I started writing when I was 8. My mom got me a journal where I could rant (prob so I won't be an annoying brat). I stopped writing for 8 years until the pen and then later on the keyboard called on me again. I blog because I like writing and that's just about it. Hope you get inspired though... Bite the apple!
Just thought I'd make this post to thank my fourth grade Filipino teacher, Mrs. Orenza, for the beautiful gumamela cuttings she sent me yesterday. I appreciate it when my friends post beautiful flowers on their timeline. I commented on Mrs. O's post where she shared her beautiful white gumamela Flowers. I told her I didn't have any white ones yet.
After awhile she messaged me and said she'll send me some cuttings. I was so shy to accept it at first, but I can never say no to plants. The cuttings were sent to me in less than an hour. I dipped the cuttings first in rooting hormone.
After watering the plants in the garden, I worked on potting the cuttings. It took awhile before I finished since there were 5 cuttings. I wanted to make sure I mixed the soil correctly. I'm aiming to successfully encourage the cuttings to grow roots. Some of the cuttings had flowers. I'm not sure if I should remove them so the cutting can focus on growing roots. Hmm, I'll research more about it.
Thank you again Mrs. O! I'm going to watch the cuttings like a hawk to ensure they all propagate properly!
#BeKind #StaySafe
We set up several pots in our backyard for composting. It surprisingly worked well. A few months later we were surprised to see something growing in it. As it grew, I realized it was a mango tree. Our neighbor has a mango tree and it's branches reached our backyard. Every so often, some fruits would drop to the ground. I guess one of it ended up inside the compost bin and nature found a way to grow.
I eventually moved the seedling to a proper pot. I would water it and give it some fertilizer. Lo and behold it's now much taller than me! I've been overdue to move it and decided to do it today since I plan to let it continue its growth in the tiny square garden. I had a hard time pulling the pot out from the pocket garden plant box, so Miggy wrangled it off for me. Then Sweetie helped me get it out of the pot. The sun set before I finished re-potting it. Hopefully it will live even with some of the roots gone.
Another "accidental" tree is the weeping fig. It grew on our balcony. A bird probably dropped the seed and nature (again) found its way and it grew. Sweetie pulled it out and I told him to bring it home. The roots were still intact, so I again placed it in a pot and left it a few feet away from where the mango tree was growing. It surprisingly flourished and it's about half the mango tree already. I decided to re-pot it today too.
The mango and weeping fig tree is part of the arsenal of trees I plan to eventually move to our future home (no idea when that will happen). The third tree is my curry tree. I'm trying to save it now since I think I may have over watered it the past few weeks (whoops!). I hope I'll still be able to save it! Then I have a couple of papaya trees growing. I think some may have been rooting in the plant box (whoops!). I'll check them tomorrow.
I'll probably get flagged already from gardening a lot this week. I missed working on our garden since we've been busy, plus I had to avoid getting exposed to dirty air due to the construction beside us (it's been really horrid!). We made a lot of progress this week, but need to check what I can still save from my Mom's garden.
Lots of adulting stuff to do, ugh.
#BeKind #StaySafe
I came across Slater Young's interview with Architect Efren Aurelio, a landscape architect. It piqued my interest since I've just been winging my way with gardening. My Mom was a talented home gardener. She had the instincts and green thumb. She told me though that she started with a brown thumb and just continued gardening until she knew how best to take care of her plants. Mind you, she only had a handful of reference books and never really used the internet. So her beautiful garden was a product of her talent and the skills she developed through the years.
 |
| Mom's garden, c2019. |
So, I watched the whole video to understand a few things. The difference between a landscape architect vs. landscaper. One deals with designing for large populations and the other usually plans for homes. There are landscape architects though who still do homes. Among Architect Aurelio's many award winning works, I am most familiar with Greenbelt. I remember I was amazed with how the open space was done the first time I saw it. I rarely walk outdoors at malls, but Greenbelt is an exception.
Architect Aurelio mentioned that when planning for an outdoor space, here's a few things you can do (well, the ones I picked up).
Architect Aurelio is indeed the ultimate plantitos idol. You can watch the video here.
#BeKind #StaySafe
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
When we moved in to our new home, I was quite happy we had a pocket garden and a small back garden. It was nice and relaxing with bamboo trees planted on the perimeter. I wasn't so hot about the carabao grass, but I said it could eventually be changed.
Eventually, the grass started to die even though we made sure to water it (and more during summer). Not sure if it died because it didn't get enough sunlight due to the bamboo trees. Or the soil wasn't deep enough or lacked nutrients. It became really gnarly when it rained. The garden became very muddy and we noticed the soil started to erode.
