It all started 18 years ago when I went to a friends house for the first time and saw a living room in a garden.

It seemed as if every inch of sunlight was being used for plants, and little sunshine shown through and hit the black leather couch making it reflect and brighten up the room even more. There where mirrors all around to help bounce light too, with long vines wrapping around the entire room, I knew at that moment, I wanted to live in plants, with plants, all around.

(photo of a rooted Lemon Balm Plant in a vintage Lysol Jar, taken by Me =)

I had some chances growing up to grow my own things, when I was 5 my Dad let me grow my own little vegetable garden. I grew two carrot, two onion, and I think peas, I only remember the carrot, it was a unique variety, taking the shape of a bulb instead of a traditional carrot shape, I picked it from all the other seed packets because it was unique. I only was able to harvest one carrot, I had to fight for its survival from our goats that where free range and the Wild Moose, who I witnessed eat the onion. I remember standing on our porch in Alaska yelling at the moose to leave my garden alone, but he liked the food more than listening to me.

I realized then, that it would be much harder protecting my garden from animals than it would be to actually grow it!

By Now You're Probably Wondering "How Do I Multiply Plants?"??

I grew up being thrifty, I grew into being thrifty, & I love being thrifty, but having a ton of plants sounded expensive to buy, cheap to take care of, and fun to have around.

So I thought "How do I get cheap or free plants??"

• Seeds are cheap, but not as cheap as I am.
• Discount plants are cheap, but again not as cheap as I am and not as healthy either.
  (I call them plants in the ER, stores have racks with dying plants that need urgent care at a discount price or they will die!! )
• Friends are cheap, I mean friends who have already growing plants can provide a super cheap alternative
• No Friends? No Problem! Offices, schools, stores, they all love to add some life to their dark day under florescent lighting. It makes them even happier when they can brighten someone elses day just by cutting a tiny inch or two from their plant.

Seriously little to no effort for them to put a smile on your face, and you probably made them feel good too. Happiness is contagious.

So Finally, How I Get My Free Plants: From Cuttings

One of my first cuttings was from a former employers Philodendron Vine plant, it looked like a healthy candidate for the job. I asked if I could cut 2 inches from it and she said I could!

I was in the Town Hall office paying property taxes and saw a super cute long vine bursting from the pot it was hanging in, I asked If I could have a couple inches to root in water and she gave me over a foot, she mentioned it was Lipstick plant when she handed over my new friend..

Friends parents had plants, unique, the husband didn't really like house plants so it was pushed under a shrub outside, I asked if I could have a piece. Approved yet again, I got less than an inch to work with, I was worried it wouldn't work but 4 weeks later (1 week in water, 3 in soil) its over 4 inches tall!

I totally understand if you are not interested in Multiplying house plants, food giving plants are the BEST!!

This spring I planted a couple Basil plants from seeds, that I traded some cute pots for, I knew I could make more plants eventually.

When To Cut:

My rule of thumb, is at least 2 sets of leaves, 3 is better for most plants, except rosemary, let her get at least 2-3 inches tall.

The victim is this basil plant, it has 6 sets of leaves formed, I pointed out with Red Arrows, note that it is SETS of leaves, not individual leaf count. I cut above the 2nd set of leaves instead of above the third set because the plant was already getting tall and I wanted it more bushy. Where you cut will dry up and new growth will come from below.

Place the new cutting in water and make sure the exsisting leaves are not submerged,use whatever works!

Set it in spot with little to very light sunlight, my cuttings sit in a window that gets sun in the early morning until maybe 9 or 10 before it moves to the next window.

You can see in the picture above the new cutting and a cutting that is over a week old. It is about time to plant the one on the left, I just need to find another container!

Rosemary from a Cutting:

Moment of TRUTH: I don't recommend anyone trying this!! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU GET IN TROUBLE! But I totally cut my rosemary plants a couple years ago from a flourishing Rosemary bush at a Walmart. I've been cutting and gifting from that one cutting ever since!

It got to a beautiful size and then my baby cat started peeing in the pot and it started dying so I took some cuttings before it got too bad. Kitty didn't understand the difference between outside soil and inside soil at first, especially since it kind of looked like a litter box to a little guy. lol

You can do this with Tomato Suckers too. Plant Carrot tops, lettuce bottoms, Pineapple tops, the list goes on. Here was just a small demonstration of what can be done! Experiment, Grow, & learn <3

♡ Anyways, this was a rather long post, I hope you enjoyed it!! All Photos and content are my own. let me know if you like reading all of the mini stories or if you would prefer content that "gets to the point" ♡