Houseplants from seed

Hi there,

I'm looking for something to grow indoors that will eventually be big and green - I'm not experienced with plants at all, but from google something like a giant peace lilly or a yucca looks like it might fit the bill. I've read that a lot of things are difficult to start from seed, so buying a plant when it's young is also an option.

Any recommendations? Are the two mentioned above suitable, and how would I go about getting started? (at the moment I'm at the level of seed plus dirt plus pot plus water equals plant, so go easy )

Thanks,

Tony

 

I grew philodendron from seed to being too big as a house plant some years ago.
Fatsia, (false castor oil plant), is also a good one from seed.
Best to go for something that likes the lower light levels without getting leggy.
Rubber plants, (ficus) are possible.

Buying small plants is probably easier though.

 

Hi Twilkes,

Here's something big and green! It's a parlour palm, not very expensive to buy, or maybe you know someone who would give you a shoot of theirs.

They prefer a cooler room away from heat sources.

 

I think as a novice buying a small plant to grow on would be your best option..Seed growing not impossible but not easy .I agree with Pete on the Fatsia if you should like to try ..

Dave

 

A friend of mine grows lots of aloe vera plants every year. So many in fact that he gives a lot of them away to a local charity shop to sell. Considering that they must be easy to grow!

 

Cheese plant is big and green - but by "big" I mean "broad", which may not be what you want. Young ones will have smaller leaves, but mine has leaves that are a couple of feet across. Its been variously neglected and hacked back over the years, but must be 20 years old now, so don't expect that sort of size on day one!

 

Avocado!

Hi Twilkes, I can heartily recommend an avocado plant. Our Jaakko (yes, he has a name ) is now 3 years old and is starting to hint we might need a conservatory. Jaakko is leafy all year around, very bushy and tolerates central heating, low levels of light and a tight container.

Only ripe avocado seeds germinate so don't buy too firm ones. We planted 5, 4 of which germinated. They are happily growing together for a bushier feel. (Plenty of guacamole in our household at that time... )

Jaakko is now around 2m tall, has branches starting from the knee level and lives in an IKEA waste bin.

 

Thanks everyone for the suggestions - I was already recommended to try avocado, which I will do, and looked at a few youtube videos with the stones suspended over a glass of water and held up by toothpicks. But did you name him Jaakko, or did you wait until he was old enough to tell you himself? 8o)

To cover all bases, I ended up with some cactus seeds, a herb planter kit, a 12-inch tall Canna of some kind, and ordered some fatsia japonica seeds from ebay to use up the rest of the soil left over from the cactus pot.

Apart from the Canna, they are all/will all be sat on north facing windows - will this hamper their chances? They are bright rooms, so will get light but without direct sunlight - do any of them need direct sunlight? And will any of them die if they don't get watered for a couple of days?

Cheers,

Tony

 

Hi,

Actually Jaakko the Avocado Plant is named after Jaakko the Spider who lived between my banana plant (incidentally, not called Jaakko) and the radiator in my student flat in 1999. Jaakko the Spider was naturally named after Jaakko the dog-I-never-had-when-I-was-a-child, but this is another story. Anyways, you might say that the name runs in the family (ignoring the obvious biological thingies).

... Hhhowever, don't bother with the toothpick show (unless you have kids), the seeds germinate well in normal pots and compost. You can also take the young plants outdoors in the summer to teach them some manners.

 

Hi there,

One month on and the avocado seed has split so hopefully that's doing okay, and will sprout soon.

A lot of the fatsia japonica seeds germinated and the largest is now about an inch tall - see attachment for their current status in their ice cream tub home.

How much should I be watering them? There is still scope for the soil to dry out further, and just mist them on their leaves, would that be better than keeping the soil too wet?

And at what point should I put them in individual pots, or would a number of them be able to live in the same pot to provide a more dense plant?

Cheers for any help,

Tony

 

Is it OK to plant Fatsia seeds now to raise as house plants until next spring ? I know this is like how long is a piece of string , but how big would you expect them to be by next spring, so they can go outside ? Are they slow growing ?

TIA