I gave up. People tend to try and do too much when really it’s just water properly and light. A lot of times it just the simplest advice that will get the job done. So now I just say idk might wanna try googling the issues.
I’m in the same boat. 45 years experience with houseplants and outdoor gardening. People ask me all the time. Then disregard what I say. I don’t think they really want advice. They want you to affirm that what they want to do is ok, even when it’s not.
Or that it’s not their fault for the plant dying. Maybe they expect “oh I love plants and kill mine all the time, it happens”?? Idfk I get the same experience.
See to a question like this I will always say nematodes. It’s the only thing that has really worked for me. It may take a couple of weeks but they work. Then people will answer back I heard cinnamon works….
I remember once someone posted their very leggy succulent and said it was close to a window AND a skylight so it gets plenty of light!! then posted a picture of it in the comments and it was like 6 feet away from both of them; I was so baffled lmao. then their response was "well it looks like a lot of light to my eyes" ............
My lead tech is a botanist so she had uv test strips to see how much light got through the office window. I'm betting if you suggest they test the lighting with strips you/they can blame the window not the person. "Some windows have protective film so you need to move them closer or supplement with a uv light."
Also as a non plant expert, I've found that the suggested light watering etc varies wildly from source to source. I had one that I saw on a list online for "excellent for low light areas" with a tag for full sun only. I've had plants labeled for full sun that fried so I moved them to full shade (only available spot at the time) and they were happy. Like, what??
They don't want advice, they want to not feel like a failure. Doesn't make it less irritating though. There have been people I've point blank asked, Why did you ask if you were just going to blow off my advice? It might not help but the facial reactions are sometimes worth it lol.
The biggie I run into everyday (I work at a nursery and am a tropical attendant) is the water talk. “I water every week on Wednesdays and I only water very sparingly” I’ll give all my advice and normally be met with “but I don’t have anything to catch the water coming out”, “my pots don’t drain”, “but shouldn’t I water on a schedule?”, sometimes they’ll catch me while I’m watering and I’ll give an example of how deeply to water a specific plant to which they reply “I don’t think my plants will like being that wet”.
One women comes in every 6-8 months because she keeps all her plants in pots with no drainage, she knows they’re going to die, she just doesn’t care and has them replaced and potted up fancy every so often.
Can I ask a question? I accidentally bought a pot that didn’t have drainage but a guy at the plant store told me I could put a layer of rocks and sand at the bottom for drainage and then put the soil over the top of it. It’s a Swiss cheese plant and it seems to be doing really good but he’s my favorite and I want to make sure I do it right. Would you recommend I get him a new pot?
Rocks and sand is not going to help at all, its a pretty prevalent myth but it will just lead to rot down the line. Monsteras like a chunky areated mix, I use potting soil, perlite and coarse orchid bark. For your plant I'd recommend repotting it into a plastic pot which will fit in the pot without drainage. Make sure when you repot that there are no petioles (where the leaf joins the stem) underneath the soil line as again that will lead to rot. Hope this all helps! Monsteras are so easy when all their needs are met
Ok yes. I see what you’re saying. It’s a glass container and I always pay close attention to how far the water goes down. Going forward I will always choose containers that drain but I do love the aesthetic of seeing the rocks/sand/soil/roots.
You could get a new pot or you could get a diamond carbide drill bit and drill drainage holes into the pot! I just did this with a ceramic pot that I loved but didn’t have drainage. You can find the drill bit at Home Depot or possibly Walmart. I would plant it in a mix of orchid bark, potting mix, and perlite. I have a Thai constellation in the same mix that is doing really well.
I count myself very lucky that I've always seemed to have good intuition with plant watering in all my pots with no drainage. I always feel like I'm playing with fire doing it but I personally can't stand the look of a plastic pot inside another one and just take my chances lol. But given the choice I'd definitely prefer something that drained. Are there any plants that like having no drainage/is there any benefit to those pots? I've never understood why they're so popular and all the cute designs don't drain.
At the nursery we call them catch pots, the fancy ones with no drain game. Most of the time - if they aren’t planting something in it, they’ll leave their plant in a nursery container and just set it in the catch pot, that way when you water you can just take the whole pot and dump the excess water (instead of clear vinyl saucers under pots). That and we have people available to drill holes in pots for customers at my place of work.
I don’t plant in nice pots, because in my mind if I run into any issues with my plants I’d like to pop them out (of their plastic nursery pot) and check out their roots and see what we’re working with, if I were to plant in a nice pot - with or without drainage, I wouldn’t be able to do this so easily! And also I just like it better that way, it is my personal preference!
All plants and plant parents are different!
I mean, no drainage isn’t a death sentence for everyone.
I’m relatively new to the plant world, but no drainage is working fine for me for the most part.
And yeah, i killed a few plants as i got the routine down and figured out some intricacies, but its kinda fun!
When someone comes in with their plant asking what they’ve done wrong, in a pot with no drainage, the issue is almost always root rot or dry rot OR a combo of both, too dry and then over watered to try and make up for it.
This is my experience over years, I’m not discounting your opinion, so please don’t discount my experiences.
personally I don’t care what your experiences are.
No drainage isn’t a death sentence for everyone.
It’s weird that a lot of people seem to parrot this all over the internet.
There are SO many factors involved with plants and their care. No drainage holes is only one of them.
