027. learning as i grow

preface: i am learning as i grow and i am not a plant or gardening expert by any means.

my family kept plants at home my whole life but i didn’t take care of them – that was for my grandparents & parents (lol). it wasn’t until i was old enough to start working that i had money to buy my own plants. i started off with a few bamboo plants in my fish tank, an african violet, and an air plant. when i moved out i got several plants. i had a few orchids, a bonsai, and an aloe plant among others. some of them died because i didn’t understand lighting since i had just placed my plants close to a west-facing window at my parents where they happened to do well.

fast forward to today – the plants pictured below are pretty special to me. they are some of the first plants i got when i moved back to toronto last year. they are great plants to start with or add to your existing plant fam because they aren’t high maintenance. 

🙆🏻 so i have a plant confession to make: that orchid might have flowered non stop for over a year now, but at some point i almost killed another orchid & actually threw it in the bin because i was so over everything. this was five years ago, i was going through a rough period & was barely taking care of myself, let alone my office plants. so they were adopted by a friend in my program who brought them back to life.

all that to say, anyone can care for & raise plants. that’s what i love about them – they’re accessible & so resilient. i’ve learned from the plants i’ve lost (succulents & airplants to not enough light / overwatering, ferns to underwatering & a schefflera + cactus to mealies) & have been holding it down because i’ve gotten to know my environment (east facing windows, consistent temperature of approximately 21c, relative humidity of approximately 50% during f/w and up to 80% during s/s) & my plants individual needs. it’s all about learning as you grow 🌱🌵🌿🌺🌹