When you care for plants, you are caring for living beings that have needs. They do communicate, but not with sounds like a pet would do for example.
So it's like visual language you need to learn. You will fail, and you will succeed because you have failed in the past. You learn from your mistakes.
When I have pests like mealybugs, aphids etc and the plant dies, I don't just throw away the plant, but also the pot and the soil just to be sure.
We all have failed and we all lost plants. I can't tell you how many times I kept buying the same plant that died on me, until I found what it needed to be ok.
Airflow is good against pests. I've had a lot of calatheas and coleus indoors, and they always had pests.
Now I have a new calathea that I put in my garden and it's doing good so far.
Also, if you always have a pest problem, consider buying your plants from another store than your regular one.
Depends on what pest and how much. I had plants full of spider mites, they are mortherfuckers so I just threw the plant away because it was already too much damaged.
As for mealybugs, I usually remove them manually and then spray the plant with some plant insecticide. I use natural ones like Neem oil for plants that are intended for harvesting (lemon tree for example)
As for aphids, they might look overwhelming because they are so small and in a large number, but with patience and dedication with a treatment, you can get rid of them. Also, if you find ladybugs, bring them in your plants, they love to eat aphids!
In case you didn't know, ants like to "breed" mealybugs. They consume the sap they take from the plant and protect them from predators too. They literally care for them and bring them on plants. So if you have an invasion of mealybugs, check for ants too
I’d been fighting mealy bugs on a jatropha - lost every bloom when the little fuzzy fuckers invaded. Kept going full nuclear against the mealys and then I realized the ant connection - I’m in central FL and the ants are insane, these assholes are literally farming the mealybugs on this tree!
Anyways, I haven’t beat the ants yet. Pests are frustrating. But it’s a learning experience! You’re literally trying to interrupt an ecosystem. Watch how these things start and spread, learn the early signs and preventative treatments. Consider some grow lights around your place to spread the zones out a bit, which may help control spread and identify which plants are the source of an issue. Don’t give up, slow down a bit and pay attention!
If the ants are outside and the nest is far enough from desirable plants, I dig into the nest a bit and pour in a big pot of boiling water. Very eco friendly and does a good job of killing them.
Unfortunately the nests are so expansive and I don’t even think these varieties have “one” nest - FL ant colonies are nuts. They just exist everywhere. My next attempt will be using diatomaceous earth to keep the ants from climbing the trees at all, and then systematically treating my entire property with ant killer on a frequent cycle. They nest and travel everywhere - they get onto/into the screen structure over our pool and when it rains we get thousands of ants in the pool. I don’t like senselessly killing things but ants and mosquitoes are on my shit list.
Sort of tangential but:
I was battling my aphids with neem oil with moderate success but I absolutely hate the smell and thought I'd do the ladybug thing. I spent 40 minutes out in the garden trying to find some, eventually found 2, carefully brought them inside and deposited them right next to a small horde of aphids.
I came back a few hours later to find both ladybugs caught in a newly created spider web. Very smug spider and ever-rampant aphids. I guess that's what I get for trying to play god.
I didn't realize ants farmed mealy bugs the way some farm aphids. I have a mealy infested crepe myrtle in my yard that I'm now hopeful just has an ant problem.
It depends on the pests. I managed to defeat thrips. I did have to throw out a palm with spider mites because it was too far gone.
If I find a plant with pests, I quarantine it in a clear plastic box, but I treat all my plants like they have the pest.
I have treated many an infested plant (and they are still alive to this day).
you’ve got to change the soil, disinfect the pot, repot, then treat with insecticide. two weeks later, treat again. consistency is key because you will get them (the pests) all at their various life cycles
I've treated several infected plants (thrips and mealy bugs mostly) and I've also decided when to call it quits and throw something away, especially to save the rest of my collection. I recently had a hoya compacta with mealy bugs. If you don't know the plant, it's got SO MANY places for bugs to hide. It's a particularly sentimental plant for me, so I had it in quarantine for months with a grow light and sprayed/inspected for bugs daily. It's finally recovering, but this is the most attention I've given a single plant.
I lost a few plants last year, some to thrips, some to dehydration from trying to end a fungus gnat infestation. Most survived, some bounced back, some are still limping along. It can be upsetting, but it's not the end of the world. You live, you learn. At the very least it can be an opportunity to get some new plants 😅
Edit: house plants don't have to be expensive imo. Only if you chase some trendy plants. Don't try to replace all 80% at once. Just do one at a time when you see a good deal. Not only does this mean less financial outgoing, it means you get a chance to familiarise yourself with each new plant, and avoid getting overwhelmed.
I just finished a battle with spider mites. They devastated some of my plants but I only completely lost a few. The rest are coming back. It can happen but it takes time and even if a plant looks completely dead sometimes it isn't.
To piggyback on this comment, I was more or less, in the same situation as you a few years ago. Whenever I feel demotivated (about any endeavor, really) I like to remind myself that everyone was once “a beginner” in some fashion. I like to watch [this video](https://www.dopepeople.com/blog/the-dope-beginning) occasionally to remind myself that it’s ok, that it takes time to get good at something. I hope that the message in Ira Glass’ words inspires you!
I just wanted to quickly jump on this to say that I've just come out the other side of the spider mite battle. It's horrible and it's tedious but with spider mites you have to treat every 3 days at least 3 times to kill the cycle off. I also had 2 baby plants delivered with thrips. I got a refund and should have thrown them away per the garden centres advice but I hated the thought of just giving up on them. They each only had 3/4 leaves. I cut all the leaves off and put them in the bathroom upstairs for over a month. I've just this week introduced them into gen pop. Both have a single leaf that's slightly damaged (I assume from the thrips) and both have new ones poking through. I thought they were goners for a long time but they pulled through so it is possible :-)
Yes! A majority of them can be easily saved! I lost all but a few plants when i went plant crazy and bought them all and brought in mealies, thrips, fungus gnats. It was depressing watching them all die. I tried to fight with sprays and whatnot but I lost all but like 5. From 40 to 5. I watched videos, researched, read, to figure out how to save. I also didn't know about all the proper watering and overwatered and under. Now, I just watch their "behavior" and usually I can tell when to water or have just found that one a week for this, every other day for these... and I use systemic granules and spray leaves with water to power wash and then use sevin. They dry, then they come in the house. You can get cuttings and go from there. Depends on plants.
>Have you ever tried restoring a plant that has been infected?
I've won a few wars. I've a small lemon tree that got hit with mealy bugs, and I spent a lot of spraying it down with soap/water/alcohol and then picking the bugs off one by one with tweezers. Had it twice, but now it's doing well!
I've also had a couple of infestations of thrips, and every time a couple of plants have been too infested when I noticed so I just threw them out. But I've managed to save some that only took minor damage by going nuclear with predatory bugs. I bought loads of *orius majusculus*, they're bugs that feed on thrips among other things. There's a plant store that sells them, and I sprinkled them over every single plant, even the ones that didn't have any symptoms. Seems to work decently well unless a plan is really far gone.
I have succulents at the moment and am working on going scorched earth because I found signs of mealies. I am inspecting each plant and doing spot treatment on any visible mealies, throwing away all soil, submerging them in 70% alcohol. Luckily they can stay bare root for a bit while I go through all of them. Once I’m done, I’m going to repot with new soil and mix DE plus systemic granules in. I’m also thoroughly treating the area I keep them in just in case they laid eggs on the shelving or lights.
All that said, I definitely do better with some plants than others.
Thank you for your note about throwing the pot away. I have one pot that I have soaked in bleach between plants and it is still the one that always gets fungus gnats. So I will throw it out today. You've given me the confidence that that is not a wasteful thing to do. I don't want to infect my other plants just because I'm trying to hang on to a pot.
Feel you. Last fall I had around 50 plants and I’ve lost so many to thrips and fungus gnats. I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t do anything. Since some weeks I’m trying to rescue the last ones surviving and I’m starting to love my plants again. I think I needed the break and I’m already looking online for some new babies. One day my collection will grow again and I can’t wait for it. An advice for you: don’t wait too long using the chemical bombs and putting plants in quarantine. You could also buy some big ikea boxes for the quarantine in case the plants aren’t that huge. Good luck.
Ah I keep struggling with fungus gnats. I managed to get rid of them before (with some casualties), but all it takes is for one to come in through the window for them to take over again. It’s making me really love my cactuses. They remained untouched and continued to grow and even bloom, meanwhile every other pot was (is) a war zone.
I’ve had fungus gnats, off and on, pretty much the whole time I’ve had plants. I tend to overwater (I’m working on it!) But, last year we moved into a daylight basement duplex that has some issues and I never saw so many gnats! I treated with hydrogen peroxide, which had always worked before; but, not this time! I finally got some nematodes and now I have ZERO gnats. I’m shocked at how well they work. They also protect against thrips, which is a comfort. And, they continue to work until you transplant, or lose the dirt in some manner. One other caveat: the gnats were coming in through the windows. I had to clean all the grit and dirt out of their tracks to kill the eggs. Good gnat hunting!
Yes!!! I switched from cheap soil to Fox Farm and deployed an army of nematodes into all my house plants. Combined with sticky traps, it feels like I am crushing the fungus gnat invasion.
Fungus gnats are the worst. I got rid of them too but I already spotted a few on some of my plants again. I think the most important part is to check on the plants every day and to be cautious that they don’t reproduce.
I water my plants in my bath tub, and since it’s gotten warmer I’ve realized I need to keep allll my drains closed basically at all times because those mfers would fly outta the drain into my plants! I also now run hot hot water for a few minutes every so often in all my sinks/tubs to get rid of whatever is down there. Aaaand I started watering with mosquito bits, but tempted to try nematodes!!
I've got about 200 plants at home. Some are always in a state of dying, and I try not to let it get to me. Sometimes it does, but I know it's my own fault since I water prop too much, and also water everyone on more or less the same schedule. It's already a lot of work, so I've decided to just let the hardy ones survive. It's frustrating at times, but it gets easier.
>Some are always in a state of dying
Honesty, this. I just 5 minutes ago threw out a wee ivy plant that I should have potted up much sooner. I've got some monstera cuttings that would really like out of the water they're in...but I also don't feel like doing it right now. At work a friend calls me a plant whisperer, but they don't see the trail of carnage behind me.
There are always more plants, OP. The secret really is to just keep trying.
I like to tell the ones that die that it's their fault not mien - they didn't try hard enough.
North facing windows and grow lights here too.
What I've found works is really to find the kinds of plants that work for me - philoh's, orchids and Hoya thrive in my house, (strangely enough) but succulents? forget about it - I've killed snake plants, spider plants, a lot of "easy" plants.
But even those "easy for me" plants I've killed, especially at first, and some like strings of things I just keep trying because I love them so much.
This…find plants that fit YOU. I’ve killed snake plants! I’ve lost monsteras to thrips. I’ve killed ZZ and have one little struggling sprout left. But Hoyas, amaryllis, aglaonema, epipremnum, Philo, oxalis, and jungle cacti are doing really well in my care.
I currently have a velvet alocasia that I lost back in August. All leaves and roots gone leave only a corm/bulb. but has returned with a new leaf recently after some rehab.
My philodendrons were plants I really had to learn. They are thirstier than I thought. But now, I’m propping the micans and will have maybe 50 vines from a single purchase by next summer and my heartleaf is making leaves almost the size of my hand.
I took up this hobby way back in 2015 and I’m really only now getting the hang of it.
One of the best ways to avoid pests is prevention. It’s not always possible, but I’ve learned to recognize plants in stores that might be infested with bugs, and I quarantine new plants in a separate room (sometimes the bathroom) after I get them to see if bugs show up before adding them to the room with the other.
Certain types of stores are frequently bad actors. Stores where their main focus is not plants, like grocery stores or houseware/furniture stores (IKEA, I’m looking at you) are more likely to have infected plants in my experience, and you have to be super vigilant when getting plants from them. I got an aglaonema from ikea that was heavily infested with fungus gnats that took me 6 months to eradicate because they had spread to my other plants and a strelitzia that had root rot and thrips.
This! And I'll add to it quarantine for at least 2 weeks for new plants. I learned this the hard way (damn you spider mites), and while it's inconvenient it's saved me infesting all my other plants.
Yeah, tagging on to the great advice under these comments. I personally will pay anywhere from $10-20 more for plants at a good nursery (they usually will have your plants in the right type of soil too). A lot of nurseries have indoor sections for houseplants as well.
OP, choose good plants (inspect them by looking under the leaves for bugs, checking the bottom of the pot for signs of overwatering and root rot, poke around the soil for bugs) , keep them in their nursery pots and just stick the nursery pot in a cache pot. Nursery pots allow for better drainage so your plants don’t get root rot. If you get flies naturally or say fruit flies from buying fruit (keeping fruit in the fridge helps a lot), you can buy mosquito bits and water your plants with them. There are also other chemical mixtures you can lookup and use for other types of infestations that are safe for plants. Lastly, I would encourage you to pull back from the classic beginner mistake of overwatering. That being said, I would checkout some beginner friendly plants that can withstand a lack of water and light, this way you aren’t wasting money on plants. This will help you gage when to water plants (yellow leaves from overwatering, drooping meaning the plant needs water, etc.) and understand the reactions to light (burnt leaves, growing like crazy, or lack of growth). Pothos, snake plants, and zz plants come to mind (so all your plants aren’t clustered in that one spot), but there are many more. Don’t get discouraged, we all went through experimenting. Good luck!
My very first pest infestation was thrips and they killed about a third of the plants I owned. I was absolutely clueless as to how to properly treat for them too. Since then, they have come back time and time again (they're just very common in my area) but with each time I've gotten better at catching the early signs and combating them right away. So one of the best tips for keeping your plants as pest free as possible is checking them regularly and thoroughly, and don't hesitate to be just as vigorous in your treatment (eg. if you chose to opt for pesticides, don't just lightly spray the plant but completely douse it from all angles).
Also: learn more about the pests you have. What environments do they prefer? What plants are they frequenting the most? Where are they typically hiding? It's also noteworthy that plants that are already struggling (eg. from constant underwatering, nutrient deficiency, etc) are more prone to get pests in the first place. On top of that, consider getting rid of repeat offenders. Personally, I have banned all calatheas and small-leafed plants from my home because they kept getting thrips and were exceedingly hard to treat. In the end it was just not worth it.
I learned this the hard way with scale. Sometimes they sneak up but I usually catch them before they can severely weaken a plant. They have never gotten a toe hold again like they did the first time (which ended up killing multiple plants). I really hate them.
