last updated: june 16, 2026
hello! this page is a space for me to talk about/track the growth of the plants in my collection!! like a sort of plant journal!!
welcome + i hope you enjoy reading through these updates!!
i am always happy to answer any questions you may have about specific plants/general plant care so feel free to drop me a comment on my profile or e-mail me at neopetgameboy@protonmail.com
did some plant chores today~ a few weeks ago i put my alocasia frydek in a no drainage/semi-hydro setup. this is really the only way i can successfully grow alocasia at home. at work i take care of them just fine in soil/nursery pots but for some reason that just doesn't work for me at home. i'm guessing it's because i don't water them enough at home and maybe the airflow/humidity is different. (i don't recommend growing plants in no drainage situations lol) this one is in a chunky soil mixture + a layer of leca at the bottom that i use as a water line indicator. it was cycling through leaves prior to moving it and this has completely fixed the problem. i even have a new leaf on the way 0:-)
another exciting development is that my begonia ferox is putting out a new leaf with more pronounced bullae. (bullae are hair-like structures on the leaves and petioles of many begonia species. begonia ferox has very dark, pronounced bullae that almost look like black spikes.) for context, last year i overwatered my begonia ferox before leaving on a trip out of state and it dropped all of its leaves. it is one of my favorite plants and is a little difficult to get ahold of so i was patient and tried to regrow it. the rhizome was just an awkward, leafless stump for a while. when it finally put out new leaves none of them had any bullae. usually the leaf is covered in them but mine was putting out leaves that either had none or only had 3-4 per leaf. that being said, this new leaf looks a lot more promising and maybe if i am extra patient the plant can be restored to its former glory.
not houseplant-related but i wanted to share some pics of my porch plants!! i don't do this every spring because my apartment faces south and i have to CoNSTAnTLY water these plants so i only do it when i feel like i'm in the right headspace to handle it over the spring/summer....but i have a few things potted up. i have some different petunias, lantana (my beloved), a dark-leafed ipomea, and an absolutely STUNNING coleus. i'm not sure what variety of coleus it is but i'm in love. it's a swampy green color with red splotches on it. and it really is the star of the show on my porch, which is saying something because i have 3 different colors of lantana.
i have also done a little bit of downsizing. as plants grow i have to move them out of my cabinet and find other spaces for them which can be difficult because i don't have a lot of natural light and the spaces i have with grow lights are already full. a good problem to have but still a problem, so i did rehome a few of my plants!! that being said, i am also gearing up for a local plant expo in my area. which will be incredibly tempting!! i have my eye on a few particular things and i will do my best to stick to that list and not bring something random home. but we shall see, i'm quite excited.
up-potted a few of my plants that were needing it! i repotted my anthurium clarinervium into an 8". the most recent leaf has not entirely hardened off yet but i can tell it is smaller than some of the older leaves so it was definitely time. i love how thick and udon noodle looking anthurium roots are. it is putting out yet another new leaf as well, hopefully i did not disturb it too much by repotting. i also moved my philodendron green congo nuclear into a larger pot. because of the shape of the pot i had to plant it directly in the planter which i typically don't do and advise against...hopefully it's fine. i custom spray painted the new planter myself and i'm loving the colors. it was in the cutest popcorn ceramic planter. i'm hoping to find a hoya heuschkeliana var. to replace it. supposedly their blooms smell like buttered popcorn, so that would be a good fit. the philodendron green congo nuclear will have to move out of my cabinet as well. praying it can handle all of these sudden changes.
i don't know why, but i've been quite resistant to trellising my hoya up until now. i do like the way they look trailing, but i think certain species can benefit from a trellis, and my hoya pubicalyx is definitely one of them. i really think it looks cute and whimsical now!! manifesting blooms on this plant next year, hopefully. i plan on pumping it full of phosphorous for the rest of the year.
my hoya burtoniae is currently blooming- it has 3 open blooms and 11 active peduncles. the scent is not my favorite? but it is nostalgic. the best way i can describe it is musty butterscoth. it literally reminds me of being in church and my grandma pulling a butterscotch out of the bottom of her purse. god knows how long it had been there. that's exactly the smell.
also!! the new leaf on my philodendron florida beauty is almost hardened off and it is looking lovely. it's already spitting out a new leaf and hopefully that one will be just as nicely variegated.
last update for now. i purchased my hoya linearis last year and slowly started propagating it. i *finally* potted up all my cuttings. i'm hoping to grow this plant out into a very lush pot eventually. i love how charming and whimsical they look. like a weeping willow. i am a little nervous that it might not like the conditions outside of my cabinet since the humidity is much lower, but i guess we will wait and see. i quite like the checkered, shallow planter for it. idk why but it reminds me a little UFO :)
watered my plants today!! i typically water on tuesdays or sundays, which tend to be my days off. i don't water plants necessarily on a schedule (as i feel that can lead to overwatering) but rather, i just check in with my plants on these days and if they need water i go ahead and do so. i have a lot of growth to report! firstly, my philodendron green congo 'nuclear' has almost tripled in size since i got it ~4 months ago. it is almost too big for the cabinet so i will have to find another pot situation + a new place for it soon. i love the variegation on this plant so much (the leaves are variegated on both sides + the newer leaves tend to have a bright orange-pink color to them) AND it doesn't have the same problems that erubescens philodendron have where they get horribly leggy + their leaves constantly get stuck in their cataphylls.
i have four hoyas blooming at the moment, i took a picture of my silver lacunosa blooms. this plant currently has 8 blooms open on it and even more active peduncles. the scent is a sweet, jasmine type of scent. this is another plant that will need to potted up to the next size sometime this spring. it is a rather thirsty hoya for me right now, i often let the leaves get wrinkly before i get around to watering it and i think a bigger pot will help it get along without as frequent waterings.
my hoya mathilde has started to push out 3 peduncles. which is *wild* to me because i grew that plant from cuttings that i got not even a year ago. i really love the color of hoya mathilde blooms, they are a pale green color and they are fuzzy! HOWEVER. it has recently come to my attention that the blooms smell like cat piss. which i did not know!! mathilde is a hybrid of serpens x carnosa so i had just assumed that it would have a chocolately scent like the carnosa. i guess we will find out soon enough.
one last hoya update! my hoya polyneura is giving me not one but *two* new growth points!! this particular hoya grows sort of slower for me (and i do grow it in a bit lower light than i normally would so that does make sense) but i seem to get little growth spurts on this plant. this will be my second year growing it from just a 2 leaf cutting!! very exciting because i really want to have a nice, lush pot of this plant eventually. one of my fav plants ever ever ever for reallllll
my philodendron florida beauty has a newly unfurled leaf and THANK GOODNESS it's actually variegated. this plant has what is referred to as polaroid variegation, meaning when the leaf is first unfurling the variegation isn't apparent until the leaf starts to harden off. so i'm left holding my breath with every new leaf. so far this plant has alternated between non-variegated and variegated leaves, so i am relieved to see that this one has some nice patterning. should look lovely one it fully hardens off. last update: my anthurium clarinervium has a new leaf on it. i really love the red/brown sheen the new leaves on a lot of anthurium have when they are first coming in. this is another plant i will likely be needing to pot up sometime soon. i really need to do a spring "refresh" and purchase some more moss pole sleeves, sphagnum, stakes/trellises, etc. to get ready for all the *spring plant chores* ahead of me!!