Aloe Vera Is As Hardy As A Cockroach

[TorturedSoul]

I have an aloe vera that has turned into a colony of the **** things, vastly overgrowing its small pot. I was carrying it outside to try to pull the mother and all but two of the "pups" out, when I suddenly had to set it down and do something else. I was in a dimly-illuminated, narrow hall and didn't want to trip over the thing upon my return - so I opened the closet door and set it on the top shelf. When I finally remembered where it was at, I went back and discovered that it was no worse from the experience.

That was approximately two months later . All the plants were still mostly green, too.They had gone nearly two-dimensional, though, from lack of water. It's been in the mid-40s to low 50s in my house, so maybe the cool temperatures and darkness put them into a dormant state. I assume you couldn't put one inside a box and set it outside during Summer and have it survive as long. But that's just a guess. . . .

 

[Phytoplankton]

You are right on point. That stuff is almost indestructable. My wife can even grow it, and she's known for her "black thumb!".

 

[TorturedSoul]

and she's known for her "black thumb!".

In that case: Sempervivum (aka "hen and chicks") is another succulent that's rather... durable. I don't know whether it would survive being stuck in a completely dark closet for an extended period of time, but people around here use them in containers around their sidewalks, porches, et cetera - and they don't normally bother to bring them inside for Winter (and we occasionally experience temperatures below 0°F). I've heard that the things are capable of flowering, but that's sort of theoretical knowledge .

 

[TorturedSoul]

I forgot about celery! Celery turns into a bush, and our local weather hadn't killed it as of a week ago, although it's looked kind of miserable twice. I don't know what 4° overnight lows after getting ten or twelve inches of snow dumped on - but if you live somewhere that Winter doesn't get colder than the 20s, it shouldn't really even notice the weather. It seems to tolerate being regularly watered when young and then mostly ignored. I don't know if that means it sinks deep roots, or is just tolerant of low moisture. Mine did have one serious issue, however. The stalks remained thin. It still smelled like awesome home grown celery, but I kept waiting on it to thicken up. Then I got impatient one day, and cut a piece off. It was hollow! Worse still, several black bugs ½" to ¾" long crawled out. They were fast little sh!ts, too. So I didn't get to eat any :sad: . I actually mowed it down at that point - and that only mildly inconvenienced it, lol. That was the middle of September, and it was a (small) bush again by the time it started getting cold at night. Sucked about the insect infestation, because it's been years since I had any really good celery, just grocery store crap. But it still qualified as basically a plant that didn't require care. And it didn't spread, which is great. Lots of "plant and forget" things turn into a mess. The aloe vera, kind of. Bamboo. Multiflora rose, LMFAO (plant that, and a year later you wouldn't get through it in a truck going 75 MPH). Mint spreads like a bad baloney fart, too - but you can simply ignore it, and it makes the air smell nice every time you mow your yard. But celery just grows into a relatively small bush type thing, and pretty much minds its own business.