Newest addition...

I was complaining about reducing my pots and here I just added another one. The latest addition was from my mother-in-law. She got it from one of her relatives in Malaysia. Well, I was thinking of having one so I asked her for it and I just got it on Wednesday, after visiting her. After I put it into a pot, I have been leaving it near the stairs since there are more sunlight and wind there. My mother-in-law has commented that my place very suitable to keep cactus or aloe vera since there are strong wind (keep the soil not too wet) and quite a lot of sunlight. I have to agree that the plants that are best kept are aloe vera and Zamia zamiaculous.


After taking the photos, I can show you what are the current plants at their locations.

- Outside main door
What I have here are a pot of Heartleaf Philodendron on the left and Episcia cupreata on the left. The Episcia cupreata was once put near the stairs with more sunlight but got 'burnt' since too much light there. It is only recently that the Episcia cupreata are growing better now. I have separate them into 2 pots and both are doing fine.

- Corridor (corner)


The 2 plants on the left are unknown. The one on the right is Zamia zamiaculous. The one of the left has been in a bad shape after I transplant to this pot. I was suspecting that I did not water enough (I water every alternate days) but the leaves still look wrinkled. I should be giving up on it soon. I also found quite a lot of ants on the plant. I have been using insecticide to get rid of the ants. The middle pot is an unknown plant my wife brought back. It had a orange flower in the middle but it look bad so I took it away.

Beside these three are more... From the left, I have Episcia cupreata, Zamia zamiaculous, Man Tian Xing and Puncia granatum. The pot is almost too small for the Episcia cupreata to spread now. The Puncia granatum is the last of the ones that I have. It still look so thin but after I trimmed off some branches, it seems to grow healthier ones. Hope it stays that way...

- Upstairs

Plants from the left are aloe vera, arrow heads and aloe veras. My granny aloe vera is still here. Too heavy to shift her around. The mommy aloe vera on the left still looks thin. I wonder should I get rid of it?!? The arrow heads are doing well but only for those closer to the sun. The rest just died. I was thinking of changing to a rectangle pot for them but need to get it from Daiso first. Also here you can see my DIY rack using 2 pot stands and a wooden plank.

- Downstairs
Plants from the left, aloe vera chilli plant, Guan Yin Zhu, aloe vera and my new edible cactus. The aloe vera here are transplanted from the older aloe vera but got injured during transplant, that explains why the 'hands' looks more curly then usual. The chilli plant just grow out of the soil and I just let it live, not I planted there on purpose.

Well, this is what I have for now since it has been a while since I track what I have. So if you want any aloe vera, can let me know ...

Pot reduction time...

Well, after thinking for a while, I have decided to reduce some of the plants since they are either not growing well, not nice or died under my care. This is my plan to reduce the pots of plants that I have now but I think not much difference unless more can be done.

Here is a breakdown of the pots at 4 different locations as of 14 Mar 2007:
Corridor - 7
Outside main door - 2
Upstairs - 4
Downstairs - 3

I think I managed to reduce 1 from the list. For the record, I have taken out the following plants from my collection that I have not updated until now:

- Citrus sinensis
Both of them have been removed. One of them unable to recover from too much sunlight and the other not growing well so that is the end of them.

- Unknown purple plant
Removed since I have no use for them and they seems to grow too well until my puncia granatum not growing well. Too bad.

- Man Tian Xing
The small pot was removed since the plant just died. Found that the roots got bad and that is the main reason it died. No explanation for its cause of death.

- Puncia granatum
I have lost 2 of my 3 Puncia granatum as they somehow are not growing well and I have to let them go. Too bad...

- Unknown plant 1
This is suppose to reduce cholesterol but it tastes quite bad when taken raw and I'm put off by it. It has been taken care of since I have no use for it.

- Unknown plant 3
This can be found on the roadside and I have even found it on sale in GIANT supermarket. It is small and produce small purple flowers. I noticed that once it grows too much in size, some parts starts to die. I'm tired to trimming and let it died on its own.

