Sunday, February 22, 2015

Succulents & Air Plants.

About a year ago I took over the responsibility of the house gardener. Sarah and our plants really weren't getting along and the relationship was a strain on everyone (especially the plants.) I began watering the plants weekly and rotating them around the house to make sure they got enough light. 







I stumbled across a blog where I learned how to grow my own succulents, all I needed to do was pluck off a leaf or cut off a branch and the both parts would keep on growing! Imagine Sarah’s face when she saw me plucking off leaves and cutting off branches! To her (and my) surprise, in a week or so, my new little plants started growing leaves and roots of their own!



I loved the ease of caring for succulents and I bought some more species online from Florida, California, and Hawaii. There are so many colors and shapes of succulents and they are so easy to care for. I water them once a week and I will spray them with fertilizer about once a month. I keep the ones I am growing in a shelf I built in our laundry room window and I rotate some around our house. I occasionally will cut off a branch or pluck a leaf and I will simply leave the new plant laying on the shelf until it begins to grow roots and then I will place it in a pot.






I also grow air plants, which are very different but equally easy to care for. Air plants are unique because they do not need dirt to flourish. Natural growing air plants attach themselves to an object and get their nutrients from the air and rain water. They may grow roots but the roots only secure them in place and do not gather water like a traditional plant. 


 Also, you cannot cut apart air plants, they actually sprout a new plant and then you can pluck off the new plant and grow it separately. 
I occasionally put some of my plants in Pastiche at Main to sell and I also will custom make you a plant/box if you are interested :)