Herself's Houseplants

So you have this Chia pet that’s been in the back of your hall closet forever. Did you know that the Chia seeds are very high in omega-3 fatty acids? Perhaps they would be better added to your salad.

( Just kidding, the seeds may be treated with something, buy some food grade ones to eat. )

Several U.S. researchers maintain the seeds used in products such as Chia Pet are actually good for the human body, it was reported Sunday.

The research that determined the seeds are high in omega-3 fatty acids comes as the omega-3 supplement market in the United States is reaching new heights, the Chicago Tribune reported. . . .

Chia seeds are derived from Salvia hispanica, a mint-related plant, and chia is regulated as a food by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Researchers: Chia seeds are good for you

Better to find some Chia seeds and plant them yourself for a healthy addition to your salads and sandwiches.

This is a really cool idea. Yagil was looking for a way to grow food on the space station and came up with the perfect balcony garden.

. . .

Yagil’s technique relied on floral bricks made from phenolic foam, that familiar green and spongy material which, placed at the bottom of a vase, is used for holding the stems of cut flowers.

Yagil, who worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, believed that his floral brick growing technique could be used in a space station, where room for growing plants is limited. Each of Yagil’s plants requires only 1 square foot of growing space.

Yagil’s method results in incredibly rapid growth. A 4-inch tomato seedling, for example, can grow into a 4-foot tall, fruit-laden specimen in only 60 days.

To grow any plant according to this technique, you will need to take a 3-by-4-by-9-inch floral brick. Remove a plug from one of its short ends that is equal in size to the root ball of the seedling you wish to plant. A seedling that has produced two to four leaves – available at the nursery in six- or eight-packs – is perfect.

Wrap the brick, except for the bottom end, in black plastic and secure it with strapping tape. Stand the brick up in a 1-gallon (6-inch diameter) plastic container – the kind you get when you buy a 1-gallon plant at the nursery – with holes in the bottom. Keep the brick stable by running pieces of strapping tape up one side of the container, across the brick, and down the other side.

Place a deep, water-retaining dish under the container. Keep the brick wet by filling the dish. The dish is filled as soon as the water in it evaporates, as often as once a day in summer. Liquid fertilizer is added to the water every third time the dish is filled.

. . . [ read more What to plant on a balcony ]

I wonder if you couldn’t just stand the brick up in a water dish and put some rocks around it to keep it stable? Or place the brick in a pretty flower pot and toss some gravel at the bottom to hold it in place and upright?  Totally cool and a great way to have a garden in a very small space.

I saw a request for which types of plants are good for dish gardens recently. First decide if you wish to do a dry desert type dish garden or a tropical garden. Traditional dish gardens do not have drainage in the container. I usually provide some in mine.

Here are some commonly used dish garden plants that have worked well for many.

Wet:
Carnivorous plants
African Violets
Pothos
Podocarpus
Pittosporum
Pepperomia
Syngonium
Bromeliad
Croton
Pteris fern
Creeping Fig
Neanthe Bella palm

Dry:
Jade
Crassula
Kalanchoe
Sedum
Pilosocereus
Haworthia
Aloe
Cleistocactus
Sansevieria
Echeveria
Lithops
Graptopetalum

But the best thing to do is visit a nursery or two, look for small plants with similar growing needs.

See also on this site:
Dish gardens in stainless steel bowls
More dish garden ideas, wire frame holders

I’ve been experimenting with indoor water gardening since I’ve seen the cool gardens at the flower show. This is more of an indoor bog garden than full underwater garden. I’m still looking for cool plants for one that is totally under water.

Lucky bamboo and rush, both straight and curly, do excellent in indoor water gardens. The rush will eventually get to be about 2′ tall, about the same as the lucky bamboo is right now. It will also fill out so it is not so sparse.

I’m told umbrella plants (cyperus involucratus ) do very well indoors too. The store has been out each time I’ve been by. Papyrus does not do well indoors. Mine took about a week to start looking unhappy and I re-planted it outdoors.

These plants are just planted in the vase with rocks to keep the lucky bamboo standing upright. The rocks will also help to hide some of the roots from the rush.

These plants can be found in places that sell pond supplies. I find they sell out almost as fast as the stores stock them so you may have to obtain them online.