- Chilli padi
I have removed all my chilli padi as I did not harvest them and most became dried chilli padi. I have gave them away to my neighbour. They also require too much water too since I have changed my watering habit.

From now on, any aloe vera plantlets that comes out from the aloe veras will be exterminated before they can grow. This is to prevent me from having to take care of them and too many of them and no one wants them. They also deprived the bigger aloe veras from the getting the fertilizers that I put weekly so unless there is any requests, I will strictly keep my aloe vera numbers to 8. There is one big aloe vera that does not grow fat stems compared to the rest. I'm considering getting rid of it but it is rather big now (mummy aloe vera).

There is also a pot which the plants are not growing well but able to survive and produce a purple flower bud when my mother-in-law showed it to me last Saturday. This pot may have to go since it needs to be watered everyday or the leaves will wrinkle. It is caused by the windy and dusty environment that I have here. Most of the time the surface soil will look dry after I water for a few hours.

2 aloe vera gone. Still got 4 to go ...

Xuan Hong from greenculturesg.com has come to collect my 2 medium aloe vera from me. He looks young though. So now still have 4 more small aloe veras available for anyone who wants them.

Anyway I have tried to water the plants every alternate days and it seems that the chilli plants is not going to make it after I come back from Hong Kong. The rest seems ok though. I will be doing some DIY watering bottles in hope to save some plants that I would still like to have after I come back from Hong Kong.

Still stuck with my aloe veras

After so long after the posting of aloe vera for adoption, they are still with me. So sad, the forumers are unable to come to collect from me. Furthermore, I found that the granny aloe vera has decided to "take revenge" and now there are about 7 plantlets with her now. With so many aloe vera plantlets, I think I have no choice but to weed and throw them away. I cannot afford to have anymore pots with them since I already have 5. Sad to do this to them but I do not have any other choice.

Furthermore I would be on a week holiday and unable to find anyone to take care of them during my absence. So when I come back, just hope they are still alive or barely so I can revive them. Else at least it is one way to reduce my plants. : (

Make a shelf and some minor updates

I have made a small shelf to allow me to put more plants at the stairs where there is more sunlight. Just used the 2 pot stands and a wooden plank (all from Daiso). To make the wood more lasting, I have covered it with aluminium foil.

I have also transplanted the episcia plant to the chilli padi pot since it has quite a big space available and also not in use. Don't want to waste the space so plant them there, one at each side. I have also repotted the last Xue Liu (Puncia granatum) that did not get repotted during the last major works.

I have found that Daiso just introduce some pot hangers (old and new ones). I just got the 2 biggest one that I can find to see if I can use them. Both are found suitable since I have more rounded pots. I have hung the bamboo pot onto the fence of the stairs. I have kept the other one since there is no smaller pots for it. Will post some pictures when I have time.

I should be getting some fertilizer from Farm mart or at the nursery at Taman Jurong, depending on my available time and also if my sister can drive us there.

Updated photos of my plants after first post

Since the last major works yesterday, I think it would be better that I update those plants that has been with me and some status update on them (not all).

A run through of the plants that I have:

Upstairs - After occupying the upper stairs, I have put most of my aloe vera here. Sorry for the slightly dark photo. My aloe veras here are have been growing well here without much effort at my side, except daily watering and weekly adding of ferilizer. Plants here are mostly aloe vera, a unknown plant behind the granny aloe vera and a flower plant (I think is some episcia plant).

Downstairs - Since too many plants, had to occupy the lower stairs as well. The chilli padi plant is not growing well (most of the leaves has dropped. I suspect due to strong wind here). Another unknown plant that seems to be able to adapt to my environment. 2 more Xue Liu (Puncia granatum) plant and a plant called "Man Tian Xin" in chinese. Not sure what is the scientific name.
Corridor corner - These are some of the plants on the floor. There are still 3 more pots of plants of the 3 ft rod iron rack on the right. Got some arrow head (not sure if it is correct) that I got from Desaru, aloe vera plantlets, "man tian xin" plant and Xue Liu (Puncia granatum) plant.
These are the 2 plants that are outside my door, which I get to see them everyday. The Ju Zhi shu (Citrus sinensis) here is the only one left since it still looks ok but does not have much leaves if you ask me. If I get sick of it, I would throw it away like the other one since I would like to cut down on the plants that I cannot keep well in my environment.

