Common Plants Care Mistakes

some of my house plants in my bedroom

I don't know why in Indonesia everything seems to be easy when you want to grow house plants. My favorite plants, when I was a kid, were lucky bamboos, Bryophyllum Daigremontianum (cocor bebek), and wild orchids. I kept the lucky bamboos in water. They rooted so fast, it fascinated me. Cocor bebek is very popular among kids because it can be grown very easily. When the leaves of the mother plant touch the ground, new shoots grow on those leaves. It always made me happy, especially, if I propagated the leaf.
I planted the wild orchids on a palm tree. They have nice white flowers. When they are flowering, the palm tree is surrounded with  white flowers, and it smells good.
But let's talk about reality again because I am in Germany now :) In this article, I will show you some common mistakes that we sometimes don't recognize, when it comes to newly bought house plants. 

Too much watering 

plant watering tools

We are sometimes impatient! Yes, this is a really common mistake that people make when it comes to plant care. Please don't water your plants too much, or too often because it could make the roots rot besides that it could allow fungus gnats to spawn. It's better to wait until the substrate is already dry. I know that problem well from my own experience. When I bought house plants in Hamburg for the first time, I sometimes watered them too often. But it's not necessary. You can check here, I mentioned some tips about watering to some of the plants. 

if not sure, check the substrate before watering

Okay, in the spring and summer some plants need more water especially ones that produce fruits. 
In general, you should water them until the substrate is moist, then wait until the top of the substrates (about 1cm deep) dries up again before the next watering.
If you want to keep your plants fresh and happy, you can also bath them during warm days once or twice a month. But please protect the plant substrates with plastic wrap or something similar so the substrates don't get soaked. Normally, when I am lazy, I just bring some of my plants into the bathroom. They can get a lot of moisture from the air while I am taking a shower.

Wrong Location 

Monstera, source: https://za.pinterest.com/pin/615656211534364943/

It would be great if we learned a little bit about the natural habitats of our plants, i.e. where the plants are from. Because if we manage to recreate their natural habitats, that means they can feel right at home. For example, Monstera normally grows climbing up big trees in the jungle which means it doesn't get direct sunlight because it is blocked by the foliage. That means that Monstera will be happy if it is placed somewhere in a bright room without direct sunlight. It's okay if the Monstera gets evening or morning sun, however, as in the jungle it still gets a splash of sunshine from time to time. 

Of course, with time we can learn and understand the right places for plants as well by watching their reactions when moving them to a new space. 

It's very helpful to keep plants happy so that they can grow at their best. 
Sometimes, we must be careful about where we buy plants. For example, I once bought a Monstera at IKEA. One day after I bought it, the plant got dark spots on its leaves (sunburn) when I put it in a bright room. So, I realized that most of the plants at IKEA are put in pretty dark places and are not used to a lot of light. So, when I placed it directly in the bright room, the Monstera needed to adapt first. If you want to buy plants it is better to get them from a place which has a similar roof as in a tropical house (greenhouse), or the room surrounded by glass. 

Once again, please don't put the plants on the floor and far from the window and instead try to maximize the light they receive. When I started with the hobby, I always wanted to put my plants in the places that made them look the prettiest. It made me happy but made my plants sad. Don't do this. If your window sills are full, you can pile up some big books or put a shelf in front of it. And of course, choose a bright enough room. 

Using Fertilizer

general liquid fertilizer

Yes, plants need extra nutrients besides water. Usually, I didn't see my parents giving any fertilizer to the plants when I was in Indonesia except for big tropical trees like mangos when they are still in the growing phase. However, house plants grew beautifully. Maybe because of the humidity and the rainwater the plants got. I learned about the importance of using fertilizer when I started keeping house plants here in Hamburg. Here, it is better if you give your plants some fertilizer from spring until summer. It would be nice if you fertilized them once a week during this time because it's a growing time. But don't fertilize your plants in winter. The plants are resting during that time.

Choosing Substrate 

my avocado in plant granulates

My very first experience buying soil was at the german drugstore and supermarket. I was excited about the prices. But unfortunately, that was not a good idea. Be careful when choosing substrates because of fungus gnats. See my article about it here. I already told you about substrates there. However, in this part, I just want to mention that the right substrate is one factor that makes plants happy as well. Honestly, I potted almost all of my plants in coconut coir that I mixed with plant granulate and perlite except for my cacti and some succulents. I did it because I don't want to have fungus gnats flying around in my apartment as that is very annoying. However, all my plants are doing well so far. Recently I put one avocado plant just in plant granulates substrate. It seems to be happy there. 
Generally, you should create a substrate with good drainage qualities for your plants so that the water can flow directly down the pot. If your pots don't have pot saucers, you can put gravel in your pots first then other substrates to allow for drainage. 

However, when I bought some plants, sometimes without me knowing there were already fungus gnats in the substrate. It's very annoying. Because the fungus gnats can infect the substrate of other plants. It's not a bad idea to repot your plants immediately after purchase.

Note: 

For sure, every plant has its own needs. Nevertheless, slowly, you will understand the needs of your plants and it makes it easier to take care of them. I hope this article helps you. See you at the next one! 

Stay healthy! Xoxo, Rita 

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PS. Description of the pictures: on the first picture left, this is the wild orchids I planted when I was a kid, in the background is my cousin. The pictures were taken when I was the first time back to Indonesia again, in 2012.
I planted my wild orchids in a big palm tree before but my father just chop down that big palm tree, he meant it was too big. So, I move my orchids to this small palm tree as you see on the first picture left. Oha, It made me cry to see pictures of my hometown. I miss my family so much! 
The second picture is other palm tree we have.

wild orchids on the palm tree

our other palm tree was flowering