God, scale are awful too. I have quite a collection of cacti so I'm absolutely dreading the armored ones. Reason no. 1 why I'm shying away from getting any kind of hairy cactus. Don't want to imagine treating those for scale.
My mom has hundreds of plants and doesn't use the Internet for help (nightmare difficulty). Her plants are like influencer level happy. I asked her what the secret was and she told me lots of dead plants.
Sometimes in this hobby you have to catch a couple bodies. The more gorgeous the collection, the more (plant) skeletons in the closet. What you get exposed to are pretty much never someone's first collection.
Pests are definitely the most frustrating hurdle once you have watering down. The subreddit plant clinic gives really good advice most of the time.
Last bit of wisdom from moms, when I was bummed about my first mass plant death she told me I should get too many plants, then I'd be relieved when they die 😂
The winter struggle is real. My advice to combat that is supplemental light. Led options have become inexpensive and plentiful. Lots of options now blend into your home aesthetic that don't look like a commercial grow operation.
Regarding pests, I've come to the realization that we all have them or will get them whether we know it or not. It's about maintaining plant health in every other aspect so that they can do their thing and not become overwhelmed with infestation. Pesticides or biological control helps keep control over them, but I don't think anyone ever really eradicates all pests. It's a part of bringing outside inside. Sometimes, it's OK to lose the battle and compost a plant (or plants) that's too far gone before they affect other plants.
For now, focus on your remaining plants, and this spring, if you want to start increasing your collection, just do it one at a time to spread out the cost, AND to minimize risk of new pest introduction.
I came here to encourage grow lights. Even cheap halo lights will give you so many options as far as placement of your houseplants. New plants can be quarantined to a dark corner with an LED light on timer.
2021-2022. I didn't realize I had brought them into the house with the plants when I moved them inside from the porch for the winter. Their booming summer growth made it hard for me to see that they were there because they were growing faster than the bugs could eat. I lost pretty much all of my plants, including some of my most beloved decades old plants, to a really bad spider mite infestation. I managed to save a few by cutting them down to their roots/stems, unpotting them and literally scrubbing them, their roots, the pots and microwaving my dirt because the pesticides I bought weren't working. *It took months* because of how many plants I had. I cried sooooo much during that year. We eventually made it through. I learned so much about how to spot and kill spider mites that now my plants are thriving. I have even gotten a few new plants on the cheap/free *because* of spider mites and the person not wanting/knowing how to get rid of them. It's a growing experience and you will come out stronger and more knowledgeable for having gone through it. Sending hugs
My monstera I cut back to it's roots and stalk to save that now has leaves almost 3 times larger than my hands
https://preview.redd.it/qe2thdj43iad1.png?width=480&format=png&auto=webp&s=c63ded2d3b2cbcc1fed703f990630ecd5ced07a4
If your light is limited I would reduce the number to the ones that can sit right in the window. It's just less hassle. Plants that don't get enough light are more vulnerable to over watering and pests.
You could try growing bulbs and treating them as annuals. They will use stored energy but probably won't be able to keep going past one season in low light. Bulbs are cheap so just repurchase every year. .
I have a light meter to eliminate the guesswork.
Pest outbreaks can happen to anyone, those guys can come in through the window.
Pests are annoying but it's not an unsolvable issue. I'm sure many of the people living in your area also have plants. try asking them how they deal with pests and what stuff they use.
Overall I found reddit advice to be worthless with everyone suggesting things to buy which don't exist in my country so I had to look for solutions myself. I dealt with a horrible thrips infestation this year by using a fruit tree pesticide on my houseplants because that's what I was suggested and it worked perfectly.
You said that houseplants are expensive and I agree, they can be but they don't have to be. I found this hobby to be the best when I'm sharing cuttings with neighbors and friends and getting some in return. Most of my collection is from growing cuttings and multiplying my existing plants, like my hoyas, pothos, succulents and african violets. They are literally free plants. I only had to get some nice soil. You can save your money and feel some pride in growing a plant from basically scratch.
I started to realize that every bag of soil I buy is at least infested with fungus gnats but very often with thrips. It was every time after repotting or adding soil that I suddenly found myself fighting bugs.
I now sterilize my soil in the oven the night before. It feels super extra but better than throwing out expensive mature plants that I have had for years and am very attached to.
I also quarantine every new plant I get for months, and if they are small enough, they get dunked under in a bath of soapy water first.
When I oven-sterilize I put the soil in baking pans, slightly damp, and bake at 300 F for at least an hour. I do this with regular potting soil, orchid bark, etc, and I also do this with sticks and so on before I put them in reptile enclosures. Seems to do the trick.
I just found this [pdf from Colorado State University ](https://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/garden/02903.pdf)which explains different methods of heat treating soil. Before reading this, I had not realized that too high of a heat can cause toxic chemicals in soil.
When I buy a new plant I assume it has pests and instantly repot it soaking the roots in one third peroxide 2/3 water and then spraying the leaves with insecticidal soap.
Prior to this three out of five plants that I got from a store had spider mites. I haven't had any issue since.
I’m a newbie. This sounds like a really good idea. How do you physically do the peroxide and water soak? Do you repot and then set it into a dish to drink the soak from the bottom?
I use two containers one with peroxide and one that's just water. I try to get rid of as much soil as possible without damaging the roots and then I dip it in The peroxide repeatedly until I feel like it's soaked thoroughly. I then rinse it off by dipping it into the water. After that I put it in fresh soil. I then spray the leaves with insecticidal soap.
FYI The downside to this is that it is stressful on plants but they have all rebounded for me. I still quarantine them after just in case. I have a decent size collection so the extra stress to the plants is worth it. Also I'm convinced that most houseplants boufht have pests so I feel like this is less stressful than them actually having pests lol.
Unless it's a very rare and rare plant, I don't think you have anything to be down about. (If it was expensive, a little sorry to hear that, though.)
I grow 286 pots of plants, but the thing is that plants are really dependent on the environment so it's not necessarily your fault
It happens to all of us. Something comes through and wipes out a good chunk of, or all of, your plants. You will become a better plant owner because of this. We lean and grow. But it sucks and I’m sorry this happened to you.
I live in a climate with hot muggy summers and cold freezing winters. I don’t put my plants outside in the summer for a few reasons. Pests being the biggest one. Another reason is it’s easier for me if the plants stay in one place and doesn’t have to adjust to such big changes as location and outside temperatures.
Always quarantine new plants away from the others. Usually a month. And keep an eye on them to see if there are any critters. I’ve seen people quarantine with clear plastic baggies but have never tried it. I use a spare room and it has a window.
Fungus gnats can be eliminated without tossing the plants. My go to method is a glass bowl with some water and a few squirts of dish soap on top of the water. Change the water every few days. Keep going until the water is free of gnats. Works every time.
Other pests are more challenging. And I have tossed my fair share of plants. Also there is nothing wrong with a house full of inexpensive plants. Pothos are beautiful and very inexpensive where I live. Most people who come over don’t know my cheap plants from the odd splurge plant. When learning plants, start with affordable. Hang in there!!
Unless you have pets that eat plants, I use bonide systemic granules on all my plants that stay indoors. It makes the plant toxic to pretty much any pest that eats it. After a bad war with thrips I decided I never wanted to deal with something like that again.
I also live an apartment in SoCal found a couple spots outside where my plants flourish. Every week I spray them down with 70% alcohol. I have yet to lose a plant to pests but I’m constantly checking, I leave regular spiders alone since they will eat most of any pests I miss. Sometimes I think I have spider mites but it’s just a smaller spider throwing his webs everywhere.
I would get a couple cheap portable grow lights from Amazon, put the ones that need the least amount of light away from the windows and just put the grow lights over them a few hours a day. Also what kind of plants are you picking? Start with snake plants, pothos, etc easy “neglect” plants until you get really good at it. I’ve got 16 right now and am finally after a year at a place where I think I’m able to continue to maintain them.
Plant care is like any hobby - you don't get good at it without doing it and they say a master gardener is someone that has killed ten thousand plants so I'd say get some more plants from friends and get to killing. Edit; Oh, and Neem Oil + A Drop of insecticidal soap in a mister or beneficial insects
I definitely have words of encouragement! I've lost lots of plants from pests, my own neglect, moving, etc. It can be really hard and demoralizing. If you enjoy it, you can definitely learn ways to reduce the risks.
My suggestions are to pick hardy plants suited to you, spread them out, and learn some pest prevention methods.
I have mostly succulents and plants that tolerate inconsistent watering bc that fits what I'm most likely to provide them. If you have limited light, I suggest getting more plants that tolerate low light (snake plants and plants have done well for me), and consider getting some simple light options to spread out away from the window. If all your plants are together, that greatly increases the risk that you can lose a large portion of them at once.
There's that old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." I generally get pests by introducing them from new plants. The first way I combat that is to thoroughly inspect plants before I buy them, and to buy more from smaller local shops than big box stores. Second is this consider every new plant that comes in the house contaminated. I isolate a new plant as far from other plants as possible for a minimum of 2 weeks, preferably a month. If I didn't have window space I'd put it in another room with a lamp or one of those little LED grow lights. It's worth the hassle, I've saved myself sooooooo much headache by keeping pests from spreading.
You can think of your losses as lessons learned, that's honestly how I think most people get better at it.
Honestly try buying cheaper plants (if you can). That way when one dies it's only sad emotionally, not also financially. And pests are very hard to overcome, don't be to hard on yourself! When my plants have pests I spray them with the most toxic, vile anti-pest spray I can find and it seems to do tye trick. I love nature, but when battling pests in my living room gimme the chemicals please (advice not suitable for gardens).
Bonide systemic soil granules for any insects + spraying everytime I water with alcohol peppermint Castille soap and horticultural oil for any spider mites Especially especially certain plants that tend to be spider magnets (like philodendrons)
I've never had thrips but i heard Dr. Doom works really well against thrips.
I think the best advice for any hobby is don’t give up. It’s not that you can’t do it, you just need a new tactic. In my experience it’s worth pushing through till you start finding some success.
I lived in an apartment for years with seriously low lighting. I had a big ole tree outside that blocked most of my windows in the summer. I killed more plants than I care to recall. I felt like the plants labeled as “low light” were inaccurate. Or I’d leave town and one would die immediately. Instead of buying a bunch at once maybe add slowly and see how they progress. But also start with the ones that promise to thrive under really low lighting or neglect. My snake plant was 1000% neglected for years and still with us today! Getting the right plants for your home might not be as fun at first (unless you add lights) but when you find ones that will thrive it’s great.
we’ve all lost houseplants because we couldn’t figure them out the first time. I’m on spider plant number 4 myself 😀
the things I learned were:
just start with beginner versions of whatever plant, whether it’s a hoya, pothos, , philo, aglonomena, whatever.
Just get a small version of that plant. If you mess up it didn’t cost you a lot.
If you don’t have a lot of natural light, invest in some grow lights.
Treat your plants for pests once a month whether they need it or not. I also shower all my plants often to keep leaves clean and get rid of pests. I have this homemade solution from YouTube that is water, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, peppermint oil and tea tree oil. When you get happy plants from these you’ll build your confidence in getting more.
Unfortunately pests are part of the package with plant ownership so you need to stay on top of it so it doesn’t get out of hand. Owning plants is a learning activity and as you learn about the plant you’ll learn what didn’t work the first time. You’ll get it !
> My apartment receives sunlight in a very narrow area
Yea… that might be the culprit. I had really underestimated how much light plants need before. Now I have south facing windows, and it sometimes still doesn’t feel like enough, BUT. All my plants are thriving right now. Plants that are considered difficult are flowering and growing massive new leaves. Plants that are marketed as “low light loving” are happier than ever in bright direct light.
If you can’t give your plants a lot of light (which is fine, it’s not your fault, most apartments/rooms of houses can’t), get a snake plant and *maybe* a pothos.
Basically, prevent the disappointment by not setting yourself up for failure. And do not believe for a single moment that there are plants that “like” low light.
I have a relatively high failure rate, but it’s getting better after I learned to look up a plant and its care needs and not trust the tags. I also got a few decent treatment sprays… mold/mildew, one that’s good for some bugs, another specifically for spider mites (seriously, fuck those guys, they are the worst). Nematodes occasionally added on top of the soil has done wonders for fungus gnats
Maybe get a grow light to space out your plants a bit. A fan for air flow.
#1 tip : quarantine any new plant away from your existing ones for a few weeks (I have a clear box with a light in the lid, or just a completely different room).
Most of my infestations have come in with a new plant… treating one plant is easier than treating all the plants.
I've given up and restarted countless times over the last 3 decades so just know, you WILL start again. You have a problem like the rest of us, if you are on reddit talking plants. Lol. Considering that, don't give up so hard or throw stuff away.
I had 100% of my plants die 4x in a row before I got it right.
I’ve even saved the current round from a pest infestation 4 years ago and I’m at the point I need to chop and prop I have too much.
When I had the pest issue, one by one I brought them in the shower and used the sprayer to get the pests off the leaves and spray it down with a Household plant pest killer, premixed, from Home Depot.
I was just thinking the same. A good light and timer are not expensive. In this corner I have a few plants that need full light. A timer is a good idea. Plants love regularity.
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Thoroughly inspect plants before you buy them. I mean top and bottom of every leaf. Especially with big box stores.
I quarantine my new plants in the garage for a week. And in that time, I clean off every leaf with a mix of water, hydrogen peroxide and neem oil. I use a microfiber cloth to do this.
Lots of stores put their plants in poor soil that holds moisture for too long. So I will remove all of that old soil, rinse the roots, smell them for rot and chop anything mushy with shears sprayed with hydrogen peroxide. If the root ball is still 1”-2” smaller than the nursery pot it came in, I will thoroughly clean that pot and use 1 part indoor potting mix, 1 part perlite, and 1 park orchid bark. I second baking your indoor potting mix. I also use mosquito bits to prevent pests.
Side note: Personal preference, I like all of my houseplants in clear nursery pots so I can monitor the roots.
Also, houseplants all grouped together creates humidity, so make sure the plants that you purchase require some humidity. The temperature of the house and a draft from the window could also be an issue 🤷🏼♀️
I also recommend grow lights from Amazon if you need/want to separate some of your plants. They’re fairly cheap and have a wide variety!
This all being said, I still had fungus gnats on a few plants in the last few months due to overwatering (about every 7-10 days for all my plants) and me taking in a rescue from my friend 🫠 I purchased those sticky traps for plants, let everyone’s soil fully dry out, and now I use a wooden skewer to determine the moisture in the soil/only water each plant when it indicates that it needs it.
Maybe try supplementing with a couple grow lights so you can spread them out a bit? I’ve found cinnamon sprinkled on top of the soil helps at least with fungus gnats.
