You water your plant, glance at the pot, and spot a fuzzy white film on the soil, a dusty coating on the leaves, or a small yellow mushroom where none should be. Learning how to treat house plant fungus starts with naming what you see, because each type has a different cause and a different … Read more >>
A tall kentia palm arching over a reading chair, with its dark green fronds catching the light from a nearby window, is one of the most elegant sights in any living room. The short version: Kentia palm is one of the easiest large palms to grow indoors. Give it bright, indirect light (it tolerates lower … Read more >>
Your calla lily sits on the windowsill with yellowing leaves, drooping stems, and maybe a soft, browning base where green growth used to be. If you are asking why is my calla lily dying, the answer often depends on timing, soil moisture, and where the pot sits in your home. The short version: Most indoor … Read more >>
You water your English ivy, it sits in a decent window, and yet the leaf tips and edges are turning brown and papery, or whole leaves are going dark and limp. If you are wondering why are my English ivy leaves turning brown, the answer is usually somewhere in the plant’s immediate surroundings: the air, … Read more >>
Your cat is perched on the windowsill again, a chewed leaf tip hanging from the pothos and a small pile of green on the floor below. This is one of the most common problems in plant-filled homes, and it is very fixable once you understand what your cat is after. The short version: Learning how … Read more >>
You are standing in front of two leafy green palms in matching nursery pots, and the tags read “cat palm” and “majesty palm.” They look close enough to swap, but they behave very differently once they are home in your living room. The short version: In the cat palm vs majesty palm decision, the cat … Read more >>
A potted calla lily sits on your windowsill with glossy, arrow-shaped leaves, and you can’t tell if the soil under them is thirsty or still damp from last time. If you’re wondering how often you should water calla lilies, the answer depends on the season, the pot, and how warm and bright your room is. … Read more >>
You notice clear beads hanging from the leaf tips of your pothos, or a sticky film on the windowsill under your ficus, and you wonder what the plant is trying to tell you. If you are asking “why is my house plant oozing liquid,” the answer depends on what the liquid looks like, feels like, … Read more >>
You notice tiny specks on the underside of a leaf near the window, a faint web in a stem joint, or a cluster of cottony fluff where the petiole meets the stem. A homemade bug spray for houseplants can clear many of these pests, but only if you match the recipe to the bug and … Read more >>
You have a pot of glossy, arrow-shaped leaves sitting by the window, healthy and green, but no flower stalks anywhere. Getting calla lily leaves but no flowers is one of the most common complaints from indoor growers, and it is rarely a sign of a sick plant. The short version: Most calla lilies stop blooming … Read more >>