Finally Gave In and Installed a Plant Identifier App!

I've been slowly rescuing my Mom's plants the past two years. I was able to get by using Google Lens to identify the plants, then I research about what it needs - soil, watering, sunlight and fertilizer. It was useful and it still works for me.

Lately though I discovered Mom's other plants. Some were in really bad shape and didn't have soil. Some grew new plants and were squeezed in a pot. I had a hard time identifying the plants because of their state. Before transplanting any of the plants, I make sure to research what kind of soil it needs. I have a bad habit of overwatering too, so I make sure to understand the kind of plant I'm dealing with. Mom won't be able to save me anymore from ruining any of the plants. 

So, I gave in and installed a plant Identifier App. I signed up for the trial first to see if it's useful for me. The app basically asks you to either take a photo of your plant or access the photo from your gallery. It was late when I started to use it, so I just got photos from the gallery to try out the features. 

I didn't really read up on the app. I just selected one that had a high rating on Google Play and jumped into it (I don't really read manuals, haha). I was surprised that it does more than just identify a plant. It also tells you if your plant is sick and gives recommendations on what to do. It also has a section where it provides detailed information about the plant. 

And the feature I like best is you can save the photo to "my garden". You can then click on your plant list and access the information. Another section is where you can check the diagnosis for each of your plants. I had no idea that some of my plants are sick and just need to be sprayed with baking soda once a week. Hopefully, this will help make my garden as lush as Mom's!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Brown to Green Thumb?

To be honest, a lot of plants did not survive because of me. I was going to give up, but my Mom told me I just have to continue gardening to learn. She sais that's what my Mama Lola also told her because she also had a brown thumb.

It was my Mom who initially forced me to learn how to garden. She'd bring plants to our home. I'd give her the plants back whenever they looked like they were dying. I gave up all my plants when I moved to Singapore.

It was during the pandemic when I started gardening again. I ordered materials online and started where I had previously been successful -- mustard greens (mustasa). After that I tried growing bell peppers and tomatoes. 

Moving back home gave me a bigger "play area". Mom would bring plants for me. That forced me to study the plants she'd bring. And that's what made a difference. Knowing what kind of plant I'm caring for helped me understand what it needs. 

It's basically knowing what kind of soil, fertilizer (nutrients), watering and sunlight it needs. Most of Mom's plants don't need direct sunlight and require soil for succulents. She did prefer ornamental and flowering plants. I haven't even gone through her main garden, so I have lots to learn.

First step is to make Google Lens your best friend 😅 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Saving Mom's Fukien Tea Tree

I'm on a quest to save Mom's plants, so we've been trying to get some of the plants. It's going to be a lot of work since I have to study what each plant needs. I'm lucky though because I have a lot of friends who are plantitos and plantitos. I just post on FB and I get good advise.

Sweetie chose this plant for me when he dropped by my childhood home. He said it looked very sad and brought it back home. I was getting mixed results from Google Lens, so I decided to ask my friends. Some said it was tsaang gubat, others said it's Fukien tea tree. Either way, it's tea and a tree, hehe. 

I think the plant was given to my Mom. It was still in a black plastic pot, but placed inside a terracotta pot. The soil was very sticky and muddy. I had to remove broken pieces of terracotta from it. Mom probably placed them there to ward off cats. I struggled for about ten minutes trying to remove it from the pot. I got help from Sweetie to remove it. 

My friend, Boss, said it's best re-potted in loose loam soil. I mixed loam soil, some compost and rice hull and then transferred the plant to a slightly bigger pot. I added back the broken pieces of clay on top to make sure our cats don't get ideas to use it as a toilet (gaah). I added more rice hull on top as an additional deterrent. 

It's been six days since I re-potted it and it looks like it's adjusting well. I gave it some rice water from a friend's recommendation. I hope it will grow and last for a long time. Maybe in time I can propagate part of it. Maybe it can be a bonsai :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Happy Bulbs

I was having a horrid day the other day due to headache suppliers. To break the bleak time I was having I went outside to water the plants. It's a good thing to spend time with plants when you're in a bad mood. My mood started to light up after watering the bamboo in our back garden. 

