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Starting your journey to becoming the plant friend everybody wants.
It is the beginning of the new school year, you have successfully moved in or have cleaned up your room to get ready for the coming year. A great easy (and cheap!) way to brighten your place is to add a plant.
The plants listed below have been chosen because of how easy it is to find them, their relatively low cost, and ease to care for.
Pothos are some of the most common houseplants for a few good reasons. Found in almost all plant-selling stores and a plant lover’s home, these vines are fairly quick to grow and easy to ignore. Although they may fare better in soil and indirect sunlight, pothos can be grown in either soil or water and can endure a variety of light conditions—making them ideal to grab from a friend, leave in a water bottle and check on every so often.
Despite the intimidating name, spider plants are a very approachable option for people without experience raising plants. Like pothos, spider plants are a popular choice as they are easy to care for and propagate. They can be grown in either soil or water and can handle some of the direst lighting situations. To add, they are cheap and easy to find.
Personally, I have had spider plants growing in both water and soil since high school. They have produced spider plant babies which make easy gifts. I believe one of my teachers began propagating the spider plants I gave her and gifted them to students as graduation gifts!
The term “cacti” can encompass a vast variety of plants. The ones you may commonly find sold at stores, however, are quite hardy. Nevertheless, beginners may find cacti harder to raise as people tend to over-water their plants, effectively drowning them.
Cacti are more particular than the previous plants as they require bright light and heat to thrive but they are known for their ability to survive with occasional (but thorough) waterings. Given these conditions, they make a unique, easy-to-care-for and potentially fashionable friend.
You may have heard of sempervivums by a few of its alter egos, such as “hen and chicks” “houseleeks” or even “liveforevers”. Just the name inspires confidence in even notorious plant-killers.
The reputation of these succulents comes from their ability to produce many smaller offsets that then can become their own plant. In this way, they can live forever. Still, to live at all, they prefer bright light and well-drained soil (similar to the cactus, avoid over-watering). If you choose the sempervivum as your green companion, you may soon find yourself with many sempervivums companions.
The bamboo often seen in stores in pretty ribbons, pots and shapes make an eye-catching, not to mention easy-to-care-for, part of any room. All they truly require is some water and a pot, with decorations as an optional way to incorporate elements of feng shui, a traditional Chinese practice of creating harmony through arranging objects in particular places in a living space.
When growing lucky bamboos, the water should be changed ideally every week with distilled or filtered water. Considering the materials needed and the starting cost, lucky bamboos are a quick, cheap and easy way to freshen up your room and get whatever luck you can for the upcoming school year.
Despite their hardiness, plants, like most things, require love, time and care. For this list, they may require less of the above but it is important to remember to be patient and to not forget your plant on the windowsill for a few weeks. A few good rules of thumb: water less rather than more; keep plants out of direct sunlight; and give roots room to grow.
Whichever one of these plants you may choose, with care, they will be sure to bring you some cheer for the upcoming school year.
By: Mitali Chaudhary
As Halloween approaches, your room might be feeling a little left out from the DIY costume-making, candy-gorging festivities. Here are a few cheap and fun ways to boost it up from a weepy “boo” to a BOO!
1. Cheesecloth Cobwebs
A step above the usual dollar store cottony mess, cheesecloth webs are much more substantial and can be reused for several years. They can be hung in doorways, windows, or simply against bare walls, and give a creepy feel when they’re cut up, ripped, and frayed to perfection.
2. Spooky Garlands
Although they take some scissor work, garlands are versatile and can instantly liven up a room. Virtually any shape (for example skulls, pumpkins, or black cats) can be printed off, traced onto coloured paper, then cut and hung on a piece of yarn. A simple paper garland can be made even more interesting by adding beads, felt cut-outs, or pressed leaves.
3. Provocative Pumpkins
Plain old pumpkins, though they essentially represent Halloween, are so last year. To make them more fun (and to bring out their colour even more) bats and ghosts can be stencilled on using spray paint, or they can even be completely covered with glitter. The possibilities with this plain orange canvas are endless.
4. Textiled Ghouls
These cute little guys decorate windowsills especially well. All that’s needed is a handy square of cheesecloth draped over a styrofoam ball. A bent paperclip can be used to hang them up. Wide eyes drawn by a Sharpie complete the look, and beg for more cheesecloth ghost friends to hang around with.
5. Window Watchers
Similar to the garlands, shapes can be printed off, traced onto and cut from coloured paper, then stuck on windows. In the daytime, you’ll be able to see bats fluttering across the glass and at night, when they’re backlit, others outside can appreciate your Halloween cheer too.
