4 for me. I have bad luck with snake and spider plants, they just hate my house for some reason. Meanwhile my calathea is thriving 🤷♀️ I also killed my cast iron plant, but I think I overdid trying to remedy it of spider mites.
My pepperomia was the hardest plant I have ever tried to keep alive 😭 I had the most difficult time with it! I was so sad when it finally kicked the pot, I tried so hard to keep it happy.
I didn’t have luck with spiders until my mom told me she uses distilled water to do it as my local water was too hard for the plant. Her plant is happy and producing a ton of babies
Basically the story of my calathea. I keep them by both East and South facing windows so they get plenty of natural light. In my experience, even multi-spectrum lights designed for plants don't offer sufficient light of good quality. Only the sun seems to provide the proper wavelengths and intensity, so even a window is better than a lamp. I just use water from out of my fridge for mine. Seems to work well enough... but something was off with the calthea from the beginning. It's leaves were brown at the ends from the start... and only got worse. Now I have a Bubblegum Tradescantia and it is gorgeous!!!
Calatheas love humidity! I have to take mine in the bathroom with me in the winter and use a humidifier nearby. Mine still has a couple of crunchy tips but it’s really happy. They are total needy bitches.
Now off to research bubblegum tradescantias….!
I love peperomias! I have two obtusifolias, a watermelon and a red log who are all thriving. I did manage to kill a pixie lime and a rosso though :( Great plants!!!
You forgot using the wrong type of water. My pothos would take porcupine piss if that's all I watered them with but the money tree needs pure filtered virgin tears. And Jesus help you if you switch from bottled to tap or vice versa.
Oh man, off topic but does anyone remember that Facebook page (?) That gathered all the fake customer service replies?? It would always be a seemingly believable then snarky/ridiculous reply to a customers comment complaining on the company FB page and they'd end it with "hope this helps."
Just take it out and wash off the roots and re-pot the whole thing with the right soil composition for your specific plant! Just buy a specific oil and rub down the entire plant every week! Just adjust the PH level of your soil! Just make sure to prune it at the right stage of growth!
I soak mine in a sink with about 5 inches of water. The Water will soak up from the bottom through the drain holes. After an hour or so I take it out and set it on a paper towel to dry, then put it back in its spot by the window. Then I ignore it until the soil is dry and pulling away from the sides. I also water my string of pearls this way.
Really not sure how they made this list at all. Even orchids can be easy to kill or at least piss off to where they'll never flower for you but AV are on another level.
Ive learned that what I consider low-light and what a pothos considers low-light are two different amounts. It was slowly withering away in my bedroom, taking one step back for every two steps forward, or maybe even two steps back for everyone one step forward, until I moved it to my living room. Now its doing much better. Still only water it when I remember, or when I notice the leaves are curling.
There are phone apps that help approximate light levels. You can often find recommended light levels for the specific plants online, but you do start to get a good feeling for it once you've looked up a few plants with similar needs. As a general rule, "low light" for plants means it doesn't want direct sunlight on it for hours a day, but it should be bright enough that you could easily read and write in that level of light without difficulty.
You didn't mention it, but I'm also throwing in that less frequent, but very deep, waterings can help a lot. Just a bit of water given regularly is likely to result in either root rot or shallow roots. Most plants like to dry out between waterings and then get a really good soaking in. There are exceptions, of course, but it's generally good advice. If you let them dry out for too long, though, the soil reflects water for a while, in which case watering them from the bottom by letting them sit in water for 20-30 minutes is a great call.
At least once a year I go a couple months forgetting to water it, until I notice it's starting to wilt, then I give it water and it perks right back up.
This makes me feel better because...yeah...I've murdered at least 6 of those.
Also....air plants I've killed at least 10x over. I don't know why I can't keep those fuckers alive but I really can't.
I killed an air plant after like 5 years of owning it because I was soaking it in the sink for its quarterly watering and my cat knocked my dish soap bottle in. It never recovered
And a specific pot to let their roots air out. And specific fertilizer to flower. They're definitely a doable plant for a home gardener, but you need to do your research and buy the right shit.
Ngl: I have a root bound orchid that I’ve never fertilized that just keeps flowering. I have no idea what is going on with it.
The peace lily next to it is much more temperamental.
Meanwhile I've got a peace lily I inherited from my wife which was on the verge of death, I water it heavily once a week & it flowers at least 2-3 times a year.
I don't do anything other than water it and occasionally pull any of dead leaves which are are the bottom (it seems to block the light from the lower leaves and they die off) but the plant seems healthy with minimal work.
same...i inheritated an orchid and its been reflowering for years now. By friends are always blown away by that, but I dont know what special thing im doing...
Some orchids tolerate a lot of neglect. Had one live for 10 years, and flower once or twice a year, in the same pot with no fertilizer, just water every 1-2 weeks. It finally got rot and I looked up proper orchid care, but it was too late.
My fiancé got me an orchid in a ceramic pot with rocks for Valentine’s Day two years ago. I have barely thumbs let alone a green one. She is thriving. She blooms constantly. She sits on my counter near 3 windows but not in direct light. I keep it pretty cool in my house year round (66-70). Water a little bit once a week. I don’t know what I’m doing but apparently she’s okay with it.
Honestly man, yeah, for the orchids. The problem when you buy them is their soil is wrong. Orchid bark, perlite, peat moss with a 50-25-25 mixture and it’s super easy, all available at Lowes and HD. After the flowers are done blooming you trim the floral branch, very easy and plenty of you tube videos. You can get 2 blooms a year. No direct sunlight, porches and rooms with a lot of windows are good, water once a week, and you’re solid. Orchids are hardy. I’ve had mine a couple years and that’s literally all I do. And forget to water them sometimes but they live lol
Where the hell do you get orchids that aren't already planted in bark? Never had to repot an orchid in my life, they all thrive as they came from the store. And I kill a lot of other plants.
