Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Indoors garden

Ivy - see update (below)


Yesterday, was filled with new tasks I've set myself recently. All to do with bringing the outside, inside. Or creating space for indoor plants. It's something I've been researching and wanting to do (successfully) for a while. In the past, I've failed at keeping plants alive. So I haven't rushed into filling my house with plants again. Not until I was confident, I had the crucial information required.

Above is a cutting I took from some Hedera Helix, or common ivy varegated wax vine. I'm experimenting with rooting in water. The plant I removed it from, has lived in my shade house for about 2 years. It was destined to come inside, as I love the trailing vines. Plus coming inside, would ensure it received more attention than the shade house.


New pot (right)


I've removed it from the original pot, and soaking in a jug of water. The new pot I'm transplanting it to, isn't much bigger than the original. It's healthier for potted roots, if they don't have a lot of extra soil. Too much can lead to water logging, and root-rot. So no bigger than an inch, extra (all around the pot) is recommended, when repotting.

I recycle all my pots, from plants I've purchased previously. So I'm rarely without options, when it comes to potting plants. It doesn't matter if the pots are ugly on the outside either, because you can always put them in a nice, cover pot or basket to hide it. I will be doing this in future.


Colourful leaves


New leaves are red, and I love the variegated foliage too. Obviously, it received a lot of indirect light, in the shade house, so we'll have to see if it assimilates indoors. Sometimes a plant can lose it's leaves, while assimilating to a new location. It doesn't mean the plant is dying. It may just need to form new leaves, for the new location.

I will be watching my plant, and if it looks like dropping leaves, I can always take it back outside for a few days, and transition it slower, to inside. I didn't realise this is something you should do with plants. I always assumed if my plant was dropping leaves, it was from not being a good enough plant mummy. But sometimes plants just need to transition, between the different light levels. Especially coming from outside, to inside.


Next to a south-facing window
Southern Hemisphere


This will be the new location, for now. I'll observe how it responds to the new light levels. Some plants are more demanding of light, than others. Ivy Variegated wax vine, prefers bright, indirect sunlight. I may have to experiment with different locations, inside the house. But it's a good idea to move ivy variegated wax vine, regularly as it can get tangled in items it attempts to climb.

There was another task I was meaning to perform, since the beginning of September. I received two scion cuttings in the mail, from The Lost Seed.


Alive, but dormant


They've been living in the fridge crisper, until I decided what to do with them. The intention was to graft them directly onto my Clapp's Favourite, pear trees. To help with pollination. But they were far too small to fit any of the branches. And in our heat and lack of rainfall, I would need a much bigger cutting, to survive the grafting process.

So I decided I was going to root them in potting mix, instead.


Grow my pretties!


I created a mini greenhouse, to keep up the humidity, using a recycled drink bottle. It lives on my window sill, near the sink - overlooking the kitchen garden. I visit the sink multiple times a day, so observing it's progress, won't be a problem. If nothing else, visiting the kitchen sink has become a lot more enjoyable.

There are other indoors plants I have to share, which involve some recycling too. One in particular, which is near and dear, to my heart. All to inspire my life with plants again. It may be too dry outside for a main garden, but I can attempt small samples of greenery, inside. All while being mindful of limited water. What can I say? It's Spring. I need my plant fix!

I imagine my northern hemisphere readers, will be looking to move some of their outdoors plants, inside, over the next few months too. Do you have any recycling ideas, you like to use with plants - indoors, or out?

UPDATE: The learning curve continues. Thanks to Bev's comments, I realised my ivy isn't REAL ivy. It's called a variegated wax vine. More tolerant of hotter, drier conditions. Dies off, with frost too. So unlike common ivy! A passable look alike though.


8 comments:

  1. Chris, I only have one indoor plant that I got from Racheal but I do want more. Once the painting etc. has been finished I will get a few more and hope I don't kill them :-)

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    1. Plant exchange, is an excellent form of recycling. The best kind! Truly organic, lol. I have a cayenne pepper I got from the last Simple Living Group meet-up. It went in the kitchen garden. If only I could keep the dang birds from snitching them! I can't believe they eat chillies. Seeds and all. :o

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  2. My tender plants are already in the greenhouse, it's not the tepmerature the issue, it's the amount of rain and wind. Have you looked at succelents, I love them I have one 'a string of pearls' in a pot, they hang down and look lovely, they don't require too much watering and ofter look very interesting, and can flower.

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    1. You've mentioned the string of pearls, which is something I'm interested in getting. It's shape and form, truly fascinates me. Definitely on the wish list, as a hanging plant. Thanks for your feedback with growing them. Nothing beats personal experience.

      I do have a couple of different succulents, I love the shape and colour of too. The jelly bean plant, and the blue chalksticks, are my favourites. I'm actually propagating more of them, because they're so pretty and EASY to propagate. I love a plant which asks little, and doesn't demand a lot of water!

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  3. I am hopeless at growing plants indoors. They all die, usually from under or over watering. I even murdered a tiny cactus sitting on my window sill. It was a gift from my daughter and I think I may have killed it with kindness by watering it way too much because I was going away on holidays. I need to replace it before she notices ;)

    I have decided that my plants are better off outside. Succulents are my favourite followed by geraniums. They are tough...they need to be lol!

    Your ivy is very pretty, I hope you can find the perfect spot inside for it to grow.

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    1. Sounds a lot like my former experience with indoors plants. I used watering as the cure all, for anything and everything too, lol. I think it's called, killing with kindness. I hope to have ironed out my former ways. We'll see. ;)

      Growing plants outside is really the best option (in my opinion). But experimenting with what's possible inside too, helps when the weather isn't cooperating. :)

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  4. That's a really pretty ivy. I've never seen one like that. I'll look out for one myself. I love things that trail. I remember something called chain of hearts I once had (but probably killed).

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    1. Chain of hearts (or string of hearts) is such a dainty looking plant. It reminds me of lace. I haven't any experience with them myself, but have seen others rave about it. My original ivy was taken from a cutting, back in the rental we had in Brisbane. This is the great grandchild, of the original. For some reason, it always looked different to the regular ivy I saw around the neighbourhood.

      Actually Bev, I just did some googling, and apparently I have a variagated wax vine. It looks similar to ivy, but isn't ivy. Apparently, it tolerates drier, warmer conditions, than ivy does. Makes sense! It was growing in a full sun position, in Brisbane. Apparently, it's a little rare to come by too. I'll see if I can make some cuttings. Thanks for highlighting how different it looked. Made me remember it's origins, and scrutinise the details. :)

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