cuttings

A little while back we were walking through the mall and A. noticed I kept eying certain plantings arranged throughout the common spaces. He's heard me ramble on about propagating plants from cuttings lately and said: you want a leaf, don't you? tell me which one; and he picked off a few. So now I'm going to see if I can make them grow.

Brought home at first they were just in a glass of water.


Then yesterday I finally looked up what they are. One is an Schefflera (or umbrella) plant, my mother used to have a big one in the corner of our living room. Another is some kind of Philodendron, very easy to grow from cuttings. The third I think is a variety of Aglaonema, the leaf still tightly curled. All the info I look up says the Aglaonema can be propagated from cuttings, but none say just from a leaf. However, that's all I have, so I stuck it in some damp, well-drained soil. Same with the Schefflera leaf. The Philodendron I've left in the water glass to see if roots grow first, before potting it.

The aglaonema here is next to my little geranium start.

avocado experiment

Did a bit more reading, and realized my Avocado project could be done better. Tons of people apparently grow Avocado pits into trees, starting by suspending the pit over a jar of water. Now that I think about it, this seems vaguely familiar. I might have done something similar as a child. So I've unwrapped the pits and made up two jars. One set atop the fridge, the other my daughter insisted on putting in her window, next to one of the onions. I did read that some people have trouble with the pits going moldy before they sprout, but if that happens we might try again, just putting them directly into a pot of soil. There's never a shortage of avocados to try this with, as my husband likes them and eats many!

starting seeds

The snow is beginning to melt outside, dripping from all the eaves. Buds showing up on the ends of tree branches. Saw a robin the other day.

The top of my fridge is getting crowded; I planted half a dozen small plastic trays (saved from food packages) with seeds to get started on the garden. One tray has Rosemary and Thyme seed, another Basil, also the small plastic greenhouse with little clay pots planted with Basil (garden seed in the greenhouse, store seed in the tray). Three trays each have Lettuce- one romaine (store seed), one simpson (garden) and the last one bibb (garden). Also sowed a tray with Cauliflower seed.


Although I don't have all the proper materials, I did the best I could. I lined the bottom of each tray with shards, then put a piece of cheesecloth over that, then about an inch of potting soil. I hope that does the trick, as these trays don't have drainage holes. Watered very carefully with an eyedropper (so as not to wash the seeds out of position) and covered each tray with plastic wrap to keep humid. Set in a warm place- some atop the fridge, a few others atop the bookshelf in bedroom, which is near a heat vent- to wait for them to sprout.

mango

A few days ago ate a fresh Mango for breakfast, and this time saved the seed husk. Cleaned it, and let dry out on the windowsill. When I cracked open the husk, the seed inside had already begun to split its skin. Now it's snug in a pot of dirt. I hope I didn't plant it upside down. Wait and see what happens!



I love doing these little growing experiments when it's still winter but my green thumb is itching. I'm encouraged in them by remembering one of my art teachers from college. He brought a whole coconut back with him from vacation in Hawaii, picked up off the beach for mere curiosity. He set it on the surface of a pot of soil. It grew roots and then sprouted leaves. I was always so intrigued that he was growing a coconut plant! I did some sketches of it, and featured it in a pen and ink drawing here.

onion greens

Look how well the Onions are growing! Today they got repotted, mostly because I wanted to add the better drainage of crocking, but at the same time I discovered the roots were already filling up the space, so put them each in a larger pot. I also found my last (and smallest) red onion had tiny rootlets coming out of its basal plate, although no green sprout. Just to see, I put over a little baby food jar of water. The roots are growing, not nearly as fast as the others did, and so far no sprout yet. Maybe this only works if it's sprouted already? Hm.

crocking

After reading more about houseplants, realized I've done so much wrong! I never before put crocking in the bottom of my pots, plus realized most of them were in too large of pots, resulting in the slightly sour smell of soil that never dries out properly. So today I did quite a bit of repotting. They really do drain a lot better with the shards in the bottom! (I don't have any old broken clay pots but instead used some tiles which I found in the shed, and busted with a hammer).

