Misc
Welcome to the Expert Level Greenspace where we discuss everything from advanced growing techniques to growing demanding species and other botanical and horticultural geeky facts. ** Please note this is not a space for plant help queries. Be sure to choose the right group for your post or it may be removed.
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Quick poll: When I re-pot or clean my plants, I never wear gloves. I like to feel the soil and the plant as a subjective assessment of the health of the plant. I find it interesting that when you see a tv show or advertisement for something planty, the owner is wearing gardening gloves. Do you tend your plants with bare hands, or are you a glove person?
I’ve been wondering a lot about the ethics behind houseplants and their industry. There is so much hidden by growers/sellers that the majority of information regarding a plants history is disregarded. How would one support a sustainable and ethical source of plants? What is the carbon footprint of different houseplants and their journeys to get to your home? Ofc I’m also contributing to this (and will continue to), so this is in no way confrontational, lol. Lmk your thoughts!
OK, last post for today. 🫠 Have you read about playing music to plants? “For most plants playing classical or jazz music caused growth to increase, while harsher metal music induced stress. This may be because the vibrations of metal music are too intense for plants and stimulate cells a little too much.” I haven't done any formal research, but after reading this article I realized that all the plants in my record room grow much larger than those in other areas of my home. It could be a coincidence but maybe not. You could take it one step further and see if the plant prefers digital vs. analog formats! 😜 During the pandemic, a quartet played to plants at the Opera House in Barcelona. It satisfied their desire to play for an audience, and I'm sure the plants had a great time too.
Nerd Alert! I've been reading about the Advanced Plant Habitat aboard the International Space Station. “In order to thrive in deep space, there is a need for new technologies in space crop production and food safety which will supplement the space diet with fresh, nutritious crops during space station, cislunar, lunar and eventually Mars missions. Currently, spaceflight plant research is conducted in plant chambers designed to operate in microgravity. Previous plant growth systems were limited by small growth areas available for crop production. In order to overcome remaining challenges in spaceflight plant research, larger plant growth systems were required. APH seeks to further our understanding of plant biology and crop growth in space. The variety of experiments flown use the APH facility test the genetic and epigenetic effects of spaceflight, plant metabolism, factors leading to crop flavor, and the effectiveness of APH hardware to grow plants for human consumption in space. Experience gained cultivating crops with APH will inform deep space missions requiring more sustainable and nutritional food sources.” I don’t know about you guys, but if I have to go to space, I’m taking my plants with me! This stuff is so fascinating. Lots of articles out there. Any search engine should fine ones for you!
Is there anything cuter than aerial roots? I just love those little baby toes! 😜
A philosophical Planty blog conundrum: So the other day I was having this moral dilemma in my head and this realization occurred to me… Has anyone ever seen the old 1970s movie called The Secret Life of Plants, about plants and the study where they attach plants to electrical meters similar to ones you would put on a human for brain waves, with energetic response, to see if plants had “feelings”. Well, if you have seen it, you'll remember that they performed some interesting experiments and that they found the plants had wild electro responses to individual human beings. The video showed a person hacking up a head of cabbage into pieces right next to the plant hooked up to a meter and then left and came back the next day. As soon as that person walked into the room, that plant that was still hooked up started to freak out electromagnetically. It somehow remembered which human was caring for it, and which human was a danger to it. Amazing movie. Who knows how real the “science” really was, but super fascinating none-the-less. I also watched a recent YouTube video called “Can This Plant /Actually/ See?” about a study they did on plants that shows a particular variety of plant that can shape-shift due to being able to see! They theorize about if plants can therefore see US! 