Houseplants?

Discussion in 'Crops & Gardens' started by Charlene Marolf, Sep 12, 2019.

  1. Charlene Marolf

    Charlene Marolf Very Well-Known Member
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    Has anyone found a way to accumulate house plants? When I was younger, this was a big hobby of mine. I used to get clippings from friends for all sorts of plants. Now I can't seem to find any, unless they are bought from nurseries.

    Does anyone have good sources? Or at least places that they can be bought cheaply? I would like to start keeping house plants again. I counted mine when I was at my best, and I had 80 houseplants. I really miss them! I moved a long distance, and gave them all away, rather than transport them. Now I have so much time on my hands, I'd like to get back to my old hobby.
     
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  2. Hedi Mitchell

    Hedi Mitchell Supreme Member
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    I had over thirty at one time. But in apartment that recently became cramped..have down sized a lot. With winter coming less likely have a place to bring in this year.
    Buy you one or two healthy cheap plants - and use the liquid Mircle Grow for plants.
    Take cuttings from those and grow more.
    Or ask friends and neighbors for clippings.
    The heat has really played havoc with my plants this year..can not water them enough.Here are a few of mine.
     

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  3. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Charlene Marolf My wife and I collect seed-pods from various landscaped as well as natural growing desert plants, and I attempt to germinate them in my shop. I have succeeded with Date Palms, Mexican Bird of Paradise, Palo Verde trees, and Mesquite trees.

    Mexican Bird of Paradise, now as tall as the shop![​IMG]


    How they look in my shop:
    [​IMG]


    Date palms, grown from pits of bought dates, transplanted in yard, then about 4 years old:
    [​IMG]


    Mesquite Tree, from seed, spindly and protected from the wind by cut off trash barrel:
    [​IMG]
     
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  4. Bess Barber

    Bess Barber Veteran Member
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    I don't do plants. I'm too afraid of dirt in pots by white furniture. I DO, have a cactus. His name is 'Stempie'. He's a little fellow and I move him around on the patio to catch the best sun throughout the day.


    @Gloria Mitchell Your plants look really nice!
     
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  5. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I enjoy houseplants, too, and usually, I do about the same thing as @Gloria Mitchell mentioned. I buy starts that can be grown and then divided or starts taken off of them.
    All Summer, I have had my little coleus plants outside, from a 6-pack from Lowes, and then snipped off the tops and rooted them in the window sill in a glass jar.
    This fall, I will bring them inside and they will be house plants all winter.
    I sometimes find house plans at yards sales, too; so that is another good way to either get a whole new plant, or at least ask for a start from one.
     
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  6. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Bess Barber
    My advisor at UNLV told us that certain of the desert plants are very sensitive to the position they are facing, so much so that if transplanted not facing the way they grew naturally can stunt or kill them. No idea if true, but Stempie evidently doesn't mind! I planted Joshua trees in front of the house in Vegas, and they thrived most gratifyingly. Left there in 77, went to visit and look around in the 1990s, my plantings were huge!
    Frank
     
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  7. Charlene Marolf

    Charlene Marolf Very Well-Known Member
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    @Frank Sanoica you have some beautiful plants, you should be proud! That is a great idea, I should give it a try. I know I have been able to grown an avocado in the past, maybe I will have some luck with something else. Thanks for the idea.
     
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  8. Charlene Marolf

    Charlene Marolf Very Well-Known Member
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    @Gloria Mitchell your plants look really nice! I was thinking to do like you said, and buy some to make more. Right now I have an asparagus fern that I looked long and hard for lol. I know those can be indoor or outdoor, which I've found to work too. I have a spider plant and a couple of other plants that I inherited from my mother. she made a lot of cuttings from those. I really miss what I had in the past. I had some purple plants that were especially pretty. I think I will keep my eyes open. Something should turn up!

    Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.
     
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  9. Nancy Hart

    Nancy Hart Veteran Member
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    I have one cactus, which stays outside in the summer and inside in the winter. Just a plain old cactus, nothing special.

    It was started from a segment from my grandmother's cactus which she gave me when I left home in 1970. It nearly froze once when I left town for a week at Christmas and I forgot to bring it indoors. It blooms occasionally when it feels like it.

    This thread has reminded me it badly needs re-potting. Will do it today. I have everything but the pot, but I'll make do.
     
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    Last edited: Sep 13, 2019

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