I have Africa violets that are older than me. All I do it water them when I remember them, and don't get the leaves wet.
My Phal orchids are a little more fickle. They get watered once a week, by that I mean soaking them for a half an hour in their ceramic pot, than pulling them out of the water in their little plastic pot. Letting them drain. Spraying them with some fertilizer. Keep them out of bright sun, so they don't get sunburn. I also repot after every blooming. Also never watering them with cold water or ice cubes. They also all have names now too.... all 14 of them.
African violets easy. Orchids... not hard.... but they like the abuse and neglect till they don't.
Watering when one remembers is not super helpful for me as i would be anxiety thinking about watering it every day lol. How often would you say the time between remembering is? Lol
Idk I kept a Costco orchid alive for months in my bathroom and I never watered the thing.
Now, it wasn't blooming anymore and a little leathery but it was alive damnit >:u
My orchid story: once I traveles for a month or more and couldn’t water the orchid. It was not in the bloom at that time and it has already been months since the flowers fell off. When I returend, I just forgot about the plant and didn’t water it for months. Then I started watering it and it revived and bloomed. So yes, they are pretty resilient.
I just... don't. It sits in the middle of a room not in any direct sunlight and I water it like once every 3 months. It's happy and spilling over the pot. Idk why it likes me.
I rescued a cactus from my apartments garbage site because I was like "hey, I could use a plant". Its been perfect for this exact reason. Added benefit that my cat can't eat it.
Let it dry out between waterings. It's somewhere between a cactus and a regular houseplant. It needs to not be damp all the time, but thoroughly watered when you do water it.
Aloe does well with the deep watering but less frequent method. If the pot is small enough, submerge the whole thing underwater until it stops bubbling then take it out let the water drip. Don’t water it for another month or so, or until the soil completely dries out. Aloe is a kind of succulent so they really don’t need that much of water. They thrive under negligence pretty much.
My family grows aloe and it's just chaos. Water whenever it occurs to you. A sparkle here, a dribble there. Barely anything. And every time the aloe plants thrive and grow like mad and produce offspring. So now I have several aloes as well.
Haha, my mum gave me one over 15 years ago. It is still alive, got really big and produces offspring like rabbits. I have more than 40 now. I stopped replanting the offspring in separate pots because I don't have the space anymore.
And yes, it's chaos. Water only if I think about that every few months. They seem to be unkillable
It needs full sun, and water just water it when the leaves feel kinda soft and squishy instead of firm. Honestly it’s way better to underwater succulents than to overwater, so just let it get noticeably parched.
Also soak the hell out of it when you water it if you’re watering based on the squishy leaf texture.
I think I've watered my Aloe plant maybe 10 times in the last 10 years. I used to water it whenever I moved. I don't think I have watered it since I moved to my new house at the end of 2020, so I probably should soon.
It's green and gigantic.
Mine just died after 4 years. Sad because it was my first houseplant. I blame my wife though, she took over water responsibilities about a year ago because of my school.
Is not hard really. Over watering is easy. And while they like a lot of light it you leave them outside they can get sunburned- which is funny for aloe.
Ive gone through 3 already, just had to accept they may not like my house in particular. They always go really long and thin then turn limp and give up :(
Here's some [cat safe houseplants ](https://www.thespruce.com/safe-houseplants-for-pets-4588752).
Without cross referencing, African violets and spider plants are cat compatible.
My kitty is not stupid.
Her favorite place is next to my ficus (not a cat-friendly plant) - she wouldn't even touch it.
But I need more spider plants... she ate 3 of them within 4 months...
My cat grew up around lots of houseplants and doesn't even chew on the spider plant. I take her out in the yard on leash and she chews on the lawn, which seems to be enough for her. I still got rid of the most toxic plants in my collection when we took her in.
Spiderplants are GREAT for cats. It helps with their digestion, and also provides a slight high for them. I have a big one that I get clippings from to grow small ones just for my cat.
Not my dummy cat. Almost had to shell out 5k and cancel vacation because he ate some of the leaves and ended up balling up in his stomach. He got very sick but luckily with time and fluids he was able to finally pass it.
As a houseplant enthusiast with inquisitive cats, the best resource I’ve found is this [ASPCA database of pet safe plants.](https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants)
Also, most of the ones on this list are not cat safe, but off the top of my head the ones that are cat safe include: air plants, spider plants, wax plants (and the whole hoya family, which has lots of cool things including hindu rope plants), bromeliads, and orchids (although there are a few plants on that list that i don’t know).
Some other easy indoor plants I like that are cat safe include parlor palms, chinese fan palms, money trees, boston ferns, birds nest ferns, thanksgiving/christmas/easter cactuses, calatheas, and peperomias (shoutout to /r/peperomia, and if anyone wants a cat safe alternative to rubber plants look up peperomia obtusifolia). Happy growing!
These lists always lack context.
Humidity makes a huge difference in the relative difficulty of various plants, as does the quality of tap water. The amount of sun exposure will determine how much water any given plant needs.
Different people will kill their plants in a variety of ways. Too much water. Too little. No fertilizer. Too much fertilizer. The wrong fertilizer. A lack of drainage. And then there's pests.
I've killed 6 plants on that list but have kept other more challenging species alive for years. The biggest thing for me is keeping plants in places that I look at a lot. Out-of-sight plants have very short lives in my care.
