How I ended up Loving Plants

I don't really like plants. Just to get rid of it, I took Bio 111 Phycology (Algae) as my Plant Taxonomy Elective instead of Bio 115 (Taxonomy of Angiosperms). I have a great bias against plants especially because I cannot relate to them. Turn of tides started last semester, I took Bio 122 (Elementary Animal Physiology) and my professor Dr. Luis Maria B. Garcia told us during the first lectures that a lot of physiological mechanisms in plants and animals are the same. I realized that plants aren't that gross. They are actually lovely.

This semester I am taking Bio 121 (Elementary Plant Physiology) in UP Diliman under Dr. Juliana Janet Puzon and Dr. Catherine Lagunzad. In this course, we were introduced to the plant way of life, their mechanisms for growth, development and survival. As I was reading our Plant Physiology book by Hopkins and Huner, I get to appreciate the greatness and beauty of plants. How genius they are because of their adaptations just to survive. Lesson learned, having a low grade in Bio 101 (Plant Morphoanatomy) doesn't give me the license to hate plants.

As some people say, the things that you hate will turn out to be the things that you will love in the end. And I guess it's true, perhaps for my prejudice against plants. I came across a website of a garden house that houses a lot of medicinal and culinary herbs: Edsa Garden House located in Manila Seedling Bank in Quezon Avenue. I was very interested as I was browsing through their list of herbs. I just felt that I really need to buy these herbs. Something inside me urged me to go to the store and buy seedlings. It was like the plants are persuading me to adopt them and take good care of them. From then on, my relationship with the plants started to be more intimate.

January 16 (Thursday), it was a fine day. I went to Edsa Garden House to check out their seedlings. I was in awe after seeing their wide array of herbs. It was like an ocean of green herbs. As far as my eyes can see, there are plants of all sorts. There are tiny seedlings and herbs that stand taller me. You will be calmed by the camphor and minty scent of their herbs. I surveyed the whole garden and I ended up buying Lavender, Rosemary, Holy Basil, Peppermint, Japanese Mint, Swiss Mint and Chocolate Mint for only PhP275 (3 for PhP 100). Most of these plants are from the Family Lamiaceae which are mostly herbs/shrubs and are distinguished for their aromatic scent. I also bought 25 pcs. plastic pots and propagation mix (100 for 8L). I temporarily placed all of the herbs in the Greenhouse of the Institute of Biology, UP Diliman.

Herbs from EGH temporarily housed at UP Institute of Biology Greenhouse

After several days, I planned to re-pot the herbs. The reason why I did this is to maximize the absorption of nutrients from the soil. Since they are crowded in a small pot, they will compete for the nutrients present in the soil. Not only will they compete for the nutrients in the soil but also for the sunlight since they are very crowded and close to each other, the overlapping leaves might out-compete each other for sunlight which the plants need for the production of glucose through photosynthesis. And so I re-pot each plant in the soil propagation mix that I bought. After re-potting, I ended up with 17 pots from the initial 9 pots. Wee! After several days I noticed faster growth of the plants, an indication of better absorption of water, mineral uptake and photosynthesis.

Photo after separating and re-potting the herbs

After re-potting, I did my research on how to propagate these herbs through stem cutting. I wanted to propagate these herbs and "clone" them so I can have more copies of the plants. What I did is that, I watered the plants one hour before I do the stem-cutting. Then I used clean scissors to cut one to two inches from the tip of the shoot (meristematic region). I washed the stem cuttings and planted it to the propagation mix and watered it. Since these are from the meristematic regions, their cells are not yet differentiated, meaning it can give rise to any kind of cells and tissues. These stem cuttings will develop roots after a week or so. I tried stem cutting propagation for the first time using Rosemary and Holy Basil.

Stem-cuttings from Holy Basil (Left) and Rosemary (Right)

After almost a week, I decided to go back to Edsa Garden House to buy more plants. I went there last January 28 (Tuesday) and I was shocked to see fewer plants. The ocean of plants seemed to dry up. They are starting to move out of the place because of a conflict with the Quezon City government. I felt sadness and melancholy for the plants because they have to leave the place which had been their sanctuary for decades but I also sympathize with the store owners in the Manila Seedling Bank who are not just mere entrepreneurs but also mighty soldiers of nature. They are not just selling plants for a living, they are promoting a clean, green, healthful and environmentally friendly living.

I was still able to buy new plants from the few remaining seedlings in the garden house. I bought Perilla, Cat's Whiskers, RauRan, Lemon Basil, Mint, Sambong, Parsley and Sage. All for PhP 200. I am planning to buy more herbs when I received my allowance. I am planning to visit the garden house in Quezon City Memorial Circle. I am sure that there are a lot more species of herbs that are patiently waiting for me.

I propagated new stem cuttings from the plants that I bought. I was successful for growing Rosemary and Holy Basil through stem cutting and so I decided to use it also for Italian Oregano, Chocolate Mint, Japanese Mint and Swiss Mint. I now have a nursery for the baby "herbs". 

Stem Cuttings from Lemon Basil, Holy Basil, Italian Oregano and Choco Mint (L-R)

Stem-Cuttings from Swiss Mint, Peppermint, Rosemary and Japanese Mint (L-R)

For now, I am saving money for my future greenhouse in our home in Bataan. I know that it would take a long time before I will be able to achieve the money I need for the construction of my greenhouse but I know that by God's grace, I can achieve that. Temporarily, the plants that I brought home to Bataan are staying in an improvised greenhouse made from a shelf covered with insect net. I promise to give you (plants) a better place to live in as soon as I have the money needed for the greenhouse.

And this is the story of how I ended up loving plants. A story of relationship that conquered hatred and prejudice.