We brought up the issue with Architect Wansi. He advised to fence the bamboo and bushes by building a planter box around it. We asked if it would be better to use turf grass. He said it would be expensive since it would need to have concrete as it base. Plus turf grass is quite expensive. Since we were going to have the drainage system fixed, we said we'd do it.
The garden was the last thing to be fixed. It was important to finish everything else first so we could protect the turf grass. It was finally installed a few weeks ago and we're happy with how it turned out. We always joke if the grass grew after heavy rains. Of course, we were nervous when the habagat started to bring in a lot of rain. We saw a vlogger show how his garden got flooded because his turf grass blocked the drain. Good thing Rod re-worked the drainage system well because things are going well so far.
Here are some before and after photos :)
 |
| Pocket garden |
 |
| Backyard |
#BeKind #StaySafe
We were surprised our home came with bamboo planted all around the garden. It was pretty and it would sound very calming whenever the wind went through it. The bamboo was planted beside the wall and has been providing us with a nice shade. It's the type of plant that's very resilient. You just need to water it a few times a week and put fertilizer sparingly (I put only when I remember). When one stalk dies, another one usually grows.
We learned a few things about caring for bamboo. It gets gnarly to take care of. Here's what you have to watch out for if you plan to use bamboo for your garden:
I had a huge headache yesterday. I avoided taking meds by spending some time with my plants. I just rubbed some oil on my forehead and then spent some time in my mini-veggie garden. It was raining yesterday, so there was a cool breeze blowing in the garage.
 |
| Growing sili from seed. Mama Lola would be proud of me! |
I've been propagating veggies where my car used to be parked. Some of the seeds I germinated on a seed tray last month have grown. It's been a joy to see them grow from seed to mini-plants. I hope I'd be able to harvest some of them by Christmas.
 |
| Cosmos plant. Hope it will flower soon. |
There's just something about working on plants that grounds you. I feel at peace whenever I prepare the soil and scoop them into a pot or seed tray. Then I feel hopeful whenever I put in the seeds. I eagerly await the seeds to germinate after planting them. Seeing them sprout makes me smile. I will definitely be super happy when I eventually get to harvest something.
 |
| The tumeric I propagated is now super bushy! |
It's no wonder why so many people have become plantitos and plantitas during lockdown. I got into it again in May 2020 when everything was on a standstill. It was hard to get supplies though, but I managed and after a few months I was able to harvest some tomatoes and bell peppers.
What I like best is I get to learn new things since each plant has it's own special needs. And when you're able to satisfy what they need, they love you back with flowers and fruits.
#BeKind #StaySafe
I finally got around to organizing the seeds I've accumulated over the last few years. After watching several videos about germinating seeds I realized I haven't been storing them properly. The seeds were packaged differently. I wanted to store it in a uniform manner so it would be easier for me to find .
Ordered some coin envelopes and then went to work when it arrived. Segregated the veggies and decorative plant seeds. Wrote out the name of the seed on the envelope. Found an old set of card dividers. The envelopes fit the Serioso Chili Garlic banig box. I think it's the perfect box to store seeds in.
I was really surprised with how much seeds I have! Found some that we got for free from Singapore's National Parks Authority (just sign up and they'll mail seeds to you) and from our local Bureau of Plant and Industry (a neighbor worked this out). I had a lot of veggie seeds and realized I need to do better at gardening. I think it will be good to live more sustainably.
 |
| Free seeds! |
I planted some seeds over a week ago. I think I did it at a bad time because there was a typhoon. I filled up 30 slots on the seed starter tray, so far only have 4 sprouts. That's a really bad turn out! Not sure if it was because of the lack of sun or maybe some of the seeds have gone bad. I'm also germinating on wet tissue paper and the result has been bad too. Of course, I'll try again until I succeed.
The good news is, my tomato plants are finally producing flowers. I helped pollinate a few today and hope it will form. I have to help it since I rarely see bees visit. It's also been raining, so most of them are hiding. I'm trying to grow sweet alyssum because I read that it will help attract bees. Flowering plants will also help divert the attention of creepy crawlies away from your veggies. Also hope the sili seeds I planted will grow. I just got those seeds from the free sili whenever we order inihaw, haha.
I hope I'll have a better season of gardening!
#BeSafe #StaySafe
I'm declaring a new season of gardening! The past few months have been really challenging (higad infestation!) and I think we've finally turned the corner. I still get caterpillars in my garden, but I think the infestation is under control. The neighbor also did some garden keeping and I hope this would reduce the critters.
Kitchen Scrap Project
Planted New Seeds
When the air quality this week got better, I took the opportunity to plant new seeds. I have collected quite a lot of seeds. I planted some early this year, but most did not survive the higad infestation. I learned though that if you fail the first time in gardening, just do it again until you succeed. I was able to buy some flower seeds and will try to plant them. I hope I'll be able to give my Mom some since she prefers flowering plants than veggies. I'm going to try planting lettuce again for the third time.
