I purchased two four-inch potted plants today. I am truly trying to have an indoor green thumb, but I haven’t had much luck cultivating that talent. I started killing houseplants when I was pregnant with my oldest and my luck hasn’t changed much since. So far, I have managed to keep a pothos living (and expanding) and a couple peace lilies. The latter are beginning to look sad after twenty-nine years (I got them when my mother died). The pothos I have had for much, much longer.
I had a Christmas cactus that I grew for thirty-some-odd years, until my favorite cat finally knocked it over and killed it. She broke the pot it was in, too. I was very sad about that: I had purchased the planter and cactus for a nickel at a church bazaar when I was about nine years old. But of all the cats I have ever lived with, this one was my all-time favorite, so she was forgiven. I think she was angry because we kept introducing more cats into our household. I’ve never had the heart to buy another Christmas cactus or to replace the broken pottery. But I have had other cats.
The pothos survived my pregnancies and has been divided several times. Nowadays, I just trim it back and refuse to root any more starts from it: I have two of its babies, and that is plenty. (The seemingly dead plant is a ginger plant. It may or may not be dead. I might have left it outside too long and the cold got it. We’re holding out hope.)
The peace lilies have always been my red flag: when they wilt, I know I have forgotten to water in a couple weeks! But water them and they bounce right back. This is how terrible I am at indoor gardening! They have been divided, but the first few years of my retirement have been hard on them. I always had them at work, in my office, where they thrived. Now they languish and I am promising them to do better in 2025.
I don’t remember when I picked up the old aquarium or when I decided to try growing plants in it. (I kill fish, this was never going to be used for fish!). Most of my early attempts died, but the asparagus fern has clung tenaciously to life. I added one parlor palm, and it thrived, so I added another. There’s an English ivy in there now, but I don’t know if it will live long or not: it picked up a fungus that I have treated with copper fungicide. Time will tell. I started talking to my plants when I started the terrarium, but I didn’t start daily misting until a week ago.
I know: most plants need daily misting, especially in the winter. I’m trying to be so much better! I check the roots with a meter once a week in the winter and water lightly as needed, no more waiting for the peace lily to wilt! I snip the dying leaves off. I opened the Rodale Book on Indoor Gardening that we have owned for at least twenty years, and I finally read it (the parts that are pertinent, anyway).
I did all the reading and buying of plant guides after I purchased an 8” potted Wandering Jew last fall. It was severely root bound and started dying shortly after I brought it home. I tried repotting it, but I didn’t have a pot large enough and the damage was done. So, I cut a few starts off and put them in a jar on my windowsill and am patiently waiting for them to have enough fine roots to survive repotting, probably in March of this year.
The death of the Wandering Jew impressed on me how little I really know about growing and keeping indoor plants. Who kills a Wandering Jew? Or a Spider plant, for that matter? I mean, other than me. And why am I so terrible at this? All my plants are in a southern or eastern exposure, but they really don’t get a lot of sun: in the summer we keep those blinds closed to keep the house cool and, in the winter, the tall Douglas firs across the street block the sun from our house. My surviving plants are all lovers of indirect light. I can check that box and look for more plants that like indirect light.
The house gets dry in the winter and the heat vent blows on the plants: of course they need misting! Somehow, I just never grasped the need to mist my houseplants. According to the several sources I read, twice a day misting is optimal, but they should be happy with once-a-day misting. That is more than they have been getting!
Today, I found a cute little coleus and a tiny spider plant, newly potted, and on sale at a local grocer. I know, I know – don’t make splurge decisions. But I did. I won’t transplant them until I see they are thriving. I will read up on them. I will transplant them when I pot the Wandering Jew starts. I’d like to put one of them in the terrarium, but I need to know it will thrive in that container.
The dinosaurs need more vegetation. My goal is to be a better indoor plant grower and to help the dinosaurs in the terrarium.
Jaci Dawn 