Let's talk about house plants

[story]

Can we see the avocado tree?

I’ve got loadsa plants, and one really old one too! A cactus I’ve had since I was 19, it’s now nearly as tall as me.

contadino that’s some serious thought your giving to getting a living stone I usually just get plants, subject them to the harsh natural selection that is living in the environment of my house with its intermittent watering regime, and the winners survive!

I have a living stone, it looks really unwell and has done for years, but refuses to die

Remember when you asked to see my avocado tree?

 

[two sheds]

Ooh will they survive outdoors then? I have a couple I thought I'd have to bring in for winter.

 

[story]

He lives in this old galvanised dustbin. I couldn’t get the entire tree with container into one snap,



When I was between homes for a while, one of the Brixton Market restaurants took my larger plants, including this one, for foster care for the year. He really thrived in the covered market and I loved seeing my plants when I walked through there.

 

[story]

Ooh will they survive outdoors then? I have a couple I thought I'd have to bring in for winter.

In a hard winter they may lose all their leaves to frost but this one has always bounced back with some TLC in the spring

 

[two sheds]

In a hard winter they may lose all their leaves to frost but this one has always bounced back with some TLC in the spring

Looks sheltered - is that a south facing wall?

 

[story]

Looks sheltered - is that a south facing wall?

No. Sort of east facing. Gets the sunlight first thing and then the sun swings behind that house from about lunchtime onwards. But I‘ve only been here three years and it’s lived in several different situations, including indoors before it got repotted into this bin. It‘s lived in full sun before but seems happier to have the afternoon shade.

There’s actually a wind corridor there that whips through and damages the leaves sometimes. When I do up the garden (at some currently inconceivable point in the future) I’ll probably reposition it, but i like it there for various reasons and it seems pretty happy.

 

[two sheds]

that's really useful ta

 

[teuchter]

I used to think keeping houseplants happy was difficult.

But then I did some research on the internet and everything became clearer. For example, if the leaves are looking yellow this means that the plant has been overwatered, underwatered, given too much or too little feed, or is getting too much or not enough sunlight.

If the leaves are wilting this means that the plant has been overwatered, underwatered, given too much or too little feed, or is getting too much or not enough sunlight.

Once you narrow down the problems like this it's much easier to take the right action.

 

[AnnaKarpik]

I used to think keeping houseplants happy was difficult.

But then I did some research on the internet and everything became clearer. For example, if the leaves are looking yellow this means that the plant has been overwatered, underwatered, given too much or too little feed, or is getting too much or not enough sunlight.

If the leaves are wilting this means that the plant has been overwatered, underwatered, given too much or too little feed, or is getting too much or not enough sunlight.

Once you narrow down the problems like this it's much easier to take the right action.

I am currently nursing a mango seedling and spending far too much time checking pictures online and trying to persuade hubbie to put the heating on. And moving it backwards and forwards from cold/sunny daytime windowsill to warmer/dark nighttime table.

 

[Sweet FA]

i adore house plants but can i get them to live beyond a few fucking months, no. drives me mad. i do everythign to the book .

I know absolutely nothing about it bar water them when the soil's dry. My only tip is that if they're dying, move them somewhere else. I just guess where basically. I've moved dying plants to another place in the same room and they do OK. Also I buy the soil that says things like 'maximum nutrients for mad flowers' on the side of the bag. Get spider plants

 

[gentlegreen]

Spider plants are amazing but they do best outdoors - being variegated they need a lot of light.

 

[Sweet FA]

Spider plants are amazing but they do best outdoors - being variegated they need a lot of light.

I never knew that. I've only known them as indoor plants.

 

[cesare]

I never knew that. I've only known them as indoor plants.

Me too. Often thriving in a bright bathroom

 

[story]

Spider plants are amazing but they do best outdoors - being variegated they need a lot of light.

I have some outdoors and some indoors. Outdoors the leaves can get tough and leathery, and sometimes a bit weather battered. Not a problem, but they do look different to the more fragile and slightly etiolated cooped up indoor version. I like both, and so long as they’re not starved of light they seem to do okay indoors.


Basically, spider plants are really resilient and tolerant and forgiving.

 

[Sweet FA]

Me too. Often thriving in a bright bathroom

I'm a one trick pony tbf

 

[two sheds]

In a hard winter they may lose all their leaves to frost but this one has always bounced back with some TLC in the spring

I wish my memory was better. I left mine in the greenhouse over winter and all the leaves dropped off in the hard early December frost. I assumed it was dead and threw it out There's another which has had the leaves fallen off though so I'll see how that goes in spring.

 

[clicker]

Im feeling really chuffed with my orchid. Last year it was just a 2 stem orchid, you can see the original stems sticking up. After flowering it didn't completely give up the ghost and the leaves were shiny, so I just basically left it all winter, tiny drops of water. And it's suddenly flowering from every orifice.
Even the 2 old stems, that I was about to chop off, have burst forth with flower and it smells amazing.

 

[Saffy]

Finally it's bloomed. I bought it the day after Boxing Day.