Finding Gentle Light for Haworthia
Haworthia is useful where a very sunny window would be too harsh for a small rosette. Introduce brighter light by distance or a sheer curtain and observe color and firmness.
THE GARDEN JOURNAL
The garden journal.
Good growing starts with a little understanding. Find practical ideas for your plants, your patch and your everyday home.
Preserving an Echeveria Rosette Indoors
An echeveria that has stretched cannot compress its existing stem back into a tight rosette. Improve light for new growth first.
Caring for Christmas Cactus Between Flowering Seasons
A Christmas cactus is an epiphytic forest cactus, so its root conditions differ from those of a desert cactus in gravelly dry soil.
Checking Orchid Roots Before Watering
For a moth orchid, combine root appearance, pot weight and moisture inside the bark before deciding to water.
Watering African Violets Without Crowding the Crown
When bottom watering an African violet, let the mix draw up water for a controlled period and then empty the tray.
Avoiding Oversized Pots for Peperomia
Peperomia obtusifolia may look too large for its pot before the roots actually need a larger container.
Keeping Watermelon Peperomia Leaves Upright
Watermelon peperomia leaves hang on relatively delicate stalks. If a leaf droops, support the blade while inspecting the stalk rather than pulling it upright.
Rotating a Chinese Money Plant for Even Growth
A Pilea produces offsets from both the stem and the surrounding root area. Choose one with a usable root section and remove it with a clean tool during an appropriate growing period.
Training Hoya Without Removing Flowering Spurs
The short woody flowering spurs on Hoya carnosa can flower again, so distinguish them from a dead stem before trimming.
Giving String of Hearts Enough Light
String of hearts can be refreshed by laying a healthy vine over the mix so that selected nodes make contact.
Watering String of Pearls at Root Level
For string of pearls, inspect the top of the pot as carefully as the hanging beads. A dense curtain can conceal a dark wet crown.
Maintaining Even Moisture for Nerve Plant
A nerve plant grown under glass loses water differently from one standing in open room air. Check the mix before misting or watering, and open the display when condensation and stale air persist.
Reducing Brown Edges on Prayer Plant
A prayer plant can fold or lift its leaves as part of its normal daily movement. Compare the position at a similar time of day when judging a problem.
Setting Up a Calathea With Large Healthy Leaves
For a calathea with damaged leaves, compare moisture, light and airflow before adding water or moving it into stronger sun.
Protecting Stromanthe Color Indoors
Stromanthe triostar needs enough light to support its pale variegated leaves, but those same pale areas are vulnerable to excessive direct sun.
Moving a Croton Without Losing Its Routine
After bringing a croton home, photograph its original position and keep the first changes limited to necessary watering and temperature protection.
Pruning a Dwarf Umbrella Tree for Shape
A dwarf umbrella tree responds more predictably to several modest cuts than to an abrupt removal of most healthy foliage.
Understanding Leaf Tips on a Corn Plant
A corn plant can hold old brown leaf tips long after its growing conditions improve. Do not remove an otherwise healthy leaf solely because its end is imperfect.