GARDENING

Turning a black thumb green

I've always been bad at keeping plants alive, recently I've become more and more interested in keeping plants.  I especially love growing them from seeds.  On this page I will document the plants I have and info on their care.  This is basically a cheat sheet for me to look back on to make sure I'm providing proper care for all of my plants.


Air Plants
Alocasia (amazon elephant ear)
Eggplant
Ficus lyrata (Fiddle Leaf Fig)
Ivy
Lifesaver Cactus
Lucky Bamboo
Money Tree
Nepenthes Alata (Pitcher plant)
Orchid
Ornamental Pepper Plant
Plumeria
Succulents

Growing plants from store bought fruit & Veggies:
Thyme

Window Placement:
South:  bright sun all day
West:    long period of direct sun
East:     less intense sun (medium to low) light requirement
North:   least amount of sun

Sun Requirements:
Full sun:        sun all day, no shade
Partial sun:    sun half the day, shade other half
Indirect sun:  lots of sun through a window or shade cloth
Full shade:    under a covered area with no sun    

Cinnamon:
cinnamon can be used as a rooting agent.  Sprinkle cinnamon on a damp paper towel and dip your cutting on the cinnamon to promote root growth.
cinnamon can also be used as an anti fungal spray and pesticide.  Steep 1 cinnamon stick in 1 cup of water, allow to cool and use in a spray bottle.

Rubbing Alcohol:
rubbing alcohol can be used as a pesticide, especially for fungus gnats and mealy bugs.  Mix 1 cup rubbing alcohol with 1 quart of water and spray the plant in effected areas.  After you spray with alcohol, rinse plant well with water and keep out of sun for a couple days - leaving alcohol on your plant in the sun will cause it to burn.  You can also apply alcohol to the bugs directly with a q-tip.

Dawn Dish Soap:
Mix 1 tablespoon of dawn dish soap with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 pint of water to use as an insect repellent.

Fertilizers:
Obviously you can purchase specially formulated fertilizers for each plant.  Follow the directions on how much and when to fertilize your plant.  I enjoy researching every day household items that can be used as fertilizer like coffee grounds, milk, eggshells and epsom salt!  Plants that love coffee grounds: Christmas cactus, pothos, philodendron, snake plant, etc.  Plants that love Epsom salts: ferns, pepper plants, etc. Plants that love eggshells: tomato, eggplant, pepper, etc. 

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