Written by Mullenkedheim
You have any idea what this plant is? It came unlabelled from a flower shop/garden centre, and no one there knew what it was, and I can’t seem to find pictures of anything like it on the interbutts. It’s a succulent, but what kind? D:
2010/5/16 EDIT: euphorbia suzannae is what it is. :}
Written by Mullenkedheim
Succulents
You may remember that I’ve been trying to get jade plants and christmas cacti to grow from leaves for some time now. I decided to put them all into pots of soil and move them to the bedroom where they’ll get a bit of sun, and see how that goes.
The tiny jade plant leaf I had in water never really rooted, but when I popped it in the soil, I noticed that it had grown two tinier leaves, so maybe it’ll do alright.
Christmas Cactus
Christmas Cactus
The Christmas Cactuses had rooted quite well, so I tossed one in soil and one in hydroculture. The jar I chose for the hydroculture one isn’t best, though, as it’s difficult to tell the water level, but we’ll see anyway. The one in soil has a bud that I really ought to pinch off (it’s still just one leaf — I don’t see how it can safely survive a bloom), but I don’t think I will. I’ll take my chances.
In other news, I LOVE buying plants at the Daiso, the 100yen shop. Once a month or so I’ll pop in and have a look at their plants near the door, and they always seem to have a selection of interesting plants, for just 105 yen, so there’s no harm in picking one up. If it lives, I’ve added a new, interesting specimen to my place; if it dies, I’m not out much.
Lucky Bamboo
Coffee Tree
I picked up the silk jasmine in this way about a month ago. This time, I’ve picked up a “lucky bamboo” (which is neither lucky nor bamboo), and what is allegedly a coffee tree. Who has a coffee tree plant? Seriously! It’s a bit of a rarity, and that’s why I picked it up.
I do hope the jade plants do well. And the christmas cactuses. And those Aloe Nobilis cuttings I planted way back! They’re still not rotting or wilting or shrivelling or anything. But are they rooting? Short of (1) seeing new growth or (2) pulling one of them out to see what’s going on, I don’t really think there’s any way to tell. Patience, I guess.
Written by Mullenkedheim
Davallia Mariesii / 忍
Just a brief one this weekend, as there’s not been too much which is noteworthy.
Avocado
First, my avocado is doing really really well. It just keeps shooting up, and it’s a joy to watch every day. I’m not sure if it’s going to do well in a chilly apartment over the winter, but we’ll see, I guess.
I’m still not sure what’s going on with my jade plant cuttings. The one in soil has started to shrivel, but I dunno if it’s rooting or not; the one in water hasn’t changed in forever, so I dunno what’s going on there, either. Oh well, patience, patience.
My sago palm had some brown spots on its fronds earlier this week, and when I looked closer, I noticed TINY MEALYBUGS. What the hell man, where did you even come from? I MURDERIZED YOU ALL. So I’m back to being vigilant and watching for them, and spraying with the soap/wine/oil/water mixture.
Jade plant
Finally, my christmas cactus cutting! I got it back in mid-September, I think, and it’s been in water every since. There’s been no change at all forever. Every once in a while I’d have to top up the water in its shot glass, but yeah, no changes forever. No roots, no rot, nothing.
The other day while topping up the water with my little watering can, my hand jerked because I’m a spaz or something, and the two leaves went flying to the floor. I quickly picked them and returned them to the water, convinced I’d fucked them up.
Christmas cactus
THE VERY NEXT DAY they started to root. One is rooting faster than the other, but there is no doubt about it: both of them have now started to root. What’s the deal with THAT?
In other news, I keep seeing little tree-like things at garden centers or flower stores or the 100yen shop, and think I should pick them up, but then I decide not to. Whether its little orange trees, or those… things… with the… i dunno what they’re called and I can’t describe them, but they look awesome! or the Silk Jasmine at the Daiso, I kind of want. Don’t really have the space though…
Lots of bleeding crotons everywhere. Fucking hate crotons. Bloody awful looking things. HERE IS A HORRIBLE TREE WITH THE MAIN TRUNK CUT OFF AND SEALED WITH TAR ISN’T IT ELEGANT? Get out. But anyway, I digress.
Now that’s actually getting colder, I wonder how any of my plants will do. The ones in windows will necessarily have to be moved elsewhere but where would work, I wonder? Away from the windows and they’ll get nearly no light. Ah well, we’ll deal with that when we get to it.
Written by Mullenkedheim
Aloe Aristata
Sunday Sunday Sunday! Houseplants go!
Cycad: New Growth?
I suppose now that it’s getting on autumn and the temps are cooler and the days are shorter, even houseplants are gonna stop growing a bit, etc. I suppose I shouldn’t expect too much in the way of progress. Nothing’s dying, so that’s cool!
I don’t know much about cycads / sago palms. My cycad, which is now completely mealybug free, doesn’t appear to be growing. Or maybe it is, I don’t know! If a cycad dies, does it very CLEARLY die? Or does it just look healthy until the end of time, even though it’s friggin’ dead? I dunno. At any rate, it still looks fine, and there may or may not be new growth.
A. Nobilis Cuttings
The avocado is still growing well, too! Lots of new leaves!
My aloe nobilis cuttings are kickin’ around and not really changing, but I think that’s okay. They tend to take forever, so it should be okay. My jade leaf is doing the same dealio, but I dunno, it may be fine.
Spider Plant
Finally, I’ve gotten around to transplanting my spider plant out of it’s little water bath into hydroculture. Got a little foofy and added some coloured beads for fun, but whatever. Also have it in a cute little jar from the Daiso, with leaves and ladybugs on it. ^_^ I hope it does well~
How about you? How are your houseplants doing? What plants do you keep? What do you want to try keeping?
Written by Mullenkedheim
2009-10-11 Spider Plant
After last week’s mother-of-all TL;DR posts, this week’s Gardening Sunday is pretty low-key, with not a lot to talk about.
Written by Mullenkedheim
2009-10-04 Spider Plant
I live in a small apartment. It’s not a big place by any means, but it’s big enough for me. The problem is, it’s a wee bit sterile. I can’t hang anything, because I can’t put any holes in the wall, and the horrible textured wallpaper that Japan loves so much makes BluTak a reckless proposition. So what could I do to bring some life and character into the apartment?
Houseplants.
I decided that I’d also try to chronicle my houseplant experience here, so that what I learn can be a resource for other people hoping to keep plants in their tiny apartment. Also, while there are a lot of apartment gardening resources for America in English, and they have useful, universally applicable information, for some expats, an English resource for gardening in Japan would be helpful. “What’s this plant called?” “I need this, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what it’s called, or a brand name to reference, in Japan! HELP!”
So yeah, welcome to Gardening Sunday. This week: Meet the Plants.