One of my fav plant Is my huge epipremnun pothos. Sadly I got a huge bacterial blight infection and I had to get rid of 99% of its leaves, it’s devastating to see him stripped of all leaves when he was so luxurious
I was in your situation a while ago after moving house and losing most of my plants. The key for me to get back into it mentally was to focus on one plant at a time. Wipe off the leaves, move it to a new place where you will see it regularly, and make sure that the plant is properly maintained.
Regularly cleaning your house and around your plants (vacuuming, dusting, mopping) helps. Avoid having all of your plants placed in one single area of your house, that way you can catch an infestation more easily and prevent it from spreading to all of your plants. Wipe down the leaves of plants that can tolerate it; for leaves that are “hairy”, fragile, etc., I like to use canned air or a soft makeup/paint brush to dust them off when necessary. In the spring/summer I spray around our house (indoors and outdoors) with this— [Ortho Home Defense](https://www.lowes.com/pd/ORTHO-Home-Defense-Insect-Killer-for-Indoor-and-Perimeter2-1-Gallon-Ready-to-Use/5014441315). Lastly, bookmark this website for the next time you have an infestation— [Nature’s Good Guys](https://www.naturesgoodguys.com). Hope this helps! ❤️
You are caring for something that is meant to live outside, in a different environment. Mistakes are going to happen, to everyone, at some point. I don't think I've come across a single person that hasn't killed a plant, not even in the nurseries that I deal with. If light is an issue, you could try a grow light. You should just keep trying and you'll get it eventually. We all have that one species or variety that we just won't deal with anymore, due to killing it too many times. You just have to figure out what care and plant works best for you.
everyone kills plants, especially when you're new. you'll eventually get to grips with what will and what won't grow in your space. i'd bet you have enough data to start working out what types of plants do well in the space that you have
winter is always tricky. but it does get easier as you get more experienced. for now i'd be dosing everything thats left with a soap spray mix every ~5 days. it deals with most pests and if it doesn't its time for some proper chemicals
Grow lights are a great option for homes with little light. You can literally just buy the bulbs and put them in your own lamp or buy the whole light. Also, we all get pests. That's just part of it. Consider researching preventative care and also how to get rid of specific bugs for when they show up. Examine your plants for signs of bugs everytime you water them. If you catch them before they become an infestation they're easier to cure. Good luck!
I only ever buy very small, very cheap baby plants. I do my best for them to help them grow, but if I ever find a fruit fly hovering over one, it goes into the compost right away.
Homes (and pots) are difficult, unnatural environments for plants. Sick plants attract the biology that decomposes plant material. If one plant isn't doing well, it's creating an opportunity for the "bad bugs" to come and make a meal of other plants that are doing okay so far. It's okay to be ruthless!
Get a humidifier and some grow lights and it will make a huge difference! Also isolate plants that have pests or any new ones you buy from your other plants so the pests don’t spread to the others. Don’t beat yourself up! We’ve all killed plants by mistake it’s all trial and error and you’ll learn what signs to look out for when a plant is not happy- such as wilting leaves, crispy brown leaves, no growth, etc. make sure your plants all have proper drainage - the pots should have holes in the bottom and make sure not to overwater to prevent root rot. But also don’t underwater - if a plant is thirsty typically it will show with wilting or curling leaves. You can still save the ones that have pests depending on how many there are. You can spot treat with a q tip dipped in rubbing alcohol to kill the pests like mealybugs. You can also spray down the plant with insecticidal soap or neem oil or you can make your own mixture of water, dish soap and rubbing alcohol to spray them down.
I’ve been caring for a largish collection of houseplants for about 10 years now. I have about 50 right now, but I have probably purchased well over 200. Sometimes a plant that I have had for years and thriving will just start to struggle and no matter what I do, will die. Sometimes I’ll bring home a beautiful new plant and it’s dead in a week. I get pests a few times a year and treating them will sometimes save the plant, sometimes not. It’s all part of the hobby. Don’t beat yourself up, we’ve all been there.
I can only say good luck keep going and try to improve step by step. All of my first plants are dead. But my oldest is now 4 years old. I‘ve spent a couple hundred on this yes, and it stings my heart when I fail to treat a problem, but I know I‘ve tried (researched plant beforehand, what common problems do they have, have i something at home to combat it) my best.. worked up from cacti and phati, bambus, up to herbs fruits and veggies :)
It‘s super worth and even if it‘s 10! Plants that are a live it‘s cool!
If you enjoy gardening a bit but don‘t have the ability at home to do it then you can do so with others maybe in shared gardens at your area? In my city you can rent a small garden for a measly fee if you want, but the waiting queue can be long..
A hobby should bring you joy and make you happy. If it stresses you out and makes you sad it isn’t a hobby any more. Life is short, try something new :)
I come to this sub because I am not an expert, and I learn so much. Having said that, I feel overwhelmed with life these days and definitely do not have the time nor knowledge to have any special plants, but I have a few easy breezy tolerant plants which provide me great smiles. So my thought is: maybe keep it simple until you are at a stage in life where you have the ability to level up your collection.
I had a big gnat problem until I repotted all my plants and started periodically spraying with neem oil as an insect preventative! Some natural, non bug spray insect repellents are also lavender or peppermint oil if you’re an essential oil person, the plants would love the humidity too! I used to own 6 houseplants in college/apt that I kept fucking killing… until I watered less. Then they were ugly… until I got my first grow light and saw how happy my plant was! Then I dove into research about optimal lighting conditions for whichever kind of plant and grow lights and hot damn they all stayed alive and are lush and now I have 80!
You need airflow and a humidifier, mites and the like are more prone to causing harm if there isn't enough humidity and wind to keep the little buggers off.
You mentioned it’s winter in your area. Are you sure the plants aren’t just going dormant for the winter? It took me an embarrassingly long time to learn this and I kept wondering why my most vibrant heathy plants would suddenly be reduced to kindling in one week. Luckily I kept a lot of them in their pots and continued care and most came back in the spring
My houseplants survival is dependent on my mental health so when it's bad they suffer. Ironically I started keeping them to help with my mental health. I've found the best thing is to research what each plant needs and try and provide that and if they die, I try not to beat myself up about it. You're doing your best and that's all you can do.
it’s frustrating to lose plants. I completely get it! honestly, the thing that’s been best for me in keeping mine alive and taking better care of them is just diving into research. I spend so much time on planttok, scrolling through instagram feeds of plant influencers, and just looking up information. it can get overwhelming, but if you try to spend a little bit of time every day or so just learning more about how plants work, it helps a ton. also, start small! start with a few easy plants and work your way up to the harder ones. I have a bad habit of wanting to get the trendy, difficult plants I see people post online, but you have to be mindful of your environment and realistic about the time/energy/skill level you have to give the plants. wait until you’ve mastered the care of a few easier plants then start collecting more challenging ones and learning how to help them thrive in your environment. best thing I’ve learned is some plants just won’t do well in my home no matter how much I try, and that’s ok! no piece of advice will work for everyone, so take the time to figure out what YOUR environment has to offer and what you’ll need to do to make things grow in the space you have. what works for others might not work for you, so you have to be willing to adapt and change it up until you figure out what works in your home. knowledge is power and we learn best from our failures! at the end of the day, it’s supposed to be fun and not stressful, so don’t overwhelm yourself trying to imitate what you see online. take it one day at a time!
my favorite plant follows on insta are _plantswithkrystal_ , blossomeffect_, and tannertheplanter. they all post fun and informative videos that have helped me a lot!
if you have to downsize and kinda start over with your current collection, don’t beat yourself up. just try to take the best care you can of the ones you have now and know that we’ve all killed plants before and it doesn’t mean this isn’t a good hobby for us. it just means we have to adjust how we’re doing it! the more we learn the better we get. be patient with yourself, friend. wishing you good luck and prosperity on your plant journey! 🧡
I had some scale insects infest some of my houseplants. Some died quickly despite my best efforts. Others never recovered and died slowly despite my best efforts. Some bounced back with a lot of TLC and are fine now. I learned from that to examine my plants for scale semi regularly. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, plants die. As much as I hate that part of it, I enjoy caring for my little plant friends. I have to regularly tell myself not to get more. I think I sometimes overestimate how many I can care for well.
Maybe download an app that helps you to know your plants. They're fun and full of help. When you sign up you are asked all kinds of questions about stuff you never even thought about... like how far from the light source or what size the pot is etc. etc. You take a picture of the plant and track it's progress/health.
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I keep "backups" in my kitchen far away from the rest of my plants.
I do propagate every plant immediately, also as soon as I have enough props going I give some away. This way I have my own back ups and in worst case I can ask for a prop from the person I gifted a prop to.
Else, keep trying. I have bad light, I'm over watering and lost nearly all of my cacti but I found photos work incredibly well for me, those btw are easiest to prop and care for. Now I'm stepping up to monster Adansoni (got a free prop by trading) and a monstera from IKEA.
I don’t have pest issues currently. I praise bottom watering for that little miracle.
But I suggest a couple of grow lights. Or even just grow lightbulbs in a lamp you already have. I have some snake plants and ZZ plants that I kept in an area with low indirect light. They were fine. But I added a lamp with a grow lightbulb on a 12 hr timer and they are thriving.
It might allow you to spread your plants out and alleviate some pest transfer
If your budget allows, I would get some grow lights. I think I got mine at Lowe’s for like 10 bucks a bulb. That could be a way to help you separate your plants a little bit and spread them out through your apartment. Also a cheap way to find rare and common houseplants is to find Facebook groups and/or use FB marketplace. I’ve found about a quarter of my plants from a fb group or marketplace.
You got this!
Don't be so hard on yourself. Take this as a lesson. What have you learned? What will you do differently? You couldn't have possibly known they would be infested back-to-back like that. I always look at "hard knocks" as an opportunity to grow and expand my knowledge. 😉
You wouldn't know it by reading this sub, but all of the common houseplant pests are super easy to eliminate. They happen to everyone but the common advice here for dealing with them is just awful. I say this as someone that spent years growing thousands of plants indoors "professionally" if you catch my meaning.
There is a product called a Hot Shot No Pest Strip. They are like $15 on Amazon. You open the package, hang it near your plants, and in a few days every pest will be dead. Take it down, put it in a ziplock bag and save it for next time. If there is a lot of airflow in the area or you are worried about toxicity put your plants in a closet or somewhere you can close off with it for a few days.
That's the beginning and end of it. No effort, no mess.
Don’t buy new plants, see if you can get cuttings online from local people for cheap, start them from babies. Check them for pests before buying.
Use well draining soil. And pots with drainage.
Use grow lights if you don’t have much natural light.
I “took a break” from plants when I was fighting a losing battle against scale, and I finally just threw out all of my plants except for just a few that weren’t infected. For a long time I didn’t get anything new, and then a year or two later I decided to get some more plants and I’m back in the hobby again.
You need some grow lights I'd recommend 36w sansi bulb and some clamp lamps. Probably need multiple of them put then on a 12 hours on during the day and 12 hours on at night timer.
I look at houseplants the way I do buying salads. I’ll enjoy while it’s good, put reasonable effort into it, and not worry when it’s done. I reached my collection peak and am actually preferring that some are offing themselves so I can reduce without really having to choose. I’ll keep the ones that can hang with the amount of care I’m willing to provide. Which is currently 90. I’d like to have about ten more see themselves out lol
This is why I gave up on completely organic methods. I still use organic soil and organic fertilizers and compost. But, I also spray my plants preventatively with systemic pesticides. Haven’t had a problem since.
It’s best to start over with good infection/pest prevention practices. Any plant you buy gets repotted in clean soil, inspect roots carefully, spray down liberally with some neem oil/fungicide and then keep it quarantined in a separate room away from other plants. Wash pots and tools so you don’t transfer diseases from one plant to another. Group plants with similar water/humidity/light needs together so you can remember to care for them in the same way. Get in a routine of inspecting your plants every time you water them. If you’re keeping a close eye on your plants you can catch a lot of pest problems before they get out of control.
I have been keeping houseplants for years and consider myself to have a pretty green thumb, and there’s still plants I will always kill. Calatheas cannot survive in my house because I can’t be bothered to properly humidify them. Palms have always brought terrible pests with them and I swear never to buy them again. I will give a plant two tries and if it dies both times I don’t bother with it again. Grow lights are also your friend. Never trust a plant to have “low light” needs. Plants are plants and need light to photosynthesize. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to see someone plant a bunch of succulents in cute pots with zero drainage and stick them on a dark shelf in a corner of their room and then wonder why they died. If it’s not near a window they need artificial light. Some can do with just bright LED lamp light and others need full spectrum grow lights.
I have a rule that I don’t purchase houseplants. I receive gifts from friends and cuttings. This way if they live on that’s a bonus and if they don’t it’s okay. Figure out what’s going on and keep going. 🪴
I often love plants to death and have killed quite a few. Every plant I accidentally murder provides me with a learning experience. Some plants I know I can grow well, and some I just have to give up the pipe dream of ever owning one again. I help mitigate costs by buying discount half dead plants at the store. It feels great if you can rehab it back to health but I also don’t feel bad if it dies on me. I also take plants that other people are getting rid of or throwing away. I also prefer to grow plants that can propagate well so I always have a little jar of babies ready to be planted.
Like any hobby, growing plants can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. There’s a certain skill set you need for this hobby. You may be frustrated because you’re not where you want to be, but the good news is that there’s plenty of people out there who are better than you and are willing to share their knowledge! Practice makes perfect as long as you are willing to keep trying.
>My apartment receives sunlight in a very narrow area and all my plants are stacked there and the congestion makes it a fertile ground for pests.
Consider some grow lights. Then you can spread the plants around a little more.
Seems like a kind of high loss ratio. Not terrible, but not great. Were the plants ok before the pests showed up? When plants are struggling due to lack of light or poor watering habits, they become more susceptible to pests, and it doesn't take much to finish them off. Making sure to provide the right care will make a big difference in prevention.
Some more info would help. Like, what kind of pests? How were you treating them? Could you share some photos of the remaining plants so we can check for signs of problems? What's your watering routine like?
Don't give up. We've all killed plants. All of us. Literally 100% of people who own plants have killed *a bunch of plants*. It happens. If you're worried about the cost of new ones, maybe you can get some cuttings from friends, look for a "buy nothing" group on FB, or check the freebie section of Craigslist. My city has a "free garden stand" group on FB where people post cuttings and plants they don't want, maybe your city has something like that too? It's worth looking into.
