c/botany-lovers

29

wadefoster•11h ago

Rant: My morning glory patch went from lush to crispy in 2 weeks after I switched watering times

I've got this big trellis on my back porch in Phoenix that had amazing morning glories all spring. Watered them at noon every day like I always do. Then I read some forum post saying morning watering prevents mildew so I switched to 7am. Two weeks later half the leaves are brown and crunchy. My neighbor still waters his at noon and his look perfect. Did I cook them with the sun hitting wet leaves or was it something else? Anyone else had a similar fail with changing up a watering schedule?

1

joel_mason22•1d ago

Unpopular opinion: my indoor fig tree got sunburned from a south window

Tbh I always thought more sunlight was better for houseplants, especially ficus. So I moved my fiddle leaf fig right up against the south-facing glass in my Denver apartment about two months ago. Within three weeks, the top leaves started turning crispy and brown at the edges. I freaked out and thought it was pests or overwatering, but a guy at the local nursery pointed out the sunburn patterns. Turns out direct afternoon light through glass can actually scorch leaves, even for plants that like bright spots. I learned the hard way that sheer curtains or some distance from the window makes a huge difference. Has anyone else dealt with leaf burn from a window that seemed perfect?

5

cooper.nathan•1d ago

Unpopular opinion: pruning shears need a sharpening more often than you think

I killed half my rose bushes last year because I kept using dull shears... the cuts were ragged and the branches just rotted right at the cut point. My neighbor who runs a nursery told me after three seasons I should have been sharpening every couple weeks during peak growth. So I finally grabbed a diamond file from the hardware store last spring and started honing the edge every Sunday morning. Night and day difference. The cuts heal clean and the bushes are exploding with blooms this year. Has anyone else noticed a big change after they started sharpening more often?

23

carter.thea•2d ago

Stopped killing my orchids after one simple watering change

I was drowning my phalaenopsis for two years. Read a tip to use ice cubes instead of a watering can. Now three have rebloomed in six months. Anyone else tried the ice cube method?

12

riley_coleman•3d ago

That chat with my neighbor about moss lawns completely threw me off

He said he let his whole front yard go moss because it stays green without watering during our 90 degree summers, and now I'm wondering why I spend $60 a month on sprinklers for grass that barely survives.

7

taylor_mitchell80•18d ago

I swear my pothos died faster after I switched to filtered water

Everyone online keeps saying tap water is the devil for houseplants because of chlorine and fluoride. So six months ago I started using a Brita pitcher for my pothos and peace lily. Figured it would be the magic fix. Instead both plants started dropping leaves within three weeks and looked worse than before. Turned out the filter removed the small amounts of minerals the plants actually needed to thrive. It took me four months and losing half a plant to figure out the real problem was moisture consistency not water quality. I switched back to tap water let it sit out overnight and everything bounced back in two months. Has anyone else had a plant react worse after trying to be too careful with water?

34

charles508•18d ago

Unpopular opinion: letting houseplants dry out completely is overhyped

I see people all the time saying wait until the soil is bone dry before watering again. Tried that with my pothos and it drooped for 2 weeks straight. I water mine when the top inch feels dry and they thrive way better now. My spider plant even put out 3 babies last month with this method. Anyone else have plants that just hate the dry-out trend?

10

aaron_wilson17•19d ago

My neighbor Bob, who grows prize-winning orchids, told me to talk to my plants every morning and I laughed at him until my sad fern sprouted three new fronds in a week - has anyone else had a plant respond to being talked to?

Bob said specific things like 'you're doing great' and 'nice roots' to his orchids (I know, it sounds crazy) and after I tried it for 5 days straight just to prove him wrong, my fern literally doubled in size, so now I'm curious if this is a real thing or just coincidence.

14

avery_foster31•19d ago

A master gardener at the Seattle arboretum told me my pruning cuts were all wrong

She said I was leaving stubs that wouldn't heal right, so now I cut right at the branch collar even on thick limbs. Has anyone else had to unlearn bad habits from watching YouTube tutorials?

5

davis.gavin•19d ago

Showerthought: That $150 'rare' philodendron cutting was a total bust for me

I dropped $150 on a single node cutting of a variegated philodendron last spring (you know, the kind everyone on Instagram is obsessed with). It rotted in my sphagnum moss within two weeks, and I felt like a total fool. Meanwhile, my $12 pothos from the grocery store is thriving on neglect and has tripled in size since then. Has anyone else had a fancy plant totally fail on them while the cheap ones just keep going?

24

taylor_mitchell80•20d ago

The mistake people make with watering succulents indoors

I kept killing my jade plants for two years until a friend told me I was watering them wrong. Turns out most people water on a schedule, but succulents need water based on soil dryness, not the calendar. Has anyone else figured out that sticking your finger an inch deep is the only way to know for sure?

29

benb21•20d ago

Rant: My humidity dome experiment went south fast - is misting better than sealing?

Has anyone else had better luck with one method over the other for specific plants?

22

julia_carter•20d ago

Had a disaster of a day repotting my monstera last Thursday

I dropped a 12-inch terracotta pot on my tile floor at 7am and spent the rest of the morning cleaning up shattered clay and dirt, but then found three aerial roots I'd been missing for weeks - has anyone else had a plant accident turn into a discovery?

2

samw47•21d ago

Had to pick between a fiddle leaf fig and a monstera for my office corner

I finally got a corner window at work last month and wanted a plant that could handle the direct morning light. My coworker swore by her fiddle leaf fig in Portland, but I went with a monstera after reading it bounces back easier from neglect. Three weeks in and it's already put out two new leaves with those classic splits. Anyone else have a preference between these two for low-maintenance office greenery?