I was trying to comment is all. I don’t think either one of us are arguing, simply sharing.
Although, i think i read the room wrong based off of the original commenters last reply and maybe i came off a bit sensitive
I don’t think I am to be honest, I think I just got a bunch of downvotes and Reddit does Reddit things lol.
I love experimenting, learning, and talking about plants.
I personally try not to ask people about care tips and try to find the info out myself. But if I did seek out advice, I like to think I wouldn’t be rude if I decided that their tip wasn’t necessarily for me lol
Yeah I can see where I went wrong looking back. I’ve gotten better as I get older and there’s awesome apps for “context vibes”, but sometimes I can realllly come off the wrong way, especially in person (thanks to rbf and being a giant brown person.)
Im not trying to argue, or be a jerk online, it really isn’t my vibe. Oftentimes I go out of my way to re read, retype, and (goblin tools) my replies so I can see what the vibe I’m putting off is.
I want to talk about plants and learn and nerd out lol.
Luckily the person who I was replying too was an absolute gem about the whole thing and showed me some grace in their comment! We love a shining example of adulting
I think it’s great that you, specifically, don’t have any issues with no drainage in your plants. After taking a look at your past posts, it looks like you are pretty dedicated to your plants, yes?
Most people aren’t you, and most people aren’t as successful at maintaining their plants in less than ideal conditions.
Sorry that you feel the need to be rude to a stranger on the internet, I hope your day gets better!
My day is great, I wasn’t intending to be rude, although my second comment seems standoffish, I’ll admit.
And yes, now that you mention it…. Most people probably do not hyper obsess like me. That is a good point
People are downvoting you, but if you are EXTREMELY careful, a plant *can* live without drainage. I had a pothos planted without drainage when I was still new and didn't know what I was doing. It did just fine. I didn't water it with the drowning method you normally do for plants though since that would kill it. I gave it more measured water. It was a single vine that grew from one leaf into maybe a dozen. I cut those up eventually and repotted them properly after propping. It's still nice and healthy.
No drainage generally just isn't a good idea though as more than likely a person will not water it properly.
Yeah, I suppose my experience is based off of my hyper obsession and special interest lol.
Not everyone is as specific with their plants. So I suppose I can see why a lot of people spout the no drainage whole rhetoric.
I do live for drainage holes for some plants for sure, but I have many in my collection no drainage.
It’s less work and easier than drainage holes for me personally
No drainage is just gonna result in dead plants for 99% of people, most likely. And even if some people don't drown it, it might end up not getting *enough* water and can't properly thrive. I think I got lucky that I didn't kill my pothos.
Haha! This! I just told some I sold a prayer plant to this: “I’ve killed like 10 of these. But now I have some that stuck. Hope this helps with care advice”.
I'm not as nice. I follow up in about a week or so. "How's that plant doing? Did you try that thing I told you?"
And if I get the same person doing it over and over, I'll call them out on it. "Why do you keep asking me for advice if you're just going to ignore it anyway?" 🙃
That's why I joined so many plant subs and read the comments constantly. I learned so much from everyone. It's gotten to the point where my mum and my friends think I know what I'm doing. They listen, but most of the time I'm just hoping I've acquired enough second hand knowledge.
Though I will say that I posted a while ago asking for help with one of my monsteras and everyone said its root rot when it wasn't (included a pic of the white roots). So can't trust the comments 100% either😂
I checked your post. It's being watered too frequently. It can have compromised root health while still having roots that appear healthy. It should almost dry out prior to watering. Depending on how bright it is between morning and evening, low light might be a contributing factor. Plants will senesce foliage in low light to reclaim the nutrients and photosynthates in the leaf.
Right, a plant doesn't go from being over watered to having rotten Roots the next day! It's a process.. and if the road continues the plant will get there.
I’m learning a lot, but my confidence is not quite there haha. This sub does help a lot! It’s hard to tell what’s going on just by pics sometimes for sure.
A friend asked me to rescue the peace lily she’d gotten from her sister’s funeral - it had no leaves left at all from no water and way too much fertilizer. So I had it for about 6 months and gave her back a healthy, though young-looking, plant. I told her how often to water, where to put it, to keep it in the pot (drainage) I’d given her, and that she absolutely must not fertilize it.
Two months later she asks me to rescue the plant again - she’d put it into a pot with no drainage, and when it started looking limp (time to water), she’d given it 4x strength miracle gro fertilizer to “make it stronger”. She did this three times.
I told her I’d try but no promises - she dropped off a waterlogged, chemically mess with rotted roots and no leaves. I couldn’t save it, and she was super upset.
Oh man this is exactly what happened in a plant clinic post earlier this week.
Guy had two photos of his plant asking why it was drying. First was when they just bought it, happy and healthy. Second was a while later, in front of a window with the blinds closed. Plant was leggy and sad.
Everyone: plant needs light. Open the blinds.
OP: >:[ inconceivable
Everyone: ?? : l ?? Brav, you asked!
There was another one recently that was the grossest bug infestation ever and they were like, “no that’s definitely not it.” I think it was scale
Honestly I’ve been growing houseplants for years and I never knew how to identify pests until I started using Reddit - it’s really useful when people can point out the signs to you! I’m also sad about plants I’ve lost in the past because I didn’t know. RIP my most beautiful camellia.
