c/botany-lovers

Just realized my greenhouse shade cloth was choking my tomatoes

Last July in Austin I left a 30% shade cloth on too long and my plants stretched 4 feet tall with zero fruit, does anyone time their shade removal differently?

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mia52•1d ago

My peace lily drooped every 2 days until I stuck a chopstick in the soil

The chopstick trick for checking moisture only worked when I actually left it in the pot and pulled it out twice a day, and now I water on day 4 instead of panic-wetting, has anyone else gotten a stubborn plant on a schedule like this?

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butler.abby•5d ago

Found out last week that Venus flytraps only grow wild in one place on Earth... the Carolina coast

My neighbor and I were talking about carnivorous plants after he got one for his office. He said they were from all over. I looked it up that night and nearly fell out of my chair. The wild ones only exist in a 90 mile strip around Wilmington, NC. That's like... it. Everywhere else, greenhouse grown. I've been to the area a few times for work, never saw one. Now I want to go back and just find a patch. Has anyone actually seen them growing wild out there?

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abby_robinson58•6d ago

That $45 grow light I bought off a discount site

Picked up a cheap 45 dollar LED panel for my winter seedlings after my south window went dark in November... it put out way less light than the listing promised and now my tomato starts are all leggy and leaning. I'm thinking about biting the bullet on a nicer 150 dollar fixture from a real shop, but has anyone else had luck fixing leggy seedlings with just a basic shop light from the hardware store?

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abby_robinson58•11d ago

Warning: hit 200 saved seed packets and my fridge is now a seed bank

I counted last night because I ran out of drawer space, and I have exactly 200 packets of seeds in there. That number surprised me because I only started saving and collecting in early 2023, so it's been about 18 months. The issue is I've got 40 tomato varieties alone, and some are from 2021 that I still haven't tested for germination. A neighbor in my apartment building borrowed 3 packets last week and I honestly didn't know which ones I could spare. Has anyone else hit a point where their stash becomes more of a liability than a hobby? How do you decide what to toss or trade before it takes over your whole kitchen?

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jessicajohnson•15d ago

Killed my peace lily with kindness, repotting plan backfired

I always thought more soil meant happier roots, so I bumped my peace lily into a pot twice its size last month over in Portland. It drooped hard and the leaves went yellow, turns out the extra space just held water and rotted things out. Anyone else over-pot and have to do emergency surgery on their plant?

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blairj55•15d ago

Shoutout to the guy at the farmers market who saved my monstera

Last month in Portland I bought a monstera that looked fine but dropped leaves within a week. A vendor at the Saturday market took one look and told me I was watering it like a lawn, every day on a timer. He said stick my finger two knuckles deep and only water when it's dry, which felt backwards but I tried it. Three weeks later it put out a new leaf with more splits than the old ones. Has anyone else saved a plant by just backing off and letting it dry out?

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kelly.daniel•21d ago

My greenhouse hit 104 degrees on a Tuesday, lost every seedling in tray 3

I stepped out at noon to check on my tomatoes and the thermometer near the roof was reading 104. The vent fan had tripped a breaker sometime overnight, so the whole east side cooked for hours. Tray 3 had 24 pepper starts that I'd babied for 6 weeks, all wilted flat by the time I noticed. I rigged a backup fan with a window unit and a timer the next morning, but it cost me a full season of carolina reapers. Anyone else had a sensor or breaker fail at the worst possible moment?

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wendy72•21d ago

I used to baby my monstera with misting, now I give it a proper shower every 3 weeks

Misting barely raised humidity and left white spots on the leaves, but putting it in the tub with lukewarm water for 5 minutes rinsed the dust off and it put out two new splits in a month, so has anyone else ditched the spray bottle for the shower method?

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the_olivia•22d ago

Greenhouse shade cloth decision, 30% vs 50% was a close call in Phoenix

I had to pick between two shade cloth options for my backyard greenhouse after last summer's heat cooked half my seedlings. I went with 30% because I worried about blocking too much light for my tomatoes and peppers. Big mistake, by late June the temp inside hit 112 degrees and my basil turned to mush. Has anyone else had to swap shade percentages mid-season, or do you just ride it out and lose plants?

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blairj55•23d ago

Can we talk about how I ruined my peace lily with tap water?

For two years I watered my peace lily with straight tap water in Denver and just accepted that the leaf tips always looked burnt. I read online that chlorine and fluoride could be the problem, but I figured it was just normal wear and tear. Last month my neighbor gave me a cutting from her plant and told me she lets her water sit out overnight before using it. I tried that for three days and the new growth looked visibly cleaner, no brown edges at all. Then I checked my old water report and saw the fluoride level was 0.7 ppm, which is right in the danger zone for sensitive houseplants. Since switching to aged water, the whole plant perked up and even pushed out a new flower. Has anyone else dealt with fluoride burn and found a better solution than just letting water sit? I heard a filter might work but I'm not sure which type actually removes it.

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drew_patel57•23d ago

I thought ferns were boring until I saw one move

Spent 30 years walking past ferns. Just green stuff. Then my buddy in Seattle showed me a sensitive fern curling up after he touched it. Watched it happen in real time. 5 seconds. Never knew plants could react like that. Now I got 4 in my backyard and I check them every morning. Anyone else have a plant that surprised them like this?

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olivia_carr7•24d ago

The garden club lady who changed how I prune my roses

Last spring at the community garden in Maplewood, this older woman named Ruth came over while I was hacking at my knockout roses. She didn't scold me or anything, she just knelt down and pointed at a stem and said, "Honey, you're cutting for today, not for August." She showed me how to find the outward-facing bud and cut at a slant about a quarter inch above it. I had been pruning for 5 years and never once thought about where the bud pointed. That one 10 minute conversation saved me from another summer of lopsided bushes. Now I walk my rows before I cut anything and think about which way each branch should grow. Has anyone else had a random stranger give them a tip that completely rewired their plant care?

