Indoor Succulent Garden – Gift for the Non-Green Thumb

Tags

centerpiece, chicks & hens, chicks and hens, Christmas gift, Christmas present, garden, gardening, gift, gift giving, gift idea, hostess gift, house warming gift, perennial gardening, perennials, present giving, succulent garden, succulents, Xmas gift, Xmas present

An indoor succulent garden is the perfect gift for the non-green thumb, they can even forget to water it for a while. Succulents are forgiving, adaptive plants, that vary in color and texture. This indoor garden can be a great Christmas present, house-warming gift, or centerpiece for the party’s hostess.

Before we moved, I pulled tiny three chicks out of my garden. They sat in a cup on the window sill at our interim place for two months, until I rediscovered them today and planted them.

 

Materials:
Glass dish (I used a leftover centerpiece bowl from our wedding), garden soil, succulents to transplant, river rocks (or marbles, or  gem rocks)

Directions:
Clean glass dish and pour a layer of dirt on the bottom. Depending on the type of succulent you use, remove any dried leaves and extra roots. With the chicken & hens, I trimmed the root to 1″ long. Arrange the succulents in the soil. Remember they will fill out as they grow. Carefully arrange rocks around the plants, covering the soil. Drizzle or spray plants and rocks to dampen the soil, keep damp for the next 7 days.

Succulent Suggestions:
Chicks & hens, snake plant, jade, sedums, living stone, cacti

What is your favorite succulent?

Pretty Potting

Tags

frugal gardening, gardening, house plant, indoor plant

I needed to jazz up a few simple terra-cotta pots (the rust color does not go with any decor in my home. I pulled out my glue gun and some twine. First I sprayed the pots with a terra-cotta sealer, to hold in the moisture so the twine doesn’t rot. I spiraled the hot glue, followed by the twine, around the pots.

Pretty Planting Pots

What are you favorite indoor plants? What are your favorite fresh herbs to grow in the kitchen?

Lucky Bamboo Maintenance & Propagation

Tags

house plant, indoor plant, lucky bamboo, lucky bamboo maintenance, lucky bamboo propagation, plants for vases

Lucky Green Thumb?
My friends seem to think I have an indoor green thumb and often enlist my help with their new plants. While on holiday I helped my sister with her overgrown “lucky bamboo” plant that she had potted in soil. That fall I helped a good friend with her “lucky bamboo”  that had been weaved in a beautiful pattern, yet overgrew it’s twist-tie binding. Both needed some basic maintenance, so I decided to share my tips.

Lucky Bamboo isn’t really bamboo at all, although it can multiply like it. My lucky bamboo stays nestled in a vase (shallow, deep, wide, narrow, it just depends on your ideal arrangement) with small river rocks to support the roots and stems. I change the water once a week and make sure that the water level stay about 1 inch above the bottom of the plant. If I leave my lucky bamboo in the window during the summer, the plant gets too much heat through my large glass windows. I need to remember to bring the plants in just out of the sun during the scorching summer weather.

In Need of TLC

Maintenance
Once every few months, I empty the vase and scrub the vase and rocks with a small brush. I remove extra roots from the plant and thin out the leaves on top. I allow each stem to have one side shoot; if I need to cut off any extra side shoots (whether too large, wrong place, etc.) I seal the cut with melted wax  to prevent infection or rot. I trim off any faded leaves from the shoot, making sure only green is revealed. Then I arrange the original stems back into the vase, make sure the roots are tucked under some rocks and fill with water.

Thinning Out The Roots

Propagation
Those shoots you just cut off will grow roots and continue growing if you place them in water. Once they reach a certain height, I top them off (and seal with wax) and way for them to grow their ow side shoots to achieve that “lucky bamboo” look.

New Shoots to Propagate