Old Wives Tales: Part 1 Watering Your Plants With Pasta Water

Over then years I have been told or read about some plant care tips that are kind of crazy, but us plant people tend to do crazy, ha ha.    I think I heard of the pasta water in a magazine for the first time. I know I have had a few other people tell me through out the years but not sure which was first.    I do not do it very often and as of late not at all.

  Just so we are on the same page when I say pasta water I am talking about the water you boiled pasta in.  This "tip" is usually mentioned in articles about reusing and not really geared towards plant growers.  It just tells you how to do it but no first hand reviews of how it works.    Maybe if I had spent more time looking around the web I might have found some.

   The biggest problem for me is waiting for it to cool down.  You have to have a place to store it while it cools down.  And when do you usually make pasta? I hardly ever make pasta lunch, so it is usually late and I don't water at night.    That means it has to sit overnight.    By morning it is so nasty looking you don't want to use it.     The first time I did it I did not do anything with it and just used it as is,  and that just made a mess.  The starchy film left a residue on top of the soil. It lasted through a few waterings with plain water.    I have tried many concoctions; diluting it with tap water, skimming it, etc... and it Doesn't seem to benefit the plant enough to go through all that BS when you can use other fertilizers.

If you are thinking about trying it I would say skip it, not worth it.

* Note you shouldn't use any pasta water on plants if it has oil or salt.  Ha, I know when do you ever not use salt when cooking pasta.  another thing they don't tell you in the articles.

Trying To Make Paper Pots: Part One

Having some fun with my two year old son and some store sales flyers that would go in the trash anyways.  What a good way to spend a few hours.  I wasn't sure of what to use as a mold and didn't look online before starting this project. This Project is more for something to do then the results. I figure learn by failure.  After shredding the flyers in long strips and gathering some small pots I got the flour and water mixture ready.  I went light at first but didn't really like the way it came out so before starting the next one I added more flour.   I still wasn't happy with it so more flour went in.  Next time I know to start with more.   We will see how they turn out!

About Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena Sanderiana)

 This is a very deceiving plant, to start with it is not bamboo at all but related to Lilies.  And by living underwater for just long enough to make you think you have a cool new aquarium plant it dies.  I was sad to find out that since it is not a true aquatic plant the two I have in my tank will eventually die. It make me mad that places like Petco sell it as a water plant when they should know its going to rot and die.     The Dracaena Sanderiana is classified as a Tropical Plant. However after all the grief I gave Lucky Bamboo above I did  read on a few aquarium forums that some will live if they have leaves out of the water.

 Out of the aquarium it is said they are low maintenance. Not needing much light and grow-able in various "soils" its only real demand is water.  No need to fertilize, just watch out for Spider Mites and Mealy Bugs. They like to suck the plant's juice. However I have killed many so they are not invincible .


 The Lucky Bamboo's biggest lie is it connection with Feng Shui considering it hasn't been around that long. And it doesn't come from China but West Africa.

**Toxic to pets***