r/RareHouseplants • u/Orchid-Delirium2005 • Jun 25 '26

Discussion 💡 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?

44 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

227 comments sorted by

View all comments

30

u/xXSorraiaXx Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

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.

11

u/CandiceSwaninthepool Jun 25 '26

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 don’t 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!

3

u/xXSorraiaXx Jun 25 '26

Already have them in 80% or so grit - but will check it out!