Turning My Thumbs Green

A place where I can record how my plants are growing and the lesson I learn along the way.

[jessesplantieadventures]

The Ping Problem

So after getting the spider plant, and 3 different kinds of tradescantia to grow, I decided my life's goal is to successfully grow Pinguicula, a carnivorous plant. However, these are not the best beginner plants. They require specific soil, specific water, specific light requirements etc etc. The ones I received were also so small, and the plants are physically much more delicate than anything else I've ever received. I immediately realized I had no idea what I was doing.

My first order was placed November 12th 2023 and I got a Pinguicula laueana “CalCarn Red" which had a bright red body. California Carnivores must not sell it anymore because it doesn't even have a page anymore. When I got it in its little cup, I realized I had no idea what I was doing. I think I just filled the deli cup it came in with regular soil and SOAKED IT in distilled water. Needless to say, it died pretty quickly.

The next ones I ordered was November 23rd, 2023. I got soil this time, but I also got another Pinguicula laueana “CalCarn Red" as well as a Pinguicula laueana "Red". You can see the second order here in the bulbasaur pot, which was a terrible idea looking back but its what I had on hand. Both the CalCarn Reds are already dead by the time I took this (December 20th, 2023) but everthing else is doing ok. You can also see an order I placed on December 10th which was one Pinguicula “Lilac Lollipop" and one Pinguicula cyclosecta. I was playing around with what would work the best to water them. I had some dollar store containers and I tried poking holes in one and then resting it in the other as a tray. I later learned what a self watering pot is, and that's the vibe I was trying to do but I didn't have a wick. I have a tiny tupper wear with a ping in it and it sits in a tray to water. Same with bulbasuar.

Here's the two Cyclosecta together. This picture is from January 16th, 2024. They would end up being the longest lived pings I would have. I received one and something happened to it in transit. One side was missing like all of its leaves. So I emailed back the company that sent it and asked if they think it would be ok. They sent me a new one just in case. They didn't have to do that, but it was really sweet of them to give me one more to kill. By this time I was trying not to over water everyone. So I switched everyone to color coordinated small nursery pots that I water with a tray. I had the Reds still, a lilac lolipop, and these two cyclosecta.

These are the same two pings. This was May 7th, 2024. My beloved lilac lolipops did not survive the winter. The Cyclosecta were still in what I thought was dormancy.

This is everything I had left on May 8th 2024. The right 3 died. My the left 2 are the cyclosecta. They just...never came out of dormancy ever again. I dont know if I over watered them. I dont know if I didn't have enough light. I dont know what I did to these things. But after a year...I got sick of them. Then one day I woke up and they were finally gone. Sometime in spring of 2025 I was able to toss out the remains and turn it into a succulent garden.

They've only been gone a few months and I'm already thinking of setting up a new ping garden. I still would love to give them a shot now that I have a new lighting set up, more knowledge, and more help online. I just REALLY want these plants to work. Especially since we always get a gnat problem in the summer and this year was no exception. I also just personally love them. Everyone who can get them to live says they're pretty simple and easy so I'm really not sure what I'm doing wrong.

[jessesplantieadventures]

Plant Stand!

Now I get to talk about one of my favorite parts of this story, my plant stand! When I got the 3 tradescantias, I realized this plant thing wasn't going to be going away. This was like a whole thing now for me to explore and enjoy. So I decided my plants needed a place to live, and the table I kept them on HATES water. I still have some water stains on that table from watering plants on it. However, when I started looking at plant stands to go on top of my table so they could still be in my South facing window, I was shocked by the prices! What do you mean something made of cheap bamboo and only 2 ft tall is like 30$-80$? Especially when a whole tall outdoor stand was as cheap as like 40$. I was even looking at ways to DIY one. I looked for like a month for something cost effective, nice looking, and fits my room and needs. I also wanted to keep it small to restrict just how much I could get so I dont end up with another huge collection.

