Herb Balcony Garden Update 11/30/12

So it has been about 2 weeks since my herb balcony garden update. The weather here in Los Angeles has been kind of cold and wet. Besides from being sick and the occasional rainfall, my garden has been growing at a snail's pace. You’ve probably read some of my previous post on repotting my Kalachuci plant and splitting the snake plant  that I did not know I had. So the garden is evolving as we speak. You may be asking yourself, to what? I’ll be honest I’m not sure what yet.

My steps to splitting a snake plant from my balcony garden

So after a couple of hours of searching the Internet. I was ready and wanted to dive into it… or should we say divide into it.. split into it… part into it.. oh I think my jokes are just getting worse

Splitting a Snake Plant

It’s been about a year since I’ve live at my lovely apartment.  Everyday I would walk along the corridor  and head straight to my balcony garden. Everyday I would attempt to show off to my love and tell her “I started these basil plants from seeds and look at them now!” I marveled how my limited spaced balcony garden was doing so well. I found a new passion and I was thrilled of my little plants. Hold up before I start going off on this.. it wasn’t like a beam of light descended from heaven. It was more like “Wow this is pretty cool. Oh I have to try that” So no glorious moment here but a light bulb turning on.

Repot.. Repot.. Repot that Kalachuchi in the Balcony Garden

You’ve probably noticed on my previous post that I had a small tiny Kalachuchi plant growing in my Balcony Garden. The Kalachuchi plant or its scientific name Plumeria was happily sunbathing in the corner of Oakley’s garden. So I did not pay much attention to it. Well that’s until I noticed a tiny little guy growing at the base of the plant. I was thrilled that there was going to be an addition to the family.

After a few days, the Kalachuchi was not showing any kind of growth. Both the main and the tiny sprout were stagnant and has not changed since I first noticed the sprout. Then suddenly like a ton of bricks hitting me.. I had the idea that maybe it was time to repot the plant.

If you all were keeping up with the updates you’ll probably notice that I already repotted the Kalachuchi into a bigger pot so it can have room to grow. Or can we say, “spread its leaves” and grow… OK was I the only one that chuckled there? *Crickets*

Cold...Fever... BLAH!!

Hi everyone,
Well I'm just sending a note out there.  I'm still around!  I just been MIA due to a really bad cold, fever, or something that just took me out for a week.  I'm recovering but a few lingering coughs and sneezes arise occasionally 
As I was trying to recover, I always had Oakley's Garden in mind.  With paper and pen in hand, I came up with a list of things to do.  So be prepared to be over loaded with tons of posts.
I'm back and ready to report!

Plants are dying!!! WHY?!?!?

My plant is dying! Is this it for my rosemary plant? Is it going to the big balcony garden up above? Oh wait maybe it’ll be a huge yard. What is causing my plant to die? I thought I was watering it properly and giving it all the sunshine it can handle. Even though I do those things it just won’t come back to me.

Update Tuesdays on a Wednesday!! 110712

It’s time for UPDATE TUESDAYS of my thriving, well some dieing, balcony garden. Oh wait but today is Wednesday. I know I’m a day late posting my Update Tuesday report. But I promise you I did take these photos on Tuesday, I just did not post it till now. But let’s not dilly dawdle anymore and get to it.

OK so here’s the scoop on Oakley’s garden. Some of the plants are doing really well from what I can tell. Here is the family photo:

Balcony Garden, Eggs and Basil.. SEEDLINGS!!

Hello everyone! It’s been awhile since I’ve updated you with my balcony garden and the eggs and basil seeds experiment. I have been meaning to keep you updated but there are so many things I want to blog about. I don’t think there is enough time to write it all down. Now I understand how blogging itself can be a full time job! I salute everyone that is able to blog everyday.

OK back to the eggs, basil, and my balcony garden update! Oakley and I are so proud to announce that we have seedlings sprouting! Yes it worked beautifully without any effort. As you probably read on a previous post, I was able to grab a couple of seeds from my basil plant. After some research, I thought the idea of sprouting the seeds from an eggshell would be fun and a useful reuse of eggshells. Just in case.. click here to read the previous blog on what steps I did. Back to what I was saying, I DID IT!

During this experiment I tried 2 different procedures. I kept 1 egg out in normal balcony conditions. What I mean by normal is that I kept it out with other plants. The rosemary plant shaded the eggs because I was afraid it would be too much sun. I watered it every other day and just kept an eye on it. I was sure not to over water it. Most of the time I sprinkled it with water just to make sure the soil was moist.

The 2nd procedure was a “Mickey Mouse” job. I pretty much tried to recreate a green house effect by keeping the egg in a plastic bag. I pretty much place the egg in a carton that I placed into a plastic bag. I sprayed some water just to have some kind of moisture. It was a really poorly attempt to build a mini size green house. I didn’t even take photos of it.. maybe on my next post I’ll show you.

I have to say.. I did notice a difference in the plants. Here is the first basil plant grown in “normal” conditions. You’ll notice a small leave popping out from the soil. When I saw this I was so excited! I actually picked the phone and called my loved one at work. Ha Ha. But here is a tiny plant starting to grow. From the looks of it, she’s going to be a shy one.

As for the 2nd plant, you can really notice a difference! Look how tall these babies are. They really stretched out and were not shy at all. Looks like these boys are going to be strong. Look, there are 4 seedlings.. I hope this does not cause over crowding.

By the way, I did try another seedling in a small container. I wanted to see the difference in growth. In this photo you’ll notice a slight green dot on the top right corner. Take a good look or you’ll miss it. It looks like something is growing but this one may be too young to come out and play just yet. Let’s give him a couple more days.

I have to admit it is so rewarding to see the little seedlings! It all started as a little seed and now little seedlings. I could only imagine when they become full grown plants! I’m so excited.. actually my family is a little excited also. They already claimed the plants… but but but.. they’re my babies!  So I started a couple more!  Woo Hoo!