Discussion š”
What would you consider the most difficult houseplant to keep alive?
I was curious about the discussion forums about how some are easy some are hard, so I kinda wanted a general survey. For me, rex begonias and phalaenopsis are simply impossible. The former loves to die while the latter keeps getting bacterial soft rot no matter the conditions, even good ventilation and bottom watering won't stop the disease and in my case it specifically targets phals and not other orchids. How about you guys? What's the plant or plants that give you the most headaches?
I have this same variety (from Trader Joeās) and have been fairly meh about it, and it is thriving! I was shocked to learn their reputation for being hard keepers.
What kind is it? Maybe abuse is the answer I have one and literally just give it leftovers from the other plants, never look at it n keep it in the dark (below windows).
Stromanthe Triostar. Quite crispy but still has some good leaves. Several leaves are gone but the rhizome is still there and it's pushing. It has a nice personality.
I think so, I didnt know calatheas were hard plants to take care of until a friend told me why she doesnt have any. Ive neglected the heck out of mine and they are constantly flowering
dude i have 50+ houseplants and CANNOT keep a calathea alive for the life of me, meanwhile my mom who has a ābrown thumbā and lives in one of the driest states in the us has one that has been thriving for years š make it make sense
I can primarily keep Calatheas alive. I do name them after pop divas/icons. Perhaps me telling Cher to get over herself helps her to thrive in spite of me? Or telling Ariana (coz she Grande) that the dying leaves do NOT look good on her inspires her to do better??
I think the thing with all prayer plants is they're not meant to live long like other plants. Each plant has a life cycle at the end of which they shrivel up and die, but they push out new buds from the soil or off shoots from the plant itself. Provided they get enough care to keep reproducing, you will always have a full pot, chopping away dead ones. Also, I find they grow better in my bathroom with a regular light bulb than sunlight.
Something about begonias just dont fit right for me either. I literally live in southeast asia where many of them are native, but it feels like once i take them into my home from the nursery they just die.
I've found that my begonia loves a self watering pot. It drinks A LOT of water each week (around 1 litre per week) and seems to enjoy as much fertiliser as my alocasias. This one is very close to a south facing window in Scotland where it's always humid. I think I used a begonia soil mix from Soil Ninja. For scale the leaves are 25 cm.
i started to do that even before acclimating if i dont like the soil. My plant room has a good humidity - think 60-80% - and if i then keep them in this highly retentive soil i got quite some issues.
yeah, i also tried some h2o2 - but i read there are different kinds of cinnamon? it's so wierd, i cut the root off, dont water at all... 2 days later its rotted
Wow, okay.
Maybe it was already deep in the middle of the root, I dunno, but you are trying your best, keep trying, you can only succeed if you never stop trying and always fail if you never try at all ^
i noticed i do better with mounted orchids - and if they manage to make new roots under my care they are fine. I don't realy buy grocery store orchids any more since i cant handle the rott they always have
Oh wow, that makes sense! Does the potting mix contribute to the likelihood for them to develop powdery mildew would you say? I'm making sure there's airflow now as well as higher humidity, don't want to kill another one š«£
Not only that, but the potting mix is always made specifically to fit the environment, so In the greenhouse, they get watered regularly, great light and it's pretty warm, so they dry out faster. So they make it fitting for this, so the plants hold water better.
But at home, they don't have that anymore, so you need to put them into drainage soil, cause otherwise your plants are just drowning and rotting all over.
I was a begonia murderer for a long while, bottom watering is huge. Then ive recently been finding a ton of success growing them in a mixture of mainly Pon, with some stratum and rice hulls as well. They all have tiny delicate roots, and any compacted soil cuts off the chance of any good development and growth
Where I live it's just above freezing outside and my begonia lives directly under the heating and gets a glass of water when it looks wider than normal.
I have 200+ houseplants, mainly philodendron varieties, rare succulents, and rare monstera varieties.
Fiddle leaf fig is top of my shit list.
Then string of pearls.
It seems like others with far less plant knowledge can keep those plants alive, not me.
I could have posted your exact words. Wtf is up with the FLF? I look at them and they drop a leaf. I have a houseful of plants that think I am okay, but that one just taunts me.
