How Not to Kill Your Houseplant: Survival Tips for the Horticulturally Challenged

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The answer varies between species of plant, so make sure to check your houseplant care label to find out how much water it needs. Grow kits are an oft-overlooked way to have tasty herbs, plump tomatoes, and cool houseplants without investing a ton of time and energy.

How Not To Kill Your Houseplants | Best House Plant Tips

Wipe the leaves regularly, about every two months: either use a wet cloth or spray them with a spray bottle.

Top tip: As well as pretty houseplant pots, you can get creative with shelving options for your houseplant . I chose it because it was –because it still is– just the right size and shape for a favourite houseplant of mine, a handsome specimen of Senecio rowleanus commonly known as String of Pearls. If you have more shade where you live, you can choose, for example, a peace lily, lucky bamboo, or spider plants.

Kill Your Houseplants | Our House Plants 7 Top Mistakes That Can Kill Your Houseplants | Our House Plants

Last but not least, bear in mind that some species of house plants aren't so much demanding as they are the unfortunate victims of fleeting Instagram trends that treat them as objects devoid of life, something that always strikes me as both sad and strange when the whole point of houseplants is their magical ability to bring any space to life. Go on, share your horror stories in the comments below and make our other readers feel a little bit better! There are specific potting mixes for Mediterranean and citrus plants, succulents and cacti, and orchids- so make sure that you’re using the best option for your houseplant.Seeds are dormant until they detect enough moisture to germinate, but you can trick them into opening. If it’s a warm, bright, sheltered spot out of direct sunlight, for example, then any of the plants that I’ve mentioned above will thrive. You learned in school that plants need sunlight to be able to grow big and strong, so you figure that sun drenched heat trap you've got can only be a good thing in the grand scheme of things. Inspect and clean your plants regularly and quarantine new plants for at least two weeks to ensure any hitchhikers don’t spread to your other plants.

How Not to Kill Your Houseplant | DK UK

Because it covers so many different plants, it can't go as in depth on each plant as I would have liked, and a lot of tips are repeated with every single plant so it does get a bit repetitive, but it does the job! If you’re not sure how to re-pot a houseplant, you’ll need a bigger houseplant pot to ensure that there’s space for more roots to grow.We especially love the tried-and-true microgreens kit, but options like desert rose bonsai trees and pear cacti are great for urban dwellers who’d rather have a taste of the desert. We could be talking months or even years with leaves falling and very few new ones growing to get to the point it gives up on life.

Kill Houseplant Survival Tips - AbeBooks Kill Houseplant Survival Tips - AbeBooks

However, for a book that dubs itself "Survival tips for the horticulturally challenged," it didn't get into quite enough detail at parts.If it’s a shady spot, choose the kinds of easy-to-grow species that thrive in these sorts of low-light growing conditions; examples include the nattily striped spider plant (Chlorophytum ‘Variegatum’); the cast-iron plant (Aspidistra elatior); trailing philodendron (Philodendrons scandens), the snake plant (Sanesevieria trifasciata); the ZZ plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) and the statuesque Swiss cheese plant known as Monstera deliciosa, a houseplant so obliging and undemanding that it’s almost impossible to kill it. And so our plants continue to sadly die until, eureka, it finally dawns on us that the one non-negotiable rule of being a houseplant owner– perhaps the only unbreakable rule when it comes to keeping your houseplants happy– is to choose the right plant for the right place. Using the best houseplant compost for your type of plant will ensure that it gets the nutrients and proper drainage it requires to thrive. I don't know the relative meanings of "moderately" and "sparingly" when it comes to watering plants! Would recommend to anyone who is interested in getting houseplants, since it almost feels like a catalog of possibilities.