Why watering on a strict schedule kills plants
Most indoor plants die from waterlogging, not thirst. Check with a finger or by the weight of the pot, either works.
Read guideThe short version
Plants die from misunderstanding, not from laziness.
Almost every plant that fails in a flat fails from too much water, not too little. Everything below follows from that.
One
Find the light before you buy the plant
Stand where the plant will live at midday and hold up a hand. A sharp shadow with clean edges is direct sun. A soft shadow you can still read is bright indirect light, which is what most houseplants actually want. No shadow at all means low light, and only a few plants are honest about tolerating it.
The other six guides
Written by the people who tend the nursery, and rewritten whenever we learn we were wrong.
6 posts found
When to repot and when not to
Roots poking out of the drainage hole do not necessarily mean it is time. Three real signs, and how to repot without shocking the plant.
Read guide
What yellow leaves are telling you
Yellowing from the bottom up, yellowing between the veins, yellowing with brown spots: each one points at a different cause.
Read guide
Mealybugs and spider mites, handled at home
Both are common, both are visible before they are serious, and neither needs anything you cannot buy at a supermarket.
Read guide
The Saigon rainy season, and how much less to water
Six months of high humidity and low light change what every plant in the flat needs. Most people carry on watering as if it were April.
Read guide
Which plants are safe around cats and dogs
A short list that is genuinely safe, a shorter list to avoid entirely, and what to do about the ones in between.
Read guideA year in Saigon, in three chapters.
Indoor plants still feel the seasons through air humidity, even in an air-conditioned room.
Water about every 10 daysDry season, December to AprilHumidity drops and soil dries about half again as fast. Water more often, but still check with a finger first. Wipe the leaves every two weeks, since thick dust slows photosynthesis.
Feeding and repottingEarly rainy season, May to JuneThe one time of year to feed and repot. Plants are pushing new roots, so they bounce back fast. A spoon of slow-release fertiliser covers the whole year.
Water about every 18 daysHeavy rain, July to NovemberThis is when most plants drown. Almost double the gap between waterings, empty every saucer, and raise balcony pots so they drain.
Delivery areas
Plants are living goods, so we deliver inside the city ourselves instead of handing them to a courier.
Asked most
The questions that come by message
Almost always too much. A thirsty plant droops and recovers within hours of watering; a drowned one yellows from the bottom up and does not.
Rarely. Misting raises humidity for about four minutes. If a plant genuinely wants humidity, move it to the bathroom instead.
Between April and September, at half the strength written on the bottle, once a month. Not at all in the rainy season.
Dry air, or salt building up in the mix. Flush the pot thoroughly once and see whether the new growth comes in clean.
A watering reminder, once a month.
A short seasonal letter: which plants are prone to rot this month, which need pruning, and a discount code for past customers.
One letter a month. Unsubscribe any time.
We never share your email. Unsubscribe in one click.