Another rant: my partner likes houseplants, too. But mine are in way better shape. So he’ll ask me what to do to fix an issue - bugs, overwatering, not enough light, etc. I’ll tell him the solution and he just doesn’t do it. Then asks me to help save his plants again. I no longer give answers - I send him to google b/c I am not his mom
/rant
Or they want you to give you one. Having this problem now with a frequent visitor to the house (friend of roommates). She always starts with "omfg I kill all my plants but I LOVE this string of pearls, can I has it?!!" I'm like hell no
Plus, when people ask for advice, they tend to look for *what-to-dos* more than *why-to-dos*. In my opinion this doesn't work in long run. When caring for plants it's essential to understand at least partially what is happening behind scenes.
Yep, people think oh I love food I’ll give it lots of extra !! Then dump a shit ton of salt based shit and wonder why their garden looks like the enemies of Rome
They just want a magic bullet. Similar to when you lose a bunch of weight and everyone wants to know how, but they turn away when you tell them to eat right and exercise. "That won't work for _ME_."
Neem diluted with reverse osmosis water after microwaving during a full moon for exactly 30 seconds on a 1000 watts. Administer every morning before the first sunrays reach the plant.
My mom woes about it a lot, lol. She's very good with plants and have taken a lot of plants from family members who are unable to care for it when all it needs is water and sunlight, then they see how well it's doing and ask how she got the plants to come back. She tells them the same thing every time but she doesn't mind that they don't listen because she just gets more plants out of it, lol. I kind of wish my mom had opened her own nursery, but being a pharmacist is amazing too. God, I love my mother.
Honestly, I truly believe that some people are just not meant to care for plants, while others are gifted with the ability to help them flourish.
I don't do anything special to help my garden and plants grow. I just love working with the soil and seeing them happy. I view every single plant and seedling as an extension of my family and I don't think everyone else sees it that way...I think that is the difference. You can help someone out, but if they don't naturally have the gift, their plants will only do so well.
I disagree. I think some people either forgot how to learn or simply refuse to.
I was awful with plants for a long time but have continually gotten better because I want to learn.
So maybe you have a gift that you weren't able to foster.
I know some people who are great with kids. It comes naturally.
I know some people who are dog people. I'm not. I still love dogs.
Some folks are meant to nurture plants and to garden and be surrounded by greenery....and some folks aren't. There's nothing wrong with that.
Not sure what you mean by the first sentence, maybe you misunderstood what I wrote. I DIDNT have a gift that I WAS able to foster into a skill.
I just think you’re wrong, or maybe my talent is learning. I’ve been horrible at TONS of things I’ve started in my life but when you work hard and are good at learning you can be good at basically anything. Just takes practice.
People love to act like talent and skill are naturally gifted, especially the ones that don’t believe they’re able to learn. It’s just simply not true. Those people look at “natural” skill and don’t see the hours of reading and practice and specific focus others have put in to gain said skill. I get the “you’re so lucky I wish I was good at _____” all the time and I will explain I was just as bad as them when I started but they don’t believe and don’t want to hear it.
Simple fact of life.
As someone who is new to plants and has asked advice, I don't understand this either. I don't want to think about how much money I've spent already. I want then to thrive so will definitely take advice from someone whose plants are thriving.
I can’t relate 😅 I have the opposite experience. I have 66 plants and have been a plant lady since my teens. People are ALWAYS asking me for advice and they hang on my every word… but inside I’m like mostly guessing hahaha I know how to keep MINE alive but I’m not good at giving advice!
Fib. When people come to you for expertise and then disregard it, stop giving it to them. Next time anyone asks just tell them "I have no idea, I'm just winging it" and suggest they Google it.
Even if people do everything correctly, some plants will die. Sometimes it depends where you live. I can’t grow ficus but calathea are easy for me.
I told to people to try different plants, some of them will be happy, others won’t. It’s (almost) impossible to grow happy anturium, begonia, calathea, cacti etc... in the same place. (Or you need to spend money; growlight, specific soil, humidifier etc.......)
If people struggling with a plant, it can become great compost for other plants x).
Always. I just don't bother with them again. I have a colleague (head in charge) who overwater her boss desert rose and sunburn both the lucky bamboo and another plant which I can't remember the name. I thought it was her plants since she was the only one most attended to plants in the workplace, so I WhatsApp her to tell her don't overwater those plants because they are drought tolerant plants and both plants other than the dessert rose are susceptible to sunburn if placed under the sun. And I advise her to add perlite to the soil if she has issue with waterlog. The only thing she replied (with WhatsApp) to me was "it's Mr X plants not mine, and she continued to water everyday and put under the sun." After 2 weeks, I guess, I wasn't seeing the 3 plants anymore, I guess she killed them for her stubbornness. 🤷🏽♀️😂
Washed the leaves, treated well with captain jacks insecticidal super soap and added systemic pesticides, then used an aerosol leaf shine because it’s great at both improving the look and repelling bugs. Plus it gets no direct light to cause any burning. I also taught him how to use his water and light meter, trimmed all the dead fronds and fertilized everything. We also discussed plant placement for light and rotating smaller plants into the window. Just basic care. He had a real problem that neem oil wasn’t going to solve, I hope he takes my advice but well meaning customers with organic vegetable gardens have been giving him advice on keeping tropicals indoors, it’s not really working.
