Some people have been nurturing sourdough starters during the pandemic, others have been working on their great novel, and yet others have been working through the entirety of Netflix. If you ask me what the past 3 months have held for me however, I will describe it in one word – PLANTS.
Before we were all stuck in our homes I had a very small selection of plants. I had a few succulents and a small terrarium, alongside two plants from a trip to Ikea and I was working on making sure that they didn’t all completely die, but then when everything shut down I started learning more and more about living and real plants.
Since that time I have brought home many more plants and my current plant total stands at 14. In the first few weeks of the pandemic the one place that I left the house for were plant nurseries and I was able to explore most of the ones near my house and I definitely have some favourites. Some of these plants are doing amazing and some are currently in my plant hospital (or have recently been released), but just like the outdoor vegetable garden it is all an experiment and I am learning day by day how to take care of my plants.
I will be sharing my plants here for you in this blog as well as the App that I use to help keep these plants alive. I know I am nowhere near being done with my plant journey as I have quite a few plants that I would love to have (such as a Pilea as well as a String of Pearls and whatever other plants catch my eye) as well as more sections of my home that don’t have a plant in it yet.
You can check out both of my plant Pinterest boards here and here
Plant Hospital
I am going to start with my plants in the “plant hospital” or the ones that aren’t doing the best. When I start to notice that I plant is going downhill I start to take a closer look at it and start my research into what it needs. While I do do this research when I first get a plant perhaps the place that I have it in is not sunny enough or too sunny or I am not watering the plant enough. I then may move it if it is a place that I think may be affecting the plant and keep a close look on it.
Recently graduated from the plant hospital is my Rubber Plant (Ruby). This plant suffered from under-watering in the first few weeks of its life in my home and began to lose many of its leaves. I have now fixed the time between waterings and while it doesn’t look as good as when I first got the plant many new leaves are beginning to grow and I think it is doing much better now.
My blue star fern (Stitches) is the saddest plant currently at the moment. I also believe that this plant wasn’t getting enough water as well as not enough humidity, despite living in the bathroom. It has lost most of its leaves, but there are little sprouts coming up that I hope means that it is on its way up. I will also be looking into if there is a way to change the soil or medium the plant is in to improve its life.
I am also keeping a close eye on my watermelon pepperomia (Rollkuchen) which has recently started to droop. I have only been really watching it for a few days so it is not yet quite in the plant hospital yet, but it is being monitored.
Plant Ladder
I am currently in the middle of creating a plant ladder in the living room. I purchased this towel holder from Ikea which I plan on putting plants on with containers such as these.
I have a few plants ready to be put on this plant holder once I have the containers to hold them including this Rattlesnake Calithea (Rattle) and this Pepperomia (Jello). They are currently just spending time on the kitchen bar until their more permanent locations.
Other Living Room Plants
Also in the living room I have a Pepperomia (Pepper) on the bookshelf as well as a Spider Plant (Itsy Bitsy) and a ZZ Plant (Zippy) on the mantle of the fireplace. Down at the bottom of the fireplace I have an Orchid (Epoh). This Orchid currently doesn’t look like much but I am following the instructions that I received in terms of pruning the plant and have a lot of hope that the plant will grow and flower again.
Dining Room
In the Dining Room I have my Terrarium on the buffet that I am not too sure what plants are inside of it. It is doing well though. I also have my Snake Plant (Snake) which is doing so well in the corner with two new growths that are doing great.
Bathroom
In the main bathroom I have a Crispy Wave Fern (Ruffles) which is doing well. I love how bright green this plant is and this one is the one that Nigel saw in the Nursery and needed to get right away.
Bedroom
In the the bedroom I have my first plant which is a Golden Pothos (Goldie). This plant is also doing very well and grew many new leaves in the first few weeks of its life. While it isn’t growing as quickly right now it is still looking great.
Vera
I wouldn’t be doing as well in my plant journey without the app “Vera”. This app allows me to enter in all of my plants with watering and fertilizing directions and it lets me know when the plants need water. While of course I need to be checking in my plant myself this helps me to make sure none are being neglected and I am also able to store photos in the app so I can see how the plants are growing and changing through time.
Do you have any houseplants? What are your favourite plants and which ones should I be adding to my hoard next?
fivestarredlife.ca 
I love that you name your plants–I do the same thing! Also that app is such a great idea! At one point I would write down on a paper calendar when I watered the plants, but I never kept up with it. An app sounds more my speed!
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