I am the only person on the planet who finds Sanseverias difficult. I have a few I am trying not to abuse right now. Their soil is fast draining, I seldom fertilize them. I have no mojo when it comes to these poor guys.

I do too, but I think I tend to overwater.

Oops, that wasn't the emoticon I meant to click on.

My problem is not watering. I think the cure for underwater is to have so many plants it would take several hours to water. or......Love white furniture and white carpet and you now over water would ruin your house.

Worst of all is a pot with no holes and planted directly in it. You could never ever know what's down under that plant, could you?

Another no-no for me is those 'african violet pots' that are supposed to self water. Has anyone had success with those?

I like a cheap nursery pot that fits nicely into a solid prettier pot. Then you can water just till it drains, with rainwater so there's no mineral buildup. Unfortunately, if you overwater by habit, the plant can be sitting in water.

I have a pothos doing very well at work, though. It started out as a plant too small for its large pot. But with limited weekly watering, I think it always had enough soil under the plant to soak up extra and not rot the roots. In 2-+ years I've been the sole caretaker, it's gotten appropriately huge.

I took my sad Christmas cactus out of its terra cotta pot today. Pitiful small amount of roots. So that explains its sadness. Well, fresh potting mix and new plastic cheap nursery pot... we'll see.

I had a gorgeous Persian Shield, because I love purple. Would like to try it again, but don't think it is conducive to where I am indoors.

ChefDebbie said:I had a gorgeous Persian Shield, because I love purple. Would like to try it again, but don't think it is conducive to where I am indoors.

No that is. Not a good indoor plant. I have to look aroind and give you some names. Of good purple indoor plants

Agree, PS is very hard to keep happy inside. Not necessarily hard to keep alive, but I've never had a good looking one still by the time spring finally arrived. If I'd ever had a chance to put one in great light during that time, it might have gone differently, IDK. Other plants have always gotten the front-row seats by windows.

I LOVE purple plants too! Some are more obviously purple than others that just have a hint of it, and some are only purple on the reverse side of the leaf. Some can only be purple with tons of direct sun. Some genera listed have many members that can be purple.

Alternanthera atropurpurea
Begonia (various Rexes)
Calathea (prayer plant)
Callisia fragrans (basket plant)
Callisia soconuscensis
Codiaeum variegatum (Croton)
Echeveria
Gibasis geniculata (Tahitian bridal veil) purple reverse
Graptopetalum
Gynura (purple velvet)
Hemigraphis (purple waffle plant)
Iresine (chicken gizzard / beefsteak plant)
Kalanchoe pumila
Kleinia petrea (trailing Jade, formerly Senecio jacobsenii)
Oxalis triangularis (purple shamrock)
Peperomia caperata
Perilla (often mistaken for a Coleus)
Plectranthus
Pseuderanthemum
Sedums (stonecrop)
Senecio citriformis
Strobilanthes dyerianus (Persian shield)
Tinantia pringleii (has purple spots)
Tradescantia pallida (purple heart / queen, formerly called Setcreasea pallida)
Tradescantia spathacea (oyster plant, formerly called Rhoeo spathacea) purple reverse
Tradescantia zebrina (wandering Jew)
Tripogandra serrulata (purple scimitars)

Whether or not each would do well in a given location would depend on conditions available.

I haven't been into gardening long enough to have build up a mortician's list, but some of the plants that have died on me include: 3 Anthuriums (they developed brown/blackened spots on the leaves and just gave in) and 3 phal orchids this year (rotted away)



It's a really nice pot, but I think it just holds too much moisture and too little air for epiphytical orchids to thrive...

Cinta said:

No that is. Not a good indoor plant. I have to look aroind and give you some names. Of good purple indoor plants

I would absolutely love that! Thank you so much!

Lee-Roy, you are so right. As soon as you can, take that orchid out of that pot and either put it in a wooden basket, an orchid pot or any pot with lots of holes for air to get to the roots. It is indeed a beautiful plant. I've killed my share as well, mostly due to mealy bug infestation. I just chose to dispose of them rather than using the time to continually treat them for these pests. Since then, I've learned a few things about them from the orchid forum, which I visit from time to time. One is that these plants do not grow upright in nature, therefore, should not be planted upright in pots. Water can easily pool around the crown and cause the whole plant to rot. I just could not resist buying another phal to experiment on. I wish us both success in growing these beautiful plants. But, do visit the orchid forum for assistance/suggestions/recommendations. BTW, I recently bought another anthurium, which I have killed in the past. I'm still kicking myself about that loss, as I caused it's demise by doing something really dumb.

There is the running joke that you can't be an Orchid expert grower if you don't have a bundle of tags from your "expired" Orchids. Picture a claypot in a corner with all the tags....
I was into Orchids for several years when a friend and I visited a famous Orchid nursery. As we were browsing the greenhouses, I realized that I actually started to recognize quite a few of the Orchids without having to check the tag. The reason? My friend was a bit amused when I said: "Must have killed this one and that one......
Many people start with growing with Phals and don't realize that they are not the easiest starter Orchids. Especially when you buy them in that dreaded Sphagnum moss, which will eventually start killing the roots.

Around here the easiest Orchids to grow are Fall- flowering Cattleyas and it is helpful to buy them from a reputable grower, who can assist you in picking out good plants. Growing your Cattleyas outside here in NJ during the Summer months in a spot protected from critters and watering and fertilizing them along with your garden will result in good growth and beautiful Fall flowering plants.

But @Ursula that fools gold orchid sold in the grocery store in the middle of winter and all I see is white and ice is simply Irresistible.

@Cinta, I am trying to figure out what this means.... help?

I think she's saying that those cheaply priced beautiful colored phals (fool's gold orchid) displayed in the stores are so irresistible in the winter, when it's snowy white outdoors. They add color to the indoor atmosphere and keep one from thinking about the dreaded white. So, she keeps falling for it and buying them, although they eventually fail her. Cattleyas are seldom offered around here.

Thanks for the translation!!
I buy most of my Orchids at Shows and on occasion online.
I just checked, Waldor (one of my favorite growers ) does sell nowadays online.
https://www.waldor.com/collect...

@Ursula. I am sorry I am using my smartphone because I am mostly at the hospital so I know I am not clear sometime. I am to dumb for a smartphone.

Thank you @Debbie. That was what I was trying to say.

Ursula. I recently fell for one of those irresistably cheap but difficult to grow phals from the BBS. I'm going to try to learn to give it what it needs to thrive. @DrDawg here at NGA sells some nice cattleya orchids as well. I'm going to be saving my $$$ next year to try some of his windowsill orchids.

Lithops, that one died in my care. I thought this one would be easier since I do grow more succulents and drought tolerant plants, so I am used to doing longer watering intervals. I tried twice, just always ending up killing it during/after overwintering stage. It really taught me to be careful with the temperature tolerances and watering frequency. I think my timing to water it is always my mistake.

I also fail with Croton, maybe too dry here. One of these days I will see if I will try it again. I like leaves with different colors and variegations.

Speaking of Phal orchids, I have killed my fair share too, but finally understood how it wants more air at root level, and seeing it always manages to have escapee roots in the container, just wants to wander around. So I have learned to use a different media..hygrolon baggies with lava rock inside, or just chunky lava rock. But I still use the traditional bark media in some, in time will move it to those other media, saves me from root issues.

Deebie reminded me, I got a small one of these Anthuriums Mehani once
https://kensnursery.com/produc...

on clearance, probably should have known, it went up and down for a year or so then down for good.