Random Observations in Houseplant Growing

January is turning out to be a difficult month in which to find things to write about. (And that turned out to be a difficult sentence.) My plants aren't doing much, and don't require much in the way of care besides watering. Since I don't like to drive in bad winter weather, I'm not out and about as much, going to nurseries, conservatories and such. These trips often provide inspiration, even if I don't write about them in a literal way. So I figured that I could share a few anecdotes that wouldn't make up a whole post in and of themselves.

Dumbest thing I've ever done to a plant that nonetheless survived:

Years ago, shortly after I bought it, my Aspidistra elatior developed an infestation of some sort of soft scale insects. They washed off easily with soapy water, or with an alcohol spray, but they always returned. I had recently been reading about horticultural oils, so I decided to experiment. I sprayed the leaves of the plant with PAM^®, the cooking spray. This actually worked in a sense, because the scale never came back. However it took months of frequent washing before I got rid of the nasty, sticky, oily residue the spray left on the leaves. It would seem like I had gotten it all, then I'd come back and they'd be sticky again. (Not unlike what was happening with the scale, now that I think of it.) I'm surprised that the plant survived. It's roughly 10 years old at this point, and has had numerous ups and downs, but it always rebounds.

Aspidistra elatior, and Aspidistra elatior variegata. The plain-leaved plant is the one that survived the oil spray. I learned that even if it is called "Cast-Iron Plant" it shouldn't be treated like a frying pan.

Something nice that I wasn't expecting:

My beast of a Monstera deliciosa is actually two plants in one pot, consisting of the original plant grown from seed, and a second plant produced from a cutting of the original. There was another cutting that didn't take permanently; it rooted, but rotted out shortly after I planted it in the soil. The nice surprise was that after taking that failed cutting, the original plant produced two new growing points that have both continued to put out new leaves. So I got the benefit of having a third plant in the pot, anyway. I had been under the impression that vining Aroids do not branch, but continue after cutting with a new, single header.

Dumbest thing I've done to plants that didn't survive:

Around the same time that I was spraying cooking oil on my Aspidistra, I was attempting to grow some plants from seed. One type that germinated surprisingly well was Philodendron bipinnatifidum (aka P. selloum.) So I had a whole bunch of seedlings growing tightly sealed under a plastic dome (the kind that rotisserie chickens come packaged in) in 100% humidity. They all had one or two sets of true leaves, which were scalloped just like the immature foliage of larger plants. So cute. So what do I do? I take the dome off, intending just to leave it off for a few minutes for air circulation. But I got distracted by who knows what, and when I came back, all my seedlings had collapsed beyond recovery. Sigh. I never tried Philodendron seeds again. My current P. bipinnatifidum was bought as a small adult plant.

I expect that I will be making more posts like this from time to time, as life among the leaves is full of amusing/appalling/surprising mini-moments.

Resurrection 2--The Unfurling

Life Among the Leaves has been more like Life Under the Weather the past couple of days, as I have been fighting a head cold. I've only had three colds in the past ten years, but they always knock me for a loop. Anyway, wherever life is located, it goes on, so here are some updates on my novelty plants:

Selaginella lepidophylla, aka Resurrection Plant, partially unfurled, about 4 hours after being immersed in water.

Resurrection plant, the day after the complete unfurling. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it at its maximum rehydrated state.

Though I put its roots in a pot of moist soil after removing it from the water, it had already started to dry up bit in less than 12 hours in the open air. Notice the curled leaves on the far left of the picture. I've since placed it in a makeshift terrarium, so that it is surrounded by moist air. We'll see how that goes.

In other goings on, Chia Kitty continues to put on "fur," albeit unevenly.

Pretty shaggy on one side...

...less so on the other, and still bald on top.

And as a reminder that January does not always equal dormancy, here is what my Philodendron bipinnatifidum has been doing:

P. binnatifidum has two new leaves about to unfurl

Now I'm off to take some leaves internally, in the form of a nice hot cup of tea.

A Little Something in Silver

As a follow-up to yesterday's post on Epipremnum aureum, popularly called pothos, I thought I'd post some pictures of the other genus popularly called pothos: Scindapsus. This is often referred to as Satin Pothos or Silver Pothos, and occasionally as Silver Philodendron. It is a relative of Epipremnum and of Philodendron, being in the Araceae, or Aroid family, but I still find it a trifle irksome when the names of actual genera are used as common names for plants not in those genera. (Pothos is actually the legitimate name of yet another Aroid genus, which doesn't particularly resemble Epipremnum, Scindapsus, or Philodendron, and isn't sold as a houseplant.) My husband is probably doing a headdesk right now, as he finds my use of Latin names in this blog excessively formal at the best of times. Sorry, sweetheart.

Here are the pictures:

Cuttings of Scindapsus pictus argyraeus, commonly called Satin Pothos. I no longer have the parent plant, but these cuttings have been going along fine in water for a while now.

I have seen this plant referred to as Scindapsus pictus argyraeus with adult foliage and as Scindapsus siamense. Though all the pictures open larger when clicked, this one benefits the most.

Close up of a leaf from the previous plant

Just to muddy the waters a bit, I'd thought I'd post a picture of a plant I bought recently that was mislabled by Exotic Angel as Scindapsus pictus/Silver Philodendron:

This is a juvenile Philodendron brandtianum

I think this shot shows its growth habit, which closely resembles Philodendron hederaceum

Split Leaves

If you've ever wondered how to tell a Monstera deliciosa from a Philodendron bipinnatifidum, both commonly called "Split-leaf Philodendron," maybe this photo will help. Or maybe it will confuse you even more. Click for a very large version.

All the leaves in this photograph except for one belong to my Philodendron binnatifidum, aka P. selloum. The leaf in the upper right corner belongs to my Monstera deliciosa.

There is a reason for the extremely abbreviated post tonight. My dog Laces, who had surgery last week, began exhibiting some distressing symptoms this evening. We're hoping it is nothing serious, but at her age, who can tell.

If there aren't any new posts for a couple of days, that is why.