The diary of a former plant killer. I used to be terrible with house plants and so banned myself from buying them for years. In December 2019 a friend gave me a Christmas cactus as a thank you gift and after a little bit of reading up on plant care online I somehow managed to keep it alive and flowering for six months. As a way to pass time and distract myself during the pandemic I have been teaching myself the basics of plant care and rebuilding my confidence with plants. It turns out there’s hope for me yet!
New leaves on my pilea peperomioides after I gave it a few drops of fertiliser. It’s really quite dark inside now that we’re through to November, and some of the lower leaves were starting to turn yellow and drop off. I knew it wasn’t from overwatering as I’ve really got a handle on that now, but thought a little bit of food might help make it happier as I grow my plants in a soil free mix – coir, perlite and bark – and thought it might be short on nutrients as I hadn’t fed it since early September.
I have to laugh at myself for fitting the stereotype of my generation. In my defence, my collection of succulents is quite small and only takes up a tiny corner of one room of my home. I can also put them out on the balcony when it’s warm. I never thought I’d be interested in houseplants – chuckling at the couple who live opposite and have blocked their entire window and all natural light in their flat with a collection of huge plants – but I found myself craving something green while both botanical gardens were shut during the first wave of the pandemic, and so here we are.
