My Houseplants are the Pits!

[Aggie]

I thought I'd share some pictures of my 'garbage garden' - plants I have grown from fruit pits and vegetable bulbs.  My pride and joy is a mango plant that I started from seed about 2 years ago and has run riotous in the last 6 months or so, but at the moment I've also got a number of others on the go or starting up. 
best example).


I plant at least a few seeds of many of the fruits I eat, particularly the weird and wonderful varieties.  Some work, some don't.  Some are accidents...  I'll lazily spit the seeds of something I'm eating into a larger pot of an existing plant, and some time later a seedling pops up (the grape vine on the lamp is the best example).


In the group photo, the mango is in the background, and left to right you'll see 2 x longan, arrowhead* (in vase), back row peat pots are ??mystery seedling??, pomegranate, papaya; front row peat pots are jackfruit*, scrap garlic, persimmon*; pitaya/dragonfruit cactus, and a kumquat. 
_{*not up yet!}


The arrowhead in particular is worth growing as a houseplant; although they are short-lived, they are SPECTACULAR and a great humidifier. I've tossed in an old pic of some half-grown arrowheads... they shoot up leaf-stalks to 2 ft high dramatically overnight once they get going.  The bulbs can be found in Chinese markets and are in season right now.

[Aggie]

This probably deserves a separate post, but here's one of my favorite 'compost plant' projects...  BASIL!

Fresh basil roots out very easily in water, and the best part is, you get to eat all the useable leaves in the process.  Simply strip the stalks down, leaving only the tiniest baby leaves in place (pinch off any flowers or seed heads) and place the stalks in a glass of water - they will form roots in a week or two.  Then replant them to your garden or a pot, and you have basil! 

These Thai basil babies are freshly potted up - you can see that even after 2 or 3 weeks they're ready for nibbling!  I'll plant them out when summer arrives, but can use them for garnish until then (enough for pho, but not pesto).  I think it was about $2 for the original pack of fresh basil - a little more than seeds, but with a meal included!

If you've already got a basil plant, then this would be a very quick way to propagate a whole bed of basil.... it's faster than seeding. 

[Opsa]

Cool! I love easy propagation. I've done this with geraniums and gold dust plants.

[Aggie]

I root out dumbcane (actually, have switched them over to straight water, no soil) and have tried a few other herbs and random houseplants (less successful).  Basil is so easy and I love eating it, so I was thrilled to see this work the first time.

As a side note, I'm not having much success with avocado pits at the moment.  My jackfruit is up, but no luck with the persimmons or date palms.

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

I never had any luck with avocados. Ever. And I've tried about 10 separate times.

I'll have to try this. *plots*

[Bruder Cuzzen]

How on earth did you get the mango to sprout? I've yet to to so after many a decade.Dear ole dad was far better than i getting things to grow,and my thunb is pretty green.
While i'm at it does anyone know how to propagate the Ti plant,pops did it many times but i forgot the details of how he did it.The plant he purchased in 1970 reached 8 ft.before the cut it thereby creating two Ti plants,then four, then six.
When he left this earth i passed them along to friends ands siblings to keep his memory alive,but keep the great,great grandmummy of them all.
A month ago i took the leap and decided i must cut this tree down since it was curling up on the ceiling.
I wonder if this was wise since the lower leaves (similiar to banana leaves in appearance) are browning and dying,however the top and growing tip is still green and seems alive.

My questions to those who know this plant:Is it alive? How long does it take to form new roots? What fertilizer,if required should i use? Do i leave it in stromg sun or indirect light or shade?

[Aggie]

How on earth did you get the mango to sprout? I've yet to to so after many a decade.Dear ole dad was far better than i getting things to grow,and my thunb is pretty green.

I'm trying to remember what exact method I used... I had THREE mangoes (the others were the Ataulfo variety, this is a 'standard' mango), but this was the largest, nicest looking plant, so I planted the other two out for the summer and *forgot* to bring them in...