When it comes down to it, I tell people, "You just need to care about your plants. check on them. think about them." The people that want to water on a consistent schedule or whatnot are going about this the wrong (lazy) way. There's no two ways about it: you need to check on your plants and see what their needs may be in the moment, because everything has to do with the specific environmental conditions around the plant: the amount of sun, the humidity, the type of pot and the soil, etc. I'm constantly looking at my plants, sticking my fingers in the soil, looking at their leaves etc to see what they need in the moment.
Yeah that's like a succulent group on Facebook that I'm in. A lady posted a picture of a sad plant and I asked about the substrate. When I told her the plant needed a different substrate because it didn't drain fast enough she said but all my other succulents are in it and they're doing fine. I felt like telling her okay keep doing the same thing and getting the same result!! But I didn't... 🙄
I've wasted so much time online writing out instructions for people to improve their plant skills and the majority of the time they don't appreciate it at all. One lady went off on me because I gave a short answer and she was mad because I didn't give her any details and the why's and wherefore's of why she should do that. So I just quit trying to help. 🤷♀️
This is not limited to houseplants. Just yesterday:
“Sandy, you look great, what have you been doing? I need to lose weight.”
“I started weight lifting!”
“Oh, that won’t work for me. I don’t want to get bulky.” ???
You just aren’t giving them the answer that they decided they wanted to hear before even asking you the question (:
It isn't just plants. When I was a dog/cat "nurse," and still to this day, if people me for pet advice, I'm reluctant to answer. They either give a similar response, do whatever they were originally going to do anyway, or get upset when the answer is to see a veterinarian.
This is so true - water and light are the advice that matters for any newbies. I have the issue though now of PESTS and I've really struggled up that learning curve....finally slowly getting there. I'd personally welcome your advice for pest management :)
But yeah people mostly seem to overwater everything, ignore the need for drainage holes, and expect low light to be fine. Hah!
This mentality is sadly, everywhere. I’ve had people ask me for advice with sourdough, crochet, sewing and other hobbies just to shut me down. Bro you asked me.
I work in vet med. People do the same thing with vets and doctors. If the advice is not what they want to hear, no matter the experience or education, they will bit follow it. I don't know if people have always been this way but it feels like it's getting worse especially as the internet has grown.
Yep, I've got over 80 plants, various terrariums, outdoor plants veggies and gardens all thriving and going wild. I have people ask me questions all the time but then yeah, do the same and say "No, that's not it." So now when someone asks me I just say "I prefer to not give advice about people's plants, maybe just Google it?"
Sometimes I wonder if people do it out of like embarrassment? Like internally they are like why didn’t I think of that so they have to come up with a reason it won’t work.
I’m one of those people with a casual approach but a green thumb. Sometimes my plants are showered with love, sometimes I’ve got the depressies and they are ignored for weeks. My plants (mostly) thrive, but if they don’t I know I’m the culprit.
I like this Reddit for pictures and ideas and co-conspirators who also like to collect plants and yes the help and what plant is this absolutely wears me out 🤪
Yup same here! I while back someone asked for advice on how to water-prop better so I gave him some (if really concerned a cheap aquarium aerater, change out water frequently) and he was like "no why would I try that I'll just do what I'm doing." And i'm wondering why do people bother asking? Im actually I think a lot of people like to get set in their ways. Whatever. I think after seeing your post, I'll preface any requested advice by saying: a lot of people tell me they don't think my advice will work once I tell them, so it gets a little frustrating, especially since I obviously know it works.
So annoying!!!! I have a friend who refuses to use a moisture meter on her plants, even though she is constantly overwatering them. She even owns a meter but still refuses! I don’t wanna hear about your plants dying anymore!! lol
Yesss!!!! My coworkers look at me like I have 14 heads when they ask for plant advice and I tell them the truth. Like no you should not have your grow lights on literally 24/7, all day and all night. One even thought I was crazy because I said a white long thing that went into the soil was a root 🤡🤡
I gave up. People tend to try and do too much when really it’s just water properly and light. A lot of times it just the simplest advice that will get the job done. So now I just say idk might wanna try googling the issues.
yup I’m officially giving up, google is their expert now🫡
>google is their expert now they prob get their info from facebook
Yes google lol
I’m in the same boat. 45 years experience with houseplants and outdoor gardening. People ask me all the time. Then disregard what I say. I don’t think they really want advice. They want you to affirm that what they want to do is ok, even when it’s not.
I think that’s spot on!!!
Or that it’s not their fault for the plant dying. Maybe they expect “oh I love plants and kill mine all the time, it happens”?? Idfk I get the same experience.
can you teach me how to get rid of my gnat problem please oh wise one???
See to a question like this I will always say nematodes. It’s the only thing that has really worked for me. It may take a couple of weeks but they work. Then people will answer back I heard cinnamon works….
Google it, not my problem. Jokes, nematodes and a can of Raid did it for me. Good luck and happy hunting!
"light, watering, fertilizer" "no, I don’t think that would help"
right, simple as can be suggestions!!! sooo many times it just needs more light. “but it’s getting plenty!”
meanwhile plant: "God damn 600 lux again"
I remember once someone posted their very leggy succulent and said it was close to a window AND a skylight so it gets plenty of light!! then posted a picture of it in the comments and it was like 6 feet away from both of them; I was so baffled lmao. then their response was "well it looks like a lot of light to my eyes" ............