The Cilantro especially looks very sad (we've eaten most of it too) but most of the newly-planted seeds had not sprouted yet, so I just pushed them back into the soil. Cut the nicest shoots of Basil off the tops of the plants, stripped their lower leaves and stuck them back into the moist (and now well-drained) soil. I've had some success with Basil like that before, they grow roots readily. The three tallest stalks of Basil there, with slightly woody stems, are the original rooted plants. So now I have two pots of Basil and one of Cilantro. I've put a sheet or two of cardboard between the plants and the window pane to shelter them a bit while they recover.

geranium bonsai

Did I never show you my little Bonsai? I bought it at a gardening street fair in the early fall, last year. It's a dwarf Geranium, supposed to make pink flowers atop the foliage, but I don't know how large it has to grow first. I've been trimming the leaves every now and then to give it shape. Recently cut off a small branch that was coming out of the base of the plant, and just stuck it in the soil of another small pot. So far it seems to be doing okay, it's even sprouted a new leaf.

But after reading up a bit on plant propagation (Thalassa Cruso) I realize I did it wrong (again!). Ought to have let the cutting dry out and heal at the base before planting, and mixed some perlite into the soil to drain better. Well, I'll see if this little plant survives, and if not try again. Ordered some books about bonsai, too, as I really don't know what I'm doing! I've put it under a glass globe to protect from drafts in the cold windowsill for the time being.

seedlings

The yellow pepper seeds I planted are beginning to push above the dirt. There's two or three in each pot shoving their heads out. Kiwi seeds have also begun to sprout- they are the smallest seedlings I've ever seen! Encouraged, I planted another two trays of them from yet another overripe kiwi (I don't like kiwis so if A doesn't eat them, they just get composted). I realize it's pretty ridiculous for me to be trying to grow from seed indoors in a nearly-basement level when it's a blizzard outside. Low light, and short hours of it. I don't have any grow lights, either. So I've set my old drawing lamp above the seedling trays atop the fridge, to give them some extra light where it's warm.

poinsettia

Neighbor gave me a cutting off his Poinsettia a few days ago, which I stuck in a jar of water to see if it will grow roots. I think it would do better with rooting hormone and soil, actually, but I don't have any of the powder (the nurseries are all closed until March). I used to do this with cuttings of my mother's creeping charlie plants. My neighbor told me once when he was a teenager he picked up the leaf of some exotic tropical plant off the floor of an arboretum, took it home and put it in water. When it grew roots, he potted it. It grew very quickly, and before long was a towering lush plant that nearly reached the ceiling. He gave it to a family member who kept it for some five years!

Well, the Poinsettia cutting is not doing too well. The leaves are looking poorly, a bit yellowed and starting to curl. I think it may be getting too much sun, and have moved it to a counter just aside the kitchen window where there's plenty of light still but none of it direct. I also read more about growing poinsettias from cuttings and realized I did it all wrong. Wrong time of year, wrong part of the plant, etc. But still going to try and see if it survives; I stuck it in a small pot of soil and covered with a clear plastic jug as it needs humidity. Hopefully it does better.

cilantro

The Cilantro in my windowsill pots is getting nice and lush, although a bit leggy. Perhaps not quite enough sunlight (as our windows with the deepest windowsills, that will hold pots, are also very close to ground level outside). I was pleased yesterday to pinch enough of the herb for A. to make fresh guacamole. It smells great when I crush a leaf between fingers. Excellent also in a marinade for grilled shrimp, or pho soup! I pushed another dozen seeds (saved from the garden) into the soil so we'll have a new batch soon. I remember last summer when I dried the plants, thinking I had way too many seeds gathered. Now I'm glad I saved them all, as I can successively plant Cilantro to keep us in fresh herbs throughout the winter, and still have enough left to plant the garden when it gets warm enough outside.

frozen compost

A few days ago I emptied another compost bucket from the mudroom onto the outside pile, even as the bin is cold frozen, and drifted with snow. Just yesterday we got hit with a record snowstorm, there's thirty inches of snow on the ground now. And I was itching for spring planting time! Looks like it's going to be a bit longer.

pepper seeds

The pepper seeds did sprout! Very quickly too. I made up three square pots of soil, set a few of the nicest-looking sprouted seeds evenly spaced in each (four in two pots, five in the larger one). Put them back in a warm spot to keep watered until they emerge and need light.

