Plantomaniac08 said:I gave you some acorns so you can purchase your first badge!

Thank you so much.

You're welcome! If you have any pictures you can add to the database, you can obtain more acorns that way (granted, it's only like 1 acorn per picture, but it adds up!). Purpleinopp likes to take closeups of the leaves, stems, flowers, any identifying features of a plant, which can prove helpful (versus an overall shot of a plant) when trying to ID a plant.

Good evening all. Not new, have been around for awhile. I don't post a lot but for the few who know me or was looking for me, I have changed my username from Torriesmom to ivyplantsnyc.
Still growing my plants under lights as an indoor gardener in Manhattan, NY.
As of close of business today, I am officially retired after 41 years!.
Will have time to really study the beautiful plants displayed plus meet new houseplant lovers.

Ivy

Congratulations and welcome back, Ivy. I like your new member name. We're looking forward to your posts and photos, now that you have more time for such. Happy gardening!

Thank you. I have been wanting to do this for so long. There is nothing like having a good cup of coffee in the morning.
Ivy

Hello all! I joined in early December and I'm loving it here, and learning new things every time I come to the site. In my home, I have Desert Rose, Dieffenbachia, airplane plant, pothos, Asparagus fern, Crossandra, sansevierias, and a few different cacti and succulents. These are the ones that have proved best for me over the years. I've had a lot of other plants, but most of them bit the dust because we do too much traveling.

Ivy I retired a few years ago and plants have kept me from becoming a couch potato. They always need something. " I need more sun; I miss being outside; I'm dry I need a drink; her leaves are touching me, Ouch!; there is a bug chewing on my leaf, Ouch!;" it's never ending. Just kidding, houseplants can keep you busy. I have many houseplants and not enough windows with sun so it is always a problem over the winter. Good luck with your free time.

Thank you for the welcome everyone.
I am now trying to schedule time for some of my many hobbies that include keeping my plants and tropical fish alive. Not used to being home during the daytime. The different plants that I bought home from my sunny office are still trying to adjust to a life without sun. So far, so good with the hoyas, desert rose, small orchid and various cactus.
Will be watching for the wonderful tips that is found at this site.

Ivy

I keep my orchids on the window in the bathroom they love the humidity. So far they keep growing and bloom each year.

Hi all! I'm here in an attempt to stop my belligerent ficus lyrata from losing all its leaves. I have around 40-50 houseplants, from snake plants to staghorn ferns - I definitely have a thing for epiphytes - and they're all going strong except the blasted fig. I also create terrariums and live orchid arrangements for delivery in the San Francisco bay area. So far, I'm really enjoying everyone's photos, tips, tricks, and stories, and have my fingers and toes crossed y'all can help me with my woes. Glad to be here!

Hello, I'm Cat aka as Atabby or Tabs
I like house plants but I'm not very adept at growing them, I have a few that have survived for years but only survived and not thrived.

I live in Portland OR in a house with not a lot of natural light so most of my plants are in the kitchen and bathroom.

I have a couple of plants that are really sad so I'm hoping to be able to save them!

I'll post pics when I take them.

Waves

haffy! I hope you can get some help for the plants you have trouble with. I killed the only Ficus lyrata I've had.
Cat! Have fun here. It's a great group.

Hi, all! My name is Gita (gitagal) and I have been bouncing around DG for years.
Now--I am trying to find my way around ATP. Some of my old DG pals are trying to help.
I have TOO MANY plants! Couldn't even count them. Many of them are "houseplants"
and many of them are "Tropicals" and other unusual plants. Like my 2 Epis and a big Ric Rac Cactus.
I have lots and lots of Holiday Cactus--which I can't stop propagating. Same for all my Spider
Plants--I have SO many rooting! Can't throw them out when the babies break off....

All my jobs in the last 25-30 years or more have had to do with plants, greenhouses, working at a Grower, etc.
My current job is working in the Garden Dept. at a Home depot. been there 18 years now.

In the winter my LR and DR and every other room is full of plants. It looks like a jungle.
I just think of all the extra Oxygen I am breathing all day long.

Can you believe this?

Hi Gita,
to ATP. I too am a newbie. Everyone has been so nice and helpful. I love it here and I hope you do too.

I looove your plants! I could go crazy in them, so beautiful! I am new to owning. houseplants. I'm learning what to do and what not to do lol. I have about 20 different kinds so far and hope to have many more and have that jungle theme lol. All that extra oxygen is good for us

Welcome Again
Leonda

@getagal. What an array of plants. By the way, the vast majority of houseplants are tropical plants. Do I see a bunch of plumeria in those white pots? If that's what they are, are they rooted plants or are you rooting them?

Do you have room to build a greenhouse? With your love for plants, that's what you truly need. A greenhouse will open up another level for growing tropical plants. Ask me how I know.

@GrowingCrazyLeonda, where are you located in NE Mississippi? I am in Starkville and have a small tropical plants business here, Tropical Plants & More

@gitagal and @GrowingcrazyLeonda to ATP and the houseplant forum. Gita, I love your wonderful array of plants. It just shows that you are a plant lover at heart, and that's OK. Some of us have almost as many plants, especially as Dr.Dawg mentioned, those who have a greenhouse. I don't have one yet. So I just over photos like yours. Leonda, if you stick around ATP, it won't be long before you have that jungle theme going in your house. And before long, you'll be needing a greenhouse, too.

Leonda--thanks for your kind words.

--Getting to have plants the size I have takes a long time. Some of these plants are decades old.
I just re-fresh my supply by propagating whatever I want more of to share--or to keep.
Hang around here and do not be afraid to ask questions. There are a lot of people here that can help you.

