avocado pit

I stuck an avocado pit over a jar again.

Just felt like seeing how it would go this time. Started it yesterday and already the top is splitting where stem will emerge.

zygo buds and more

My little thanksgiving cactus is getting ready to bloom again- right about on schedule!

Started bringing in some of the pots on colder nights-

Figs

Scented geranium- needs a trim!

Bay Laurel-

I took cuttings of this for the first time, hung some to dry for the kitchen

Also the mini geranium, cuban oregano and citrus geranium. Upstairs the pot of chives and ice plant. These down in the basement window area share space with avocado plant-

Which hasn't been doing too well. I'm starting to think it will never just be happy in this house. Gotten so spindly looking.

plants-

I haven't time to take pictures- but some notes for myself. My big schefflera is in full bloom now, dropping tiny sticky bits all over the worm bin that sits below it. None of the african violet leaf cuttings have growth yet.

Some of my houseplants looked sickly- I think the same thing that plagues them every winter, tiny mites or aphids that come in with plants off the deck. Realized I should have cleaned out all the old bamboo mulch from summer, it was still in some pots. I cleaned it out, topped off some pots with new potting soil. Cleaned out pale leaves on the cuban oregano and cut it back. Cleaned off anemic leaves on the ice plant and dunked it (sideways to avoid soaking the dirt) in soapy water, then rinsed. Lost my salad burnet plant, also the variegated basil and sculpit (no surprise there) and the stevia is almost dead.

Pruned back the lemon-scented geranium and some other plants, they look like will be okay. Repotted the big jade into the ceramic pot my avocado was in, and moved that one into a bigger pot and a sunnier spot in the basement sliding-glass-door spot. It keeps shooting up new leaves on tall stems- very leggy. Not enough light? Looks pretty unhappy for a while now, so trying a new location and fresh soil. The sweet potato vines in the basement spot were looking poorly, I pulled them out and replaced with all the ones that have been on the window tank, which were also starting to look unwell. Give them another chance in a pot.

A long list of ills, but really most plants are doing well. Blooms on the goldfish plant, growth on the heartleaf philodendron, zebrina looks great since I pinched off all the pale leaves. Took cuttings of jade and started new plants. Remnants of the oldest creeping charlie are starting to look healthier, so soon I will replenish that pot with new starts from cuttings off the other plants.

In my angelfish tank, val rubin continues to thrive. Tetras look great, spunky and shine with health. Angelfish looks unhappy sometimes, sits and stares at the back wall or goes pale and hides behind plants. Twice again has fled in a panic when I approached with hand raised to feed them, and crashed into things again. I don't know why.

And I was wrong, wrong about my paradise fish. I think he's got camallanus worms. I see red narrow things sticking out of his anus, until he moves then they disappear. Maybe he didn't eat the missing white cloud after all, it could have died from the parasites and I never saw the body. He's probably swollen around the vent from the worms, ugh. The other fishes in there look fine, but I've read it's an infestation that often doesn't show signs until too late. Must have come in with the guppies, or the newer white clouds, or the plants I got from a goldfish pond at the nursery. Should have quarantined longer, or done a stronger dip on the plants. I looked closer and there's white pale debris on the floor of the guppy fry tank and some fish in the tenner have white stringy poo. I'm going to have to do huge water change and dose with levamisole- tomorrow- no time today and it will be a lot of work to nearly empty all those tanks while keeping careful to not cross-contaminate and sterilize my equipment and wash my hands between. I'm feeling glum about it, haven't paid enough attention to the tanks of late, that's for sure.

not so well

Not all of my houseplants doing great. The parlor palms look well enough from across the room-

but have several dried, crispy patches on lower leaves. I usually just trim these off. My eight-year-old has recently taken to spraying plants with a tiny spritz bottle- she thinks it's fun- I directed her to give the palms, avocado, dracanea, schefflera and foxtail fern this treatment. Maybe it will help some!

This little cute blue-green trailing "foliage plant" has been dropping leaves, too. I found it's name! Pilea glauca 'aquarmarine' and it likes to dry out between waterings. I found it only had one drainage hole, and that set in center of the pot above the main surface- so after removing its dried-up foliage I stabbed a bunch more holes in the underside with a steak knife. Then moved it to bright indirect light in the bedroom to keep a closer eye on it. And saw that it has tiny bitten specks on the leaves- so I moved it back downstairs to a spot away from other plants, after dousing it with soap spray. Until I know it's clean.

Spider plant looks better than in the past, but still rather droopy.

Saddest of all is my eight-year-old avocado. Lower leaves pale between the veins,

upper leaves droopy and crumpled. I'm ashamed to show this one. I gave it a slight trim, topped off with fresh potting soil, and it's getting misted kind of regularly now. Not sure what else it needs. Afraid that repotting could put it into shock

plant spa!

Happy in a steamy bathroom. My boston fern and spider plants were noticeable perked up afterwards. Participant list: Avocado, parlor palm, pothos, asparagus fern, arrowhead, sansevieria, boston fern, schefflera, spider plants.

