Houseplants

5 mistakes I made so you don't have to make them too

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We know that having beautiful houses and lovely spaces filled with beautiful indoor plants is wonderful and attractive. We all want to have that beautiful indoor jungle. As for me, my passion for indoor plants has evolved over the years. (It's completely normal for a passion to change and evolve!) It has evolved towards: Quality and less quantity. I remember at one point I had more than 120 plants at home, and it was then that I realized I was neglecting many plants in favor of new ones. In our society, we are constantly wanting more when what we have is sometimes more than enough. So in this article, I want to share with you the 5 mistakes I made to help you avoid making the same ones.

Buying too many plants at once

This is one of the biggest beginner mistakes! I always repeat it on my social media: having a plant collection requires time and patience. Nowadays, we are always wanting everything quickly. Let's say you are new to the passion for plants, it's very likely that you will want to go to garden centers every week and come out with several plants. (It's normal, I've been there too!) But buying a lot of plants at once can become a lot of responsibility and work (something we overlook at first). So yes, that's the mistake I made... Several times actually! In my early days, I lost a lot of plants by doing that. I would go to a nursery and come back home with 5-6 plants, and sometimes it could be every week. (A bit intense, the girl!)

Not researching the plant's needs before buying it

Buying plants for their beauty is also a mistake I made. I agree that you don't want to buy a plant that you find ugly either, right? Some plants are magnificent (especially the calathea family, not to name them...), but they can be quite difficult to maintain in our homes. Indoor plants are all tropical plants. This means they are used to living in a super humid environment, with warmth. Here, we have winter. And what does winter do to our plants? It makes the air in our lovely homes drier. Dry air is a no-go for indoor plants. And some plants need a very high humidity level to be happy. So Laura, where are you going with this? It's to tell you that it's essential to know the plants you buy to give them the best care possible. The right lighting, the right type of soil, the right watering frequency. You can always ask directly in the garden center (the experts at Passion jardins are there for that!), buy books, watch videos online, do Google searches to know how to care for your new "green girls."

Not inspecting – treating my plants when purchasing

I can't tell you how many thrips and spider mite infestations I've had because of this. Which caused the death of my beautiful hibiscus by the way. (RIP my tree) And it's often in the spring that it happens because that's when we want to buy new plants. I strongly recommend checking the plants directly in the garden center. No place is immune to an infestation of unwanted insects. Check the top and bottom of the leaves properly. If you see insects, don't hesitate to tell the people working there. Once at home, what do we do? I recommend giving them a good shower and a preventive treatment. Either with black soap or another insecticide. Then ideally, place the plant in quarantine away from your other plants for about 3-4 weeks. It would be lying to say I did it every time. It's up to you to decide if you want to take the risk... or not.

Watering too often

Ahhhh the famous watering. Not easy to know how much, when, and how to water, right? I assure you there are no miracle solutions and no universal tricks. You need to understand that over-watering your plants is not about putting too much water when you water. When you water, you should do it well. Don't hold back. You should feel that the root ball is well saturated. Over-watering is watering when the plant doesn't need it. It's saying, "Well, I water my plants every Monday." It might be that this Monday, your sansevieria is still quite moist. If you don't let it dry between waterings, it will rot. And a plant that rots, there's not much you can do to "bring" it back. So always check your soil with a finger or a hygrometer to know if you need to water.

Not cleaning the leaves

In nature, plants don't have dust on their leaves because the wind and rain take care of that. In our homes, it's different. It's important to clean your plant leaves from time to time. Once a month is ideal. Why? Because plants absorb sunlight energy through their foliage. This is what we call photosynthesis. If your plants have a layer of dust on the leaves, they will have much more difficulty growing. Use a dry microfiber cloth with a spray bottle of water with a few drops of dish soap, and it will do the job very well. You can also simply shower your plants with a good water jet.