Finally I just gave up and asked for help (which is something hard for me). I asked my partner if his dad would be interested in building me something. He said probably and we talked about it. I'm not sure what I wanted to be honest. He asked me how big my plants were and I told them I only had 3 at the moment and they were in little 4 inch pots. He thought about it for a bit and then called me over to pick it up. Much to my surprised and enjoyment, he took apart his fire tornado machine and gave me the plastic components in a table design.

This is my first picture of it from sometime in November, 2023. I was so obsessed with it. I kept all my watering supplies underneath and was playing around with lighting. This is a spare fish tank light I had. At the time I thought, Well if it grows aquarium plants, why couldn't it grow plants outside of an aquarium? I ended up ditching it so I could keep putting things on top if I wanted. I kept using those little ring lights I had and just put one on each side since I had 2. To be honest at this time it really didn't need grow lights. It was about to be winter and I got them mainly so I could still appreciate my plants in the upcoming winter.

It took me a while to become confident in my set up. I thought I needed brighter lights (I didn't), so instead of 2 lights that I was shoving into the groves and velcroing up, I got a bar light that had a base sitting on the second shelf and lit up through the top shelf. I was TERRIFIED of this falling off so I tied it to the stand as well. You can kind of see it here in this pic from December 20th, 2023.

I have no idea why I kept the light so far away from the plants. That's kinda crazy. Also this was the first round of pings I killed. You can also see my spider plant props are gone and planted by now. This set up pissed off my man so much. He hated my light that was on until like 11 pm. I worked nights and I worked from home so I REALLY wanted to be able to see my plants since it got dark at 3 pm. It was also really hard to open and close my curtains without hitting something. Either you're bumping into the grow light or you're hitting a plant. I also eventually took the stand back to his dad to drill a hole in the middle of the top shelf so I didn't have to worry about it falling.

When spring came around I had more issues with my plant stand being in my room. I'm the kind of person who really loves the windows open. If my house can feel like the outside, that's when I'm happiest. We were having a really beautiful spring with plenty of nice sunny days. I'd open my windows all the way. Then I'd hear a crash. I instantly knew what was happening. My purple heart was so big and luscious that it was catching the breeze and flying off the shelf. The pot its in is 3D printed, so it doesn't have enough weight to make it stable. This happened 2-3 times. The last picture I have of my plant shelf in my room is a ping garden picture taken on May 8th, 2024.

Then I moved it around in the living room for a bit trying to find it a home. I ended up putting it on top of a book shelf and setting up my old halo grow lights. I wasn't fully ready to give up plants in my room, so I got a cactus set up and used the bar grow light still, much to my partner's dismay.

Finally, this year (2025) I took all the plants out of my room in the spring. I tackled the grow light situation since I had a bunch of small lights that needed to be individually programed. This time they actually did need the lights as they are no where near a window. I invested in the Barrina lighting system. I really wanted something that had a warmer, easier to look at color. I dont want my home to look like an apple store. I loved how they connected together. I put 2 together to make one foot long bar for the bottom. I feed the chord in those convenient grooves the plastic frame has. The second tier has 2 stuck to the top shelf. It works wonders. I had to put the bar grow light on top still for the now huge pothos that lives on top. I hooked up the barrina lights to a timer and the bar light has a built in one. The whole thing goes off at 9:30 now.

This summer my plant shelf has been busy. I have a whole succulent collection on the bottom and that pothos on the top is HUGE now. As I take thing off and move things around, I'm noticing the plastic is really soft and has started to get really scratched up. I have some lace doillies from my grandma to help with that. I also bought a little bit of blue holo film. Originally I was going to put it on my head lights but I never ended up using it for that. It wasn't long enough to use on the larger second shelf, but I did apply it to the top shelf.

I'll update with a photo when all the film has been applied.

[jessesplantieadventures]

Tradescantia Zebrina

So after I was gifted a tradescantia nanouk and then bought a pallida, I needed every kind of tradescantia. They're easy to grow, they're all really pretty, and they were cheap. These plants are GREAT beginner plants. So one day I went to my local big box store just to look around. I ended up seeing these hanging containers full of Zebrina...and I just cut off a 3 in piece and put it in my purse. Hell, I even forgot about it for hours. I put it straight in dirt and it took off. My first pic of it is this terrible photo from november 14th, 2023.

