Simple Life Matters

The variegated Golden Dragon is one of my wishlist plant. If you have a Florida Beauty, Variegated Bipenifolium and variegated Billitiae, the same care you applied to those plants are applicable to variegated Golden Dragon. The plant needs high humidity and lots of bright indirect sunlight in order to thrive well and maintain its variegation.  The price of Variegated Golden Dragon in 2020 is P200,000 for three medium leaves. It has the same market price with variegated Billitiae. As of March 2023, the price of one leaf variegated Golden Dragon is as low as P10,000 to P15,000 depends on the quality of its variegation.  Care Tips and Propagation:  Provide a plant pole for the plant to climb and activate its aerial roots. Water only once a week during cold weather and 2 to 3 times a week during hot summer. Use slow release fetilizer such as Osmocote 14-14-1. Cut and propgate when aerial roots becomes active already.   During propagation choose a mixture of loose medium such as pumice, co

Zamioculcas zamiifolia most commonly known as "Welcome or Zz" plant has small but wide, dark green, glossy leaves that zig-zag up tall, slender stems. The plant has air purifying qualities too, removing volatile organic compounds benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene. The pice of variegated ZZ plant during the pandemic is from P2,000 to P3,000 per stem. Nowadays you can buy a variegated Zz plant for P500 per stem or P1,500 for a lush plant. Plant lovers usually place the plant in front of their door or gate to attract luck. Zz plant is one of the easiest plants to grow and propagate. Just like Sanseveiria or Snake plant it can grow on low light and direct sunlight. The plant will thrive even without watering for 20 days but susceptible to root rot when over-watered. You can propagate it directly to the soil or with water propagation. Just cut a stem and place in a small container with water or plant it in the soil. Variegated plants needs a good sunlight to maintain its

Variegated Green Congo is one of the most expensive variegated plants in 2021 due to its scarcity. A plant with 3 to 4 leaves will cost around P200,000. In early 2022, the price dropped to P30,000 per leaf. As of this writing, you can already buy one leaf of variegated Green Congo for only P8,000. My forecast is at the end of 2023, one leaf will cost only P1,500.  Care Tips and Propagation:  Best to use a soilless medium, a mix of coco peat, coco cubes, pumice, and vermicast during propagation. Water the plant twice or thrice a week during summer and once a week only during cold weather. Place the plant in a high humid location with bright indirect sunlight. You can place it inside your house near the window where it can get enough sunlight. Still best to put it outside, in your garden. Use slow release fertilizer with 14-14-14 balance. Since it is a variegated plant, refrain from usaing Urea as fertilizer.

You can easily spot a plant scammer if the profile of page of plant seller just recently joined Facebook and posting rare plants and selling for ridiculous lowest price jus like the image below. A plant seller who just joined Facebook on February 22, 2023 and and posting rare plants like variegated billitiae and caramel marble for only P1, 500. No active interaction and review from possible buyers and plant photos looks like being taken from other familiar post.  When in doubt, better to ask the seller for video call. Tell him or her to flex the plant with him so you can be sure he or she has the plant. 

Variegated Williamsii with good variegation looks like Caramel Mable but with more rounded leaves and prominent split in it. The price before of one leaf Wiliamsii ia around P100,000 to P120,000. However, in the 4th quarter of 2022, the price dropped to P15,000 per leaf. As of this writing, you can buy one leaf of Variegated Williamsii for only P5,000.  Just like any other Philodendron, Williamsii does not like being overwatered. The plant can thrive more if it is going to be watered at least twice or thrice a week. Care Tips and Propagation: Place on bright indirect sunlight and water as mentioned above. Put the plant in a highly humid location. During propagation make sure your pot has a hole at the bottom and use a soilless medium. Make sure to activate its aerial roots before cutting and repotting.If you already have Florida Beauty, you can just apply the same care to Williamsii. You can use a1 14-14-14 slow-release fertilizer.

