Plants Are The New Black

Begonia Babies-  How to Propagate a Begonia Erythrophylla So you have a Begonia and you want to make more? It is a pretty easy process you just need patience. Step 1:  Choose a leaf and stem to remove from the main plant. You have two options. Option one- Pick your healthiest looking looking leaf this option will mean your new plant with probably grow quicker and with more success. Option two- Use the uglier looking leaves. You know the ones that have a rip or a brown bit. It might mean your plants doesn't establish as quick but it will still work. I often clean up my Begonias and propagate the leaves I have removed. Once you have chosen your leaves cut them off with clean scissors. Step 2: Place cutting in a jar of water and wait till it has grown roots. This can take weeks or sometimes months. Choose a spot with lots of bright indirect light. Make sure to change the water every few weeks or if water is discoloured. Step 3: When th

String of Pearls A sad story about rootrot. Looks can be deceiving. She looked pretty AMAZING but she was on struggle street. Her growth looks long and green but on closer expection her new growth was spindly and we spotted brown bits. When we looked even closer we noticed her pearls shrivelling up and going crusty. Some people mistake this for a dry plant where infact it means the plant has been overwatered enough to cause root rot. If the plant was underwatered the green peas suck in like pictured below. While this crusty look below is a sign of root rot. So we had a few options. 1. Let it be. Hope it dries out enough to recover. This is ok if the damage is minimal and you have good light conditions. As we were getting closer to winter we decided that was too risky. 2. Next we could have simply repotted and removed any of the rotten roots. We chose not to do this as the plant was so big we were unsure on how much roots would be left to support the p

Same Same But Different It is amazing how plants adapt to their environment. The same plant in two different environments can behave so differently you might even think it is a different plant. I've experienced this a few times when I've taken a cutting from outside and grown it inside for example. Some plants adapt to their different environments happily. However, other more sensitive plants just freak out and die. Succulents and sedum seem able to adapt without dying. Here are some of my observations: Aeonium haworthii This Aeonium is iving outside in direct sun and growing in a terracotta pot. Rarely watered other than rain and infrequently in Summer. This plant is growing on the same property but in a large garden bed under a covered deck. It receives the same amount of water just rain water and some watering in summer. What I think happens is in the shade the leaves grow more surface area to have more opportunity for photosynthesis. In the terrac

Propagating Chain of Heart Plant What we know and what we are trying. So you want to propagate your plant?  We have had different levels of success with three different ways of propagating this plant. Using the balls/tubers!   Some tubers growing on the vine. This tuber was growing under the soil. Each vine is connected to at least one of these and the roots grow out of them. Potatoes, balls, spuds, tubers or  tubercles. Different people call them different things but these balls that grow on the chain of hearts are the quickest and easiest way to propagate the plant. These balls grow in the soil and hold onto the water to help the plant grow. Sometimes you will find them growing above the soil and down on the strings . If you spot these balls growing on the strings grab them quick because they will be the easiest bits to propagate with.  These balls can be directly planted into soil to create a new plant. Yep! It is that simple. So you have a plant