This is like already twice as long as it was when I took it. They're so easy. I set it and forgot it and it grew so fast. As a new plant parent, I loved this guy. The silver on the leaves with a pop of purple color was so stunning. When it got too long I'd cut it off and stick it back in the dirt.

This is only like a month later, December 8th 2023. I cut it in half and stuck it back in and it looked happy and healthy. Not much to talk about. I left it alone and it just grew. This is a picture featuring the nanouk, but you can see how by January it was still growing. Kinda strange looking but growing fast and well.

(Jan 3rd, 2024) It was starting to grow up and out at this point. But this is where I stopped taking pictures of it because its such a set it and forget it plant.

I got this mushroom pot over the winter. I no longer have an exact date for this, but this pot didn't last very long. I could tell it was quickly outgrowing this tiny little arrangement. This plant did so amazingly well outside.

This was taken August 2nd, 2024. You can see how full and amazing this plant is. All I did was water it every now and then and just let it enjoy the balcony and summer weather.

However, after this growing season I really did this plant dirty. I got it a macrame holder and hung it from that original spot with the mushroom, and it was doing SO WELL. When it finally got cold enough that frost was a concern, I brought it back inside. I put it on the curtain rod that faces the balcony so it got enough light. And then proceeded to not water it for MONTHS. I think I took it in sometime in October, maybe November. I noticed it was crispy in January. I gave it a soak for hours and hours to saturate the soil. I gave it a huge hair cut to remove all the dead bits and let it focus on preserving the bits that were still alive and doing well. To be honest, it never recovered.

When spring came around I chopped even more expecting regrowth like in the past. And I didn't get it. I got so scared I picked up pieces that had been sitting on the floor for a few days that I was too lazy to toss and I rooted those pieces. That was months ago and I still dont really have the same explosive growth that I had in the past. I think in all of May, June, and now July she's grown an inch total. This is her today (July 28th, 2025).

[jessesplantieadventures]

Purple Heart

So the day I got my spider plant, I also decided to bring home a Purple Heart plant, or Tradescantia pallida. When I was homesick at NIU, there was a plant sale from their green house. I picked up a purple heart and grew it in my south facing window on top of my microwave. Its purple leaves and little pink flowers were so cute and reminded me of all the gardens at home. I wish I got a single picture of it but I was terrible at taking pictures of my dorm. I dont even have a picture with it in the background. But after returning home my mom ended up throwing it out.

So when I got the Tradescantia Nanouk, I found out purple heart is from the same family, I decided I needed it back in my life. My first plant purchase was from Etsy. I ordered on September 20th for about 10$ and a few days later received a pile of cuttings. They were...suspicious. They were in great condition but mostly green with purple edges. I only have 1 photo of it...You can see it in my little witch cauldron there. I was going to water prop but then I read that they actually do better just put straight into dirt. This was taken on Sept 29th, 2023. The cat eventually noticed this new plant, and decided to take a taste of all my plants up there. I thought I was safe because she has refused to climb up on this desk as long as I'm watching. I was pretty upset. But at this point I was also doubting if they were actually real or not. I emailed Ted's Green House asking their opinion and they told me they didn't think that was a purple heart and to come in to get a real plant. I ended up doing just that, and tossing this imposter.

To the side you can also see a variegated purple heart I got from teds green house. I thought this plant was the most stunning thing I've ever seen. Pink and purple leaves? Stop. However, I never got this plant to thrive for me. She just slowly started getting paler and paler and more and more sickly looking.

I couldn't choose between variegated and original, so I got both. I've never seen a purple heart so dang pretty. Photos could never capture it, but the purple leaves had this copper orange sheen to them. I love this plant. I ended up planting the regular purple heart and the variegated together in a 3D printed witch cauldron pot (Nov 7th, 2023).