I always check the status of my plants. I watch out for pests and other issues. I've been giving the gumamela (hibiscus) plants extra TLC since the year started. I added soil and compost. I also fortified it to prevent cats from using it as a toilet. I guess it liked the add ons because it started to grow more leaves. I nipped new leaves as instructed by the manang at Mahogany (in Tagaytay). 

I was so happy to see bulbs growing on the gumamela plants. I recently gave it some rice water and it likes it. I just need to be careful since sometimes it attracts pests. I spray them with neem oil once a week to keep aphids away. If we're able to water the plants properly in the morning, all the bulbs will eventually open. It's been so hot though, so we'll see. 

Gumamela plants also like coffee grinds. I've been giving them a little every few weeks. I usually collect a weeks worth of used coffee grinds (and tea leaves) and then I leave it under the sun for a week. I use an old baking pan so it would completely dry. The berry bush I have out front also likes coffee grinds. Aside from providing nutrients it also wards off cats (they don't like the smell of coffee). It's also a great way to re-use coffee grinds. No need to throw them away. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

My Cacti Bit Me

It was my Mama Lola who liked collecting cacti and succulents. I remember she had her collection in a corner of my Mom's garden. Since then I had been curious about having my own.

I started buying but for many years I always failed. I eventually stopped since it seemed like a waste of money because I couldn't care for them properly. A friend though gave me some. I still killed about half of what she gave but in time I improved. I researched and asked the nursery about the right soil to use.

Now I get to enjoy re-potting my cacti and succulents every few months when they outgrow their pot. What's great about taking care of cacti and succulents is they're pretty low maintenance as long as your soul mixture is good. 

I spent about 3 and a half hours re-potting the other day. I use gloves, of course, but one cacti bit me through my glove. Ouchie! I continued working on them though since the prick is no different from my sewing pin bites. Haha.

Now I just need to remember what day I should water my cacti and succulents. Summer usually changes the schedule because it's too hot!

#BeKind #StaySafe 

Metanoia

Started the day really late. I wasn't feeling well when I went to bed last night. Unfortunately I inhaled some fumes that found its way in my craft room. I decided to sleep in so I could rest more. I chanced upon the word "metanoia" in today's Didache reflection. It means, "to change your mind" or "change direction". 

At this point, I'm not really changing anything major. I'm focusing on changing how I look at certain things. One thing I did this week was to change how I look at my garden failures. I was really sad when my lettuce seedlings did not make it. I've been delaying sowing new seeds because... I'm procrastinating. 

So last Friday I worked on looking at what I'm successful with in my garden. That's what I was supposed to blog about yesterday, but the cats almost ruined my ornamental plants. Mom's aglaonema which I repotted are doing very well and has grown a lot. 

The calathea I bought from a neighbor a year ago is now so big! It also grew a new leaf! 

The gumamela plants are also starting to bloom again. Yay! 

The philodendron I re-potted a few weeks ago has been growing new leaves :)

I didn't get to appreciate my ornamental plants yesterday since two cats fought and uprooted my pothos and almost cut a rubber plant in two. I ended up fixing the plants yesterday and hope they'll recover. This morning though, Sweetie caught the orange intruder cat lying on the newly planted pothos! Argh! I fortified it with bamboo so the cat won't be able to sit on the plants.  

Gardening takes so much effort and any progress has to be appreciated. I told myself that's one of the changes I want to do for myself. Instead of beating myself over failures, I should celebrate whatever success I gain. And you should too :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Lettuce Disaster!

A few days ago I finally transplanted the seedlings. I had to wait a few more days after I mixed the soil. I followed the planting guide provided by Ramgo for lettuce. Spent four hours carefully transplanting the seedlings to it's new pots. The stems were pretty sturdy so I felt confident they would live. 

I was disappointed the next day when I saw more than half of the lettuce had wilted. I checked the soil before I watered it to make sure it wasn't waterlogged. It was almost dry, so I proceeded to water it. The next day, all the lettuce had wilted, huhu. The only one left standing until today are the bell peppers (or sili, I'm not sure since I didn't label the packet haha). 

