Avocado land

My avocado plant's shoot is growing all the time and there are even two little leaves at the top.  Knowing that I will be able to plant it soon, I've started to ponder my pot options.  But as it turns out the avocado's taproot has grown very long, too long for most standard pots.  I'm not sure what that means, but it makes finding an appropriately sized pot difficult.

 I'm glad that my gnome keeps a good watch over my indoor garden.

A lot of the stuff I'm reading about growing and avocado plant like this say to prune the 1st leaves off of the shoot so it will put more energy into root growth.  I'm not sure that I'll be able to cut off those cute little leaves :(

Yay another update blog!

My great northern beans are growing fast and getting tall.  The beans sprouted within a couple of days and they just shot up.  They'll need some support soon so I purchased three wooden dowels from a craft store, but now I'm thinking that they might not be long enough.

Bean plants on Aug 12th

Bean plants on Aug 14th

Bean plants Aug 17th

New Little Experiment

I have never had good luck with buying the dried beans, soaking them and then cooking with them.  For whatever reason it just never works out.  My most recent attempt is no exception.  I did soak more beans than I used (and ultimately threw away) and so a few beans sat in the colander for a day or so after I'd soaked them.  Then today when I went to throw them away I noticed that more than half the beans had started to sprout.  So I did what any normal person with a plant obsession would do...I planted them.  I took five small plastic pots and planted about a dozen of the best looking beans.

And so begins my scientific exploration of the best methods for food production and viable seed collection that will be necessary for the upcoming apocalypse or at least my inevitable poverty.

Updates to follow...of course.

Update: Avocado land

My avocado pit is now sprouting and looking good.

 I've been trying to figure out when to plant it some dirt.  Everything I read seems to say something different, but I guess I'll wait until it has leaves. 

I'm really excited about this, its probably because I've been trying to get this to work for so long and now it finally is.

Desert collection

My collection of desert plant has recently expanded.  My local wal-mart just got in a new shipment of succulents and cacti, I know what you're thinking wal-mart's probably not the best place to buy plants.  The thing is they were cheap and had just arrived, plus they all looked pretty healthy and pest free.

I bought three new plants:

A larger Aloe Vera.  My baby aloe is taking a long time to grow and I kinda wanted a large one, I'm pretty impatient like that.

 Hen and chicks.  There was a beautiful hen and chicks plant that had burgundy tipped leaves.  It wasn't until I brought it home and re-potted that I discovered it had two 'chicks' already growing.

Echeveria 'black prince'. I already have two succulents that are echeveria, but this one really caught my eye.  I love the contrast between the incredibly dark tips and the light green center.







After this recent purchase I decided I must do one of two things, either stop getting plants or expand the area in which I keep my plants.  I'm leaning toward the second option, mostly because I have several plants that can be propagated very easily and I would like room for expansion there.  Also, there are a lot of cool plants I kind of have my eye on and  would rather not be forced to wait.

So far so ginger

I can't believe how fast my ginger is growing.  It seems as though I have a new leaf every other day.

Now only time will tell if I get more than one shoot.

New addition to desert plant collection

My local garden center was recently selling Lithops, or living stones.  On an impulse I bought one and brought it home.

While I am definitely not regretting my purchase, I do wish I has done some research before bringing it home.  As it turns out Lithops are from an area that has four distinct seasons, instead of the two you usually have to worry about when it comes to desert cacti and succulents.  Each season has different requirements for the plant and those need to be met to have a happy living rock.

I think it probably goes without saying, but this may turn horrific rather soon.  I'm going to do my best to keep him happy, but I think this may involve a learning curve. I'm really hoping this website http://www.lithops.info/ really helps, it does look pretty legit.