Now for some detail updates on most of the plants:

- Aloe Vera
Granny aloe vera has not have much update except just got upright after my mother-in-law (MIL) helped to use some sticks to keep her upright. Now looks better now, compared to bending to one side previously due to its heavy crown.
Looks more upright now. : )
Here shows the 2 sticks that are used to support the crown of the granny aloe vera.

Mommy aloe vera also has a new home or pot to be exact. Also changed some of the soil for her. Hope she can grow bigger now. Stop having so many plantlets too.
From the experience with mommy aloe vera, it seems that if the aloe vera is unable to grow any bigger, they would start to produce plantlets. Interesting ...

Medium size aloe vera to be adopted
The above are the 2 medium size aloe vera that I have put up for adoption. They have been growing very well under my care but their growth is restricted due to pot size. They were quite small then (my first post). One of them have found a owner and the other one is still available after a forumer is unable to come to collect it. Aloe vera anyone?

The small sized aloe veras that I have been growing but not so much. Even the left aloe vera is catching with the right one. Have not put these up for adoption since they don't look nice enough. What do you think?

Then the last one are my aloe vera plantlets. I think a forumer has booked them already. Hope they can grow well in their new homes. : )


- Guan Yin Zhu
With the recommendation from my MIL, have selectively chose these to be repotted and hope they can grow better now. The rest had to be thrown away.

- Chilli padi plantAs I have mentioned, the first harvest was done some time back. The leftovers are ready for harvest now. After I removed 3 of the chilli padi plants and donated 1 to my sister, these 2 looks better. However, since they have dropped most of their leaves, there is a new plant growing at the bottom of the one on the left. Looks like there is hope for the chilli padis even though I still have not tasted any right now.

- Xue Liu (Puncia granatum)
These 2 are now at the lower stairs. The one on the right is not growing well too. The one of the left just got a new pot. However, found some red ant crawling there. May want to get rid of the pests in case they cause any damage to the plants.

This one is at the end of the corridor. Also just changed the soil for this plants (2 in there). Hope it can grow bigger now, like those that are on sale.

- Money plant
The plant that has the most changes under my care is the money plant. Now left these. But I'm not worried since once they root, they can grow back to its former glory. : )

- episcia plant (for now)
The soil for this plant is not balance. Just top up the balance during the major works. The leaves now are hard and shiny, not like the time when I first got it (soft and hairy feel). Likely it is the change of environment but is growing well.

- unknown plant
After some failed attempts and successful ones, this plant is able to adapt to my environment now. My MIL had transferred them to this pot and spread the plant over the pot. If the plant is able to cover the whole plant, it would look very nice, like the one my MIL has. But that would take time and depending on which are the ones that will survive.

- Man Tian Xing
After given to me by my neighbour, it does not look too good most of the time. After some triming and also care, new leaves have grown from it. Looks a little better now but still not fully recovered yet. I was suspecting it did got receive enough sunlight so change its location from the corridor to the lower stairs.
This one is reserved by my MIL since she does not have this plant. Ok, it does not look so good right now but it had better days. I also don't know why. Will help my MIL take care of it for now.

- Arrow heads ???
My MIL helped me to plant them into the pot. Now waiting for them to root. They were given to me during my trip to Desaru. : )

After such a long update, I think I can rest for a while... : P Til the next update.

Major works today and aloe vera still available

Today did some major works on my plants, either repotting them, chaning soil, replanting or disposing some. Sorry but they have to go!... Cannot manage this without my mother-in-law (MIL)'s assistance, not to mention the pace that it was done. We did some of the work before lunch and continued the work after we had our lunch and bought more black soil.

