0079

Gardening is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I mean, I guess you can kind of infer that there's a lot to it since so many people self-describe as lacking a green thumb. I, too, have experienced the consequences of buying a very nice looking plant, occasionally watering it and letting it sit by a window, and seeing it slowly wither away. It's a little bit grim to see the life drain from a fellow living creature, and feel unable to change it's fate.

In another timeline, it would have been great to write this as a guide for how not to end up like I did. Unfortunately, I no longer think I'm qualified to do so. My nice little plant, the one that's been sitting politely in a corner for over a year, looks far less healthy than when we first met. For a while I was content to continue watering it and regretting it's meager existence without making any real changes, but I learned today things are worse than I feared.

I discovered that the drooping, browning leaves were not only slowly dying, but they were determined to make their mark on this world before departing it. The big fan-like leaves were covered in some sticky substance, one which seemed to be spreading and slowly dripping over anything in the plant's vicinity.

I, in a stroke of aesthetic brilliance, had placed it so that these wonderfully floppy leaves would serve as a canopy over all my things in the top right corner of the room. This did pay off quite well for a time; the things in question including a lamp which gave the whole plant a nice glow at nighttime. However, eventually the plant took its revenge.

The things in the vicinity included the one lamp, the nice clean window, some books and brushes, oh, and of course, the carpet which was under the entire thing. Even after cleaning the winder it still has some marks, and I just hope I can get the carpet back to normal eventually. On closer inspection, I found that the plant was also covered in these weird hard growths on the leaves and stems which I assume is what was causing it to slowly dissolve into a sticky mess.

I'm still not entirely sure what happened to it, or why. Google suggests an infestation of scale, which produced the sticky honeydew all over the broad green leaves. It suggested washing them off with water, which I did, and then applying an insecticide soap, which I have none of. I don't know if this will actually restore the plant's vitality, but I hope it'll at least hold off the honeydew for now.

Do I actually want to go through the effort of getting insecticide and nursing this plant back to health? Do I care enough? If I were to do that, I should probably also get soil and repot it too, which I understand should be done once a year or so. It sounds like messy business though, especially in an apartment with no balcony. There's always the creeping possibility of disposing of the plant and then replacing it with another.

It feels disloyal to just discard a literal piece of life that's been sharing my space with me for such a long time. Then again, the internet is telling me that scale on plants is caused by an infestation of tiny insects that I'd have to clean off, and do I really want to get involved in that mess? I really like having a plant, so I'll have to pick one of those two options eventually. For now, I'll probably be putting off the decision and hoping things don't get any worse.

It's pretty amazing that we can just have pieces of nature growing in pots in our artificial spaces. It's especially cool that there are some people who know so much about plants that they can make them not just grow, but thrive. I visited a friend with a pretty large balcony which was covered with healthy plants. It was such an incredible use of the space, such an amazing place to unwind and have some tea or take in the city.

It's not like my current apartment has a balcony, but I'd eventually really like cultivating a space like that for myself. It's not easy; it involved weeding, repotting, pollinating, pruning; then again, I didn't even stop my sole lonely plant from being attacked by scale and honeydew. To be fair though, certain maintenance like repotting would also be a lot easier if I could do them on a balcony.

My main success story with plants isn't even due to my own efforts. I have a hydroponic system, that includes grow lights, specially formulated plant nutrients, and an auto watering system. The only work I have to do is pruning sometimes, and even then I get lazy with it. It's kind of a wonder of technology more than anything else that we can keep plants so healthy in this modern metal contraption. Like a Darth Vader suit for peppers.

I think that we have an obligation to life. It's pretty easy to view houseplants are purely decorational objects, and I guess with the proliferation fake decorative plants many people do. Owning something does not remove the rights and obligations you have towards it, and owning a plant should be a serious responsibility. Spiritually speaking.

I think if I end up getting a new plant, after this, I'll have to take it a lot more seriously. I don't want to let the miracle of life slip through my fingers again and again, leaving behind dead plant husks in my wake. It's beneath me, and it's beneath any of us. The things we have deserve to be treated with respect, especially when we invite them into our living spaces. I'm looking forward to learning to do better.