The Survivors
I was able to save my tomato plants and I'm eagerly awaiting for it to flower. I have to vigilant though since caterpillars seem to love eating it. The tomato plants went through a phase where it just kept going longer. I re-planted two stalks since the wind would sometimes accidentally nick it. So I have two separate plants now growing nicely in the garage. It's starting to produce flowers. I'l probably need to help it be pollinated.
Saved the plants Mom gave me (aglaonema, petunia etc.) and they have grown back the leaves the caterpillars munched on. The plants Ate Rose gave me have all adjusted. I probably need to re-pot the kalanchoe since they've grown so fast. I also re-potted a lily that just grew in the middle of the garden. It's looking good now (see, no need to buy plants haha).
Crossing my fingers that the next few months will be uneventful for the garden! :)
#BeKind #StaySafe
We got a boatload of ginger from a friend. Made salabat and ginger candy out of it and since there were some nuggets left-over I thought I'd try to grow more from scraps. I tried it a few months ago, but I failed. It did not work out because I just immediately put the scraps in soil. I learned that you need to let some roots grow before you plant it in soil.
So I put the scraps in a container with half an inch of water. I just used tap water and it took almost a week before it started to grow roots. I changed the water every other day. After two weeks I used rain water and was so surprised that the roots and stem grew so fast overnight.
After four weeks I decided to plant the propagated ginger in soil. I selected the ones that had healthy stems and roots. The roots were pretty gnarly, but it was easy to split up. I put 3 to 4 knobs per pot to give it enough space to grow bigger. I'll have to wait 8 to 10 months before I harvest the ginger.
It's been a few days since planted the propagated ginger in soil. I put them in the garage area so they don't get direct sunlight. They seem to have adjusted well and the leaves are now starting to unfurl. Looking forward to harvesting ginger next summer!
#BeKind #StaySafe
The past two and a half weeks has been challenging. The boys are doing much better now and I hope I could have them back this weekend. With the boys away I found the time to finally propagate ginger and tumeric.
I don't have my Mom's green thumb. She told me you can stick anything in soil and it will grow. I had some extra ginger and just planted it. It just rotted and died. My Mom has magical powers over plants because planting scraps directly in soil never worked for me.
I watched Epic Gardening's video on propagating ginger and learned that you should put it in water first so it could grow roots. This is how they looked over a week ago -
The ginger now has roots, but the tumeric is taking some time to grow roots. I'll probably switch the water today to rain water. That should hasten the process.
I think I'll keep them in water for a week or two more. It's been raining a lot and the lack of sun might not be good for them. My garden now looks like a forest because of all the nutrients it's getting from rainwater. My drum is full of rainwater now and that will make the plants happy even when it stops raining.
Hope the ginger and tumeric I propagated will result in a good harvest eventually :)
#BeKind #StaySafe
My track record with succulents is really bad. The culprit has always been overwatering. I just can't ignore my plants! My doctor told me to keep hydrated, so I feel my plants also need to be hydrated! You can't imagine the torture I felt when I was away on vacation. Anyway, together with the pothos my friend gave me were succulents. Her bilin was to re-pot them so they can grow properly.
 |
| Kalanchoe pinnata also known as the mother of thousands/millions |
I looked at the succulents and I honestly had no idea what they were called. I prioritized potting the pothos since I have experience taking care of pothos. I gave myself a few days before I sat down to re-pot the pots of succulents. First order of the day was to take their photo and use Google Lens to identify them. Then I did some research to understand what kind of soil they needed and how to take care of them.
Basically, the soil used for succulents is different from your regular plants. The soil has to drain well because succulent roots can rot easily if it's too wet. Rocks are usually put around the succulent to absorb more heat, prevent soil erosion and to stimulate root development. I didn't have these so I just ordered via Shopee. Good thing I ordered an extra set of small pots because I underestimated the number of kalanchoe pinnatas crammed in the pot. Here's how I re-potted them -
I must say the process of re-potting the succulents was both nerve-wracking and calming. The tiny plants looked so fragile and there were even tinier ones that the plant produced. I read that kalanchoe pinnatas are known also as the "mother of thousands". They grow babies at the edge of their leaves. These grow into new plants and they eventually fall and grow bigger. That's what I underestimated because there was a lot of babies on the soil when I removed it from the pot.
I ended up using more than 10 pots. I read you should put it in indirect sunlight. I put half of them on the planter in the garage and the other half indoors. After a week I noticed that the pots in the garage seemed happier than the ones indoor. I moved the indoor plants nearer the front window where it's warmer. There was a number of babies I didn't want to cram in the pots so I just "threw" them in a pot with soil. They survived and are now growing nicely. I'll re-pot them properly when they're a bit bigger.
