A plant every beginner should have

THANKS Stace~!!!!!  You truly have a gift... :) 

This post is a tribute to my friend who took pity on me one year in my black thumb woes where I was on the verge giving up on gardening altogether.

She talked me off the gardening suicide cliff I was perched on.   Then she looked at me and said, "what you need is a philodendron.  They will grow no matter what.  I've had one for 10 years and I've even been able to give parts of him away and he's as happy as could be, and as fat as a happy tom cat."   I woefully replied, that she didn't just have a green thumb she had green fingers and toes, so of course her plant was fat and happy!   "No sweetie, you can grow one of these."  

So we went shopping together on spring break, and found this tiny little plant, like four inch diameter...one stem, four leaves...and I looked at that thing with a sense of doom...it was far too little to survive a black thumb like mine.

It survived!   Within 3 months I had to re-pot it!   This was an amazing success for me.   I was so excited I went out and bought two more.   I even learned how to graft my own plants....and gave my own Mom one of these grafts for Mother's Day.   It grows happily in her house.

My recommendation:  every beginner should have a Philodendron, yes I know, it doesn't have flower buds, but if you truly have a black thumb like me...start with something green...learn how to understand your plant...and then you can expand after having at lease one success.

Philodendron Tips:

1. Any Home Depot,  nursery or garden center...and yes even walmart, will have these in the spring/summer.   During winter months, start at home depot or your garden devotee centers.
2. Start with at least a 10 inch, or 12 inch pot that has drainage (holes).  Don't forget to get the pot tray that catches water that comes out of the drainage holes.
3. You can buy the $3 philodendron...it will grow into the surroundings soon. 
4. If you cannot stand the idea of one lonely little start in a pot...you can buy two and put them in the same pot.
5. Keep indoors if it is in the winter and your climate is likely to distribute snow on you.
6. Keep it out of direct sunlight.
• It will grow profusely if near a window that receives a good amount of sunshine in the afternoon. 
• if it's growing too fast for your tastes, or too slow...move it around to find the "sweet" spot.  Each place should be given at least two weeks before you determine it is a good/bad place.
• don't forget to turn and rotate it if it's growing too much in one direction and you are afraid it will tip over ;)
7. Any generic soil (with fertilizer) will work.
8. Water once a week, or twice a week if it's very warm.  (Very warm might be influenced by where you put it.)
• if the soil is dry or doesn't stick to your finger if you wiggle it in, then water.
• over watering will make it limp...so back off if you see it doing the "limp wilty ahhhhAhhHHH" act reminiscent of fainting debutantes.
• my favorite technique was to gather up the pots/plants and water them in the sink so that I could make sure to soak them nice and good, but then give them like 30 minutes to drain before placing them back around my house...this prevented a lot of little bugs and dirty trays, or spillage from too much watering...I know this from experience. 
9. Should you see the occasional yellow leaf - snip them off
10. Should you see brown/black leaves....sometimes is natural for broken or bumped leaves....again like fingernails...clip them off and don't give up hope.   Too many black/browns and you may have a plant crying for help.   Diagnose as best as possible yourself or with google, or call the garden center...or take your plant on a field trip....most garden center shops are happy to help little green things grow.
11. If you see a bunch of ....unwelcome...flying little bugs...these are gnats.  You can use some house friendly sprays or you can sprinkle tobacco on the soil and it will kill them off.   
• You can also put the plant outside in a shady area for a day or so while the buggies die off.   Bring it back in at like a week at max.
12. In like 3 months or 6 months you may need to add a little more soil to the top of the pot as it compacts or washes away over time with watering.
13. You need to fertilize 3 times a year for fertilizer sticks, or once a month with fertilizer water. 
• also broken egg shells from your cooking can be broken up and added every once in awhile to give the soil some protein....the shell is biodegradable and will eventually go away as they are absorbed back into soil....I did this like twice a year.
14. If you lift up your pot for it's weekly watering and you see roots peeking out, then your plant is in danger of being root bound and needs a new home...a bigger home....repot as soon as possible.
• my first repot I took the plant in as I was soooooo worried about killing it after I had actually grown something for the first time ever....my garden specialty store guy helped me, no problem.  
• it basically involves gently squeezing the sides to loosen it from it's home and then turning it over and gently pouring the plant into your hands....and sometimes gently pulling on it to free the roots that are growing through the drainage holes. 
• do not forcibly break up the root bound situation...unless you really cannot stop yourself. 
• My friend says it's a hardy enough plant that if it becomes take-over-the-world size you can break it up into two plants by separating the root ball into two or three if you want.   I've never done this but I've also not achieved the take-over-the-world size.
• the plant may go into a little shock depending on how root bound it was and the technique of re-potting...give it 2-3 weeks to normalize.

happy philodendron.....
I couldn't figure out how to rotate the picture in blogger...sorry

Grafting a Philodendron

1. Sit with your plant and really look at it.
• pay attention to whether you like the solid leafs or the variegated ones, or the straight and talls or the hanging over the side drapey ones
2. Along the vine of the plant leading to a leaf will be these little knobs, or joints....these little brown joints will be the place new roots grow from.
3. I usually have a 16-20oz drink bottle from like a soda or Gatorade handy, and this is what I use to grow the new plant.
4. You can either cut or pop the joints off of the big plant.   For the best chances, give it at least two joints in the water, a shoe-in for grafting will be at least four joints.   
• I count up 3 or 4 joints and then head towards the 5th and cut just below the 5th so the 5th is on the plant, but the 4th joint isn't choked....this is what makes sense to me, I'm not sure that if you don't do it my way that it won't work...it might, I'm just a cautious gardener.
• I also have seen the pop technique done, but again...am too cautious to do it myself.  So if all you need to know is you can pop the joint...and that makes sense to you and you are adventurous...go for it.  I use scissors.
5. Fill bottle with water, insert your new stem, soon to be plant.
6. I then take a paper towel or two and wrap it around the mouth of the bottle like a kind of stopper, and then soak the it by tipping the bottle upside down until the towel is soaked.    I feel it gives the graft some support, and that the water seal is a better technique. (Again cautious black thumb gardener advice....may or may not be necessary).
7. Word to the wise, place this bottle in the shade....or wrap a towel or other dark cloth around the bottle so that the newly growing roots aren't burned.    A clear bottle will scorch the roots without a little protection.   
8. Give the graft at least 3-4 weeks time to have roots appear, aka "sprout".   Roots will be long and stringy.   You can then plant in a pot....and give to friends and family or place in your space to keep spreading the green.
9. ****If you have a plant that is really full on one side of the pot but not-so-much on  the other side....you can use this premise to fill in your pot with growth on the empty side.   
• you don't have to cut the plant for this to work...you just have to grab a longer branch/vine and wend it around to your empty place
• then bury the joint and place something on it to keep it under the soil...
• within the same amount of time you will have new growth in a previous empty place
• consult your own preface as to whether you want to cut the proverbial umbilical cord after 3-4 weeks
• repeat as needed until your pot is how you want it

new graft example, with the towel technique shown, and bottle type example

close up of the bottle, towel, and joints in the water

picture of a joint, as close as my camera zoom will go without being too blurry



Happy Gardening!