Le Mie Ricompense
Water Torture
Let us set the scene. A chirpy little plant has caught your eye and you've taken it home, moved it 17 times in the past twenty minutes and you're now admiring it lovingly. Your very own plant! Maybe it needs some water...bit more...bit more. You're supposed to water them every day right?
Err...no, would be the short answer. Water needs of different plants vary hugely. Some orchids for example (notoriously fussy, but probably just loved to death in truth) only need two ice cubes worth of water a week. Not a lot hey!
Research your plant and its water needs (we will always tell you how much water a BloomBox plant needs) Less is very often more. When you water, check how much is seeping into the bottom of the pot. A layer of pebbles can serve as adequate drainage - don't leave your plant sitting in water. If there's some there after an hour or so, tip it away.
The Other Side Of The Coin
If the number one cause of plant death is too much water, then the second cause is too little. It's easy to do - you get distracted, or go on holiday (maybe - whisper it - you've secretly just gone off the plant and are ignoring its poor little shrivelled leaves you beast). Plants will make it pretty obvious when they are thirsty!
Set reminders on your phone to give your plants water, or make it a household job - take the recycling out and water the plants. Scrub the loo, water the plants - obviously this might not work if you are a housework sloth. If you are super slack, you can even get self watering containers (though you will have to refill them too!) The best thing to do is to realize how great having plants around is - they are cleaning your air! Caring for other living things is SO good for you! A healthy, springy, bustily green plant will make you smile. Promise.
Let There Be Light
I'm sure we all remember all those boring science lessons where you had to draw plant cells and the lifecycle of plants, and learnt to spell the word photosynthesis and felt very clever dropping it into conversations afterward. Anyway, I digress. We all know that plants need light to make their food and to grow. They aint half fussy about it though. You might think your funky little fern will LOVE that sundrenched windowsill, only to wander in later and discover it's been scorched to a crunchy crisp. Whoops!
What Can We Do?!
Unfortunately, a burnt plant is usually a dodo. Au Revoir Mr Green. Again, this is where you need a quick bit of research (or, you know, a BloomBox care card) to find out exactly what sort of light fix your friends need BEFORE you fry them to death.
It's A Bit Dark In 'Ere
It's pretty hard to kill a plant through lack of light, but it can be done. It just means you've spent months heartlessly watching its leaves plop off one by one until it gasps its last. How could you. Just follow the above advice if you want to save your plant from death from eternal darkness.
Should We Put The Heating On?
We all know in order to keep a stiff upper lip, we need to spend a good portion of the darkening months shivering wearing eleven jumpers and four pairs of socks until we give in and put the heating on. But if you are cold, chances are your plants are freezing their tips off too. Literally.
If you've left Dave the Yukka in the conservatory, or on a prolonged "sunbathe" on the patio, chances are he'll be brown bread. Goodbye, cruel world!
Easy fix - just make sure your plants are as cozy as they would like to be. Or they'll die.
The Black (Or Green, most commonly) Death
No - not that Black Death, it's not fleas causing the problem, it's aphids. You can be the kindest of owners and spend all day crooning to your little green loves, but that won't stop the aphids. They'll swoop in from nowhere (seriously, do they just spontaneously generate?! WHERE ARE THEY ALL COMING FROM)
Luckily, if you are a good plant parent, you'll notice them before they can do too much damage and either just smoosh the little %&*$£$ if it's an early infestation, or wash them away. A more serious amount (you've been neglecting again, haven't you?!) you might need more hardcore approaches if you want to save your poor plant.