I think that what helped is that my apartment is very hot year round (80^o F), but one trick I've used to sprout stubborn seeds including at least one of the mangoes is to put the seed in a bag of soil and sit it on top of a warm appliance such as the fridge (I use my computer router, with a plate under between to keep the dirt from falling into the cracks). 

The other big trick is to split open the fibrous seed husk and plant only the inner bean-shaped seed.  After that, they sprout up pretty quick!

Not sure about the Ti plant...

[Sibling Chatty]

From one of my Dad's articles in Southern Florist and Nurseryman back a long time ago...

Cut off anywhere from an 8 inch piece to a 2 foot piece of the Ti stalk and either put it in a glass of water till the roots develop, stick it in the ground or in a pot with potting soil (make sure the leaf nodes are pointed upwards or it will not grow) or just lay it on the ground or in a shallow container.
It is hard not to get it to root (unless you never water or over water it).
If planting outdoors, plant in a sunny location.
Ti plants growing in a container require watering every 2 to 3 days and the container should be placed in an area that has lots of sunlight.

Fertilize every 3-4 weeks.

Elsewhere, he says that you can take the tips off and root them basically by sticking them into potting soil in a pot.

Cordyline (which is the botanical name of the Ti plant, like dracaena and yucca cultivars can all root off of cane pieces. Dieffenbachia (dumbcane) roots better from a leaf.
-----------------

My Dad had a degree in floriculture. So, of course, he worked in the oil industry a good part of his adult life.

[Bruder Cuzzen]

Thank you very much siblings, my fears are alleviated.

[Aggie]

Oh, my jackfruit is up and looking happy!  I've started stacking new peat pots underneath it to allow the taproot to drop - need to get it into something permanent soon!

[Aggie]

We found some BIG pots on sale at our favorite garden centre, so now I have a much-expanded indoor garden.  I transplanted some of my pit-plants over, and bought a bunch of 4" tropicals to fill things out.  Some of the Usual Gang of Idiots still hangs out on a side table.  The big vase visible in one of the pictures is going to be getting some fish (probably a betta couple) this weekend.  We recently received a surplus spider plant from a friend's mom, and I planted a strawberry pot with the babies, then placed the potted mother plant up top.  I'll probably put something else in the top hole later when the babies get established.

I'm also working on a mini freestanding living wall - will update when it's completed!

[Opsa]

Ooh, I especially like the foliage mix in the pot in the foreground in the last shot. What are they?

Are the colorful flowers impatiens?

[Aggie]

Impatiens, begonias, and a fushcia.

The foliage mix is (IIRC - clockwise from front left):

Tradescantia (tall one), some Xmas cactus hanging out the side, Spider plant, white Polka Dot plant, rubber plant, another spider, Diefenbacchia, coleus and a longan in the middle.

I'll snag you some better shots some time here, maybe once the fish are in.  I like that back corner planter, myself.

Can't wait to get my living wall up and running (tomorrow??) and to start planting it.  Going to start a shwack of pittayas on it, plus a bit of everything that will root in water from cuttings.

[Aggie]

Here's a picture of the mini living wall, but it still needs some more plants and some time to grow.  I have pics of the process that I'll eventually post in a separate thread.

[Opsa]

Hey- that's neat! A huge one would be quite impressive.

[Bruder Cuzzen]

Cool,I want one.

[Bruder Cuzzen]

To ena hav munz...opps sorry I've been at sea to long.
 
Two and a half months have passed since I took the knife to the Ti plant.I am happy to report that it still lives!

I was worried for a bit since the lower leaves kept drying and dying without any signs of slowing down.

Though the tip stayed green the entire time  no growth was observed until today...Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

[Aggie]

A week or two ago a random avocado pit I tossed in the plant bins decided to sprout - it's now towering well over the rest of the jungle.

That living wall is also filling in nicely.

