Saucers for Houseplants

Have you spent time, looking high and low for something to put under a plant pot to catch the water?  The next time you are hunting for something to put under a plant pot, consider going to the thrift store and stocking up!  

 

 

  

I have discovered saucers, wide bowls and small plates at the local thrift store to put under plant pots. They work well and look great! I like the fancy ones, especially the clear glass. I have found many clear ones and also some with flowers and fancy prints on them, as well as striped and plain. They all work and I have a collection of them specifically for use under plant pots. The medium bread plates are the handiest, but I have bought a few large plates for the biggest pots, as well as little saucers. The thrift store is a great place to pick these up, especially if they are having a bag sale that includes housewares. 

 

You can see in the photo (left) a doily under the plate. I don't have carpet (nasty stuff!) so I put thick crocheted yarn doilies under all my pots on the floor and tables. Its a good way to use up any scrap yarn. I put all the little end pieces together since no one sees anything but the outer edge. I make med and large sizes in all the various colours. I keep it single crochet to make it as thick as I can. It needs to protect the floors from moisture. 

 

 

 

My New Monstera

 

 

A friend gave me a Monstera Deliciosa! Isn't she beautiful! I just put a four foot 2" x 2" ,dark brown post in the pot for it to start growing on. I may need to replace it with a heavier and taller one at some point. I hope so! That's ok as I have a several pieces of lumber I can use for that in my wood stash outside. I can spare a bigger board for the Monstera, when it gets there.

A message to the Lord and my friend: Thank you for the great gift! "All good and perfect gifts come from above." - James 1:17.

The leaves have gotten even bigger since she gave it to me less than two weeks ago. It must like that location, right in front of a south window with blinds ever so partly open. It's winter, so most of my houseplants sit in front of or to the side of that window. In the summer they will move to cooler areas. I have other big windows with wide sills for plants, but they are cool in the winter with curtains that get closed at night. 

I also have a Monstera Adansonii. It's still quite small. I have big hopes that both of them will get huge! 

Monstera plants like some direct sunlight and don't like to be soaking wet all the time. 

I have a mix of plants with varying water requirements. I know what all my plants are and their needs but it's still hard for me not to over water the ones that like it a bit dry. 

I plan to be very careful with both the monstera plants! They are special! All my plants are special...

 

 

Growing an Avacado Tree

 

 

 

I started two pits from overripe avacados using the toothpick method. I started them about six weeks ago. 

 I had almost given up until today. Roots!  One has rooted! 

I planted it in soil right away. The second one doesn't show any signs of rooting.   

I think I might scrape away the skin a bit more to see if I can get it to root.

 

 

 

 

I'm looking forward to actual leaf growth! 
 

 

 

Nut-Free Walnut Substitute - Homegrown

 

 Impatients Glandulifera    

A walnut substitute in baking

The seeds can be collected, dried and used in baking as a chopped walnut substitute. They taste just like walnuts! 

Also called, "Himalayan Balsam or Balsam Impatients" is grows wild just about everywhere and is classed as "invasive" because bees love it and will pollinate it in exclusion of the natural plants around them. Having grown it for years, I know this is true. The big yellow bumblebees love it! So, for those who keep bees, this might be a good thing to grow. I know a bee keeper who grows it. 

It's a relative of Jewelweed, the plant for treating poison ivy, having the same growth habit and seed pods. Jewelweed is smaller, smaller flowers, smaller seed pods and the seeds may not taste the same.  

I know the white impatients glandulifera grows wild here, as I've seen it growing in fields. They get very tall, 4-5' if they are happy. They like the shade and lots of water. The same growing needs as their cousin impatients, the little ones covered in flowers that are for sale in the garden centers every spring. I like the little ones too, but I don't eat those seeds. The little ones do great in a pond, however, bareroot, floating on the water. Don't stick them in there until the water warms up. The little ones are good in dark shade too, like under the stairs. All impatients are very tender annuals. The cold and frost will kill them.

It's the seeds of the impatients glandulifera that I want. They are sometimes tricky to collect as the seed pod is very sensitive to touch when it's ripe. You have to wrap your whole hand around it, enclosing it. Then with the slightest pressure it will explode in your hand. If the pod is not ripe enough yet, it won't open. Be Warned: It can be invasive. If you miss some ripe seeds, those will fly everywhere and come up in the spring. Once these are planted in your garden, you probably won't need to plant anymore seeds. It reseeds itself very well, unless you are good at collecting all the ripe seeds.  It is an "invasive" species so be careful with those seeds! 

