It has been a little over a year now, and I am proud to say that I have kept this plant alive for over a year now! In the past, I have had trouble with plants. When I was young I accidentally killed a beautiful little cactus garden by under-watering it. One by one, each cactus died off. Another plant died due to me playing with a punching ball too close to it.
As an adult, I have had plants die due to bugs, improper sunlight, etc. Vacation times also caused problems. This plant survived that.
I started 3 separate plants from seed (some gifts I got for Easter a year before). One was a Snapdragon, a favorite flower of mine, one was a Marigold which is also very nice, and then the last one, Impatiens.
They all started pretty well, which was exciting for me. I looked forward to seeing them change from day to day. I was worried about a three-day weekend coming up, but somehow, I tried some things, and the plants survived! They were on the verge of dying, but I revived them, soon enough.
All three plants did very well, for quite some time. The Snapdragon became challenging, as it grew taller. I also noticed it wasn't thickening in its stems, and that made it difficult.
The Marigold was doing well, it even looked like it would start to flower, showing the tiniest bit of gold starting to bloom, but even that one bud did not fully bloom.
The Impatiens grew hardy and fast. I had no real trouble with them. They soon all became too big for their pots, and I wound up transferring them to new pots, (twice!) in a short time that they grew. That was a new experience for me. I had never repotted plants before, and I was sure they were going to die soon after, but they didn't!
I bought some water globes, to help me with my watering. I followed the directions exactly. That was a mistake. Not the water globes themselves, but following the directions exactly, when I should have followed my intuition.
The directions said to fill the globe with water, every time it emptied. Two of the three globes emptied quite quickly, but I figured the instructions knew best. What I didn't know, was that I was over watering my plants!
It didn't take long for me to figure that out, however. I still used the globes, but also estimated when the plants needed to be watered. I also realize that the Snapdragon and Marigold should have gone outside, but my balcony doesn't get much sun. Also, I was enjoying them so much indoors!
The Marigold, to my surprise died first. I was very sad, because it was the only one that showed any hint of blooming. I am still unsure as to why - but my guess is that it either needed repotting, yet again, or perhaps it was root rot . Either way, I felt discouraged.
The Snapdragon was next to go, which also made me sad, but was also a relief, because I struggled with its straggly stems.
The Impatiens stayed strong, but they never bloomed. So, I was disappointed.
I did some research online. I found out that Marigolds don't really live that long, and Snapdragons are often a big challenge. Maybe I am not doing so bad after all.
By my Impatiens first birthday, I read that it is good to prune them. I was worried about this, due to my history with plants, but knew it had to be done. I found a video on YouTube on how to do it. The Impatiens in the video were growing outside, and a older man used a chainsaw, and whacked them all away!
"What are you doing?!!!!" I thought. It was unfathomable that he just beheaded several colorful blooms! After the hacking, he said:
"Don't worry, they will grow back, they always do. I am allergic to them, so I have to get rid of them."
"Oh," I thought. I guess it isn't a joke. He also seemed serious. I once looked up a different video on how to change a license plate (because my car's plates are attached differently from other cars I have had) and the guy in the video totally ruined his car. By the end of the video, I realized it was a very stupid joke. I was not amused by that guy, but I trusted Chainsaw guy.
So, I pruned my Impatiens. First, a little. Then a little more. I then was just trying to bend a stem to see how the rest of the plant was doing, when I heard a "crack" sound.
"Omigosh, what did I do?!!!!" I was panicked. Was it the punching bag experience again? I accidentally broke off another one after that, too! Ugh!
I put the prunings in a vase. It has been a few weeks now, and you know what? They are growing roots in the water! I should replant them, and see how they do.
My potted Impatiens have new sprouts forming, and I am giving them more shade, because I read that they like shade. Also, they are more likely to bloom if they grow slower. So, we shall see what happens.
