it is official, i am the angel of death for houseplants.

[vash]

i have killed everything. i even killed those lucky bamboo plants that you just leave in a vase with water. there has to be easy to keep, good looking houseplants, for my hot as hell in the summer, ice box in the winter, place i call home. any suggestions? i may just have to buy my stuff from a real nursery where they can give advice. damn.

[Moses]

Had a friend in college who had a big potted plant he kept in his room. He swore he would only water the plant after he got laid. Word got around. Amazing what girls will do to save a plant.

[KFC911]

Originally posted by Moses
Had a friend in college who had a big potted plant he kept in his room. He swore he would only water the plant after he got laid. Word got around. Amazing what girls will do to save a plant.

I'm such a dumba$$ ...I've been trying that approach with a cactus

[red-beard]

Silk plants are your friend....silk

[rouxroux]

Don't blame yourself...it may have been arborcide.

[red-beard]

That is only if you kill a tree.

Maybe Arkanside?

[Zeke]

So far this looks like a very humorous thread.

Don't over water, is all I can offer. I know my plants well enough to know when they feel light when I pick them up (up to 6" pots) and then I'll water. For the heavier ones, you have to probe the soil. there is a moisture meter sold for this purpose. When you do water, water thoroughly so water runs out of he bottom. I sit water out in the sun in a can for a day before using it to let the chlorine evaporate. Clay pots dry out real fast; plastic and ceramic much more slowly.

Fertilize monthly 9 mos a year and set the plants in a tub of water once a year to completely saturate the soil and dissolve the salts that build up. Sounds like a lot of work, but it's just a routine.

Plants that have yellow leaves underneath have been watered too much. Yellow the at tips is too much salt. It's probably much more involved than that, but these measures work for me. Remember, plants are in the ultimate slow motion, so what you do sometimes doesn't really show up for weeks. A lawn is about the fastest growing and responding thing on the property. You can change a lawn from brown to green in 2 weeks.

Not so with house plants.

[Rick V]

You also have to find the place where the plants want to be. We have 2 rooms in our house where the plants are very happy. My wife has a wax plant that she has had longer than she has had me. This thing will bloom several times a year. That is rare. It likes to live over the kitchen sink. Your lucky bamboo likes a southern exposure, at least mine does. Look in your yard and see where the outside plants ar doing the best. That is the side of the house where your house plants want to be.
And everything Milt said.

[on2wheels52]

Are you related to my wife? Outdoor plants have a chance but indoor ones suffer a slow painful death.
Jim

[azasadny]

My nickname around the house is "roundup" because I kill every plant I touch...

[Moses]

Originally posted by azasadny
My nickname around the house is "roundup" because I kill every plant I touch...

Beautiful.

[UconnTim97]

Originally posted by azasadny
My nickname around the house is "roundup" because I kill every plant I touch...

lol...priceless