A Little More On Starter Vases

Something I forgot to mention about choosing a starter vase, which is important, is the size of the opening.  You want it to be big with a wide mouth, this is so you can get the cutting and new growth out with out hurting them. A good rule to follow is at least the size of your fist.


  Also it needs to be heavy, if it is too light it will fall over with the water and cuttings inside. Unless you go for a short vase. They don't tip as easy as taller ones,  I learned this the hard way. It was a tall plastic vase that was wider at the top then the bottom. Looking back I should of seen that coming.

When Did This One Get New Soil? Blogging is A Good Way to Keep Track

A good thing about doing this blog is now I will know when I transplanted or gave new soil to a plant. That is if I get around to blogging about it within a decent time, ha ha.

 I have tried a few different ways of keeping track of this. The first was writing it down in a pocket calender but that wasn't for me. I would forget to do it or which plant it was (since I do not know all of there names) but mainly because I am forgetful.   The other was by putting a piece of masking tape with the date on the plants pot. This did not work as well as I hoped, the tape would fall off and it didn't look very nice. I turn my plants and eventually you would see the tape. other kinds of tape would leave to much residue.

I could go High Tech \
  It would be nice if the pots came with something just for this but until then I will rely on my blog to keep track.
 I would like to hear how others have kept track, I may learn something.

Re-Potting Weekend

I got to play with my plants this weekend, it seems these days I don't have much time for them. I watered all of them but only transplanted one.  The picture above it was it started out like. I still have to transfer the new one of it from my camera to computer.  

 I never thought it would make it since I started it from a tiny branch off the tree my mother-in-law has. I started the cutting in water. There was other branches with it but this is the only one that got roots.  You will be amazed when you see what it looks like now. I will get into it more when I get the new picture up.

 Just looked it up, it is a Ficus Tree.

 

It is even bigger now! Went crazy in the last few years.

Pictures Coming Soon!

I know, I know; I will try to get some pictures up soon.  

Starting Vase

Everyone with plants should have a vase (with water) to put cuttings in, this will start new plants. I have one that I put all kinds of cutting into.  Some types of plants do not do well sitting in water but you don't know until you try.  I have noticed that the ones with a thick heart are the worst.  The heart is the soft white center of the plant, this is how they get water up to the top.  These types of plants just get mushy instead of growing roots.

The vase should be dark in color, mine is dark green. Clear ones let in to much light which can hurt new roots.  A little is ok but straight sun is not.  If you only have a clear vase you can wrap the bottom half with pretty paper or foil.

                      

I would like to get a few more vases in different colors to see if one color is better then the rest.

You will also want to put some rocks in it to give the roots something to grab, I like the bigger glass stones. You can get them in fish dept. of a pet store or online.

I do not count the cuttings in this vase as plants in my collection, not until they are in pots and look like they will make it.

Moving With Plants

I have got some plants from people that were moving, side note: I would never give away my plants because I was moving.  But this brings up how hard it is to take your plants with you. I have never moved "out of town" so my "not giving them away" may change if I had to move further then the other side of town.   It took many trips in the car to get all my plants from the old house to the new house. This was because I have big, medium and small plants so they all couldn't be crammed into the car at one time, at least not without breaking them.

During my move I lost 2 of my plants, I think the first is called a "Hen & Chick", it just up and died within a week of moving.  It could of been from being left in the hot/warm room for a day or from the shock of moving. I had also transplanted it to a new and different kind of pot about a month before moving.  I don't think it really liked the new pot I put it in. I was planning on putting it back in a pot like it was before I transplanted it but it died before that happened. 

I had a Hen & Chick plant a while ago and killed it too, so it could just be that this type of plants doesn't like me. That can happen.

The next one I lost was my Gold Fish Plant, I am pretty sure that is the name of it. It is called that because the flowers look like Gold Fish. with this one I don't think I can really blame the move on its demise. It was not looking to good before we thought about moving.

Plant Count Up By One

Well I found a plant I had almost forgot at my old house. So I am up by one, bringing my total up to 22. Good thing we went to back a look around otherwise I would have never seen it again.

Hello Blogging World

If you do not know by the title of this blog, you soon will, I love house plants.  Over the years I have gone through many plants and learned a lot. I admit I am still learning but it is a load of fun.   As of right now I have 21 plants, that may seem like a lot but I have seen some indoor jungles that put mine collection to shame.  My mother-in-law's just to name one.  My theory is "you can never have to many house plants".    I never really got into outdoor gardening, maybe it is because you have to go outside to enjoy the fruits of your labor. With indoor plants they are always there.   

 I am going to start posting pictures of what I have and the story behind the plant.  I have one that is as old as I am. I hope you enjoy my blog.