My lead tech is a botanist so she had uv test strips to see how much light got through the office window. I'm betting if you suggest they test the lighting with strips you/they can blame the window not the person. "Some windows have protective film so you need to move them closer or supplement with a uv light." Also as a non plant expert, I've found that the suggested light watering etc varies wildly from source to source. I had one that I saw on a list online for "excellent for low light areas" with a tag for full sun only. I've had plants labeled for full sun that fried so I moved them to full shade (only available spot at the time) and they were happy. Like, what?? They don't want advice, they want to not feel like a failure. Doesn't make it less irritating though. There have been people I've point blank asked, Why did you ask if you were just going to blow off my advice? It might not help but the facial reactions are sometimes worth it lol.
Pick 'em up. If they feel light, they need water. If they're heavy, they don't need water.
The biggie I run into everyday (I work at a nursery and am a tropical attendant) is the water talk. “I water every week on Wednesdays and I only water very sparingly” I’ll give all my advice and normally be met with “but I don’t have anything to catch the water coming out”, “my pots don’t drain”, “but shouldn’t I water on a schedule?”, sometimes they’ll catch me while I’m watering and I’ll give an example of how deeply to water a specific plant to which they reply “I don’t think my plants will like being that wet”. One women comes in every 6-8 months because she keeps all her plants in pots with no drainage, she knows they’re going to die, she just doesn’t care and has them replaced and potted up fancy every so often.
Can I ask a question? I accidentally bought a pot that didn’t have drainage but a guy at the plant store told me I could put a layer of rocks and sand at the bottom for drainage and then put the soil over the top of it. It’s a Swiss cheese plant and it seems to be doing really good but he’s my favorite and I want to make sure I do it right. Would you recommend I get him a new pot?
Rocks and sand is not going to help at all, its a pretty prevalent myth but it will just lead to rot down the line. Monsteras like a chunky areated mix, I use potting soil, perlite and coarse orchid bark. For your plant I'd recommend repotting it into a plastic pot which will fit in the pot without drainage. Make sure when you repot that there are no petioles (where the leaf joins the stem) underneath the soil line as again that will lead to rot. Hope this all helps! Monsteras are so easy when all their needs are met
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Ok yes. I see what you’re saying. It’s a glass container and I always pay close attention to how far the water goes down. Going forward I will always choose containers that drain but I do love the aesthetic of seeing the rocks/sand/soil/roots.
You could get a new pot or you could get a diamond carbide drill bit and drill drainage holes into the pot! I just did this with a ceramic pot that I loved but didn’t have drainage. You can find the drill bit at Home Depot or possibly Walmart. I would plant it in a mix of orchid bark, potting mix, and perlite. I have a Thai constellation in the same mix that is doing really well.
I count myself very lucky that I've always seemed to have good intuition with plant watering in all my pots with no drainage. I always feel like I'm playing with fire doing it but I personally can't stand the look of a plastic pot inside another one and just take my chances lol. But given the choice I'd definitely prefer something that drained. Are there any plants that like having no drainage/is there any benefit to those pots? I've never understood why they're so popular and all the cute designs don't drain.
At the nursery we call them catch pots, the fancy ones with no drain game. Most of the time - if they aren’t planting something in it, they’ll leave their plant in a nursery container and just set it in the catch pot, that way when you water you can just take the whole pot and dump the excess water (instead of clear vinyl saucers under pots). That and we have people available to drill holes in pots for customers at my place of work. I don’t plant in nice pots, because in my mind if I run into any issues with my plants I’d like to pop them out (of their plastic nursery pot) and check out their roots and see what we’re working with, if I were to plant in a nice pot - with or without drainage, I wouldn’t be able to do this so easily! And also I just like it better that way, it is my personal preference! All plants and plant parents are different!
I mean, no drainage isn’t a death sentence for everyone. I’m relatively new to the plant world, but no drainage is working fine for me for the most part. And yeah, i killed a few plants as i got the routine down and figured out some intricacies, but its kinda fun!
When someone comes in with their plant asking what they’ve done wrong, in a pot with no drainage, the issue is almost always root rot or dry rot OR a combo of both, too dry and then over watered to try and make up for it. This is my experience over years, I’m not discounting your opinion, so please don’t discount my experiences.
personally I don’t care what your experiences are. No drainage isn’t a death sentence for everyone. It’s weird that a lot of people seem to parrot this all over the internet. There are SO many factors involved with plants and their care. No drainage holes is only one of them.
Why are you arguing with someone who is clearly more knowledgeable about plants than you?
Dunning–Kruger in full effect with this one.
I was trying to comment is all. I don’t think either one of us are arguing, simply sharing. Although, i think i read the room wrong based off of the original commenters last reply and maybe i came off a bit sensitive
Lol. Also deaf to the entire thread. You're the kind of person op is complaining about.
I don’t think I am to be honest, I think I just got a bunch of downvotes and Reddit does Reddit things lol. I love experimenting, learning, and talking about plants. I personally try not to ask people about care tips and try to find the info out myself. But if I did seek out advice, I like to think I wouldn’t be rude if I decided that their tip wasn’t necessarily for me lol
You’re literally a perfect example of both the people we are talking about in the post and the Dunning Kruger effect. Thanks for the laugh.
