What the HELL is That?? & Happy Bday Cacti Seedling!!

I get creeped out pretty easily when it comes to bugs.....I can handle small insects, but anything big, fuzzy or weird......and I am outta there. So far it hasn't caused too many problems with my plants, but I admit that each time I find a mealy bug, I love my plants a little less for a couple days because they gross me out. So today while checking out the plants in my humidity dome, I found the grossest looking caterpillar-y things. I swear my heart stopped for a second or too, and I dropped the plant pretty fast.


So once the plant was out of my hands, I of course had to take a closer look. The plant in question......a Kohleria plant. Well stupid me.......it was a rhizome coming up from beneath the soil. I was equally creeped out when the person that sent me the rhizomes, sent me little baggies with what looked like worms. So now, I am not as creeped out by these things, but it did give me quite the scare.


A Happy Birthday is due in my little world of plants. It was a year ago this month that I planted some 12 pots of cacti seeds. Most germinated quite well, but as time went by and space became a rare and valuable resource in my house, I got rid of all but 2 pots of the cacti seedlings.


They are still really small. The one in the pic below is just over an inch tall, whereas the other 2 in the above pic are no more than a half inch tall. They are really, really, really slow growing plants. I don't think I would grow them again. It was cool to try and say I did it, but I am not a cactus fanatic, they are just too slow growing to keep my attention. Maybe if the cacti I had in my house would flower **hint hint**, I would pay more attention to them, but in my house, they barely do anything but exist. Either way, Happy Bday Baby Cacti!



On a final note......I have to give recognition to my Hoya Kerrii. For what you ask?? For growing 2 leaves on the same node. Now normally this isn't a big deal, most Hoya's grow their leaves in pairs, but this guy always seems to start with 2 leaves, and then drop one, and grow the other. This would be why, in the pic below, there is only one leaf per node. For the first time, since I received the cutting last year, it has decided to grow and keep two leaves on the same node. I can't believe this of all things gets me excited, but it does. Go Kerrii Go!!