Popular Tips That Are Actually Killing Your Houseplants

 6 Popular Tips  Kill Your Houseplants

If there is one thing you will learn very quickly when you bring a houseplant home, it is that it will be much harder than you thought not to kill your plant. That's what keeps it alive.

If you want a lush, growing plant that requires time, effort, and knowledge.

Enter social media.

In a world where information, especially bad information, spreads quickly and easily, it is high time we encounter scary plant advice.

Or sometimes, we take on bad habits as a new plant owner and only realize it after we have successfully killed our plant.

It's time for some hard love.

I have been surrounded by some nasty internet tips and plant killers in the hope that these tips or practices can be put to bed once and for all.

1. Watering your plants with ice cubes

Can you please let this "hack" already die? (Like many orchids blown through ice cubes.)

I see this advice all over the internet, and every time I think of some nasty tropical plant, its roots are going to be shocked by the icy water. Take a moment and think logically about this tip - the plants we bring into our home are always some tropical or desert living plants. They are not exposed to cold temperatures associated with frost and ice. They will not survive.

2. Epiphytes growing in the soil

I can think of many epiphytes that are popular houseplants. The problem with this is that ten out of ten when you buy them in the nursery, they are grown in pot soil.

The other problem is that most early home plant owners do not know what epiphyte is and how it changes their soil needs.

Epiphyte does not grow in soil.

In their natural habitat, an epiphyte grows in the arches or crevices of trees, where a small amount of organic debris is collected. These plants do not form large, underground root systems like tomatoes, but rather take most of their water and nutrients from their leaves and ground-growing roots.

These roots are commonly called aerial tips.

Epiphytes use these aerial nodes to help them stick and climb on any surface that grows nearby.

3. Apply leaf shine spray

It’s fun when you think about it. We want real plants, not fake ones. But, we go out of our way to make our natural plants as unnatural as possible.

There are some manufacturers of this material. My local nursery sells brands that come in tall aerosol spray cans that embarrass the 60s hair spray.

Yes, I agree that shiny, clean leaves have a certain appeal, which is totally bad for your plants.

4. Placing rocks at the bottom of the pot

Yes, this is another thing that appears everywhere. On the surface, it makes sense, your plant needs proper drainage, so it does not sit in the moist soil where root rot grows. However, look closely and you will find that it deprives your plant of vital nutrients. Plants build their root system in the soil especially to absorb water and nutrients. To do this, the roots need to make contact with the soil. This causes the rooted plants to stop growing; There is not enough soil for good nutrition and water transfer with the roots.

5. Stop rubbing alcohol on your plants

It is often advisable when dealing with pests or to control fungal mosquitoes. This usually goes in ways such as "wiping the leaves with a cotton cloth soaked in alcohol" or "pouring alcohol on the soil".

6. Stop placing succulent plants on the ground

Succulent plants grow naturally in some harsh climates there. In arid deserts, you will find them growing low below the ground when shot by sunlight. Or you may find yourself clinging to a rock on the edge of a windy mountain. They are adapted to grow in dry conditions, whether they are due to constant sunlight or air conditions that dry out the soil.

So, when you create your beautiful landscape and fill it with a few succulent beautiful greens and put a lid on it, you will encounter a rotten mess.