Heard a botanist say we're killing our houseplants with kindness and it hit home

I was at a local nursery near Lakewood last Saturday and overheard a guy talking to the staff about how most people water their plants way too often. He said something like 'overwatering is the number one killer of indoor plants, not neglect.' I looked down at my poor fern that I've been drowning every three days and realized he was talking about me. Has anyone else had to learn the hard way that less water actually means happier plants?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_paul1mo ago

Not sure I agree, some of my plants thrive on my helicopter parenting style.

ray_williams1mo ago

Three of my ferns died because I kept moving them around to "catch better light." Sometimes you just gotta let the plant figure it out. And my spider plant? That thing grew like crazy in a dark corner I forgot about for months. So I dunno, maybe some plants respond to attention but most of mine seem to do better when I ignore them a little.

the_leo1mo ago

I heard a plant scientist say some plants actually grow better when you ignore them.