thoughts

The beautiful Boston Fern has a new spot again. I got this little triangle shelf off craigslist and it was perfect to set the fern in a corner of my kitchen nook. I've been giving it humidity treatments every day- regular misting and visits in the shower. It seems to be responding really well- the foliage no longer is dry and brittle but has a nice, pliant feel like living tissue again. My kid even commented on this: "it doesn't feel like paper anymore, it feels like your other plants now!"

Checking on moisture levels this morning and misting some other plants that like humidity I realized a few things: I shouldn't keep succulents and plants that like to stay very dry (Crassula, Curry Plant, Taragon) next to plants that like to be misted. They get drops of water on their leaves too and that might be detrimental. I know the jade in particular will suffer if its thick leaves get wet too often. So I think I need to rearrange who is in which windowsill.

Also; I think the plants that like to really dry out between waterings (Dieffenbachia, Dracaneas, Spider Plants, the Avocado, and quite a few others) will do better in traditional clay pots than plastic ones. The clay allows the soil to breathe; air actually passes through and extra moisture can respirate through the walls of the pot. I've noticed that my dragon tree plant seems particularly happy in its large clay pot- or maybe it's just happier being root-bound again. Regardless, even though clay pots cost more, are heavier and prone to break (but then you get shards for drainage!) I think I'm going to gradually shift my plant collection: "dry" plants into clay pots, "moist" plants into SIPs! It's a very long-term plan...