Hi!

Since the winter hit my house plants are not doing as well as they were. I keep them on a ledge, considering they will get more light and heat. My apartment is not super cold nor super cold so they are not exposed to extreme temp. change. I lost my aloe plant, it just completely rodded away. I was only watering it once a month during the fall-winter months. Now I have my other succulent that is started to look back at the bottom. No clue if this is normal or not.

All of my plants have proper drainage with rocks and the succulent has a rock/sand mixture.
I use only distilled water or filtered water at room temp. when I water them.. I mist them and then pour little bit around the base of the plant. Is this a correct way to water them?


So overall, can anyone help me! lol I want to keep these babies alive. What is going on with them and how can I help them each?!

1.) What is going on with the succulent?

2.) The spider plant is getting brown one some leaves and brown stubs.

3.) I don't even know the name of this plant *facepalm* but you can see it's starting to get browning at the end of the leaves.

4.) Dracaena Marginata is getting some browning at the bottom.

5.) Yucca is loosing a few leaves that are turning yellow and crunchy.. otherwise seems fine.

What do you mean by "pouring a bit of water around the base"? Your plants don't need misting - certainly not the succulents. They need a thorough watering so that the water runs out of the drainage hole in the bottom, then you can pour away any excess. Water again when the top couple of inches of compost feels dry.

The ledge looks like they are not getting enough light.

I mist them and pour a little bit of water around the base of the plant in the dirt not in the base of the drainage dish. Here is the light exposure they receive regularly plus the light in the room bed them is often on. Should they be closer down to the window? Okay, so I should not be misting the plants at all? What types of plants require misting? Is the browning a sign of too much sun, not enough, too much water, not enough water?

Thanks!

Yes, move the plants as close to an east or south facing window as possible.
Do the pots have holes in the bottom?

I would quit misting the succulent. That leads to big problems with them. The rest of them don't really need any misting. It doesn't do much good, and can lead to other problems, like ruined furniture.

thank you all!! All have holes but two so it was advised to place about an inch of rock at the bottom for drainage. I think I will switch them over to containers with holes and trays. I am moving them over to the window asap.

:)

Hello jdbb123, actually when you put rocks above the drain holes, you have increased the perched water table inside, so that further delays drain out of excess water. So next time do not do that to any plant. Better to put a mesh screen on the drain holes to save the soil but still allows water to drain out.

That succulent wants much more light. That one I would definitely position closer to the window. Clean up and remove all those dead leaves. The soil does look too dense, but right now is not the right time to disturb it. Wait for Spring to further make your media grittier. Your white container is quite pretty, but being glazed ceramic, it is holding moisture longer. So be very careful with watering. No need to mist the succulents. What is the light orientation of that window?

As for the other houseplants, the older leaves are the ones I see drying out. Just let it continue to do it and trim away. I would not move the plants close to the window, they all seem to be low light plants. You may want to do quarter turns of your plant from time to time, to even out the direction where the plant sways itself too as it seeks more light.

So again I ask what is the orientation of that window, if it is north facing, then by all means move your plants closer there. But if it is south facing, keep that existing distance since your plants are mostly low light ones.

What you need to watch out for is overwatering. Sometimes even a week has passed and the soil may still appear damp, so just delay watering some more. As I have mentioned earlier, ceramic glazed containers will hold moisture longer, got to allow airflow at root zone so the roots do not stay too wet. Use bamboo skewers to check if your soil is still wet below, if you stick it in the soil and comes out still damp, delay watering. Everything just depends on your own ambient conditions there.

By the way, no fertilizers at this time. Just allow all the plants to endure the cold season, light levels are slowly going longer, so they will all soon be much happier.

Your succulent is suffering from inadequate light and also improper watering. No way to tell if it has been under or over watered.

The second plant is a Pothos, not a Spider Plant. It will do better than the others in low light, but not on the ledge.

The third plant looks like a Peace Lily. It needs more light and consistent watering.

The Dracaena marginata is suffering from not enough light. Allow the top inch or so of soil to dry before watering it.

The Yucca is fine, but will decline slowly if it is not kept close to a sunny window and the soil kept drier than for your other plants.

Tarev- WOW, thank you for all of your information.