😮 Pretty fascinating sciency video! Highly recommend watching if you want your mind 🤯! Anyways, this got me thinking… I have somehow acquired over 250 houseplants over the last few years, and have grown quite attached to most of them to the point where I set aside a lot of other things that I could be doing in my life, but I don't do them because I put my plants first as if they were my children. I know they are just plants, but since they are living beings, I know that if I don't water them and care for them, they will suffer and possibly die. I can't allow myself as a good plant parent to allow that to happen, so I choose to prioritize them first above a lot of other things. So the other day I was making a salad for dinner and it dawned on me that I wonder if my house plants got upset by watching me eat salad… 🤔😝 I then had this moment when I was researching a particular house plant of mine and it stated that the leaves were actually edible! I thought “oh my gosh, that's crazy, I would never chop up my house plant leaves and eat them!” Ha ha, hilarious given that I was just sitting there eating a salad, not quite connecting the fact that my house plants and plants we grow for food are really no different. Other than the fact that we put them on different pedestals, and one we keep for visual esthetics versus the other, we grow for sustenance. It was pretty funny in my mind when I realize this, because throughout my life, I have vacillated between being a vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan and carnivore. Currently, I found a good balance of nothing super strict or “everything in moderation”, about 80% vegetarian 10% pescatarian 5%, vegan and 5% carnivore. So this whole thought process about eating my house plants made me think about how we all put so much energy and care and love into our house plants, so much so that for a moment I questioned, “Is it any different than having a pet animal of some kind and then eating it?” My friends have chickens, and one of them got injured by a wild animal and they had to euthanize it so it wouldn't suffer and I asked them if they were going to eat it and they said, “no way, we are so attached to that chicken, she turned into our pet… we just can't bring our selves to do it!” Even though that's why they got the chickens in the first place was to eat the eggs, etc. etc. So there seems to be this thing that happens when any living thing becomes your pet, that like you can no longer eat them and I'm like, “well am I going to starve because I can't eat vegetables or salad anymore on top of other things i won’t eat?!” 😂 Yeah, so the Plant mom struggle has gotten to a whole new level of real. Then I ate my salad. 🤣
This is just a random comment that I think all of you can relate to: Me even studying to be a botanist can’t even get over it. The miracle of plant life! I have been collecting for 4-5 years and I still can’t get over how beautiful it is to see a new leaf pop out or to see your vegetables produce. Even watching a tree, the worlds biggest organism, grow from a small seed! Or even your fast growing micro greens! This all still amazes me! People ask me why do I love plants so much, and why do I want to spend my life with them? This is my answer!
I repotted my monstera today and noticed a broken what looks like an aerial root. Should I leave it alone or make it a clean cut?
Hello there 🙂 Just a little update for all of you in this group. We've gone ahead and changed the group's name to better mirror its purpose. This space is intended for those with more experience and a keen interest in delving into more sophisticated techniques and advanced plant care discussions. All the best, happy planting 💚
Philodendrons right? 😂 IYKYK I usually shower these buds, or wrap them with damp tissue paper, to help them unfurl. Always helps 👍
Just a gentle reminder to anyone who might be confused about this new group that was created. We planty geeks requested this group to have a place to focus in on “advanced growing techniques, growing demanding species and other botanical and horticultural geeky facts.” We would really appreciate everyone posting their q’s about plant problems into “pests, disease and problems group”, there plant ID q’s into “anything about plants” and sharing plant pics into “show off your plants, etc etc. I realize the name of the group is a bit confusing and makes you think its a place to pick the brains of more advanced group, but in fact it just makes your post largely ignored since we came to this group to chat about advanced geek stuff only. We wish for your posts to be addressed and seen in the best group possible! Thank you for honoring this place and for posting appropriately! 🙏🏻🌿🤓
Fiddle leaf figs are so frustrating a ton of leaves fell off mine!😡💚
I have this elephant bush I accidentally overwatered it’s been weeks and it’s still wet and losing leaves like crazy what can I do to help it?
This 8” pot that I replanted him to seems like it’s still a bit tight. Do you think a 10” pot that’s only 6” high would be ok? Also do the Zz plants multiply rhimezomes as they need them.
Wimpy is doing better. He just wants sun. In the house with the air conditioning just wasn’t it.
Someone please tell me what I’m doing wrong? 🥺 watered & potted 6 days ago & today because I thought the leaf was telling me I need to water again. This was a cutting someone gave me & I put it directly into soil.
Gloss is pushing out one too! I can’t wait until she turns black!
Babar pushed another one out!
Any recommendations for a beginner plant?
Did a deep dive into learning more about different N P K nutrients in fertilizers and which plants benefit from more or less of those. This article was super informative and might help others understand more about fertilization and what plants need! Led me down a rabbit hole to learning about Silica for plants! Going to try out this silicone product and see what happens! I’ll let you know if wonders ignite! 🌿🤓
