Growing Guides ·
Peperomia Varieties — 12 Worth Growing, in 3 Care Groups
Peperomia varieties number over 1,500 species, but 12 cover the houseplant trade. Which group yours is in decides the watering, and that is the whole job.
Container Gardening
44 guides in Growing Guides.
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Growing Cucumbers in Pots: Size, Support, and Water
Cucumbers grow well in containers if the pot is big enough and they climb. Pot size, variety choice, and the watering rhythm that prevents bitter fruit.
Growing Guides ·
Stonecrop Varieties — 10 Sedums and Where Each Belongs
Stonecrop varieties split into upright and creeping sedums, and the 2 groups want different ground. 10 compared on height, hardiness and foot traffic.
Growing Guides ·
Types of Cactus and How to Care for Them — 7 Groups
Types of cactus and how to care for them split into 7 groups, and 2 of them want the opposite of desert treatment. Which yours is, and what it changes.
Growing Guides ·
Types of Worms in Potted Plants — 6 and Which Harm Roots
Types of worms in potted plants are mostly harmless decomposers, but 2 of the 6 eat living roots. How to tell them apart before you repot anything.
Growing Guides ·
How Long Can Succulents Live? Months to Centuries
Succulent lifespan runs from one year to several hundred, and it is set by species, not by care. What yours is, and what actually shortens it.
Growing Guides ·
How to Grow Plumeria: Sun, Sharp Drainage and a Dry Winter
Plumeria wants full sun and soil that drains fast. The thing that kills it is a wet dormant winter, not cold alone — and it flowers on mature tips.
Growing Guides ·
How to Make Pothos Bushier Instead of Long and Bare
A pothos goes leggy because it is reaching for light. Cut it back, propagate the cuttings into the same pot, and move it brighter — in that order.
Growing Guides ·
How to Propagate Dieffenbachia From Stem Cuttings
Dieffenbachia roots from cane sections laid on compost, not just from tips. Wear gloves — the sap causes the swelling that gives it its common name.
Growing Guides ·
How to Propagate Elephant Bush From Cuttings
Portulacaria afra roots from almost any piece of stem. Callus the cut for a few days, keep it dry, and resist watering — that is the whole method.
Growing Guides ·
When to Plant Hollyhock Seeds: Autumn Beats Spring
Hollyhocks are biennial, so autumn-sown seed flowers the following summer while spring sowing waits a year. Surface sow — the seed needs light.
Growing Guides ·
Best Time to Repot Indoor Plants: Early Spring
Repot as growth resumes, not on a schedule. Most houseplants need it every two to three years — and several are better off left pot-bound.
Growing Guides ·
China Doll Plant Care: Why It Drops Leaves, and the Fix
China doll plants drop leaves the week they come home. It is a light problem, not a watering one — and the fix is brighter, not wetter.
Growing Guides ·
Heart Leaf Philodendron Care: Why Yours Has Gone Leggy
Long bare stems with leaves only at the ends means too little light. Pinching, not more water, is what turns a straggly plant back into a full one.
Growing Guides ·
How Often Should I Water My Cactus? Every 2 to 4 Weeks
Most cacti need water every two to four weeks in summer and almost none in winter. The schedule is wrong; what matters is how dry the compost is.
Growing Guides ·
How to Grow Cacti: Light, Grit and a Dry Winter Rest
Most cacti die from winter watering, not neglect. Gritty mix, the brightest window, a soak in summer and almost nothing from October to March.
Growing Guides ·
How to Grow a Jade Plant: Underwater It and Give It Sun
Jade plants live for decades on neglect. Soak then dry completely, full sun for solid growth, and repot rarely — overwatering is the only real killer.
Growing Guides ·
How to Make Wandering Dude Bushy: Pinch and Replant
Tradescantia goes leggy in low light and never refills a bare stem. Pinch hard, root the cuttings, and plant them back into the same pot.
Growing Guides ·
How to Propagate Kalanchoe: Leaves, Cuttings or Plantlets
Most kalanchoes root from a leaf or a stem tip after a few days of callusing. One species does the work for you and drops ready-made plantlets.
Growing Guides ·
How to Propagate Peperomia: Leaf Cuttings That Work
Most peperomias root from a single leaf with its stalk attached, in water or compost. Petiole length and humidity decide whether it works.
Growing Guides ·
How to Repot a Snake Plant: Only When It Has To Be Done
Snake plants flower better and rot less when slightly pot-bound. Repot every 3–5 years, one size up, into gritty mix — and keep it dry afterwards.
Growing Guides ·
Irish Moss vs Scotch Moss: Same Plant, Different Colour
Both are Sagina subulata — green and golden forms of one species. Neither is a moss, and both rot in the wet conditions real moss enjoys.