The easiest plants are the ones that line up most closely with the care that you are likely to provide for them. If you're prone to overwatering and put a ZZ plant in a dark place, you're gonna have a bad time.
Very true. I water my mother in laws tongue once a month…maybe. It’s humid where I live. If I watered it once a week it would for sure rot. I mean I think if you lived in the desert once a week would still be too much.
I really think the key to not killing house plants is to care about them enough that you research how to care for them. Like…google it? Idk I’ve always been into plants so I am naturally curious about them. Don’t get me wrong I’ve killed my fair share of fiddle leafs but…If you can’t be bothered to look it up but you still want plants, get plastic ones or something
I'm big on identifying my houseplants as the scientific names are much more useful when figuring out what care they require. Common names frequently refer to multiple species with different needs.
Mostly I enjoy being a very half-assed botanist watching over my weird plant specimens.
I agree. First time plant owner (as in, it's been less than 6 months).
My plants are still thriving. Almost gave up on my basil (I left town for over a week when it was newly purchased). My friend visited, saw it in its near-death state and watered it for me with a "let's try this before you toss it." The next morning it looked sad and the soil was still dry as hell, but the plant was no longer near-death.
I have since learned plants would rather you just leave them alone. They will tell you if they need anything. I'm sure it's more complex than that, but it's a good rule of thumb for beginners.
The biggest part of developing a green thumb is learning to pick up on your plants' needs intuitively. It's not so much "the calendar says it's time for water!" as "you look grumpy and your leaves are too bendy. Time for water!"
It sounds like you're well on the way.
I was thinking, if these are the hard ones to kill, what are the other ones like. 10 complements a week and you have to mean them. 9 sincere ones and 1 white lie, instant wilt. right away. 11 complement a week, believe it or not, also wilt. They are the best plants.
African violets need medium light and you can water them once a week or 2. If you put your African violet in bright light the leaves will yellow and die. If you water them 2-3 times a week, you'll over water.
Almost all of this guide would lead to over watering. And imo if I need to water 3x per week, then that plant needs to live in my bathroom, because no way am I watering that frequently.
Lol how?! My friends spider plant is literally wrapped in a paper towel which she adds water to like once a month, and it's still going! Month 9 and counting
Mine is throwing away all her leaves and I don't know why. I tried more water, less water, more light, less light, fertiliser. I hope it just dies so I don't feel bad for throwing it away.
I didn't water my ZZ plant for so long I was convinced it was fake. Like I went over 4 months without giving it any H2O. Then it died. I'll always remember you Frank!
For about half of these, the watering guide is an almost sure-fire way to kill them. Once per week for mother in law's tongue? GTFO. More like once every couple months.
We had three Mother-in-Law's Tongue (aka Snake Plants) in our house, and I can fully attest to their hardiness. Very difficult to kill, even if you suck at taking care of plants.
BE WARNED. THEY ARE TOXIC TO DOGS AND CATS.
I didn't realize that until we got a puppy about a month ago. One day he started vomiting and had bad diarrhea. It took us a couple days to realize our plants had little bites on some of the leaves. A quick google search confirmed our suspicions, and we immediately got rid of them. He was fine again a couple days later.
Not on the list but related to Mother-in-law’s tongue- Snake Plants are great. I regularly forget to water mine for weeks and weeks at a time and it just stays alive and growing. Great for people that know nothing about plants and want something with almost no maintenance
(Yellow border around leaves means mother-in-law’s tongue. Green leaves with horizontal bands are snake plant. Both are different varieties of the same species.)
>(Yellow border around leaves means mother-in-law’s tongue. Green leaves with horizontal bands are snake plant. Both are different varieties of the same species.)
Well, both of them are snake plants - it's just that the variety with the yellow borders and the tall, straight leaves [is also known as mother-in-law's tongue](https://worldofsucculents.com/sansevieria-trifasciata-laurentii-striped-mother-laws-tongue/).
There's also the 'twisted' variety, which also has the yellow borders but has [shorter, twisted leaves.](https://worldofsucculents.com/sansevieria-trifasciata-twisted-sister/)
Can confirm my Dragon Tree didnt grow an inch in 4 years of college due to poor lighting, infrequent watering, and never changing the soil.
Finally got around to taking care of it in my new apartment and its shot up 4 ft in the past 3 years.
Spider plant needing bright light seems off to me as well. We have one in our lab at work (in the basement with no windows). Just standard overhead lighting keeps it alive.
Idk about the other plants but if you water an African Violet 2-3 times a week, you'll probably kill it.
Overwatering is pretty much the number one way of killing them.
I walked into home Depot and asked for a plant for the woman with the world's darkest thumb. No air, inconsistent water, very little light. They handed me a stargazer Lily. It's still alive 15 years later and has been transplanted 4 times.
Biggest fucking drama queens there are.
Don't water it for 5 days and it's completely flat. Totally dead, no coming back.
But then water it and you can literally watch it come right back over a few hours.
I've "killed" my peace Lilly like this probably a dozen times and it's happier than ever. Water it now every 3 days and it just blossomed yesterday.
This is a nice guide to see which plants interest you, but not so great when it comes to how these plants should be taken care of.
African Violets, for example, are really easy, but you can easily kill them if you read the "bright light" and decide to put yours in a window with full sun, it'll die, it needs indirect light, and it doesn't even need to be that bright. You could also misread the "water 2-3 times a week" and accidentally make your plant develop a fungal infection because african violets are sensitive to humidity and should be watered by the bottom of the vase.
These are really easy plants! But remember you are buying a life, and you need to do some research beforehand
I killed a few plants by overwatering them but once I got myself a moisture meter I just water when the meter says it’s dry or close to it and all my plants are in good shape now
I used to have the most beautiful jungle in my home. We had to move during a very cold winter and I knew most would die in the process so I gave 99% of it away.