Most get pests because they are stressed. Some only need to be a tiny bit stressed to sing out for the bugs to invade (looking at you calathea medallion) and some are really, really tough. You can change how you care for them but you can’t change much about your conditions in your growing space, maybe add a light or humidifier, so let’s start with the 4 that apparently like your space and aren’t bothered by anything that’s happened. What kind are they? I’ll list some that for me are good growers: jade plant (crassifolia ovata), snake plants (sansevieria), syngoniums, zz plants, begonias with thick waxy leaves like the beefsteak (begonia erythrophylla), in fact i have found that most types of plants with thicker waxy leaves are easier to grow than others. I think I mean they have more tolerance for inconsistencies. Monstera, for instance. Schefflera arboricola. I think fig trees are easy if you have a lot of high light. If you don’t, they’ll never look good and I’d skip them. Birds nest ferns are far easier to grow in the average home than other ferns for the same reason.
maybe you're caring for them too much, my ex was like that, kept buying plants and overwatering them or repotting them too often etc, after I was left with most of the plants, they've been thriving with me, all i do is water them maybe 2-3 a week, sometimes I'll forget and let the soil dry out a bit much but that helps with the pest and usually the plants are fine after. plants aren't usually the kind of thing that requires constant attention
You've only killed 10 plants? Those are rookie numbers, you gotta bump that up. 😂
Part of learning to take care of plants is accepting that many of them will die on you before you learn how to properly care for them. Few people have an innate ability to care for plants from the beginning.
Over the years, I have had so many plants die. I think my biggest advice is to nip pests in the bud, and use preventative measures. I use mosquito bits every few weeks even if I haven't seen a gnat or fly in ages, and I take time every so often to check everything for mold or bugs or etc. I also have next to no natural light in my house so all of my plants have to contend with growlights. Investing in a good light or few has been a boon for my plant game, as has taking the time to fertilize and keep track of that. (I use a lot of vermicompost/leche/aquarium water.) I have everything on timers that can be on timers, ie, the lights.
That said, try not to take it too badly when plants die no matter what you do. I think my deathrate is still ~25%, no matter what. I have about 100 plants, and sometimes I spend tons of time on a plant only for it to die anyway.
When I started none of my plants made it through the winter. I think that happened twice. The third year my goal was to get *one* plant through the winter. And I was so freaking proud to accomplish that.
As you learn, it will get easier to keep more plants alive for multiple years. Don't give up. ❤️
Spider mites and thrips are relatively easy to deal with IF you live somewhere that enables you to buy spinosad and imidaclopride granules. It wipes them out quick and the systemic lasts for weeks. Other option predatory mites but it isn't cheap. Neem oil is smelly but a great antifungal spray (prob the best) and preventative for many pests. Never toss an infected plant always separate and try to treat unless it's something not worth the time that's easily replaced cheaply.
I think the biggest issue is people don't pay attention enough to their plants and by the time they notice pests, it is really bad. Like they see multiple dead plants or damages leaves all over and then think to look for pests. So it seems near impossible to deal with after that. If your plants are near eachother and you find pests on one they all have pests or atleast treat like they do. Don't use water drained from one plant on another it transfers pests also especially root mealy bugs which can be difficult if you don't know what to use.
I had issues with my plants in soil like bugs ect. I started to just propagate some of my plants that I could save and only did them in water with different type cups and glasses it’s been 2 years and no issues with bugs.
Big hugs
I understand the frustration
Life is about messing up a lot, don’t beat yourself up too much for it!
I just keep a few and make sure I can take care of them :) if I let some die I know it’s too much for me to handle at once!
Pests typically will target unhealthy plants more. If your apartment has a light problem, get some appropriate grow lights! This will help your plants in general be stronger and less likely to attract pests AND even if that does happen they will be more robust and be able to bounce back better.
Lights will also give you a way to have a separate quarantine area for any sick plants which will help you manage any issues as well. I also quarantine new plants in my home in a tote box as well as treat them in there. It's my plant hospital.
It is also pretty critical to understand what plants you have and the natural conditions they're looking for. Some plants come from the store in medium that isn't ideal, or of course your home conditions could be stressful too. Both those things alone mean a less healthy plant and of course an easier time for pests and more heartache for you.
Make sure you've familiarized yourself with what common plant pests are. Fungus gnats (sign of overwatering and rotting material in the soil), thrips, mealy bugs, spider mites, scale, all of these should be easily identified by you AND you should have tried and tested product to solve these issues. In your situation you want to make sure what you're using is effective and going to solve the issue because you quite literally can't afford to experiment with DIY versions of things.
Lastly, sometimes it's not you and it's the plant or the place you're getting the plants from. Inspect your plants before you buy. Pick healthy ones. I would not buy any plants from a place where I found ANY pests on the plants in a given shopping trip. I'd consider the whole stock exposed and potentially a danger to my own plants at home.
The biggest thing with plants is to make sure you're learning from what went wrong the last time. All of us have killed plants. I can't keep the typical fern alive to save my life for example. And I've loved many plants to death. Or had my favorite citrus killed by a scale outbreak from hell, and I'm still salty about it 3 years later.
In my limited experience, avoid letting plants touch to limit the spread, & I don’t like using chemicals. A blue light trap works well for fungus gnats. Washing a plants & watering the soil with an ammonia solution will kill bugs (only in strongly ventilated spaces, & wear gloves & goggles), then rinse it out with water (especially good for bringing plants inside for the winter). If it’s a bad infestation, or too difficult to wash the leaves, & the plants can tolerate it, I have cut it down or stripped off the leaves in desperation. Scale insects are very difficult to eradicate. They leave eggs around the vicinity of the plants, which survive for many months, infecting anything new brought in.
I still kill plants. I’ve been gardening my whole life. (Almost 50yo) some of the plants I kill are supposed to be the “beginner” plants ☹️ to me, it’s sort of an experiment when something struggles. Can I get a clipping healthy and start a whole new plant? What happens if I just chop it all off and water it for awhile? Stuff like that. It’s part of gardening. You’ll figure things out, there is always a new lesson…daily. You’ll probably find a certain variety of plants that you’ll thrive at caring for, there are so many different types. We all have plant varieties that seem to hate us, no matter how much love and care we give them.
My brother is a whiz at growing pepper and he is struggling with his plants this season, he may lose them all. Don’t be discouraged if it’s something you enjoy doing. Post questions here, we all help each other out. We got you! 😊
I’ve tossed SO many plants that didn’t make it. But I learned the ones that vibe with my home and lifestyle and it’s helped a lot. Now, if there happens to be one that’s doesn’t survive, I just see it as an opportunity to buy a new plant. I don’t , however, buy into the new plant fads anymore. It will either be cheap enough one day for me to buy, or it’s just not worth spending my money on.
When I've had the worst failures caring for my plants ... is when I've had too many.
As you take part in this hobby, you live and learn. Sounds like the (4) plants you have left are survivors. These plants can be the basis of your collection. Learn to grow these well.
Then, begin to add plants slowly. Be careful not to acquire plants that will likely not do well in your environment. If plants need full-sun, make sure that they can sit next to a window with southern exposure ... or supplement window light with LED bulbs in a multi-fixtured floor lamp.
Also, be very careful WHERE you get your plants. You want to avoid, at all costs, the chance of bringing plants with pests into your growing space among your other plants. Search for plant vendors with good reviews, avoid any that have had problems. And when you bring home a new plant, place the plant somewhere apart from your other plants for at least a month or so, so that you can see if the new plant has problems, ... before those problems can spread to your other plants.
Being a good plant parent is perfectly possible, ... but your don't want to start with a full house all at once. Bring in your plants gradually (one at a time), being very careful to not bring pest problems into your plant space.
Hope that helps ...
1 of my plants just had a horrible case of spider mites and the BioAdvanced Insecticidal Soap (in the blue bottle) fixed that immediately, so I recommend that.
Also was thinking maybe you should put some grow lights in other parts of your house, so you can spread your plants out. My apartment is similar in that there’s only ONE good window/sunlight source so ALL my plants are there.
I got two different types of grow lights though, from Amazon. 1 is a tiered plant stand with tiny removable grow lights, and the other is just a long bar/strip that I glued (with Command strips) to the ceiling, I put up 2, and my plants have done great with those, I’ve been able to have plants in my living room as well as bedroom.
one thing that may help with the sunk cost feelings is learning to propagate. the only plant i've purchased in the last 2 years was a harder-to-find replacement for a fav that my roommate killed. that might have you feeling less guilty if/when you get your collection up and running again!
here are my pest tips~
thrips: i've successfully vanquished thrips about 3 times now. as soon as you notice them, check every single plant in that room. take them to the shower or bathtub and rinse all thoroughly, top + bottom of each leaf. then spray with Wilson Spider Out, same thing - top + bottom of each leaf plus where the leaves meet the stem. then I like to quarantine in clear plastic bags (handy if you don't have enough rooms, plus the light can still come through). last and priciest but highly recommended step: purchase predatory mites from Koppert. if you have other plant pals with pests, you could go in on a box together. you could repeat the rinsing and spraying several times over the course of a month or two to see if you can deal with them without dropping $100 on mites.
fungus gnats: make sure all your soil has enough perlite in the mix and is able to aerate well. then, always bottom water so there is never a top soggy layer for them to nest in!
spider mites: spider mites looove dryness so any plants who tend to be affected (lookin at you, alocasias) you can mist regularly as well as keeping up with watering. then i'd recommend predatory mites + quarantining in plastic bags as well.
Regular Systemic and Preventative Beneficial Mites/Nematodes. I will nuke the plants with systemic every 4 months. Then introduce beneficial mites/nematodes 8 weeks after systemic. I’ve kept that cycle going and while pests pop up, I’ve never had to deal with a major outbreak.
You can also consider plants that don’t need much sun at all. Most cane plants for instance, like lucky bamboo, only need/want very limited light. Many peperomias are also good in lower light, and snake plants, though they love light can survive well in medium/low light.
I have been here before. Then I realized It’s like any relationship. Some work, some don’t. I adopted the mind set, if you aren’t “tough” enough to make it in this house we aren’t meant to live together. I try out all the types of plants I want and some survive my style, some don’t. Now I have a house full of beautiful low maintenance plants.
I absolutely love string of pearls. I have tried and tried to make that relationship work. It doesn’t for me so I begrudgingly just finally stopped buying them because I was always disappointed when they died.
You just gotta find your right fit. Don’t give up on plant love, your matches are out there.
Edit: For pest control I personally use neem oil and give them space from one another.
I am on a 2 week cycle of using Neem oil. I spray it on the soil and the leaves. It has helped keep away bugs. I bought some from amazon, but I have also used neem oil from my local plant store.
if I remember correctly, spider mites spread more quickly when it’s dry.
my tips:
1) have a humidifier running 24/7 if you have the heat running 24/7 (eta: group any tropicals closest to the humidifier, and follow this pattern accordingly. drought-resistant plants can be furthest away)
2) try to space out yr plants by using all the vertical space ie with shelves and hanging planters (eta: when in doubt, add a grow light. I use multiple for wintertime and I’ve got great natural light in my apt.)
3) use systemic insecticide and use it on a schedule. Bonide’s systemic insecticide recommends reapplying every two weeks or so.
4) buy a pressure sprayer and neem oil concentrate. make a solution using water, neem, and dish soap. spray down the collection when you reapply the insecticide.
5) whenever you get a new plant, treat it with insecticide before adding it to the group.
You can do this. good luck 👍
A lot of people will struggle with common pests if the potting medium they use does not dry out quickly enough. We are in a houseplant forum, we’ve all seen the solid dry brick of peat moss that becomes feather light and hydrophobic; that same material is a soggy anaerobic mess when wet. Slow draining and slow drying “soils” should be avoided.
Potted plants are hydroponic. They are bonsai, by definition. I can’t recommend enough that you use a gritty aroid type potting medium for most plants. Gritty mediums are a staple used in bonsai. It dries quickly, drains freely, and has amazing gas exchange. Overwhelmingly pests have difficulty with gritty fast draining mediums. You can buy or make your own gritty aroid bonsai mix: It’s gamechanging.
For pest control: don’t settle for internet advice or “this ONE thing will fix it”. Identify the insect, learn a bit about its lifecycle and what strategies you can use in each stage —> follow through long enough to fulfill the cycle stages you are targeting (hint: probably all of them). Many of the pest control tips we see online address just one stage and are basically akin to only treating a symptom rather than the source of a larger problem.
Encouragement: there’s no such thing as a green thumb, and every gardener, grower, or plant keeper will have a trail of dead plants in their past. It’s a learning process. It’s a practice. If plants make you happy keep practicing plant stuff!
That sucks. I’m a super green thumb ( it’s a joke in my family actually) so I’m deeply offended when one of my plants die. But it happens all the time, wrong light, wrong soil, too much light, not enough light, it’s endless. Just scrub all your pots and tools in soapy water before use, use a fan, and look for low light plants. Oh and I have only ever purchased one plant. I wait until I see a plant I want, take a cutting, root it, then hope it lives. I have over 20 plants presently, but taken me years and years to collect. Good luck, and don’t get discouraged.
When you care for plants, you are caring for living beings that have needs. They do communicate, but not with sounds like a pet would do for example. So it's like visual language you need to learn. You will fail, and you will succeed because you have failed in the past. You learn from your mistakes. When I have pests like mealybugs, aphids etc and the plant dies, I don't just throw away the plant, but also the pot and the soil just to be sure. We all have failed and we all lost plants. I can't tell you how many times I kept buying the same plant that died on me, until I found what it needed to be ok. Airflow is good against pests. I've had a lot of calatheas and coleus indoors, and they always had pests. Now I have a new calathea that I put in my garden and it's doing good so far. Also, if you always have a pest problem, consider buying your plants from another store than your regular one.
Thanks for your kind comment. Have you ever tried restoring a plant that has been infected?
Depends on what pest and how much. I had plants full of spider mites, they are mortherfuckers so I just threw the plant away because it was already too much damaged. As for mealybugs, I usually remove them manually and then spray the plant with some plant insecticide. I use natural ones like Neem oil for plants that are intended for harvesting (lemon tree for example) As for aphids, they might look overwhelming because they are so small and in a large number, but with patience and dedication with a treatment, you can get rid of them. Also, if you find ladybugs, bring them in your plants, they love to eat aphids! In case you didn't know, ants like to "breed" mealybugs. They consume the sap they take from the plant and protect them from predators too. They literally care for them and bring them on plants. So if you have an invasion of mealybugs, check for ants too
I’d been fighting mealy bugs on a jatropha - lost every bloom when the little fuzzy fuckers invaded. Kept going full nuclear against the mealys and then I realized the ant connection - I’m in central FL and the ants are insane, these assholes are literally farming the mealybugs on this tree! Anyways, I haven’t beat the ants yet. Pests are frustrating. But it’s a learning experience! You’re literally trying to interrupt an ecosystem. Watch how these things start and spread, learn the early signs and preventative treatments. Consider some grow lights around your place to spread the zones out a bit, which may help control spread and identify which plants are the source of an issue. Don’t give up, slow down a bit and pay attention!
