Let's Talk About Plants (Tips and Tricks)

I am a plant mom, yes it is true and not surprising. I have about 5 different plants in my room, several I take care of around the house, and several outside in our backyard. Gardening and taking care of plants is a common hobby in my house, with my mom constantly working on her roses and other plants in the backyard. I love watching plant videos on Youtube and Instagram, so I thought that I could give some wisdom on things that I have learned. 

The plants I have:

-A Devil's Ivy named Persephone! She is such an easy plant to treat and loves sitting on my desk. 

-A Caladium named Scarlet, this one has a bit of a tough time getting used to my room, but I give her humidity showers and she loves it, she keeps growing new stuff, so that is good!

-A huge African Violet. My mom had a bunch of propagated leaves from her African Violet at work and brought them home. I can't wait until it blooms! Still need a name for this one...

-A stubborn Chinese money plant, my friend gave me a propagated clipping from her Pilea for Christmas and I have been trying to propagate and sprout new buds ever since then. Very stubborn boi >:(

-A vibing Aloe Plant, he's just hanging out! I don't have a name for him either, but this aloe plant was another propagated clipping from my mom and he is growing and having a blast with me. 

1) Humidity Showers

If you live in a place that is not necessarily humid, your humidity loving plants might not do well in your home. An easy way to do this is by placing your plants in your bathroom and running the shower for a little bit. Closing the door and letting your plants vibe in the steam for a little bit makes them happy! You could even do this WHILE you take a shower. My mom does this with her orchids and I like to do it with some of my humid loving plants. Just make sure that you are not spouting water onto your plants, we don't want to drown them. 

2) Mosquito Donuts

Strange title, I know, but these can really help you. These "donuts" are disintegrating disks that you place in your watering can. They will secrete/flake off this chemical that will prevent mosquito larvae or gnats to grow in your soil. It is completely fine for your plants and we just let it sit in our watering can. :) You can buy a pack on Amazon!

3)Propagating is a serious business

Have you ever had a plant that was growing crazy and you wanted to trim it and possibly have a new plant? My favorite part about plants is how fast they grow, and how you can easily make more. If you have a Devil's Ivy that grows like crazy, and maybe you want another one for downstairs, you can cut a piece of a stem with leaves on it, and then place it in a cup or jar of water. There are far more detailed videos on this, but you want to let it sit next to a window and sit in the water until you get long, white roots from the stem. Once they have roots, you can then put it into a pot with soil and enjoy your "new" plant. Careful, this can get addicting! Lol. 

Here's an example of my Ivy ready for a trim.  

4) Do your research

Each plant loves different things. Some like more water but hate sunlight, while others don't need too much water and can hang out anywhere. The important thing is to do your research and not just assume your plants will like what you do. Check to see what kind of facing window they would enjoy for light, soil type, and humidity levels. While researching you can then read about other cool plants and then flex your green thumb magic with your family and friends. Not only that, but your plants will love you too, and you will be an amazing plant parent. 

5)Gnats are the bane of my existence

During home isolation, my room became a huge hub for plants. When I would work on school stuff, I constantly swang my arms around my face because there would be gnats that just wanted to say hi and annoy me the whole day. I read online that you can make an apple cider vinegar solution with warm water, dish soap, and sugar to sit near the plant. I did it for a little bit, and it did work, but not as well as I wanted it to. SO! I followed a routine from @amandaraewright on Instagram, where she talked about using the mosquito donuts I talked about above, but also these sticky sticks. They are like these sticks that you can fold this yellow sticky paper on and the gnats will get stuck on there. IT IS SO COOL and works SO WELL! I also got a bunch of these on amazon, and we stick them all around the house. The amount of gnats has gone down my A LOT, and my room doesn't smell like vinegar anymore!

6)Windows

Along with research, position your plants in a way so they can get sunlight from your windows. BUT! Some plants have some positive ~phototropism~ (ooo biology terms), which just means that they grow towards the light. That can mean it can get super lopsided and dominate only one side of the pot. To help avoid this, you can rotate your plants for a week. If one side is leaning towards the light more, rotate to the other side so it will force itself to move and recenter itself. Do this during a time when it is sunny, that way it will respond more rather than on a cloudy or rainy day. 

Welp, those are my recommendations and little tips and tricks. I hope you have enjoyed this little blog post! I wish all of your plants grow healthy and beautiful. Please tell me some of your recommendations and your plant names! I am thinking of naming some more after some book characters or more mythological figures :)

have a wonderful day and thank you for reading!

love, 

yo girl emilia

follow me on Instagram: @yogirlemilia