Dynamic Gardening

Dracaena deremensis Warneckii Plants

2012-02-11T13:06:00.000-08:00

Here's my two dracaena deremensis plants. The one on the right is the lemon- lime variey because of the colors on the leaves I suppose. The plant on the left is the janet craig compacta variety. I bought them both at ikea in the garden section of the store. I've heard that these grow very slowly but my plants are showing great progress. These are great for low- light situatons that need some lively color that is perfect for them. I do not recommend putting these in too much direct sun or you may see some damage to the leaves. These are great plants to add to your indoor garden whether if you're a beginner or an expert gardener.

New Plant ready for February: Wandering Jew

2012-02-04T10:33:00.000-08:00

Happy February everyone! I will like to show you my wandering jew plant for today and here it is:

It's doing great and this is my first ever purple plant, I'm a big fan of the colorations on the leaves. I didn't buy this plant but they were send to me as cuttings in the mail from Liza at www.goodtogrow.wordpress.com which is an awesome blog. I'm really happy with the results of the progress of this plant. They rooted very quickly and make a great houseplant. I'm new to having zebrinas and enjoy these plants.

Propagating Plants: Philodendron Scandens

2012-01-19T14:23:00.000-08:00

If you have a trailing plant that just gets too long and leggy and you're not sure about what to do, here's a solution. You can propagate it by triming the vines back. This is an easy way to create more plants for your garden without spending a fortune. For today I will be working with my heart leaf philodendron( philodendron scandens) which has gotten a bit out of control.

It's trying to take over my windowsill. So you can cut back the vines into several cuttings of the length of your choice and also any unhealthy foliage that is definitely not benefiting the plant in terms of its health.

You can either root the cuttings in soil or in water to start the plant off. For me I will plant them in soil and then they will root. The good thing about most trailing varieties of plants is that they're extremely easy to propagate and they grow really fast. After you have all of your cuttings gathered you can plant them into soil or set them into a container of water.

After you're done planting your clippings, all you have to do left is to water thoroughly and watch the progress of your plant. Here's the finished product!

Propagating Plants: Mother in Laws Tongue

2012-01-16T15:27:00.000-08:00

Propagating your plants is an easy and economical way to create more plants in your garden without having to buy more plants. For today I will be propagating my mother in laws tongue plant (sansevieria trifasciata) which is a very durable plant. There are two different ways of propagating this particular plant 1. division of their underground stems and 2. leaf cuttings. I'm going to do the leaf cutting method.

The material that you will need for this propagation is a pot with soil

Second you will need to gather some healthy leaves from your mother in laws tongue plant, if you happen to get cuttings of variegated leaves with the yellow border in this method the outcome of the plants will not have the variegation anymore just the plain green variety.

The leaves that I collected are variegated so they will lose the yellow border
Third: if your leaves are shorter then cut them into 2 sections, if they are longer then cut them into 3 or 4 sections.

Now that you have all of your cuttings now 4. its time to plant them and to remember to plant them right side up or else the cutting will not work and take root.

Here's the finished product. The last step is to water them to keep the soil moist but not too wet or the cuttings will rot. Place in location with indirect bright light until roots form. I will post when new plants pop up. It will take a few weeks for it to take root and a few months for new plants to appear so patience is the key to this propagation and you will be rewarded with new plants!

Prayer Plant/ Rooted Spiderplant

2012-01-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

Prayer Plant
This is my prayer plant and its enjoying the indirect light in my east facing window. I bought this plant last month as a present to myself on my birthday from my local home depot. This is a cool plant to have, and it is in the maranta family. At night the leaves close to be in a position like praying hands. It did shed a few leaves due to the move over a week ago but now is recovering.

Rooted Spider Plant
This is a clipping from my spiderplant that produced some runners. This is a very easy method to propagate spiderplants. This one in particular have been growing in water for about a month now and has a few roots growing. Probably next month or march I'll plant it into some soil and have a new plant.

Houseplants for the Year beginning of 2012

2012-01-07T08:12:00.000-08:00

Patio Garden
This is my patio garden. This patio that I have now faces east which means that it gets sunlight in the morning hours until around noon so great for plants for lower light or moderate needs in terms of care for it. In the picture above they are gettng morning sun and enjoying and adjusting to the new conditons.

