I remember growing plants in my bedroom window when I was a kid. In particular, I remember a cactus. I have no idea what kind it was. They did well until we went on vacation one year, the person watching our house overwatered them, and they rotted.

I tired on and off for years and killed everything, mostly with overwatering. Finally, I decided I have a black thumb and gave up.

When my mother-in-law passed away two years ago, the company my husband works for sent a huge peace lily to the funeral. He wanted to keep it, but its care somehow fell to me. In researching it, I found this site. When he said he wanted other plants, I bought a few more and the addiction was born. I do still have the peace lily, but not the other plants (to be fair, I bought three, and two were in-flower bromaliads).

So it's also been two years for me. I currently have 19 houseplants, several plants for trading not counted in that 19, a Plumeria cutting I'm rooting, and some Gesneriad seeds started (Episcia, strep, Monopyle, Columnea, and Primulina Tamiana). A lot of my plants, and some of the seeds, have come from GW trades.

My first was a Swedish Ivy in a hanging basket, I bought it for my first apartment and I have been adding more & more different plants over the years, my current count is roughly 40 +..... What a great post, it will be fun to read everyone's stories.

I got my love of houseplants from my grandmother, who could grow anything. I did not inherit her green thumb however. She gave me many, many cuttings of her english ivy, piggy back plant, deiffenbachia, philodendrons, etc. Most of them I kept alive for a while, but they all eventually succumbed to a combination of overwatering or neglect. I'm finally (many, many) years later getting a bit more of the hang of it, but my house tends to be too dark for most plants to survive, along with the fact that I have cats that will eat anything they can reach. So now, most of my "houseplants" live on my front porch. Mostly succulents and cacti, they seem to thrive on my level of neglect.

As a kid I got my Aunt's Lady Palm ( Rhapis excelsa), which I killed a year later by putting it out in full summer sun. I basically had no clue what I was doing, I had no books on houseplants, and way before the internet. I did everything wrong, fertilized it in the winter,
drowned it with too much water. As I think back, I'm surprised it lasted a year. I just purchased a new Rhapis and I potted it up today. Hopefully this one will enjoy my 30 years
of experience and I will get it right this time,LOL! It has bothered me all these years that I killed that Palm tree. Despite all the other plant casualties along the way, I still remember that loss.
My second plant was an African Violet, it succumbed to south facing window sill! Now 30
year down the road I have some 200 plants, most in 4 inch pots! 5 of my African Violets are currently in bloom.

I love threads like this! It is always so much fun to read about others' special plants.

My first plant was a white wax begonia. It lasted about 6 months. I kept in my bedroom. I was about 8 years old then.

200 plants? Wow. Where do you keep all those?

Can you not edit the topic post? I put gave it to them but I meant my Neighbours. Oh well.

I find it interesting how most of our first plants aren't the common beginners like Spiders and Such.

My first plant was when I got my first very own house, an Arrowhead plant (Syngonium podophyllum). Looking back on it, I'm not sure how it survived as long as it did. It grew in the center of a relatively dark living room in a brass planter with NO drainage hole. It was frequently overwatered, suffered from fungus gnats for periods and was then neglected to the point of complete and utter dryness. I never remember even repotting it in fresh soil. It was beautiful, too, frequently needing to be trimmed as it grew off the side of the table. Amazing, huh? Fortunately for my future plants I learned to better care for plants.

Now, I love all plants, but my favorites are orchids (cattleya and doritaenopsis, mostly), hoyas, and cactuses and succulents. I have far too many, mostly from reading posts and seeing something I'd really like to have. I get plants, keep them for a while, learning what they need to thrive, propagate them, if possible; then, I usually pass them on to friends and family, only keeping those I REALLY love and that make me happy. My two favorite plants are a very large and special Hoya carnosa Krimson Princess and a Agave victoriae-reginae "White Rhino."

I'm really enjoying reading others' stories.

Just a sample of my collection

When I was a kid my grandmother gave me a cactus plant she called cinnamon cactus. It's known as opuntia, pad cactus, bunny ears etc. I cannot findcinnamon red variety and it makes me so sad. Does anyone know where to find them? I had it in my west facing window in my tiny bedroom.

shawnruth, there's a "red cinnamon Opuntia cactus" listed on ebay right now. It's not very expensive. It closes in less than two days. I hope you're able to get it. My husband, not a plant person, has the white version of that. It's his one and only plant and he loves it. It's really pretty but I'm the "lucky" person that gets to repot that (and it grows FAST!). No matter how careful I am, it manages to fire some of those hair-like spines into me. I'd rather repot any of my dozens of spiny cactus than that "harmless" looking bunny ear one. They are deceptively soft and sweet looking. ;-)

My grandma had african violets and balsamine impatiens when I was a kid. She also had wax begonias. When I married, my mother-in-law gave us a cactus (random type of cactus, I don't know the name), a Coleus, and some sort of Haworthia I guess. I subsequently killed them all. Then she gave me a spider plant, Chlorophytum. I killed that one too, unbelievably! Then my mother started giving me african violets, and they survived. After that, I finally learned how to keep plants alive, and the madness started. :)

madness indeed! an affliction I share LOL!

