by Sandra Fikes

Created on: August 24, 2008

Growing your own houseplants from things you can find in your kitchen is a fun and rewarding way to fill your house with greenery. Over the years I have had good success with quite a few different plants grown from seeds that were collected in the kitchen, it is simply a matter of choosing the right seeds and understanding the basic growing tips for each plant.

The plants that I am going to discuss are ones that I have had experience growing from seeds and that I know create nice looking house plants.

SWEET POTATO

The sweet potato is one of my all-time favorite plants to grow at home. They are easy to tend and create very attractive climbing vines that are proven to cause guests to comment on them. The one drawback to the sweet potato plant is in the length of time it takes to start one. Patience is key here. I have had sweet potato plants that did not begin to grow for a couple of months or more after I started them.

To grow a sweet potato for decorative purposes you want to select a good firm looking sweet potato and a container that is slightly larger (about a finger width all around). Your container should be deep, roughly twice as deep as your potato is long, and the sides should be solid so that they do not allow light to reach the roots. To start the sweet potato insert bamboo skewers into the sides in three positions equally spaced around the potato. You want for roughly 2/3rds of the potato to be under the top rim of the container you will be growing it in. Fill the container with water and keep water up enough that the base of the potato remains immersed in water.

As I said, it will take a couple of months before you will see any evidence that the potato is growing, so have patience and keep the water level up enough that the potato can draw on it. Your patience will be rewarded when your plant at last begins to grow. When the plant is roughly six inches tall, you can begin training it to grow up a small trellis or up the side of a window. These make wonderful gifts to give to friends and relatives that may not have the patience required to grow a sweet potato to decent plant size and are easily cared for. Simply keep the water level high enough that the roots are completely submerged in the water.

PINEAPPLE

The tops of fresh pineapples are a well known tropical plant that is lovely in the home. They make nice arrangements on end tables or beside fish tanks, particularly if they are combined with something like bamboo.

I could go over the whole spiel on how

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