my day

The $7 beauty of a Plant.

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Well, I made the decision last night. I decided to get back into the car, go down to Lowes again. Find the exact Dumb Cane, carry it around for another 10 minutes while I decide and look at other things until I decided to buy it for a whopping total for $7.

I think I got it for a steal, this thing has some broken leaves, sure. But it has new growth, as well as a couple of really nice looking bigger leaves. I don’t know if I will propagate the smaller ones yet. I have time to decide. As of now my dumb cane sits in the corner of my office, with shaded light from my window.

I am kind of nervous to cut the bad foliage off of the plant. This is because apparently dumb cane if it touches your skin can be a real irritant. I know I will be fine, but I really don’t want to get it on my skin on accident.

Anyways, while I was deciding on whether or not I wanted to take the $7 plunge, I was looking at the fruit/vegetable area that they had just brought in. There was a thing called a “hardy kiwi” which I have never heard of.

But apparently these hardy kiwis are a vine type of kiwi, which the fruits are from a size of a blueberry to a small tomato. I think I will have to go back and get one when the time of planting is. I think the guideline said around May. I need to double check. But I guess the flavor is favored over the regular kiwi fruit. So I am excited to give it a shot.

Perhaps that will be in part of one of the next updates, but until then

Thank you for reading,

-Plant Dummy

My Regret of the Day…

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While I am finishing up my office, I realize I need to install some curtains. To prevent creepy people can’t gaze upon me when I am working. Also to not let people see my computer setup from the street.

I make my way down to the local Lowe’s. I like Lowe’s better for home stuff than Home Depot… anyways, I make my way to the plant section as any normal person would.

They have a huge section this week, a bunch of new things even a monstera which I am ashamed I didn’t get (There’s still tomorrow).

When all of the sudden I spot them. The sickly dying plants that are on discount. BOOM, more bang for my buck. There is one in particular that I like but I haven’t ever had one before.

The plant was called a Dieffenbachia. Also known as a dumb cane. Which it kind of looked like this

It kind of looked like this one, except for sadder and closer to death. But the good thing about it, was that it was only $7 and normally they are worth like $30 from what I saw online.

So I picked the plant up and went on my way to get curtains. People were looking at me funny with this big plant that I was carrying in front of me.

Next thing I notice about the plant was some white dust looking stuff. And I was saddened. I inspected further… Yes, I am pretty sure that is evidence of Mealybugs in the little folds, or some sort of mildew, but this plant was pretty sick.

Photo by Byron Co on Unsplash

I ended up doing a circle in the store to take it back, I was thinking that I have too many projects going on, and shouldn’t get a sick plant. However I was talking to my girlfriend about how they had monsteras at Lowes for a good price. I think I might have to sleep on the decision to pick them both up tomorrow. This isn’t sponsored by Lowes in anyway either, I just sometimes like the plants that they have to offer.

I may have to give an update tomorrow if I decide to get one or both.

What do you all think? Should I just go for it?

Thank you again for reading,

-Plant Dummy

Plant Dummy’s thoughts of the day

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I have been contemplating for the last few days. On how much I need the elephant ear Alocasia. Heck, I don’t even know what kind of variety of the plant I want yet. I just know that I will get it eventually.

Photo by Macau Photo Agency on Unsplash

It is going to take some good strength to not drive down to the nursery and pick on up this next week. I know it would look good in my office, and we are just finishing it up to where I can move my desk into it.

On the other hand, the silver dragon Alocasia we picked up seems to be doing well. There is some slight new growth coming from the base of the plant. I am hoping that the area that I chose will be consistently humid enough for it. I know the lady mentioned that I should have a glass container for it to adjust, but I still haven’t gotten it (shame on me). I might get it tomorrow, there’s a 50% chance I will go get one tomorrow I promise.

Another thing that I am very excited to have my own office. We I re-did the floor again, then painted the walls. Well my girlfriend mainly painted the walls because of my burnt hand. But still, I kind of helped. I really want to get in by the end of next week. The original goal was the end of this week, but that is not happening.

The new office basically is an excuse to fill it up with plants. The room gets bright shaded sun from the sunrise until about mid day where it tapers off above the house. It will be perfect I think, then I will have an excuse to buy the big guy, and probably pair it with a Monstera.

I should probably wait because someone I know said they have to work on their Monstera and would propagate me a little one. I just don’t know if I am patient enough… But two Monsteras would be better than one.

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Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day,

-Plant Dummy

I got the Alocasia Silver Dragon

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Finally we have it. I had ordered it about two weeks ago. And then due to the snow, I was unable to pick it up because the nursery it was at wasn’t open. But after a quick drive, and talk to the nice lady who helped me choose the best one, it’s home.

Silver Dragon Alocasia – Plant Dummy

I asked the lady at the nursery which one she recommended out of probably 50 different ones. I am not particularly experienced with any Alocasia. Which in hind site, I probably should have been better prepared for what she had said.

The lady mentioned that even though this was slightly smaller than the rest of the other Alocasias. It was one that she would pick because of the amount of leaves, and the fresh growth. Which is the lighter green leaf. Another portion looks like it is growing in as well, which is something I am excited to see.

The lady did mention that I really need to keep the humidity up, and suggested a glass tube that would be able to go around the container. Think the beauty and the beast rose. She mentioned a place to pick it up, but I have yet to get it. For now, it lives in the bathroom.

Once I read up on this Alocasia, I may release a post about what I found is good types of care for this plant. I know the basics I think now. And in all honestly, from what I can tell it seems similar to orchid care. Medium shaded light, they like humidity, like even a little more than some orchids I believe. And then they also like air flow for their root system and to be in soil that is able to drain properly, to prevent the roots from sitting in water, and getting root rot.

However that is mainly off the top of my head from the conversation I made, and about 1 or 2 googles to make sure I was not killing it at a certain point. A much deeper delve into what the Alocasia needs to prosper is much needed.

If you want to keep up to date with the things that I post, you can enter your email. I am not going to spam you, and if you want off of it, it’s very easy.

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Thank you for reading this short post about my day,

I have something in the works, hopefully for this week. I just want to make sure it is up to my standards,

-Plant Dummy

Sometimes you just don’t know

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Obviously I am very new to this. But sometimes it surprises me what posts get views and what don’t. Or what posts get likes and what don’t. You may think you wrote the best yet, but it isn’t received as well as one that just came super easy to you.

It’s fun to try to see what people will like. Or maybe I am just bad at guessing. I just know I have been having fun trying to come up with ideas, and learning along the way. Sometimes it scares me though if someone who is really into plants looks at my blog and I get something wrong. That is why I try to always make a note of saying that if I got anything wrong, to please let me know.

This last article I wanted to be sure on the succulent names that I had so I looked in depth of the pictures to make sure that is what I had. But I still feel like there is a possibility that my Echeveria picture may be a slight variation of something else. Please let me know if I am wrong. I know it’s a stupid thing to worry about because it can just be changed and doesn’t hurt anyone.

My Echeveria succulent plant.
The Echeveria of Doubts

I guess we all have certain things that we worry about for little reason. Maybe it will change, maybe it won’t. But there is one thing that I got from that worry. It makes me more confident on the things I am able to write about because I don’t want to look dumb, and I don’t want to give the wrong information. So I try to research with resources that are trustworthy, or back up my ideas with other evidence of why.

That’s just my thought of the day. I am happy, I was able to write and use a lot of my own pictures today! I will hopefully be able to add more of my own in the future.

Thank you for reading!

-Plant Dummy