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Welcome, all! I've been gardening all my life, but sinse I'm fresh out of college, newly married and finallllly settled, this is my first real go at it on my own. Unfortunately we live in a pretty small apartment so my "garden" space is limited. I'm in the process of building a second sill in my tiny southeast window, the only place that gets decent light.

My interests in gardening are varied and a little esoteric. First off, because I'm a pretty rabid environmentalist, I'm interested in organic gardening on a reaaallly small scale (because of the apartment). I have betta fish that provide my fertilizer (and the plants provide plenty of yummy bugs for them :) and I'm about to try my hand at vermicomposting.

Second, I'm intrigued with the way we can incorporate house plants to improve indoor air quality. In my area this is a concern inside AND out! (If anyone's interested check out B.C. Wolverton's book "How to grow Fresh Air.")

I'm just starting to try my hand at orchids (because Phals are among the few plants that like the shady, humid conditions on the northwest balcony). I used to do bonsai, but again because of space/light considerations I have had to give that up for now. (I do lurk jealously around the bonsai forum once in a while.) I grow a lot of herbs on the one good windowsill, and native/wild plants also pique my interest. How's that for a portfolio?

My web page below contains research I've done on non-toxic cleaning.

I live in: United States

My zone is: z9a Houston

First registered on August 13,2002.