learn as i grow

June 26, 2026

Here's another post-surgery update on my monstera plant. I ended up removing the yellowing leaf because it seemed to be dragging the fenestrated leaf down with it. Then to help the fenestrated leaf stay upright I loosely tied it to a chopstick that I stuck in the soil (lol). I was low on supplies and have never added a stake to any of my plants so I really just made this up as I went along. It's a learning experience. I hope it works out ok!

The other leaf seems to be doing just fine. It holds itself upright, which I take is a good sign.

I watered the plant yesterday and added some hydrogen peroxide to the water to kill off any potential pests.

June 26, 2026

Here's the amaryllis update as promised. I still haven't bought a bigger container for it (oops). As you can see in the last photo, the roots have extended even further out of the bottom of the pot.

photos of my amaryllis plant from June 8, 2026

June 26, 2026

June 11, 2026

June 10, 2026

I finally got the courage to work on my biggest (and oldest) kalanchoe plant!

This kalanchoe struggled when I moved to my current apartment. I talk about it here, and the post has links to old photos of the plant. I think I really just had to wait for the plant to get acclimated. It lost a lot of leaves, the color changed, but I noticed today... some new growth! In the photo above, there's a tiny little sprout coming up from the soil. Yay!!

That sprout gave me a lot of hope, however there were still some very long, leggy parts of the plant that I feared would take too much energy to keep feeding. They were way out of proportion with the rest of the plant. So I cut them back. The plant now looks like this:

It doesn't look great, but I think this will be beneficial for the overall health of the plant. Think of it like a choppy haircut. Unfortunate, but it'll grow back!

I've had a lot of success in the past with propagating kalanchoe plants, so I took the cuttings from the top of the plant and put them in a small pot together. So cute! I hope they'll do well. I took some plastic packaging out of the recycle bin to use as a drip tray. (See left side photo below)

After taking the cuttings, I was left with a y-shaped piece of the stem. Can a new plant grow from this? It has plenty of nodes... I don't have a pot for it at the moment, but I'm letting it callus over for a few days to see if any roots start to show. Worth a shot.

June 10th, 2026

The golden pothos is thriving! I keep this plant in a hanging basket in my office space, and it's had a lot of new growth lately. It's beautiful.

I've had the golden pothos for a few years and until today, it was still in the original soil from the store... I finally gave it a refresh this afternoon. The old soil had become sort of hydrophobic and stuck together. I'm grateful the plant is still doing well! I definitely left it a long time without repotting. Now it is freshly planted it in Sol Soils houseplant chunky mix, and I'm hoping this will encourage even more growth!

June 10, 2026

I finally gave this plant a soil refresh. If you look at past photos, the soil seemed to have sunk down over time. Today I emptied the pot, poked some extra drainage holes in the bottom, and then filled the pot with all-new soil. I placed the plants higher up in the pot so they don't have to strain to get sunlight. I also moved them a little closer to the center so they can grow more freely.

Photos from June 4, 2026

Here's how the monstera looks post-surgery. Two leaves quickly turned completely yellow and have been removed. The leaf with the brown spot is slowly turning yellow on one side. The other two leaves look okay currently, though the fenestrated leaf isn't holding itself up as high as it used to, so I'm a little worried about that. It grows from the same node as the yellowing leaf which has also started to lean downwards. I wonder if I should cut that one? Or do I give it some time? Maybe add a stake instead to help them stand up? (I've never done that before!)

The leaf on the far left of the first photo seems to be doing quite well at the moment. In the photo it looks like it's leaning on the TV for support, but it actually isn't touching it at all! It's standing up next to it on its own.

I'm hoping for the best; there's still a lot of green, and as PlantswithKrystal says: "if there's green, there's something to save". The new soil seems to be draining better than the old stuff so at least there's that!

Hi guys! I have another update on the monstera in the works. I took photos today but might not have time to write the post until this weekend.

I wanted to do a few more repots today too but I ran out of my succulent soil mix. I have more on the way. One of the kalanchoes is in desperate need of a refresh!

June 4, 2026

I know I just repotted this plant a month ago... but I've been thinking it could use a slightly bigger container, so I decided to move it into an empty microwave rice cup. I poked drainage holes in the cup using an exacto knife, which worked well but is definitely dangerous. So maybe don't try it at home lol.

June 4, 2026

I finally separated the second plant baby from my Earth Day plant. Now it's in its very own container! I moved the momma plant (left) into a slightly bigger pot. The pot is an old applesauce container; I poked holes in it with an exacto knife to create drainage. The baby plant (right) is in the original pot they shared, and I gave them both new soil. I used Sol Soils Succulent Gritty Mix for these ones.

June 4, 2026

Quick update on my new lucky bamboo plant. I wanted to make sure there were no hitchhikers in here, so I removed the soil that it came with, sprayed the roots with some hydrogen peroxide, and repotted it in some fresh soil. I used the Houseplant Chunky Mix from Sol Soils here. Hopefully the plant likes it!

I have never had a lucky bamboo before so I'm not sure whether I should keep the twist ties on it. I ended up removing the lower one and keeping the upper one. If I understand correctly, the ties can be used to train the plant into a certain shape, but as of now I have no real intention of doing that. If anyone has insight into whether or not I should remove the twist tie (or add more? idk) I would greatly appreciate it.

I think this plant is so cute! I'm very happy to have it added to my plant family. And look at those roots! They look nice and healthy to me.

May 31, 2026

So as you may have seen already, I had to do surgery on my monstera plant to save it from root rot. Here’s what it looked like after removing the damaged roots (aka almost everything):

I’ve repotted it (see below). I’m hoping I caught the issue soon enough that it will recover and thrive again. Please send happy thoughts! I love this plant. You can see the yellowing and brown spots that made me check the roots in the first place. I’m hoping I’ve done the right thing! I’ve never dealt with a propagation/repotting/etc on a plant of this size.

May 10, 2026