If you look close, can see my parlor palm is making those funny bead-shaped seeds again. I am probably just going to cut them off this year. I still have a packet of last years' in the fridge and never tried planting them yet.

foliage mix on the bathtub edge: arrowhead and pothos vines

Asparagus fern, spider plant, in front of the foggy mirror

Older leaves on my avocado plant are looking kinda awful

But there is new, young growth

avocado

My avocado plant went into shock again. It got severe droop. I think a chill from being in the room with sliding glass door, where there's a draft when people go in and out. I moved it into another room. Now it gets bumped a bit when my husband gets in and out of his display cabinet. But it is starting to perk up again and has sprouted some new leaves- pictures soon.

reposition

I've moved a few plants around, in the house. Some of them got temporarily moved out of a room that was having work done (so they didn't get coated in plaster dust) and then I simply liked their new location better, so left them there. My six-year-old avocado plant is now near the fireplace:

This pothos in a soda-bottle SIP is on top of a living room shelf. It gets pretty much ignored, but is doing fairly well after all this time.

And the dracaena marginata is in the basement, near the sliding door. I never yet do right by this plant. I've read it should be treated 'like a dragon in a cave' - low light, infrequent watering. So I placed it where there is only indirect light, in an out-of-the-way room where it won't get my excess attention. I've reduced its watering to once every three weeks. Upper foliage is looking nice and straight, but it is dropping lower leaves that go yellow at a rapid rate. I don't know if it is readjusting and going to recover, or if it is dying.

Even if it did improve and keep growing, it would soon hit the ceiling. And I have not read of people having much success cutting back a dracaena like this to keep it going at shorter height. So not sure if I will keep it once it gets too tall.

avocado leaves

Admiring the form of my avocado plant the other day.

A few weeks ago I trimmed off a stem that was leaning way out to one side, now it has nicer shape and all the branches have new leaves.

It seems to get enough humidity from the nearby aquarium, but I think I still need to mist or wipe down the leaves occasionally. You can see how dusty the older foliage is!

avocado light

through a new leaf

pale and dark

It follows reason that if there is an imbalance in the fish tank with the nutrient dosing, that the water I take out and give to houseplants will have the same imbalance. I noticed recently that the anubias lanceolata in the tenner has pale leaves with darker veins, and it looked like the java fern was starting to develop that, too. So I dosed magnesium in that tank again.

And now just a few days after doing water changes and watering houseplants with the old tank water (as usual) the younger, lower leaves on my avocado plant show similar symptoms:

Upper, older leaves aren't as affected:

Hm. It looks like I should be dosing the magnesium once a month, or once every other month.

happy plants

two of my largest, the avocado (foreground here) and dracanea marginata (background) seem to be very happy in their spots flanking the big aquarium, in front of the windows- they get a lot of bright indirect light. Maybe they like the extra humidity too. The avocado has been busting out tons of new leaves.

new growth

I wasn't really expecting the ginger to grow back, but it did!

Avocado has new baby leaves springing up where I cut it back several weeks ago. Nice rosy hue to them.

gah

Guess who else is sick here (in addition to fish, now). Plants. Spider mites again. Noticed the pepper (in the back of this pic) I've been setting outside in daytime for sun, is suddenly looking peaky. No more dark glossy leaves. Pale, mottled, red specks wipe off undersides. I sprayed heavily with a bleach solution- 1 TB bleach in 1 gallon hot 95° water. I treated all the other plants that have been susceptible to this in the past, as well. That includes: poinsettia, cyclamen, parlor palms, schefflera, parsley.

And my avocado. Its oldest leaves very ragged, drying bits of edges but pale marks too which look suspicious. Just in case.

I'm upset have to deal with this again. No more plants outside here. Only the fern, which seems resistant to mites. Will keep a close eye on the plants I have in B yard on the deck- if it doesn't seem to be a problem over there I might move more plants...

waiting for spring

There is no sign of life in my greenhouse jugs outside yet, but a few suggestions of spring indoors. A ladybug we found crawling on the windowsill (early out of hibernation?)

young leaves on some houseplants- avocado:

boston fern:

schefflera:

avocado veins

so pretty against the light

and half in shadow interesting

winter measures

The coldest time of year here always seems to be january and february. That's when I start blocking my windowpanes with cardboard and pulling the more tender plants off, overnights.

I also try to remember to mist the houseplants- this is better than overwatering to counteract dryness, and helps against spider mites too. Some plants don't like this- jade, geranium, cyclamen (can get crown rot), african violet (will get mold on leaves), creeping charlie. Poinsettia and pothos- sometimes. The ones that definitely need it: schefflera, coleus, spider plants, dracanea, palms, croton, avocado, and especially the fern. That big beauty still gets special treatment- I often carry it into the bathroom during bath or shower time. The croton was showing signs of spider mites- two leaves dropped before I noticed- so I've moved it away from the window base to sit next to my avocado, where I see it more and won't forget to mist. Plus it won't spread mites to all the other plants here further from the group.