(The first sign of mealybugs on November 14th. The small mealybug pests are bright write, small, and hard to get in focus with my digital camera.)
The China Doll Plant or Radermachia sinica that I had purchased for $1.25 in the middle of September to grow at my office (read about it here as well as in a later post) has unfortunately become the breeding ground for what appears to be mealybugs. This is the first work plant to be killed off by a pest.

I had noticed that the plant had a few mealybugs on it a few weeks ago and decided that the plant was a lost cause so I placed it in a different room to be quarantined so that I could eventually throw it into the trash. However, I got busy with work, then Thanksgiving came along, so yesterday I remembered that I needed to throw the plant away.

(December 5th: The mealybugs are now larger and covered with a hard outer shell. Click on the photo for a larger, more detailed view.)
In the meantime, at our work we have a cleaning lady that comes once a week who also seems to like plants but she does not speak that much English so I cannot really talk about plants with her. Anyway, the other day I noticed her leaving the room where the China Doll plant was left to die, as well another small empty office near that which also has a few of my plants, and what she had an empty bottle in her hand. What could she have been doing with that, I thought to myself. Sure enough, I went and checked on the plants when she left and noticed that she had watered all of them, even though I had just watered most of them the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and then the others on Monday. If I had not noticed that she had watered them again that day, I would have over-watered them since it was not in my normal watering schedule and they were still wet about a quarter-of-an-inch down.

All of my other plants which are not infested with mealybugs or other pests are doing great and do not need to be over-watered. From now on I will try to make sure all of the watering of my plants is done by me!

Regardless, I did not want to take the time to try to nurse the China Doll plant back to full health so it has been discarded. Additionally, the plant which was growing next to it for several weeks, the Chrysalidocarpus lutescens (Areca Palm) was not doing the best either and was thrown away.

My Schlumbergera truncata 'Dark Marie' or "Thanksgiving Cactus" at work is sending out blossoms in preparation for the upcoming bloom, which will probably occur next month. This is the first schlumbergera, of the numerous plants Annah and I purchased last year, to begin flowering.


Last year this plant only fully produced one flower due to the fact that it was adapting to new surroundings here in my office at work. During the weekend my office is darker, although not completely dark, and the office is probably around 60-65 degrees. This has probably helped induce the plant to start these flower buds.

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My Dieffenbachia 'Perfection' at work has new growth on it and the plant in general is looking good. I have a slight concern that I may have spider mites or other pests starting to colonize this plant. I will have to continue monitoring this and provide pictures eventually to see if the problem can be diagnosed.

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My China Doll (Radermachia sinica) plant is doing well since my post on my office plants. It has grown a couple of inches and has so far survived longer than the China Doll plant Annah's mom had owned. The colder weather, less humid air, and reduced amount of sunlight, might be detrimental to this plant's health in the upcoming months, but we shall see.

This is the first of two posts regarding my office plants. Enjoy!

(Epipremnum aureum or Pothos)
It has almost been a year since I wrote the first post on this blog entitled "The Tale of a Troubled Pothos", and then a subsequent post about the status of the plant in "Work Pothos Update", where I chronicled having to save a pot-bound pothos. The plant has been growing wonderfully since it was repotted in December 2007. It seems to enjoy and flourish behind my computer monitor which I use extensively for my work. Hopefully it will not completely wrap around my monitor otherwise my boss might not be too happy!

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(Dieffenbachia 'Perfection')
The next plant, which is pictured above, is a Dieffenbachia 'Perfection'. It was purchased from Lowe's last week since they were having a 75% off sale on their tropicals, so I was able to purchase this plant for around $1.25, which seems like a steal for such a nice looking plant. Annah and I have another one of these dieffenbachia's at our house.

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(Zamioculcas Zamiifolia or "ZZ Plant")
The next work plant is my Zamioculcas zamiifolia ("ZZ Plant"), which you can read about in an older post here. Earlier this spring this plant was very busy sending up new growth all over the place and by the time it was all done it had pretty much doubled in size. Since then, however, not much has really happened with this plant and it is probably due to be moved to a new pot one of these days. It is one of my favorite plants at work since it does not require much work except for the occasional watering.

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(From left to right: Pachira aquatica ["Money Tree"], Radermachia sinica ["China Doll"], and Chrysalidocarpus lutescens ["Areca Palm"])
The next group of plants are located at a west-facing doorway, so it receives the afternoon sun. It is also a door that is not frequently used so the temperature and humidity usually stay rather constant. The individual plants will be discussed below.

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(Pachira aquatica or "Money Tree")
The first of these plants is a Pachira aquatica or Money Tree, which I guess is technically not my plant, but is instead belongs to my boss. It was given to him by me and my fellow coworkers for his birthday in September of 2007. I have been taking care of it and watering it since then. The plant has been doing rather well, although it has lost some leaves due to problems of either watering too much or too little. There was also a period of time when the plant was struggling because it was in too small of a pot. Sometime around May I repotted this plant into the green pot you see now. The plant still might need some work to get it to grow better, but at the current time this plant seems to be doing just fine.

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(On the left is the Radermachia sinica or "China Doll"; On the right is the Chrysalidocarpus lutescens or "Areca Palm)
The two other plants growing in this part of the office are the "China Doll" (Radermachia sinica) on the left and the "Areca palm" (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens) on the right. These were two other plants that were purchased from Lowe's during their 75% off sale on tropical plants, and they seemed like a good deal for $1.25 each! I do have some concern with the China Doll plant since Annah's mom tried to grow one of these plants but did not succeed in doing so. It has so far survived one week in the office and has hopefully received an adequate amount of light and water. There will be a future update on this plant to see whether it has survived or not. The Areca palm has also survived the past week and also seems to be getting an adequate amount of sunlight, although it is my first Areca palm so I hope I will be able to grow it!

Check back in a few days for the second post regarding my office plants!