When buying plants abroad you have to consider the logistics of the seller. how he/she will pack the plants. It the plants will be shipped with pots or uprooted. Most rare plants can be found in Thailand even Ecuagenera plants. I bought my Ecuadorian plants such as SP Colombia in Thailand together with other Thailand plants. During RL International live plant selling, I "mined" around 10 plants worth P20,000 and I have to add another P1500 for shipping from Bangkok to Manila. I was not advised however that the plants will be shipped uprooted. When it arrived at my apartment in Valenzuela the roots has an even length which means it was cut already to reduce the bulkiness of the plant. However, they packed it professionally and landed to me in good condition. I just have to buy a medium and pots to plant it. So before you buy a plant online, especially when it comes from abroad, make sure to ask the seller if it's going to be shipped with a pot or uprooted. Because when you

What does it mean when rare plants are flooding the local gardens. It means it is not rare anymore and the price already dropped. This is good news to all plant enthusiasts and collectors like me since the expensive plants before are now affordable. Plants that are hard to find before the pandemic are now all over the plant garden. The picture below is a river of Philodendron Pink Princess which cost P20,000 per leaf in 2020 and is now P400 for a plant with 5 leaves or more. I remember when I really wanted to buy this plant at the beginning of 2022. I saw a post in the marketplace for two small leaves for P3,000 and the seller told me it is not yet established but since it comes with a good price, I asked the seller to ship it from Mindanao to my place in Luzon. And after two weeks the plant was gone as it did not thrive. Last year, I bought my second plant for P2,000 with four big leaves already. The bottom line here, if we will wait for other rare plants like Variegated Billitiae and

Philodendron Spiritus Sancti was once tagged as the most expensive plant worth two million pesos during the pandemic. They said it is one of the hardest plant to propagate but I begged to disagree knowing it comes from the family of Philodendron which are easist to grow. You can just imagine if you buy this plant two years ago for P2 million pesos and now you can buy a juvenile size for only P5,000 peso. Patience is really a virtue, so I will wait a little more for about another six months and my forecast is that it will drop to P1000 by end of the year. Just like other plants, Spiritus Sancti can be grown via tissue culture so its not a surprise that it will flood our local garden soon. Care Tips and Propagation: Place your plant on ahigh humid area with lots of bright indirect sunlight. just like Philodendron Billitiae let its aerial roots be activated by pointing and resting its aerial roots to the soil. Wtaer two to three times a week during summer.  Use a loose medium like combin

Philodendron Strawberry Shake variegated is very beautiful when there's a splash of pink and yellow on its leaves. However, its variegation is prone to revert. When you saw a reverted leaf/leaves in Strawberry Shake just cut it and the new leaf when sprawl might have a good variegation again. I bought my Strawberry Shake at he last quarter of 2022 with 2 leaves and mild variegation for P16,000.  From 2020 to 2021, the price of one leaf cost range from P30,000 to P40,000. As of this writing, you can buy one leaf for P800 to P1,000 only. Care Tips and Propagation: The moment you saw a leaf/leaves that reverted, then that is the best time to cut and propagate the plant to have its variegation back both on the cuttings and the mother plant. Use a loose soil mix like coco peat and pumice with vermicast.   Philodendron Strawberry Shake is a good buy plant for rare plant collectors, especially now that it is more affordable. I am planning to grow and let my Philodendron reach 5 feet in he

The Monstera Thai Constellation matured size with 3 to 4 leaves price ranges from P100,000 to P120,000 from 2020 to 2021. In 2022 the price dropped from P40,000 to P60,000. Late 2022, it cost around 10,000 to P16,000. As of this writing matured size Monstera Thai Constellation can be bought from P4,000 to P6,000 while the medium-sized leaves price ranges from P2,500 to P3,000, and the juvenile size for P1,000 to P2,000.  The Monstera Thai Constellation, unlike the Borsigiana Albo does not revert. However, there are some genes with heavy variegation and mild variegation. I remember when I bought my regular Monstera Deliciosa imported from Thailand. The seller brought the plant to my apartment, uprooted. Then I planted the plant with the mixture of rice hull and loam soil and water the plant right away which causes the roots to rot the next day.    Monstera Thai Constellation is susceptible to root rot when overwatered. Make sure to water it once a week during cold weather and twice a we

