c/botany-lovers

Overheard a botanist arguing that houseplants are basically just high-maintenance decor, got me thinking

Honestly, is keeping a fiddle leaf fig alive really a sign of skill or just stubbornness, and does the emotional payoff of watching it grow beat the frustration of dropping $40 on a new one every time it dies?

2 comments

mason.anna•1d ago

I compared starting my tomato seedlings in peat pots vs. newspaper pots this spring and wow what a difference.

I did 10 plants each back in March, using the same soil and seeds from Burpee. The peat pot ones got all moldy on the sides after a few weeks, while the newspaper ones were perfectly fine and the roots grew right through. Has anyone else had weird luck with those peat pots or was it just my setup in the garage?

2 comments

the_mia•1d ago

Just realized pitcher plants eat more than bugs in the wild

I was reading this random blog about carnivorous plants and found out some big pitcher plants in Borneo actually digest tree shrew poop too. It blew my mind because I always thought they just trapped insects and that was it. Has anyone here seen this happen in person or know what species do that?

2 comments

spencerw72•3d ago

Went to the botanical garden downtown and the cactus room was a total mess

I finally hit up the city botanic garden last Saturday after hearing good things. Walked into the cactus and succulent room and half the plants had dead leaves just sitting there on the soil. A few of the agaves were so wilted they were leaning sideways out of their pots. I get that keeping a desert room right is tough, but for $15 admission I expected someone to at least trim the dead stuff. Has anyone else had bad luck with their local garden's plant care?

2 comments

wyatt862•7d ago

Overheard a plant shop employee whisper "stop naming your plants, Susan"

I was browsing at a nursery in Austin and this employee muttered that under her breath to a coworker after some lady named her pothos "Gertrude." It hit me hard because I have 12 plants with full names and maybe I took it way too far.

2 comments

michaelrodriguez•7d ago

That neighbor who told me to stop watering my succulents every week

Old Mrs. Garcia saw me drenching my jade plant and said 'you're killing it with kindness, honey.' Sure enough after I switched to once a month the thing doubled in size. Anybody else have an older gardener set them straight on something basic?

2 comments

fionarodriguez•7d ago

Caught poison ivy in my own garden at the greenway trial

I was clearing out some overgrown beds behind the community garden off Greenway Trail last month. Pulled what I thought was Virginia creeper for about 45 minutes without gloves. Woke up the next day with blisters all up my forearms and had to take three days off work. Now I keep a pair of heavy leather gloves tied to my belt loop every time I go near that area. Has anyone else had trouble telling poison ivy apart from lookalikes in your own yard?

2 comments

blairm44•7d ago

Used to baby my fiddle leaf fig with bottled water now I just use tap

Tbh I used to only water my fiddle leaf fig with filtered bottled water because I read somewhere that tap water chemicals could hurt it. Did that for like 6 months and spent probably $40 on water just for one plant. Then last spring I got lazy and used tap water straight from the sink and nothing happened, the leaves didn't even brown. Now I just fill a jug and let it sit out overnight before using it, saves me money and time. Has anyone else stopped doing some extra step they thought was necessary?

2 comments

milabaker•8d ago

Visited a wrecked greenhouse outside Austin last weekend

I drove out to an abandoned greenhouse off Highway 290 that's been shuttered since 2018 and found a ton of volunteer herbs like rosemary and mint still thriving in the broken pots. Has anyone else stumbled across old gardens that just refuse to die off?

2 comments

butler.shane•12d ago

That compost bin mistake I made last June

I was mixing my pile in the backyard and found a whole dead rat in there. Turns out I had too much wet kitchen waste and not enough browns. Has anyone else dealt with pests in their compost?

2 comments

brooke533•12d ago

Vent: My repotting routine backfired big time on my Monstera

I repotted my Monstera deliciosa into a bigger ceramic pot last Sunday and used a new bag of soil from a different brand. By Wednesday the leaves were drooping and yellow, turns out the soil held way too much water and the roots started rotting. Anyone else had a plant freak out after switching soil brands mid-season?

2 comments

holly_craig•15d ago

Botanic garden in Des Moines had a plant I'd never seen before

I swung by the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden last weekend on a whim. They had this agave from Mexico that was over 12 feet tall, I guess it had been growing there since 1989. Never knew those things could get that massive in a greenhouse setting. Has anyone else seen a mature agave in person and been surprised by the size?

2 comments

craig.brian•17d ago

Bought a $40 'rare' orchid off Etsy and it came with root rot and mealybugs

I got excited when I found a variegated phalaenopsis listing from a seller with decent photos. It arrived in a soggy moss plug that smelled like a bog. I peeled back the medium and half the roots were brown mush, plus white fuzz on the leaves. Tried to save it with hydrogen peroxide and new bark, but the mealybugs spread to my other plants before I caught them. Lost the orchid and had to treat three others for months after. The seller ghosted me when I asked for a refund. Anyone else had bad luck buying plants online from small shops?

