He's one Chive Turkey

So, what originally started my planting fever this year -- way back in January -- was my desire to turn this old clay head that I sculpted more than 10 years ago in high school into a planter of some sort. I posted on one of my forums asking what would grow well indoors that might resemble hair. Someone suggested chives as they are easy to grow and would resemble hair. It wasn't until recently that I was able to actually find some chives in stores (I've been trying to start them from seed for over a month, but am only having limited success).

I don't know about you, but I think it turned out quite awesome! And it's unbelievable how FAST it grows! I've had it about a week and I've already had to trim it a time or two!

Sweet Potato Vine (Part 3)

At this point it's been about a month since I began my Sweet Potato Vine experiment. The two potatoes I originally bought from the store both failed, with one never doing anything, and one growing a few small roots and then stalling. The really small one continued to grow, and was the first one I transferred to soil.




I find that I am frustrated that I can no longer keep an eye on the root growth, but I'm sure I'll get over it! It has been in the pot for about a week. I was told recently by someone who is 'in the know' about such things that when you transfer a plant cutting that has been in water to soil, you should keep the soil fairly moist for a while as it grows it's soil roots and depends less on water roots. So I figure the same thing applies here.

Now, my bigger potato probably could have been planted weeks ago, but it's large size and the fact that the vines AND roots are growing from the bottom have left me in a quandary as to exactly how to pot it, so I keep putting it off!

Here is it's progress as of today! (note: apparently my iPhone blog publisher app will only allow me to post ONE picture per post, so I guess that's a fail)

I'm trying to psych myself into potting this puppy today, but I'm hesitant because I'm so scared that I'll kill it after it's been growing SO well! Therefore, you may or may not see the next chapter of my Sweet Potato Vine series later today!

Sweet Potato Vine (Part 2)

After a couple of weeks, I started to see some growth in a couple of my potatoes! To my surprise, the one that had been sitting in my kitchen for at least a month before I started this project is the one that REALLY took off!

However, instead of roots growing out of the bottom and vines poking out of the top, it almost ALL sprouted from underneath!


There is one small vine poking through a little above the water line . . .

The two I bought from the store didn't do nearly as well. One never grew roots at all, and the other has just a few tiny ones:

Note: Only pay attention to the white roots -- the brown ones were the ones that were already there when I bought them, and no growth has occurred with them to this day.

The fourth, small potato that I bought later did quite well:


After a shorter period of time, there were several small, white roots, and a little vine popping out of the top!

I'm going to do a little blogging experiment with my third installment of this series -- I'm going to attempt to publish the entire blog, photos and all, from my iPhone. That's where the pictures are anyway, and if it works it'll cut an entire step out of my posting process!

Part 3 will be forthcoming!

Sweet Potato Pie! Errrr, Vine! (Part 1)

Alright, I said I'd document my attempt at Sweet Potato Vine, so here it is!

I have a very vague memory of doing this in school when I was little, but I only remember the beginning, and not how it turned out in the end. Even so, starting these little tubers made me feel like a kid again. I already had a great big sweet potato that's been living in my kitchen for about a month, that I was about to throw out. I say 'growing' and not 'sitting' in my kitchen, because it was already sprouting eyes and such. So, instead of throwing it out, I decided to grow it! I also bought two more from the store. I picked ones that also already seemed to be growing things.

The two that I bought:

I didn't get a 'before' picture of the one I already had.

Now, all three of them -- especially the one I already had -- were pretty big, and me being a bit gross-motor challenged, I was afraid of toppling over the glasses that I had with the potatoes making them top heavy, so I put some decorative rocks in the bottom of the glasses:

Then I stuck four toothpicks around the sides of all of the potatoes to hold them up and put them in, filling the glasses with water:

The third one was far too big to fit in any of my glasses, so I cut down a half-gallon milk jug, and used that instead.


Then I set them all on a window sill.

I later added a fourth, smaller potato, but I didn't get before pictures of that one, either. You'll see pictures of that one in Part 2.

Mandatory Introductory Post

Hello, dear readers!

Welcome to my newest blog, all about my adventures in indoor gardening! I'm pretty new to gardening in general, (last year being my first) and though I had some outdoor space last year for container gardening, this year I don't have a single square inch! And wouldn't you know it, my desire to grow EVERYTHING I can get my hands on has grown tenfold this year!

So, unsurprisingly, my living room has become overrun with pots of varying sizes containing everything from orchids to chives to strawberries to sweet potato vines. And let's not forget the Bromeliad, the rubber tree plant, the shamrock plant, or the philodendron. And . . . well, I could keep going, but I'm sure you'll meet most of my plants and flowers as I add to this blog!

I am by no means an expert grower. This is all very new to me, and I spend a lot of time learning by talking to people who DO have experience, as well as reading articles and blogs online. The point of this blog isn't to serve as a guide to others, necessarily, but rather to document my experiences -- the good AND the bad! For instance, a few weeks ago, I started my first sweet potato vines! I've been taking pictures of the progress along the way, and will post about it in an upcoming entry! I also may, on occasion, throw in other gardening-related posts, as well.

I look forward to getting feedback from everyone!

I'll leave you now with a video that a friend made for me -- she says that every time she hears this song, she thinks of me! I can't imagine why! I mean, I live on the SECOND floor, not the fourth! :P