Comments on: Plant Care 101: From a Reformed Plant Murderer

By: Lara

Lara — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 17:17:31 +0000

In reply to Jaclyn.

Hi! Sorry for my poor english… I’ll try my best to make myself understood. I’ve been suffering the very same problem with my plants, specially with the”whitefly”.
The solution: potassium soap. A dilution with slightly warm watter. Spray your plants once a week or five days. It’s an ecological mixture, it won’t hurt your plants at all! And will put and end to infestation progresively.
You can combine the spray sessions of potassium soap with another fantastic product: a watter dilution if Neem oil. This combination is infallible!

By: Becky

Becky — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 23:58:19 +0000

I just discovered your blog and I LOVE IT! From another former plant murder (who has sort of (at least tried to) changed my ways recently) I found this super helpful! Thank you thank you!

By: Lauren

Lauren — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 23:33:40 +0000

One thing that might be why the cactus inside is growing tall fast is its searching for more light. I had no idea plants grew taller super fast to get close to light. But my mom informed me when I had plants doing it. But not sure if cactus does that…

By: Corinna - A Designer At Home

Corinna - A Designer At Home — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 00:03:05 +0000

Light and underwater img are my issue with all my plants. I must get better at this! My plant budget is dwindling 😉

By: shannon

shannon — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 16:11:09 +0000

soil is also very important, different plants like more sand or perlite, or something less water retaining than others. it holds onto water less and allows for drainage. remember in the wild, when the water hits the ground it keeps going. many plants like to be watered often with soil that does NOT hold onto the water. think of a these people who grow plants in nothing but water. its because the water is always fresh and constantly moving. and filled with food and oxygen for them. if you took the same plant with the same water and just water logged the soil. it would rot the plant. and yet when planting you want to make sure there are no pockets of air in the soil. this is one reason to water right after planting. to let the holes fill in.
pick a good fertilizer and feed them in the spring and fall. at least. also find out what kind of acidity your plant likes. type it into the web in the form of a question. some like more acid others not so much.

By: Virginia Roberts (The Heartographer)

Virginia Roberts (The Heartographer) — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 02:55:20 +0000

This is totally my topic! I have killed a lot of houseplants in my day, but the ones I keep coming back to are ones that can take my brand of abuse. Here are my own rules:
– Start with cheap small plants like from IKEA and hardware stores. Learn what you kill and what you keep alive, and only spend money on fancy bigger plants from nice nurseries once you’ve experimented on cheap small ones.
– Don’t be afraid of repeating the same plant everywhere. If you find a species that you seem incapable of killing, put one of those in every room. It’s better than having no plans at all.
– Personally, I like plants that communicate their needs by looking droopy when they need watering. If I can catch them during the acceptable window and water them in time for them to spring back, everybody wins. For this I like pothos, schefflera, peperomia, and ruffled philodendrons.

By: Claudia

Claudia — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 07:52:52 +0000

Oh Mandi this gives me so much hope. My mom made plants look so easy and now my plant history has been such a toss up :/

By: Dezignable

Dezignable — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 19:41:06 +0000

Hilarious, yet informative! I laughed so hard at “Spanx for plants”. Thanks for the tips!

By: Mary

Mary — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 20:06:27 +0000

In reply to Sivan. Been terrified to repot plants. Have put it off for months. Glad I saw this tip! Thank you!!

By: Mary

Mary — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 20:01:50 +0000

In reply to Kerry. This happens to me! I thought it was light-related but adding a grow light hasn't helped much. I've lost so many beautiful plants (different expensive topiaries). What can I do? Help! PS: Im in a teeny downtown apartment