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noah_chen17•28d ago

Saw a community garden in Tucson that banned all cacti, is that even possible?

I was visiting my cousin last month in Tucson and she took me to this community garden near the university. Beautiful spot, raised beds, drip lines everywhere, people growing tomatoes and peppers. But I noticed zero cacti. Zero. Not even a little prickly pear in a corner pot. I asked the garden manager about it and she said they have a rule against any cactus species because "they take up space without feeding anyone." I get that argument, saguaro and agave eat nothing and give little, but we're in the Sonoran Desert. Native plants, zero water needed, and they're banned while people are running drip lines for kale in 105 degree heat. Some members are all for it because they want food crops only, but it feels like we're fighting the whole point of growing in the desert. Is a garden still a garden if it ignores what grows naturally around it? Anyone else run into a garden that bans native species for practical reasons?

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phoenix_singh•28d ago

Ditched the raised bed plan after watching my basil drown in July

I was all set on building a 4x8 raised bed for my herbs until that rainy stretch in Portland left my potted basil sitting in water for 3 days and the roots went mushy. Saw the same thing happen to a neighbor's raised bed with zero drainage holes in the liner, so I switched to a sloped gravel bed with a French drain instead. Has anyone else had their soil turn into a swamp after a big storm and had to rework their whole setup?

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jenniferb53•28d ago

Turns out I was killing my snake plant with kindness for 5 years

I used to water my snake plant every single Saturday without fail, thought I was being a good plant parent. Last month I was repotting it in my kitchen and the roots were basically mush, smelled awful. My sister looked at it and said 'you know these things like to dry out completely, right?' I felt so dumb. Has anyone else overwatered a plant for years before realizing what you were doing wrong?

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amyh21•29d ago

My venus flytrap nearly died because I babied it too much

I spent 6 months fussing over my flytrap, giving it distilled water, keeping it in a glass dome, and misting it daily. Last Tuesday I got fed up and just put it on the windowsill with the rest of my plants, no dome, tap water only from the rain catcher. Two days later it sprouted a new trap and the leaves perked up like it was laughing at me. Now I'm wondering if all my other fussy plants would do better if I just ignored them a bit. Anyone else found that their plants thrive on neglect more than care?

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tarajenkins•1mo ago

My office fern turned around after I stopped babying it

For 14 months I watered my fern every 3 days, misted it, moved it around. It stayed brown and droopy. Then I left for a week long work trip and forgot to set the auto reminder. Came back and it had 6 new fronds uncurling. Friend said I was over caring. So now I only water when the soil feels dry about an inch down. That's maybe every 9 or 10 days. It's been 2 months and the green is way deeper and fuller. Total switch from my old routine. Anyone else had a plant get better after you just left it alone? What's your neglect schedule look like?

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parkerh38•1mo ago

Why does nobody talk about how to fix a leggy tomato plant...

I was out in my backyard garden last June in Portland and realized three of my tomato starts had gone completely leggy from not enough light... I buried the stems sideways in a trench instead of straight down like usual, and they grew back way stronger... Has anyone else tried trench planting for leggy tomatoes or is there a better trick I missed?

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graceprice•1mo ago

Found a cheap trick for saving my indoor ferns during winter dry air

I live in Minnesota and every January my Boston ferns start looking sad and crispy no matter how much I mist them. A few weeks ago I saw a tip online about putting a shallow tray of pebbles and water under the pot. I tried it with a $3 baking dish from the dollar store and some river stones. After just two weeks the new fronds are coming in green and not brown at the tips. Has anyone else had luck with this method or do you do something else for humidity?

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sarah229•1mo ago

Hot take: killing the aphids on my roses with neem oil was a complete flop after 2 weeks of spraying

I tried neem oil every 3 days on my rose bushes in Portland last month and ended up with scorched leaves and aphids still partying like nothing happened so now I'm just letting the ladybugs handle it has anyone else had neem oil totally backfire on them?

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finley_lane62•1mo ago

Had a run-in with poison ivy at the Morton Arboretum last spring

I was out near Lisle helping with a volunteer cleanup in a wooded area, and I didn't think twice about grabbing some vines. Three days later my arms were covered in blisters and I couldn't sleep from the itch. Now I always carry Tecnu wipes in my pack and scrub down before I even get back in the car. Anyone else had a surprise brush with something that ruined their day?

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veramiller•1mo ago

Caught my neighbor drowning his Japanese maple last Tuesday

I noticed the leaves turning yellow and dropping in June which is way too early, turns out he was watering the trunk every single day. That tree needs deep watering at the drip line maybe once a week max, not a daily shower at the base. How long did it take you guys to figure out root rot looks just like a thirsty plant?

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skyler_adams•1mo ago

Overheard a guy at the nursery say air plants are 'beginner plants'

I was grabbing some soil this weekend at the local greenhouse when some dude told his friend that air plants are just for beginners who can't keep real plants alive. Look, I've got about 15 tillandsias in my kitchen window and they're thriving because I actually pay attention to their water and light needs. That guy probably kills a snake plant in under a month. Has anyone else run into this weird gatekeeping stuff at garden centers?

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sarah229•1mo ago

Best Wednesday I've had in years thanks to a random rainstorm

Last month I was out on a job in Concord and the skies just opened up out of nowhere around 2pm. I had to call it quits early because the ground got too slick to safely climb. Ended up sitting on a porch with the homeowner drinking coffee and talking about native plants for like two hours. She pointed out a red oak that had this perfect crotch angle I'd never noticed before. Anyone else have surprise downtime that turned into something cool?

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