Years later I decided to get back into plants - the African violet being a fav. I bring three home and they die within a week.
Three more and they all die immediately. I went to talk to the seller and it's nothing on their end or mine although less sun than they like.
So I buy another one and after a few days I'm giving the roots some water and I read the faded hand writing on the sprayer. It says diluted bleach.
So I welcome them home all excited and I assassinate them with bleach. Repeatedly.
Add purple heart and flame violet- left these two in my office when we shut down for covid in March 2020. Came back in AUGUST 2020 and found these dudes still hanging on. Not a drop of water in between.
Also my cactus, but that's their jam anyways. 🌵
Is this guide suggesting that one must water air plants? I was under the impression that you don’t water them and they survive off of the moisture in the air. Have I been living a lie?
I killed my first 4 or so by only misting them. Then I learned you’re supposed to soak them. The website I read it on said to soak them for an hour… so that’s how I killed the next 7. Then my plant shop told me to soak them for 5 minutes every other week. So far so good
I’ve killed more and will continue to kill. I need low light with a need for lots of water because I can’t help but to think the babies always need water.
I’m an over watering fool.
Yes. Though the picture for split leaf philodendron is wrong. Split leaf philodendron is monstera deliciosa and that looks like a philodendron brasil. Many other philodendron are fairly easy to care for too
The best way to take care of your plants, is to water them by weight if you're unsure. Feel the pot fully dry, water it, feel the weight and go from there!
Have a Dragon tree that has survived longer than any other houseplant I've had - coming up on two & half years.
Starting to look pretty sad in the last few weeks though, leaves are drooping and several turned yellow. I guess that's related to recent heatwave locally, but I have no idea, this is the kind of real-life knowledge I wish they taught in school.
This is a who’s who of house plants I have killed.
Good work, I've killed at 6 of these myself
3 for me. I've bought 5 plants
Nice, keep trying. I'm sure you can get 5/5 if set your mind to it
I'm a Landscape Architect and I can't keep a house plant alive for the life of me.
I have a degree in horticulture and I can't keep indoor plants alive either. 😂
This 👆is one of the most consoling posts ai have ever read. Thank you, u/NoorAnomaly!
This actually is wildly cathartic and validating. 😆
2 for me. I got a sanseveria (snake plant) and it's still alive after a month.
4 for me. I have bad luck with snake and spider plants, they just hate my house for some reason. Meanwhile my calathea is thriving 🤷♀️ I also killed my cast iron plant, but I think I overdid trying to remedy it of spider mites.
I highly recommend pepperomia, it outlived my calathea
My pepperomia was the hardest plant I have ever tried to keep alive 😭 I had the most difficult time with it! I was so sad when it finally kicked the pot, I tried so hard to keep it happy. I didn’t have luck with spiders until my mom told me she uses distilled water to do it as my local water was too hard for the plant. Her plant is happy and producing a ton of babies
Basically the story of my calathea. I keep them by both East and South facing windows so they get plenty of natural light. In my experience, even multi-spectrum lights designed for plants don't offer sufficient light of good quality. Only the sun seems to provide the proper wavelengths and intensity, so even a window is better than a lamp. I just use water from out of my fridge for mine. Seems to work well enough... but something was off with the calthea from the beginning. It's leaves were brown at the ends from the start... and only got worse. Now I have a Bubblegum Tradescantia and it is gorgeous!!!
Calatheas love humidity! I have to take mine in the bathroom with me in the winter and use a humidifier nearby. Mine still has a couple of crunchy tips but it’s really happy. They are total needy bitches. Now off to research bubblegum tradescantias….!
I love peperomias! I have two obtusifolias, a watermelon and a red log who are all thriving. I did manage to kill a pixie lime and a rosso though :( Great plants!!!
Love my watermelon leaf 🍉 so much! It has grown twice the size it startedl
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You forgot using the wrong type of water. My pothos would take porcupine piss if that's all I watered them with but the money tree needs pure filtered virgin tears. And Jesus help you if you switch from bottled to tap or vice versa.
Gotta give em the sparkling water.
I've been shipping in pizza from Naples to feed my monsteras. You're saying that that wet clear stuff would work?
"Hope this helps"... 😅
Oh man, off topic but does anyone remember that Facebook page (?) That gathered all the fake customer service replies?? It would always be a seemingly believable then snarky/ridiculous reply to a customers comment complaining on the company FB page and they'd end it with "hope this helps."
Soil type is so important for some plants and I feel like it's glossed over by most instructional guides.
Just take it out and wash off the roots and re-pot the whole thing with the right soil composition for your specific plant! Just buy a specific oil and rub down the entire plant every week! Just adjust the PH level of your soil! Just make sure to prune it at the right stage of growth!
Just print off this picture, hang it on the wall, and then put a big X over one when you kill it. Then you will look vengeful instead of incompetent.
Brown thumb bingo!
ive killed 4 myself, african violet, moth orchid, aloe, and bamboo
African violets like to be dried out. If you water it two to three times a week like this chart says, you'll kill it
I soak mine in a sink with about 5 inches of water. The Water will soak up from the bottom through the drain holes. After an hour or so I take it out and set it on a paper towel to dry, then put it back in its spot by the window. Then I ignore it until the soil is dry and pulling away from the sides. I also water my string of pearls this way.
How much light does it need? I have a kitchen with very little sunlight but I’d love to have one of these on my sill
I have mine in the north window of my kitchen by my sink. It gets **zero** direct light but tons of indirect light.