All gone :(

Oh well, I was so disappointed since I was really hoping the lettuce would grow. I'm not giving up! I'm just going to wait a bit and find time to plant new seeds. I'll probably plant them in the pot with mixed soil so I won't have to transplant them.

And, yup, the basil also did not make it. Boo. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Learnings from Gardening

Before I detail my goals for gardening, it's useful to review last year's goals. This will give me an idea what to prioritize this year and understand what kind of energy I may need to reach my targets. 

1. Prepare the garden properly. Our garden is flanked with bamboo. They were the right size when we moved in, but didn't realize they'd grow so tall! Well, it killed the grass because it couldn't get enough sunlight. We'll have to tame the bamboo and do something about the grass coz it's gotten very muddy.

Our pocket and side gardens have been fixed. We had planter boxes installed and replaced the grass with turf grass. We were hesitant to use artificial grass at first, but it's been good so far and low maintenance. 

2. Address drainage issue in the garden. 

Fixed! No more flooding and mud.

3. Assign an area for growing veggies so they get enough sunlight. 

We had two vertical gardens installed. Got some veggies going, but didn't realize the kittens would climb the vertical garden! Have to re-think this option.

4. Assign an area for ornamental plants. 

Yes, it was useful to understand whether the plants needed direct or indirect sunlight.

5. Get some indoor plants that are low maintenance. 

We have some, just need to move them in!

6. Cultivate veggies and herbs that are useful for cooking (onions!). 

Got some herbs and veggies from Tagaytay. Most are alive and I have been using some for cooking. Yay!

7. Don't get overly excited over acquiring seeds. 

Yes, I have stopped buying from online shops. I just now buy Ramgo, but have stopped buying for now.

8. Study first before planting anything so your effort is not wasted. 

Yes, I have a spreadsheet!

9. Be consistent with fertilizers and pesticides. 

So far have been consistent, except when I was hospitalized.

10. Be always well so you can take care of your plants!

Slipped once!

Most important goal last year was to clean up our garden. It got really unruly. I'm happy our garden is more organized now. Only thing we need to do is rake the bamboo leaves that consistently fall everyday. It's now part of Sweetie's exercise regime, haha, and he gets to play with the kittens whenever he does it. Here's what I learned the past year:

1. Before buying plants, consider the requirements for its upkeep. That includes sunlight and fertilizer requirements, pruning, adding soil and re-potting. The bamboo came with the house. It was pretty at first, but it requires a lot of cleaning and trimming. 

2. Feral cats. One of our issues is keeping up with feral cats. We had to learn different ways to keep them from turning our garden into their toilet! Also had to learn how to protect our plants. I can't use the area where I was supposed to grow veggies because of the cats. 

3. Understand how vining plants grow before potting them. I had pothos in Singapore before, but they didn't grow long. A friend suggested to plant pothos in a shallow pot so it's easier to trim.

4. Ornamental plants are easier to manage than veggies. No wonder my Mom stuck to ornamental plants. 

5. Like cats, plants should be fed and watered at the same time everyday.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Garden Update After Being Away for 3 Weeks

 My boys tried to keep my plants happy while I was in the hospital. They'd go home in the evenings to feed the cats and water the plants. Of course, this meant the usual routine was disrupted. The herbs were normally watered twice a day. I usually used a soil meter in the afternoons to make sure they were not overwatered. 

The orchids had a special watering routine. I'd give them garlic water once a week and spray the roots whenever they were dry. The gumamela plants were watered twice a day. The rest of the plants I'd water in the afternoons. Watering the plants is part of my exercise regime and I started doing part of it again today. I'll probably conk out soon, haha. 

As expected, some plants died while I was away. I haven't seen the herbs yet, but Sweetie said some of them look really sad. Told him not to worry, we can just buy again when we're able to go to Tagaytay. The orchids survived with some leaves wilting. I must have done something right because the buds that started three weeks ago have started to bloom. Yay!

I nicknamed the philodendron, Jack. It grew at least 2 more feet the past few weeks. I added a long bamboo stick to hold it up. I'll trim it once I get better and will start a new pot which I plan to put indoors. The aglaonemas are doing well. I hope to see them produce flowers like what I saw at Mom's house. 

