4 Ways to Make Your House Plants Stop Hating You
Yes, they’re pissed. Yes, you can fix it.
Something’s wrong. You can tell. Your plant babies do not look like they used to. Like they did back when you brought them home from the shop. Gosh, were they gorgeous then. Vibrant green. Perfectly potted. Now, leaves are yellowing. Stems are drooping. Roots are poking out every which way. Your plant parent instincts know these plants want you to do something — but what?!
Interpreting the signs our plants send that they’re unhappy with us can feel challenging. We do, after all, speak different languages. Over time, though, you can pick up a bit of plant. Here are a few signs that your plants need help:
Getting Leggy
Plants eat sunlight. They love it. It’s one of their favorites, right up there with water and air. When plants aren’t getting enough light, they tend to get leggy. Getting leggy means that they’re growing tall, skinny, and sprouting small leaves instead of those big, gorgeous, supple beauties.
If your plant baby’s looking a little leggy, she’s likely living in the dark ages. She’s sitting in a spot in your house that’s way too dark. She’s hungry. Desperate even. She’s reaching her little leaves, grasping for whatever light she can find. She’s finding food, but it’s so far away. She’s spending too much energy reaching, so she’s running low on fuel to produce hearty leaves. Sounds exhausting.
What can I do? Help your plant baby find her light!
Combat legginess by repositioning your plant somewhere she’ll have an easier time soaking up that sun. In time, she will start sprouting newer, bigger, healthier-looking leaves.
Losing Leaves
It’s a classic tale. Girl meets plant. Girl loves plant’s leaves. Girl buys plant, repots plant, parents plant for a while. All is well! And then one day, all of plant’s leaves turn yellow or brown, shrivel up, fall off, and now girl is basically two leaves away from just having a sad-looking stem. Been there! Do not panic.
Plants shed leaves. It’s totally normal. It’s also, more often than not, actually a great sign. It means your plant baby is growing. As plants grow, they begin shedding older leaves to free up more energy for new growth. Between how extensive plants’ root systems are and the amount of food available to them, plants can only sustain so many leaves at once. Each leaf requires a certain amount of sustenance to stay vibrant and vital. So as they grow, they shed. Out with the old, in with the new. A great sign! And honestly, a great lesson.
If, however, your plant baby is shedding a bunch of leaves all at once, you may be over watering.
How can I tell if I’m overwatering? Check your roots.
Wiggle your plant baby out of its pot and take a look at those roots. Good roots usually have a strong, bright color — white for most houseplants — and a firm texture. If yours are discolored, mushy, or looking rotten, you’ve been over watering.
Don’t worry! It’s a common plant parent mistake. We just love them so much. We want to see them succeed. So we smother them with love and they shrivel up and die. If that seems like what’s going on, cool it on the watering. Wait until the soil looks pretty dry before hitting it with that H2O again. Make sure you’ve got proper drainage out the bottom of your pot too, so that your plant isn’t sitting in its excess water all day long.
No New Leaves
Has your plant baby started producing smaller and smaller leaves, or even stopped sprouting new growth entirely? Your little darling may be root bound. Mother Earth naturally designed plants to live and grow in the wild. I don’t know if you’ve been to the wild, but out there, plants don’t live in pots. When we grow plants inside our homes, in pots, their root systems eventually outgrow their pots. When this happens, the roots bind up in the pots. With nowhere else to go, growth in general stalls at both the root and leaf level. At this point, they have become root bound.
How do I know if my plant is root bound? Again, check those roots!
Mass leaf shedding and/or stalled new growth can mean your precious plant baby has outgrown her pot. An exciting milestone! If you’re getting the feeling your little one is root bound, gently wiggle your plant out of its pot and check on its roots. If they are tightly coiled at the bottom of the pot and there’s very little soil left around them, congratulations! Your baby is ready for repotting.
To repot your plant baby, buy a new pot that’s only one to two sizes larger than the pot she was previously inhabiting. Shake her roots out a bit, uncoiling them from their bound state, add in some fresh new soil and nestle her into her new home. In her new pot, her roots will have more room to grow, and soon she will sprout new, healthy, happy leaves.
What if I check my plant’s roots and they look fine? Note the season and temperature.
Is it fall? Winter? Some plants take a growing hiatus in cooler months. If you’re in a colder weather moment and your plant has stopped sprouting new growth, it is likely focusing its winter energy on survival rather than sprouting. Sit tight and see what spring brings.
If it is winter and you’ve lost a bunch of leaves, this could mean that your little plant baby is too cold. You might want to reposition her a bit further away from the window to keep her cozier.
Things Are Drooping
Is your monstera splayed out on your floor like an oversexed 1950s pin up girl? Too overwhelmed to even consider holding her leaves upright? It might be time for a plant climbing pole.
Plants like monsteras, pothos, philodendron or other aerial and vining varieties love to climb. After a while, no matter how big a pot you set them up in, they will venture out and explore. Plants like these can really benefit from either living high on a shelf or bookcase from whence their tendrils can flow. You can also pin up their growing vines on a wall or window sill to give them the leverage they need to keep climbing. Otherwise, rig those cuties up to a climbing pole.
Moss climbing poles, particularly the kinds that are stackable for future growth, are best. If you do choose to use a pole, please be gentle. Your little plant baby might be itching for adventure, but that doesn’t mean she still can’t get hurt. Gently tethering your plant’s various stalks to the pole with soft fabric or velcro can give her the strength and stability she needs to reach new heights without damaging her in the process.
You Can Do This
Here’s the best news of all — the longer you care for your plants, the better you’ll get at deciphering their many messages. Plant parenting is a journey. Some of your darlings will thrive. Some will live shorter lives. Whatever happens, there will always be more lessons to learn. And in the end, if all else fails, you made more fertilizer!
