Summary: 1) 0:19 Change soil at least once a year plus repot to a bigger pot. 2) 1:24 Only water plants when neeed (less is usually more as overwatering leads to rotting roots). 3) 2:35 Try to know the needs of each of your plants individually (sun exposure, soil moisture, nutrience, ...). - Use Google Lens to reasearch your plants! 4) 3:33 Check for pests. (also check for pests as you buying the plant, e.g. spider mites webbings) 5) 4:51 Leave your plants to do their thing - don't fuss with them too often! (moving them over home constantly, overwatering, fertilizing too often, ...) 6) 5:55 Avoid putting plants into direct sunlight. (especially tropical plants will get sun burn rather quickly) 7) 7:04 Prune your plants to remove damaged leaves/party and to get rid of molds and pests. (but not too much and not to regularly) 8) 8:15 Bonus Tip: Turn kitchen scraps into fertilizers! (water your plant with COOLED cooking water used for pasta/rice/vegetables/eggs) Thank you for the lovely video! There were a few things that I did not know before. :)
I would add to number 1 that if you don't want to pot up to a bigger pot, then with some plants like ficus you can prune the root ball and top by 1/3, rinse the old dirt out of the roots and then repot it back in the old pot with new dirt.
I also disagree with the "repot annually." For example, a peace lily loves to be tightly snug in its space. I'm very conservative about repotting those guys and do so once I see quite a bit of roots out the bottom. I believe this is the case for the ZZ plant as well. Basically, it's providing just enough care to sustain the plant and the right conditions to cultivate just enough "fight," as competition in plants is what makes them grow (think of competing plants in a crowded tropical forest floor).
My mom use banana water for plants and it works amazing. She puts banana peel in a pot and pours hot water, leaves it so sit and that's all. Her water lily growed x5 in a year
All excellent points! I would like to add and share that old aquarium water or rainwater is very beneficial and that I always let tap water sit 24 hours before using. Also, many plants will grow rapidly with good humidity. Self regulated humidifiers are great and bringing the humidity up at night and than letting fall in the day as well as having a fan for circulation is a great way to help your plants in their growth. I generally keep my houseplants that require or like higher humidity together and regulate the humidity around them. As you pointed out, knowing what your houseplant is crucial in their care and growth, Succulents are going to have much different requirements than Peperomia.
@@SheffieldMadePlants My houseplants grow like weeds! I was not always great and in the beginning I lost a lot of plants but I did not give up and after 40 years I learned a lot! Anyone can grow awesome plants and I love when people share with others good plant information because having and growing plants is completely rewarding and fun! A humidifier is worth it! I would get one that keeps it at the humidity level you want and not one that just runs. Cheers! Great video!
How do you guys feel about adding banana to water? .... I'm assuming that it's adding potassium, ie nutrients, to premote health and growth? What about work castings?
@@KeliaTaylor adding banana peel to the compost will add some potassium. I’m not sure how much would leach into the water though. Worm castings is one of the best things to add to soil
Every time I take cuttings I say I'm going to cover them with plastic to keep the humidity up but half the time I skip it anyway and I ALWAYS regret it lol. Since it's only temporary for cuttings (and seedlings too), a clear plastic bag or container is fine but it's easy to accidentally make it too humid which will encourage fungi that kill the little plants. It needs to be humid, not wet. It can take practice and a watchful eye to get right. If I did more propagating I would invest in a humidifier or automated mister. It makes things much easier especially when there's more than 1 pot involved.
What really accelerated my plant growth was using aquarium water. I have a large tub with about 5 turtles, and when I do a water change I use their water to water my plants about once a week. You can also use fish water which would be just as good. I also keep my tropical plants near this tub so they can benefit from the humidity.
Not only is it nutrient rich but we also regularly buffer the water PH for aquatic pets which is also beneficial compared to (usually very) alkaline water straight out the tap.
I only change the soil if I see the soil is holding on to water for too long or if it's plain peat moss or coco coir. Other than that, I'll keep the plant in the potting mix from the nursery it came from for another year until it's rootbound and needs repotting. To add nutrition, I just add some slow release fertilizer every 2 months.
I’ll add a layer of worm castings on top of the soil. Like you said I wait to repot things. I also keep all my nursery pots and use those to repot. I’ll put them down inside of pretty pots.