14

mason_barnes•23d ago

Overheard a lady at the nursery talking about her "tough love" approach to watering

I was at the garden center last Saturday grabbing some shade mix for my back bed and this older woman was telling the cashier she only waters her plants when they start to droop. At first I thought that sounded kind of harsh, like she was neglecting them. But then she explained that she learned it from her dad who grew up on a farm and he always said plants get weak if you baby them too much. She claimed her roses bloom twice as long as her neighbors' because of it. I got to thinking about how I water my stuff on a strict schedule every three days without even checking the soil first. Maybe I'm doing more harm than good by being too predictable with the hose. Has anyone else tried this method and actually seen a difference in their perennials?

5

davis.dylan•24d ago

Always thought moss was a pest until I found a patch growing on a rotting log in the backyard

Spent an hour watching how it held moisture and created a tiny ecosystem for bugs and seedlings, and now I'm seriously considering adding a moss bed to my shaded garden corner - anyone else change their mind about a plant they used to hate?

9

grace_hunt84•26d ago

TIL a nursery worker in Omaha saved my dying fern with a 2 minute trick

Last month my fern in the living room started turning yellow and dropping leaves all over the place. I tried watering less, watering more, moving it to different windows, nothing worked for 3 weeks. Finally stopped into a small nursery off Maple Street in Omaha and the guy behind the counter took one look and said "you're drowning it in a too-big pot." He showed me how the soil stayed wet 4 inches down because the pot was way oversized for the root ball. I repotted it into something smaller last Sunday and now there's new green shoots already. Has anyone else had a plant just refuse to perk up until you downsized the pot?

12

thomas.piper•28d ago

Paid $300 for a 'rare' orchid and it died in 2 weeks

I dropped $300 on a so-called rare orchid from a specialty online seller and it arrived with root rot that I didn't catch until day 3, and now I'm wondering if anyone else has had better luck with these high-end plants or if I just got scammed.

17

brookefox•29d ago

Shoutout to that one rainy afternoon in Portland that changed my mind about pruning

I was dead set on never cutting back my hydrangeas in fall, but after watching my neighbor's bushes rot with mold while mine stayed healthy, I finally tried it. Turns out a sharp bypass pruner and a dry day can save your whole plant. Anyone else have a stubborn gardening rule they broke?

22

beth_ward80•29d ago

Debate: should I save seeds from my supermarket heirloom tomatoes or just buy new packets every spring?

I tried saving seeds from a $3.99 pack of heirlooms last year and got decent plants but the fruit was smaller and less tasty, while my neighbor insists store-bought seeds lose vigor after one generation, so which side do you land on for keeping costs low?

15

aaron_wilson17•1mo ago

Heard a guy at the nursery say 'it's just a weed' about a volunteer tomato plant

I was at Johnson's Greenhouse last Saturday picking up some compost and this older fella walks past a little tomato sprout growing out of a crack in the concrete. He points at it and says to his friend 'it's just a weed, pull it.' I kept my mouth shut but it got me thinking. That little plant was doing more growing in that crack than half the stuff I try to keep alive in my raised beds. We get so focused on what plants are supposed to be where that we forget anything green and thriving has value. That tomato probably got watered by runoff from the hose and did fine without any fancy fertilizer. Has anyone else had a random plant pop up somewhere weird and turn out way tougher than the ones you babied along?

1

robert64•1mo ago

Debate: is it better to start seeds indoors or direct sow everything?

I've been going back and forth on this for a few seasons now. Last spring I started all my tomatoes and peppers indoors under a cheap grow light and they did great, but the hardening off process was a pain and I lost about 10% to damping off. This year I direct sowed everything except the tomatoes and honestly the beans and squash caught up faster than I expected. Which method do you guys find works best for your climate, and have you had any major failures with either approach?

20

grace_hunt84•1mo ago

Found a cheap way to root cuttings using a soda bottle greenhouse

Honestly I kept losing cuttings to drying out before they could grow roots. So I took a 2-liter soda bottle, cut it in half crosswise, put wet perlite in the bottom and stuck my coleus cuttings in there. Then I taped the top half back on to create a little humid dome. It worked like a charm - 8 out of 10 rooted in about 10 days. Anyone else tried a DIY prop chamber?

24

white.grant•1mo ago

I finally hit 200 houseplants and it changed how I water them

I got number 200 last month when I picked up a satin pothos at a local nursery. I never thought I would own that many plants, but here I am. The real surprise was realizing I was spending over an hour a day just checking soil moisture. I started using a wooden skewer to test deep into the pots, and it cut my watering time in half. Before that, I was just guessing and overwatering half my collection. Now I only water when the skewer comes out dry at the two inch mark. Has anyone else hit a big number and had to change their whole routine to keep up?

25

jamierodriguez•1mo ago

Hit 200 propagated cuttings in my basement nursery today

I started propagating pothos and snake plants back in January just to fill some empty pots around the house. Today I counted 200 cuttings rooting in jars and cups on my old shelving unit by the furnace. I didn't set out to hit any number, it just happened from trimming plants and saving every node that fell off. My wife thinks I've lost it because half the kitchen counter is now covered in propagation stations. But honestly it feels good to have a backup for every plant I own in case something goes wrong. Plus I've been trading cuttings with a neighbor who bakes me cookies in return. Has anyone else accidentally started a mini nursery in their basement or is it just me?