Indoor Plants
These are my indoor plants that are in an east facing window that goes onto my patio. They're adjusting to the new conditions also. I did notice some new growth on my zz plant in particular and I'm excited because it lost a lot of stems due to the cooler temperatures this past winter. I hope that you all had a Happy New Year and hope that you enjoyed my first post for 2012!

Plants for the New Year

2011-12-30T12:26:00.000-08:00

My Phalaenopsis Orchid
I had two plants that I wanted to get before New Years to bring in 2012 with and here is the first one. This is my phalaenopsis orchid and it is doing well getting filtered light through my blinds. I got this plant as a bargain which was a plus. After I brought it home I took away all of the dead leaves and repotted it using tree bark as well as some moss. This is a great plant especially when it rewards you for all of your care for it with blooms.

The second plant is my zygo cactus. I got this plant on sale at walmart because its after christmas. I just recently repotted it because when I bought it many leaves were coming out of the pot. It looks happier now in its new home. I got really inspired to grow one from Liza's blog at www.goodtogrow.wordpress.com and I'm glad that I bought it. I hope that all of you will have a happy and safe new year. See you in 2012 with new posts :)!

Happy Holidays

2011-12-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

I hope that you all will have a happy holiday for 2011, this winter season all of my plants are dormant right now due to the cloudy and rainy days making their growth rate slow. They will enjoy the holidays also. I will have a last post for the year of 2011 either next Thursday or Friday and will resume in January 2012 with more posts. Happy holidays from Dynamic gardening.

Flowering Plants: my African Violet

2011-12-21T13:19:00.000-08:00

My African Violet
This is my african violet plant, it is currently sitting in my southeast facing window that gets the least intense light in my apartment because it has 4 south facing windows, 2 west facing windows, 1 southeast and 1 southwest facing window. I bought it yesterday at lowes. I found it and a lot of others on a sale rack for only 98 cents each. This was a great deal and I am excited about getting it to flower. I will post more updates on it in the upcoming months and to show its progress.

Lucky Bamboo Update

2011-12-05T16:33:00.000-08:00

Lucky Bamboo
Now here in Texas the weather is around 45 degrees and also here's an update of my lucky bamboo plants that are growing in my kitchen. I have finally seen new growth and I had the straight stalk for over 2 years and the spiral for a year and a half. I'm glad that they're finally growing as today I am celebrating my birthday.

Schefflera and Dracaena Marginata update

2011-12-01T16:39:00.000-08:00

Schefflera Arboricola Update
This is how my schefflera/ umbrella plant looks now. It has grown and is still growing a lot. Eventually I repotted because the old pot that it was in had gotten too small from the plant growing a lot. Right now its in my southwest facing window that gets sunlight in the evening. These are great plants to add to anyone's garden.

Dracaena Marginata Update
This is my dracaena marginata that I saved from home depot this past January that was on the clearance rack. It's doing great, it seems to enjoy my southwest facing window that gets evening sunlight. It's also gotten really taller than it was so now its like a minature tree. When I repotted
it I happened to add a rubber plant (ficus elastica) to the pot and they get along good. Hope you enjoyed the update!

How To: Repot a Plant

2011-11-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

Repotting a plant is essential to keeping your plant healthy and thriving.
This is for when your plant is way too big for its pot. The plant that I will be
repotting is my spiderplant that's been growing in a dark corner of my
bedroom still growing. Here's a picture of it:

Before starting this task, a few materials will be needed and those are:

Soil

plastic bag (can be a grocery bag)

shovel

new container

few plants to add in (optional)

Once you got all of the materials gathered, you can start:

Step 1: lay out plastic bag and place the plant on it

Step 2: remove the plant from its old container

Step 3: Loosen the root systems and remove any

unhealthy roots

Step 4: fill up about 1/3 of the new container with soil

Step 5: place the plant in the new container

Step 6: add a little soil around the root system

Step 7: add the smaller plants in plant them in

securely not showing any roots

Step 8: fill soil in any empty places around the

plants and then water throughly

You're Done, Congratulations you successfully

repotted your plant, here's the finished product:D

New Arrowhead Plant

2011-11-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

My Arrowhead Plant
Happy November! At this point I have most of my houseplants inside due to the season change to fall and cooler weather. This is my arrowhead plant that I had for over a week now and its doing fine. I also can't wait until it starts to trail and grow long vines. I'm going to document this plant's growth over the course of this winter and next spring.