@@melanieballard110 I have a huge problem with keeping plants in nursery pots. Plastic out in the sun all day? I wouldn’t drink a bottle of water as such, likewise do I want plastic polluting my plant
I thought I had heard all the classic tips but you've managed to teach me a few new things! You have a new subscriber from the US as of today, I'm looking forward to learning a lot from your videos 😄
Your opening points were brilliant. I’d been following the same belief system without even realizing it. I would have thought that all my “mothering” needs would have been fulfilled by my 8 children. But… no, I was wayyy over mothering my plants. Thanks , I’m subbing!
Use a moisture meter rather than repeatedly compressing the rootball with your finger…and use worm castings and seaweed extract periodically for micro nutrients.
The food scraps as fertilizer is life changing. I knew it could be done, but nobody has explained it past "you can use it." Thanks so much! Do you have a full video on your channel about it? I'm about to check. Lol
I have aquarium plants One of my plants is Anubius nana which is pretty much just a miniature peace lily The flowers look identical but they’re way smaller They’re also a low to medium light plant
You’ll get used to it!!! Good work! I started about 2 years ago. They will surprise, annoy, and make you crazy. Then you will learn and get used to it.
Omg no, I stressed out my plant to death I think 😩😩😩 I Just got a bird of paradise from an online store like a week ago. Two days after it came, the leaves started curling in, so I thought it was a humidity thing. First thing I do is repot it because I noticed the soil was draining too fast, and maybe it wasn’t holding water. Two days later, didn’t get any better. So I put a transparent bag with some holes over it and misted the inside a couple of times a day. Two days after, the leaves are still curled, and I start to notice the trunk going brown. So I decided to prune the whole thing and also clean out the roots as it had some rooting there. I have successfully grown 20+ plants since I started being a plant parent 3 years ago, with other tropical plants thriving at home, but this BOP broke me 😩❤️🩹
Oh no sorry to hear that. So you didn’t get to the bottom of what the issue was? It’s weird it seems to have given up when you got it home. Maybe it had bugs?
I had more of a survival of the fittest and whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger approach. 1. Do more or less everything wrong the first years. 2. Try to correct the mistakes without knowleadge. 3. Cut your losses and keep the survivors. 4. Eventually start correcting some mistakes. 5. Profit. Nowdays it's pretty easy, I just water my plants in the shower without the pots every second week. It cleans the plants and it is an easy way to avoid overwatering by allowing excess water to drain. Slowly most of my almost dead plants have recovered and have survived for many years now. Maytbe I'll l change the soil and move them to bigger pots, I guess they've earned it :).
I'm not saying you're wrong, but I always cut about 75-80% of the roots when pruning, and do it either in spring, or summer, or early autumn, and never had any plant dying in the last 10 years :) they grow bigger and healthier... However I only have green plants (palm like) not flower ones.
You can buy predatory mites for the spider mites. And make your plant harder with the right biostimulants is also a big game changer. I am surprised that nobody does that who like plants
Excellent video. I use banana peel water and boiled egg water. My Apple tree in a barrel was overloaded with big apples due to this concoction. You save lot of money too😁Thank you
As a user of the devil's lettuce, I like to use the water from my bongs on my plants, the brown tint that bong water gets after not being changed often is mold which boosts the plant. At least it hasn't killed any plants yet, love your channel!
As a relatively new plant enthusiast I appreciate this! Quick question about direct sunlight.. I have a majesty palm about 4 feet away from a west facing window so it gets about 1-2 hours of direct sunlight around sunset. I’m wondering if the leaves are sun damaged as they’re not as dark and green as when I purchased the plant. I brought in photos to my local nursery and the guy said it wasn't a sun issue, said my plant “needs food” and gave me some liquid fertilizer. I’ve done a couple applications and don’t see much of a difference after a few weeks. My question is how can you tell the difference between sun damaged leaves vs lacking nutrients? And if it is sun damage, is this reversible?
I love your videos, you're a total pro and you have great, inventive tips and tricks but can we get like an alarm or a warning that flashes on the screen before you are going to show us a close up of bugs and larvae, you're killing me here! 😂
I have that exact plant in the thumbnails, mine looks like the first one, didn't even know it could look like the second one. This better not be clickbait.
I also supercharge my potting soil by tossing it back in the compost bin & mixing it with everything else, as a brown element to absorb the green element.