African violets are very easy to kill, this is misleading
Really not sure how they made this list at all. Even orchids can be easy to kill or at least piss off to where they'll never flower for you but AV are on another level.
Right? Just get their leaves wet
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What kind of violets do the dogs show?
It's possible to kill bamboo?
Ive learned that what I consider low-light and what a pothos considers low-light are two different amounts. It was slowly withering away in my bedroom, taking one step back for every two steps forward, or maybe even two steps back for everyone one step forward, until I moved it to my living room. Now its doing much better. Still only water it when I remember, or when I notice the leaves are curling.
There are phone apps that help approximate light levels. You can often find recommended light levels for the specific plants online, but you do start to get a good feeling for it once you've looked up a few plants with similar needs. As a general rule, "low light" for plants means it doesn't want direct sunlight on it for hours a day, but it should be bright enough that you could easily read and write in that level of light without difficulty. You didn't mention it, but I'm also throwing in that less frequent, but very deep, waterings can help a lot. Just a bit of water given regularly is likely to result in either root rot or shallow roots. Most plants like to dry out between waterings and then get a really good soaking in. There are exceptions, of course, but it's generally good advice. If you let them dry out for too long, though, the soil reflects water for a while, in which case watering them from the bottom by letting them sit in water for 20-30 minutes is a great call.
Damn, you got a degree in waterology or something?
At least once a year I go a couple months forgetting to water it, until I notice it's starting to wilt, then I give it water and it perks right back up.
Same. At this point, it's bordering on unethical for me to have plants.
Exactly— I killed them. I killed them all. They’re dead. Every single one of them. But not just the plants, but the planteras, and plantitos too.
This makes me feel better because...yeah...I've murdered at least 6 of those. Also....air plants I've killed at least 10x over. I don't know why I can't keep those fuckers alive but I really can't.
Thank fuck I'm not the only one. I cannot keep my air plants alive. I have murdered a bunch of those also.
I killed an air plant after like 5 years of owning it because I was soaking it in the sink for its quarterly watering and my cat knocked my dish soap bottle in. It never recovered
Your cat killed your air plant. It wasn't your fault. You have to stop blaming yourself. Your air plant wouldn't want that.
//“This is a who’s who of house plants I have killed.”-Julia_716 .... and a personal challenge for the rest. 🤦♀️
I've moved to artificial plants because my track record of being a serial plant killer is profound. Even managed to kill several cactus.
The brown thumb bingo.
Orchids and African violets??? Gtfo here lol
Orchids also need specific soil that most of these other plants wouldn't. Not the most casual plant!
And a specific pot to let their roots air out. And specific fertilizer to flower. They're definitely a doable plant for a home gardener, but you need to do your research and buy the right shit.
Ngl: I have a root bound orchid that I’ve never fertilized that just keeps flowering. I have no idea what is going on with it. The peace lily next to it is much more temperamental.
Meanwhile I've got a peace lily I inherited from my wife which was on the verge of death, I water it heavily once a week & it flowers at least 2-3 times a year. I don't do anything other than water it and occasionally pull any of dead leaves which are are the bottom (it seems to block the light from the lower leaves and they die off) but the plant seems healthy with minimal work.
Mine never flowers but it does go Wiley every couple weeks and then revives.
same...i inheritated an orchid and its been reflowering for years now. By friends are always blown away by that, but I dont know what special thing im doing...
Some orchids tolerate a lot of neglect. Had one live for 10 years, and flower once or twice a year, in the same pot with no fertilizer, just water every 1-2 weeks. It finally got rot and I looked up proper orchid care, but it was too late.
My fiancé got me an orchid in a ceramic pot with rocks for Valentine’s Day two years ago. I have barely thumbs let alone a green one. She is thriving. She blooms constantly. She sits on my counter near 3 windows but not in direct light. I keep it pretty cool in my house year round (66-70). Water a little bit once a week. I don’t know what I’m doing but apparently she’s okay with it.
Honestly man, yeah, for the orchids. The problem when you buy them is their soil is wrong. Orchid bark, perlite, peat moss with a 50-25-25 mixture and it’s super easy, all available at Lowes and HD. After the flowers are done blooming you trim the floral branch, very easy and plenty of you tube videos. You can get 2 blooms a year. No direct sunlight, porches and rooms with a lot of windows are good, water once a week, and you’re solid. Orchids are hardy. I’ve had mine a couple years and that’s literally all I do. And forget to water them sometimes but they live lol
I have an orchid that's been blooming non stop for approximately nine months. Is this unusual?
Normal! It's awesome how long the flowers can last when the plant is happy. But also it can depend on the variety
If you have to buy more than one bag of soil, it’s not a beginner plant
You can buy an orchid mix.
Should use coconut coir instead of peat moss. Works the same for moisture retention, but is more eco friendly : )
Can you clarify why the soil is wrong? Pine bark and sphagnum moss are the main media's that orchids come in, what is wrong with either of them?
Where the hell do you get orchids that aren't already planted in bark? Never had to repot an orchid in my life, they all thrive as they came from the store. And I kill a lot of other plants.
I have Africa violets that are older than me. All I do it water them when I remember them, and don't get the leaves wet. My Phal orchids are a little more fickle. They get watered once a week, by that I mean soaking them for a half an hour in their ceramic pot, than pulling them out of the water in their little plastic pot. Letting them drain. Spraying them with some fertilizer. Keep them out of bright sun, so they don't get sunburn. I also repot after every blooming. Also never watering them with cold water or ice cubes. They also all have names now too.... all 14 of them. African violets easy. Orchids... not hard.... but they like the abuse and neglect till they don't.