Jack the Philodendron

The cacti and succulents are all doing well. I think they were happy to have dried soil. I think I asked Sweetie to water them once while I was away. Rubber plant soil was super dry, but it likes it that way. I've yet to check my veggies. The mustasa died while I was away, but it was already doing that direction even before my first admission. I'll just plant some again. 

The gumamela plants are fine albeit with some yellow leaves. Sweetie said they produced some flowers while I was in the hospital. I sprayed them with neem oil today and will resume spraying apple cider vinegar maybe tomorrow to keep the mites out. I probably need to prune new leaves also to encourage them to produce flowers again. 

Going to nurse them back to good health.

I hope to get some poinsettia for Christmas. Maybe I'll find some next week if I get my energy back. :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Re-potted Mom's Aglaonema-Petunia Plant Pot

I scheduled to re-pot another one of the plants Mom gave me over a year ago. She combined (again) two plants in one pot, pink aglaonema and petunia. The plants have grown a lot and badly needed to be re-potted. 

4 plants in a small pot. 

I was surprised (again) to find out that there were 3 aglaonemas and a very, very long petunia. I bought two big pots because I thought there were only two plants, haha. Luckily, I was able to separate the four plants cleanly. I potted the aglaonemas in 3 separate pots, small, medium and large.

They look so pretty in their new pots :)

Good thing I bought a taller pot. The petunia had grown very long. I think it was looking for sunlight and trying to get away from the aglaonema. The tall pot I bought was perfect for the petunia. I just put a bamboo stick in the pot to hold it up. Now that it's been separated from the aglaonema, I can transfer it to a place where it can get better sunlight. 

I super love this set of plants Mom gave me. I don't mind having more aglaonema plants (also known as Chinese evergreen). I noticed there are other plants with pink streaks in the nursery yesterday. I'll check Mom's other plants first before I buy anything. I think it will be nice to have a row of variegated plants that have pink streaks in them. 

The petunia produces flowers often :)

Now that I finished the two pots I've been scared to re-pot, I'll work on the succulents next. I also need to tend to the orchids since I think I may have over-watered them (huhu). Hopefully I could still save them.

Happy gardening everyone. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Reviewing My Ambitious Gardening Bucket List

It was only in the last few weeks I've been able to properly work on my garden. It's been a slippery slope. Well, at least I have been able to protect my plants and I think I finally figured out how to care for succulents. Well, before I ramble on let me review first the ambitious gardening bucket list I made last January. 

1. Prepare the garden properly. Our garden is flanked with bamboo. They were the right size when we moved in, but didn't realize they'd grow so tall! Well, it killed the grass because it couldn't get enough sunlight. We'll have to tame the bamboo and do something about the grass coz it's gotten very muddy. 

This item was truly ambitious. Took a few months to get our garden cleaned up. We had proper planters installed to corral the bamboo and bushes. Then had turf grass installed.

2. Address drainage issue in the garden. 

The drainage issue involved directing the downspouts to a better system. The master plumber and his team like a sleuth traced the pipes across the house. It was like re-organizing a multiple line train system. It was a huge relief when it was fixed.  

3. Assign an area for growing veggies so they get enough sunlight. 

We had two vertical garden grids installed. One in the side garden and another in the laundry area which gets good sunlight. We had some progress with some seeds we planted, but something fell on them so we need to plant again. It's been raining a lot though, so growing something has been hard. 

4. Assign an area for ornamental plants. 

I have placed some outside my craft room and some that need shade under the bamboo. Realized though I don't have that much space, so I'm being very cautious about buying.

5. Get some indoor plants that are low maintenance. 

Haven't had the need to buy plants since I have friends giving me plants to take care of. I can also easily get from Mom since she propagated a lot of plants for me. 

6. Cultivate veggies and herbs that are useful for cooking (onions!). 

Just checked and the mustasa seeds I planted are starting to grow properly. With limited sunlight though growth has been a bit slow.

