The Plant Thread

[Ambulance Chaser]

This is a thread to discuss all things plants and plant-related, both indoor and outdoor.

I have always had a brown thumb. I have killed several orchids and even managed to kill a mint plant(!). I didn't think I would ever get another plant, then Coronavirus hit and I felt the need the surround myself with living things. The Saturday farmers market in my neighborhood was the push I needed. I bought a huge Peace Lily (which has since been split in two) and several herb plants (basil, rosemary, and mint) from the traveling nursery. I quickly added a Chinese Evergreen and a Snake Plant. I'm now thinking of buying a small Hedgehog Aloe and a Philodendron. Plants clean the air (allegedly at least) and provide a lived-in look to a home.

Anybody else into plants?

 

[nootje]

I leave the gardening more to my wife, but both of us do the work. We keep the same compliment of herbs, with the addition of sage and basil. Then there’s my wife’s little project, the vegetable garden. I lost track of the sheer amount of zucchini we’ve had out of there, other than that there’s tomatoes, peppers, pumpkin, strawberries and some other stuff I forget right now. Other than that we keep lavender at the balconies and a variety of house plants that I couldn’t name even if held at gunpoint.

Oh, and we keep good access to the fruit trees at my in-laws place, which supply us with more plums, apples, pears and walnuts then we could eat. Those usually get turned into jams and pies for the weekend and such. Costs me one day a year of helping out trimming the

so yeah, I guess we garden. Although it’s completely intertwined with our major hobby, cooking.

Oh, and killing the rosemary bush would be an achievement in itself. That stuff is like a weed.

 

[Joffrey]

I've tried and failed at keeping an herb garden - in my apartment. Basil is just too finicky, my last mint was a strange plant with too small leaves. Now that I store food-scraps for compost I feel less guilty with buying herbs and tossing what I don't need.

Otherwise, my only other plant is a fiddle leaf fig. It struggled for a couple of years while I tried to figure out the best place to keep it and how often to water it (the store sold me a pot without a drainage hole - worst plant for that arrangement). It appears to be thriving now after learning what "indirect sunlight" means (near a sunny window) and came up with a watering schedule (weekly, with a moisture sensor).

Here it is at it's old location from July 2019. It has grown about 6 new leaves since I moved it to a window and watered more regularly.

Here is it's new location. The photo doesn't seem to reflect the new growth and you can see where the immense trauma my watering/location mistakes have scarred it. Nonetheless, I think I want a more tree-like fig so I don't really miss the missing leaves.

I almost purchased a peace lilly back in April but decided to focus on this fiddly one for a while longer.

 

[charlesthesecond]

Glad to see this thread started! I've got 45ish plants inside my apartment, last I counted. Around 10 of those are Pothos cuttings in antique glass bottles, so they only kinda count. I would highly recommend any type of Pothos for new plant folks, they are damn near impossible to kill, and propagate super easily. I have a a bunch that I couldn't name, but they look nice, so thats a plus.
I just got a Monstera a couple of weeks ago, and it is quickly becoming my favorite, its very dramatic.
Annoyingly, I struggle with succulents, I think because I always think of them as being low light, when they definitely are not.

Outside I have another 8, an orange tree, a olive tree, 4 Cacti, Thai basil (the most useful), and two tomatoes.

I have a problem where I always want (and buy) more plants, My fiancé keeps trying to slow me down because the cost of the pots is getting a little out of hand. It doesn't help that we have a sunroom in the apartment and everything we put in there thrives.

 

[losrockets]

Happy to see this thread! I'll catalog and post photos of our growing collection soon but I have to share that we have managed to kill 3 rosemary bushes and nearly destroyed a yucca. Our other herbs are growing strong, we are trying to nurse a Ginger lily to blossom, and the jasmine is doing alright. But how the hell do we keep killing the apparently invincible rosemary?

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

I added Aloe Vera and English Ivy plants today.

I've read that the leading cause of houseplant death is overwatering. Maybe you gave the drought-resistant rosemary too much water? I'm pretty sure I gave my dearly departed orchids too much water and too much direct sunlight. I'm doing research on light and water requirements before I buy a plant now and using a moisture meter to make sure the plant gets the right amount of water.

 

[Gibonius]

I've got...a few.

Pothos, snake plant, jade, pricky pear, haworthia, spider plant, dracena, orchids (none flowering right now), peace plant, rubber tree, fiddle leaf fig, Christmas cactus. Fukien tea bonsai, Japanese princess pre-bonsai. Got a couple other pre-bonsai Japanese maples floating around but they've got leaf scorch right now so no pics.



That's the potted plants, anyway.

 

[Joffrey]

Impressive but all I could think about was, how does he remember when to water all those things?

 

[Gibonius]

Impressive but all I could think about was, how does he remember when to water all those things?

The bonsai are a pain, especially the outdoor ones in the summer.

Everything else just gets watered every Saturday.

 

[nootje]

The bonsai are a pain, especially the outdoor ones in the summer.

Everything else just gets watered every Saturday.

Speaking about pain in the asses, and bonsai. Paging @edinatlanta

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

I don't know if it's the placebo effect, but I seem to be sleeping much better with plants that expel oxygen at night (snake, aloe vera) in my bedroom.

 

[venividivicibj]

I've tried and failed at keeping an herb garden - in my apartment. Basil is just too finicky, my last mint was a strange plant with too small leaves. Now that I store food-scraps for compost I feel less guilty with buying herbs and tossing what I don't need.

Otherwise, my only other plant is a fiddle leaf fig. It struggled for a couple of years while I tried to figure out the best place to keep it and how often to water it (the store sold me a pot without a drainage hole - worst plant for that arrangement). It appears to be thriving now after learning what "indirect sunlight" means (near a sunny window) and came up with a watering schedule (weekly, with a moisture sensor).

Here it is at it's old location from July 2019. It has grown about 6 new leaves since I moved it to a window and watered more regularly.

View attachment 1425276

Here is it's new location. The photo doesn't seem to reflect the new growth and you can see where the immense trauma my watering/location mistakes have scarred it. Nonetheless, I think I want a more tree-like fig so I don't really miss the missing leaves.
View attachment 1425278

I almost purchased a peace lilly back in April but decided to focus on this fiddly one for a while longer.

Trying an herb garden right now (basil/oregano/rosemary/parsley)

Also have some chili bushes/plants (jalapeño and Serrano)

 

[double00]

down the stretch

 

[venividivicibj]

Mildy successful getting rid of aphids and leafminers... in time for the heat wave (3 days of 100+ degree days).

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

I have repeatedly tried and failed to keep herb plants (mint, basil, rosemary) alive in my apartment. Then I was told by a plant seller at a farmers market that those plants are meant to be outdoors. Because my apartment does not have a balcony, never again.