There are two plants in my garden that are rather special to me for two reasons :-
1. They have taken ages to adapt (sulking perhaps?); but some signs of growth finally !
2. They are still 'nameless' (unless some one can help me out, please), despite my surfing around on tropical plants.....!
First there is this plant that looks like a palm plant with tiny spikes. I took the baby from the foothills at Gunung Jerai almost three years ago (yes , 3, however looking at it, one find it hard to believe) when we first went hiking. I like it so much since it looked so adorable when it was small and tiny. I know I am not supposed to take plants away from the hill - but I could not resist it. However I guess it did not like being removed from its natural habit, and remained dormant for a long, long time ....... and was very very very fussy ..... !
First, I placed it under some filtered sunlight, and oh ... it did not like that at all ! The leaves became burnt and it looked rather pitiful. So okay, I placed it under more shade , hidden away under some bigger plants for higher humidity --- it seemed happier. Next was the tussle over soil medium .... if the soil got too wet, it looked like it was rotting away .... so okay, change the soil medium and avoid over watering. Only water sparingly when the soil looked completely dry .... yes, it worked ! So this is why after three years and still hardly any growth ! Yes, I did try with some fertilizer - no response ! Well, these last two months it showed a sudden spurt in growth, new leaves coming out ..... so I became rather excited. Note the original leaf at the bottom, so small compared to the new new leaves. Now I have moved it to a spot when it can get some filtered sunlight .... hold my breath .... :- ) haha ! After all logic dictates that plants need sunlight to grow .. if it does not like it, guess I will return it to the original location.
This second plant I acquired almost half a year ago ( see post 4th March 2011) because it looks like a neat and unusual plant. Even after close to 6 months, this plant showed hardly any growth as well. Like the First plant, it did not like sunlight too much, so again it was to the shade as well. Burnt spots will appear on the leaves from exposure to sunlight. Yesterday I moved it to a sunnier location to see if that will stimulate it to grow any faster. The leaves are broader and look healthier compared to when I first bought it. Lovely foliage, don't you think so? Imagine what a beauty it will grow into eventually ..... :- ) !