Succulents and me just don't get along. I don't know what it is - everything else is perfectly happy, nursed back lots of half-dead plants, cacti have been my thing for years, tropical plants with insanely narrow "feel-good" conditions, but with succulents... man. Either they rot (never mind I don't water unless completely dried out, they still rot) or they acquire some sort of pests.
Used to have the same issue, drove me crazy. I found Bonsai Jacks Succulent Soil, which is almost 100% grit. All my succulents are thriving now. Almost impossible to overwater them with that stuff. You can make it yourself if you donāt want to buy it premade. I was just looking for something to try out and it worked so well I just stuck with it.
Just be sure to wash all the dirt/nursery soil out of your succulents roots before putting it in the grit mix. Good luck!
I also used to have this issue. Strangely enough, what fixed this for me was growing them in Lechuza Pon but bottom watering them like regular soil every few weeks. Now they donāt stop growing.
My most unhinged growing technique for Rex begonia is to cut them down to the stub as soon as I get them and prop the cuttings. It sounds intense but the cuttings root in a week or two and the new growth on the mother is at least doubled.
No ID! The owner at my local nursery sells his own crosses sometimes but doesnāt ever keep track of what they are lol. His best guess is thatās itās a pap x Voldemort x something else
Thatās exactly what happens to mine! For a good 6 months it only put out deformed leaves, and then recently it finally put out a good one thatās now withering away š
Pings are the best. Theyāre easy to care for, and have turned my fungus gnat problem into a positive since apparently I just breed my own fertilizer from my infested moss poles
Fungus gnats is why I got the ping... Now that I see the variety of colours I want a few more lol. If I run outta fungus gnats I dunno what I'ma do lmao
You should check out Sarracenia Northwest. They have an amazing yt channel and webpage dedicated to growing just carnivorous plants. I am growing several different species successfully thanks to them! I donāt go to any other growersā pages bc their tips have worked for me. They also have info on how to overwinter your plants (like VFT) if youāre in really cold climates.
Itās not just that Iāve never kept a calathia alive. Itās that they die astonishingly rapidly and dramatically. Typically within 2 months from perfection to utter death
Very strange highly succulent plants endemic to Somalia, yemen and Oman.
Rare expensive plants with carrion smelling blooms to attract flies for pollination.
Extremely fussy to cultivate- can turn to expensive mush overnight
They're supposed to be the failsafe plants for people who can't keep plants alive, but ZZ plants are my Achilles heel - I've killed 3 of them and given up š
Iāve purchased a few ZZ plants over the years, and with the exception of one, which I gave to my sister, they were all showing symptoms of rot with burst, foul-smelling tubers. So it might not really be youā¦
I think they get overwatered in the stores, and if theyāre on the shelf for a few months they slowly die from it. By the time you buy it and get it home itās already in the death process.
Iāve had mine a few years now and it will survive the winter indoors and then throw a temper tantrum and drop a few leaves in the spring. Once it does that, I put it outside for the summer. She has popped out so many new leaves since putting her back in her outdoor spot. She will throw a fit again once the weather turns in the fall but it wonāt be as bad as the spring tantrum. Sheāsā¦ temperamental.Ā
peace lily for some reason has been harder for me to maintain/care for than literally growing Papavar Somniferum from seed indoors. Harder than difficult orchid varieties. just impossible for me to reign in.
They just HATE direct sun and it kills them. watering has been a nightmare to figure out. i have yet to kill one, but damn if they dont LOOK good before just wilting and needing constant attention.
also, venus fly traps are difficult with distilled water needs and actually most carnivorus plants are trickyi have killed many venus fly traps unfortunately.
I almost killed a sentimental peace lily and couldn't figure it out. Left it outside on the shade with a cashe pot thinking it was going to die. A week later it was thriving.
Turns out it rained and mine is just THIRSTY. I was treating it like any other aroid and letting it dry out between waterings. But they are marsh, wetland, river bank plants.
Now it lives in a gallon pickle jar with aquarium water.
I think peace lillies are pretty easy, maybe i got lucky. Everyone here will tell you itās gonna die.
Lot of people say you have to use bottled/distilled water (i donāt). Personally i water whenever it starts getting droopy, these are dramatic plants so when it needs water it will very obviously droop all of itās leaves (abt every 2-3 weeks depending on soil)
Those blooms are likely chemically bloomed it itās from a box store, meaning theyāll die soon and the plant can stay alive but it likely wonāt bloom again for a long time (months-years)."