Repotting works:
I have repotted the following plants.
- Mommy aloe vera
I have repotted the aloe vera into a IKEA pot that I have bought for it, finally. The pot was idling in my guest room for so long now, collecting dust on the way. : P We have removed the plantlets from her before we moved her to her new home. The soil that she was in had harden and that affects her growth. With the new black soil and bigger pot, should enhance her growth now. : )

- Man Tian Xing (S)
S means small. I have given this smaller one to my MIL. It would be kept with me until we can send it over to her house since it is rather heavy. It is not looking good either and my mother-in-law suggested we change the soil. The soil changed to black soil.

- Guanyin zhu (bamboo)
This plant has not been growing well in my pot and actually my MIL suggested I throw it away. I still want to keep it and she suggested that we changed the soil and reduce the plants there. Now I have 2 pots of this plant (on dear, more plants!). She mentioned that having too many in a pot reduces the growth of this plant. I also suspect lack of direct sunlight is another factor.

- Unknown plant
Have actually found this pot that someone threw away. I took it back and now use to house this unknown plant which is growing in my 2 pots now. However, the soil has harden and my MIL suggested to repot it and also changed the soil as well. We did just that. Hope they grow better now.

- Xue Liu (Puncia granatum)
Repotted 2 of the 3 Puncia granatum that I have into a bigger pot or change of soil. If they grows well, will remove the last one since I do not want to keep to many of this plant. I have no intention to give to anyone since it does not look nice.

- Arrow heads (don't know what name it is)
These are given to me by an uncle (in Desaru, Herbal Farm. Read about it in my another hobby blog) that he said can grow inside an aquarium. Not sure how true it is since they are grown on soil when he gave them to me. Decided to plant them in the soil first since I do not have much space in my tank at the moment and have no time to scape it yet. Will see if they can grow before I decide to use them in my tank. They were floating on the surface of my shallow tank before this. : P

Adding or changing soil works:
- Man Tian Xing (B)
B means big. This one was donated from my ex-neighbour. It was in a bad state and I have not spent much effort on it but heard it does have some medical properties. My MIL suggested that we change some of the soil and trim it so that it can speed up the growth of this plant. I agree with her and we proceed to change some of the soil.

- Granny aloe vera
With the help of my MIL, we have straightened this aloe vera with 2 sticks and also top up some black soil. MIL also removed the plantlet from her as well.

- Chilli padi plant
Top up soil for this pot since there was not enough soil. Now looks better now. The chilli padi plant also have some plants growing at the bottom. I think reduction of the chilli padi plants helps. My MIL suggested that I keep it as I was thinking of removing the chilli padi plant pot to make way for other plants.

Replanting works:
- Money plant
This pot of plant looks dead with some living money plants deep within. Since I have added the money plant from my shallow tank, there is too much money plant there in this small pot (considering the amount of money plant in there). Now my MIL has selectively chose some to be planted in this pot and waits for them to grow "tall" again. May take a few months.

Disposal of plants:
- Ju Zhi shu (Citrus sinensis)
Got to admit that I am unable to keep this plant well. Also affected with bugs makes it a chore to keep. I have decided to throw one away (still got another one outside my door, for now). Accidentally, it also made a cut on my MIL's hand when we are taking out from its pot. Hm... let your imagination run wild!

- Unknown purple plant
Was told by my MIL that it also has some medical properties. However, it did not grow well due to neglect so I have decided to remove it.

- Unknown plant
This plant's leaves is meant to reduce the cholestrol. However, I cannot stand the taste and never touch it ever since. Since I do not need it, I have decided to throw it away as well.

That is all for the major works that was done within a few hours today. Oh man this is hard work but the place looks ready better now. Lets see how the plants work out after this. Will post pictures of the plants when I have the time. I hope it won't be too long but I had to admit I have many other commitments that needs my attention.

I have posted a thread in Greenculture forum to ask for forumers to adopt my aloe veras (since I have quite a few before this major works. However, til now no one has come to collect them from me. Still have 1 medium and 2 plantlets available.