My Own Plants

I could not interview any of my coworkers this week because I was in Vancouver for a Professional Development Conference. I have decided that since this is MY blog I should talk a little bit about my own plants, what my favourites are, and share some before and after photos. The majority of my plants are rescue plants or plants that we had to take off the sales floor at my work because they weren’t in perfect condition. Getting plants for free has been an incredible learning tool for me as there is much less pressure if it doesn’t end up surviving (which does happen unfortunately). Also, when the plants are coming to me in rough condition it is a great way to research that plant and learn how to take care of it to nurse it back to health. I absolutely recognize my privilege in this situation and I am very grateful that I have this learning opportunity and the chance to make my living space green for very little money!

My Favourite Plant

If you remember back to the first post, my co-worker Erin talked about her favourite plant which was the Marble Pothos. My favourite plant is also in the same family and that is the Golden Pothos! I got my Golden Pothos around June and it had barely started to trail and also looked a little rough around the edges. Fast forward to today and my Pothos is growing NON-STOP! I need to figure out a way to hang it from the ceiling because it has reached the floor and is growing in every direction it can. It is my favourite plant because it’s extremely easy to take care of, adds depth to my living room and overall just makes me extremely happy to look at!

The Living Room

The living room is my favourite room in my apartment. It also happens to be the room where the majority of my plants reside. They get a natural East light which is the morning sun. This is the most gentle sunlight they can get and I find this the easiest light condition to grow in. My plants seem to be doing alright too because they are thriving. They are all grouped together and this helps the high-humidity plants stay very happy! I have added a few pictures of plants in my living room and what my main set-up looks like.

Before and After

Since the main focus of my plants is rehabilitation, I would love to share some of my before and after photos to showcase some of the growth they have made over the past little while.

This is the Monstera Deliciosa. I got this plant as a sale plant from Canadian Tire because it was clearly being overwatered and possibly not enough light. You can tell because of the yellowing of the leaves on the plant. It is much healthier since I brought it home however it does need to desperately be repotted into a larger planter

This is a Ribbon Plant which is part of the Dracaena family. I got this plant brand new so there were technically no flaws with it. I think the craziest thing is just how fast it has been growing. I would say that it has grown over a foot in the span of 9 months which is insane! These plants can get very tall and there is a chance it can even get up to 6 feet tall in the next couple years with proper care. I have staked it up because of how fast it is growing, but this one also desperately needs to be repotted to allow for more growth!

This is a Philodendron. To be quite honest I’m still not 100% sure what type of Philodendron this is. There are over 450 varieties! I know that the leaf shape is the heart-shaped version but I would have to do a little more research to get the specifics. I rescued this plant from my work as they were going to throw it in the compost. It had an easy turnaround, and I think it was just getting improper lighting and attention to watering. Since I have gotten it it has grown 7 new leaves and an 8th is on the way. This plant is in my bedroom and gets indirect South facing light and it really seems to be thriving in that condition

This is an Audrey Ficus and it may be up there for one of my favourite plants in the house. This plant was a gift from one of my co-workers because it wasn’t growing well in the conditions it had in their house. As soon as it got my my place it started to take a turn for the better and made tremendous growth in a very short span of time. I think in the span of 3 months it produced over 15 new leaves!

This is a Philodendron Giganteum. This was also a rescue plant from my work and to be honest I’m not 100% sure why because it seemed pretty healthy when I got it, so I am just thankful for the free plant. It has made quite a bit of growth in the last 2 months that I have had it and it needs to be staked up and repotted very soon. As you may be able to tell from the name. this plant can grow VERY large, especially in the wild!

This is a Dieffenbachia aka Dumb Cane. Despite its rude name, I think the Dumb Cane is a very lovely plant. This was one of my boyfriend’s old plants that he had in a basement suite with very minimal light. When we moved into our current place the plant started to flourish as it was finally getting the light it needed. After 1.5 years it is very healthy, very full, and still producing many new leaves.

This is a Spider Plant which I first got from the sale section at Canadian Tire. It seemed fine when I got it from the section, and it has been growing very well ever since. It has lost much of its curl, but that is a good thing as curling symbolizes that it is getting too much sunlight. It is growing very plentiful and is very happy in its indirect sunlight.

Conclusion

I hope that you enjoyed some of the plants from my own collection. This wasn’t the most educational blog post but I hope that you felt a little inspired by my collection that you too can also be a hoarder of houseplants! Happy planting 🙂