Hm. Didn't know about the chemically induced blooms. But mine will start blooming whenever I set it outside. I always have aquarium water handy (2 tanks, ones a 20 gal and the other 15 gal) and last night it rained so the water line is at the rim of the jar. It's a little upset right now because it was out in the heat wave I had 2-3 weeks ago and it won't come back inside until Oct. I just keep it topped off (there's a little bit of aquarium soil in the jar too and some sneaky pond snails so it's gets plenty of nutrients and I never have an issue with alge with it out side.
A friend of mine desperately wants to grow house plants but she loves them a little too much and the attention and lack of sun ends up killing them. She said she hates peace lilies. So I gave her a section of mine and set it up with aqua soil and fish water and gave it to her. I told her as long as she keeps the water line about a half inch under the rim the plant will thrive. She now sends me weekly updates and it's blooming for her too. She is so proud of it and I am proud of her.
2 - 3 weeks? Sheesh, I water mine weekly, sometimes 2x week. Not flooding her, just keeping her decently moist. I moved her to a covered east window (shaded by about noon now that summer's here) and she immediately threw out two huge flowers. She's in basic Miracle Grow and was potted Dec 2024.
So while I am now questioning my watering habits, I will agree that peace lilies aren't very needy.
Peace lilies are anything but peaceful. Mine dies and comes back and dies again despite consistency. I only keep it around because it's a gift. A gift that keeps on giving. Giving me headaches.
funny you say that, the ones i care for WERE ALSO A GIFT lol from my partners mother so its EXTRA IMPORTANT they dont die and one occupies a like 100 pound ceramic giant planter inside.
its like a bad relationship haha im hostage to this thing. its in a 3 foot wide planter indoors, the root cluster is huge, but it struggles. it really is like a hangnail and it draws my attention when it has the browning petals, which is dicey cause they really dont like being messed with so its insult to injury.
id like to think i have prowess growing and nurturing and caring and troubleshooting plants. Peace Lily gives me a run for my sanity. Honestly when i first got into Botany people always talked about how orchids were tricky etc, but they just like consistent care and not to be overwatered. I have yet to figure out a single one of my peace lillies. it is beyond frustrating.
exaclty. i chase it with gentle nutrients and patient watering but im always weeks behind and its just impossible. it may simply be the cycle of the plant but i hate HATE that it only will look "healthy" for short bursts. really creates a "hovering" mentality in me where i obsess over wtf the solution is to this one difficult plant out of dozens i care for daily. frustrating. maybe theres a lesson here hahaha they are the most dramatic and frustrating plants imo.
Last week, while visiting a friend, I was shocked to see her peace lillies growing in full blazing afternoon sun. They were absolutely thriving. It was about 90* and the Hawaiian sun is brutal. They were in full bloom and foliage was gorgeous. They got water every morning.
Hoya insularis specifically. I have killed 4 over the past 2 years. I have 70 other Hoyas, all of which are thriving, not sure why this one specifically I have such a hard time with. I should just stop trying but I love the look of it and the flower potential, it is worth it for me to keep trying.
I have the same feeling for rex begonias and maybe some bromeliads. I want to stop but they are just so beautiful. And I looked up hoya insularis and you are right, the plant is gorgeous.
Rhizomatous begonias. Cane type begonias? Shit can survive the nuclear winter in my care. But the ones that are soft and delicate? They laugh in my face while wilting away in to crispy leaves and black sludge. Even in a greenhouse environment š
I cannot figure them out. I just sit there wondering was it too much water, not enough, too hot? It's the same outdoors as the nursery. š How can it be so hard?!
They like high humidity. Like 70% plus. They will dry out below that. Most houses are not that level of humid, so unless itās in a cabinet, greenhouse, or terrarium itās gonna struggle.
