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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To wonder how the hell to keep house plants healthy and alive?

43 replies

malificent7 · 24/01/2021 13:02

Take the cheese plant i bought during lockdown 1. Water it too mucb it goes brown ( even though it grows in rainforests). Water it too little it goes brown. Ditto all other plants....even though i mostly get succulents.
As for Orchids...forget it.

OP posts:
LadyOfTheCanyon · 24/01/2021 15:12

Most houses are kept too artificially warm for a lot of plants which require a certain amount of humidity in the air. Plants that would have canopy cover in their natural environment normally love steamier environments. But there’s a limit to how many plants you can keep in your bathroom, and misting regularly can be messy and damaging to surfaces and fabrics, so people don’t do it enough to benefit the plant.

In the UK, it’s just not warm enough or sunny enough to keep cactuses and succulents in a regular house or flat that doesn’t have a glass roofed conservatory - they etiolate looking for sunlight, and new growth is weakened.

People think that brown crispy edges on leaves means under watering, but in some plants it means overwatering, so they exacerbate the problem by continuing to water.

A lot of people don’t water plants from the bottom, but just pour on water from the top. Bad on two counts - the water never reaches the roots where it’s needed, and the top of the soil then feels wet, meaning people don’t water for longer, and then the roots die.

Too big a pot - most plants prefer to be slightly pot bound than in a too big a pot - the bigger the pot the more volume of soil it holds, and the greater the volume of water, meaning it’s easy to leave a plant sitting in soil that takes ages to dry out. It’s better to use plant food ( during the active growing period of the plant) and a smaller pot than a large pot and more soil.

Disclaimer : I’m a florist, and spend my working life listening to peoples tales of woe when it comes to house plants!

whataballbag · 24/01/2021 15:18

My cheese plant gets a shower when he's bone dry

MadameTuffington · 24/01/2021 15:41

@LadyOfTheCanyon

Most houses are kept too artificially warm for a lot of plants which require a certain amount of humidity in the air. Plants that would have canopy cover in their natural environment normally love steamier environments. But there’s a limit to how many plants you can keep in your bathroom, and misting regularly can be messy and damaging to surfaces and fabrics, so people don’t do it enough to benefit the plant.

In the UK, it’s just not warm enough or sunny enough to keep cactuses and succulents in a regular house or flat that doesn’t have a glass roofed conservatory - they etiolate looking for sunlight, and new growth is weakened.

People think that brown crispy edges on leaves means under watering, but in some plants it means overwatering, so they exacerbate the problem by continuing to water.

A lot of people don’t water plants from the bottom, but just pour on water from the top. Bad on two counts - the water never reaches the roots where it’s needed, and the top of the soil then feels wet, meaning people don’t water for longer, and then the roots die.

Too big a pot - most plants prefer to be slightly pot bound than in a too big a pot - the bigger the pot the more volume of soil it holds, and the greater the volume of water, meaning it’s easy to leave a plant sitting in soil that takes ages to dry out. It’s better to use plant food ( during the active growing period of the plant) and a smaller pot than a large pot and more soil.

Disclaimer : I’m a florist, and spend my working life listening to peoples tales of woe when it comes to house plants!

Thank you so much for these tips - I will now water at bottom and maybe not as often!

Really useful 🌿🌼🌸🌺 :)

hansgrueber · 24/01/2021 16:27

As for Orchids...forget it.

Exactly. I find that the less I do with my orchids the more they thrive! I've had a big one on a ledge in the kitchen for over 10 years, it's usually full of blooms, at the moment there are over 20 with lots of babies on theway, I occasionally feel the compost and if it's totally dry I will slosh a glass of water onto it. Things like Swiss cheese plants like to be sprayed over the foliage as well watered apringly, it's the same for all plants with large foliage.

Crazzzycat · 24/01/2021 16:34

If you have an iPhone or an iPad, get yourself the Planta-app. It sends you reminders for when your plants are likely to need water and what to look for before you water them. I imagine that there are similar apps available for android phones.

CoronaIsWatching · 24/01/2021 16:35

The first orchid I had died of root rot, even though i was only giving it a slight watering every 2 weeks. The moss it came in was so densely packed it literally could never dry out

BotanyBetty · 24/01/2021 17:11

@biddybird you could try nematodes or bug clear type sprays as well as the sticky traps but a few weeks of watering from the bottom should do the trick, it does take a bit of time but it works. Good luck! They are annoying little buggers

GuyFawkesDay · 24/01/2021 17:16

Don't forget to feed them occasionally too. Follow the instructions. I make up a washing up bowl with the right amount of drops of baby bio and once a month let them steep in it for an hour or so. Mostly they need just s water every fortnight done like that as the roots stay damp ages.

billy1966 · 24/01/2021 17:52

Loads of plants here, and I have murdered many in my day too.......its overwhelmingly a watering problem.

Most will survive a bit of drying out but over watering tends to kill them off.

Once a week and not too much.

The only exception is a flowering plant that needs more during the summer, especially in a warm spot.

Ratonastick · 24/01/2021 18:12

Peace lilies are impossible to kill? Au contraire..........

Mine was a gift from a beloved relative. I’m now on my third one as I can’t bring myself to tell BR that I murdered their present.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 24/01/2021 18:20

I killed 6 spider plants so far😭
I will get 1 to survive though. Eventually

SchrodingersImmigrant · 24/01/2021 18:23

What compost do you all use? I just use normal house plants potting mix, but might actually repot most plants (they need it now) in march so I wonder if I should mix it with perlite or something.
I am tempted to just put all of them into soil for succulents because that's the only soil ever in here to dry out!

LadyOfTheCanyon · 24/01/2021 18:25

Orchids like a significant temperature difference between day and night - the temperature needs to drop several degrees overnight to stimulate flowering. They seem to thrive better in west or East facing positions and again, like humidity.

Also a lot of orchids are transported for too long in refrigerated trucks which effectively kill them, they just go through a very slow death in your house when they hit warm temperatures again. Look for thick, firm, healthy looking dark green leaves and aerial roots that are full and fat, not papery and shrivelled. They are sold in see through pots because the roots need to see light - most people put them in a decorative outer pot which stops the plant's ability to photosynthesise effectively.

I've definitely kept orchids going that cost £4 from Aldi, but the ones that have absolutely flourished have been ones that came from good stock and cost a fair bit.

biddybird · 24/01/2021 20:45

@BotanyBetty Thanks again. I will try watering only from the bottom from now on.
(One just flew into my face as I was typing this!)

jaffacakesareevil · 24/01/2021 20:57

There's an app called Planta that tells you when to water each of your plants, and also if it has the correct amount of light.
I've found it really helpful as I've got nearly 20 now and all need watering at different times.

SandyRayH · 24/01/2021 22:07

Very useful thread; following! Have downloaded the Planta app too, thanks for the advice!

LibrariesGiveUsPower45321 · 24/01/2021 22:19

Buy things that are hard to kill. Peace lily and cactuses work well.

MotherWol · 24/01/2021 22:40

It’s winter, so right now I’m focusing on getting my plants through the cold weather. I’ve moved all my plants to places that get at least some daylight, the succulents aren’t getting watered at all until March, and the leafy plants (pothos, monstera) get watered every 2-3 weeks when the soil has dried out, with misting once a week. Water your plants much less than you think!

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