Aloe Vera and Pothos Update

2011-10-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

Aloe Vera Update
My aloe vera plant is really growing up and is no longer a small plant. More new growth has came to it. As it is the season of fall now I'm starting to water lesser and lesser as the weather gets cooler including this plant. I have taken this plant out on my balcony a few times at the end of the season of summer. My aloe vera plant is continually growing and will be an awesome houseplant.

Pothos Update
This is how my pothos looks as of right now. This is a picture of my pothos on the balcony enjoying the weather. It has transformed a lot in this year of 2011. At the beginning of this year the vine was only about 8 inches long and now it is over 3 feet long. These are quick growers and now is starting to take over. I love this plants, this is one of my eldest plants in my garden.

Philodendron/ Schefflera Update

2011-09-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

Update on my Philodendron Plant
This is how my philodendron scandens plant is doing now, this is the same plant as in a previous post. Over the past months it has been trailing a lot, it sits in front of my southeast facing window getting sunlight in the morning hours, I water it twice a week and sometimes spray the foliage. This plant is still doing well and will continue being a wonderful houseplant.

Schefflera Arboricola Update
This is how my schefflera looks today, it has grown a lot and has shown a lot of progress. When I first bought it, the growth seemed to slow but then growing new leaves very rapidly. This is one of my most favorite plants in my garden of houseplants, scheffleras/ umbrella plants are great to have around.

Pothos Update

2011-08-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

My Pothos Plant Update
This is my same pothos plant that is in a previous post and over time it has grow a LOT. The vines started to trail to the floor and it got root bound so I decided to repot it into a new pot. Ever since I repotted my pothos, it started growing quickly, sorry about some of the darkness in the photo, it is getting filtered light from my west facing window. Here's how the pothos looks today.

Bromeliad Plant

2011-08-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

The Bromeliad
I had my bromeliad plant for almost 6 months now and it is still doing great. It is enjoying the end of summer
months now, over the time I had it, there were a total of 4 pups that it sprouted and you can cut them off of the mother plant once they are fully mature and plant them to have more bromeliad plants. As you can see there is still one pup on the plant that I haven't used yet to propagate. Also bromeliad plants need to have water in the center cup of the plant all of the time unless the plant is flowering. These plants need a medium amount of water.

ZZ Plant/ Baby Spider Plants

2011-08-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

ZZ Plant/ Zamioculcas Zamiifolia
This is my zz plant or zamioculcas zamiifolia plant. These plants are great, they don't really attract any pests,
they can tolorate any light conditions. My plant in on my south facing balcony that gets a lot of sun throughout
the day. If you don't have much experience with plants this would be a great plant for you. My zz plant came from a local garden center and I bought it for half price which is a huge plus. This is a very forgiving plant.

Baby Spider Plants
My spider plant from a previous post has been flowering for quite some time now and finally is sending off little baby plants. Once they are fully grown you can cut the baby plants off of the mother plant, let them root in water ( or just plant directly into the soil but I prefer water) and after they have enough roots you can plant them into a container with soil and have more spider plants. I'm waiting until the next growing season to plant these because they are not fully mature plants yet, spider plants are one of my favorites.

Dieffenbachia

2011-08-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

Dieffenbachia/ Dumb Cane
This is my dieffenbachia plant, it is doing well right now and getting used to its new home, it came from home depot and the clay pot from a craft supply store. It is starting to grow some new leaves already. Deiffenbachias does not need a lot of light needed to grow properly, it there is too much light present the leaves will fade or the tips will turn brown. Mine gets filtered sunlight from my southeast facing window which has only a few hours of sunlight, these are easy to grow and take care of, and repays you in great foliage in appearance, also these
are easy to propagate. Great plants to add to your garden.

Cacti and succulent plants

2011-07-25T13:53:00.000-07:00

My Jade Plant and Golden Barrel Cactus
During this past weekend I came across these two plants at our local cvs store, and I was looking for some
sun absorbing plants that need minimum care and these plants qualify. This is my first jade plant on the left and on the right is my most prickley cacti plant that I ever had. I am seeing new growth coming on my jade plant. The cactus is doing well I believe. I am planning to repot them soon and will show growth progress
after a while. They do make great first plants that you want to keep alive and does not need a lot of water.

