How many houseplants do you kill?

[Gabitule]

I know the title is a bit weird but I didn’t quite know how to put it…

I have around 20-25 plants in my house. Some are easy case such as snake plants and others more difficult to grow such as rarer Alocasias.
I make sure not to water them too much (I use a moisture meter) and that they have enough warmth, light and moisture. However, every so often, my plants die! I feel like I’m not doing anything different but out of the blue they start losing leaves etc and die. The internet is full of contradictory reasons for this (eg too much water, too little water, too much light, too little light). Is it me or is it them? 😀

What percentage of your plants die every year?

(a few examples just over the last year)

• I’ve had a prayer plant (maranta) for the last 3 years, grew beautifully but recently its leaves started going yellow and crinkly. I checked water levels, etc. looks like I can’t save it.
• my philodendron started developing brown spots- a fungus I guess. I took cuttings before it died but the new plants are also developing the same brown spots. My friend bought one at the same time as me, hers is beautiful.
• alocasia - also developed brown spots, couldn’t save it
• begonia polka dot leaves started to crinkle up and fall. In the end the plant lost all of its leaves.

@MothershipG , I’ve cut all the leaves on one of my Alocasias because they were wrinkled and covered in spots so the plant was clearly sick. It’s now just a stump. Can leaves grow back??

Not sure what to say about spider plants other than it depends on the type you get. There are spider-plants which only throw baby shots when they’re super happy and others which are half dying and still throwing shots. My spider plant was a baby from a pathetic looking plant in the office. It grew into a beautiful plant with lots of babies (see photo). Now, a year later, it’s going yellow and babies have dried up with no more coming. I know it wants to be repotted but I don’t have space for a bigger pot on the windowsill.
(the windowsill is S-E facing and I give it lots of water)

I've lost count, I'm afraid.

When I've gone through stressful times,I've literally forgotten that some plants exist(ed).

I've lost two in the last month - an Alocasia and a spotted begonia. I think my Boston Fern is so crispy I may as well give up. I have over 50 plants and I've come to realise that I can't be arsed with the fussy ones. I refuse to buy another Calathea for instance. My house is quite cold and I can't change that to benefit plants so I'm going to stick with the plants that do well here. I do find the Facebook houseplant group I'm on VERY helpful - those people know their stuff.

I need your babies! I have an east facing bathroom window I could try!

The Alocasia leaves come up from the stumps, I have a dragon scale one DS bought me that croaked in record time but now has some cute baby leaves coming up.

Repotting is such a chore but needs to be done. Could you put some of the babies on that windowsill and find room for the mother plant elsewhere?

Mine do the really annoying thing of looking like they’re going to die but then hanging on for years looking half dead and shit.
My monstera was huge and beautiful for over three years and then one day just started turning brown. The whole thing was dead within two weeks. Went to throw it out and there was a new green leaf. It’s now been in this sorry state for almost two years but keeps growing new leaves (which then turn brown) so I can’t bring myself to get rid of it even though it looks like crap.

My palm has also been looking shit for years now. The other one (calathea?) was mostly dead for ages but has now regenerated itself somewhat.

@MothershipG Re ‘’Repotting is such a chore but needs to be done. Could you put some of the babies on that windowsill and find room for the mother plant elsewhere?’’

yes, I’m going do that, even though it will take a while until the babies grow so my windowsill will look a bit bare. But I have to do it as the poor plant has huge roots sticking out of the bottom of the pot

I've got loads that I've kept going for over a decade...however...I recently replaced my kitchen basil and have an infestation of those mini flies from it! If anyone can recommend how to get rid of them I'd be very grateful. I tried leaving it out for spiders to debug over summer but it didn't work.

@DreamSpaceships

Your monstera must have some fungus or bacterial infection, perhaps try a spray treatment for a while?

Yep, I’m starting to think this might be a possibility as I just noticed that the sick leaves on the maranta I mentioned this morning are weird looking, crispy and full of little spots. I removed the affected parts but I can’t isolate it as I have plants in all my rooms. I just sprayed with some garden fungus spray, I hope it will work.
Two other plants appear to have similar issues (even though they lived in different rooms)

@womanwithissues
re ‘’. I think my Boston Fern is so crispy I may as well give up’’ - my young Boston fern crisped up and then took ages to die. But die it did.
I bought a replacement which I keep in the same spot, similar pot and watering schedule. And it’s thriving! Who can understand them??

I echo that position can make a real difference, but finding the right spot away from direct sunlight-but with sunlight, constant heat level etc is tricky.
Some thrive some sadly don't, I tend to stick to the less temperamental.
I have managed to kill a terrarium, allegedly low maintenance, looked fab for a long while until suddenly it didn't...
And recently bought a bonsai tree for my daughter for Christmas but may have finished it off before I've given to her!!! Frantically misting hoping to revive it

Only the strong survive....
Palms and ferns are fuckers to keep alive.
Pothos, cacti and jade plant would survive a thermo nuclear detonation.

I'm trying to decide whether to buy a Poinsettia and kill it now or leave it until later in the hope it might limp through Xmas day.

I like to tell myself that, given that they are from tropical forests and they are very likely to have been in cold warehouses, cold lorries and even kept outside at the store, it is not my fault. However, most people seem to be able to nurse them along for a couple of weeks or so.

All of them. I even killed plants in the fish tank

I use the Planta app too so all the watering schedule should be spot on.

My favourite is an elephant ear. Which unfortunately seem to be the ones most likely to keel over with no rhyme or reason.

I only had one at a time (small flat). I’d immediately forget about it, and it would die. I did this 3 times before I just got the fakes.

I'm keen on houseplants and have about seventy.

I given up buying certain plants which are supposed to be easy, like the monstera adonsonii/monkey mask. They seem fine for a while with me then die off. I just can't work out the right position or whatever. And I have one calathea which is doing ok but others have died. They're too tricky for me.

Another easy one, the ZZ, isn't dying but hasn't produced a new shoot for about two years. It just sits there.

I have one lovely plant which only thrives on one particular windowsill, nowhere else in the house. Having nearly killed it off a few times, I've accepted that it can stay there, even though it's really a bit big for its position.

The little flies are probably fungus gnats, you need a 2 pronged attack to kill the adult flies and the larvae. We had success with yellow sticky shapes to catch the adults and nematodes for the larvae. But if you google there are various other methods.

Use the Planta app! It tells you if you've placed them in the right light, tells you when to water and fertilise/mist them and you can update the plant health so it can adjust its settings. I love it, I couldn't keep up with my plants before!

Literally all of them

Most of the ones I have had to be honest.

I’m not a great lover of house plants. Don’t know why, it’s just not an aesthetic that appeals to me much. I’m very, very into external garden and absolutely love fresh cut flowers in the house; but houseplants aren’t really my thing. I don’t really even like the hothouses at botanic gardens. I think it’s something to do with the pots.

I don't think that plants should be indoors, they should live outside, like donkeys and elephants do.

All of them. Every plant I have ever bought. Every succulent. Every cactus. 🪦

So I got an allotment 🤦🏻‍♀️

💸💸💸

I’m really not good with indoor plants with the exception of orchids which is difficult as people keep buying them for me as they know I love garden plants.

I killed a cactus