7. Don't get overly excited over acquiring seeds. 

Learned my lesson already. I'm sticking to just buying seeds from reputable sources. So far most of those I bought online haven't flourished. I also made a list of what I really want to grow. Just got a few veggie seeds a few weeks ago.

8. Study first before planting anything so your effort is not wasted. 

I have created a spreadsheet where I put my notes on what I research. 

9. Be consistent with fertilizers and pesticides. 

I have so far been pretty consistent and have been able to save my plants from the dreaded higad!

10. Always be well so you can take care of your plants!

Working on this really hard!

One thing I did also is to do bite sized gardening tasks so I don't get overwhelmed. This way also I'm able to provide the care the plants need. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plantita Saturdays: Trying to Grow Mustasa Again

Finding good mustasa in the grocery has been frustrating. If there's any, they're usually so small. The veggie stands in our village haven't been selling them too. I tried growing them last year, but things went haywire when we had renovations done. I think also it didn't get enough sunlight where I placed it. 

I bought a new pack of Ramgo mustasa seeds since I think the ones I got from other sources aren't that good. I've always been more successful when I use Ramgo seeds. Planted them just before typhoon Chedeng hit. I let the seeds propagate in the garage and they soon started popping out. 

After a week, some of the sprouts were about 3 inches. They were leaning already, trying to find more sun probably. Found time to transplant them yesterday. I mixed loam soil with some organic fertilizer and coco peat. I hope that would be a good mix for the mustasa to thrive.

Now I just to need to make sure to water it properly, then feed it some fertilizer in a month. I potted them in fours and will just transplant if they all grow. Normally there would be some spoilage. I hope I'd be able to have multiple pots of mustasa. If I have a lot I can always harvest and give some to my friends. It's good with beef and sinigang. 

Hope to have a good harvest!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plantita Saturdays: Left My Plants for a Week

Installing a simple self-watering system on our potted plants was a gamble. Miggy and I did several experiments for a week to see how it would work. We were quite satisfied with the results, so we planted water bottles in all our potted plants. My worries for our ground planted plants vanished since it continuously rained due to the typhoon. The potted plants though were sheltered in the garage, so I had to rely on the self-watering system. 

Our flight got delayed, so we got home past midnight. I checked the potted plants and was relieved to see they were all alright. The next day I checked each on closely and was surprised that most of them still had a lot of water. I guess they really just sip the water they need. 

The biggest pot in the lot is my curry tree (not neem tree as what the nursery told me). I thought it would finish the water in just a few days. It just drank about 40% of the water in the bottle.

And the flowers have started to become curry berries. It's really interesting to see since this is my first time to grow a curry tree. I also noticed it grew more shoots towards the bottom of the plant. I'm just going to keep it in the pot since I don't know where I could plant it to grow bigger. 

The aglaonema is the only plant that finished it's water. When Miggy and I did our experiment it barely drank any water. I guess it got really thirsty during the week. The petunia in the same pot when we got home was about to bloom some flowers. I'm glad they were both okay even though the bottle was empty when we got home. 

The other potted plants fared well. I think I'm going to leave the bottle in for the rest of the summer. This way I don't overwater the plants (which I tend to do). I'll just refill the bottle and water the pot when the soil is dry. 

Plantita Saturdays: Re-working the Garden

Things have not been working out well for my garden. I stopped planting seeds since the indoor works at home disrupted everything in our house and the plants were not happy. Following the issues we found indoors, we also had things inspected outdoors. We were advised to fix our plumbing because our backyard garden would flood during heavy rain. 

The opportunity to have my garden fixed came when all the grass died. I was sad to see the once green and fluffy grass slowly die. We gave it a trim and  it slowly became a desert. We were told that the soil in the backyard wasn't really going to sustain it. And since they had to excavate to see the drainage I made the request to adjust some things in the garden. 

Architect Wansi brought in the best plumbing company in town. It's led by Kuya Rod and he's very enthusiastic when it comes to plumbing. They've been working on correcting the drainage system to make sure we don't get flooded. Kuya Rod's foreman is surprisingly a plantito and have been handling the plants with so much care. 