My Mother in Law Tongue Plants
These are very forgiving plants, if you happen to forget to water them, it won't hurt them at all. They are both
in the sansevieria trifasciata family but of different varieties. On the left is a sansevieria trifasciata zeylanica that is completely green with markings in the center, on the right is a sansevieria trifasciata black gold that has a dark green center with some markings with a yellow band/border around. With either type or variety, they make great houseplants, I had the one on the left since September 2010 and the one on the right since March
2011. They can handle different light situations, but not under strong direct light as it can fade the leaves.

The Schefflera Arboricola

2011-07-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

My Octopus Plant/ Umbrella Plant
(Schefflera Arboricola Luseane)
This plant i had for about 6-8 weeks now, its now fully adapted to its new pot and surroundings. It also sits near my southwest facing window getting filtered sunlight from the blinds. These plants do not need strong direct sunlight. These leaves actually have an appearance of an umbrella, I'm still going to document this plant's progress as time passes. This is a great houseplant to have.

New Trailing Plant

2011-07-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

My Philodendron Scandens Like my english ivy, I just had recently bought this plant too. At the garden part of the store I was looking and this plant caught my attention, perhaps I do not have a philodendron in my garden, so I decided to get it.
These are great plant for low light balconies/patios or dark areas of your home. If these get too much sun the
leaves will turn a bleachy color from the sun burning it. Well I like this plant and we'll see the growth results in a couple of months.

My Balcony Houseplants

2011-06-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

My Spiderplant This plant has really grown since I had it. I bought this plant at H-E-B in February 2011. This plant doesn't need much but annual repotting, plenty of water especially in the summer months and care for it. I water it
about 2 or 3 times a week depending on how hot it is but really easy to care for.

My English Ivy I had just recently bought this plant and that was about a week ago. So far it is settling into its new home quite well. This plant came from our local Wal-Mart and also the pot. I am seeing a little bit of new growth
and then in the next few months I will document on how this english ivy takes off with its growth.

The Dracaena Marginata I had this mini marginata plant since early January 2011 at the local Home Depot. Over time this plant reallyhad recovered a lot because when I first purchased it, there was a lot of cold damage to the leaves.
I wanted to save this plant because if I didn't, it probaly would have died, well today it is doing great enjoying
this hot weather.

The Sago Palm This cycad plant came from a garden center, and I purchased this in February 2011. This a very good cold hardy palm that can handle certain cold temperature that other plants cannot handle. When I got it, the weather outside was cold also this plant was on sale so it was a good buy, if you have any pets DO NOT
buy this plant because if your pet chews on it, that's very toxic to them and can cause death in your pet, but
if you do not have any pets and/or curious children there is nothing to worry about.

Some of My Plants

2011-06-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

My Aloe Vera Plant

It has been a little while that I had this plant. I bought this plant in July 2010

at walmart and it has grown a lot since then and I water it once a week and it

keeps thriving. This plant has helped me because I get easily sunburned in the summer months and the medicine inside the leaves help soothe the sunburns.

My Golden Pothos
I have this plant since May 2010 and I bought it from home depot, I originally bought this plant for my betta fish but sadly he died. Well the plant is still alive and it is doing well. Now it is starting to trail with its vines and this is a very easy plant to care for. Every once in a while I take it outside to rinse the leaves clean from

dust and it just really love it. Also it likes the western exposure from my dining room window.

My Orchid
With this plant I didn't buy this, this was given to me from a worker at a doctors office. This was given to me
in April 2011. When I first got it, there were not flowers on it. I was quite surprised that with my treatment that I got it to flower again because in the past I had accidently killed a lot of orchids from not caring for it properly. I am happy with these results. Hopefully in the future it will bloom again.

The Lucky Bamboo
The stem on the left I had since October 2009 and the stem to the right hand side I had since June 2010, fairly easy to take care of, never had a problem with these. I do not recommend putting these in direct sunlight as it can damage and turn the leaves yellow. All it need is indirect light source and occasional water changes,unless if it lives in soil. I love lucky bamboo, but it is really not bamboo it is actually a dracaena.

I will show more of my plants on later posts, to be continued...