Well, I hope they will survive because they will be good to give as gifts! I wasn't planning to buy plants for now, but I'm really happy Ate Rose gave me some plants to work on. Really hope I do better this time :)
#BeKind #StaySafe
The pothos I brought home from Singapore didn't flourish. I had it in water since we got home and it slowly deteriorated. I suspect it's because of the water because I was using the same honey I decided to plant it in a pot to save it. It's been two weeks and it so far looks happy.
Ate Rose pinged me last weekend and said she was planning to give me some plants. I said I was happy to receive her overflow since a lot of my plants died from the higad infestation. I mentioned to her that I wanted some pothos if she had any extra. The next day she dropped off the plants and I was super surprised with the length of the pothos she cut for me. It was loooong!
Among the plants she gave me I prioritized the pothos since it was just a long vine. I thought it might dry out if I left it overnight so I immediately worked on it after lunch. I was surprised with how many cuttings I could make, so I decided to plant some in soil and put some in water.
 |
| One week after planting in soil. |
Out of the long vine I was able to plant two sets in soil. I used three jars for the cuttings with smaller leaves. I used rainwater for the jars. I was forced to bring the pots inside the house because several leaves were eaten by caterpillars. I put them on planters, but the critters still managed to reach them. Good thing pothos don't need too much sunlight so I put them indoors. They look quite happy.
 |
| This leaf was still new when pests ate it. |
It's really nice to have more greens inside the house. I hope the pothos in water will flourish the same way it did in Singapore. They'll have to survive though without a/c haha. I think they have adjusted well to the rainwater. Hope it rains again since my rainwater supply is pretty low now.
I was happy tired after relocating the pothos cuttings. Fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow! I had to save for another day re-potting the other plants since I ran out of energy already. It's been a really good exercise for me to putter around the garden. Plants really become more beautiful when you spend enough time with them.
#BeKind #StaySafe
The most important thing I learned when I dealt with the higad infestation is don't just use one solution. Research and try different solutions until you find the best one. The best one for us wasn't spraying neem oil everyday or squishing the critters (it became messy). We were wary about using fire, so Sweetie did the opposite -- a water bucket. I added a teaspoon of neem oil to it and they died in less than 10 seconds. Add hydrogen peroxide and that will take care of slugs and millipedes. Those two are sturdier than the higad so they need something stronger.
 |
| Proud plant momma! I planted this from seed! :) |
I try to use organic solutions only because there are a lot of birds in our area, so I'm sticking to neem oil and the tanglad+oregano concoction to spray the leaves. My efforts have paid off and my blue ternate which I planted from seed has been blooming more. The flowers are also bigger than what I normally see. I'm glad I actively battled the pests because I could see that the plants I managed to save are all fighting back also and recovering nicely.
 |
| The last living pothos from Singapore. Decided to plant them in soil because they were not growing. They don't seem to like the water and honey mixture here. |
Writing this post mainly to remind myself of what I should do when it happens again next year. Research is key. There is so much to learn from gardening. Each plant has it's own needs. There's no one size fits all solution, so I like the challenge. My goal is to have a mix of food producing plants, plants that would protect other plants and I hope I'll finally be successful in growing flowering plants (to make my Mom proud).
To motivate me to do better at gardening, Saturdays will be plantita updates! I'll post more specific tips on our gardening blog.
#BeKind #StaySafe
Happy to share that we're doing well. Sweetie is still in isolation, but so far his antigen tests have been negative. To be sure he'll stay one more night in isolation and test again tomorrow. He also needs to rest so this forced rest will be good for him. I've been out of commission so he's been my superman. The new medication has helped a lot and I think I'm getting better.
 |
| Sweetie checking his step count. |
 |
| It was on the pot I was about to grab! Good thing I saw it before I could touch it. Would have been a gazillion times itchy! |
I had Miggy transfer my plants in pots from the pocket garden to the back garden. They were looking so sad already because of the dry-wet-dry weather cycle. Trimmed a lot of dead leaves the past few days and hope they will recover. I'm happy though that the plants my Mom gave us are all still alive! They probably still have her magic in time that's why they're going strong.
I planted some seeds last week and some have started to sprout. Yay! I think it's a bad time though to plant seeds since it's been raining off and on. I haven't been able to harvest anything yet since I've been a bad home gardener. Well, I think my plant babies appreciate the renewed attention because I finally saw the rope tomato forming flowers! I hope though the rain doesn't ruin them.
 |
| Of course, Mom was in the garden this afternoon. |
Gardening has been a good way to heal and center myself. I was in a really bad place after the elections. The quiet of working with nature really has a different kind of magic. It really helps calm and heal. It's the reason why my Mom is healthy and strong at 86. Caring for other living things other than yourself I think is the secret to long life.
#BeKind #StaySafe