This plant ended up being my prized plant that year while my collection was still small. It grew so tall and started getting these little pink and white flowers. It was such a joy to watch grow. It bloomed in December after getting it only a few months ago in November. It was just so forgiving and loved everything I did for it.

My only trouble with it was when spring came around in 2024. I love having my windows open and since it was in a light 3D printed pot...sometimes the wind would take it and it would fall on the ground. When I got my spider plant its new home, I remembered I got a metal outdoor pot. So my purple heart got a new pot. This tall metal pot really strained the indoor stand (its very heavy) but proved to be really useful. The stand could be placed inside the pot to allow the long branches to climb instead of using my old trellis. Using the stand as a stand often made the plant too tall. You can see her on my shelf on Jan 7th 2025 as well as her sister, miss nanouk.

Shortly after this, tradgey struck and it was entirely my fault. I had moved her to a window to get more light and I was watering. I balanced the plant on a bowl to allow it to drip, and walked away to get something from my room. From my room I hear a crash. It fell over 180 degrees face down on the floor. Heart break. I was already kind of struggling with getting her color back, but this was really sad to me. I would've taken a green plant over a completely broken plant. The root system looked good so I kept it and just left it alone. That happened in the end of winter, early spring and she still hasn't really returned to her former glory. Her leaves do still sparkle in the sunlight tho.

[jessesplantieadventures]

First plant I bought! - Spider Plant

After my mentor teacher gave me a pothos and a nanouk, I needed more. I knew I was about to be overcome with the need for a jungle home. But lets take it slow. Lets LEARN. Lets develop skill. Moderation. First thing I did was go out to a place called Ted's Green House that my mentor recommended. It was such a beautiful plant store full of amazing choices in what I could get. I spent hours there just looking at everything. I knew I wanted a spider plant. It's cat friendly, its a beginner choice, and they're pretty cheap. Plus they just look so cute! I got a classic one. I decided to cut off its babies and propagate them. At the time I had this idea to give them away as Christmas gifts, but I think I just wanted to propagate something since I bought a cool gothic prop station (for way too much money).

(October 28th, 2023) This was me showing off the curtains I made, but you can see the spider plant still in its nursery pot. I kept it on the cat tower since she would never go to the highest level, and it was originally for her.

(November 14th, 2024) Here you can see how I had my babies arranged. I eventually combined them into 3 pots. That pumpkin one I wish I had more pictures of because I believe I still have it, and its HUGE now. But despite getting this for the cat as a sort of plant deter-er (she was eating everything she could), I started to feel bad for it. I mean...look at it, almost all its leaves have little cat teeth marks on it and I've only had it for a few short weeks at this point. (Nov 6th, 2023).

Little did I know that this plant would tolerate a lot for me as I learned to take care of it. I got it a terracotta pot because I was poor, and those were the cheapest and easiest pots to find in November as garden sections in stores were basically cleared out. I set her up with her own grow light, a spot the cat had a harder time reaching, and a spot that I was in but I still was disappointed with it. I knew she had to outgrow the cat damage, but I still thought I could do better. (Dec 10th, 2023)

Finally after much abuse with this plant I ended up at 5 below after seeing online that they had cute pots. Its the winter, so i didn't expect much. And yet, I found what I was looking for. I also needed some things from Home Depot, which is near by and I ended up with this set up.

Its the set up I use to this day. The little feet and face on the planter are so sweet. The colors of the holder and pot just work so well with my curtains. Not to mention, the plant finally took off. I have babies making baby spikes. The only thing I've changed is I added a crystal plat to catch water and create a solid base and I put a cloth under it to help it not drip on the floor as much. This was her on March 26th, 2025.

Now as i said, I wish I took more pictures of the babies that I grew up from when I propped. I know I gave one to my neighbor, I gave one to my mom, I recently gave one to my friend, and I kept one in my bathroom for a long time, then recently moved it to my living room winter of 24-25. I have a double macreme holder that was holding 2 babies. I gave the one away, and kept the other. The one I kept is still the plant in the bottom of the holder. Been its home its whole life.