Do you recommend plastic or terra cotta pots? I only put rocks at the bottom of the containers that did NOT contain a drainage hole. I was short on cash and had to make it work with the pots I had. However, I will be transferring those without drainage holes over to ones with and trays.

Yes, most of them are low light plants, that is why I got them, living in Seattle, it can be hard to keep plants that want a ton of sunlight.

My window faces east, I get great morning sun light. I was concerned about moving them closer to the window just because of the temp. difference. As you can see that whole wall is windows.

I will loosen up the soil when we get warmer weather, I noticed it was too dense as well. But was too concerned to touch it during the winter period.

THANKS!

East facing window is good! Just position that plant closer to the window, but not touching the windows since it will be cold.

Uh-oh those rocks is not replacement for drain holes. Whichever one it is, try to get a proper container with drain holes. You can still use your ceramic containers with no drain holes, but use it as cache pot. The plant itself must be in a container with drain holes. Any container would work, as long as with drain holes. The reason for this, the excess water needs to drain out, along with any accumulated salts that is in the soil, for better growing of the root system. Roots drink moisture and also needs the period of dry out, to allow air around it.

Excellent, I got a tiered stand so they can get closer to the window. Moving the Dracaena and Yucca back towards the window. I had them originally by the window-- they did so great in the summer warmth with my East facing windows, but considering the draft of the cold air they would not get enough warmth... I panicked and moved them back bit. WILL- Thank you! HAHA, yes not a spider plant. I spaced on that, I did have one at one point. I think under watering.. I was trying trying my best to leave them alone. Succulents have always been a challenge for me. However, I have a 2 year old air plant, that is thriving so well! Anyway, thanks again! It can be a challenge growing plants in orders in an apartment with one wall of windows and that is it! I do have a stag horn fern in my bedroom and its doing fantastic-- I used an orchid container for it to allow for air to circulate around it.

Tarev- Gotcha, I will get something else to place inside of the ceramics. do you recommend anything you can link me to on amazon? I am assuming just a plastic liner with drain hole and then I can pot it into that and place that in the ceramic... water and pull out when its done draining out water sot its not sitting in water and possibly getting root rot.

okay so here are some better spots I found that are not the dreaded ledge. lol

Next thing is container situation and getting a stand.

Yes, that is better than the ledge, but may still be too far from the window. Light intensity drops off rapidly with every foot of distance from the window. For your low light Peace Lily and Pothos, no more than about 8 feet from the window.

If budget is a problem, you may be able to get some free discarded plastic nursery pots at a local greenhouse, nursery or garden center. Interior landscape companies are also a potential source.

Ah budget not so much. Just trying to find the area by the window where my dogs won't knock them all over. Lol but good idea! I prefer to work on a budget since I spent abit at first. Oh, and that one is not a peace lily, that I am aware of. It has never flowered.. but maybe it's just there yet. But I don't recall getting a lily. I'll have to find out what it is! I'll take your word for it though because the leaves are similar.

"Peace Lilies" aren't actually lilies, that's just their common name. Spathiphyllums are more related to Aroids as the flowers have the large white "sail" surrounding a spadix. That's certainly what the plant that Will refers to is.

Thanks for the clarification, Sue!

Awesome, clarification! What kind of light do they prefer?

Thanks to everyone on here, your knowledge and advice has been helpful!

Bright indirect sunlight is best. That would be close to a window, but just beyond the reach of the sun's rays at any time during the day.

Thank you, Will!

I have had house plants for many years. Their getting enough light is the hardest thing to achieve. I live in Texas where we get lots of sun all year---most of the time and light is a problem in winter. I bought some clamp lights from my local hardware store (Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot also). They cost less than $10 and I can put a 100 watt or high lumen LED bulb in it . I clamp it to a chair back and light up the area where the plants are. I have several that I use. My succulents and blooming plants do so much better with lots of light. There are so many days of gloomy weather in winter that you can't depend on enough window light. If you have standing lamps, they would also work. You can grow some cacti and succulents in pots without holes but you can't water them properly. They should only be temporary or sit the pot down into them and remove it on watering day. I usually add extra drainage material to cacti and succulents, I use perlite or sand, but I like the way perlite performs best. Do not fertilize until spring and they begin putting on new growth. I use seaweed or fish emulsion at 1/2 strength a couple of times in summer when they are outside.