a little green book

tuvuh /tuvu'/ (n.) Kayan "to plant"; An analog plant diary gone digital | About a little green book | Instagram: @alittlegreenbook| All pictures are my own

[tuvuh]

2021.04.03

I finally gave my philodendron (I am still in doubt about its ID) a good stick to climb up against. This big boy was still leaning on a single bamboo stick I temporarily placed next to him when he was way smaller. But winter hasn’t affected him much. This piece of wood I found on one of my walks came in very handy.

After being dried thoroughly, I used a paintbrush to treat the bottom part with flaxseed oil. Flax oil or linseed oil is known for its natural wood preserving abilities. I plan on treating all future wooden sticks with this oil to prevent them from rotting away too fast.

_Angel

[tuvuh]

2021.04.03

If the leaves of your rubber tree start looking like this, you are the not so happy owner of a spider-mites infested Ficus Elastica. At the end of winter I do a little round through the house checking all plants on possible pests.

During winter the air contains less water and with central heating on air humidity drops even further. A warm but dry environment is perfect for spider mites. I caught those pesky mites early in the process. These are the youngest leaves which are affected first. I currently use neem oil to treat all my plants against any pests (check this post for more information on neem oil and a mixing ratio) so in the showercabin my ficus went. This is now two weeks ago and I haven’t spotted a single live mite since. Hopefully they stay away for a while.

_Angel

[tuvuh]

2021.03.30

My homalomea rubescens ‘Maggy’ is putting out a new leaf ♡. Normally I would strongly advise against 'helping' a new leaf unfurl. Most of the time it is only to satisfy your own curiosity and it does the leaf more wrong than good.

But the previous leaf on this baby was actually stuck and tore itself while growing. Mostly this is due to low air humidity and/or insufficient watering. In this case I'm afraid I was guilty of both..

I upped her watering scheme and she's doing great now; I took this picture two weeks ago and currently this new roll is doing just fine unfurling itself.

_Angel

[tuvuh]

2021.03.19

The one sad thing about your plant babies growing big, is the moment they no longer fit in that one fabulous planter.

These baby rubber trees' roots needed some extra space so I finally repotted my Ficus Elastica. After some musical chairs, but with outer pots, he now sits in this tiny basket and I think it looks wonderful on him.

_Angel

[tuvuh]

2021.03.16

Ain't she a royalty ♡. My Epipremnum Marble Queen gives me so much joy. I remember reading somewhere one calls it a Snow Queen when leaves grow as white as this.

But a lack of chlorophyll can be troublesome for future healthy growth, so I'm watching her closely. As for now, I will simply admire her beauty.

_Angel

[tuvuh]

2020.03.07

I can’t remember where exactly, but I once read this tip about adding a clipping of an inch plant (tradescantia zebrina) to a container of other rooting clippings. On water, tradescantia grow roots very easily and once they do, they secrete a hormone which promotes other clippings to root as well.

I’m not sure it is because of this tradescantia clipping, but these Epipremnum Manjula babies are making great progress! These I received in a plant swap only two weeks ago. They will make a gorgeous full plant combined with my baby Manjula already growing in the propagator. So excited!

_Angel

[tuvuh]

2021.03.02

Today I drove an hour to pick up this clipping of a juvenile Monstera pinnatipartita. That was quite a ride for someone living in a country you can completely cross in 3 hours. But I combined it with a lovely walk in the dunes so it was more than worth it.

As you can see the clipping is quite long and has five nodes with a little root growth. I went for a little experimental method where I put moist moss around four of the nodes with transparent kitchen foil wrapped around to keep it in place. Now I keep the clipping in my propagator where the temperature and humidity are higher. Hopefully the rooting process will be prosperous ☆

_Angel

[tuvuh]

2021.02.24

Last year I accidentally acquired a clipping of the Scindapsus pictus Exotica when a lady I was trading with had mistaken her plant for an ordinary Satin pothos (Scindapsus pictus Argyraeus). I was actually quite happy with the mistake. Now I have two different variations.

I am not sure what has caused the brown deformations, but apart from that the clippings have grown into well established plants. 

These two pictures offer a nice comparison of the two variations. The Exotica (first picture) has bigger leaves than the Argyraeus (second picture) and a larger amount of silvery variegation. 

‘Argyraeus’ is derived from the Latin word ‘argentum’ meaning silver. The reflective variegation is actually caused by tiny air pockets between the outer and inner layer of the leaves.

_Angel

[tuvuh]

23.02.2021

Weather in The Netherlands took a hundred and eighty degree turn. While it is 17°C outside now, only a week ago we had temperatures dropping over 10°C below zero and snow. Lots of it. For Dutch standards.

The landscape outside was beautiful ♡. A clean, white blanket covering everything. For a moment the world looked unblemished. I took pictures with my analog camera on one of my walks. I will post some once lockdown is over and I can bring them to a shop to get them developed.

Until then this plant shelfie with snowy background will have to do.

_Angel

[tuvuh]

22.02.2021

I planned on waiting for spring to move my philodendron squamiferum cuttings to soil. But their roots had developed so well and one of the roots is real stubborn and keeps growing upward out of the water - drying out (is this a thing with philo. squamiferum?).