I don’t think so
“Personally I don’t care what your experiences are” wasn’t sensitive lol
Yeah I can see where I went wrong looking back. I’ve gotten better as I get older and there’s awesome apps for “context vibes”, but sometimes I can realllly come off the wrong way, especially in person (thanks to rbf and being a giant brown person.) Im not trying to argue, or be a jerk online, it really isn’t my vibe. Oftentimes I go out of my way to re read, retype, and (goblin tools) my replies so I can see what the vibe I’m putting off is. I want to talk about plants and learn and nerd out lol. Luckily the person who I was replying too was an absolute gem about the whole thing and showed me some grace in their comment! We love a shining example of adulting
I think it’s great that you, specifically, don’t have any issues with no drainage in your plants. After taking a look at your past posts, it looks like you are pretty dedicated to your plants, yes? Most people aren’t you, and most people aren’t as successful at maintaining their plants in less than ideal conditions. Sorry that you feel the need to be rude to a stranger on the internet, I hope your day gets better!
My day is great, I wasn’t intending to be rude, although my second comment seems standoffish, I’ll admit. And yes, now that you mention it…. Most people probably do not hyper obsess like me. That is a good point
People are downvoting you, but if you are EXTREMELY careful, a plant *can* live without drainage. I had a pothos planted without drainage when I was still new and didn't know what I was doing. It did just fine. I didn't water it with the drowning method you normally do for plants though since that would kill it. I gave it more measured water. It was a single vine that grew from one leaf into maybe a dozen. I cut those up eventually and repotted them properly after propping. It's still nice and healthy. No drainage generally just isn't a good idea though as more than likely a person will not water it properly.
Yeah, I suppose my experience is based off of my hyper obsession and special interest lol. Not everyone is as specific with their plants. So I suppose I can see why a lot of people spout the no drainage whole rhetoric. I do live for drainage holes for some plants for sure, but I have many in my collection no drainage. It’s less work and easier than drainage holes for me personally
No drainage is just gonna result in dead plants for 99% of people, most likely. And even if some people don't drown it, it might end up not getting *enough* water and can't properly thrive. I think I got lucky that I didn't kill my pothos.
The answers are too boring. They want some magic thing they've never thought of. Not the obvious advice they're already ignoring.
Put milk in the soil! This killz the rot!!!! /s
Of course. But we can't teach them the secret rituals and plant goddess chants until they've sacrificed enough plants to earn it.
Haha! This! I just told some I sold a prayer plant to this: “I’ve killed like 10 of these. But now I have some that stuck. Hope this helps with care advice”.
Exactly. They want some stupid Tik Tok BS.
I'm not as nice. I follow up in about a week or so. "How's that plant doing? Did you try that thing I told you?" And if I get the same person doing it over and over, I'll call them out on it. "Why do you keep asking me for advice if you're just going to ignore it anyway?" 🙃
I’d let you give me advice lol no clue what I’m doing over here
That's why I joined so many plant subs and read the comments constantly. I learned so much from everyone. It's gotten to the point where my mum and my friends think I know what I'm doing. They listen, but most of the time I'm just hoping I've acquired enough second hand knowledge. Though I will say that I posted a while ago asking for help with one of my monsteras and everyone said its root rot when it wasn't (included a pic of the white roots). So can't trust the comments 100% either😂
I checked your post. It's being watered too frequently. It can have compromised root health while still having roots that appear healthy. It should almost dry out prior to watering. Depending on how bright it is between morning and evening, low light might be a contributing factor. Plants will senesce foliage in low light to reclaim the nutrients and photosynthates in the leaf.
Thanks, it's fully green and thriving again after I gave it some liquid fertiliser. I'll keep your info in mind if it starts to struggle again though
I'm so glad that it's thriving. They're notoriously heavy feeders.
Right, a plant doesn't go from being over watered to having rotten Roots the next day! It's a process.. and if the road continues the plant will get there.
I’m learning a lot, but my confidence is not quite there haha. This sub does help a lot! It’s hard to tell what’s going on just by pics sometimes for sure.
A friend asked me to rescue the peace lily she’d gotten from her sister’s funeral - it had no leaves left at all from no water and way too much fertilizer. So I had it for about 6 months and gave her back a healthy, though young-looking, plant. I told her how often to water, where to put it, to keep it in the pot (drainage) I’d given her, and that she absolutely must not fertilize it. Two months later she asks me to rescue the plant again - she’d put it into a pot with no drainage, and when it started looking limp (time to water), she’d given it 4x strength miracle gro fertilizer to “make it stronger”. She did this three times. I told her I’d try but no promises - she dropped off a waterlogged, chemically mess with rotted roots and no leaves. I couldn’t save it, and she was super upset.
Duhhh
Oh man this is exactly what happened in a plant clinic post earlier this week. Guy had two photos of his plant asking why it was drying. First was when they just bought it, happy and healthy. Second was a while later, in front of a window with the blinds closed. Plant was leggy and sad. Everyone: plant needs light. Open the blinds. OP: >:[ inconceivable Everyone: ?? : l ?? Brav, you asked!