The past week the team worked on finding all the pipes and fencing in the bamboo. The bamboo trees are now inside a planter box. This will prevent them from growing wayward. We could also add the soil removed from the ground and hopefully that would improve their condition (will add some compost for better nutrition).

It's still a long way before we finish, but I was excited to see the plant box coming together. I really hope this would help with the bamboo get better nutrition. :) 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plantita Saturdays: Bottomless Spring Onions Grown from Kitchen Scraps

Friday night last week I used some spring onions for dinner. It had roots so I thought I'd give planting spring onions again. I soaked the roots in water overnight and planted them on Saturday afternoon. My previous attempts at doing this always ended in disaster. 

The biggest mistake I did before was I soaked it in water for a few days. This time I immediately planted it the day after. This probably prevented it from rotting. 

Day 1 - planted it in soil with some composed. I made sure to wet the soil properly so that the plant would be encouraged to grow. I placed the pot beside the kitchen sink so I could keep an eye on it.

Day 2 - I was surprised to see it grow almost an inch overnight. Watered it a bit since it was a hot day.

Day 3 - I had food poisoning so Miggy took the photo for me. Jay said he sprinkled some water on the plant after washing his hands.

Day 4 & 5 - I was so sick I forgot about everything else.

Day 6 - feeling better I managed to check on the plant. Soil was pretty dry so I watered it well, making sure to let the excess water drain out. Also moved it away from direct sunlight since it's been so hot the past few days.

Day 7 - not entirely sure if I'm over watering or under watering. Will use my soil test gadget to check whether to water or not. 

Hopefully I could use it for cooking in a few days. I might buy another batch to make another pot.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plantita Saturdays: My Garden Turned Into a Desert

My garden badly needs a lot of TLC. All the grass died and the bamboo and shrubs all looked thinner. It was Miggy who pointed out that concrete was peeking out from the soil. I always wondered why the grass died despite the fact we watered it frequently. There wasn't enough soil apparently. Architect Wansi explained that the soil likely went into crevices. 

I held off gardening for a few months now because nothing was flourishing. We also need to install proper drains in the garden, plus have the base properly filled up. Work is about to start to fix our exteriors, so I got the help of the boys to gather up my plants. We have to organize them to make space for the work. 

Ornamental plants. They're gonna get a trim in the next few days.

The only thing that survived all the movement at home are the ornamental plants my Mom and Ate Rose gave me! There's probably something in the soil my Mom uses that's kept the plants resilient. I've just been adding some soil when needed and I spray neem oil once a week. They are very low maintenance. Sadly some of my ginger and tumeric dried out. I'll just plant new ones soon, but will check if any of the roots survived. 

It will take a couple of weeks to fix the drainage. Architect also advised to fence off the bamboo so they don't grow wayward. We'll also add soil since the soil has thinned out a lot. We're looking at using turf grass since that would be easier (and cheaper) to maintain. TBH I've browned my Mom's grass a couple of times already, so I definitely cannot be trusted with grass. Even the lemongrass turned to cogon grass under my care! Tsk tsk tsk. 

I'm not giving up and will continue to work on my garden! Praying for good air quality so I can stay outdoors :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

 

Plantita Saturdays: Learning How to Make Soil Healthy

One of the things I learned about my failed gardening attempts is to make sure that I have the best kind of soil for my plants. It wasn't enough I added compost and coco peat/rice husk to it. I realized the soil I had in Singapore was a ready mix. The soil I have needs extra work so I could grow healthy plants. 

I've been reading and watching videos on soil preparation. I haven't planted anything yet since our garden will undergo some work. I think it's also too hot to plant anything at this point. Here's what I've picked up the past few months about making soil healthy -

• Hot Water - pour hot water in soil that has been infested with pests. This will kill them and the eggs. Alternatively, you can also let the soil dry under the sun, the effect should be the same. 
• Hydrogen Peroxide - another way to cleanse the soil is to pour water with hydrogen peroxide to it. 
• Charcoal - I just learned that you can add charcoal to your soil. It will help keep the soil moist. I think I'm going to do this before I plant anything since I expect it's going to be a very hot summer. 
• Compost - I've been composting the past few months. I look forward to adding it to my soil before I start planting again. 
• Rice husk or coco peat - rice husk or coco peat acts as a soil conditioner. It helps keep the soil moist and adds nutrients as it decomposes.
• Rain water - we collect rain water whenever it rains because that's what our plants prefer. During  the hot season, we use water that has rested for at least a day. 
• Fertilizer - adding fertilizer is important. This is probably one thing I missed doing when I got home. In Singapore we used rice water at least once a week on the plants. I remember also pouring banana peel tea every so often. It helped the plants produce more flowers. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plantita Saturdays: My Ambitious Gardening Bucket List!