****Here are some things that may help you be a good Houseplant Mama.***

--Have a lot of patience and an adventurous mind. Nothing is "carved in stone" when it comes to plants.

--Be brave enough to experiment. Plants are forgiving. The worst thing that can happen--
your plant may die. SO? It is ONLY a plant--easily replaced.

--Start with common, tried and-true plants. Don't buy "fancy" "exotic" plants till you are more experienced.

---Do not fuss over plants too much! constantly trying to do this and that and worry that you need to do
more of this or that. They will do just fine if you just let them do their own thing. Ignoring them to a degree
is the best thing you can do.

---Watering is probably the most important thing. How much to water/ when to water/ and when NOT to water.
With most houseplants--less is usually best. Water deeply when needed--and then wait until the soil gets
on the dry side. Daily watering is a killer.

--The kind of light, and how much you provide , has a lot to with the survival and health of your plants.
Some plants like growing in shade--some others like the bright sunlight by a window.
Most do best in plain, bright, indirect light.

--Be vigilant to look for insects on your plants that can do harm. Most of them are sucking insects and
over time--can kill your plants. They mostly live on the stems and undersides of leaves.
Know that most plants purchased in Big Box stores come from FL and may carry dormant insects on them.
These insects may emerge several months after you purchased the plant. Check their return policy.
Google is wonderful to find out how to recognize and treat infestations.



---FACT #1---**More HP's are killed by over watering than anything else. Learn how to tell when it needs watering.

---FACT#2--If your pot does not have drainage holes in the bottom--eventually, you are fighting a losing battle.
Putting a layer or rocks in the bottom does not solve the over watering issue. Stagnating water is bad!

---Learn how to propagate your favorite plants. It is fun to be able to share your favorites at a Swap and know
that YOU grew it from a cutting.

On every Forum at ATP--there are knowledgeable Folks that will give you a lot of help just by asking.
Whatever your issue may be--you are NOT the "Lone ranger" here...
THAT is what makes the ATP Site a Family. We take care of each other.

-Learn to know your plants needs as if they were your children. AHEM....they kind of are!

Good luck--and welcome! Gita

Ken--
Having this many plants is an endless responsibility as well- --mostly in the watering job.
The one plant I have disgustingly too many of are the Spider Plants.
How can I just throw out any "babies" that break off? Horrors!!!!
When I get too many--I just take them to work at my HD and everyone gets to take some home.

The plants you are asking about--are they the ones on the top shelf of my light rack?
They are not Plumeria--they are stem cuttings of my two Brugmansias. I do this every year
to root a couple stem sections as replacements for the big ones--or just to share.
I grow "Dr. Seuss" and "Maya". They can get huge!!! This year--I chose not to keep the big ones.
Just take cuttings and root them for next year.

Yes! having a GH would be great--BUT,, I live in a development and do not have all that much space
for gardening as i would like to. I have lived in this house and Garden for 47 years. Many things are
quite "established" and my 2 large trees in the back have roots all over the place. Yeah! I planted them,

My whole property is only 65' x 100'. On it is the house ,the patio, the driveway, the shed etc..etc...
My beds are all around by the walls of my house less than 3' wide. A couple are small, circular beds.
It is a wonder that I have grown as many plants as I have and collected close to 65 different seeds
just from my own garden plants.
Getting old!! The energy to keep up with everything is getting tiring. I will turn 79 in 2 weeks.
Mostly--I ignore this fact and keep on going. It is "mind over matter" to me.
I still work PT also at a Home Depot in Garden. Been there18 years and going...
LOVE all the people! It is my 2nd family and my Home-away-from-home.

Here's some pictures so you van visualize what I am telling you. Gita

1--Here is my house-summer of 2011
2--A view of my S. exposure bed- See what I mean about the beds?
3--My one-of-a-kind shed my "ex" designed and built in the 70's.
The two big plants in pots on either side of the door are my 2 Brugmansias
4--My roofed-over patio back of the house--my sanctuary and where
I can work on my plants--rain or shine
5--Sept. 2013--Dr. Seuss Brugmansia--Big--Huh?
6--This is all there is--my back yard. My property ends at the shed and the raised bed.
You can see a bit of the tree trunk of my HUGE, ol Silver Maple. The giver of cool shade
in the hot summers--and the bane of my gardening due to roots everywhere.

Tell me about the watering (chores). At any one time I have between 750 and 1000 tropical plants (I quit counting at 1000 :whistling:). But I do have two greenhouses, a temporary greenhouse for about 1/2 of my plumeria to overwinter, and a brand new, 400 sf. solarium. That sounds like a lot of "stuff" but believe me, I could use twice the greenhouse space. Unfortunately, I have maxed out.

I can appreciate why there will not be a greenhouse in your future, at least not on that property. You have done an excellent job maxing out your available space and making things look neat. My back yard does not look too neat in the spring and summer when all the plants go outside. Your patio looks so inviting and so clean!

Happy (early) birthday wishes. You are older than I by 6.5 years, and after having rather extensive lower back surgery five weeks ago, I have been really low on energy. I am very limited in what I can do and that limitation will last at least another six weeks, when I see the neurosurgeon again. I have to wear a large, stiff back-brace when I am up and I am getting sick and tired of this thing. But I know I have to use it so I just grit my teeth. I am sick and tired of feeling tired though. When spring arrives I will have all I can do moving out the plants. I need all the energy I can muster.

Yes, the top self was what looked like plumeria cuttings. Now I know.