Indoor Plants

It's hard to write this post because it is so gloomy outside that I couldn't get very good pictures but I wanted to write about this topic because I have been doing a lot of experimentation with keeping houseplants over the course of the past year or so. I've been experimenting with different kinds of plants including succulents, ivy and even edibles because I want to 1) improve the quality of the air in my living space 2) learn more about keeping plants alive and 3) start keeping plants with dual purposes. By dual purposes, I mean that I want plants that are useful because they help filter the air and also because I can use them in another way. I'll show you in a second.

First on the list is this really cool succulent is a Haworthia Attenuata and it is very low maintenance. It's not very big because I got it about a month ago and so far, everything is going well. I would categorize this plant under the "I really like the look of this plant so I'm going to try it out". I don't really have any other reason than that for wanting one, purely aesthetic reasons.

Next we have the Medicinal Aloe Vera plant that I'm sure you might recognize. This is one of those dual purpose plants I was talking about before. Of course I want to be able to clean the air but I also want to experiment making lotions and gels with this aloe once it gets a little bit bigger. I already broke one of the fronds because I had to transport it on Phillipa but I didn't use the gel. I know, I feel bad for wasting it but I don't know what to do with it yet and I don't have THAT much free time.

Next up is a 100% experiment plant that I'm not sure is going to live. Anyone know what it is? I'll give you a hint... it rhymes with bineapple... Yep, it's a pineapple! I potted the plant using this tutorial (except I cut away all the fruit first since it was attracting a lot of fruit flies. And because obviously my pineapple doesn't look very good, I've been using this website as motivation not to give up. There are some roots growing but I don't think it likes my chilly bedroom. Also, I'm afraid since it wasn't an organic pineapple that it might not create a new pineapple. We shall see I guess :)

Last but not least, my pride and joy, is my tomato plant! Did you know you can grow tomatoes indoors? Me neither! But, I've had this little volunteer plant in my bedroom since the end of June and it hasn't died yet. In fact, it produced that little green tomato and I couldn't resist trying it. The tomato itself was a little bitter but since there are more little green gems popping up, I'm not deterred! You can also see I have a split rock on the right and some new thyme plants on the left but I couldn't get any good pictures of those.

Again, I apologize for the bad quality of some of the photos but it is pretty difficult to get good images when the weather is so uncooperative! If you want to know more about how I am doing with my plants, you can always leave a comment in the comment box for me... I would love to know who's out there reading what I have to say! Also, if you want to try your own experiments, I included all the links that I have used in order to find success with my plants. Good luck and happy indoor gardening!