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Non-Carnivorous Plant Care Alongside my menagerie of meat eaters, I also keep an absurd number of regular plants. These range from desert loving succulents, to humid preferring tropical plants, to garden plants that live outdoors and receive all their care from Mother Nature herself. As the site grows, so will this care page… but for now, the general rules of normie plant care are as follows:
How long it will be between watering depends on a large number of factors. To avoid over watering, I check the soil once a week with a dry wooden chopstick- insert into the soil, if it comes up dry, time to water. When watering you want to REALLY soak the soil. If you have a large enough basin you can fill, allowing them to sit in about an inch of water for an hour or so is ideal. Plants can handle too dry conditions better and longer than too wet ones as a rule. Succulents need less, water once a month is plenty. There are many ways to feed a house plant, and I’m not equipped to tell you which is the best- just what I personally see and do. All commercial plant foods will have instructions on the bottle- Do That. Whatever the formula you have says, go for it. I can confirm however, that most plants are hungrier than you expect, and feeding less than once a month will stunt their growth. The formula I use is an all purpose 10-15-10 mix. It has instructions for indoor/watering can/use for every watering. I prefer this to more concentrated mixes, as it ensures your plants get nutrients regularly, and the lower strength helps reduce the risks of over feeding. All my non-carnivores get this same formula, with the exception of air plants, which get the 10-15-10 but diluted to 1/3 the usual strength. Lighting is the most variable element of plant care. Most plants want more light than you expect. After about a month in a location, you will be able to visually tell what sort of lighting adjustments a specific plant needs. Long, pale new growth, or the plant leaning towards the light source means it needs additional light. Either find a sunnier spot, or invest in a grow light. Yellow crispy leaves mean your plant is being burnt and needs less light. A plant that is growing with dark, vibrant, colors, and has short spaces between large new leaves, is happy with it’s light conditions. Moving is stressful for plants. Even if the conditions you introduce your new companion to are ideal, it will still exhibit moving shock as it gets used to your home. Be sure to wait at minimum one month before doing the next bit of advice… If you are here from a little QR code stuck to a pot I sold you- you will need to re-pot your plant. These 2x2 square nursery pots are great for seedlings and fresh cuttings, but very few species can live their whole life cycle in a pot this size. The primary soil mixture I use is one part Peat Moss to one part Perlite. Pre-mixed bagged soils are fine as well, but tend to be on the dense side. Consider adding additional perlite or orchid bark if you buy pre-mixed. |