The Plant Thread

[Beldarna]

It's sprouting from the dirt in my Ufoplant! I can't believe it! I'm holding my breath!

[Ponyfan]

LOL, Strawberry's like, "I know it's Winter but I want to flower NAO."

I think the strawberry is confused.  It didn't make strawberries when it was supposed to and now it's making them. They never turn red though.  They are green for a while and then they die.


I was going to show a pic of the mint plants covered in snow, but Flickr is having problems right now. 


Ponyfan

[BlackCurtains]

Yay, go Ufoplant!

I thought I'd give the parlor palm and ponytail palm a good soak in the shower. When I lifted the ponytail palm off the saucer there were ants! The tiny ones, with lots of eggs! I sprayed them with Raid and lifted the saucer off the floor and there were even more underneath with even more eggs and the queen! I hit them with the spray. Tomorrow I'll vacuum and put down some bait and sprinkle diatomaceous earth everywhere.

Ugh. No wonder they are always crawling on my desk and around the area. They were living right there! I hope between this and the ones that were in the violets and the ones that were in my wool, I've taken care of them all.

Anyway, the palms got a good shower and soak. I'll have to use my cart to get them back in the living room, they'll be super heavy.

I bought some more plants too I got a 4in hurricane fern, a 6in areca palm and two more polka dot plant starters. I'll plant them in with the other one.

[Ponyfan]

Here's the pic I was trying to post yesterday.

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Ponyfan

[BlackCurtains]

That's a lot of snow!

[Taffeta]

So jealous for the snow!
Don't suppose my garden wants it though...

[BlackCurtains]

My new plants came

The red and pink are new, polka dot plants.

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The Areca palm is new. It's up on the drawers so Aster can't chomp it.

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Ponytail palm, look at all that new growth! (the light green leaves)

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Ben, snake plant, spider plant and the new hurricane fern.

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[Taffeta]

Aw, look at all the pretties!

I used to have some of the polka dot plants (hypoestes I think?) They are lovely, but just keep an eye on them for bugs on the leaves (like little limpet type things) as they are very prone to them and the quicker you get rid of them the better for the plant.

I can't remember what causes/encourages them but it may be too much moisture...

[BlackCurtains]

Thanks Taffeta. After the multiple ant incidents with the plants I coated them all with diatomaceous earth. It's plant safe and keep bugs away.

[Beldarna]

I love Areca palms. I used to have one that got huuuge! The leaves would fan out over the livingroom floor and give shades to the cats when the sun was too hot. Then after 15 years it just decided to die on me . We were in a park on the Azores around ten years ago and come upon one growing on the ground. We have a picture of us standing beneath it. It was soo cool! The polka dot plants looks lovley .

[Taffeta]

@BC, glad you're prepared

Dad gave me some marigold and verbena seeds as part of my birthday present yesterday. Marigolds get eaten if I put them in the garden but do well in tubs, so I may grow those. The verbena are perennials, so I may grow one or two and see how they get on in my garden. If he doesn't pinch them first

[Beth3346]

@BC that and the ant bait are how i got rid of ants last time i had them. just FYI do not vacuum up the diatomaceous earth unless you want to make the vacuum overheat. i had to buy a new one

my plants are coming back after the cold spell we had. the chives came back right away. so did the mints and oregano after i trimmed off the dead stuff. the basil died off again and the pot it was in is breaking apart. also there are a ton of weeds. a part of me just wants to let them grow and leave the lawn more wild. but it's too much for the dogs to navigate and i don't want to attract snakes.

[BlackCurtains]

Oops, I probably should have read this before I vacuumed again. And my vacuum was making the noise it usually makes when something is stuck in the hose, but there is nothing stuck

Tbf, though it's kinda old. It's a Bissel pet hair eraser and it only cost me 40 bucks on special at Walmart like 10 years ago. It's not the older-then-me Kirby my mom had

I think I should invest in a Spot-Bot. These senior kitties I keep having vomit a lot. My carpets are stained in both the living room and bedroom. I have carpet cleaner and it works okay, but I'd like to not have to bend down and scrub anymore. Maybe I can find a deal with an upright Bissel and the Spot-Bot together or something. Worth looking into.

Okay, sorry off topic. Back to plants! I overwatered one of my African violets and now there's mold on the stems I wish I could remember which one was which, I should have stuck one of those tags in there. The other one is doing just fine. The one that's going to die is probably the more interesting black leaves/red flowers one.

[Taffeta]

I have a few little seedlings coming through on my windowill, which is exciting.

And the corydalis I thought had died outside seems to not be dead after all. At least, it has one tiny leaf now, which is more than it's had the last six weeks...

[BlackCurtains]

My polka dot plants were wilting, but after a watering and spritz they perked up. I read they like to be misted so I'll have to remember to do that more often.