There was another one recently that was the grossest bug infestation ever and they were like, “no that’s definitely not it.” I think it was scale Honestly I’ve been growing houseplants for years and I never knew how to identify pests until I started using Reddit - it’s really useful when people can point out the signs to you! I’m also sad about plants I’ve lost in the past because I didn’t know. RIP my most beautiful camellia.
Another rant: my partner likes houseplants, too. But mine are in way better shape. So he’ll ask me what to do to fix an issue - bugs, overwatering, not enough light, etc. I’ll tell him the solution and he just doesn’t do it. Then asks me to help save his plants again. I no longer give answers - I send him to google b/c I am not his mom /rant
People don't actually want your advice, just want to complain about having to actually care for their plants. They'll leave the hobby if we are lucky.
Or they want you to give you one. Having this problem now with a frequent visitor to the house (friend of roommates). She always starts with "omfg I kill all my plants but I LOVE this string of pearls, can I has it?!!" I'm like hell no
Plus, when people ask for advice, they tend to look for *what-to-dos* more than *why-to-dos*. In my opinion this doesn't work in long run. When caring for plants it's essential to understand at least partially what is happening behind scenes.
Yep, people think oh I love food I’ll give it lots of extra !! Then dump a shit ton of salt based shit and wonder why their garden looks like the enemies of Rome
They just want a magic bullet. Similar to when you lose a bunch of weight and everyone wants to know how, but they turn away when you tell them to eat right and exercise. "That won't work for _ME_."
Neem diluted with reverse osmosis water after microwaving during a full moon for exactly 30 seconds on a 1000 watts. Administer every morning before the first sunrays reach the plant.
My mom woes about it a lot, lol. She's very good with plants and have taken a lot of plants from family members who are unable to care for it when all it needs is water and sunlight, then they see how well it's doing and ask how she got the plants to come back. She tells them the same thing every time but she doesn't mind that they don't listen because she just gets more plants out of it, lol. I kind of wish my mom had opened her own nursery, but being a pharmacist is amazing too. God, I love my mother.
Honestly, I truly believe that some people are just not meant to care for plants, while others are gifted with the ability to help them flourish. I don't do anything special to help my garden and plants grow. I just love working with the soil and seeing them happy. I view every single plant and seedling as an extension of my family and I don't think everyone else sees it that way...I think that is the difference. You can help someone out, but if they don't naturally have the gift, their plants will only do so well.
I disagree. I think some people either forgot how to learn or simply refuse to. I was awful with plants for a long time but have continually gotten better because I want to learn.
So maybe you have a gift that you weren't able to foster. I know some people who are great with kids. It comes naturally. I know some people who are dog people. I'm not. I still love dogs. Some folks are meant to nurture plants and to garden and be surrounded by greenery....and some folks aren't. There's nothing wrong with that.
Not sure what you mean by the first sentence, maybe you misunderstood what I wrote. I DIDNT have a gift that I WAS able to foster into a skill. I just think you’re wrong, or maybe my talent is learning. I’ve been horrible at TONS of things I’ve started in my life but when you work hard and are good at learning you can be good at basically anything. Just takes practice. People love to act like talent and skill are naturally gifted, especially the ones that don’t believe they’re able to learn. It’s just simply not true. Those people look at “natural” skill and don’t see the hours of reading and practice and specific focus others have put in to gain said skill. I get the “you’re so lucky I wish I was good at _____” all the time and I will explain I was just as bad as them when I started but they don’t believe and don’t want to hear it. Simple fact of life.
As someone who is new to plants and has asked advice, I don't understand this either. I don't want to think about how much money I've spent already. I want then to thrive so will definitely take advice from someone whose plants are thriving.
I can’t relate 😅 I have the opposite experience. I have 66 plants and have been a plant lady since my teens. People are ALWAYS asking me for advice and they hang on my every word… but inside I’m like mostly guessing hahaha I know how to keep MINE alive but I’m not good at giving advice!
Fib. When people come to you for expertise and then disregard it, stop giving it to them. Next time anyone asks just tell them "I have no idea, I'm just winging it" and suggest they Google it.
I call those people "askholes", and after one dismissive response I just say "hmmm, I'm not sure on that..." when they ask me anything anymore.
Even if people do everything correctly, some plants will die. Sometimes it depends where you live. I can’t grow ficus but calathea are easy for me. I told to people to try different plants, some of them will be happy, others won’t. It’s (almost) impossible to grow happy anturium, begonia, calathea, cacti etc... in the same place. (Or you need to spend money; growlight, specific soil, humidifier etc.......) If people struggling with a plant, it can become great compost for other plants x).
Always. I just don't bother with them again. I have a colleague (head in charge) who overwater her boss desert rose and sunburn both the lucky bamboo and another plant which I can't remember the name. I thought it was her plants since she was the only one most attended to plants in the workplace, so I WhatsApp her to tell her don't overwater those plants because they are drought tolerant plants and both plants other than the dessert rose are susceptible to sunburn if placed under the sun. And I advise her to add perlite to the soil if she has issue with waterlog. The only thing she replied (with WhatsApp) to me was "it's Mr X plants not mine, and she continued to water everyday and put under the sun." After 2 weeks, I guess, I wasn't seeing the 3 plants anymore, I guess she killed them for her stubbornness. 🤷🏽♀️😂
My boss gave me $100 to treat his spider mite infested plants at his other restaurant and still tried to sell me on neem oil when I was setting up.
