my green thumb

Green Thumb?

I wouldn't say that I have a green thumb yet, but these are the plants that I started with and have cared for a little over two months now. They have battled against fire ants, the weather, a lawn mover, and lots of repotting, but they're still alive so I guess I'm doing a pretty good job. :)

I have 3 different type of plants:

2 - Habanero Pepper plants
1 - Manzana de Oro tree
2 - Mystery Trees (only recently did I find out it was a Moringa tree)

I've been gardening since my mom gave three plants, from her very own garden, after telling her I was interested in having a garden at my own house. Since early July, I've been taking my mom's advice, while also observing the plants and monitoring their needs on a daily basis. After about 90 days, I was able to pick some habaneros of my plant. They weren't fully ripe yet but I had to save them from a fire ant invasion and repot ASAP. I'm not sure when to expect fruit from my tree, but hopefully before my lease ends. The mystery tree grows fast so hopefully it will tower over me within the next few months. I find gardening to be very theraputic and it allows me to unwind after a stressful day. I love the hands-on aspect, as it allows me to focus on one task and analyze one thing at a time, instead of being all over the place like I am usually. I hope to expand my garden and grow more fruits and vegetables of my own so that I can live more sustainably, save some money, or even make some by selling what I don't need. I should probably expand my knowledge on plants and gardening terms as well.

baby habanero and golden apple plants — Fig 1. baby Habanero plant and Manzana de Oro tree from left to right (7.8.22)

Fig 2. habanero plants before the infestation (9.4.22)

Fig 3. habanero plant, repotted after an ant infestation (9.15.22)

mom's fruit tree — Fig 4. fruit from my mom's tree (age unknown)

baby golden apple tree — Fig 5. my golden apple tree (9.15.22)

mystery moringa — Fig 6. baby mystery tree (7.8.22)

Updates

Quite a bit has happened since 9/15/22 so here's what you missed :)

rip habanero — Fig 2. a few days after the initial picture was taken, the plant got worse because I seperated them and they didnt survive. o~0

new pepper seedlings — Fig 3. I went home to visit my parents and took some of her chili peppers and germinated the seeds (10.20.22)

Fig 4. my friend got a cat recently and I wanted to try growing some catnip and now I have alot of seedlings (10.20.22)

Fig 5. I planted a carrot top to see if anything would happen and in a few weeks I will have a flower, with seeds I can then use to grow carrots..maybe (10.20.22)

Fig 6. I planted the bottom of an onion along with two garlic cloves but only the onion has sprouted so far (10.20.22)

Fig 7. I repurposed the tub the peppers were in and burried some potatoes and I am starting to see some growth (10.20.22)

Fig 8. a while back I planted the top of a pineapple I bought from the store and while it may not seem like it, it has started to root and grow (10.20.22)

citronella plant — Fig 9. I bought tis from home depot, repotted and pruned it because it was really crooked and now it's doing quite alright (10.20.22)

me next to the moringa tree — Fig 10. me (~5 feet tall) next to Moringa tree (10.22.22)

small moringa — Fig 11. I actually had two Moringa trees that I never sperated and the smaller one wasn't doing too well until I seperated it (10.20.22)

moringa — Fig 12. I pruned the Moringa tree to promote top growth and now it's alot taller than me (10.20.22)

sad manazana de oro tree — Fig 13. The hurricane and this cold weather is not treating my golden apple tree very well so I pruned it to promote stem growth. It will thrive once the tropical climate returns. (10.20.22)

plant	scientific name	learn more
Habanero Peppers	Capsicum chinense Habanero Group	so spicy my friend downed like 1/3 gallon of milk after eating a whole pepper
Manazana de Oro	Spondias dulcis	there are a lot of different names for it and the fruit is delicious
Mystery Tree	Moringa oleifera	I had no clue what this tree actually was until 9.15.22. and it still lived :P
Chili Pepper	Capsicum Annuum	It's either a Cayenne or Chili De Arbol but I'm not sure, I guess I'll find out in a few months
Catnip	Nepeta cataria	I've always been curious about how exactly catnip affects cats
Carrot	Daucus carota	Check out this article if you're interested in experimenting with carrot tops :)
Onion	Allium cepa	More tips on how to grow an onion from an oinion
Potato	Solanum tuberosum	Potatoes grow differently depending on your region and their variety
Pineapple	Ananas comosus	Growing a pineapple from a pineapple top is pretty straight forward but it'll be a while before I get to enjoy it's fruit
Citronella	Pelargonium graveolens	Mostiquitos are no fun, and this plant won't get rid of them for good but it sure does help

My Green Thumb

Hi, I'm Alyson and when I'm not busy stressing, I like to garden and play games but since I've been in school, I've been more focused on tending my mini garden.

Green Thumb?

Updates

For more information...

I don't use social media anymore but here's a link to a meme page my friend and I made from an inside joke: