"It" was a small palm sapling in a plastic bag inside a box. The box was one of many on a display.
The box declared "Grows Indoors and Outdoors" and "Withstands Traveling in Sealed Plastic Bag". It guaranteed "Nursery Fresh Arrival".
Since we live in upstate New York, where temperatures are going to drop to below zero in the next few days (plus, we will get snow today), this palm would have to be an indoor plant.
The box assured us the plant would survive temperatures between 55 and 85 degrees once it was taken out of the bag. "Your palm is definitely an indoor plant and should not be exposed to sunlight" although, in summer, it might want some outdoor time in the shade, "letting it have the benefit of the rain and dew".
It would really have been happy last summer, our wettest summer ever.
For my spouse, it was love at first sight. It would be his Florida souvenir. He bought it.
The box was correct. The plant survived two weeks of Florida travel plus about 17 hours of transit within our vehicle, on a train. Who knows for how long it had been in that box.
And here it is, freshly planted. How did the people selling this plant do it?
I'm a bit intrigued myself.
There's just one little problem. I did research on the Neanthe Bella palm, also known as the table top palm, and it does make a nice houseplant. They are native to southern Mexico and it's a popular houseplant, according to various websites.
However, it is very susceptible to an insect pest called the spider mite. Yikes.
I have some stories about this pest, which is so small you don't even know your plant is infested, until you notice your plant is dying and you also note these weird webs all over the top of your plant. The spider mite, in fact, is related to the spider. And they are difficult to eradicate. I know that from experience. I've never conquered them.
Gee, spouse, thanks. I now have a spider mite magnet in my house.
But maybe I'll be lucky and we'll end up with a treasured plant. That's part of the fun of growing plants, isn't it?
Either way, we were only out $4.99.
Here's to Florida, in the midst of the Polar Vortex.
Day 29 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost
Yes, Florida would be a great place to be when so much of the country is experiencing the polar vortex! I wish you and your palm a long and spider mite free life.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a living souvenir. The mites are so small you can't see them so are they really there? I wonder if on a hot summer windy day would the wind blow off said insects?
ReplyDeleteMy friend, GT, grew a palm in his house in Central Virginia. Oh, wait. It would be better described that he built a house around his palm. Since the palm extended through the roof of the domed structure.
ReplyDeleteI could never believe he could keep that sucker alive all those years.
That's wonderful!
DeleteMaybe looking at the palm will help you stay warm.
ReplyDeleteOooh, cute baby palm...
ReplyDeleteI hope you're lucky and your plant lives. I've never been able to conquer spider mites either.
ReplyDeleteI hope the spider mites stay away and you have a lovely little potted palm reminding you of Florida through many upstate winters!
ReplyDeleteI had a tropical souvenir plant for many year, loved my Ti Grows in Brooklyn. Ti plants don't need full sun but they do like some and I very much blame the 6-story apartment buildings that replaced the single-family homes that my apartment used to look onto for Ti's demise. But it had a good 16 year run with me.
In 1959 we called it "Mini-Ice Age", but polar vortex makes a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the spider mites. What natural insecticide can take them out?