The Plant Thread

[Beth3346]

i couldn't move my plants inside before the snow because they're too heavy. some pieces are looking pretty rough. i'm not sure if i should trim off the brown leaves or wait until the end of winter.

[BlackCurtains]

My Areca palm isn't doing good. Ben is dead

Snake plant and African Violets are doing well. I'm hoping the Violets will bloom this year.

I want to get another spider plant. I feel so bad I let mine die.

[Griffin]

Oh no, not Ben!   Sorry to hear that, BC.

My plants are all doing okay, I don't see a lot of yellow or brown leaves, only some dry tips in the spiderplants but that's difficult to avoid during winter. I've been growing a mint all through winter indoors, the leaves are tiny and there were some dead stems but I also see new growth. I wonder if I should already start using fertiliser even though the days are still short?

I definitely need to do some repotting this spring. This happens every year though, repotting usually crosses my mind in January and I go 'hmm, still too early', and bam, suddenly it's May.

[Ponyfan]

I got the lucky bamboo.  I'm growing it in water for now since I don't have any potting soil, but hopefully I'll be able to transfer it to a pot later.


Ponyfan

[BlackCurtains]

Yes, Ben has turned into a scraggly mess of tough branches. There was one little clump of leaves that held on for a while. He lived for 3 years though, which is a year longer than average

I'm going to move my plants outside. I'm making some big changes and getting them out of the apartment will let me relax since I won't have to worry about Aster eating them or them getting infested with ants or other bugs. I'm done buying any more for the time being too. I'm not very good at plant keeping so, time to take that energy elsewhere.

[Ponyfan]

I changed the water for the lucky bamboo and added more rocks as the bamboo was tipping over all of the time.  Hopefully it will be more stable now.  A few of the smaller roots broke off the main root ball. 


Ponyfan

[Ponyfan]

I think the bamboo is growing.   It has new roots growing.

Part of the basil is dead, but there are some new leaves down at the bottom.
I'm not sure if the thyme is still alive or not.  The ficus is growing new leaves, but I'm not sure how much longer it will last. A few branches are dead.


Ponyfan

[Beth3346]

the last few weeks were rough on some of the plants. but I see some new growth on most of them. i'm not sure about the avocado but the lemon tree is trying to make a comeback. and the tiger lilies are growing in. so we'll see.

i'm going to get some more knockout roses since those did well last year. and replace the lavender that i killed with my overwatering. now i know to just leave them alone. i'm also going to try some different annuals this year. the front yard needs help too. but i need to figure out what i want to do there.

[Lady Frostbite]

It was a mass report time last night! Spiky succulent had the biggest offshoot put in a McDoanld's fries sleeve 3D printed planter my friend gave me for Christmas. When I peeled it off the mother plant, it had a THICK taproot so I am confident it will take root perfectly! The planter DOES have drainage, I wouldn't use it directly if it didn't!

The other offshoots of their own little pots, as well as Mama Gasteraloe's latest babies, and she had ANOTHER brewing when I pulled her out to take her current 3 off! Except it wasn't three, it was FOUR so I stuck two together to help keep them stable until they potentially get big enough for their own pots. Three tiny offshoots that were sharing a nursery pot now have their own separate little pots to grow. one of Mama Gasteraloe's daughters had their OWN offshoots so THAT got replanted. A couple of plants got new soil to give them a boost, and the ficus got a drip feeder to help it.

I also sowed 4 Desert Sun sunflowers and 4 pots of Appleblossom snapdragons. I didn't read the instructions properly for both; the sunflowers are supposed to be planted two in one pot and once sprouted I've to select the strongest plant and pot that separate. I just planted one seed apiece. The snapdragons I planted under soil before reading the label and realising they're supposed to be surface-spread, so I did both!

First time growing either plant, so let's see how it goes!

[Artemesia's Garden]

Big time of year coming up in my hemisphere... I put my potato tubers out to chit yesterday.

[Beth3346]

i planted some basil today. tomorrow my additional boxwoods, salvia, and primroses are supposed to arrive. and friday the knockout roses. i'm adding more knockout roses since the ones i planted last year did well. i'm trying to see which plants survive before i add more. so far so good for most of them. i'm still concerned about the avocado and the lemon tree. it's warming up quickly so hopefully they'll bounce back.

[Lady Frostbite]

My sunflowers are sprouting!!!! My noticed one sprouted and was already up with two leaves 4 DAYS after planting!!! So likely it sprouted earlier and I didn't spot it! Another was pushing its way out, so I gently took its little seed hat off and it too is getting strong and leaning towards the sun! A THIRD I see has sprouted today, it's just curling up from under the soil, so lets hope this continues.

No forward motion on the snapdragons, but it's very early days!

[BlackCurtains]

My mom always planted a row of sunflowers along the fence for the birds

The snake plant fell over when it was windy the other day and the longest leaf curled in on itself. It seems to be fine though, it's not broken. I cut off the brown spots. The African violets are doing well, no flowers yet. The ponytail palm is fine but Aster has been snacking on it on secret. Finally, the areca palm is brown and droopy. I had to bunch it up and put a zip tie around it to keep it upright. I added some new soil and watered it twice. It doesn't look any better but also doesn't look any worse. I read it might be the dryer air so I'm trying to remember to mist it every once in a while.

I want to redo my fishtank. The plants I originally bought have outgrown it. I need plants that don't grow vertically forever. There is one single shrimp left and she is holding on. I feel bad because they are social but I want Neocaridina and some Rasboras next. I have to take everything out, plant the new plants, let it grow out for a bit. I found a local place that sells everything I'll need since eBay might stop selling fish.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I keep starting plants that are from the grocery store - every head of lettuce, the green onions, etc.
so far it seems to be going well

[Ponyfan]

I love seeing everyone's updates about their plants. 

The weather is still a little unpredictable here to put plants outside.

The lucky bamboo is doing good.  The basil is still alive.  Part of the ficus is dead, but the part that's still alive has put out a bunch of new leaves.  The aloes are doing great.   

I thought the sage was dead as it wasn't growing at all for several months so I got rid of it.  Then I found out that sage does dormant.    I still don't know if the thyme is alive.   I also have doubt about the mints, but one of them has a tiny green leaf.

I'm hoping to get some new plants once the last freeze has passed. We still have nights in the 30's and 40's. 


Ponyfan