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I'm proud of you...thinking like a plant and knowing that they like water, dirt and sunlight. Are you still killing plants or are they starting to do better?
The next skill to master is that of improvisation. Yes, this means relaxing and going with the flow. Your curiosity has to have room to explore the plant world.
One of the easiest experiments to attempt is the Stick Test. Simply take a cutting of another plant, about the size of a small twig, and stick it into some dirt. Give it water as you would any other plant, and give it sunlight. There is a 40% chance that it will take root and grow. (If not, what have you lost?)
There is the Seed Challenge. Take a seed of just about anything, and try to get it to grow by sticking it in dirt, watering it, and keeping it warm. You can get a small forest of mini-trees going rather quickly if you are patient. Look for seeds outside your house, or in your kitchen. Try an apple seed, or an orange seed, or a maple, or an oak.
Some plants love to be cut from time to time. You can do a Trim Test, and see if your plant likes to be cut back. Start by cutting or pinching the end of a single stem or branch. Watch what happens. Does it die? Then stop doing it. Does it heal, and split into more branches and start to grow back? If so, you might be able to encourage your plant to grow even bigger by cutting it back, as strange as it might seem. Plants can be hardy that way.
A Climbing Race is always fun. Some plants, like peas, like to climb. You can have races, and see which plant grows the tallest in the shortest amount of time. Is it getting better conditions? Why is it the tallest?
If you are really bold, you can try tasting some of your plants. Not all of them, but some are good to nibble on. You might want to do some research so you don't eat anything poisonous, but with minimal effort you can have a whole bunch of edible plants growing. You'll find they taste much better than anything from the store.
Does your plant look crowded in its little container? Has it been there a long time? Transplant it into something bigger and see if it improves.
You are starting to get the picture. With some basic knowledge of dirt, water, and sun, you can begin to see what happens if you add a bit more here, a little less there, and a few seeds or cuttings. You get more mistakes! And a few oddball successes. You will learn from both, I promise.
Lesson 6: Rescues
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