I moved the two rooted clippings to a small planter filled with a well draining soil mix. The heat mat betters colder conditions in the southern windowsill and temperatures have been on the rise these days, so hopefully they will be fine. Grow well ♡.

_Angel

[tuvuh]

2021.02.20

Yesterday was my last day at work. Covid has not been kind.

But my colleagues got me some awesome plant related goodbye-gifts to sooth the pain. Four kinds of peppers in little kitchen garden kits to grow at home this Spring. And this fabulously funky cactus made out of bioplastic that is actually a set of coasters. I've wanted this for quite a while actually ♡. 

My last nights have been filled with looking trough vacancies and writing motivation letters. I try and take some time to write a bit about my plants. But my head and heart just feel very heavy these days.

_Angel

[tuvuh]

2021.02.12

I got this Angel Wing back in July last year as a three leaved cutting. Begonias were never my preference when people offered me clippings in a trade; they always felt a little old fashioned to be honest. Never thought I would fall in love with her this much. She has become such a glorious dotted dame in such a short period of time. 

She loves the bright light that is coming through our southern window during winter, but I should move her away once the sunrays become too burning. Begonia Lucerna are highly susceptible to root rot, so I water her only once the top two centimeters of the soil are dry again. Such little care but the reward is oh so beautiful.

As you can see, our bedroom window is quite a dusty place, so it is high time I did some leaf-cleaning around the house.

_Angel

[tuvuh]

2021.01.31

I can no longer remember when I gave my Philodendron Hastatum that ugly ‘moss’ pole. It was my first big vining plant and it needed some good support so I bought a coconut fiber covered monstrosity to give it something to climb on. The thing was too big; I had to take off the bottom half, and I couldn’t stick it in the soil properly without damaging a major amount of roots either, so it never stood stable. Fast forward to last week and my Silver sword was more supporting the pole than the pole was supporting the plant. The Tower of Pisa was nothing to it.

So I finally took the time to change it for this beautiful wooden branch I found during my hiking trip last summer. It has completely dried out and the bottom part is treated with oil to prevent it from rotting (too fast). To keep the vines in place I use a kind of tubed, rubber rope found in most garden centres at the kitchen garden department. It is soft and hollow and stretches a little along with the growth of the plant, so it doesn’t cut through the stems as the vine gets bigger.

_Angel

[plantusiastplantblog]

I’ve never seen P. ‘Silver Sword’ this big and beautiful. My plant look like trash currently (bought this way). Glad to see there’s hope for a better looking plant in the future.

[tuvuh]

Aw wow, thank you ♥ . There is always hope for a plant to grow gorgeous! Especially the Philo Silver Sword. They are such low demanding plants.

I bought this boy a year ago when he was about half his current size in a small garden centre in our neighbouring village. He has had very little attention since then. Some occasional watering to keep his soil slightly moist and a spot close to the large northern window. 

[tuvuh]

2021.02.01

The last leaves of my Philodendron Hastatum (Silver Sword) all turned out a little smaller. Lack of adequate lighting gives smaller leaves and leggier growth. 

I can not wait for longer, lighter days to come.

_Angel

P.S. Did anybody notice I have been writing the wrong year on my diary entries like the entire month? Guess I’ll never outgrow this move.

[tuvuh]

2021.01.31

I can no longer remember when I gave my Philodendron Hastatum that ugly ‘moss’ pole. It was my first big vining plant and it needed some good support so I bought a coconut fiber covered monstrosity to give it something to climb on. The thing was too big; I had to take off the bottom half, and I couldn’t stick it in the soil properly without damaging a major amount of roots either, so it never stood stable. Fast forward to last week and my Silver sword was more supporting the pole than the pole was supporting the plant. The Tower of Pisa was nothing to it.

So I finally took the time to change it for this beautiful wooden branch I found during my hiking trip last summer. It has completely dried out and the bottom part is treated with oil to prevent it from rotting (too fast). To keep the vines in place I use a kind of tubed, rubber rope found in most garden centres at the kitchen garden department. It is soft and hollow and stretches a little along with the growth of the plant, so it doesn’t cut through the stems as the vine gets bigger.

_Angel

[tuvuh]

2021.01.20

At the end of summer I finally found a nice hanging planter for my big boy Philodendron Brasil. Or so I thought. Because this big boy proved to be too much of a big boy for the planter. But I was pretty determined; so I decided to divide it.

It took me a full afternoon to get all the roots evenly separated without ruining half of the plant. And the lengthy branches proved quite the headache. But one fourth now sits in a separate planter on top of the shelves. Fortunately both plants have recovered beautifully from the ordeal; both growing much fuller at the top.

_Angel

[tuvuh]

2021.01.19

The one advantage of ‘zoning out’ of a plant hobby is ‘forgetting’ about how long those clippings you put on water have been there and one day you check on them and BOOM there are lots of roots.

I had taken this branch of my Philodendron hederaceum Brasil as it had reverted to a non-variegated Philo. hederaceum scandens. Last weekend I finally added it to the rest of its sweetheart family (which I grew from clippings too). I love this low-demanding plant ♡.

_Angel