4 Plant Growth Updates: Then vs Now 🌱

I started my journey as a plant mom around the same time as everyone else on the internet – around March/April 2020, when we could no longer take going outside and meeting friends as granted ✨. Stuck at home, I started to look into houseplants as a way to bring nature inside and to keep myself busy. I grew up in a virtually houseplant-free zone. Apart from a pretty wild, small garden that our landlord tended to, and the obligatory basil plant on the kitchen sill, my family had no greenery in the house. So venturing into houseplants (and a little bit of balcony gardening this spring) was and still is an adventure and a challenge for me, but one that fills me with much joy and wonder whenever I see a new leaf or pup emerge from one the plants under my care.

Now that I have had several of my plants for months or even up to a year, I thought it would be fun to compare how far some of them have come and add a few thoughts about each of them…

As a short disclaimer beforehand, when I water my plants I soak them until the whole soil is saturated with water, I don’t do anything to increase humidity, so all of them tolerate my super dry German apartment and I now pot all my plants in a pretty well-draining, gritty soil and in pots with drainage, since I enjoy having to water my plants more often and I am very afraid of root rot. All of these plants have also gone through at least one or even two moves, so I believe they are all quite resistent. Ok, let’s go!

Dracaena fragrans “Corni”

This is the plant I have had the longest (I actually bought her around March or April). She went through a lot of early abuse – overwatering, aggressive repottings, full sun, full shade, no fertilizing up to this spring season… I was experimenting a lot. She also only receives tap water (hello, crusty tips!) since I can’t be bothered to use anything else on my plants. But she stuck through all of it and has still pretty much doubled in size. My verdict in short: she’s a great beginner plant, in long: she…

• can tolerate under and overwatering reasonably well (I now water when a good portion of the lower leaves start curling inwards)
• can tolerate lower light pretty well, but grows quicker and prettier in brighter indirect light
• hates direct sun and heat: even after just a few minutes of direct sun exposure, she curls up her leaves and looks like she wants to disappear and die – so kinda like me in summer heat
• can develop super thicc roots, which are fun to look at when repotting

Sansevieria trifasciata “Sansa“

This is another plant that pretty much doubled in size. Snake plants are usually advertised as low-light plants, but let me tell you that this plant exploded once I got her used to our southern-facing balcony. She is very tolerant of low light, but if you haven’t seen any or only slow growth from your snake plant, try upping your light exposure. I water the pot thoroughly once every few weeks once the soil has dried throughout (that is very sparingly during winter), but during summer with the full southern sun exposure, I increased waterings up to once per week. My verdict in short: low-effort beginner plant – in long…

• can tolerate anything from low indirect to high direct light
• very tolerant of underwatering, hates overwatering and soggy soil – rather err on the side of underwatering, but I also wouldn’t recommend waiting more than a month or so between waterings in order to keep the roots alive and well
• has very shallow roots, so it’s better to pot it up into a wider rather than a much deeper pot

Hybrid Aloe

I got this aloe from the supermarket, so I have no idea what species it is, but it is some kind of hybrid aloe and absolutely gorgeous. She has also bloomed twice! for me since I got her (whereas the typical aloe veras are rather hard to get to bloom, I believe). Unfortunately I broke off a few of her tips when moving, but she’s thanked me by giving me two pups, so I believe I’m forgiven. My verdict in short: gorgeous succulent – in long:

• treat as most succulents: gritty soil mix, only water when dry and admire at leisure
• I water when the leaves become noticeably thinner and bendier
• likes direct sun, but should be slowly adjusted to it to avoid sun burns
• has beautiful, thick almost orangy roots
• regularly produces pups, which make great gifts (at least according to my mom 😊)

Golden Pothos

I admit it, I was a skeptic. The entire internet recommended Pothos to me and I didn’t get the hype… But then I got one and she’s my absolute baby. She’s just non-stop growing (except for two months or so in the dead of winter) and since I chopped the head off one of the vines and staked Goldilocks, she sports – and I counted – over 10 active growth points and started producing larger and larger leaves. It is an absolute joy and pleasure to watch her grow and I can only recommend. My verdict in short: absolute legend – in long:

• can tolerate under- and overwatering to some extent
• clearly shows when she’s thirsty (leaves become slightly droopy and curled)
• likes bright indirect light, but not necessarily direct sun (I saw some bleaching and burning of the leaves when she was right up against a southern window)
• grows super fast and easy to propagate

I’ll leave it at that for now – I might do another plant update post in the future either about these or about some of my other plants. I hope you enjoyed this little overview and maybe found some of my short descriptions helpful. Bye 👋