c/botany-lovers

Spent 4 hours hunting a fungus gnat source... it was my peace lily

I noticed tiny gnats circling my kitchen window last Tuesday. I blamed the basil, threw it out, still saw them. Then I blamed the compost bin, scrubbed it with bleach, still there. Finally I inspected every pot and found the peace lily soil was literally crawling with larvae. The gnats had been breeding in there for weeks while I ignored the plant. I ended up repotting it in fresh mix and now I check every new bag of soil before I bring it inside. Has anyone else had a houseplant that secretly hosted pests for way longer than you'd expect?

One conversation with a stranger about his jungle staghorn fern changed my whole setup

I was repotting a sad fern at the farmer's market in Portland last spring and this older guy just stood there watching for maybe 5 minutes, then said 'that pot is too big and you're watering it like a cactus.' He showed me how he grows his on a wooden plank with moss, and now mine has put out three new fronds in 2 months. Has anyone else had a random stranger completely flip their plant care routine?

Dirt debate: bought potting mix vs compost from my own pile, which one actually wins?

I've been going back and forth on this for two seasons now. My neighbor swears by the bagged stuff from the big box store, says it's sterile and consistent. I've been running a three bin compost setup in my backyard in Portland for about 14 months, throwing in kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, even some shredded cardboard. The compost smells like wet forest and has worms crawling through it, feels alive, but I got a batch of seedlings that damped off last spring and I blamed the compost. Then I switched to store bought and my tomatoes looked pale, like they were missing something. So I did a side by side with 6 pepper plants, 3 in each. The compost ones grew slower for the first 3 weeks but then took off after that. The bagged ones were uniform but kinda bland, if that makes sense. Soil test showed the compost had way more nitrogen and the bagged had more perlite for drainage. So which do you all lean on for veggies vs ornamentals? Is the risk of pathogens in homemade compost worth the nutrient boost, or am I just being stubborn about the $30 a month I save on bags? Has anyone else done the test and stuck with one side? I'm leaning compost for the garden beds this year but I'm still not 100% sure.

Took 4 tries to propagate my Monstera until someone pointed out I was using tap water straight from the faucet

Letting the water sit overnight for 24 hours before watering made all the difference for root growth, and now I'm wondering how many other people are killing cuttings without realizing it's chlorine, has anyone else had this happen?

My first successful orchid rebloom after 14 months of waiting

I got a phalaenopsis from a plant swap in Austin back in March 2023 and it finally pushed out a new spike this week. I almost gave up on it twice, but moving it to a north window and watering with rain water every 10 days did the trick. Has anyone else had an orchid take that long to rebloom, or is my setup just slow?

My prize orchid died 8 days after repotting, check the bark before you use it

Got a big bag of orchid bark from a local nursery last month. Smelled a little sour but I ignored it. Repotted my phalaenopsis I had for 3 years. 8 days later the roots were mush. Turns out the bark was holding too much water, basically composting inside the pot. I checked the other bags on their shelf, same issue. Now I soak and drain all my bark for 24 hours before use and squeeze test every handful. Anyone else had a bad batch from a supplier?

Found a cheap fix for my orchid's stubborn root rot after 5 failed attempts

Tbh I kept overwatering my phalaenopsis in a clear pot and it kept rotting, so I switched to a terracotta pot with a bamboo skewer stuck in the media to check moisture daily. Three weeks later the new roots finally pushed out, has anyone else tried the skewer trick or do you just eyeball the pot?

Killed a split-leaf philodendron with tap water, now I only use rain water

Had a big Monstera for 3 years, leaves always looked tired with brown tips. Figured it was old age or low light. Then my cousin who grows orchids came over and pointed at the water jug on my shelf. Said the chlorine and minerals were building up in the soil. Swapped to collecting rain water in a 5 gallon bucket last month. New leaf came in dark green and flat, no crispy edges. The old leaves still look rough but the new growth is night and day. Anyone else seen this fix things that seemed like a light or soil problem?

The state arboretum in Raleigh taught me why my ferns kept dying

I spent 45 minutes watching a volunteer mist the underside of a Boston fern frond and realized I'd been watering the soil like a cactus for two years, so now I ask myself, has anyone else been ignoring the humidity needs of houseplants and just blamed the light?

Pulled 187 dandelions out of my front yard this morning

Small backyard. Never counted before. Just kept pulling while my coffee got cold. There were way more under the surface than I expected. Roots went deep. Now my hands hurt. Anyone else ever actually count what they pull?

I always thought native plants were better for pollinators, but then I found out honeybees actually prefer some non-natives

I was reading through this study from the University of Kentucky last week while waiting on a shingle delivery. It said honeybees in urban gardens actually visit catmint and lavender way more than stuff like goldenrod or aster. That goes against everything the native plant crowd pushes on here. Has anyone else run into data that goes against the usual advice?

