Pink leaves, funky offshoots and worms

Or, what I'm looking forward to when it comes to my houseplants

Earlier this week I glanced at the Hoya tricolor in my study and spotted a small dark pink leaf. The Hoya producing pink leaves is as clear a sign of Spring for me as the daffodils emerging in the garden.

In this post, I’ve collected all the houseplant-related things I’m looking forward to this Spring and Summer (and I always love hearing what you’re looking forward to as well).

Pink leaves

Even though it’s called ‘tricolor’, it took my Hoya tricolor quite some time to actually start producing three colours—I’m fairly sure that it took at least a year for the pink ones to appear (it has also never flowered). But when they first appeared I was stunned: they’re just such an unusual colour on a plant that already has plenty of beautiful green foliage.

My Hoya tricolor earlier this week.

A funky offshoot

A few weeks back I discovered the Echeveria that lives on our living room windowsill branching out—quite literally. It often creates little offshoot for the delicate yellow flowers that it produces year round. But I’ve never seen something like this before and am excited to see it develop. Will it be a whole new plant? Will it grow roots as well? Will it fall off so I can plant it?

Echeveria with its little offshoot (and flowers in the back).

Accelerated growth

The past couple of weeks have been wet and I’ve not yet seen the effect of brighter days yet on my plants (I did see the effect of a series of wet days, which meant I had to water far less).

That moment when my houseplants spot the seasons turning and start responding to more light is magical. Suddenly all of them start growing faster, rather than struggling to produce leaves (or dropping leaves).

A couple of my plants have struggled over the Winter, and I’m curious to see how they’ll be bouncing back. I also bought a handful of plants at a sale over the Summer, and have not yet seen how they respond to Spring.

Worms

This one is a bit of a tangent, perhaps, as it’s only slightly houseplant-related. But I’ve ordered a wormery (I got this one) and am excited to set it up once it arrives!

I’m also slightly nervous for being responsible for keeping hundreds of worms alive as they munch their way through our kitchen waste. After a couple of months they’ll have produced a drawer full of compost that I can use in the garden.

They also produce what people in the know call ‘worm tea’ (…): the liquid that drips out of the compost collects in a special reservoir in the bottom and is apparently really useful as a fertilizer for garden plants and houseplants. I’m not a huge fertilizer of anything, really, but I’m eager to try this out!

Along those lines, I’ve got a post planned on some of the houseplant-experiments I’ve undertaken over the years, including using a mixture of milk and water to combat lice (spoiler: not great), using a plant sensor and using various watering globes.

What are you looking forward to when it comes to your houseplants? Are you watching new growth already, do you have a wishlist of new plants to buy, or experiments to try out? Do share and join the conversation 🌱

Some of my plants basking in the early Spring sunlight.

What I’ve been up to

• In February I wrote about dealing with fungus gnats, and learned some more tips from readers.

• Over at Female Owned, I wrote about the myth of consistency, and invited readers to ask me their questions about newsletters, which led to some great discussions!

As always, thank you for taking time out of your day to read A Houseplant Journal, for commenting and sharing. Writing these posts and connecting with you brings me great joy.

I’ll be back in your inbox soon with more reflections on taking care of 120+ houseplants, sharing the joys and struggles of trying to grow an indoor jungle. 🌱