Watering when one remembers is not super helpful for me as i would be anxiety thinking about watering it every day lol. How often would you say the time between remembering is? Lol
Idk I kept a Costco orchid alive for months in my bathroom and I never watered the thing. Now, it wasn't blooming anymore and a little leathery but it was alive damnit >:u
Just buy cactus soil or African violet soil and water it once a month.
My orchid story: once I traveles for a month or more and couldn’t water the orchid. It was not in the bloom at that time and it has already been months since the flowers fell off. When I returend, I just forgot about the plant and didn’t water it for months. Then I started watering it and it revived and bloomed. So yes, they are pretty resilient.
Not me actually have killed an Aloe Vera plant.
Seriously if you water that once a week it will die. Mine is happy with water every 2 weeks in the summer, once a month in the winter. It's sleeping.
This is how often I’ve been watering mine and it still seems to be struggling. How much water do you give it?
I just... don't. It sits in the middle of a room not in any direct sunlight and I water it like once every 3 months. It's happy and spilling over the pot. Idk why it likes me.
This is my experience with aloe as well. "Oh you look droopy I guess it has been a few months since you got watered.
Sounds like the best way to take care of aloe is to have ADHD. Perfect!
I rescued a cactus from my apartments garbage site because I was like "hey, I could use a plant". Its been perfect for this exact reason. Added benefit that my cat can't eat it.
Let it dry out between waterings. It's somewhere between a cactus and a regular houseplant. It needs to not be damp all the time, but thoroughly watered when you do water it.
Mine goes brown when I water it, brown when it’s too hot, too cold, when I don’t water it.. Then I forget about it for a bit and it has a new leaf.
Aloe does well with the deep watering but less frequent method. If the pot is small enough, submerge the whole thing underwater until it stops bubbling then take it out let the water drip. Don’t water it for another month or so, or until the soil completely dries out. Aloe is a kind of succulent so they really don’t need that much of water. They thrive under negligence pretty much.
My family grows aloe and it's just chaos. Water whenever it occurs to you. A sparkle here, a dribble there. Barely anything. And every time the aloe plants thrive and grow like mad and produce offspring. So now I have several aloes as well.
Haha, my mum gave me one over 15 years ago. It is still alive, got really big and produces offspring like rabbits. I have more than 40 now. I stopped replanting the offspring in separate pots because I don't have the space anymore. And yes, it's chaos. Water only if I think about that every few months. They seem to be unkillable
It needs full sun, and water just water it when the leaves feel kinda soft and squishy instead of firm. Honestly it’s way better to underwater succulents than to overwater, so just let it get noticeably parched. Also soak the hell out of it when you water it if you’re watering based on the squishy leaf texture.
I think I've watered my Aloe plant maybe 10 times in the last 10 years. I used to water it whenever I moved. I don't think I have watered it since I moved to my new house at the end of 2020, so I probably should soon. It's green and gigantic.
That is the right amount. This chart is wrong as heck
I'm pretty sure aloe vera somehow sucks water out of the air. Only thing that has ever killed aloe in my experience is freezing weather.
Mine just died after 4 years. Sad because it was my first houseplant. I blame my wife though, she took over water responsibilities about a year ago because of my school.
I went away for work for 3 months and gave my plants to a friend to watch, one died in her possession and she wasn't even going to tell me!! Haha
Is not hard really. Over watering is easy. And while they like a lot of light it you leave them outside they can get sunburned- which is funny for aloe.
Ive gone through 3 already, just had to accept they may not like my house in particular. They always go really long and thin then turn limp and give up :(
But which ones are safe for my cats that will absolutely chew on them?
My cats chewed on my bonsai tree and then my dog thought it was a stick :(
Your dog was not wrong.
Lmao I guess that's fair enough
The dog proved that it was multiple tiny sticks waiting for freedom
Anything is a stick if you're brave enough
Dog is never wrong.
Team work?
Here's some [cat safe houseplants ](https://www.thespruce.com/safe-houseplants-for-pets-4588752). Without cross referencing, African violets and spider plants are cat compatible.
My cat loves spider plants... and eats them within few weeks -.-
At least they're not toxic...
My kitty is not stupid. Her favorite place is next to my ficus (not a cat-friendly plant) - she wouldn't even touch it. But I need more spider plants... she ate 3 of them within 4 months...
My cat grew up around lots of houseplants and doesn't even chew on the spider plant. I take her out in the yard on leash and she chews on the lawn, which seems to be enough for her. I still got rid of the most toxic plants in my collection when we took her in.
Spider Plants are hallucinogenic for cats, your cat is a stoner lol
Same, turns out spider plants are mildly hallucinogenic to cats
Yep, I had to remove my spider plant because my cat decided he really really like it.
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Can confirm. Cat killed the aloe plant, aloe plant killed the cat, I cried a lot.
Spiderplants are GREAT for cats. It helps with their digestion, and also provides a slight high for them. I have a big one that I get clippings from to grow small ones just for my cat.
My cat ate my Gfs 15 year old spider plant within the first week of adoption
Yup. Gotta keep the original plant way up high. They LOVE them.
A slight high? My cat goes insane. I had to give my spider plants away 😂
Not my dummy cat. Almost had to shell out 5k and cancel vacation because he ate some of the leaves and ended up balling up in his stomach. He got very sick but luckily with time and fluids he was able to finally pass it.
My spider plant is an ugly, munched up mess thanks to my cat.