When seeds are collected they need to be dried immediately. Spread them out on a paper towel in an area that gets some air and let them dry completely. Stir them around every day when you pass by. After a couple of weeks they can be placed in a paper envelope. I don't store seeds in plastic until they are months old. I prefer to use paper envelopes. I prefer the long letter envelopes. I have room to write all the info I have about the seed on the outside: name, common name, date planted, date collected and any other information I might want to keep. I usually tape the edges closed so they don't leak out the sides of the flap. I write the name on the top, so I can find it easily. I store the envelopes in alphabetical order in a cardboard box or basket, something that lets air circulate. Keep them in a cool, dry place and most will last for years. I'm a seed-a-holic. I save every seed I see when out walking. 

The entire Impatients Glandullifera plant is edible, but only in small amounts as it contains a lot of oxalates. Cooking thoroughly will break down a lot of these, but why eat the plant itself when there are so many other wild things that are actually very good for you that you could be collecting, instead. The seeds do not contain oxalates, so can be eaten in safety, especially baked in desserts, breads and so forth. They really do taste like chopped walnuts in baking! 

 

Sources: 

https://www.foragingcoursecompany.co.uk/post/foraging-guide-himalayan-balsam

https://practicalselfreliance.com/himalayan-balsam/

https://www.ediblewildfood.com/himalayan-balsam.aspx

https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Impatiens+glandulifera (Plants for a future)

https://www.eatweeds.co.uk/himalayan-balsam-impatiens-glandulifera 

Growing Houseplants

 

I have left the Farmer's Market, at least for the winter. I'm officially a retired "home-body" now. I will have more time for the things that I enjoy doing, like painting and gardening. In the middle of winter, I have to dig in the dirt. It's a mood uplifting thing, I think. The soil is good for you, so I grow a lot of houseplants. 

 

Christmas cactus

I like all of my plants, but my favourites are the philodendrons and the little bright pink Christmas cactus, of course. Who doesn't like a blooming Christmas cactus? It was blooming a month ago. I grew it from rooted cuttings from a friend.

p. black cherry

 

I collect philodendrons and have several different varieties. Most have come from cuttings from friends and a friend who gave me a "black cherry" philodendron.  

 

 

p. hederacium

 

 I have the common p. hederaceum with heart shaped dark green leaves, in the same pot with a p. hederaceum ‘Brasil’ (variegated) . 

I also have a small p. micans, and another small one with longer green leaves. I'm not sure of the exact variety of that one. 

 None of my philodendrons are pothos plants, the so-called "devil's ivy". I have one of those too. It's an entirely different plant, so please stop calling it a philodendron.  :)

 

m. adansonii

I have a Monstera adansonii that looks like a philodendron with holes in the leaves, but it's a small monstera type. I'd absolutely LOVE a big monstera! A rooted cutting from a friend would be marvelous! I like living in a jungle. :) 

 

 

 

Syngoniums: red, green, red centers

 

 

I have lots of other plants, many are special to me, I'm just partial to the philodendrons. I have a small coffee plant that's interesting. Maybe I'll get some beans from it in a few years. I have three different varieties of syngonium arrow leaf plants in matching pots, in a three pot hanger I made just for them (above). 

Lipstick plant

I have a small lipstick plant that I grew from one tiny cutting. I have always wanted a lipstick plant so I babied it and it's growing very well now! It's one of my favourites. I am excitedly looking forward to blooms! It's a gesneriad, like African violets. Once upon a time, bk (before kids), I had 40 African violets in various sizes. I was trying to collect as many different variations as I could fine. Some of them grew to tremendous widths and had to go in large 1 ft tall pots. Then sweet little Sarah came along. lol. She discovered backing up to sit on things just the right height for her. She sat on all of the ones on the floor. I kept them going until she started chewing on the leaves, then they had to go. I traded a friends 40 earrings for the 40 plants. I would like to have some African violets again and can root plants from leaves, which is how i got 40 in the first place. If only a friends would give me some leaves...

 

f. fiddle leaf

I have a little fiddle leaf fig tree. It's little but it's growing. It's a ficus, like the benjamina but with larger leaves. I take really good care of it too. I want it to get six feet tall! It's only about 6" tall right now, but it'll grow. I'm hoping it won't drop it's leaves everywhere, like the f. benjamina does.

