The Wonder Spray or My Diy Plant Spray/Multi-Purpose Cleaner

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I created this spray based on 2 different recipes I found online, but they both seem to have disappeared off the face of the Earth. I will share them later, if I ever find them.

Anyway, I originally started to use this spray for spraying down new plants (to prevent any buggy hitchhikers from moving in), treating any mild infestations (fungus gnats, ugh!), and to disinfect tools and pots before use.

I have since found it useful for a ton of different things around the house.

Some uses includes:

• Removing sticky labels from items from thrift stores, and cleaning them afterwards.
• Removing spots and stains on clothing.
• Spraying on musty clothes and linens to refresh them.
• Spray and wipe away soap scum in sinks (I keep a bottle in the bathroom for this purpose).
• Spraying nails and nail clippers after trimming.
• Cleaning stuff animals. Just spray and scrub with a cleaning cloth, then air dry.
• Wiping down shoes after wear, even lightly spraying inside to freshen up.

It's basically the first thing I grab for just about anything now. It does the job, and when I run out I can make more in minutes.

Here's My Wonder Spray Diy Plant Spray

Ingredients:

• 70% Rubbing alcohol, not 90%!
• Baby shampoo, or any gentle liquid soap.
• Water, preferably filtered or distilled.
• A 12 oz spray bottle, I use these bottles from Dollar Tree in their beauty aisle.
• Peppermint essential oil.

1. Fill the bottle about 1/5 with rubbing alcohol.
2. Add a squirt of shampoo (about the amount you would use to wash your hair), then slowly fill to the top with water. You want to do it slowly because otherwise you will end up with a ton of foam spilling out of the bottle (I learned that the hard way). Alternately, you can add the water before the shampoo, you just need to leave a little extra room for it.
3. Add about 8 drops of the essential oil before screwing the top on the bottle and shaking up your solution.
4. Now it is ready to use.

Hope it works wonders for you too!

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August Home Depot Plant Hauls

So, I recently got new glasses, and...

The place I got them from happens to be in the same shopping center as my local Home Depot, and...

I haven't browsed their garden center in a long time, so...

I got some new plants!

This first one is a corpuscularia lehmanni, commonly known as an ice plant. It was priced at $4.98. I normally wait until the end of August to buy succulents at Home Depot because they usually have good sales for them then, but I couldn't wait. The shape of the leaves is so cute, they remind me of little crab claws.

The label for this one just said it was a "tropical" plant, annoyingly vague.  Google Lens told me it was a pilea involucrata 'Norfolk', or a Norfolk friendship plant. It was $5.98. The coloring and wrinkled leaves reminds me of my dearly departed hemigraphis alternata, or Purple Waffle Plant. Hopefully, this one will be easier to keep alive.

The label on this one just said "Peperomia", great except there are like thousands of different peperomia plants. Google Lens says it is possibly a peperomia 'hope'. It was $5.98. The leaves are adorable and I love how they're group in threes with the stems growing from the center.

Another succulent, this is a ledebouria socialis, aka a Silver Squill or Leopard Lilly. It was $5.98.  It really caught my eye with the pretty pattern on its long leaves. I was actually surprised to see it with the succulents, it resembles a lot of tropical plants I've seen.

This last plant I actually got on a different trip about a week and a half later.  Same story, I needn't something at a shop that just happened to be near the Home Depot. I actually only intended to buy some seeds, a microgreens mix, more on that later.

I spotted this beauty on the way to checkout, priced at $9.98 with a decorative pot. It's a hoya carnosa 'Freckles Splash'. With those thick shiny deep green leaves and the pretty splash pattern, it just had to come home with me.

I will be sure to share more later about how they are doing and what I've learned about them.

Until then, stay green.

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Welcome to the Blog and Meet Poppy, My Gateway Plant

 Welcome to my plant blog. Glad you could be here, and hope you don't mind the spilt potting soil.

I created this blog as a place share my love (or obsession) for all my house plants. This includes sharing photos of my latest plants, any useful information I learned while attempting to care for them, and possible goofs along the way. It will be an interesting journey.

To start, let me introduce the plant that started my plant addiction love. Poppy Popcorn.

Poppy is a mammillaria gracilis fragilis, commonly known as a thimble cactus. I bought her from Walmart's garden center September 2022. Truth be told, I don't recommend buying plants from Walmart, but that's a tale for a different day.

She was a bit of an impulse buy, I just suddenly thought it would be nice to have a cute little friend to keep me company. Just one little plant couldn't hurt, right?

Then I went to Home Depot to get supplies for Poppy, and found this little succulent on sale...

...And this Radiator plant that would be nice for the breakroom at work...

...And how about this succulent too? Pretty cute right?

And it kept going on from there. Almost every time I needed something for Poppy (or any other plant), I saw more to add to the family. 

Now I have more plants then I care to admit (there would have been more, except not all of them survived my newbie-ness). I am still learning and growing as a plant caretaker (or is it plant parent?), and I hope to share it all with all of you.

May you be inspired by my experience, or just laugh at my inexperience.  Either way, stay green.

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