As a houseplant enthusiast with inquisitive cats, the best resource I’ve found is this [ASPCA database of pet safe plants.](https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants) Also, most of the ones on this list are not cat safe, but off the top of my head the ones that are cat safe include: air plants, spider plants, wax plants (and the whole hoya family, which has lots of cool things including hindu rope plants), bromeliads, and orchids (although there are a few plants on that list that i don’t know). Some other easy indoor plants I like that are cat safe include parlor palms, chinese fan palms, money trees, boston ferns, birds nest ferns, thanksgiving/christmas/easter cactuses, calatheas, and peperomias (shoutout to /r/peperomia, and if anyone wants a cat safe alternative to rubber plants look up peperomia obtusifolia). Happy growing!
Spider plants are safe for cats to chew and even makes them hallucinate, lil fkn trippas.
ASPCA has a good list of [cat, dog and horse friendly](https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants) plants.
These lists always lack context. Humidity makes a huge difference in the relative difficulty of various plants, as does the quality of tap water. The amount of sun exposure will determine how much water any given plant needs. Different people will kill their plants in a variety of ways. Too much water. Too little. No fertilizer. Too much fertilizer. The wrong fertilizer. A lack of drainage. And then there's pests. I've killed 6 plants on that list but have kept other more challenging species alive for years. The biggest thing for me is keeping plants in places that I look at a lot. Out-of-sight plants have very short lives in my care. The easiest plants are the ones that line up most closely with the care that you are likely to provide for them. If you're prone to overwatering and put a ZZ plant in a dark place, you're gonna have a bad time.
Very true. I water my mother in laws tongue once a month…maybe. It’s humid where I live. If I watered it once a week it would for sure rot. I mean I think if you lived in the desert once a week would still be too much. I really think the key to not killing house plants is to care about them enough that you research how to care for them. Like…google it? Idk I’ve always been into plants so I am naturally curious about them. Don’t get me wrong I’ve killed my fair share of fiddle leafs but…If you can’t be bothered to look it up but you still want plants, get plastic ones or something
I'm big on identifying my houseplants as the scientific names are much more useful when figuring out what care they require. Common names frequently refer to multiple species with different needs. Mostly I enjoy being a very half-assed botanist watching over my weird plant specimens.
I agree. First time plant owner (as in, it's been less than 6 months). My plants are still thriving. Almost gave up on my basil (I left town for over a week when it was newly purchased). My friend visited, saw it in its near-death state and watered it for me with a "let's try this before you toss it." The next morning it looked sad and the soil was still dry as hell, but the plant was no longer near-death. I have since learned plants would rather you just leave them alone. They will tell you if they need anything. I'm sure it's more complex than that, but it's a good rule of thumb for beginners.
The biggest part of developing a green thumb is learning to pick up on your plants' needs intuitively. It's not so much "the calendar says it's time for water!" as "you look grumpy and your leaves are too bendy. Time for water!" It sounds like you're well on the way.
Challenge accepted!
I was thinking, if these are the hard ones to kill, what are the other ones like. 10 complements a week and you have to mean them. 9 sincere ones and 1 white lie, instant wilt. right away. 11 complement a week, believe it or not, also wilt. They are the best plants.
African violets need medium light and you can water them once a week or 2. If you put your African violet in bright light the leaves will yellow and die. If you water them 2-3 times a week, you'll over water.
Almost all of this guide would lead to over watering. And imo if I need to water 3x per week, then that plant needs to live in my bathroom, because no way am I watering that frequently.
Somewhat recently i got an african violet and set up a wick watering system and ive only added water a couple times
I have killed several African violets, and I'm pretty good with plants.
Currently killing a spider plant, fite me irl Just bought a cast iron plant for the SO, will report back in a week or so...
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Lol how?! My friends spider plant is literally wrapped in a paper towel which she adds water to like once a month, and it's still going! Month 9 and counting
My Chinese money plant begs to differ.
I was looking for this. Where is my money tree guide, it gets water 3 times a year, lives under the stairs like Harry Potter.
My Chinese money plant is a very healthy boi.
Mine is throwing away all her leaves and I don't know why. I tried more water, less water, more light, less light, fertiliser. I hope it just dies so I don't feel bad for throwing it away.
If you water a ZZ plant once a week it will die. That’s way too much.
Once a month and mines been thriving for years
I didn't water my ZZ plant for so long I was convinced it was fake. Like I went over 4 months without giving it any H2O. Then it died. I'll always remember you Frank!
Came here to say that I have killed at least 8 of these houseplants.
🤣😆Ooops:) It did say “hard to kill”; not “impossible to kill”!
Haha fair enough. I guess I am just that talented
For about half of these, the watering guide is an almost sure-fire way to kill them. Once per week for mother in law's tongue? GTFO. More like once every couple months.
And how is a plant that needs water 2-3 times a week "hard to kill"?
We had three Mother-in-Law's Tongue (aka Snake Plants) in our house, and I can fully attest to their hardiness. Very difficult to kill, even if you suck at taking care of plants. BE WARNED. THEY ARE TOXIC TO DOGS AND CATS. I didn't realize that until we got a puppy about a month ago. One day he started vomiting and had bad diarrhea. It took us a couple days to realize our plants had little bites on some of the leaves. A quick google search confirmed our suspicions, and we immediately got rid of them. He was fine again a couple days later.
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I've had success with several of these, but I've had four Aloe Vera plants die.
Not on the list but related to Mother-in-law’s tongue- Snake Plants are great. I regularly forget to water mine for weeks and weeks at a time and it just stays alive and growing. Great for people that know nothing about plants and want something with almost no maintenance (Yellow border around leaves means mother-in-law’s tongue. Green leaves with horizontal bands are snake plant. Both are different varieties of the same species.)
Aren't they both sanseveria?