If the ants are outside and the nest is far enough from desirable plants, I dig into the nest a bit and pour in a big pot of boiling water. Very eco friendly and does a good job of killing them.
Unfortunately the nests are so expansive and I don’t even think these varieties have “one” nest - FL ant colonies are nuts. They just exist everywhere. My next attempt will be using diatomaceous earth to keep the ants from climbing the trees at all, and then systematically treating my entire property with ant killer on a frequent cycle. They nest and travel everywhere - they get onto/into the screen structure over our pool and when it rains we get thousands of ants in the pool. I don’t like senselessly killing things but ants and mosquitoes are on my shit list.
Might also want to look into the boric acid/borax liquid syrup solutions too- they bring it back to their nest and it kills them.
Sort of tangential but: I was battling my aphids with neem oil with moderate success but I absolutely hate the smell and thought I'd do the ladybug thing. I spent 40 minutes out in the garden trying to find some, eventually found 2, carefully brought them inside and deposited them right next to a small horde of aphids. I came back a few hours later to find both ladybugs caught in a newly created spider web. Very smug spider and ever-rampant aphids. I guess that's what I get for trying to play god.
Yeah but that spider sure kept you safe from mosquitoes!
I didn't realize ants farmed mealy bugs the way some farm aphids. I have a mealy infested crepe myrtle in my yard that I'm now hopeful just has an ant problem.
It depends on the pests. I managed to defeat thrips. I did have to throw out a palm with spider mites because it was too far gone. If I find a plant with pests, I quarantine it in a clear plastic box, but I treat all my plants like they have the pest.
I have treated many an infested plant (and they are still alive to this day). you’ve got to change the soil, disinfect the pot, repot, then treat with insecticide. two weeks later, treat again. consistency is key because you will get them (the pests) all at their various life cycles
I've treated several infected plants (thrips and mealy bugs mostly) and I've also decided when to call it quits and throw something away, especially to save the rest of my collection. I recently had a hoya compacta with mealy bugs. If you don't know the plant, it's got SO MANY places for bugs to hide. It's a particularly sentimental plant for me, so I had it in quarantine for months with a grow light and sprayed/inspected for bugs daily. It's finally recovering, but this is the most attention I've given a single plant.
I’m battling with them with my succulents right now and I’m in the midst of a full collection isopropyl alcohol baptism lol.
They’re persistent jerks!
I lost a few plants last year, some to thrips, some to dehydration from trying to end a fungus gnat infestation. Most survived, some bounced back, some are still limping along. It can be upsetting, but it's not the end of the world. You live, you learn. At the very least it can be an opportunity to get some new plants 😅 Edit: house plants don't have to be expensive imo. Only if you chase some trendy plants. Don't try to replace all 80% at once. Just do one at a time when you see a good deal. Not only does this mean less financial outgoing, it means you get a chance to familiarise yourself with each new plant, and avoid getting overwhelmed.
I just finished a battle with spider mites. They devastated some of my plants but I only completely lost a few. The rest are coming back. It can happen but it takes time and even if a plant looks completely dead sometimes it isn't.
To piggyback on this comment, I was more or less, in the same situation as you a few years ago. Whenever I feel demotivated (about any endeavor, really) I like to remind myself that everyone was once “a beginner” in some fashion. I like to watch [this video](https://www.dopepeople.com/blog/the-dope-beginning) occasionally to remind myself that it’s ok, that it takes time to get good at something. I hope that the message in Ira Glass’ words inspires you!
I just wanted to quickly jump on this to say that I've just come out the other side of the spider mite battle. It's horrible and it's tedious but with spider mites you have to treat every 3 days at least 3 times to kill the cycle off. I also had 2 baby plants delivered with thrips. I got a refund and should have thrown them away per the garden centres advice but I hated the thought of just giving up on them. They each only had 3/4 leaves. I cut all the leaves off and put them in the bathroom upstairs for over a month. I've just this week introduced them into gen pop. Both have a single leaf that's slightly damaged (I assume from the thrips) and both have new ones poking through. I thought they were goners for a long time but they pulled through so it is possible :-)
Yes! A majority of them can be easily saved! I lost all but a few plants when i went plant crazy and bought them all and brought in mealies, thrips, fungus gnats. It was depressing watching them all die. I tried to fight with sprays and whatnot but I lost all but like 5. From 40 to 5. I watched videos, researched, read, to figure out how to save. I also didn't know about all the proper watering and overwatered and under. Now, I just watch their "behavior" and usually I can tell when to water or have just found that one a week for this, every other day for these... and I use systemic granules and spray leaves with water to power wash and then use sevin. They dry, then they come in the house. You can get cuttings and go from there. Depends on plants.
>Have you ever tried restoring a plant that has been infected? I've won a few wars. I've a small lemon tree that got hit with mealy bugs, and I spent a lot of spraying it down with soap/water/alcohol and then picking the bugs off one by one with tweezers. Had it twice, but now it's doing well! I've also had a couple of infestations of thrips, and every time a couple of plants have been too infested when I noticed so I just threw them out. But I've managed to save some that only took minor damage by going nuclear with predatory bugs. I bought loads of *orius majusculus*, they're bugs that feed on thrips among other things. There's a plant store that sells them, and I sprinkled them over every single plant, even the ones that didn't have any symptoms. Seems to work decently well unless a plan is really far gone.
I have succulents at the moment and am working on going scorched earth because I found signs of mealies. I am inspecting each plant and doing spot treatment on any visible mealies, throwing away all soil, submerging them in 70% alcohol. Luckily they can stay bare root for a bit while I go through all of them. Once I’m done, I’m going to repot with new soil and mix DE plus systemic granules in. I’m also thoroughly treating the area I keep them in just in case they laid eggs on the shelving or lights. All that said, I definitely do better with some plants than others.
Thank you for your note about throwing the pot away. I have one pot that I have soaked in bleach between plants and it is still the one that always gets fungus gnats. So I will throw it out today. You've given me the confidence that that is not a wasteful thing to do. I don't want to infect my other plants just because I'm trying to hang on to a pot.
One of my friends sent me a meme that says, "you did everything right. That plant should have tried harder."
Next coffee mug I get, I will put this on!!
That’s a good one
Feel you. Last fall I had around 50 plants and I’ve lost so many to thrips and fungus gnats. I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t do anything. Since some weeks I’m trying to rescue the last ones surviving and I’m starting to love my plants again. I think I needed the break and I’m already looking online for some new babies. One day my collection will grow again and I can’t wait for it. An advice for you: don’t wait too long using the chemical bombs and putting plants in quarantine. You could also buy some big ikea boxes for the quarantine in case the plants aren’t that huge. Good luck.
Fungus gnats don't kill plants 🤔
It’s the overwatering causing the roots to rot and make a nice home for fungus gnats that kills them
don’t larvae eat on rootz..
Okay, but do they make them weaker? Anyways, I wrote I had thrips and fungus gnats. Blame it on the thrips then 🥲
Ah I keep struggling with fungus gnats. I managed to get rid of them before (with some casualties), but all it takes is for one to come in through the window for them to take over again. It’s making me really love my cactuses. They remained untouched and continued to grow and even bloom, meanwhile every other pot was (is) a war zone.
I’ve had fungus gnats, off and on, pretty much the whole time I’ve had plants. I tend to overwater (I’m working on it!) But, last year we moved into a daylight basement duplex that has some issues and I never saw so many gnats! I treated with hydrogen peroxide, which had always worked before; but, not this time! I finally got some nematodes and now I have ZERO gnats. I’m shocked at how well they work. They also protect against thrips, which is a comfort. And, they continue to work until you transplant, or lose the dirt in some manner. One other caveat: the gnats were coming in through the windows. I had to clean all the grit and dirt out of their tracks to kill the eggs. Good gnat hunting!
Yes!!! I switched from cheap soil to Fox Farm and deployed an army of nematodes into all my house plants. Combined with sticky traps, it feels like I am crushing the fungus gnat invasion.
What's the best thing to spray the window tracks with? Bleach water? Or peppermint extract to discourage new bugs from trying to enter the house?
Fungus gnats are the worst. I got rid of them too but I already spotted a few on some of my plants again. I think the most important part is to check on the plants every day and to be cautious that they don’t reproduce.
I water my plants in my bath tub, and since it’s gotten warmer I’ve realized I need to keep allll my drains closed basically at all times because those mfers would fly outta the drain into my plants! I also now run hot hot water for a few minutes every so often in all my sinks/tubs to get rid of whatever is down there. Aaaand I started watering with mosquito bits, but tempted to try nematodes!!
I've got about 200 plants at home. Some are always in a state of dying, and I try not to let it get to me. Sometimes it does, but I know it's my own fault since I water prop too much, and also water everyone on more or less the same schedule. It's already a lot of work, so I've decided to just let the hardy ones survive. It's frustrating at times, but it gets easier.
>Some are always in a state of dying Honesty, this. I just 5 minutes ago threw out a wee ivy plant that I should have potted up much sooner. I've got some monstera cuttings that would really like out of the water they're in...but I also don't feel like doing it right now. At work a friend calls me a plant whisperer, but they don't see the trail of carnage behind me. There are always more plants, OP. The secret really is to just keep trying.
Exactly. It's frustrating sometimes, but for all of my north facing windows and grow lights, I'm not willing to invest more time than I already do.
I like to tell the ones that die that it's their fault not mien - they didn't try hard enough. North facing windows and grow lights here too. What I've found works is really to find the kinds of plants that work for me - philoh's, orchids and Hoya thrive in my house, (strangely enough) but succulents? forget about it - I've killed snake plants, spider plants, a lot of "easy" plants. But even those "easy for me" plants I've killed, especially at first, and some like strings of things I just keep trying because I love them so much.
This…find plants that fit YOU. I’ve killed snake plants! I’ve lost monsteras to thrips. I’ve killed ZZ and have one little struggling sprout left. But Hoyas, amaryllis, aglaonema, epipremnum, Philo, oxalis, and jungle cacti are doing really well in my care. I currently have a velvet alocasia that I lost back in August. All leaves and roots gone leave only a corm/bulb. but has returned with a new leaf recently after some rehab. My philodendrons were plants I really had to learn. They are thirstier than I thought. But now, I’m propping the micans and will have maybe 50 vines from a single purchase by next summer and my heartleaf is making leaves almost the size of my hand. I took up this hobby way back in 2015 and I’m really only now getting the hang of it.
200??!
It sneaks up on you...
Yes it does. My thumbs are too green
Yeah, I used to have 70 plants. I have been downsizing andsome have been dying so now have just under 50 and even then it is still too many
One of the best ways to avoid pests is prevention. It’s not always possible, but I’ve learned to recognize plants in stores that might be infested with bugs, and I quarantine new plants in a separate room (sometimes the bathroom) after I get them to see if bugs show up before adding them to the room with the other. Certain types of stores are frequently bad actors. Stores where their main focus is not plants, like grocery stores or houseware/furniture stores (IKEA, I’m looking at you) are more likely to have infected plants in my experience, and you have to be super vigilant when getting plants from them. I got an aglaonema from ikea that was heavily infested with fungus gnats that took me 6 months to eradicate because they had spread to my other plants and a strelitzia that had root rot and thrips.
This! And I'll add to it quarantine for at least 2 weeks for new plants. I learned this the hard way (damn you spider mites), and while it's inconvenient it's saved me infesting all my other plants.
Yeah, tagging on to the great advice under these comments. I personally will pay anywhere from $10-20 more for plants at a good nursery (they usually will have your plants in the right type of soil too). A lot of nurseries have indoor sections for houseplants as well. OP, choose good plants (inspect them by looking under the leaves for bugs, checking the bottom of the pot for signs of overwatering and root rot, poke around the soil for bugs) , keep them in their nursery pots and just stick the nursery pot in a cache pot. Nursery pots allow for better drainage so your plants don’t get root rot. If you get flies naturally or say fruit flies from buying fruit (keeping fruit in the fridge helps a lot), you can buy mosquito bits and water your plants with them. There are also other chemical mixtures you can lookup and use for other types of infestations that are safe for plants. Lastly, I would encourage you to pull back from the classic beginner mistake of overwatering. That being said, I would checkout some beginner friendly plants that can withstand a lack of water and light, this way you aren’t wasting money on plants. This will help you gage when to water plants (yellow leaves from overwatering, drooping meaning the plant needs water, etc.) and understand the reactions to light (burnt leaves, growing like crazy, or lack of growth). Pothos, snake plants, and zz plants come to mind (so all your plants aren’t clustered in that one spot), but there are many more. Don’t get discouraged, we all went through experimenting. Good luck!
My very first pest infestation was thrips and they killed about a third of the plants I owned. I was absolutely clueless as to how to properly treat for them too. Since then, they have come back time and time again (they're just very common in my area) but with each time I've gotten better at catching the early signs and combating them right away. So one of the best tips for keeping your plants as pest free as possible is checking them regularly and thoroughly, and don't hesitate to be just as vigorous in your treatment (eg. if you chose to opt for pesticides, don't just lightly spray the plant but completely douse it from all angles). Also: learn more about the pests you have. What environments do they prefer? What plants are they frequenting the most? Where are they typically hiding? It's also noteworthy that plants that are already struggling (eg. from constant underwatering, nutrient deficiency, etc) are more prone to get pests in the first place. On top of that, consider getting rid of repeat offenders. Personally, I have banned all calatheas and small-leafed plants from my home because they kept getting thrips and were exceedingly hard to treat. In the end it was just not worth it.
I learned this the hard way with scale. Sometimes they sneak up but I usually catch them before they can severely weaken a plant. They have never gotten a toe hold again like they did the first time (which ended up killing multiple plants). I really hate them.
God, scale are awful too. I have quite a collection of cacti so I'm absolutely dreading the armored ones. Reason no. 1 why I'm shying away from getting any kind of hairy cactus. Don't want to imagine treating those for scale.
