Murray's Weblog

Growing Things

Anyone who's known me for long enough knows I love to grow plants. When I was a child I was fascinated with hydroponics and always wanted my own advanced hydroponic greenhouse. (And some day I'll have a house with a yard where I can build one.)

Ten years ago I moved into one of my mom's rental units (a duplex) and put together both a hydroponic kit and dug a nice 20' x 20' garden plot in the back yard. I grew the plants from seeds, starting in February indoors with one of those plastic tubs with the little indentations for each seedling. It's an amazing feeling to start with just some little sprouts and end up at the summer with a huge thriving forest!

When I moved to New York my apartment (co-op) had just two North facing windows. Before long I was borrowing single-leaf clippings from friends' African Violets and planting them. I think I ended up with at least half a dozen plants dotting the windowsill, sucking in what little light got pulled into the apartment.

So now I've been in my Los Angeles apartment (condo) for 18 months and I can't take it anymore! I've been bitten by the planting bug! It is actually a collection of little stories. (And if this bores you, sorry. I just love my little plants so I'm going to keep rambling.)

First there was the plant that would not die. When I bought this place there had been a couple plants—mostly dead—left on the balcony. There was a dead tree, a huge pot with some evidence of another long-dead corpse, and a ratty looking plant on its last legs. I've got no idea what species it is.

The balcony has been a place where I usually avoided. The accumulation of soot (I'm on a busy street) and grime didn't make it too pleasant to visit. My roommate Hans would go out there to smoke, but that's about it. This Spring I actually took notice of the plant-that-would-not-die. It had been well over a year and apart from the RARE rainfall, the plant had never been watered. I even asked Hans if he ever put some water on it and he said no.

So I figured if that thing could last so long with complete neglect, it might thrive if I gave it some care. You can see it in the picture with the three plants sitting on a table. It's the tall feller.

Story #2 is about the Boston Ferns. Actually it's a brief tale. I wanted some plants for indoors and bought to ferns at the grocery store. I tried hanging them in my bedroom and in the kitchen, but this apartment gets almost light so they looked like they were on their way to ruin. After I returned from Colorado where I'd been finishing my master's degree I made a mission of bringing them to life.

There's a single place (on my keyboard, actually) in my room that ever got any sunlight, so I would position both ferns there. I would occasionally spray their leaves with water to keep them moist. They have responded wonderfully, but now that the Summer Sun is higher in the sky my bedroom no longer gets any sun. So I moved the ferns out to the balcony.

Story #3 is about avocados. I've just started falling in love with this Fruit of God and every time I visit the local Farmers' Market I always buy three or four to each over the week whenever I think they've ripened. I remembered hearing about people growing avocado pits so I looked on the web to find instructions. I got out a plastic cup and three toothpicks and set up four pits a few weeks ago.

Some of them have split and two or three have sent out a root. One has been far ahead of his peers. I've named him Seymore because he reminds me of the Little Shop of Horrors. (I know, in the musical the plant's name was Audrey. I like Seymore better, though.)

A few weeks down the line and I have almost a dozen avocado pits set up in my bathroom. I'm hoping two or three more will start growing.

So now the planting bug has really hit me. I went to the nursery and bought two more ferns and a bunch of Impatiens which I set in one of those neat hanging baskets. I also got a Hummingbird feeder! I've decided that I'm going to really clean up that balcony and do the Extreme Makeover and turn it into something beautiful.

Posted by Murray Todd Williams at June 10, 2004 10:43 AM