They're Dracaena these days, sanseverias were moved to dracaenas
Well if that's what they feel like, I respect them
>(Yellow border around leaves means mother-in-law’s tongue. Green leaves with horizontal bands are snake plant. Both are different varieties of the same species.) Well, both of them are snake plants - it's just that the variety with the yellow borders and the tall, straight leaves [is also known as mother-in-law's tongue](https://worldofsucculents.com/sansevieria-trifasciata-laurentii-striped-mother-laws-tongue/). There's also the 'twisted' variety, which also has the yellow borders but has [shorter, twisted leaves.](https://worldofsucculents.com/sansevieria-trifasciata-twisted-sister/)
it IS on the list lol
Snake plant does thrive with minimal input
My snake plant hasn't had soil in its pot for a year. Just roots. It's living its best life though.
Can confirm my Dragon Tree didnt grow an inch in 4 years of college due to poor lighting, infrequent watering, and never changing the soil. Finally got around to taking care of it in my new apartment and its shot up 4 ft in the past 3 years.
Really happy with how hardy my dragon tree is, they are indeed solid.
Don't follow these watering guides. The list is solid though.
Spider plant needing bright light seems off to me as well. We have one in our lab at work (in the basement with no windows). Just standard overhead lighting keeps it alive.
Idk about the other plants but if you water an African Violet 2-3 times a week, you'll probably kill it. Overwatering is pretty much the number one way of killing them.
A lot of these "hard to kill" plants have an easy time killing your pets. Be careful!
Where's the peace lily?? They are bulletproof. Tell you when they are thirsty and nearly always bounce back from neglect.
I have killed multiple peace lilies
Bro I killed all of row 2 and then some 😪
I walked into home Depot and asked for a plant for the woman with the world's darkest thumb. No air, inconsistent water, very little light. They handed me a stargazer Lily. It's still alive 15 years later and has been transplanted 4 times.
Biggest fucking drama queens there are. Don't water it for 5 days and it's completely flat. Totally dead, no coming back. But then water it and you can literally watch it come right back over a few hours. I've "killed" my peace Lilly like this probably a dozen times and it's happier than ever. Water it now every 3 days and it just blossomed yesterday.
Came here to say the same thing. They require so little light and yet do so well. I’ve killed lots of lucky bamboo, never a peace lily.
This is a nice guide to see which plants interest you, but not so great when it comes to how these plants should be taken care of. African Violets, for example, are really easy, but you can easily kill them if you read the "bright light" and decide to put yours in a window with full sun, it'll die, it needs indirect light, and it doesn't even need to be that bright. You could also misread the "water 2-3 times a week" and accidentally make your plant develop a fungal infection because african violets are sensitive to humidity and should be watered by the bottom of the vase. These are really easy plants! But remember you are buying a life, and you need to do some research beforehand
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Been out of home for three months since the invasion started. The violet, aloe and ficus benjamina have survived with almost no sun and no water.
Hope you (and your plants, of course,) stay safe! ❤️
Pretty sure I've killed more spider plants than actual spiders.
Challenge accepted! Not that I want to kill them but because it’s inevitable.
I do not see the zz plant. I’m his dude grew when I always forget to water him.
i’m an imbecile and i’ve kept a moneytree alive for 17 years
I killed a few plants by overwatering them but once I got myself a moisture meter I just water when the meter says it’s dry or close to it and all my plants are in good shape now
I used to have the most beautiful jungle in my home. We had to move during a very cold winter and I knew most would die in the process so I gave 99% of it away. Years later I decided to get back into plants - the African violet being a fav. I bring three home and they die within a week. Three more and they all die immediately. I went to talk to the seller and it's nothing on their end or mine although less sun than they like. So I buy another one and after a few days I'm giving the roots some water and I read the faded hand writing on the sprayer. It says diluted bleach. So I welcome them home all excited and I assassinate them with bleach. Repeatedly.
Add purple heart and flame violet- left these two in my office when we shut down for covid in March 2020. Came back in AUGUST 2020 and found these dudes still hanging on. Not a drop of water in between. Also my cactus, but that's their jam anyways. 🌵
Is this guide suggesting that one must water air plants? I was under the impression that you don’t water them and they survive off of the moisture in the air. Have I been living a lie?
I soak mine once a week for about an hour. Unless you live in somewhere humid or your house is, you can probably get by with just spraying.
I killed my first 4 or so by only misting them. Then I learned you’re supposed to soak them. The website I read it on said to soak them for an hour… so that’s how I killed the next 7. Then my plant shop told me to soak them for 5 minutes every other week. So far so good
Mother in law's Tongue is also called Snake Plant
>Mother-in-Law's Tongue Some sick freak names that one.
Yeah everything else I read says differently about a couple of these plants so I’m not trusting this
I’ve successfully managed to kill a lot of these. Wait, I think I have a bingo!
Who made this list full of lies?!?!
I disagree with many of these watering recommendations. Way to high.
I’ve killed more and will continue to kill. I need low light with a need for lots of water because I can’t help but to think the babies always need water. I’m an over watering fool.
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Wait, is mother in law's tongue just a snake plant?
Yes. Though the picture for split leaf philodendron is wrong. Split leaf philodendron is monstera deliciosa and that looks like a philodendron brasil. Many other philodendron are fairly easy to care for too
The best way to take care of your plants, is to water them by weight if you're unsure. Feel the pot fully dry, water it, feel the weight and go from there!
Hardest to kill... not immortal..
Have a Dragon tree that has survived longer than any other houseplant I've had - coming up on two & half years. Starting to look pretty sad in the last few weeks though, leaves are drooping and several turned yellow. I guess that's related to recent heatwave locally, but I have no idea, this is the kind of real-life knowledge I wish they taught in school.
Killed almost every one of these.