Using boiled water from vegetables is a wonderful tip. I would never have thought of that. May I ask. …. What is wrapped around the eggs you are boiling?? It looks like wire…
If you move your plants annualy to larger pots in just a few years you'll need to have huge pots for them. Where to get shelves strong enough and a house large enough?
Your video shows succulents here and there, which suggests this advice works them for just as well, but your watering advice isn't cautious enough for them. You suggest essentially watering when the soil is dry, which means that it will be wet more often than not. You also specifically say to avoid "prolonged drought" for your plants, but most succulents WANT a drought period and can rot if you keep watering them every time you notice the soil is dry. Watering them more often might not exactly give them root rot (although it can), but it will at least stretch them out, the same way insufficient light will do. The defining trait of succulents is that they store water inside themselves, so the key is to check how full of water the plant itself is; in most cases, you would check the leaves (which is true of the jade and pickle plants you showed), but some plants store water in their roots or stems, so if you're not sure, look into where your particular succulent stores water. Plump firm storage parts mean your plant has little extra space to store water, which means all additional water you add will contribute to the risk of rot and stretching. If they are softer, wrinkly, bendable, or otherwise seem not full, you could maybe water or you could maybe wait, depending on how full its stores seem to be. When it comes to most succulents, when in doubt, wait it out! (Or as some say, when in doubt, let it drought!)
Hi, I feel stupid for asking this. At 8:27, it gives a cheeky way to get free fertilizer, draining the water our food, but then the food would have no salt obviously. How do you solve for taste? Salt the food after draining or do you have a salt free diet?
Those cheap moisture meters should only be used as a guide and are often wildly innacurate. You can often learn more from the dampness of the soil on the probe than the readout. If you dont have a moisture meter you can use a knitting needle or similar.
I noticed that plants were watered from the outside of the container and another time watered from the catch all water tray. Is that a norm or done for specific plants? Could you share when should we water the top soil and when to water from the catch all tray?
I bought a bouquet a few days ago(supermarket) and they used as succulent as a flower/ornament. I thought I might regrow this lovely darling. Brief googles says to let it air out and wait for roots. Please respond if there are more beneficial ways!
The bonus tip about using boiled vegetable water is a weird one. Natural fertilizer is bit more complicated and requires a composting process for best use. Also, how much nutrients actually get leaked out when you boil? And assuming some do get leaked, after the whole boiling process, the amount remaining is probably insignificant and not worth the effort.
Actually a lot of nutrients leech out into water when soaked or boiled. That’s why broth and tea are so nutritious for humans despite being little more that flavored water to us. My plants grow amazingly well with banana tea (I add cinnamon to boil with it for anti fungal and anti insect properties).
@@fleurishes35mm So I save my banana peels in my freezer until I have about 8-10. Put them in a really big pot, fill it mostly full with filtered water, and gently boil for 10 minutes. If you want to add cinnamon for bug and fungal repellent, add it in with the peels before boiling. Adding it after boiling will make it all float on top and not actually go into the water. If you boil it too hard (aka rolling boil) it can turn the peels into mush lol. Once it’s done, let it cool completely and then water your plants with it. I do it every few months, as doing it every month can lead to little gnats (they like the banana sugars left in the soil). If you compost, the boiled peels compost very quickly and are great for enriching soil. Or you can put a peel in a hole when planting larger plants/crops (similar to how native Americans put fish guts under their plants to fertilize).
I bought an anthurium 2 weeks ago, it's pot's size was 1 liter. I've repotted it last week, it's new pot's size is 2.5 liters. I realized my mistake, the new pot is too big for my anthurium. Its going to stop my plant's growth. I wonder if I repot it with a smaller pot(1.4 liters), would I damage my anthurium? Do you have any recommendation for me?
Sorry but I have to comment. You can in fact over fertilize plants with water from boiling stuff in it. Less likely sure but still possible. A good tip but stating you can't is wrong. Pruning does not make for stronger growth, unless we are talking about some very specific plants that are normally under some pressure from herbivores, grasses for example do grow more if cut but most tress will not grow stronger from cutting but they will grow different. What you do is remove the tip of the plant that makes hormones that stop the plant from branching, making plants grow more branches but not really stronger. Other than thar, fantastic video.
I dont have to poke I know how much my pots weight if dry enough for watering Also your thumb nail just showed how most monstera deliciosa are sold versus a fully grown one lolz
My small jade plant has been losing leaves and even branches. The other leaves are green and thick. What do you suggest? I can't determine much with online guides. I don't think I'm overwatering, but can't promise. I use the finger method to check the soil.