2 comments

emma684•18d ago

Kept killing my peace lilies until I swapped from tap water to filtered water and suddenly they're thriving

I was debating whether spending $20 on a Brita pitcher was worth it just for my plants, but after 3 months the difference is wild - no more brown tips and they're actually putting out new leaves, anyone else had this kind of luck switching water sources?

2 comments

thomas862•19d ago

Tried grafting a tomato onto a potato rootstock and got a weird surprise

I saw this video about making a "pomato" plant where you graft a tomato top onto a potato root system. So I tried it with a cherry tomato and a Yukon Gold potato last spring. The top grew fine but the potatoes underneath were tiny, like marble sized. The tomatoes tasted kind of... earthy? Not bad but definitely different. Has anyone else tried this combo and gotten a better yield?

2 comments

cole_mitchell8•19d ago

That exotic orchid seller on Etsy I was sure was a scam turned out legit

I ordered a Vanda coerulea from a shop in Florida with only 12 reviews back in March. Figured I'd lose my $45 but the plant arrived in 3 days, packed perfectly with sphagnum moss. The roots were fat and green, not a single bruise. It's now throwing out a flower spike after 4 months of my mediocre care. Has anyone else taken a chance on a small orchid seller and gotten lucky?

2 comments

maxhart•20d ago

My peace lily survived a full two weeks without water after I stopped babying it

I kept watering mine every few days like the internet said and it kept drooping, so I ignored it for 14 days straight while on a job up in Bangor and it came back greener than ever, has anyone else had luck just neglecting a houseplant on purpose?

2 comments

mason209•24d ago

The week my philodendron went from green to yellow overnight almost broke me

Last Tuesday I walked into my plant room and saw one of my biggest philodendrons had turned yellow on half its leaves. I'd been watering it the same way for 2 years. Turns out I had a fungus gnat infestation I didn't notice until I repotted it and saw the larvae all over the roots. Took me three days of neem oil treatments and a full soil swap to get it stable. Has anyone else had a plant go south that fast for no obvious reason?

2 comments

jones.grace•25d ago

Tried rooting a rose cutting in plain water instead of soil...

I always thought you needed special potting mix and rooting hormone to get cuttings to take. Last month I just stuck a cutting from my neighbor's climbing rose into a jar of tap water on the windowsill. After 3 weeks I saw tiny white roots starting to form. I figured it would just rot or get slimy but it actually grew a whole root system in 6 weeks. Now I'm wondering if I've been overcomplicating this whole propagation thing for years. Has anyone else tried this method and had it work better than soil?

2 comments

gray_gibson•26d ago

Hot take: Overwatering is a myth for most houseplant deaths

I killed 3 snake plants in 2 years before I realized it wasn't overwatering but root rot from bad soil. Someone at a nursery in Raleigh told me to check the roots of my pothos that looked sad. Turns out I was using regular potting mix that held too much water and suffocated the roots. Now I mix in 40% perlite and a handful of orchid bark for drainage. My plants doubled in size in 6 months after I switched. What's your take, is it really overwatering or is the soil mix the silent killer?

2 comments

nora_wells58•28d ago

Just noticed a ton of people watering their succulents wrong around here

I've been volunteering at the local garden center for about 3 months now, and I keep seeing folks drench their succulents like they're ferns. Last Tuesday, a lady brought in a rotting echeveria and said she waters it every day because the top soil feels dry. I had to explain that succulents store water in their leaves and need the soil to dry out completely between waterings, sometimes 2 weeks between drinks. How do you all tell your customers or friends about this without sounding like a jerk?

2 comments

barbararamirez•29d ago

TIL a random fact about ferns from a stranger at the nursery

I overheard this older guy telling someone ferns don't actually flower, they reproduce through spores on the underside of leaves, and it made me realize how little I actually know about common plants. Has anyone else learned something basic from a random conversation?

2 comments

jake_kelly24•29d ago

Found a jade plant at a garage sale that was 15 years old and barely alive

So last Saturday I'm driving around the south side and spot this garage sale with a beat up jade plant sitting in the corner. The lady said it was her mom's from 2009 and she just forgot to water it for like 3 months straight. Leaves were all wrinkled and falling off. I offered her $5 and she practically gave it to me. Got it home, gave it a good soak, trimmed the dead stuff off, put it in a south window. Three days later it's already perking back up. Has anyone else rescued a plant that looked totally gone and had it bounce back?

2 comments

felix385•29d ago

Can we talk about how long it took me to figure out why my fern kept dying inside?

I spent six weeks changing water, light, and soil before realizing the problem was dry air from my furnace vent hitting it every 20 minutes, has anyone else dealt with a hidden airflow issue like that?

2 comments

evanpalmer•1mo ago

My garden club mentor told me I was overwatering my roses and that one tip saved every plant I own

She caught me watering every morning and said 'leave them alone for three days and see what happens' and now I check soil moisture with my finger before I even touch the hose has anyone else gotten a simple piece of advice that totally flipped their approach?

2 comments