onion sprout

Found a third little red Onion sprouting! So I set it over water in the smallest baby food jar, and overnight it's already grown roots. The other two grew them so fast- it's like I can see them lengthening by the minute! Yesterday it was like this, roots barely visible. And I had made a little cardboard sleeve to hold the smaller onion in place (it kept falling into the water thru the toothpicks, and I didn't want it to rot):

And this morning:

Then daughter and I potted them up:

 

Soon we'll have fresh onion greens to use! And perhaps it will even flower. I wonder if, as these were grown from organic onion sets, if the seeds would be viable. I won't rely on them to stock my garden with onions, but it's fun to see what will grow.

kiwi seeds

Daughter and I squished seeds out of the flesh of a slightly overripe kiwi, and scattered into damp soil in a tray - actually the original plastic container the kiwis came packaged in at the grocery store. It has a lid, shut and set on top of the fridge right under a ceiling heat vent where it will stay warm. See if we can grow some kiwi plants for decoration!

In the same vein, I've also put up there atop the fridge an avocado pit wrapped in damp paper towels and sealed into a plastic bag, and some yellow bell pepper seeds between two layers of damp paper towels, to see if they'll sprout.

onion sprouts

Noticed today that a red Onion in the hanging mesh bag (garden grown!) was sprouting.

Pulled it out and found one more!

Put one in a little green bulb vase and the other in an old baby food jar, supported with toothpicks, so they can sit just touching the water with the base.

When roots sprout, will try to plant them in a pot and have fresh onion greens to cook with! Daughter is so excited to see if the onion will grow. She wants to try and plan other things indoors, too- while we wait for winter to end. So I've planted Catnip seed (saved from last year's packet) in a pot for the cats, and thinking about planting some seeds/pits from fruit we eat. Read that those can make pretty, exotic-looking houseplants, even if they won't give fruit again.

garlic

We are still eating home-grown Garlic, well into winter. Only use a few cloves a week, so I'm pretty sure this bunch will last me until midsummer, when the new crop is pulled.

indoor herbs

Snow. Rain. Cold. A few days warm enough I cleaned out some of the garden, cutting down dead, frozen Broccoli and Cabbage plants that I neglected to compost in fall. Found that the few Cauliflower plants had made small, yellow heads under the top curled leaves. They didn't look good, though. Also emptied the first indoor compost bucket onto the pile, even though it will just sit until spring. That's going better than last winter- I keep a garbage bag of dry fall leaves in the mudroom and put layers of it between each days' compost material. It doesn't smell nearly as bad as before, and breaks down quicker; when I dumped the first bucket onto pile after second one was full, it looked mostly like part-done compost, not like nasty slimy trash.

Indoors, the Basil in pots have died. Only recently. I don't know if it was the cold- they're in an unheated room- or an insect got into it? The ones in living room windowsill are doing fine, one is flourishing. I stuck some of the saved Cilantro seeds into the soil and now have a small spray of herb growing beneath the basil.

winter

Everything's cold and frozen. The small Lettuces still look alive, but I haven't tried to pick any. We still have Green Beans in the freezer, Garlic and red Onion hanging from the ceiling (used regularly) and the other day I broke open one of my seed packets to use seed of Cilantro plant as Cardamon seasoning. The spring garden catalogs have begun to arrive already, daughter and I enjoy going through and circling all the best-looking flowers and veggie varieties, although I know we'll only end up getting a fraction of them.

cold greens

In spite of the snow, the Lettuce is still alright- where the snow has fallen crusted on top and left pockets of air underneath the leaves didn't freeze, and they taste fine. The Lettuce in the raised bed fared a lot better and not a single plant there was frozen. Swiss Chard apparently loves the cold- it put out lots of new, bold dark leaves just before the snow and I picked a handful the day after snowfall for a pasta dish- it was delicious! I think that will be our winter staple of fresh leafy greens.

garden ends

Yesterday we ate our very last garden Tomato from the windowsill- chopped on top of a pizza with some Basil from the indoor pots. A few days prior I cut heads off all the Broccoli plants- it didn't look like much in the hand but steamed lightly w/cheese on top and served fed all of us very well- and quite tasty! There is still (of course) tons of Lettuce, but supposed to snow this weekend so I don't know how much longer that will last. The swiss Chard must really like the cold- since frost has come it is sending up more new, crinkly dark leaves than ever.