 

I have an anthurium, and a variegated ti. Both in the photo at the top. I love the anthurium. It will grow well in a pond in the warm summer weather in the shade. I might make a small water garden outside this summer. I have saved a little water pump to make a small fountain. Something else that loves to grow bareroot in water are impatiens. They do well in a pond, in the shade. Another good and unexpected pond plant is a canna, in a pot of soil in the pond. I don't have cannas now, but I have had in the past, in the pond. 

 

Sugar vine

I have a sugar vine. It is doing well and I like the light, feathery foliage. I got cuttings for it from the same friend who gave me the lipstick plant cuttings and the p. black cherry plant. It was a lot longer, but I took some cuttings from it a couple of weeks ago. 

 

 

And, of course, I have a large spider plant. Who doesn't? I couldn't have one when I had cats previously. They ate the spider plants back all the way to the dirt. They liked those!

 

I have a large jar of cuttings taken from various things. I change the water and replace with warm water every 1-2 days. I hope they root. I know it's the wrong time of year for that and warmth is important, but I used rooting hormone. Here's hoping! 

 

Cuttings

These are the cuttings I am rooting. There are two avocado pits rooting in a small glass there, as well. I have the purple striped "wandering jew" and an angelwing begonia. You can see the  cuttings, taken from my own plants. The plants are both kind of sparse now, with the cuttings taken. I like the angelwing begonia. I had one previously that bloomed well when kept outside. It has large pendulous beautiful blooms! I will be moving some of these outside in the shade, when the very warm weather comes. 

I have a "china doll" that I have always liked because of the name and also the fineness of the foliage, but it's not doing very well. It's still alive, but some of it has died back. It continuously dies and regrows and dies and regrows. Disappointing.  

Another disappointment is the umbrella plant that keeps dropping it's leaves. I have moved it to non-drafty warm locations several times and it still just keeps dropping it's leaves. I have just about lost hope for it. Even the new growth it put out awhile ago is dropping. 

One more disappointment is my grape leaf plant. It's in a big bucket with no holes in the bottom and I think I over watered it. It's wilted and not doing well at all. I might be able to save it if I repotted it in dry new soil in a pot with holes in it, but it's winter here. It's too cold to do this outside, so it's probably a loss. I'm not that thrilled with it or the umbrella tree, so if I lose those, it won't bother me. I'll be more disappointed if I eventually lose the china doll, but that's life with plants. It happens. 

My lipstick plant and sugar plant are planted directly in pots with no drainage. I'm very careful watering, but I think I will repot them soon indoors, anyway.

I keep my tender herbs on a south windowsill all winter too. They seem to do very well there. I have successfully overwintered rosemary, lavender, oregano and several others in the past. I'm trying lemon balm this year and it seems to be doing well. 

I'm looking forward to spring. I have plans to add an herb garden this year and more flower space.  

Grow Your Own Goji Berries

One of the so called "super foods" are the goji berries (also called wolfberries), ostensibly from Tibet where monks in the monasteries are known for their long life spans. I am sure this is the result of the book entitled "Lost Horizons" and not necessarily due to the longer life spans of the residents of Tibet.  

Regardless of the reasons for this, people are eating a lot of dried goji berries bought in health food stores. I buy mine from a bulk food store by the gram and have found this to be the cheapest way to buy them.

They will grow anywhere that has a winter. They don't need any special care and will flourish in poor soil and semi dry conditions. They are very easy, although slow, growers. The goji bushes should produce some berries in the third year with full sun and a little care, or so I have read. The goji berry bushes I have were grown from seed this past spring and are only about 3" tall right now. They have another two years to go before I will know for sure how long it takes to produce berries. Even if you do get berries in the third year, there probably won't be a lot of them. Of course, if you are growing them from seed, you can always plant a lot of bushes to have a bigger harvest sooner.

 

I grew my goji berry bushes from seed this past spring and had a good germination rate. It was an experiment, as I am always looking for interesting and unusual things to grow and trying seeds from many foods purchased. There is an important piece of information you should have if you are going to try growing goji berries from the dried ones purchased. The berries contain a chemical prohibiting germination, so you have to hydrate the berries, separate and wash the seeds, removing any pulp or juice from the berry. Its a very simple process and I have included directions below to help you.

The hard, dry purchased berries have to be soaked in hot water for a day or two to rehydrate. When the berries are soft and mushy, they are ready. Slit them open with a knife and you will see the seeds inside. They are very small. I use the knife to scrape the seeds into a fine strainer for washing.  