Growing Guides ·
New Guinea Impatiens Care: Sun Tolerant, But Never Dry
Unlike bedding impatiens these take real sun and resist downy mildew. What they will not take is drying out — they collapse within hours.
Growing Guides ·
Problems With Hydrangeas in Pots: Why Yours Keeps Wilting
A potted hydrangea drinks more than any other shrub and wilts daily in summer. Pot size, compost and afternoon shade fix most of it.
Growing Guides ·
Purple Passion Plant Care: Keeping the Velvet Purple
Gynura aurantiaca loses its purple fuzz in low light and turns plain green. Bright indirect light keeps it velvet, and the flowers should be cut off.
Growing Guides ·
Propagating Pothos in Water: The Node Is What Matters
A cutting roots only if it includes a node. Leaves alone never will. Here is where to cut, how long it takes, and when to move it to soil.
Growing Guides ·
Rabbit Foot Fern Care: Never Bury the Rhizomes
Those furry feet are rhizomes that must stay above the compost. Bury them and they rot — which is the single most common way this fern is killed.
Growing Guides ·
What Is Agave Used For? Syrup, Fibre, Tequila and Hedging
One genus supplies sweetener, rope, mezcal and tequila, and architectural planting. Here is what each use takes, and the honest line on agave syrup.
Growing Guides ·
Zebra Plant Succulent: Haworthia Care, and Two Plants
Two very different plants share this name. The succulent Haworthiopsis is near-indestructible; the tropical Aphelandra is not. Here is how to tell.
Growing Guides ·
Is Alyssum a Perennial? It Depends Which One You Bought
Sweet alyssum is a short-lived perennial grown as an annual in most gardens. Basket-of-gold is a true perennial. The label rarely says which.
Growing Guides ·
Can You Grow Raspberries in a Pot? Yes, With One Condition
Raspberries do well in containers if the pot is big enough and you pick a compact autumn variety. Fifteen gallons is the number that decides it.
Growing Guides ·
Bird's Nest Fern Problems: Browning, Crisping and Rot
Almost every bird's nest fern problem is water in the crown, dry air, or direct sun. How to read the fronds and what each symptom actually means.
Growing Guides ·
How to Propagate Aloe: Pups, Not Leaf Cuttings
Aloe multiplies from offsets at the base, and leaf cuttings almost always rot. How to separate a pup, when to do it, and the callusing step.
Growing Guides ·
Mother of Thousands: Care, and Containing the Plantlets
A succulent that drops hundreds of rooting babies from its leaf edges. How to grow it, why it is toxic and invasive, and how to stop it spreading.
Growing Guides ·
Spanish Moss: Not a Moss, and Not a Parasite
Tillandsia usneoides takes nothing from the tree it hangs on. How it feeds, growing it at home, the chigger myth, and whether it harms trees.
Growing Guides ·
Cast Iron Plant: The One for the Dark Corner
Aspidistra tolerates deep shade, neglect and cold that kills other houseplants. What it will not tolerate, how slowly it grows, and outdoor use.
Growing Guides ·
Hoya Plant Care: Light, Water and Getting It to Bloom
Hoyas are easy to keep alive and hard to flower. Light levels, why the pot should stay small, and the peduncle you must never cut off.
Growing Guides ·
Spider Plant Care: Brown Tips, Babies and Why It Stops
Spider plants are nearly unkillable but tell you everything through their tips. Water, light, why yours has no babies, and propagating the ones it has.
Growing Guides ·
Tradescantia Zebrina Care: Light, Pinching, and Legginess
The stripes fade and the stems go bare in low light, and no amount of feeding fixes it. What this plant needs, and how to rebuild one that has gone straggly.
Growing Guides ·
How to Grow Garlic in Pots: Depth, Size and Overwintering
Garlic needs a cold spell and eight months in the pot, so container size and winter protection decide whether you get bulbs or scallions.
Growing Guides ·
Rubber Tree Plant Care: Light, Water, and Why Leaves Drop
Ficus elastica drops leaves when it is moved, overwatered, or cold — usually all three. What it actually needs indoors, and how to prune one that has gone leggy.
Growing Guides ·
Elephant Ear Plant Care: Light, Water and Overwintering
Colocasia wants wet feet and heat; Alocasia wants drainage and humidity. Which one you have decides the care — plus how to lift and store the tubers.
Growing Guides ·
Outdoor Plants in Pots: What Survives, and What Kills Them
A pot outdoors is a harsher place than the ground — hotter, drier, and colder in winter. How to pick plants and pots that cope, and get through the cold.
Growing Guides ·
How to Grow Aloe Vera: Underwater It and Give It Sun
Aloe is killed by watering, not neglect. How to tell thirst from rot, why the leaves go flat or brown, and what to do with the pups it keeps producing.
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