The Monstera Borsigiana Mint is somehow very similar to Borsigiana Albo and Monstera Green of Green but with mint or greeny tiny dots on its leaves. The plant care and propagation should be the same as Monstera Borsigiana Albo. You need to place the plant in a bright indirect sunlight, most recommended in a humid place. Do not use Urea as a fertilizer because the leaves of the plant will revert to full green. Personally, I use Osmocote and Thermocote for my variegated plants to enhance their variegation. I am yet to buy a Monstera Mint plant since it is a bit pricey until now. From 2020 to 2021, one leaf of Borsigiana Mint cost P100,000. In late 2022, the price of the plant dropped from P40,000 to P60,000 per leaf. As of this writing, you can buy one leaf brosi Mint for P20,000 to P30,000. My forecast is that one leaf Borsi Mint will cost P5,000 to P8,000 by end of the year.  Care Tips and Propagation:  Use a mix of coco peat, coco cubes, pumice and vermicast as a medium. Let the aeria

 Look: Caterpillar ate my Rare Plants worth 100k.  Oh no! The Caterpillar eaten my rare Monstera Borsigiana Aurea, Monstera Albo and Thai Constellation. The price of this plant when I bought it in 2021 is about P100,000 pesos. It has given me two new leaves but look at what happened when I woke up in the morning I realized that almost all the leaves vanished as it was eaten by a caterpillar. So, I bought a ready-to-use neem oil in Lazada and sprayed it on all of my plants to get rid of the pests in my garden. Neem oil can be used to keep pests away and to get rid of pests that are already there in an existing infestation. Use neem oil in the morning and evening. Don't use neem oil in the middle of the day, because the direct sunlight and neem oil together can burn the plants. However, do not use neem oil on recent transplants or otherwise stressed plants. Though plants must be completely covered with neem oil for the pesticide to be effective, it is a good idea to test the product

The Monstera Borsigiana Albo is one of the most wanted plants for rare plant collectors due to the beauty of its foliage. The leaf design and color of variegated Borsigiana Albo with good genes is very captivating. There are some genes that are tri-color, a combination of white, green and yellow foliage. I bought my Monstera Borsigiana Albo early 2022 for P6500 per leaf. From 2020 to 2021, the price of one leaf of Borsi Aurea cost P50,000 and dropped in 2022 for P10,000 per leaf. As of March 2023, the price of one leaf medium-sized Borsigiana Aurea is P2,500 to P3,500 depending on the quality of its variegation.  CareTips and Propagation:  For soil mixture, you can use, a soil-less medium or loam soil. For a soilless mixture, just mixed coco peat, coco cubes and pumice or rice hull. Let the aerial roots crawl on the plant pole to activate its aerial roots before cutting and transplanting. In this way, you give the newly cut plant a more chance to thrive. Placed the newly propagated pl

Florida Beauty is one of the most "Wish Plants" for rare plant collectors. The design of its leaves is unique and rare compared to other Philodendron plants. I bought my Florida Beauty with three medium-sized leaves for P35,000 in 2021. I have propagated it and sold some for a good price at the last quarter of 2021 for P10,000 per leaf.   The price of Florida Beauty drops in 2022 to P2,000 per medium-sized leaf and as of this writing, you can already buy Florida Beauty for P800.00 to P1200 for a big leaf.  Care Tips and Propagation: You can use a mixture of coco peat, coco cubes, pumice, and loam soil in propagation. It is good if you will let aerial roots climb a plant pole to activate their roots before cutting and transplanting. Put the propagation on a shaded area for 7 to 10 days before moving to a spot with bright indirect sunlight. Use Osmocote 14-14-14 as fertilizer to enhance its variegation. Water the plant twice or three times during summer. The leaves of Florida b

