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

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

Cats Fought and Uprooted Some Plants

I heard yowling just awhile ago. I went out to investigate since it sounded really close. I peaked through my craft room and saw the orange intruder cat entwined in my pothos. I quickly got my phone before I went out in case there was an emergency (Sweetie and Miggy stepped out for some errands). 

Post cat fight scene.

By the time I got out, the orange intruder cat was jumping out of a pothos pot. Grey was now tangled with the pothos, but quickly ran out. I was just glad he was okay. The orange intruder cat was huffing. Grey obviously defeated him and he ran out to the street as soon as I reached the area where they fought. 

Here's what I witnessed when I went out to investigate:

Grey has been battling the orange intruder cat for a few months now. He's been trying to take over Grey's domain (our house). They usually fight though in the street. It seems they fought over Meredith. Grey has been wooing her (see here) and probably the orange intruder cat was doing the same. 

Meredith was lounging near my ornamental plants. CCTV showed the orange cat intruder was near her and that's probably why Grey attacked. I got worried when I saw the intruder cat entangled in the vines. I planned to cut it off if needed that's why I got my phone in case there was an emergency. 

All cats are fine now. Meredith looked so forlorn since the male cats have been manhandling her. We're going to bring her to the vet as well. As for my plants, I'll fix them later. Good thing it's not a very hot day. 

#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

Bought Some Gumamela Plants from Mahogany Market

When I saw the gumamela (hibiscus) plants at Mahogany Market, it elicited happy childhood memories. Mom had it in her garden when I was growing up. I used to get flowers from it to make bubbles. I asked my Malaysian friend if they would grind some gumamela flowers, add water and detergent to make bubbles (and use alambre to blow bubbles with). He had no idea what gumamela was used for since they probably had ready made bubble juice in his generation. #signsofoldage

I had no plans to buy flowers when we went to Mahogany Market. I ended up getting four pots of gumamela on a whim. Aside from Mom having gumamela in her garden, I remember we had them in school too. It used to be very common also in our village. I don't see it often nowadays and probably plant collectors don't see much value in them. It's valuable to me because it brings back happy memories. 

To be honest, it took awhile to figure out how much water the plant needed. I read it liked its soil to be moist. The plants shed leaves and the flowers soon died after they opened. I immediately read more about hibiscus care and figured out it probably needed more water. I checked the soil in the afternoons to see if it was dry. It was, so I experimented for a few days to see how much water it needed. 

The plants have been with me for a month now. They look healthy. I've started to remove new leaves as instructed by Manang Lydia. She said I should do this to encourage the plant to grow more flowers. Since they re-potted the plants already, I will probably add some fertilizer by month end. That's one thing hibiscus plants need according to my research. 

I hope the plants last long with me. My plan is to also see if I can propagate it so I can give some to my friends.  :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Organizing My Garden Tools

I had all my garden tools in a chest when we were in Singapore. I managed to bring the chest home with some of my tools (I left most of it and materials with friends). My tools and materials though got scattered around the house because of the renovations. We've been working on organizing the plants and tools the past few weeks. 

Sweetie gave me one of his steel shelves so I could use it for my gardening tools. I worked on organizing it the past few days. I found an old plastic drawer. It was useful to store smaller items like fertilizer, measuring cups and disposable gloves. This will make it easier for me to find the items. I used to have it inside the chest and it was a huge task just looking for things. 

I organized spray bottles in homemade fertilizer in a crate. Glad I'm able to store it on the shelf now since it was occupying space in my maker room powder room. Now I don't have to go inside and out and inside again if I forget to pick up something from the maker room. I removed all the bottles I stuck in plants when we went to Bohol and kept them at the bottom of the shelf for future use.

I emptied the chest and sorted what we stuffed in it over the past few months. Found some materials I got last year which would be useful for some plants I need to re-pot. I washed the chest before I returned the materials. I just had a few succulent pots, some pot bases, succulent soil, compost and coconut husk. I realized I could use the chest when I need to pot and re-pot plants. Sitting on a stool would be easier than sitting on a bangkito. I'll try it out soon. 

I'll probably move around stuff. What's important for me is to remember where I put things, haha! I didn't realize I still had stocks of succulent soil, small pebbles and compost. I thought I didn't have any anymore, good thing I didn't buy anything yet. I probably just need to get more terracotta pots. I prefer them over plastic pots. I brought home some plastic pots from Singapore and they all disintegrated already (probably because of the heat). Mom also told me it's better to use terracotta or clay pots. 

Spending an hour or two gardening twice a week is good for the soul. It's been a good way to unplug and keep calm. I'm glad we were able to settle the issues we were having from the ongoing construction beside us. I couldn't stay outside because the workers kept smoking (and well they damaged our firewall too) :'( That's why we fought for my sanctuary. It's our home and we have to be safe in it. 

#BeKind #StaySafe 

Mustasa Coming Soon

I made the mistake of planting mustasa seeds the week two typhoons hit. After that the habagat sent a lot of rain. They grew very slowly.

The sun finally came out this week. I took the opportunity to re-pot them since they became a bit leggy (looking for sun). I moved them also to another spot where I hope they'll get more sun. It promptly rained hard after, but the bamboo protected them from being washed off. Whew!

They're growing steadily now and I've been feeding them rice water. That's how I grew healthy mustasa plants in Singapore. My plants got morning sun there though, so we'll see if this one grows well here.

#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: 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: Composting Coffee Grinds

Since being weaned away from instant coffee, we've been amassing a good amount of coffee grinds from our daily cup. It was a shame to just throw it out, so I read up on composting coffee grinds. I learned it's best to let it dry a bit first before using it. 

Composting coffee grinds.

I've been using the grinds as compost in two ways. I sometimes put it directly on the plant. I just put a little since I'm not sure if it might be too acidic for the plant. It's a good fertilizer for the bamboo, they seem to like it. 

I read and watched a couple of videos on composting and for a few months now I've been adding the coffee grinds and filter to the compost bin. I just started a new one since I had a huge pile I dried in the past few weeks. 

Found a used broas tin, cleaned it up and asked Sweetie to put some holes in it. Placed all the grinds in. To hasten the process, I added some compost from the existing bin. That effectively transferred some of the worms to the new bin. To make it more delectable for them I add fresh discard veggies every so often.

The compost has to have a good balance between green and dry ingredients. Green ingredients are usually veggies, grinds, and fresh leaves (big plus if you can add malunggay leaves). Dry ingredients are the filter, dry leaves, paper or cut up toilet rolls. If your bin is smelly it means you need to add more dry ingredients.  

Keep the bin moist, so add water every few days. Don't cover the bin fully because the critters need a bit of air. I learned that the hard way when we fully closed the second bin, all the worms died from too much water and lack of air. They eventually came back when we fixed the issue. Mix the content weekly so the workers go through all the material. You'll know the bin is ready when the worms move out of the bin. 

Next time I want to try the three layer compost bin. I'm eyeing to use an old plastic drawer. 

#BeKind #StaySafe