my plant obsession first started on april 16th, 2019. i got 6 plants from my local Lowe's: an aloe plant, a sedeveria fanfare variant, zanzibar aloe, teddy bear plant, 2 small bunny ear cacti, and 4 string of buttons here they are in the shopping cart! clockwise starting at top left: aloe, string of buttons, teddy bear, bunny ears, zanzibar aloe, sedeveria fanfare
here they are after i potted them. i admit, the potting job is a little messed up because i didn't know much about them. i could have picked better pots for all of them and even split some of them into separate pots, but anyway.
the sedeveria fanfare was my favorite one. i took many pictures of it and loved it to death – maybe too literally.
i didn't know much about succulents then, and didn't know how easy it was to overwater them. as you might have inferred, i overwatered the sedeveria fanfare, but i thought i was underwatering it. here are some pictures of his last few days.
all of these plants are still alive today (i will share more pics in a later chapter), except for the sedeveria fanfare. rest in peace
since then, my plant adventure has been fantastic. i learned about the types of plants, how to care for them, which ones i like, and so much more about myself.
here is a picture less than two months later, when i moved to my dad's house, and my plant obsession began to grow
top shelf, left to right: lithops, bunny ears #1, bunny ears #2. middle shelf, left to right: aloe, teddy bear, string of buttons, haworthia. bottom, clockwise: zanzibar aloe, teddy bear, zanzibar aloe pup, spider plant(!!!), tiger jaws, aloinopsis rubrolineata, crassula moonglow
to my horror, i later found out the tiger jaws had mealy bugs! i suspected that the one to the left of it also had mealy bugs, so i also attempted to treat that one. but alas, i killed them. i am still not sure the exact cause of their death; whether it was the harsh chemicals i foolishly put on them, the mealy bugs, or a combination of the two. here are pictures of them in their last days.
**** mealy bugs. moment of silence for all the plants that have died to these awful creatures.
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my next round of plants occurred when i went to walmart and the olive garden with my mother, on june 9, 2019. we stopped by the plant section at walmart and i chose these two plants as my next victims. this picture was taken in the parking lot at the olive garden, before we went to eat
the squiggly one is some type of squiggly plant, i call him squiggle. the tall one on the right is called a mini christmas tree or something. here is the squiggle one as of may, 2020.
the mini christmas tree has died, as i did not know how to properly care for it when i discovered its leaves were falling off
rest in peace <3
my spider plant is one of my favorite plants as of today. i have not gotten any pups from it yet, but i wish to once it is of childbearing capability.
i got it on may 20th, 2019.
since then, our journey has been a wild one. it almost died a few times, and i learned that it only will accept filtered water. **** ****
this is from september 21, 2019, before learning it needs filtered water.
this one is from october 22nd, as i was learning how to properly care for it.
then, i found out that a cucumber beetle had gotten to it! i was furious! from august 30th, 2019. it has not affected the plant's long term overall health, besides losing 4 leaves.
this is for all the beginners out there, or aspiring plant moms or dads! get a spider plant! they are seriously impossible to kill! i believe in you
another one of my favorite plants is my string of buttons. it was one of the plants i got on april 16, 2019. here is a pic from when i first got them.
and here, is a pic of them now!
the reason they are green now is because they are not getting an abundance of sun. many people believe that red is prettier, but i don't have a preference. they also grow slightly slower if they get that much sunlight, but they do look pretty, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. size is not important!
here is a pic of my setup on my desk. i am still working out how to arrange these plants, as i am adjusting to the winter.
yes, the one at the bottom left is dying! i just got it a few months ago, but i guess it wasn't meant to be. i believe it was an english ivy plant, but it was not labelled.
another favorite plant of mine is my white nerve plant. i got it at the same time as the ivy plant, but the difference is, it is still alive.
that picture is from september 5th, 2020. ivy plant is in front, white nerve plant in the middle, spider plant in the back, and my zanzibar aloe on the very left.
pic of white nerve plant in front of stove
onto my dragon's tongue. another impossible plant to kill, and another person favorite of mine.
this is when i first got her in may
the next month, july, we went on a trip to the beach for a week. i gave her to my mother to look after, and alas, she forgot to water it, even though she only had to water it once.
i was deeply disappointed and ashamed in her, but i did not hold any hatred in my heart. i was surprised, as i realized i had acquired my inner peace. i held onto hope that she would survive, and she did. this is her today (ignore my death grip):
this plant has taught me that you cannot get upset at someone for almost killing your plant, no matter how much you loved that plant. this plant has also taught me to just say "no" to death.
here is my current plant shelf, pic taken just now. i am excited for the future of my plant journey.
thank you for reading through this, I hope I have inspired some of you.
