I am enjoying getting back in the rotation of growing my plants, snipping new pieces, and making more to give to friends and neighbors. Working with plants greatly helps my anxiety for whatever reason. I think it has something to do with the act of checking in on something so small and beautiful every day and noticing little changes in the way they thrive. I found this article that beautifully explains what I can't about what working with plants, flowers, and nature does to our overall well-being. I find it so incredible that nature gives back to us in these ways. Here's a wonderful quote that I loved.
"Horticulture is a great equalizer: plants don’t give a fig who is tending them and for those with mental health problems to be able to contribute to such a transformative activity can help boost self-esteem."
These are clippings from one of my favorite house plants to grow! The dainty yet mighty, air cleaning, Philodendron! It's one that I can keep trimming weekly, and it's always happy and quickly sprouts new growth. I've had one big vining Philodendron for years that was originally a little rootless baby snip from one of my other plant-loving friends.
It's so quick and easy to grow roots in water, all you need is:
-Fresh water every few days
-Keep any leaves out of the water or trimmed back
-Good light! Not too much direct light, but enough for them to grow
Once the clippings grow roots, you can plant them in soil or keep them growing by cleaning the water and trimming roots eventually they get MASSIVE!
If you plant them in garden soil:
All you have to do is keep an eye out for how they look. If any leaves turn yellow, make sure to allow them to dry out between waterings. These plants tell you what they want. Once the soil is dry (almost crispy) to the touch, give them a good soak (in a pot with holes, never without.) Let it drain all the way through and water it and drain again.
This is a great project to do with kids by the way- it's so fun to see how quickly they grow and change! Try snapping a photo every few days from the same angle to monitor the growth! They even grow towards the light and like to be rotated if you want them to grow up and not vine up your windows. Vine windows, YES PLEASE! If we owned our house I'd be SO up for the plants taking over. Send me pictures if you have this or make one.
The way plants move and expand remind me that they are living things that are just trying to feed themselves and grow. Most of my Phil's (yea I just gave the philodendron's a group nickname) get reflected light all day and about an hour or two of late afternoon sun depending on the season. They all do well besides the occasional kitty nibble, and they can be awful (poisonous even) for cats, apparently. I don't know if my cats are suicidal or just like to tempt fate, but they are still alive, so whatever. Mama needs her plants.
