosure is too big (not secure enough) they won't thrive, and if you feed it too much or keep it too wet, it gets sick. Only difference is that these don't strike at you when they're in shed.



*EDIT: I forgot to include a dial-up warning in the thread title. If a mod could handle that for me, please, I'd be very thankful. ^_^

[kc261]

The bottom plant is a "pretty speckley thing". Actually, once upon a time when I used to work in an independant family-owned home-depot type store, I probably could have ID'd it, but now I have no idea.

The terra cotta pot you re-planted your spider into will eventually get really gross looking from the water seeping through and leaving hard water deposits. It should do a much better job of keeping your plant healthy though.

All those trimmings off your pothos could be planted and many would take root and grow. I think you can stick them in a glass of water with a tiny bit of fertilizer to see which ones start growing roots, and then plant them.

The neat thing about many house plants is they actually clean the air in your house. Not just the exchange of CO2 for oxygen, but they also remove other stuff from the air. I remember that spider plants and pothos are both supposed to be good at it.

[STORMS]

If anyone can ID that second plant, I'd be grateful. The tag only labels it as "assorted foliage".

*EDIT: I forgot to include a dial-up warning in the thread title. If a mod could handle that for me, please, I'd be very thankful. ^_^

I have a plant like that at home.... no clue what it is tho. I'll ask my hubby tonight, he will know. I don't have a green thumb - plants die if Im left to care for them. If they ate f/t mice they might stand a better chance

[snakelady]

You are starting on your green thumb.

[Syka]

I love plants
The speckled one (no idea what it is) but it sure is nice looking.

Instead of starting another thread.. since now I know others have some house plants experience...

I currently have two house plants..one of which is driving me nuts to keep alive. I was wondering what types of house plants are good for apartments that get minimal amounts of sun.

[bc30629]

Ok, so I've recently posted about some plant troubles. One thread gave some helpful advice, and the other ... well, made me feel silly.

But I am all for learning from mistakes, so I have decided I'm going to try to learn more about plants and home growing.

I did a lot of research and figured out some things that were wrong with my plant set-up. I went to walmart today and bought a better pot for my sick plant. The problem was two-fold: 1- The pot was not allowing water to drain, so the roots were drowning in a puddle of yucky, smelly, old water. 2- The plant had bugs in it.

So I sprayed Sevin dust for the bugs, and moved the plant into a smaller, clay pot, which will allow for better drainage and is a much better size for the plant.
Here's an old picture, and an update. The flowers are behind the plant, not part of it.


And the new set-up:

You can already see where the water is starting to drain out the bottom.

I also trimmed back an older, happy plant. I'd been letting it run rampant and decided it was time to get it into a nice shape.
Here's the before:


And the after:

I took off more than I left on! But it will be better in the long run. Kind of a life lesson, huh? Sometimes you gotta trim off some bad stuff to let the plant grow better.

I also found two new additions to my plant family. 98 cents each - can't beat that with a stick.




We'll see how they do. If anyone can ID that second plant, I'd be grateful. The tag only labels it as "assorted foliage".

Sorry for the long post, guys. I'm just very proud of myself for getting things set right. Plus, there's just something about plants. I love it. I love being able to go to the store and purchase such a wide variety of beautiful plants for next to nothing. Its this living, "breathing" thing that helps to clean your air and make your corner of the world a better place.

Now I just have to keep them alive...
They're a lot like snakes, actually. If the enclosure is too big (not secure enough) they won't thrive, and if you feed it too much or keep it too wet, it gets sick. Only difference is that these don't strike at you when they're in shed.



*EDIT: I forgot to include a dial-up warning in the thread title. If a mod could handle that for me, please, I'd be very thankful. ^_^

Very nice plants you have there!!! I'm an avid gardener myself and have plenty of trays filling the windows right now. The thing a lot of people dont know about plants is that they need oxygen as well as carbon dioxide. They get this oxygen through the roots, not through the leaves!!!! So you gotta let em breathe... add perlite for drainage and make sure they are dry before rewatering.

[bc30629]

I'm also pretty sure that top plant can go without water for long periods of time

[python.princess]

I currently have two house plants..one of which is driving me nuts to keep alive. I was wondering what types of house plants are good for apartments that get minimal amounts of sun.

Well, I wanted to get some fuschia but was told that I have too much sun and it would die. They apparently need shade. And they're gorgeous IMO so you could try that! Otherwise, I'm sure if you went to a nursery they'd be able to suggest all kinds of stuff!

I'm also pretty sure that top plant can go without water for long periods of time

Yeah, my spider plant went about 6 months on the porch (freezing cold) without water and still lived... and is now thriving since I started watering it again!

[Ginevive]

Oh, I have some spider-plant experience! They often die from over-care. I water mine thoroughly and then let it drain and dry out. Then I repeat. Sometimes, 7-8 days might go by without me watering it. And it is thriving and having babies all over the place. Now, my dad got 3 babies from me.. all were dead within a short time. Mine that I kept in the same media (coconut fiber) are thriving now on minimal care. He was overwatering them and their roots rotted.
I don't know if you have wellwater. But some of it is bad, if it is treated with a filter that has salt in it. My mother in law's whole plant collection died before she figured out the reason! Now she uses rainwater with great results.
I used to do indoor growing (tomatoes, hot peppers) and always liked the sevin spray for killing those stupid plant bugs.