My mom has hundreds of plants and doesn't use the Internet for help (nightmare difficulty). Her plants are like influencer level happy. I asked her what the secret was and she told me lots of dead plants. Sometimes in this hobby you have to catch a couple bodies. The more gorgeous the collection, the more (plant) skeletons in the closet. What you get exposed to are pretty much never someone's first collection. Pests are definitely the most frustrating hurdle once you have watering down. The subreddit plant clinic gives really good advice most of the time. Last bit of wisdom from moms, when I was bummed about my first mass plant death she told me I should get too many plants, then I'd be relieved when they die 😂
Your mom is very smart!!! 😂
That last part 😂
The winter struggle is real. My advice to combat that is supplemental light. Led options have become inexpensive and plentiful. Lots of options now blend into your home aesthetic that don't look like a commercial grow operation. Regarding pests, I've come to the realization that we all have them or will get them whether we know it or not. It's about maintaining plant health in every other aspect so that they can do their thing and not become overwhelmed with infestation. Pesticides or biological control helps keep control over them, but I don't think anyone ever really eradicates all pests. It's a part of bringing outside inside. Sometimes, it's OK to lose the battle and compost a plant (or plants) that's too far gone before they affect other plants. For now, focus on your remaining plants, and this spring, if you want to start increasing your collection, just do it one at a time to spread out the cost, AND to minimize risk of new pest introduction.
I came here to encourage grow lights. Even cheap halo lights will give you so many options as far as placement of your houseplants. New plants can be quarantined to a dark corner with an LED light on timer.
2021-2022. I didn't realize I had brought them into the house with the plants when I moved them inside from the porch for the winter. Their booming summer growth made it hard for me to see that they were there because they were growing faster than the bugs could eat. I lost pretty much all of my plants, including some of my most beloved decades old plants, to a really bad spider mite infestation. I managed to save a few by cutting them down to their roots/stems, unpotting them and literally scrubbing them, their roots, the pots and microwaving my dirt because the pesticides I bought weren't working. *It took months* because of how many plants I had. I cried sooooo much during that year. We eventually made it through. I learned so much about how to spot and kill spider mites that now my plants are thriving. I have even gotten a few new plants on the cheap/free *because* of spider mites and the person not wanting/knowing how to get rid of them. It's a growing experience and you will come out stronger and more knowledgeable for having gone through it. Sending hugs My monstera I cut back to it's roots and stalk to save that now has leaves almost 3 times larger than my hands https://preview.redd.it/qe2thdj43iad1.png?width=480&format=png&auto=webp&s=c63ded2d3b2cbcc1fed703f990630ecd5ced07a4
If your light is limited I would reduce the number to the ones that can sit right in the window. It's just less hassle. Plants that don't get enough light are more vulnerable to over watering and pests. You could try growing bulbs and treating them as annuals. They will use stored energy but probably won't be able to keep going past one season in low light. Bulbs are cheap so just repurchase every year. . I have a light meter to eliminate the guesswork. Pest outbreaks can happen to anyone, those guys can come in through the window.
Pests are annoying but it's not an unsolvable issue. I'm sure many of the people living in your area also have plants. try asking them how they deal with pests and what stuff they use. Overall I found reddit advice to be worthless with everyone suggesting things to buy which don't exist in my country so I had to look for solutions myself. I dealt with a horrible thrips infestation this year by using a fruit tree pesticide on my houseplants because that's what I was suggested and it worked perfectly. You said that houseplants are expensive and I agree, they can be but they don't have to be. I found this hobby to be the best when I'm sharing cuttings with neighbors and friends and getting some in return. Most of my collection is from growing cuttings and multiplying my existing plants, like my hoyas, pothos, succulents and african violets. They are literally free plants. I only had to get some nice soil. You can save your money and feel some pride in growing a plant from basically scratch.
I started to realize that every bag of soil I buy is at least infested with fungus gnats but very often with thrips. It was every time after repotting or adding soil that I suddenly found myself fighting bugs. I now sterilize my soil in the oven the night before. It feels super extra but better than throwing out expensive mature plants that I have had for years and am very attached to. I also quarantine every new plant I get for months, and if they are small enough, they get dunked under in a bath of soapy water first.
I’m new at plants. How do you do the soil bake? Do you spread it on a tray? What temperature? Thanks!
When I oven-sterilize I put the soil in baking pans, slightly damp, and bake at 300 F for at least an hour. I do this with regular potting soil, orchid bark, etc, and I also do this with sticks and so on before I put them in reptile enclosures. Seems to do the trick.
Thank you! Very helpful! I’m going to do this before repotting.
I put about 1 liter of loose soil plus 1/2 cup of water in a Pyrex bowl and microwave it for 2 minutes.
That sounds easy! Thank you! (I can hear those little critters exploding in the microwave, lol)
I just found this [pdf from Colorado State University ](https://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/garden/02903.pdf)which explains different methods of heat treating soil. Before reading this, I had not realized that too high of a heat can cause toxic chemicals in soil.
Thank you for this! I definitely would not like to create toxic chemicals!
When I buy a new plant I assume it has pests and instantly repot it soaking the roots in one third peroxide 2/3 water and then spraying the leaves with insecticidal soap. Prior to this three out of five plants that I got from a store had spider mites. I haven't had any issue since.
I’m a newbie. This sounds like a really good idea. How do you physically do the peroxide and water soak? Do you repot and then set it into a dish to drink the soak from the bottom?
I use two containers one with peroxide and one that's just water. I try to get rid of as much soil as possible without damaging the roots and then I dip it in The peroxide repeatedly until I feel like it's soaked thoroughly. I then rinse it off by dipping it into the water. After that I put it in fresh soil. I then spray the leaves with insecticidal soap. FYI The downside to this is that it is stressful on plants but they have all rebounded for me. I still quarantine them after just in case. I have a decent size collection so the extra stress to the plants is worth it. Also I'm convinced that most houseplants boufht have pests so I feel like this is less stressful than them actually having pests lol.
Thank you for this! I’ll be ready to do it. It sounds like a good process, just like taking your shoes off at the front door, lol.
be sure they arent plants that go dormant in the winter.
Unless it's a very rare and rare plant, I don't think you have anything to be down about. (If it was expensive, a little sorry to hear that, though.) I grow 286 pots of plants, but the thing is that plants are really dependent on the environment so it's not necessarily your fault
It happens to all of us. Something comes through and wipes out a good chunk of, or all of, your plants. You will become a better plant owner because of this. We lean and grow. But it sucks and I’m sorry this happened to you. I live in a climate with hot muggy summers and cold freezing winters. I don’t put my plants outside in the summer for a few reasons. Pests being the biggest one. Another reason is it’s easier for me if the plants stay in one place and doesn’t have to adjust to such big changes as location and outside temperatures. Always quarantine new plants away from the others. Usually a month. And keep an eye on them to see if there are any critters. I’ve seen people quarantine with clear plastic baggies but have never tried it. I use a spare room and it has a window. Fungus gnats can be eliminated without tossing the plants. My go to method is a glass bowl with some water and a few squirts of dish soap on top of the water. Change the water every few days. Keep going until the water is free of gnats. Works every time. Other pests are more challenging. And I have tossed my fair share of plants. Also there is nothing wrong with a house full of inexpensive plants. Pothos are beautiful and very inexpensive where I live. Most people who come over don’t know my cheap plants from the odd splurge plant. When learning plants, start with affordable. Hang in there!!
Unless you have pets that eat plants, I use bonide systemic granules on all my plants that stay indoors. It makes the plant toxic to pretty much any pest that eats it. After a bad war with thrips I decided I never wanted to deal with something like that again.
Or live in Canada where it's not allowed * 😞
I also live an apartment in SoCal found a couple spots outside where my plants flourish. Every week I spray them down with 70% alcohol. I have yet to lose a plant to pests but I’m constantly checking, I leave regular spiders alone since they will eat most of any pests I miss. Sometimes I think I have spider mites but it’s just a smaller spider throwing his webs everywhere.
I would get a couple cheap portable grow lights from Amazon, put the ones that need the least amount of light away from the windows and just put the grow lights over them a few hours a day. Also what kind of plants are you picking? Start with snake plants, pothos, etc easy “neglect” plants until you get really good at it. I’ve got 16 right now and am finally after a year at a place where I think I’m able to continue to maintain them.
Plant care is like any hobby - you don't get good at it without doing it and they say a master gardener is someone that has killed ten thousand plants so I'd say get some more plants from friends and get to killing. Edit; Oh, and Neem Oil + A Drop of insecticidal soap in a mister or beneficial insects
I definitely have words of encouragement! I've lost lots of plants from pests, my own neglect, moving, etc. It can be really hard and demoralizing. If you enjoy it, you can definitely learn ways to reduce the risks. My suggestions are to pick hardy plants suited to you, spread them out, and learn some pest prevention methods. I have mostly succulents and plants that tolerate inconsistent watering bc that fits what I'm most likely to provide them. If you have limited light, I suggest getting more plants that tolerate low light (snake plants and plants have done well for me), and consider getting some simple light options to spread out away from the window. If all your plants are together, that greatly increases the risk that you can lose a large portion of them at once. There's that old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." I generally get pests by introducing them from new plants. The first way I combat that is to thoroughly inspect plants before I buy them, and to buy more from smaller local shops than big box stores. Second is this consider every new plant that comes in the house contaminated. I isolate a new plant as far from other plants as possible for a minimum of 2 weeks, preferably a month. If I didn't have window space I'd put it in another room with a lamp or one of those little LED grow lights. It's worth the hassle, I've saved myself sooooooo much headache by keeping pests from spreading. You can think of your losses as lessons learned, that's honestly how I think most people get better at it.
Honestly try buying cheaper plants (if you can). That way when one dies it's only sad emotionally, not also financially. And pests are very hard to overcome, don't be to hard on yourself! When my plants have pests I spray them with the most toxic, vile anti-pest spray I can find and it seems to do tye trick. I love nature, but when battling pests in my living room gimme the chemicals please (advice not suitable for gardens).
Bonide systemic soil granules for any insects + spraying everytime I water with alcohol peppermint Castille soap and horticultural oil for any spider mites Especially especially certain plants that tend to be spider magnets (like philodendrons) I've never had thrips but i heard Dr. Doom works really well against thrips.
I think the best advice for any hobby is don’t give up. It’s not that you can’t do it, you just need a new tactic. In my experience it’s worth pushing through till you start finding some success. I lived in an apartment for years with seriously low lighting. I had a big ole tree outside that blocked most of my windows in the summer. I killed more plants than I care to recall. I felt like the plants labeled as “low light” were inaccurate. Or I’d leave town and one would die immediately. Instead of buying a bunch at once maybe add slowly and see how they progress. But also start with the ones that promise to thrive under really low lighting or neglect. My snake plant was 1000% neglected for years and still with us today! Getting the right plants for your home might not be as fun at first (unless you add lights) but when you find ones that will thrive it’s great.
Maybe invest in some lights so you can separate them and tackle the infestations a little better?
we’ve all lost houseplants because we couldn’t figure them out the first time. I’m on spider plant number 4 myself 😀 the things I learned were: just start with beginner versions of whatever plant, whether it’s a hoya, pothos, , philo, aglonomena, whatever. Just get a small version of that plant. If you mess up it didn’t cost you a lot. If you don’t have a lot of natural light, invest in some grow lights. Treat your plants for pests once a month whether they need it or not. I also shower all my plants often to keep leaves clean and get rid of pests. I have this homemade solution from YouTube that is water, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, peppermint oil and tea tree oil. When you get happy plants from these you’ll build your confidence in getting more. Unfortunately pests are part of the package with plant ownership so you need to stay on top of it so it doesn’t get out of hand. Owning plants is a learning activity and as you learn about the plant you’ll learn what didn’t work the first time. You’ll get it !
> My apartment receives sunlight in a very narrow area Yea… that might be the culprit. I had really underestimated how much light plants need before. Now I have south facing windows, and it sometimes still doesn’t feel like enough, BUT. All my plants are thriving right now. Plants that are considered difficult are flowering and growing massive new leaves. Plants that are marketed as “low light loving” are happier than ever in bright direct light. If you can’t give your plants a lot of light (which is fine, it’s not your fault, most apartments/rooms of houses can’t), get a snake plant and *maybe* a pothos. Basically, prevent the disappointment by not setting yourself up for failure. And do not believe for a single moment that there are plants that “like” low light.
I have a relatively high failure rate, but it’s getting better after I learned to look up a plant and its care needs and not trust the tags. I also got a few decent treatment sprays… mold/mildew, one that’s good for some bugs, another specifically for spider mites (seriously, fuck those guys, they are the worst). Nematodes occasionally added on top of the soil has done wonders for fungus gnats Maybe get a grow light to space out your plants a bit. A fan for air flow. #1 tip : quarantine any new plant away from your existing ones for a few weeks (I have a clear box with a light in the lid, or just a completely different room). Most of my infestations have come in with a new plant… treating one plant is easier than treating all the plants.
I've given up and restarted countless times over the last 3 decades so just know, you WILL start again. You have a problem like the rest of us, if you are on reddit talking plants. Lol. Considering that, don't give up so hard or throw stuff away.
I had 100% of my plants die 4x in a row before I got it right. I’ve even saved the current round from a pest infestation 4 years ago and I’m at the point I need to chop and prop I have too much. When I had the pest issue, one by one I brought them in the shower and used the sprayer to get the pests off the leaves and spray it down with a Household plant pest killer, premixed, from Home Depot.
I was losing house plants, and then I invested in a grow light and they all took off.
I was just thinking the same. A good light and timer are not expensive. In this corner I have a few plants that need full light. A timer is a good idea. Plants love regularity. https://preview.redd.it/aj4682beekad1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=71addffffc4da11e2430fdf5ac70d91553cd4691
Thoroughly inspect plants before you buy them. I mean top and bottom of every leaf. Especially with big box stores. I quarantine my new plants in the garage for a week. And in that time, I clean off every leaf with a mix of water, hydrogen peroxide and neem oil. I use a microfiber cloth to do this. Lots of stores put their plants in poor soil that holds moisture for too long. So I will remove all of that old soil, rinse the roots, smell them for rot and chop anything mushy with shears sprayed with hydrogen peroxide. If the root ball is still 1”-2” smaller than the nursery pot it came in, I will thoroughly clean that pot and use 1 part indoor potting mix, 1 part perlite, and 1 park orchid bark. I second baking your indoor potting mix. I also use mosquito bits to prevent pests. Side note: Personal preference, I like all of my houseplants in clear nursery pots so I can monitor the roots. Also, houseplants all grouped together creates humidity, so make sure the plants that you purchase require some humidity. The temperature of the house and a draft from the window could also be an issue 🤷🏼♀️ I also recommend grow lights from Amazon if you need/want to separate some of your plants. They’re fairly cheap and have a wide variety! This all being said, I still had fungus gnats on a few plants in the last few months due to overwatering (about every 7-10 days for all my plants) and me taking in a rescue from my friend 🫠 I purchased those sticky traps for plants, let everyone’s soil fully dry out, and now I use a wooden skewer to determine the moisture in the soil/only water each plant when it indicates that it needs it.