(Jan 15th, 2025) I loved this target roller skate so much. Here's a baby I THINK I gave to my mom. I made her swear to give me the pot back when she repotted it lol.

This one is from my spring repot of everything this year (May 29th, 2025). Its one of the OG babies I had growing in the bathroom. I had them in little 4 in terracotta pots that I would then rest in Tupperware containers to make a really cheap self watering pot. It worked WONDERS tho look at em. There's barely any dirt in there! That plant is still doing well, it just got its first baby spike of its own! I have it in an official self watering pot and it seems really happy and healthy. Here's a pic from today. (7/27/2025).

I think this spider plant is a part of the home now. She's gotta live here forever. What a fun plant. If you're a beginner, I will definitely recommend this plant. It was so forgiving and taught me a lot about how to read plant needs.

[jessesplantieadventures]

How it began

I wanted a digital journal that could hold pictures easily while I talk about my plant journey and maybe someone also learns from my experiences as well. So here we are! At the beginning.

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs in a house that was small but a yard that was HUGE. My mother loved gardening and turned a good chunk of our yard into gardens. We had a total of 6 separate gardens to tend to throughout the front and back yards. I even helped construct one of them in my childhood. I grew to love gardening and thought it was something everyone did. Everyone has a yard dont they? Why not make it nice? So every time I moved out (college, and my future homes) I ended up missing this part of my childhood home.

So why didn't I start a garden the second I got my own home? Well, I'm in a second floor condo now for starters. But also I was finishing up school, and starting a new career, as well as learning how to live on my own. It took me a minute to settle. When I was finally finishing my studies and into my student teaching program is when I got into house plants. My mentor teacher was one of those house jungle types with a huge impressive collection of things. She brought over plants that didn't bring her joy at home anymore to her classroom. I asked her pretty quickly if she'd let me have a cutting of something, and she was more than willing to share. She gave me a bit of golden pothos and tradescantia nanouk.

My first picture of the tradescantia nanouk was taken on September 20th, 2024. It began its life in a plastic water bottle from the classroom. For some reason I never took it out of this plastic water bottle and let it root over a couple of weeks. Then one day...I knocked over the water bottle. Not only did I have a mess to clean up, but I broke one of them. I was tempted to keep it and see if it would root with such a small size. Eventually I realized I could give up on it because the plant I still had was doing fine. This plant has been very set it and forget it. I eventually moved it out of this pot because it clearly needed more room. The only thing is that now its pretty leggy. Mine has never been a tight short plant. Mine looks like a tall droppy girl and thats ok. She's got some gnats now but its not too bad.

I dont have a lot of memory with the pothos. It was in a dollar store pot for most of its life and lived in the living room on our book shelf. I've had many a pothos in my life and while I like this one, I didn't have the same wonder for it that I did for the nanouk. I even remember it getting a big, fat, gross mealy bug on it. I tore it apart only to discover the leaf the bug was on had no roots. I tossed it and replanted the whole thing. My first picture of it was in December of 2023. I got it its own little grow ring light that I wedged in the books on the bookshelf to keep it healthy. It did nothing for such a long time. My first picture of it finally long and luscious was from this year, 2025.

This was my plant shelf 2 years later, on jan 7th 2025. You can see just how much the pothos took off and how well the nanouk was growing

I decided I hated the look of my pothos hanging around and it was always in the way. I wanted to get it a moss pole or a tellis or something. But your girl is BROKE. So instead I got a dollar store pot cuz it was root bound by now and I got a wreath holder and some chopsticks. This set up transformed my pothos into one of my most stunning plants. It exploded on this. This photo was taken on March 22nd 2025.

And here it is right now on July 27th 2025. She's a whole moment. She's a star. I get so many compliments on this plant. I want to get her a fancy pole one day still, but for now I'm happy with her. A free plant with a 5$ set up. The light was expensive, it was 20$ but I got it for a different set up so it was just sittin in storage anyway.

So those were the OG plants and their stories. It was a float gate moment and now I have to make 30 other posts about other plants I have.