Hmm hard to say. Have you checked out the roots? They normally tell the story. If any are black then they are rotting from too much water. Where is it placed? They like as much sun as possible.
@@SheffieldMadePlants It's indoors now with artificial plant light. Between spring and fall it's on the balcony with good lighting. It's lost leaves since it last was on the balcony though. But the branches get me worried. Gonna heave the plant out of the pot, thanks!
Mycorrhizal fungi symbiotically inhabit the roots of almost every plant in a natural habitat. Have you anything to say about a possible need to check for this in pot plants ?
@@SheffieldMadePlants @Preserve & Conserve Mycorrhizal fungi is beneficial to the rhizosphere (root microbiome) of the plant :) you can buy it ready to go fungi from most garden centers now to be honest, I always use it in my potting mixes. The fungi colonize the rhizosphere of the plant, providing increased water and nutrient absorption capabilities, strengthening the plant, while the plant provides the fungus with carbohydrates and other stuff gained from photosynthesis, nutrition, and cover to give adequate humidity and light shelter for the fungi. So a co-beneficial relationship in the soil. When potting up I usually just add a layer where the roots will be in contact with it.
You've talked about all kinds of plants, most of them I have, but I need help with Orchids, I have them for almost 2 years but none of the seam to flower, I need help to help them flower, thanks in advance
Is it safe to spray vinegar solution on newly purchased plants? 🤔 mom says yes, but she kills plastic plants! So I'll ask you. Does this kill spider mites or just fungi, ect? Thanks 😊
hey there! what's the name of the fuzzy one at 1:32? it's too much i'm melting, it's beautiful!!!! anyways thx for ur tips but i do have one question: you said you reuse the water when you cook pasta, but don't you salt it? may be my italian side itching but i'm also curious lol plus, i also use banana's peel, coffee grind and the shell from the eggs to fertilize them - never thought of using egg's water tho, so thx again!!
That’s my Pickle Plant and very nice it is too. Yeah best not to use if salted! I do it more for my veg water to be honest because like you I’m half Italian and can’t not salt my pasta. Mamma mia!
Yes, understanding is key, but sometimes quite hard even if you know the exact plant species. For example, I grew a Siberian pine from a nut, but it was very difficult to find detailed reliable recommendations because hardly anyone keeps it as a houseplant. At first I just assumed that since the Scots pine also grows in some parts of Siberia, and it's also a pine, I should just care for the Siberian pine in the same way as for a Scots pine bonsai. Wrong!!! The Scots pine loves warmth and as much direct sun as possible. It hates wet soil and its roots getting exposed to severe frosts. The Siberian pine, on the other hand, loves moist soil, humid air and severe frosts in winter. It hates strong heat, dry soil and air, and short mild winters. So the optimal conditions are actually opposite, even though they can and often even do survive in the same places in nature.
@@SheffieldMadePlants There are general videos about propagation and overall care in open ground. Very little specific information. For example, I was shocked to discover that the Siberian pine is actually becoming a threatened species due to global warming. Longer summers mean more pests and more droughts. And the species hates both. It actually has a super-short yearly growth period of just a few weeks. Then it prepares for winter. So in the wild it is getting slowly outcompeted by larches and Scots pines. In Britain, I think, it's similar but with the Scots pines themselves.
My sedum has a sort of “dandruff”… very tiny salt/pepper bits all over, under and over the leaves. Tried cinnamon sprinkles for a few days and then washed the whole plant. Few days later, dandruff back. Nothing flies or crawls around. Research hasn’t given me any answers. Plant has been fertilized and watered..looks wonderfully healthy except for this fine dust. Can anyone help?
@@SheffieldMadePlants The dust is too fine for insects..not fluffy, sticky, flying or crawling…almost like a fine pollen only there are no flowers. Have been gardening for many years and never had a situation like this with any indoor or outdoor plant. When I rub the dust between my fingers, there is a slight granular feeling…not soft at all. So frustrating!
@@SheffieldMadePlants I don't have a lot of sun in my room. And the room is humid so when I water the plant the soil takes ages to dry, so I assume the root rot and diseases are because of that. My leaves shrivel and go some go black. So when one plant thrives and other doesn't I have to switch them 😭