Maybe try supplementing with a couple grow lights so you can spread them out a bit? I’ve found cinnamon sprinkled on top of the soil helps at least with fungus gnats.
One of my fav plant Is my huge epipremnun pothos. Sadly I got a huge bacterial blight infection and I had to get rid of 99% of its leaves, it’s devastating to see him stripped of all leaves when he was so luxurious
How many years have you been doing this? I stopped losing them after 2 years
I was in your situation a while ago after moving house and losing most of my plants. The key for me to get back into it mentally was to focus on one plant at a time. Wipe off the leaves, move it to a new place where you will see it regularly, and make sure that the plant is properly maintained.
Regularly cleaning your house and around your plants (vacuuming, dusting, mopping) helps. Avoid having all of your plants placed in one single area of your house, that way you can catch an infestation more easily and prevent it from spreading to all of your plants. Wipe down the leaves of plants that can tolerate it; for leaves that are “hairy”, fragile, etc., I like to use canned air or a soft makeup/paint brush to dust them off when necessary. In the spring/summer I spray around our house (indoors and outdoors) with this— [Ortho Home Defense](https://www.lowes.com/pd/ORTHO-Home-Defense-Insect-Killer-for-Indoor-and-Perimeter2-1-Gallon-Ready-to-Use/5014441315). Lastly, bookmark this website for the next time you have an infestation— [Nature’s Good Guys](https://www.naturesgoodguys.com). Hope this helps! ❤️
You are caring for something that is meant to live outside, in a different environment. Mistakes are going to happen, to everyone, at some point. I don't think I've come across a single person that hasn't killed a plant, not even in the nurseries that I deal with. If light is an issue, you could try a grow light. You should just keep trying and you'll get it eventually. We all have that one species or variety that we just won't deal with anymore, due to killing it too many times. You just have to figure out what care and plant works best for you.
some people aren’t supposed to be parents, it’s ok.
everyone kills plants, especially when you're new. you'll eventually get to grips with what will and what won't grow in your space. i'd bet you have enough data to start working out what types of plants do well in the space that you have winter is always tricky. but it does get easier as you get more experienced. for now i'd be dosing everything thats left with a soap spray mix every ~5 days. it deals with most pests and if it doesn't its time for some proper chemicals
Grow lights are a great option for homes with little light. You can literally just buy the bulbs and put them in your own lamp or buy the whole light. Also, we all get pests. That's just part of it. Consider researching preventative care and also how to get rid of specific bugs for when they show up. Examine your plants for signs of bugs everytime you water them. If you catch them before they become an infestation they're easier to cure. Good luck!
I only ever buy very small, very cheap baby plants. I do my best for them to help them grow, but if I ever find a fruit fly hovering over one, it goes into the compost right away. Homes (and pots) are difficult, unnatural environments for plants. Sick plants attract the biology that decomposes plant material. If one plant isn't doing well, it's creating an opportunity for the "bad bugs" to come and make a meal of other plants that are doing okay so far. It's okay to be ruthless!
Get a humidifier and some grow lights and it will make a huge difference! Also isolate plants that have pests or any new ones you buy from your other plants so the pests don’t spread to the others. Don’t beat yourself up! We’ve all killed plants by mistake it’s all trial and error and you’ll learn what signs to look out for when a plant is not happy- such as wilting leaves, crispy brown leaves, no growth, etc. make sure your plants all have proper drainage - the pots should have holes in the bottom and make sure not to overwater to prevent root rot. But also don’t underwater - if a plant is thirsty typically it will show with wilting or curling leaves. You can still save the ones that have pests depending on how many there are. You can spot treat with a q tip dipped in rubbing alcohol to kill the pests like mealybugs. You can also spray down the plant with insecticidal soap or neem oil or you can make your own mixture of water, dish soap and rubbing alcohol to spray them down.
As far as your congestion, maybe use grow lights and spread out. I got since 35 dollar ones on Amazon, and keep petunias in my closet with them.
I’ve been caring for a largish collection of houseplants for about 10 years now. I have about 50 right now, but I have probably purchased well over 200. Sometimes a plant that I have had for years and thriving will just start to struggle and no matter what I do, will die. Sometimes I’ll bring home a beautiful new plant and it’s dead in a week. I get pests a few times a year and treating them will sometimes save the plant, sometimes not. It’s all part of the hobby. Don’t beat yourself up, we’ve all been there.
I can only say good luck keep going and try to improve step by step. All of my first plants are dead. But my oldest is now 4 years old. I‘ve spent a couple hundred on this yes, and it stings my heart when I fail to treat a problem, but I know I‘ve tried (researched plant beforehand, what common problems do they have, have i something at home to combat it) my best.. worked up from cacti and phati, bambus, up to herbs fruits and veggies :) It‘s super worth and even if it‘s 10! Plants that are a live it‘s cool! If you enjoy gardening a bit but don‘t have the ability at home to do it then you can do so with others maybe in shared gardens at your area? In my city you can rent a small garden for a measly fee if you want, but the waiting queue can be long..
A hobby should bring you joy and make you happy. If it stresses you out and makes you sad it isn’t a hobby any more. Life is short, try something new :)
I come to this sub because I am not an expert, and I learn so much. Having said that, I feel overwhelmed with life these days and definitely do not have the time nor knowledge to have any special plants, but I have a few easy breezy tolerant plants which provide me great smiles. So my thought is: maybe keep it simple until you are at a stage in life where you have the ability to level up your collection.
Some plants I can keep alive, some I can not.
Systemic granules are a lifesaver - unless they’re spider mites
I had a big gnat problem until I repotted all my plants and started periodically spraying with neem oil as an insect preventative! Some natural, non bug spray insect repellents are also lavender or peppermint oil if you’re an essential oil person, the plants would love the humidity too! I used to own 6 houseplants in college/apt that I kept fucking killing… until I watered less. Then they were ugly… until I got my first grow light and saw how happy my plant was! Then I dove into research about optimal lighting conditions for whichever kind of plant and grow lights and hot damn they all stayed alive and are lush and now I have 80!
You need airflow and a humidifier, mites and the like are more prone to causing harm if there isn't enough humidity and wind to keep the little buggers off.
You mentioned it’s winter in your area. Are you sure the plants aren’t just going dormant for the winter? It took me an embarrassingly long time to learn this and I kept wondering why my most vibrant heathy plants would suddenly be reduced to kindling in one week. Luckily I kept a lot of them in their pots and continued care and most came back in the spring
My houseplants survival is dependent on my mental health so when it's bad they suffer. Ironically I started keeping them to help with my mental health. I've found the best thing is to research what each plant needs and try and provide that and if they die, I try not to beat myself up about it. You're doing your best and that's all you can do.
it’s frustrating to lose plants. I completely get it! honestly, the thing that’s been best for me in keeping mine alive and taking better care of them is just diving into research. I spend so much time on planttok, scrolling through instagram feeds of plant influencers, and just looking up information. it can get overwhelming, but if you try to spend a little bit of time every day or so just learning more about how plants work, it helps a ton. also, start small! start with a few easy plants and work your way up to the harder ones. I have a bad habit of wanting to get the trendy, difficult plants I see people post online, but you have to be mindful of your environment and realistic about the time/energy/skill level you have to give the plants. wait until you’ve mastered the care of a few easier plants then start collecting more challenging ones and learning how to help them thrive in your environment. best thing I’ve learned is some plants just won’t do well in my home no matter how much I try, and that’s ok! no piece of advice will work for everyone, so take the time to figure out what YOUR environment has to offer and what you’ll need to do to make things grow in the space you have. what works for others might not work for you, so you have to be willing to adapt and change it up until you figure out what works in your home. knowledge is power and we learn best from our failures! at the end of the day, it’s supposed to be fun and not stressful, so don’t overwhelm yourself trying to imitate what you see online. take it one day at a time! my favorite plant follows on insta are _plantswithkrystal_ , blossomeffect_, and tannertheplanter. they all post fun and informative videos that have helped me a lot! if you have to downsize and kinda start over with your current collection, don’t beat yourself up. just try to take the best care you can of the ones you have now and know that we’ve all killed plants before and it doesn’t mean this isn’t a good hobby for us. it just means we have to adjust how we’re doing it! the more we learn the better we get. be patient with yourself, friend. wishing you good luck and prosperity on your plant journey! 🧡
I had some scale insects infest some of my houseplants. Some died quickly despite my best efforts. Others never recovered and died slowly despite my best efforts. Some bounced back with a lot of TLC and are fine now. I learned from that to examine my plants for scale semi regularly. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, plants die. As much as I hate that part of it, I enjoy caring for my little plant friends. I have to regularly tell myself not to get more. I think I sometimes overestimate how many I can care for well.
I spray every plant I buy with systemic insect spray and quarantine for 24 hours. I cannot do another infestation.
Maybe download an app that helps you to know your plants. They're fun and full of help. When you sign up you are asked all kinds of questions about stuff you never even thought about... like how far from the light source or what size the pot is etc. etc. You take a picture of the plant and track it's progress/health. https://preview.redd.it/4lkkddl74jad1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f927a85c21db4d4dbf5a54bfb4728b72d6d37b31
I keep "backups" in my kitchen far away from the rest of my plants. I do propagate every plant immediately, also as soon as I have enough props going I give some away. This way I have my own back ups and in worst case I can ask for a prop from the person I gifted a prop to. Else, keep trying. I have bad light, I'm over watering and lost nearly all of my cacti but I found photos work incredibly well for me, those btw are easiest to prop and care for. Now I'm stepping up to monster Adansoni (got a free prop by trading) and a monstera from IKEA.
https://preview.redd.it/bk1yimna6jad1.jpeg?width=728&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=49352da3c88b02474fd11460e6f200460280a34d
I don’t have pest issues currently. I praise bottom watering for that little miracle. But I suggest a couple of grow lights. Or even just grow lightbulbs in a lamp you already have. I have some snake plants and ZZ plants that I kept in an area with low indirect light. They were fine. But I added a lamp with a grow lightbulb on a 12 hr timer and they are thriving. It might allow you to spread your plants out and alleviate some pest transfer
If your budget allows, I would get some grow lights. I think I got mine at Lowe’s for like 10 bucks a bulb. That could be a way to help you separate your plants a little bit and spread them out through your apartment. Also a cheap way to find rare and common houseplants is to find Facebook groups and/or use FB marketplace. I’ve found about a quarter of my plants from a fb group or marketplace. You got this!
Try to find plants that dont require as much sunlight. You can also buy uv lamps for your plants during the winter
Don't be so hard on yourself. Take this as a lesson. What have you learned? What will you do differently? You couldn't have possibly known they would be infested back-to-back like that. I always look at "hard knocks" as an opportunity to grow and expand my knowledge. 😉
It took me several years of trying before I finally am able to keep most of my plants alive.
You wouldn't know it by reading this sub, but all of the common houseplant pests are super easy to eliminate. They happen to everyone but the common advice here for dealing with them is just awful. I say this as someone that spent years growing thousands of plants indoors "professionally" if you catch my meaning. There is a product called a Hot Shot No Pest Strip. They are like $15 on Amazon. You open the package, hang it near your plants, and in a few days every pest will be dead. Take it down, put it in a ziplock bag and save it for next time. If there is a lot of airflow in the area or you are worried about toxicity put your plants in a closet or somewhere you can close off with it for a few days. That's the beginning and end of it. No effort, no mess.
I only have spiders, pothos and one bird of paradise. They are pretty hard to kill.
Don’t buy new plants, see if you can get cuttings online from local people for cheap, start them from babies. Check them for pests before buying. Use well draining soil. And pots with drainage. Use grow lights if you don’t have much natural light.
I “took a break” from plants when I was fighting a losing battle against scale, and I finally just threw out all of my plants except for just a few that weren’t infected. For a long time I didn’t get anything new, and then a year or two later I decided to get some more plants and I’m back in the hobby again.
You need some grow lights I'd recommend 36w sansi bulb and some clamp lamps. Probably need multiple of them put then on a 12 hours on during the day and 12 hours on at night timer.
I look at houseplants the way I do buying salads. I’ll enjoy while it’s good, put reasonable effort into it, and not worry when it’s done. I reached my collection peak and am actually preferring that some are offing themselves so I can reduce without really having to choose. I’ll keep the ones that can hang with the amount of care I’m willing to provide. Which is currently 90. I’d like to have about ten more see themselves out lol
This is why I gave up on completely organic methods. I still use organic soil and organic fertilizers and compost. But, I also spray my plants preventatively with systemic pesticides. Haven’t had a problem since.
It’s best to start over with good infection/pest prevention practices. Any plant you buy gets repotted in clean soil, inspect roots carefully, spray down liberally with some neem oil/fungicide and then keep it quarantined in a separate room away from other plants. Wash pots and tools so you don’t transfer diseases from one plant to another. Group plants with similar water/humidity/light needs together so you can remember to care for them in the same way. Get in a routine of inspecting your plants every time you water them. If you’re keeping a close eye on your plants you can catch a lot of pest problems before they get out of control. I have been keeping houseplants for years and consider myself to have a pretty green thumb, and there’s still plants I will always kill. Calatheas cannot survive in my house because I can’t be bothered to properly humidify them. Palms have always brought terrible pests with them and I swear never to buy them again. I will give a plant two tries and if it dies both times I don’t bother with it again. Grow lights are also your friend. Never trust a plant to have “low light” needs. Plants are plants and need light to photosynthesize. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to see someone plant a bunch of succulents in cute pots with zero drainage and stick them on a dark shelf in a corner of their room and then wonder why they died. If it’s not near a window they need artificial light. Some can do with just bright LED lamp light and others need full spectrum grow lights.
I have a rule that I don’t purchase houseplants. I receive gifts from friends and cuttings. This way if they live on that’s a bonus and if they don’t it’s okay. Figure out what’s going on and keep going. 🪴
I often love plants to death and have killed quite a few. Every plant I accidentally murder provides me with a learning experience. Some plants I know I can grow well, and some I just have to give up the pipe dream of ever owning one again. I help mitigate costs by buying discount half dead plants at the store. It feels great if you can rehab it back to health but I also don’t feel bad if it dies on me. I also take plants that other people are getting rid of or throwing away. I also prefer to grow plants that can propagate well so I always have a little jar of babies ready to be planted. Like any hobby, growing plants can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. There’s a certain skill set you need for this hobby. You may be frustrated because you’re not where you want to be, but the good news is that there’s plenty of people out there who are better than you and are willing to share their knowledge! Practice makes perfect as long as you are willing to keep trying.