 The price of Variegated Philodendron Domesticum in 2021 is a whooping P35,000 to P40,000 per leaf. I remember a seller from market place told me that a matured Domesticum with 3 to 4 leaves cost about P100,000. So I waited for another year and bought my medium size Domesticum imported from Thailand with three leaves for P22,000.  The plant was imported from Thailand and the seller from Batangas sent me the plant straight from the airport and it looks unhealthy. Good enough that the seller is a legitimate pant importer and replaced the plant. When you buy an imported plant make sure not to report and water it the moment it arrives on your place. Let the plant adjust to its new environment and water it the next day.  I have propagated my Domesticum in the last quarter of 2022 and the price already drops to P2,000 per leaf. As of this writing, you can already buy at a lower price of P600 to P800 per leaf. My forecast is that the cost of one leaf at the end of the year will be about P100

Here's the tutorial on how you can propagate your rubber tree easily. I have a multi-branch rubber tree mother plant (black prince) imported from Thailand which I bought from a local seller in Manila. I bought it in 2021 for five thousand eight hundred pesos, quite expensive at that time. This time you can buy the same size with multiple branches for around three to four thousand five hundred as I've seen from Cubao plant sellers. There are many ways to propagate rubber plants, you can just cut about 10 inches from its branch (top cut) and put it in a bottle with water, and much better if there's a rooting hormone. You can buy rooting hormones online for only five to ten pesos for a sachet. You can also use aloe vera stem as a rooting hormone. After cutting you can also directly plant it on the soil. But for a more rate of success, air layering or marcotting is the best way to propagate rubber plant. See below images of the actual propagation I have made thru marcotting. I

Backyard farming becomes popular during the COVID pandemic. People have learned to plant fruit-bearing trees and crops even in small spaces. Urban Gardening has been a fad in the Metro since there is limited space for gardening. Vertical gardening using pet bottles is one of the methods you can apply when residing in an apartment or condominium. You can have a DIY self-watering pot out of plastic bottles from empty Soft drink bottles. Okra just like eggplant is easy to grow whether on pots or planted directly in the soil. Since I have ample space in my backyard, I plant my Okra seedlings direct into the soil as you can see in the actual photo of my grown-up Okra plant below. The plant needs direct sunlight to grow faster and produce crops faster. You need to water the plant twice daily and you can use "Abono", Urea as a fertilizer or an organic fertilizer such as vermicast is much better if the vegetable is for personal consumption.

Growing Cucumber in our backyard is very easy. You can buy from Pant Garden which also sells vegetable seedlings for only four to five pesos depending on the size of the seedlings. You can also grow cucumber from seeds which you can buy from Puregold and SM Groceries. Preparing the soil:  Cultivate the soil to get it ready for the seedlings. Mostly, the existing backyard soil in the Philippines is almost ready to receive seedlings. If the soil is composed mostly of clay components, you can put garden soil and put on the toppings before planting the seedlings. Water and Sunlight: You need to water the seedling twice a day, before sunrise and after sunrise. The seedling needs enough sunlight to thrive faster. Trellis for Crawling: After two weeks from planting, you will need a trellis for the plant to crawl. After only one and a half months, we have already harvested the actual cucumber fruits. We used an improvised trellis made from bamboo and plastic straw. Please see the actual pictur

One of the most iconic leaf patterns in the family of Philodendrons, Florida Beauty Variegata is a sure pick for rare plant collectors. Like Monstera Borsiana Albo and Aurea, Florida Beauty needs bright indirect sunlight to maintain its leaf variegation. Watering: When summer you can water it twice or three times a week. But during the rainy season better check and wait for its topsoil to dry up before watering.  Soil Mixture: Best to thrive with a mixture of loam soil, pumice, coco peat, coco cubes and vermicast. Propagation: Wait for its aerial roots to get activated by navigating the roots toward the soil before cutting.