[Bruder Cuzzen]

I just finished these gargantuan mangoes...in one , the seed had split open revealing the baby inside ,its sitting in water still . I'm hoping it will bear fruit someday .

[Aggie]

It may not make fruit, but they are lovely plants.  I'd recommend potting it up once you see which way the root is headed (take the 'bean' with the baby out of the seed husk), and giving it as much warmth and sunlight as possible. 

They have quite a large taproot to start with, so if you can find a very deep pot to start it in, this will help.  I started my jackfruit seedling by filling a length of 4" ABS pipe (the black plastic sewer pipe) with potting soil, and placing it inside of one of my large planters, so that the jackfruit will be able to send down roots, but not get tangled with the rest of its pot mates.  Seems to be working so far, and something like this would work for the mango, although maybe larger diameter (6" ?).

Restricting the roots on the mango seems to restrict the growth as well; mine has not grown much this summer even though I've had it outside (oh!  It's been rainy and cold today - I should bring it inside).  They do like it to be humid as well, so that may be why it's not happy.  It generally goes through a growth spurt in winter when we have good sun through the glass doors and I have the humidifier running all the time.

[Opsa]

A good friend gave me a giant bromeliad last year. I seperated three pups from the main plant and two of them bloomed this year!

They are giant single blooms, one per plant. They have spiky pink heads on two-foot stems, with a number of bluish-purple buds peeking out from the concentric rows of spikes.These buds don't quite open all the way, but seem to want to stay in a tubular form, maybe like knifofia?

It's very exotic-looking.

Edit: see photo below.

[Aggie]

Beautiful!  I've been thinking about getting a worn-out bromeliad and scavaging pups....  how easy is it?

(I swear I'm going to start dumpster diving for tired old plants behind some of the corporate plant service providers here...  there are MANY beautiful corporate conservatories and potted displays in the downtown, so all those plants must go somewhere when they start looking tatty... I'll bet they are just tossed rather than nursed to health).

[Opsa]

Unbelieveably easy. I just dug up the momma, snapped off the pups from her base and re-planted them. Then I just took care of them like any plant.

I suspect you could probably build a fine houseplant business from retrieving and reviving discarded office plants. 

[Sibling Lambicus the Toluous]

Guess what?!

So... last year after Hallowe'en, we plunked our pumpkin in the garden.  This spring, a pumpking plant sprung up and now we've got a nice big green pumpkin well on its way to being a right and proper Jack O'Lantern!

My wife is a kick-butt gardener.  I'm beginning to suspect that she may be part dryad.   

[Bruder Cuzzen]

My mango sprout grew legs and run off a few days ago , but I notice the avocado pit has split open ........

[Aggie]

Especially when I am sitting at the computer, I tend to just poke any pits I have into the closest pot. This has led to a few "And whom may you be?" moments with new sprouts.  The last set that I figured out were the loquats, but just a couple of days ago I noticed some spiky-leaved upstarts in the mango pot.  Turns out they were the date pits I threw in there MONTHS ago.


(My poor mango was formerly the largest pot in the house, and bore the brunt.  It sulks with a rather shocked look on its face in a pot with dragonfruit, loquat, date palms and a couple of bushy young spider plants.)

EDIT: ....and apparently one new plant I've ever seen.  Going to be a tricky transplant when the pot needs changing.

[Sibling Chatty]

A good friend gave me a giant bromeliad last year. I seperated three pups from the main plant and two of them bloomed this year!

They are giant single blooms, one per plant. They have spiky pink heads on two-foot stems, with a number of bluish-purple buds peeking out from the concentric rows of spikes.These buds don't quite open all the way, but seem to want to stay in a tubular form, maybe like knifofia?

It's very exotic-looking.

Edit: see photo below.

Very pretty fasciata (Aechmea fasciata) or Silver Vase brom. They're more difficult to get to grow from pups that other species, like Guzmanias or some of the Neoregelias. The bloom is perfect!