Man, this is getting expensive!
Oooh it doesn’t need to be expensive…
I collect other people’s neglected house/office plants and revive them. You don’t need to repot everything, it just makes it easier. Getting divisions and cuttings from friends’ plants cuts back on buying plants as well.
Just head on over to the Lincloln Park Conservatory and you will find yourself inspired to get some plants.
Plants are not inanimate objects; they are living things. They grow and change; they don’t just sit there like a piece of green sculpture. If you want to have plants, and keep them healthy and looking nice, they will require some care and some expense.
The cost can be minimal, if you are willing to put your plants in places that are more likely to suit their needs, like near a sunny window. If you must force them to suit your needs by placing putting them where supplemental light is needed, it is going to be more expensive.
Personally, I find that this works better in theory than in practice. Even as a person who dotes on my plants, I find it a bit difficult to keep on top of this sort of routine.
Hey Monstera, have you ever eaten your namesake?
mmmmm Skittles from the jungle…
No, I’d love to though. I just chose the name because it one of my favorite houseplants. I’ve got a specimen I grew from seed that I’m pretty proud of. I sowed the seed in 2003, and the thing is now in a 16-inch pot.
I have some in a greenhouse at work, and even those only flower sporadically. The fruit looks like a corn cob gone wrong. Once you slough off the outer casing, there are a bunch wee juicy bits that taste just like skittles.
Where did you find seed?
Back then, ordinary old Park Seed had it for sale, which is where I got mine. They haven’t had it in a long time, and other places that used to sell it, like Green Dealer Exotic Seeds, don’t carry it anymore either. There’s a seller on eBay that sells the seed in large quantities (50 seeds and up) but I have no idea if they are reliable. I certainly don’t need 50 seeds, but I’d love to get my hands on a few. I’d love to grow another–it’s very satisfying.
I certainly don’t expect my plant to flower. It grows well in front of a west window, but I’ve always heard that greenhouse conditions are necessary for fruiting indoors.
Oh, sure. I understand - I started this thread because I have zero experience caring for plants and wanted to make sure I do it right from the beginning. I was just surprised at all the things that hadn’t even occurred to me yet.
I love dogs, but I don’t have one because I’m not confident I have the time and attention it would need. Since plants ARE living things, I want to make sure I know how to take care of one before buying it, because I wouldn’t want it die because of my ignorance.
There may be a few setbacks on the way, but you can grow a houseplant. Get thee to a used book store and pick up a volume or two. Although there are a million things that can go wrong, don’t fret it. The plants listed so far are great for beginning. I feel that growing plants has made my life richer, and I love going to friends’ houses and seeing all the plants and their progeny that I have distributed or sold through the years.
Hey Monstera, your Mexican breadfruits are easy to clone, should you get the desire for a matching pair.
Oh yeah, I know. I cut mine back earlier this year so I could have another stem to add to the pot for a fuller look. Not only did my cutting root, but the original stem surprised me by producing four active growing points. I knew it would develop one new header; I didn’t think it would branch like that.
Valerieblaise, I apologize for the rather sharp tone of my last post to you and for this little hijack **Kuboydal ** and I have got going. Good luck with whatever plant you decide to get. Taking care of plants can be very rewarding. Don’t be afraid to fail. I own about 300 houseplants, and I’ve probably killed at least 50 over the years, getting to know how to take care of them.
Hey, don’t worry about it! You’ve been very helpful and I’m learning quite a bit.
For the record, I have killed more plants than most anyone you are likely to meet. OTOH, I’ve grown more than most. Go and get that little poinsettia you mentioned earlier. They are small trees that can look rather impresssive blooming at over 8 feet tall.
Water the poor guys! They get as thirsty as you do. Even though they like light. Cold windows really suck for them. Most tropical plants like 76 and above. I learned about the cold areas next to windows the hard way.
I cannot recommend Chinese Evergreens enough. We have 2-3 around the house, and have given away many more - all from a single plant we inherited 25 years ago from my husband’s roommates… and which prior to that was owned by a fraternity.
If a plant can be survived by a bunch of chemistry students, and by a trio of neglectful grad students, it can survive anything. Ours has been through drought and flood, is currently being nursed through a nasty infestation of fungus gnats (which don’t harm it, just drive us, well, buggy), and I expect my kids will have offshoots of them when they grow up and move out also.
In fact the only time I’ve ever seen one die, was one I rescued from being thrown out in my old office building. The landlords were replacing all the planter contents with fresh plants. The one I grabbed, unfortunately, had a dose of mealybugs. It lasted a few months, but I was never aggressive enough about cleaning them off.
They do well in low to moderate light, or in bright light. They flower (not a showy flower, more like a very stepped-down calla lily). They even eventually send up a second plant from the roots. When the stem gets too long and unwieldy, just hack it off just below where the leaves are growing, and stick that in a pot of water. 2 weeks later, you’ll have roots (and a new plant will grow from the old roots).
On reread: you mentioned liking peace lilies. Chinese Evergreens are first cousins (second cousins? - same family, different genus) of peace lilies.
Just thought I’d update - I now have 2 little Chinese Evergreens. I was having trouble deciding what to get and then I found these two stripey guys and decided to just go for it. I’ve re-potted them, watered them, and as of tonight, tried talking to them. I kind of felt like a jerk for dominating the conversation, but they didn’t have much to say. I did get the impression that one of them likes Stevie Wonder and the other enjoys his view of the TV, so that’s something.
I’m still thinking of getting some bigger, grassier plants for the southern window, but I’m going to hold off on that until I get the windows shrink-wrapped for winter, at least. That might end up being my Christmas present to myself.
So thanks for the input/advice, everyone!
I second the reccomendation for a Corn Plant or a Spider plant. I am not that great with plants, and my corn plant is over 20 years old. My spider plant has been through a lot and survived, it sits on a plant stand by the window and one day I walked into the kitchen to see my cat, my very large cat sitting right smack in the middle of it. All the leaves were crushed down flat, some of them broken. I thought it was a goner but after a couple of weeks it was back to its beautiful self. also Spider plants are known for cleaning the air, they flower and are all around a fun plant to have.