Good evening everyone! Exciting things are happening over here, as you can see I have a new blog format and a new website, www.livingloft.org! As I’ve gone through blogging about my Titan Arum, Denali, I kept feeling like I wanted to share other gardening success and challenges I’ve had with you. This new format will allow me to share more and provide a forum for an exchange of indoor gardening ideas.

I’ve been strictly indoor gardening for ten years now and I’d love to be able to share what has worked and what hasn’t. Why indoor gardening? It started when we lived in Alaska and had those long, dark winters. I needed something to brighten the days and something to pass the time. Some knit, others sew, I started to garden! Since that time we have continued to live in apartments which lend themselves to indoor gardening, our most recent loft doesn’t even have a balcony! I am constantly seeing cute, Pintrest-y type ideas on indoor plants and arrangements. Some of these ideas are awesome, some are terribly impractical and waste of money and time. As my garden has grown, people have started asking me more and more questions about how to do grow, what to grow, how to control insects, etc. And so a blog is born! I’d like to dedicate this blog to the exchange of ideas, figuring out what works and what doesn’t. There is no reason why everyone can’t have their own small vegetable, herb, or fruit producing garden. If they can grow on the space station then so can we!

Thank you for tuning in so far and I hope you continue to do so!

Now for a  Denali update! If you don’t know who Denali is you can start here.

When we last saw Denali it was Jan 6 and she was 16″ tall, since then it seems her growth spurt has slowed down. While she is still growing it is not as fast as it was at the beginning and her leaflets are a little droopy. So far she shows no sign of disease or problems so I think this is a natural part of her growth cycle. Today she measures 18″ tall, with a leaf span of 16″. She still easily fits in the greenhouse so is staying there right now on top of a heating pad and surrounded by containers of water. I have a temperature and humidity gauge in there so I can monitor those levels and make sure they don’t get too low. The temp in the greenhouse ranges from 65-75° F which is within her range. The humidity has managed to stay 64 and above so that is also doing ok. Otherwise she looks healthy, the leaf stock is strong and the leaflets are a vibrant green. Stay Tuned!