I have many houseplants, mostly aroids (alocasia, monstera, philos, anthurium, and others) and while I get them to grow for a while, eventually things go south somewhere. I've tried so many types and mixes of soil,(currently most of them are in a bark mix although I found rot on my Hoyas and a couple others and after chopping roots I put them in shultz orchid mix amended with perlite and charcoal) I wait until dry to water and most of my plants still aren't happy with me. Leaves yellow, they don't grow, roots rot and I'm starting to give up. I use liquidirt, silica and stress coat when I water. I need all the advice on how to succeed at this as I really love plants and I want to turn my jungle into one like those Instagram superstars. I've had to restart so many plants so many times and it's beginning to weigh on me. I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong.
by Big-Beautiful-1234
13 Comments
I’m in the same boat as you. Great success and then more failure. It’s made me think about giving up too. I see the snow in the background, I’m also in a cold snowy location. All I can say is try your best and hope that we have better luck when the temperatures start to rise in the spring!
I see a few grow lights in your photos, do all your plants have access to grow lights? Also enclosed cabinets can help mimic temperatures and humidity that we are lacking right now. I actually just purchased these [AC Infinity heat mats](https://a.co/d/02sFvHDW) hoping they can increase the temps during the winter in my cabinets. I can keep consistent humidity around 85-90%, but hoping the heat pads will increase the temp that can’t seem to get above 70 degrees F.
I have the same going on atm with most of my plants. Altough as i see from your pics i guess you also dont have any growlights (correct me if im wrong). Just like me. I found out that that really is the most important part. I have some plants with grow lights and they are just perfect now. Before that i also just put them in front of the Windows but that definitely is not the same. Even when they have pests or anything they can tank it much better with good grow lights. Try that maybe. It really helped me find the passion again. Good luck.
Get a light meter. They likely aren’t getting enough.
I had the same problem in the beginning. I think what I did wrong was stressing out my plants too much with the wrong care. From my experience when I buy a new plant the most important things are enough water (most of the time they don’t need a lot), a lot of light and the right humidity/temperature until they settle in more and then I repot. When I first got into plants I didn’t really have a feeling for how strong they need to be until I start introducing new things (different fertilizer, repotting etc.) and they wouldn’t make it because of it.
My tip from the photos would be more light and checking humidity and temperature and waiting a few weeks/months until you think they are okay before trying anything else. They are pretty close to the window, maybe check if your window is keeping out the cold enough. Another comment also mentioned grow lights and they help so so much especially in the winter. Good luck!!
The biggest single thing causing problems indoors is a lack of light. I consistently killed plants until I realized this simple fact. Plants need way way more light than we would know from YouTube influencers and Instagram. The second thing after that is realizing that aroids need far airier soils then we think.
Oxygen at the root, light on the leaf 🙂.
I felt like this and then just downsized. I needed to keep a level of plants that was manageable for ME. I love them much more now.
Every mistake is a learning experience. Would you like to see a photo of my pile of dead plant tags?
I once asked one of those “great” Instagram orchid growers (also my friend) what percentage of orchids he kills before they ever flower. He estimated around 30%: one in three. So, don’t feel bad when you kill plants. *Overall*, does your collection look healthier than a year ago? Are you making progress? Then you’re doing well.
I’m in a similar boat to you, I currently have about 100 plants but I’ve killed at least that many too. I have a better relationship with my plants now and here’s what’s helped me:
Like someone else suggested, I downsized. If you don’t want to throw away plants, you can always offer them to your local plant community for free! I’ve gotten rid of a number of plants that way.
I also started giving more of my plants grow lights. I really like the GE grow light bulbs. I feel like those have helped a lot. I was hesitant at first because I have tons of natural light in my house, but being in Michigan it wasn’t enough unless my plants were right in a south window.
And then the final thing I’ve been doing is moving a lot of my plants into just Perlite. I’m sure a different semi-hydro would work the same for me, but Perlite is accessible lol. I used to prop all my plants in it until I realized there was nothing stopping me from just…. Keeping them in there after propping haha. That has worked great so far for my Hoyas, anthurium, and some other plants (although it’s been within the past year, so not the longest time). I think that works well for me because I’m prone to overwatering. But sometimes worrying about overwatering, or just an unexpected life event, causes me to underwater. In semi-hydro, plants are way less susceptible to rot so they seem better able to weather that inconsistent watering
I’m new to the passion but currently I have almost exclusively aroids…. A month or so ago I hit a patch where I wanted something more and I found pepperomias as a fun new variety
Mold is not something to worry about, in some cases it can be beneficial. If you plants are mostly in a chunky mix, like bark, perlite etc. without any soil, do not use liquidirt. That will create mold because it needs to be broken down by fungi and other microbes. I also would be hesitant to silica unless you know for sure it’s suitable since most silica products also needs soil microbes to make them available to plants. Use plain water for now. I would suggest to switching to synthetic fertilizer because it’s overall easier and you can flush pots if you over do it. Organic fertilizers you can’t in a same way and if you overdose you have to change the substrate.
Like other have said light, light and light. Yes, they may at first burn their leaves but they will adapt and thank you later.
I think as others said, if plant lights aren’t the answer, downsizing might be the key. You don’t necessarily have to throw them away, you could try giving them away to coworkers, friends, neighbors, or family. Or you could try selling them (I think there are actually a few apps that you can do this through now, though you’d have to do a bit more research).
I personally had a similar problem, but then a kind of mold took out some of my favorite rare plants, while I also was in the process of moving and going through a terrible breakup. I was able to salvage most just in time after cutting them down quite a bit. It was heartbreaking, and really made me rethink the whole hobby. After that, however, the survivors have been hanging on with more individual care, and I get new joy when I see them bloom or start a new leaf. I do think I had too many to reasonably care for with all the stress in my life at the time, so while I miss the plants I lost, I am grateful for the ones still with me. It did help me to downsize even if i didn’t have much of a say in it.
Whatever you decide, wishing you and your plants the best!
I feel this so hard. I get this way when I have too many plants and start feeling less passion and more burdened.
Honestly. This might not work for some of your plants, but if one of my plants was becoming too much work I just turned it into a hydroponic. Even managed to get my Thai Monstera to thrive that way somehow. Maybe if you went through and picked a few out to put in hydros that would help take the burden off? At that point you just have to top off with water and little fertilizer and they become pretty low maintenance