Had a fern in my bathroom for 2 years before I noticed the drainage situation

I stuck a Boston fern in my tiny apartment bathroom in Seattle last week and thought it was thriving, but the leaves started yellowing fast. After pulling it out, I found the pot had no drainage holes and the roots were basically sitting in a swamp for two years. Anyone else ever realize a plant was slowly drowning right under your nose?

TIL my 'easy care' succulent was actually rotting from the inside out

Honestly, I had this big echeveria on my windowsill for about 4 months and it looked fine on top. Then last Tuesday I went to water it and the whole bottom half just squished apart in my hand. The soil was bone dry but the stem was totally mush from some hidden moisture at the base. Has anyone else had a plant look perfectly healthy until you literally pick it up and it falls apart?

Random woman at the garden center said something about "native" plants that stuck with me

She pointed at a patch of goldenrod and said "you know, I remember when these grew everywhere around here as a kid" and I realized I never even noticed how much the roadside wildflowers have changed. Has anyone else had that moment where you suddenly see the difference in what grows wild vs what's planted now?

That fern talk at the Denver garden show last spring felt like a setup

I went to a talk at the Denver Botanic Gardens in April where this older guy swore up and down that ferns need total shade and constant misting. But my Boston fern on the porch gets direct morning sun and I barely water it, and it's thriving. Has anyone else had a plant expert give advice that went totally against what works for you?

Went back to the old botanical garden in St. Louis last weekend and noticed the greenhouse windows are way cloudier than I remember from 15 years ago.

I swear the glass used to be crystal clear and now you can barely see the tropical plants through the haze, has anyone else noticed their local gardens getting worse maintenance over time?

TIL most people water their snake plants way too often

Hit 50 different wildflowers on my morning walk and it actually made me mad

I counted 50 distinct species in a single mile stretch near my house yesterday. After years of just seeing "weeds," realizing how much biodiversity I've been walking past for a decade kind of frustrated me. Anybody else get annoyed when they finally see how much they've been ignoring?

My neighbor insisted I prune my roses in July and now half of them are dead

So this older guy named Frank who lives three houses down kept telling me to cut back my climbing roses in the middle of summer because it would 'force more blooms.' I was skeptical but he seemed to know what he was talking about, grew up on a farm in Iowa or something. I went ahead and did it last July 15th and now four out of my six bushes are completely brown and lifeless. Has anyone else gotten bad pruning advice from a well-meaning neighbor that wrecked their garden?

Shower thought: my $30 moisture meter was lying to me for months

I bought a cheap moisture meter off Amazon last spring to help with my indoor plants. It kept telling me my ficus was dry so I would water it, but the leaves kept turning yellow. Last week I finally stuck my finger two inches into the soil and it was soaking wet. That meter cost me $30 and about six months of overwatering problems. Has anyone else had a cheap tool lead them down the wrong path with their plants?

Can we talk about how many houseplants actually survive in low light?

I keep seeing posts saying snake plants and pothos will thrive in a dark corner with no windows. That surprised me because I actually tested it last winter in my basement in Columbus. I put a snake plant in a spot that got maybe 2 hours of indirect light a day. After 4 months, it was pale and droopy, barely alive. I looked up the actual light requirements and found out most of those "low light" labels are just marketing. Even snake plants need medium indirect light to really grow. It made me wonder how many people think they're bad at plants when really they just got sold bad info. Has anyone else found a plant that actually shocked them with how much light it needs?

Spent $180 on a fancy soil testing kit only to get results that told me nothing I didn't already know

I grabbed one of those digital soil testers from a gardening supply website back in March. Paid about $180 for it, thought it would tell me exactly what my raised beds needed for tomatoes and peppers. First test said my pH was fine but the nitrogen was off the charts, second test a week later said nitrogen was low. Now I'm wondering if those cheap $15 chemical test strips are actually more reliable. Has anyone else had this happen with electronic testers or am I just unlucky?

Tried watering my snake plant with tap water versus filtered water for two months straight.

The filtered one shot up three new leaves while the tap water one barely grew and got those ugly brown tips, has anyone else seen a difference like that with their houseplants?

Talked to a greenhouse worker and got schooled on soil pH

I was at a local nursery last Saturday picking up some ferns and this guy who works in their greenhouse started chatting with me. He asked what I was growing and when I said tomatoes he just laughed and said your pH is probably off. I tested it and he was right, it was way too alkaline. Now I'm actually testing my soil before planting anything and it's wild how much difference it makes. Anybody else get humbled by a random employee at a garden center?

Used to baby my fiddle leaf fig with misting and filtered water - now I just dump tap water on it

I was one of those people who bought a hygrometer and measured every drop of water for my fiddle leaf fig. Then last summer I went on a 2 week trip and forgot to ask my roommate to water it. Came back and the thing had dropped 4 leaves but somehow pushed out 2 new ones from the stress. Now I just water it with straight tap water every Sunday when I remember. It's actually grown 8 inches in 6 months compared to the 2 inches the year before. Has anyone else had their plants do better when they stopped caring so much?