A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants • Hacker News Board

Re: A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

#41

Post by tomcam » Wed, Dec 30, 2020, 10:33 AM UTC

stevekemp wrote: post #36

tomcam wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s the hardiest edible plant? I love the whole indoor plant idea but want to be practical too.

Mint is pretty resilient too, I accidentally left a (large) pot of it on the balcony over the winter in Helsinki. It spent a couple of months at -10, and was covered in ice/snow too. When some came around again in March this year it was still alive, much to my surprise.

Great call. Mint is almost like a weed here in the PNW. there’s a minor possibility that even I could handle that

Re: A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

#42

Post by moosebear847 » Thu, Dec 31, 2020, 9:05 AM UTC

74d-fe6-2c6 wrote: post #38

the key to growing a green thumb is finding a plant that actually interests you. For me that plant was Cannabis. Doing my own micro grow in a 22x38x64 [cm] box forced me to learn about all sorts of things of relevance to a plant: - light intensitiy, spectrum, sources - fertilizers - soil types - watering patterns and methods - vermins and how to deal with them - plant physiology and developmental phases - water quali…

Seconded! I'm very early into a first grow and it's so exciting seeing your first baby leaves growing.

It finally feels like I'm putting my college physics to use and building on it. You're trying to control the environment, with many different factors, as perfectly as you can. To do it well, you have to understand the principles behind each different factor.

E.g.: In controlling temps and humidity which is important for plant respiration, why does a lower temperature hold less moisture? Heat is kinetic energy, and a higher temp (more heat) means more molecules on avg have enough energy to become a gas.

Re: A Beginner's Guide to Houseplants

#43

Post by xtiansimon » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 12:40 AM UTC

stevekemp wrote: post #36

tomcam wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s the hardiest edible plant? I love the whole indoor plant idea but want to be practical too.

Mint is pretty resilient too, I accidentally left a (large) pot of it on the balcony over the winter in Helsinki. It spent a couple of months at -10, and was covered in ice/snow too. When some came around again in March this year it was still alive, much to my surprise.

A Pakistani coworker told me once that mint was a very common houseplant in her country, because it repels pests.