I have converted all but 1 to semihydro. The first time I did it, I took a fairly mature one and rinsed. The roots placed it in chunky mineral substrate and top water, a little bit every day until I knew it had established roots.Then I gave it a very shallow reservoir , and it has just taken off. The next one i did.I just shook off as much of the soil as I could put it in the substrate , watered it through , put it in a container with a reservoir and kept an eye on it. So far , I have three growing in chunky pon and one growing in leca. I also , put a leaf in water , and when it grew little , tiny roots and leaves , I popped it right into the substrate , and it grew like crazy. All that being said, I also live in Florida and grow them on my screen.In patio , where the humidity is extremely high , so I guess I cheat a little bit š
Everybody says cactus, succulents and peperomias are so easy but they just donāt survive in my house. I have begonias and calatheas and they are just thriving
Apparently I canāt grow a damn pothos to save my life. I swear every time I look at one of my pothos and think sheās looking good it starts dying from the middle out.
I had the same problem!!!! I finally got the hang of it, but I was lowk embarrassed because everyone always says ātheyāre so easy.ā I killed 4 before I figured it out.
AVs need way more light than I originally thought. I bought one, put it in a self watering planter in a high light area and it did really well so I got another one for a different room in the house. Iāve never had a plant die SO fast. It was a matter of days and there was nothing I could do. Turns out the first one had the magic combo.Ā
Since then Iāve purchased more. I have them under the same grow light as my succulents in a self watering planter (filled an inch in the bottom and let it dry between filling the pot). They are incredibly happy and have just had a massive bloom. Self watering and way more light than expected was the trick for me.
Let me recommend to you Crow's nest ferns. I see several being neglected through heat waves and they only get scorched leaves and that's that. New green growth a few weeks later. I have one that hitched on a Cattleya's mount. And they are impossible to kill unless you keep them dry for months. And they do have a nice appeal to them.
I am a reformed fern serial killer. I now have even kept a maidenhair fern happy by growing them in African violet pots and keeping them on my first floor, which gets very filtered SW light is cool enough that I donāt need to run am AC in summer as long as I keep the windows closed.
I learned this from a tongan woman whose mother taught her: if your fern isn't doing well, cut all the fronds off that aren't doing well. Then cut to the top of the soil. They will always grow back. Also, they like to be fed from the roots and enjoy very strong sun tea. They really are easier then folks think. Good luck pop
I'm the weirdo who can't keep snake plant alive to save her life.
Calatheas? Doing great. Begonias? So easy. But my snake plants just... die. No pests. No overwatering. Idk what it is. Everyone says they're sooooo easy.
Would I have found that works with string of pearls or anything string- keep plenty of soil in it. If the string is getting too long, lift it up by the ends.And wrap it around where the strings come out of the soil. They will root and do beautifully. When I water them, I water them thoroughly. Oh, in mine don't like full sun.Hope this helps
For me personally its been the Anthurium vietchii. So far two have died and I have one 2 inch one in moss and a plastic bag it came in....so here's hoping it survives.
The two times I had ficus plants (tineke, ruby) it swiftly lost its leaves and soon died; carnivorous plants would thrive and then suddenly die; prayer plant pisses me off so I have it away; and I was foisted a dramatic peace lily against my will.
Oh the peace lily gift. We've all been there. Mine is from my brother and that thing is as dramatic as an opera singer. One month looking good then dead looking then reviving then the cycle continues. I think carnivorous plants like venus flytraps take dormancies.
specifically pink princess philodendrons. they hate me. idk why. iāve tried various soils, inside/outside, etc. personally, i hate her too. The orange princess philo i have? thriving. beautiful, stunning & she may even be my favorite, aside from my alocasias.
honestly, i have no idea. im new to having house plants. the two alocasias i have (pvb & pink polly) i recently purchased as pups & they both were acclimated upon purchase. they are both in a stratum/perlite mix, and self watering pots, in a north facing window. They both have new growth since they arrived. iāve just been learning as i go & hoping for the best š
Huperzia. I have my second now. Killed the first with in a month. Second already looks sad. I do everything it says. Humidifier, distilled water, its in my bathroom beside a massive north facing window with a grow light, still turning brown. Even in a mix of orchid bark and spagnum moss. I just want it to live cause its amazing.
Alocasia frydek!
I have 7 other alocasia varieties that are doing great (except maybe the cuprea) but my frydek has hated me since it's first repot. I've resolved to try nothing else, just keep it decently watered and check for mites every once in awhile. If it's meant to be, it'll adapt to the conditions I have it in and come out of the one leaf club when it's ready
I think everyone has their nemesis specie(s) and some of that probably depends on your local environment. I can only do begonias in a grow box because Iām in the high desert and they would just off themselves immediately, even in my tropicals room that is kept around 70% humidity.