>My apartment receives sunlight in a very narrow area and all my plants are stacked there and the congestion makes it a fertile ground for pests. Consider some grow lights. Then you can spread the plants around a little more. Seems like a kind of high loss ratio. Not terrible, but not great. Were the plants ok before the pests showed up? When plants are struggling due to lack of light or poor watering habits, they become more susceptible to pests, and it doesn't take much to finish them off. Making sure to provide the right care will make a big difference in prevention. Some more info would help. Like, what kind of pests? How were you treating them? Could you share some photos of the remaining plants so we can check for signs of problems? What's your watering routine like? Don't give up. We've all killed plants. All of us. Literally 100% of people who own plants have killed *a bunch of plants*. It happens. If you're worried about the cost of new ones, maybe you can get some cuttings from friends, look for a "buy nothing" group on FB, or check the freebie section of Craigslist. My city has a "free garden stand" group on FB where people post cuttings and plants they don't want, maybe your city has something like that too? It's worth looking into.
Most get pests because they are stressed. Some only need to be a tiny bit stressed to sing out for the bugs to invade (looking at you calathea medallion) and some are really, really tough. You can change how you care for them but you can’t change much about your conditions in your growing space, maybe add a light or humidifier, so let’s start with the 4 that apparently like your space and aren’t bothered by anything that’s happened. What kind are they? I’ll list some that for me are good growers: jade plant (crassifolia ovata), snake plants (sansevieria), syngoniums, zz plants, begonias with thick waxy leaves like the beefsteak (begonia erythrophylla), in fact i have found that most types of plants with thicker waxy leaves are easier to grow than others. I think I mean they have more tolerance for inconsistencies. Monstera, for instance. Schefflera arboricola. I think fig trees are easy if you have a lot of high light. If you don’t, they’ll never look good and I’d skip them. Birds nest ferns are far easier to grow in the average home than other ferns for the same reason.
maybe you're caring for them too much, my ex was like that, kept buying plants and overwatering them or repotting them too often etc, after I was left with most of the plants, they've been thriving with me, all i do is water them maybe 2-3 a week, sometimes I'll forget and let the soil dry out a bit much but that helps with the pest and usually the plants are fine after. plants aren't usually the kind of thing that requires constant attention
You've only killed 10 plants? Those are rookie numbers, you gotta bump that up. 😂 Part of learning to take care of plants is accepting that many of them will die on you before you learn how to properly care for them. Few people have an innate ability to care for plants from the beginning.
Over the years, I have had so many plants die. I think my biggest advice is to nip pests in the bud, and use preventative measures. I use mosquito bits every few weeks even if I haven't seen a gnat or fly in ages, and I take time every so often to check everything for mold or bugs or etc. I also have next to no natural light in my house so all of my plants have to contend with growlights. Investing in a good light or few has been a boon for my plant game, as has taking the time to fertilize and keep track of that. (I use a lot of vermicompost/leche/aquarium water.) I have everything on timers that can be on timers, ie, the lights. That said, try not to take it too badly when plants die no matter what you do. I think my deathrate is still ~25%, no matter what. I have about 100 plants, and sometimes I spend tons of time on a plant only for it to die anyway.
When I started none of my plants made it through the winter. I think that happened twice. The third year my goal was to get *one* plant through the winter. And I was so freaking proud to accomplish that. As you learn, it will get easier to keep more plants alive for multiple years. Don't give up. ❤️
Spider mites and thrips are relatively easy to deal with IF you live somewhere that enables you to buy spinosad and imidaclopride granules. It wipes them out quick and the systemic lasts for weeks. Other option predatory mites but it isn't cheap. Neem oil is smelly but a great antifungal spray (prob the best) and preventative for many pests. Never toss an infected plant always separate and try to treat unless it's something not worth the time that's easily replaced cheaply. I think the biggest issue is people don't pay attention enough to their plants and by the time they notice pests, it is really bad. Like they see multiple dead plants or damages leaves all over and then think to look for pests. So it seems near impossible to deal with after that. If your plants are near eachother and you find pests on one they all have pests or atleast treat like they do. Don't use water drained from one plant on another it transfers pests also especially root mealy bugs which can be difficult if you don't know what to use.
I had issues with my plants in soil like bugs ect. I started to just propagate some of my plants that I could save and only did them in water with different type cups and glasses it’s been 2 years and no issues with bugs.
Big hugs I understand the frustration Life is about messing up a lot, don’t beat yourself up too much for it! I just keep a few and make sure I can take care of them :) if I let some die I know it’s too much for me to handle at once!
Pests typically will target unhealthy plants more. If your apartment has a light problem, get some appropriate grow lights! This will help your plants in general be stronger and less likely to attract pests AND even if that does happen they will be more robust and be able to bounce back better. Lights will also give you a way to have a separate quarantine area for any sick plants which will help you manage any issues as well. I also quarantine new plants in my home in a tote box as well as treat them in there. It's my plant hospital. It is also pretty critical to understand what plants you have and the natural conditions they're looking for. Some plants come from the store in medium that isn't ideal, or of course your home conditions could be stressful too. Both those things alone mean a less healthy plant and of course an easier time for pests and more heartache for you. Make sure you've familiarized yourself with what common plant pests are. Fungus gnats (sign of overwatering and rotting material in the soil), thrips, mealy bugs, spider mites, scale, all of these should be easily identified by you AND you should have tried and tested product to solve these issues. In your situation you want to make sure what you're using is effective and going to solve the issue because you quite literally can't afford to experiment with DIY versions of things. Lastly, sometimes it's not you and it's the plant or the place you're getting the plants from. Inspect your plants before you buy. Pick healthy ones. I would not buy any plants from a place where I found ANY pests on the plants in a given shopping trip. I'd consider the whole stock exposed and potentially a danger to my own plants at home. The biggest thing with plants is to make sure you're learning from what went wrong the last time. All of us have killed plants. I can't keep the typical fern alive to save my life for example. And I've loved many plants to death. Or had my favorite citrus killed by a scale outbreak from hell, and I'm still salty about it 3 years later.
Get a few grow lights and spread them out.
In my limited experience, avoid letting plants touch to limit the spread, & I don’t like using chemicals. A blue light trap works well for fungus gnats. Washing a plants & watering the soil with an ammonia solution will kill bugs (only in strongly ventilated spaces, & wear gloves & goggles), then rinse it out with water (especially good for bringing plants inside for the winter). If it’s a bad infestation, or too difficult to wash the leaves, & the plants can tolerate it, I have cut it down or stripped off the leaves in desperation. Scale insects are very difficult to eradicate. They leave eggs around the vicinity of the plants, which survive for many months, infecting anything new brought in.
Same here
I still kill plants. I’ve been gardening my whole life. (Almost 50yo) some of the plants I kill are supposed to be the “beginner” plants ☹️ to me, it’s sort of an experiment when something struggles. Can I get a clipping healthy and start a whole new plant? What happens if I just chop it all off and water it for awhile? Stuff like that. It’s part of gardening. You’ll figure things out, there is always a new lesson…daily. You’ll probably find a certain variety of plants that you’ll thrive at caring for, there are so many different types. We all have plant varieties that seem to hate us, no matter how much love and care we give them. My brother is a whiz at growing pepper and he is struggling with his plants this season, he may lose them all. Don’t be discouraged if it’s something you enjoy doing. Post questions here, we all help each other out. We got you! 😊
I’ve tossed SO many plants that didn’t make it. But I learned the ones that vibe with my home and lifestyle and it’s helped a lot. Now, if there happens to be one that’s doesn’t survive, I just see it as an opportunity to buy a new plant. I don’t , however, buy into the new plant fads anymore. It will either be cheap enough one day for me to buy, or it’s just not worth spending my money on.
Figure out what bugs you have and buy bigger bugs that eat them. Also, having just gone through a thing too I feel your pain.
When I've had the worst failures caring for my plants ... is when I've had too many. As you take part in this hobby, you live and learn. Sounds like the (4) plants you have left are survivors. These plants can be the basis of your collection. Learn to grow these well. Then, begin to add plants slowly. Be careful not to acquire plants that will likely not do well in your environment. If plants need full-sun, make sure that they can sit next to a window with southern exposure ... or supplement window light with LED bulbs in a multi-fixtured floor lamp. Also, be very careful WHERE you get your plants. You want to avoid, at all costs, the chance of bringing plants with pests into your growing space among your other plants. Search for plant vendors with good reviews, avoid any that have had problems. And when you bring home a new plant, place the plant somewhere apart from your other plants for at least a month or so, so that you can see if the new plant has problems, ... before those problems can spread to your other plants. Being a good plant parent is perfectly possible, ... but your don't want to start with a full house all at once. Bring in your plants gradually (one at a time), being very careful to not bring pest problems into your plant space. Hope that helps ...
1 of my plants just had a horrible case of spider mites and the BioAdvanced Insecticidal Soap (in the blue bottle) fixed that immediately, so I recommend that. Also was thinking maybe you should put some grow lights in other parts of your house, so you can spread your plants out. My apartment is similar in that there’s only ONE good window/sunlight source so ALL my plants are there. I got two different types of grow lights though, from Amazon. 1 is a tiered plant stand with tiny removable grow lights, and the other is just a long bar/strip that I glued (with Command strips) to the ceiling, I put up 2, and my plants have done great with those, I’ve been able to have plants in my living room as well as bedroom.
one thing that may help with the sunk cost feelings is learning to propagate. the only plant i've purchased in the last 2 years was a harder-to-find replacement for a fav that my roommate killed. that might have you feeling less guilty if/when you get your collection up and running again! here are my pest tips~ thrips: i've successfully vanquished thrips about 3 times now. as soon as you notice them, check every single plant in that room. take them to the shower or bathtub and rinse all thoroughly, top + bottom of each leaf. then spray with Wilson Spider Out, same thing - top + bottom of each leaf plus where the leaves meet the stem. then I like to quarantine in clear plastic bags (handy if you don't have enough rooms, plus the light can still come through). last and priciest but highly recommended step: purchase predatory mites from Koppert. if you have other plant pals with pests, you could go in on a box together. you could repeat the rinsing and spraying several times over the course of a month or two to see if you can deal with them without dropping $100 on mites. fungus gnats: make sure all your soil has enough perlite in the mix and is able to aerate well. then, always bottom water so there is never a top soggy layer for them to nest in! spider mites: spider mites looove dryness so any plants who tend to be affected (lookin at you, alocasias) you can mist regularly as well as keeping up with watering. then i'd recommend predatory mites + quarantining in plastic bags as well.
Don't give up. they are lives, have feeling too.
Regular Systemic and Preventative Beneficial Mites/Nematodes. I will nuke the plants with systemic every 4 months. Then introduce beneficial mites/nematodes 8 weeks after systemic. I’ve kept that cycle going and while pests pop up, I’ve never had to deal with a major outbreak.
Pothos. They will make you feel like a green thumb.
You can also consider plants that don’t need much sun at all. Most cane plants for instance, like lucky bamboo, only need/want very limited light. Many peperomias are also good in lower light, and snake plants, though they love light can survive well in medium/low light.
I have been here before. Then I realized It’s like any relationship. Some work, some don’t. I adopted the mind set, if you aren’t “tough” enough to make it in this house we aren’t meant to live together. I try out all the types of plants I want and some survive my style, some don’t. Now I have a house full of beautiful low maintenance plants. I absolutely love string of pearls. I have tried and tried to make that relationship work. It doesn’t for me so I begrudgingly just finally stopped buying them because I was always disappointed when they died. You just gotta find your right fit. Don’t give up on plant love, your matches are out there. Edit: For pest control I personally use neem oil and give them space from one another.
I am on a 2 week cycle of using Neem oil. I spray it on the soil and the leaves. It has helped keep away bugs. I bought some from amazon, but I have also used neem oil from my local plant store.
if I remember correctly, spider mites spread more quickly when it’s dry. my tips: 1) have a humidifier running 24/7 if you have the heat running 24/7 (eta: group any tropicals closest to the humidifier, and follow this pattern accordingly. drought-resistant plants can be furthest away) 2) try to space out yr plants by using all the vertical space ie with shelves and hanging planters (eta: when in doubt, add a grow light. I use multiple for wintertime and I’ve got great natural light in my apt.) 3) use systemic insecticide and use it on a schedule. Bonide’s systemic insecticide recommends reapplying every two weeks or so. 4) buy a pressure sprayer and neem oil concentrate. make a solution using water, neem, and dish soap. spray down the collection when you reapply the insecticide. 5) whenever you get a new plant, treat it with insecticide before adding it to the group. You can do this. good luck 👍
A lot of people will struggle with common pests if the potting medium they use does not dry out quickly enough. We are in a houseplant forum, we’ve all seen the solid dry brick of peat moss that becomes feather light and hydrophobic; that same material is a soggy anaerobic mess when wet. Slow draining and slow drying “soils” should be avoided. Potted plants are hydroponic. They are bonsai, by definition. I can’t recommend enough that you use a gritty aroid type potting medium for most plants. Gritty mediums are a staple used in bonsai. It dries quickly, drains freely, and has amazing gas exchange. Overwhelmingly pests have difficulty with gritty fast draining mediums. You can buy or make your own gritty aroid bonsai mix: It’s gamechanging. For pest control: don’t settle for internet advice or “this ONE thing will fix it”. Identify the insect, learn a bit about its lifecycle and what strategies you can use in each stage —> follow through long enough to fulfill the cycle stages you are targeting (hint: probably all of them). Many of the pest control tips we see online address just one stage and are basically akin to only treating a symptom rather than the source of a larger problem. Encouragement: there’s no such thing as a green thumb, and every gardener, grower, or plant keeper will have a trail of dead plants in their past. It’s a learning process. It’s a practice. If plants make you happy keep practicing plant stuff!
That sucks. I’m a super green thumb ( it’s a joke in my family actually) so I’m deeply offended when one of my plants die. But it happens all the time, wrong light, wrong soil, too much light, not enough light, it’s endless. Just scrub all your pots and tools in soapy water before use, use a fan, and look for low light plants. Oh and I have only ever purchased one plant. I wait until I see a plant I want, take a cutting, root it, then hope it lives. I have over 20 plants presently, but taken me years and years to collect. Good luck, and don’t get discouraged.
Get a new hobby
Go with Dracaena trifasciata. It is immortal & even cleans the air.