So pelargonium you developed a "green thumb" people talk like it's this giftedness that you either have or don't...sometimes I kill a plant and I wonder...do I really have a "green thumb" I keep more alive than I kill so I guess I am heading in the right direction. Everyone says that I have a green thumb but some people say I can sing well too and I'm not convinced...

Can't recall for certain but believe my first was Senecio rowleyanus when I was around 9. Either that or it was the Tradescantia zebrina I had at some point as a young'un.

My First plant was a snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) I kept it alive for about 2 years, I was 5, and my mom helped. I killed it by overwatering!

That's a lot of plants there Sans!

Shawnruth,

That made me laugh! I've never really understood the term greenthumb either. Like I have a Majesty Palm that I have had for more then 2 years now, but when I went and bought a Pygmy Date palm it was always infested with mites no matter what I did. It even spread the mites to the Majesty Palm. I managed to rid the Majesty Palm of the mites but not the Pygmy. I eventually pulled it out of the pot, cut of the roots and allowed it to dry. Their 'bodies' now rest in the corner of my room.

Even though the Majesty Palm is notorious for being the worst houseplant and major mite magnet, and the Pygmy one of the easiest and best suited for indoor life, I've manged to keep the Majesty alive this long and the Pygmy only for less then a Month. I've also have never had luck with Cacti. Something always happens and they deteriorate. So now I'm purely a Succulent guy.

Thus, I guess everyone is a greenthumb in certain aspects of the plant world. While maybe in other areas your a black thumb. Idk it's all confusing to me.

Personally I don't believe in green or black thumbs. I belive in interest and commitment. If you are interested in plants and committed to keep them alive, you will manage to keep many plants alive and thriving. There will be some casualties, though, from time to time, for every plant keeper. But all in all you will do well in keeping plants. :)

hi

Thought I'd posted this pic before but don't see it. This is a florist gloxinia I got from my grandmother in the 70's brought it to florida in 78. Has been frozen broken ,overwatered, dried out and was chewed to the ground 3 times when I put it outside lol Still flowered right on cue this year gary

Wow! a true survivor!! thanks for sharing that picture too

Frozen? Yikes.... I guess that plant has a will to survive

Croton =)

do you know what kind of Croton it was (or perhaps still is)?

Very nice, How long have you had them?

Probably about 11 months now. The Croton has been in that same pot. I re-potted it right when i got it. ( i dont do that anymore since i heard its not the best thing to do for a new plant. The F.b. Was terribly root bound when i got it. I figured it was since the lady said she had it for 15 years or so and only re-potted it once. I have since quartered the roots and repotted it in the one you see there. It started growing like crazy after that. Its a very happy plant. Very easy to care for as well. =)

~~Gabe

It all started with Pothos for me.

Golden pothos or the straight green type?

bielo83, I usually let the plant and soil conditions tell m whether to repot a new plant. Succulents that a wet when I get them, I pull out of the pot and set on newspaper till they are nearly dry, then a quick check of the roots and plant before going back into the pot. If the plant looks OK, I leave it alone as it has enough to deal with adjusting to a new environment. Good luck with your plants!

Fred

Newspaper to dry out that soggy soil eh?? I could have used that with my larger warnekii. It needed a good drying out immediately! I know for next time =)

Good ole Pothos. My first and my favorite out of all my plants. Low maintenance like me haha

My first plants was a Golden Pothos. It actually froze to death!!! I was moving and left them outside in cold weather!!!

My husband's grandmother told me it was creeping charlie...Swedish Ivy! In a glass of water, no less, >giggle<

I haven't been at the house plant thing long, since I never had the luxury of non north-facing windows. Snake plant. Bought him from Lowe's clearance rack and he was really beat up looking, with quite a few cracked and bent leaves. Still looks pretty rough, but he has had multiple "babies" over time and he keeps on trucking, even in spite of the fact that the cat forgets from time to time that he is NOT edible.

Mine was a Heart-Leaf Philo. My Grandma always had plants and I wanted to know if I had the same Greenthumb...Well, I did! 63 Plants and growing... I still have the Philo too!

I don't remember my first plant ever but the first plant of my current collection is a Sansevieria trifasciata. It all started when I was about 10 living with my mother. We had a dining room but it was never used for dining. It had a Southern exposure and my mother had it filled with shelving and tables that were covered with so many different plants. I do remember attempting a Kalanchoe blossfeldiana in my bedroom with a tiny North facing window. Didn't work out so well but I was hooked and ever since I have always been trying different plants and having a blast. I've had to restart my collection a couple of times because of moving but my first plant of this collection - the Sansevieria - is about 9 years old now. I don't have an exact count on how many I have right now. I'd say about 30-40 but I have about 80 seeds planted and another couple hundred waiting in the wings so...ya know...the addiction can get bad and never lets go but I wouldn't have it any other way. Life is kind of empty without plants.