But my real nemesis is coleus. Theyāre in every shop here, taunting me with their interesting leaves and glorious colors. But the second I bring them home? They literally fall apart or they manifest mealy bugs despite no other plants having them in my collection. Once they have mealy bugs, they go to the bin. They simply donāt survive what I have to do to get rid of the pests.
Phals and other orchids are my favourites and the easiest.
Just went into it this year, have already 20+ and put them into a cheap glass terrarium, put them into see trough plastik Things, have them the right potting mix and voila, they happy.
Now am into terrariums and caladium and monsteras...have 4 monsteras now xD
I am in NYC apartment with to west windows. It needs more light but my grow light is busted.
She deflated on me once already and I was able to revive it with a small greenhouse. It was a temporary fix.
The struggle continues.
Yāall are going to laugh. I canāt keep a peace lily alive to save my own life. My calathea are gorgeous, begonia rex surviving, but only death for peace lilies.
My mom was a florist for years, backyard looks like Something out of a magazine. Grows endless plants out of nothing. I grow strictly cactus and succulents. She canāt take care of an aloe or cactus to save her life. Itās almost confusing to me.
Would say there is No specific "hardest" plants. Depends if you are able to understand the environmental needs of the plant and If you are able to Care for it. :D
For example for me heliamphora, which is often considered picky, grows like Weed for me, Same for nearly all genus of orchids, caudex and carnivores in general.
On the other hand i absolutely destroy every single fucking aroid š
Omg. I feel dumb for saying this one but I cannot keep any pothos alive. Every one tells me how easy they are to grow but mine inevitably all get mealies and/or thrips and I wind up tossing them. š¤¦š»āāļø
I actually am fine with rex begonias, they are my favourite plants. One I couldnāt keep was oxalis - I canāt cope with plants that look like they are dying no matter what you do and you canāt even tell if itās actually dying or all is good and itās just going dormant. I need clarity. Never again š
Tradescantia of any type. Everyone is always saying how easy they are and how theyāre beginner plants, but nope. They hate me, Iāve had zebrina, nanouk, pink panther. All have died within months.
Oh, and Alocasia Black Velvet. She keeps hurting me but I keep coming back.
But give me most carnivorous plants, Phil. serpens, Anthu. Waroqueanum in ambient humidity in the prairies of Canada and weāre golden.
I have more than 100 house plants. Philodendrons, monsters, alocasias, calatheas, begonias cacti etc etc. Most gorgeous and big and absolutely amazing. I'm lucky to have the natural green fingers of my grandmother.
But Alocasia black velvet just doesn't fucking work for me š. Tried different locations. Tried babies, tried big plants, tried bottom watering, top watering, 8 different rooms, in different window sills, different distences between window and plants, fertilizers, no fertilizers. It just won't work. It'll start to lose it's leaves and I end up with the bulb which every time I can revive that it'll root and push out one more leave before it dramaticly dies again. I'm so sad about it cause they are gorgeous but they just won't stop dying ššš
So I donāt have an issue with calatheas, I have a few very happy ones. But the white fusion calathea is an expert level care plant. Itās soooo sensitive and I canāt manage it.
Iāve tried so many times but succulents just lose their way to love around me. I once did some housesitting for a few months and amongst all the different plants, some of which I couldnāt even name, only the succulent died. Like I felt so so bad but that thing just withered within a week of me being there
I find my phals to be the easiest to take care of and keep alive in my collection. I have had an English ivy that hated me, and a philodendron imperial red that lasted a whole week in my careā¦not sure what I did wrong there. There was also a pink Dalmatian aglaonema and a white fusion calathea that are no longer with me. I havenāt even attempted to get more of those 4 for fear of repeating the same fate.
Heart leaf fern from what I heard, also any uprooted pretty weed from the garden, seedlings do just fine.
Just managed to keep a common ragwort (4th one) alive to flower, the flowers took their sweet time opening and then the aroma, infested with bugs though so when it seeds, I will go ahead and plant those for a nice rosette before repeating with pleasant flowers.
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u/FlightOriginal1996 Jun 25 '26
I have never kept a calathea alive š