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As you may have noticed, on weekdays I write about communications, and on weekends - whatever comes to mind.

Many friends tell me that nothing grows at home and any flower dies.

Everything grows for me, so I'll reveal the magic (there is none) 🪄🔮

Why does it die?

⭐️It sits in soil it doesn't like.
⭐️It doesn't get enough light or gets too much light.
⭐️It is sick.
⭐️You don't fertilize it.
⭐️You water it incorrectly.

I'll say right away that the most difficult cause is plant disease, and we won't talk about it in this post, the topic is too broad. Unfortunately, most plants you bring from the store are infected with something, especially from places like Pyaterochka and such.

But I'll give one piece of advice anyway.

So, you bought a green plant or bought it quite a while ago, and it's not growing and is dying.

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Soil 🌎

Transportation soil is a specific soil that contains moisture-retaining granules. In normal life, a plant doesn't need such soil, so 99% of plants need to be repotted from the soil you bought them in.

Determine the type of green plant and find suitable soil. On marketplaces, there are custom soil mixes - for ficuses, cacti, aroids, and so on. This will save you. Or buy a universal soil for houseplants; it's worse than a special mix for the plant type, but better than transportation soil.

Don't be afraid, repotting isn't scary. Wait until the soil dries out, take the plant out like a mandrake from a pot in Potter, tap off the soil and gently remove it with your hands without tearing the roots, put it in new soil. You're great! Water it.

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Diseases 🌡

Is it dropping leaves and dying? Turn over the living leaves and look closely at where the branches attach to the stem. See black dots and white webbing? That's a disease. Insects suck the sap from young leaves and it dies. Almost all store-bought plants are infected with this stuff. Move the plant to the bathroom, soap a cotton pad and thoroughly wash the leaves and stem. Rinse so that soap doesn't get into the soil (cover the soil with film or tilt the plant). Repeat several times - the plant will feel better.

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Light 💡

This is the most unpleasant part of the story. Most plants are very picky about light - some need more, some need less, read about each green plant and find a place for it in your home. For those that don't get enough light, buy a WHITE lamp. Purple is a scam, don't buy it. It's easy to tell when a plant needs light - it stretches out ugly, has sparse leaves, and the sharply grown top starts bending toward the ground.

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Fertilizer 💩

The soil needs to be fertilized. About once every six months. Buy a universal fertilizer "for all houseplants", add it to the water for watering so that it's slightly tinted, and pour it into the soil for each plant.

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Pruning 🐥

Sometimes plants look ugly because it's time to prune them. It's very scary, you need to do it in spring and read a bit beforehand, but if you learn, all your plants will be very beautiful.

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Watering 💦

This is a tricky part because most green plants require their own watering schedule. One universal tip: if the soil is dry a couple of centimeters down, it's time to water the plant (unless it's a cactus, they need the soil to dry out completely). Underwatering is better than overwatering - underwatering will spoil the leaves and the plant will look ugly, overwatering will lead to root rot and the plant will die. It's better to water a bit less often until you learn, rather than watering every three days to a swampy state.

Chances are, if you do at least this part of the actions, your indoor garden will come to life.

Oh, and start with simple plants. I killed three fittonias before I realized they need to grow in complete darkness and in a terrarium; they can't stand the climate of a Moscow apartment, they are tropical and incredibly finicky. If you hear someone pushing a tropical plant on you, give the pot back and run.

Bloom on 🌷