I have more misses than hits in my gardening adventures last year. The only plants that I grew from seed that are still alive are the carrots, blue ternate and sili (dying though). The ornamental plants from my Mom and Ate Rose are still thriving. The ginger and tumeric I propagated from kitchen scraps are still growing (hopefully). The succulents I have are dying because of the cold (except the kalanchoe). 

Someday my garden will be as lush as this!

It was a challenging gardening year, but I think I have a better idea now of what grows well in my garden. I understand better where the sun is, what fertilizers and soil to use. The thing I have to curb is, over-watering! My Mom told me that she waters everything everyday. What I did not realize is her garden gets much more sun than mine and I should really check the soil before watering my plants. I also need to make sure I only have enough plants I could take care of.

Here's my plan this year for my garden:

1. Prepare the garden properly. Our garden is flanked with bamboo. They were the right size when we moved in, but didn't realize they'd grow so tall! Well, it killed the grass because it couldn't get enough sunlight. We'll have to tame the bamboo and do something about the grass coz it's gotten very muddy. 
2. Address drainage issue in the garden. 
3. Assign an area for growing veggies so they get enough sunlight. 
4. Assign an area for ornamental plants. 
5. Get some indoor plants that are low maintenance. 
6. Cultivate veggies and herbs that are useful for cooking (onions!). 
7. Don't get overly excited over acquiring seeds. 
8. Study first before planting anything so your effort is not wasted. 
9. Be consistent with fertilizers and pesticides. 
10. Be always well so you can take care of your plants!

Gardening has been challenging, but a good activity to calm one's mind. I hope to have a better 2023 in my garden!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plantita Saturdays: Aphids Killed My Tomato Plants

My tomato plants were producing a lot of flowers the past two months. Unfortunately we got a deluge of ants again and I started to see aphids on the the stems. The best way to control it is to remove the pest with earbuds dabbed in alcohol. I did that, but it didn't take long before they overwhelmed the plant. 

It was impossible to save the plant already, so I got my scissors and cut the plant to pieces (so it would fit the trash can). I think the deterioration started when the eggplant was attacked by white flies. Apparently those insects are related to aphids. 

Aphids love tomato plants and eggplant. I have had no success with the tomatoes and eggplants I planted this year. We had a lot of ants in the property when we moved in. We should have gotten pest control to help earlier to help with the infestation. 

I've paused planting anything new for now since there's a lot of movement in the house. The dust coming from the renovation has affected the plants too. It's been hard to find a spot where they won't be disturbed. I'll have to do some clean up in the next few days. :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Plantita Saturdays: Poinsettia Season!

It's poinsettia season! Of course, I just had to get one. I actually got two, one for Mom and one for me. I suspect though the one I gave Mom is doing better. Mom always had poinsettias during Christmas. They stayed red beyond the Christmas season. I figured it was easy to manage. Not. 

Since it's my first time to have this plant, I did some research on how to properly care for it. Here's some tips I got -

• Immediately water the plant once you get home. 
• The plant prefers cooler weather.
• They prefer indirect sunlight.
• Place it away from heat sources and windy areas. 
• Water only when the soil is dry.
• Only put fertilizer if you're keeping the plant after the holiday season. Hopefully it will re-grow (I'm not hopeful). 

I think I need to transfer the poinsettia from where it's located now since it's been shedding a lot of leaves. It's still quite pretty though and I hope it stays alive until after Christmas. I'm thinking whether I should buy more, but with renovations ongoing I'll probably just try again next year. 

#BeKind #StaySafe