I would like to start off with the fact that I am a new plant owner and only got my first plant a few months ago. Now, I have eight. This amount may sound crazy, but they are all alive. I am not going to lie because some of them are low-key kind of…dying. But the ones that are very much alive are doing extremely well. How? I do not know, but I will tell you what I did to get them to where they are today.Â
I am going to go down the list of what I have and give a little overview of each one. Starting with my arrowhead, it is a completely green leafy plant that is my tallest one as of now. The leaves are pretty big and are shaped like an arrowhead, hence the name. They are easy to propagate (take a clipping and grow another baby from the big boy plant) by cutting just below the nodes (little baby roots coming off of the stem) and putting it in water. After a couple of weeks to months, they will have roots so you can plant it in soil. My pink aglaonema has similar care instructions but does not have the nodes. I have never personally propagated this plant, but if you want to start growing a new one, you can take it apart at the roots, repot it, and watch it flourish. This plant can also flower. Now, I know what you are thinking, but they are NOT the pretty colorful flowers that you get at the store, they look more like buds. For a beginner getting into plants, these were the first two that I got, and are very easy to take care of as long as you do not water them too frequently. Another plant that I have found to be extremely easy to care for is the glacier ivy or variegated English ivy. This plant is a vine, so it climbs. This plant does also have nodes like the arrowhead, but they are less noticeable compared to the arrowhead. The nodes are just little bumps that are on the stem of the plant. Again, watering when the soil is dry has been working great for me and has made it grow incredibly fast. My Swedish ivy has the same care instructions but has not been doing as hot as the glacier ivy. It is in the same pot as my howea fosteriana and that one is not doing the greatest either. They are very small in a sizable pot, but they were always wilting but remain alive since I got them, so I keep them around and say kind words to them. I have seen that when you say nice things to your plants they can grow better. This is because of the vibrations that our voices project. The softer vibrations promote growth, while harsher vibrations have a negative effect. And to be quite honest, I always talk to my plants and give them kisses and they grow amazing, and then when I forget to, they do not grow too much. This may be in my head and show that I am weird, but I am going to keep doing what is working.
This next plant that I am going to talk about is my absolute favorite. Did I almost kill it by repotting it? Yes. Did I almost have a mental breakdown because I thought I killed it? Maybe. However, this is not the point. This plant is just so cool, amazing, and pretty, AND it flowers! My most favorite plant is oxalis triangularis or butterfly plant. This is not to be confused with a butterfly bush because they are different. This plant is allegedly harder to take care of, but I have found it easy, as long as when you repot it you do not rip most of the roots off by accident as I so sadly did. This purple-leafed plant has triangular leaves as the name would suggest, but in the light, they open up since they are not green, they do not have as much chlorophyll as green plants, so they try to soak up as much of the indirect sun as it can, which means that the leaves themselves do not grow as fast. Chlorophyll is the color in plant cells that makes the plant green and allows them to do photosynthesis and use the sun as energy. Because of this, during the day when the plant is in the sun, its leaves open, and at night, they close. It does this to get as much sun as possible. When it grows for a while, flowers start to appear. They are a very light purplish color and a little bit small.Â
Now, these are the most recent additions to the plant collection. The swiss cheese monstera was the first new addition. From my experience, this plant is pretty easy to take care of, again not over-watering and allowing the soil to dry out between watering. I love this plant so much and have been pining over trying to get one for a while and I was finally able to get it. I name all my plants, but this one is the most accurate. His name is Stinky, and not because the plant itself is stinky, but because its name is swiss cheese monstera, and cheese is stinky. I still chuckle at my creative genius. The next new addition is cryptanthus bivittatus or earth star. This plant I have the least experience with, but from the research that I have done, they can grow to whatever size pot you put them in. The person that I bought it from said there are farms that grow them, and they are humungous. There are so many different varieties of them that you are bound to find one that you like. I like the colorful ones so the one I have is pink.
All my plants have a bit of character to them because I like interesting things to look at that have color or are just funky little guys. It gives me so much joy to see my plant babies on the windowsill, and I feel a sense of accomplishment that I can keep them alive.Â