Meet my little green babies
Hi, I'm back. Sorry, it's been a while. Since I've been away from the camera for a little bit I picked up another new hobby (shocker), one that I think suits me really well. The new obsession in question: collecting houseplants :) This all started over a year ago with two sad plants but has now grown to a fun little collection of just over 20 plants (and counting). And since I haven't had the urge to go outside and take photos recently, I thought I'd introduce you to my plant family.
The first round
- spider plants, snake plant, golden pothos
My plant collection started the same way most beginners do; spider plants, snake plants, & pothos. The first two, Leroy (big spider) and Ninki Minjaj (snake) started as propagations, and I long-awaited their transformations into bigger beautiful plants and... I'm still waiting. When I started learning about plants, I found out that I did Leroy really dirty (not in the way that they'd like), so he's been through a lot. Ninki Minjaj hasn't though, she's just a little slow. If there's one thing I would advise if you want to collect plants is that you need to have a LOT of patience, these ones take a while to get big and beautiful (when they aren't in their ideal environment), but that doesn't mean they aren't cute when they're little. Joanne (pothos) was next to join the family, as a birthday present who grew a ton in the winter and then just stopped for a bit. But... I spotted some new growth on her :) Very excited about that.
The obsession grows
- monstera deliciosa, string of pearls, monstera adansonii
After countless hours spent on youtube watching plant videos, I felt that I had enough knowledge to expand my collection and get possibly my favourite plant: the monstera deliciosa or in my case, Wanda. She is quite the fast grower and has finally grown some split leaves (a huge milestone for her). With more knowledge comes more plants. I started gearing away from the classics and picked a few more complex plants, some of which include Johnathan (string of pearls), and Susan (mon. adansonii). I thought Susan would be a trickier plant to deal with because how could something so stunning require so little attention, but she's been so easygoing. Whereas Johnathan has been a slow grower but recently started putting out longer strings. I'm telling you, patience is the key to this hobby. Something will happen eventually, just gotta wait a bit that's all.
The colour scheme
- peperomia frost, marble queen pothos, scindapsus argyraeus, sansevieria moonshine
As I continued growing my indoor jungle I learned I have a type. Any plant that has some form of white, blue, or silver-ish colour has a special place in my heart. I don't know what it is they're just so stunning. It started with plants like Michael (scindapsus), and Destiny (marble queen), who had this beautiful colour scheme on their leaves. My favourite of this section, however, is my peperomia frost. Her name is Sheesh (don't ask) and she might have some of the prettiest leaves I have ever seen. She is blue and she literally sparkles, I'm not kidding. Tell her she looks pretty (she already knows it but like she deserves it). The same goes for Moon, the prettiest snake plant out there, he's stunning. (Peep my lil guard goose, Hank)
The newest additions
- hoya krimson princess, hoya compacta, watermelon peperomia
This is where my collection may or may not be getting out of hand, because I need to move all of these into a dorm room (not sure how transportation will go but we'll see). The most recent plants to join my collection are some that require more experience to grow, a great way to test my plant skills and abilities. The first ones are very exciting to me. Their names are Peach (krimson princess) and Bo (compacta) and they are my very first hoyas. I'm very excited to have these ones in my collection, it makes me feel like I know what I'm doing, like I'm a real "plant mom". Super excited to see how these babies grow and if they will ever flower for me when they get older. Then the last plant to join my collection (for now) is my watermelon peperomia named Harry. He has been on my list since I got into this collection, and I finally caved a brought him home and he is looking so fine with the rest of my plants.
The learning curve
- tradescantia zebrina, fittonia
I think it's no surprise when I tell you that my plant collection has not been a complete success. It had its setbacks, as does any new hobby-rabbit-hole that one falls down. But in this plant journey, perfection does not exist, unless you're like me and you think plants literally just existing is the coolest thing in the world. I've struggled with all of my plants, but that's how I was able to learn from them. Sometimes they tell me what they need, I look up how to help them, and we adapt. Like my tradescantia zebrina who was a few sad stems but has now grown insanely fast after I learned that he wasn't getting enough light. Now he is super happy sitting on my window sill. Other times they'll be happy one day and then wilting and droopy the next, and I'll have no idea why. This is what happened to Spoon, my fittionia. He was super happy one day, I repotted him, he lost like half of his leaves, but then a few weeks later he's happy again (he's a bit dramatic). A little word of advice for you, don't let anyone trick you into getting a succulent because they say "it needs nothing from me you like never need to water it." wrong (at least for me). If you're still learning like I am, do your research (youtube is your friend here) and invest in smaller, simpler plants before you splurge on something bigger and possibly kill it. This is all about growth baby!
On the wishlist
I'm trying to limit the number of plants I'm bringing into the collection so that I have space to bring them with me when I move out, but if any of these happen to show up near me I don't think I'd be able to leave them. I have some plants on my wishlist that are easily attainable and others that I would need to search in the depths of facebook marketplace to find. Some wishlist plants like the ZZ plant or a string of turtles, are plants I could easily get now if I wanted to. But then there are some plants like the cebu blue or the whale fin sansevieria I can't really get my hands on now, but I hope to find them someday to add to my collection. Then there's some like the hoya linearis or the boobie cactus (yes you heard me) that I will likely never come across BUT if I happen to see if I don't care how much it costs I'm taking one home. (If you're ever looking for a birthday present for me, anything from your local nursery will do just fine ;)
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