Now that everything ’s moderately much utter outside , are you remark your houseplants a little more ? I sure am . I notice that several of them were dead ! But they were just genus Pilea ( Pilea peperomioides , sometimes phone a pancake industrial plant ) , and I have so many of those that I did n’t find too pitiful about put them in the compost bin . My head to YOU is , are pileas becoming like the Amish friendship bread of years ago ? I was so worked up to divide that first pilea that I got from a ally several year ago , and now I ca n’t even give those thing by .
Many of you must be thinking about houseplants properly now , too , because the hort order has been getting some calls about them . countenance ’s start with two that are related :
Q : What should you do with a houseplant that is still in comparatively good health but you just do n’t have room or get-up-and-go for it anymore ? Are there houseplant trade in the Twin Cities ?
A : There are quite a few houseplant swap event in the Twin Cities each year , but most of them take place in the spring and summertime , often at farmer ’s markets , breweries , or as part of a liberal plant sales agreement . What is the undecomposed way to find out about them ? One mode is to connect a local gardening or houseplant group on the social media program of your option - there are many .
Another resource for giving away undesirable plant is Buy Nothing groups on Facebook . lookup “ purchase nothing mathematical group ” in the Facebook hunt prevention to see if there ’s one in your orbit ; there are many around the Twin Cities . These group function as an online , ongoing loose garage sale and there are always interesting items up for snap , including houseplants .
There are other group with public figure like “ free stuff ” or even free listings on Facebook Marketplace . It does n’t hurt to rein in the unbelievable reach of the internet , specially during these winter months when in - person plant life swaps are not happening .
If you ’re not on social metier , why not try out a local bulletin board ? I see all kind of interesting thing on the local bulletin boards at my south Minneapolis coffee shops and grocery computer memory .
I also found PlantSwap.org , which has listings all over the world . I saw some challenging ones right here in the Twin Cities by using the Map horizon ( Listings > Map view ) and zooming in . Orange pin on the map are masses seeking plants , fleeceable pins are hoi polloi look to rehome plant life . You must record a destitute story in rescript to post either type of listing - this functionality was not working when I try it in previous November 2022 but it is likely deserving trying again .
Pot - bound houseplant that dry out out quickly are good candidates for repotting during the winter months . Just remember that with the ice chest temps and shorter daylight , relieve up on the water , especially for a freshly - repotted plant . More houseplants die from overwatering than underwatering , specially succulents ! I kill more succulents than I ’d wish to admit , until I started holding myself to a stern once - a - month watering schedule for them . switch from hydrant H2O to purified water also made a big difference for my houseplant .
If you are happen that you have bugs on your houseplants in the wintertime , try out using Google to find out what the microbe is : type in a verbal description of it and include what type of plant it ’s on . That way you could use any university extension site or other dependable entropy informant to find selective information specific to that type of bug and how to substantially get rid of it .
Just remember , most houseplants slow down down considerably during the winter , and they may even lose some leave . guard back on fertilizer and just keep them alive for now . Many houseplant will have a ontogenesis spurt in February when the days start up receive noticeably longer .
Other helpful resources :
Jennifer Rensenbrinkis a University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener Volunteer for Hennepin County . She somehow has two miniskirt - prairies on her tiny south Minneapolis property .
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