Just a 3 month update on my IKEA Rudsta Wide setup!
I’ve had to remove some plants as they’ve outgrown the cabinet (this was inevitable as I’ve had such amazing and constant new growth!). I removed my Billietiae as it’s branching out too wide and my Watsoniana (which was my hero plant centre of the display) as it was getting way too close to touching the light and starting to burn.
I’m really bummed that I have to move the Wastoniana out as not only did it look amazing in my cabinet, but I also know it won’t thrive so well in much lower humidity outside of the cabinet (stable 80-90% in the cabinet vs 50-65% in the apartment).
On a positive note, moving these 2 plants out has given me a bit more room to re-organise the plants for better air flow and more light. I’ve upped my Viparspectra P1000 lights to 30% power now (I started at 20% for the first month and have had it on 25% the past 2 months).
Everything in the cabinet is doing well! Still no sign of any pests. My big Queen has shot out a beautiful new leaf (I bought it with all leaves looking pretty beat up) and my baby queen has shot out 3 new leaves. Everything is still in leca. No issues!
I’ve gone a bit plant crazy (also inevitable?!) the past month and plants are starting to take over other rooms in my apartment. It’s the hobby that keeps on giving, right?! Seeing new leaves shoot out every week still blows my mind and will most likely always bring joy and never get boring!
I’ve yet to kill a plant (touch wood), but I have had an issue with a massive Peperomia Xiang Cao. I’ve been quick to move all my plants to leca. The nursery that sold me the Xiang Cao warned me that it’s a plant which has very fine roots, so moving it to leca might be difficult. She was right as it’s got root rot as I didn’t manage to get the roots cleaned up enough. The stems were going black and I took too long to take action on it (I was naively thinking that it would dry out and be fine if I placed it closer to the window). I’ve cut it up now in an attempt to save it, and have all the healthy stems in water in hopes that roots will form.
I’ve also set up a rice fish pond on my rooftop. I didn’t want to get back into the aquarium hobby, but a low-tech, filterless pond (with plants as filters) is a good side step. Having some rice fish in the pond means I now make use of my rooftop as I have to go outside and feed them daily.
Just reflecting; starting my plant journey 3 months ago with the IKEA cabinet has given me such a great head start. Initially I started using leca to avoid overwatering (as that’s how I killed my plants when I was a teenager), but now I have 3 plants outside of the cabinet in soil, and where I was super nervous about keeping plants 3 months ago I now feel much more confident and that my plants are not just surviving, but thriving.