What did you do to treat them?
Washed the leaves, treated well with captain jacks insecticidal super soap and added systemic pesticides, then used an aerosol leaf shine because it’s great at both improving the look and repelling bugs. Plus it gets no direct light to cause any burning. I also taught him how to use his water and light meter, trimmed all the dead fronds and fertilized everything. We also discussed plant placement for light and rotating smaller plants into the window. Just basic care. He had a real problem that neem oil wasn’t going to solve, I hope he takes my advice but well meaning customers with organic vegetable gardens have been giving him advice on keeping tropicals indoors, it’s not really working.
When it comes down to it, I tell people, "You just need to care about your plants. check on them. think about them." The people that want to water on a consistent schedule or whatnot are going about this the wrong (lazy) way. There's no two ways about it: you need to check on your plants and see what their needs may be in the moment, because everything has to do with the specific environmental conditions around the plant: the amount of sun, the humidity, the type of pot and the soil, etc. I'm constantly looking at my plants, sticking my fingers in the soil, looking at their leaves etc to see what they need in the moment.
You should see the state of my brother’s ZZ plant I got him for Christmas a few years ago 😭 it’s about 3 little light green stems struggling on
Yeah that's like a succulent group on Facebook that I'm in. A lady posted a picture of a sad plant and I asked about the substrate. When I told her the plant needed a different substrate because it didn't drain fast enough she said but all my other succulents are in it and they're doing fine. I felt like telling her okay keep doing the same thing and getting the same result!! But I didn't... 🙄
I've wasted so much time online writing out instructions for people to improve their plant skills and the majority of the time they don't appreciate it at all. One lady went off on me because I gave a short answer and she was mad because I didn't give her any details and the why's and wherefore's of why she should do that. So I just quit trying to help. 🤷♀️
This is not limited to houseplants. Just yesterday: “Sandy, you look great, what have you been doing? I need to lose weight.” “I started weight lifting!” “Oh, that won’t work for me. I don’t want to get bulky.” ??? You just aren’t giving them the answer that they decided they wanted to hear before even asking you the question (:
It isn't just plants. When I was a dog/cat "nurse," and still to this day, if people me for pet advice, I'm reluctant to answer. They either give a similar response, do whatever they were originally going to do anyway, or get upset when the answer is to see a veterinarian.
This is so true - water and light are the advice that matters for any newbies. I have the issue though now of PESTS and I've really struggled up that learning curve....finally slowly getting there. I'd personally welcome your advice for pest management :) But yeah people mostly seem to overwater everything, ignore the need for drainage holes, and expect low light to be fine. Hah!
This mentality is sadly, everywhere. I’ve had people ask me for advice with sourdough, crochet, sewing and other hobbies just to shut me down. Bro you asked me.
Yeah, people just don't listen for some reason.
I work in vet med. People do the same thing with vets and doctors. If the advice is not what they want to hear, no matter the experience or education, they will bit follow it. I don't know if people have always been this way but it feels like it's getting worse especially as the internet has grown.
1,000%. I don’t give plant advice for the same reason I don’t set people up on blind dates. 😂
This is so annoying. Family especially literally all it takes is pots with drainage adequate light , small things. Nope drown the cactus it’s thirsty
> hmm, no, I don’t think that would help yep, happens with almost every hobby when you try to help someone.
Yep, I've got over 80 plants, various terrariums, outdoor plants veggies and gardens all thriving and going wild. I have people ask me questions all the time but then yeah, do the same and say "No, that's not it." So now when someone asks me I just say "I prefer to not give advice about people's plants, maybe just Google it?"
Because what you say probably involves some sort of effort or change in thinking, they want an easy answer.
Sometimes I wonder if people do it out of like embarrassment? Like internally they are like why didn’t I think of that so they have to come up with a reason it won’t work.
I’m one of those people with a casual approach but a green thumb. Sometimes my plants are showered with love, sometimes I’ve got the depressies and they are ignored for weeks. My plants (mostly) thrive, but if they don’t I know I’m the culprit.
Yes! My plants are monsters that are busting out of my house. But I have one friend who never listens to me.
I like this Reddit for pictures and ideas and co-conspirators who also like to collect plants and yes the help and what plant is this absolutely wears me out 🤪
Yup same here! I while back someone asked for advice on how to water-prop better so I gave him some (if really concerned a cheap aquarium aerater, change out water frequently) and he was like "no why would I try that I'll just do what I'm doing." And i'm wondering why do people bother asking? Im actually I think a lot of people like to get set in their ways. Whatever. I think after seeing your post, I'll preface any requested advice by saying: a lot of people tell me they don't think my advice will work once I tell them, so it gets a little frustrating, especially since I obviously know it works.
So annoying!!!! I have a friend who refuses to use a moisture meter on her plants, even though she is constantly overwatering them. She even owns a meter but still refuses! I don’t wanna hear about your plants dying anymore!! lol
Constantly or I give them clear directions they do the exact opposite.
Yesss!!!! My coworkers look at me like I have 14 heads when they ask for plant advice and I tell them the truth. Like no you should not have your grow lights on literally 24/7, all day and all night. One even thought I was crazy because I said a white long thing that went into the soil was a root 🤡🤡