 

        

 

 

 

Hold the strainer under warm water and wash the seeds. Use your finger to stir them around in the strainer and remove any big pieces of pulp. Rinse the berries, while stirring around, for a few minutes until you are sure all the juice and most pulp has been removed.

I dump out the clean seeds on a papertowel and spread them out to dry. I let them dry for a week or so then place in an envelope and label.I keep out a few for planting myself and keep the rest for trading or giving to friends with a green thumb. After preparing a tray with soil and wetting it so that it is slightly damp, sprinkle the seeds thinly on the soil. Lightly sprinkle soil over them, but not much. Put in a warm location, keeping the soil slightly damp. It helps to keep it damp if it is covered. You should see the seeds sprouting in 4-6 weeks, or sooner. Mine took about 5-6 weeks to sprout but were in a cool window. As soon as the seeds sprout, move them into a sunny location to grow. Transplant outside when they are 2-3" tall.  They don't need winter stratification to germinate, although they will probably do well wintersowed.

    

 

 

 

 

 

This method can be used for a lot of fruits and vegetables from the grocery store. This is how I save my ground cherry seeds, as well. Some seeds may need a cold winter or scarification to germinate. You will just have to experiment.

This is what my goji berrry bushes look like now, after a summer of growing. I planted them in March but they have not had a good summer. They were kept in little pots longer than they should have been and were moved a few times, stepped on and generally mistreated. Your berry bushes will probably be quite a bit bigger and healthier than these after a full summer of growing in the right spot with tender care.  

 

UPDATE: I grew these until they were about a meter in length. They grew berries in the third year!!  

 

Rooting Herbs From the Grocery Store

 

Spring is almost here and we are having spring like weather!! I am busy planning my garden space, old and new, for this coming season. One thing I want to grow this year are a lot of fresh herbs. I do grow thyme, oregano, sage and chives. This year I am going to add several more to this list.

I have seeds for basils, cilantro, rosemary, dill and a few more that I cannot remember at the moment. These things will grow from seed but it is a slow process, especially for the perennials, so I am attempting to root new plants from fresh pieces I purchased at the grocery store for the cost of a package of seeds.

Today I bought rosemary and last week I bought and planted terragon cuttings.

When I look through the packages of fresh herbs at the grocery store, I look for pieces that have tiny bits of root still attached. These will need less time to continue rooting and start growing. I am not sure this is root. It could be a piece of the stem that didn't break away cleanly but I will leave it there, just in case it is a root piece.

I don't know for certain that rosemary stems will root but I will try it anyway. I am not losing anything, as I will still have the pile of leaves that I stripped from the stems. I can continue to cook with those.

The first thing I did was fill a small container with light potting soil. I buy the inexpensive stuff from Walmart for this. It is better for rooting and seeding if you mix it with perlite, but I am not going to at this point. Mainly because I don't have any at the moment.

I use all kinds of containers to plant in. This is the bottom half of a vegetable juice cocktail jug with holes in the bottom. The aluminum foil is to catch the water that runs through when I water it. Dampen the soil with warm water before starting.

I use rooting hormone gel for this. I put a tiny bit in the corner of a throw away plastic thingie (its an industry term ;-). I keep my rooting hormone gel in the fridge. I have read that this gives it a longer life span. I don't know this from my own experience, but, it can't hurt and it doesn't take up much room in the fridge.

Lay out the branches of the fresh herb. Remove all but a few leaves at the top. One piece with long enough for me to make two rooting pieces out of it with a few leaves left at the top of each one. When this is done, recut the bottoms of all except the pieces with a slight root still attached. Leave that alone.

Dip the end of each piece in the bit of rooting hormone. Poke a small hole in the damp soil and insert the end. Fill in the soil around it.

I plant all pieces in one container together. It takes up less room that way and it will be awhile before they are so big that they need a pot of their own. I am hoping they can go into the cold frame, or even the ground, by that time.

These are the terragon cuttings I rooted a few days ago. They wilted at first but seem to be perking up now. I did not cover these with anything but I am going to put a bag over the rosemary to help keep them moist while they root. Put the cuttings in a light place but not in direct sunlight until you see real, new leaf growth.

I am looking forward to using these fresh herbs from my garden this year. I use them to make soap, as well as cook with them. One thing I want to make this year is a lot of pesto! I might also make myself some herbal bath oil, hand lotion and hair rinse.