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Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Easy Houseplants for Paula (Part 1)

Last Friday, I went to a marvelous baby shower for one adorable girl Maddie (she is wearing the hat I made her here)
The shower was top notch for so many reasons, great food, fun and people. The evening went late, and my favorite part is when there are just a handful of people, long time friends, and you settle in a cozy chair and babble and listen to friends. The conversation went around to so many subjects, grandchildren, the pain of watching elderly parents in dementia, raising teens and growing houseplants. So this blog goes with the houseplants. 
I went thru my house and took photos of my plants, and am busy looking up the real name of these plants to add to the blog. These are all plants that I have had for years, and think they are pretty easy to keep going in the house. I have linked the ones I could to Dave's Garden, where you can find more info (bit deeper than my babbling)
 I start with the easiest of all:

Heart Leaf Philodendron Philodendron hederaceum var. oxycardium

or is it a

After much research, I believe I have the Pothos, it is easier to grow then the Philodendron. 
I have currently seven of these plants. I have always called them pothos.  They love light, even if it is from a bulb! I bought three at Walmart a few years ago, in 10 inch pots, they were $8.99 and in one year they doubled in size!  I like the bottom water pots for these plants. The key, once a month do a complete soaking in the tub or sink. But the rest of the month, watering from the bottom is perfect.  This causes the roots to go down, and helps the plant be stronger. In the summer, I take these to my covered patio, and they don't get a ton of direct sunlight, but it gets HOT, and they thrive.  In the winter the main thing is to keep them out of the stream of heat from any vent. It dries it out to fast. 
I have tried again and again to propagate these plants, and have a hard time getting roots to appear.  They are so cheap to buy, I have seen them at $2.99 for 6 inch pots, and they grow so fast, this is the number ONE plant to have.  I like to take outside twice a year and do a soft spray to get the dust and such off also. I also am fastidious about pulling yellow leaves off the plant.
 Spider Plant, Airplane Plant 'Bonnie'

Chlorophytum comosum 

I LOVE this plant! It is the most giving of all plants.  I call it a Spider, but it is also known as an airplane.  This precious plant has babies, and they are fantastic to make new plants! You can see the babies hanging from the momma here------> 
A big help for the spider is to lift the leaves to pull any dead or dying leaves out. Keep the plant happy! The plant below I just popped in water for about 3 weeks, until thick healthy roots pop out.  Then drop into some rich soil and pretty pot, and a new plant is added. These also do fine, mixed in with the POTHOS
 These plants also do well as hanging or in a table top. 
I water the same as I explained in the philodendron. They love water, if you see the leaves wilting or yellow, probably too much water.  I love how forgiving the spider plant is also. I am pretty vigilant on my water scheduling, Tuesday and Thursdays, usually, but sometimes, life happens.  I miss a whole week or two, I will look over and see them just almost yelling, "Anne! I'm so darn thirsty!"
I have been known in the middle of a conversation with someone, to jump up and fill up my pitcher of water for a plant that for some reason I just noticed is dry as can be.
This next plant, I bought on impulse standing in line at Lowes Hardware. It was in a pretty red pot, and the leaves had red on them. I love red. I had no idea if it would live or not.  But for $3.99, I was willing to gamble.  Apparently, it was a good bet. I started researching to find the name, and it is a red aglaonema. The people that know, say, that these plants are able to survive in poorly lighted or badly ventilated areas!  That means, it is hard to kill! Woo hoo. This baby has almost tripled in size and I have even accidentally broke a stem off, and popped in water and got roots and been able to repot.  Now that I found this out, I think I may get a few more!

The last one for today:

This is another one that the plant people argue pothos versus philodendron. I just know it is pretty easy.  The leaves start out kinda heart shape, and as they grow the leaves split. It too grows wicked fast. This one is about ready to be repotted, and I know as soon as I do, it will be like the HULK and explode in hugenous! 
I hope you have enjoyed part of I am not sure yet how many, but I took a whole lot of photos, and hope you soon will be in the midst of your own indoor jungle!
~never lose your joy


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