That Lime Plant

Since my dad passed away, i am pretty much the one entrusted to take care of the plants outside the flat. Hmm i ain't the kind of person who would actually bother to look and talk to plants, my assumed routine is juz water them every couple of days and that's it. All the plants my dad had were pretty much fuss-free & hardy to the weather.

But there's somethin not goin well with the lime plant. There's white cottony stuff growin at every joints of the branches. hmm fungus?? tried hard to recall some things i learnt in my Plant Science module in Poly. hmm no idea but i was told by a florist that those stuff were actually insects. ok so mum & i bought tis Systemic spray to rid of those stuff, sprayed twice and it looked like the cottony thingy seemed to sorta wrinkled up. Good i thot, so i decided to snip off some ends of the branches, rid some leaves hopin that new shoots will grow since who noes, auxin accumulations at the ends will lead to retardation of shoot growth (ehem plant science geek talk). After a few waterings, eyyyy shoots really grew lah! more n more! ok happy happy.

eversince, i kinda observe the new shoots with new light green leaves, somehow feelin relieved every time cos there ain't any white cottony stuff growin there. then, a couple of days ago..i started seein my new leaves goin out of shape...more like they were bein nibbled on! URGHH!

Must be those damn caterpillars!! Urghhhhh!!! Caterpillars...reminded me of the periwinkle plants i had to look after in my 2nd year in SP. I had such a breeze lookin after those plants till caterpillars appear! HUGE GREEN ONES!!! YUCK!! And they were tough to remove, they cling to the bloody leaves! I dun wanna see them anymore, especially not on the lime plant!

So today after waterin the plants and seein more damaged leaves, i decided to take a closer look at the leaves to see if i can spot any of those squirmy crawlers! ooo ooo oooo...i saw not one, not two...but at least 6 of them in 3 different sizes! but they are way smaller compared to the ones i found on the peiwinkle plants...i think they r still baby ones...black, brown and furry lookin!! Eeewwwww~~~~

Grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped of the leaves that they were restin on, and throw them all downstairs..like they were on some magic carpet or somethin...eeewwwww!!! i felt guilty for awhile, cos they might suffer but oh well, some birds would thank me for the food man! hah!

It is only now I understand why almost everyday my late dad would look at his lime plant before he enters our home every time he returned from work or mosque. I remember hearin the jangling of his keys when he walked thru the corridor and i await in my room for him to open the door and peer at me when he enters the house, but i always had to wait quite some time before he did cos he would pause to look at his lime plant and pick on caterpillars or remove damaged leaves. My mum said she reminiscence his silhouette at the lime plant spot every now and then. My poor mum, it is still very hard for her to overcome his passing...every lil things reminds her of him.

I guess it's my turn now to be scrutinisin the lime plant and the others..well i may not be givin those plants tender lovin care, but I'll try to at least keep them alive. I used to some time get pissed with my dad when I see the soil of the plants get too dry. I mean, if u dun have time, why take such responsibilities of lookin after plants that have lives too? I guess I understand now that he is probably a lil too tired yet such creations of God, somehow takes one off the tiredness and stress the world brings sometime and juz brings a sense of calmness and relief.

So now, it's me against ants, cottony insects and Caterpillars!!

SNIP SNIP SNIP & SPROT SPROT!!