Happy Saturday Fan Friends!

Earlier in the summer I started a series to see what someone like me (who kills plants on a regular basis without even trying) could grow and what I could not. The pineapple plant which I tried growing from a pineapple crown was less than promising. I’m not sure if I just picked a bad pineapple or once again my uncanny ability to kill everything I touch just kicked in. During both of those posts I mentioned my aloe plant which I had kept alive for close to 3 1/2 years. It was a reluctant gift from a friend, a woman several years older than me who is also child free, but has much better luck with plants.

I remember her handing me this tiny little plant and saying “Not even you can kill this.” Flash forward to this year, I decided it was time to repot my plant. I was very meticulous in my mission not to disturb it or stress it out and to follow the exact directions my friend had given me. While I initially felt like this was a success, it wasn’t due to the fact that I had the pineapple plant next to my aloe plant and therefore I gained another problem. That problem would be gnats. Yes, gnats. An entire family of them to be exact that began making a home in the dirt of my aloe plant.

This really ticked me off and so began a civil war within my own home: Brittany and Tom vs. the Gnats. Spoiler alert: The gnats were winning. Tom and I tried everything from a Hydrogen Peroxide bath to gnat traps. We killed easily about 200 a week but it still wasn’t helping the problem. We needed to pull out the big guns. That would be my mother-in-law, Carol, who is an absolute expert in plant health and care. As a nurse, my mother-in-law plays an intricate role in the health of her patients but during her free time she’s also an avid gardener. I’ve been with Tom nearly 13 years, we were friends since our mid-teens even before we decided to upgrade from friends to significant others. Tom’s family is basically like my second family, I considered them family long before we made things official and tied the knot in 2016. During my tenure as a member of the Schmidt family I knew if anyone could help me salvage this plant it would be Carol.

Carol mixed some new potting soil for my plant and with a new pot I felt absolutely ready to allow my little plant the opportunity to grow bigger and healthier. What I didn’t realize being somebody who is not an avid gardener, was that my poor plant had suffered because of these gnats. The roots seemed to be slightly rotted and so I took it upon myself to dig it up, lightly dab it with a paper towel and re-pot it in damp soil. As you can see the leaves which are in the picture look very healthy there even seems to be some new growth inside the plant so once I removed the parts of the plant which were rotted and dying, I replanted and made sure it was secure in the soil. It is my hope that the roots will regrow and that I can save this plant, the only living thing I’ve managed to keep alive in my time taking care of plants.

I love how I’ve been pacing in front of it since I replanted it, as if hoping that by staring at it I will basically will it to grow and remain healthy. Now it’s in God’s hands and I hope it survives.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!