Dear Ivy,
I wanted to ask you a plant question. I’ve inherited the responsibilities of caring for the dilapidated peacy lily at my mom’s taekwondo school. It’s about eight feet from the windows so I’m wondering what other problems I should tackle first.
The damage is pretty typical: tips and edges of the biggest leaves are crispy [...]
Dear Ivy,
I’m learning about plants and love the Pothos plant. My question is this: I looked up your blog saw how to clone a Pothos so I did it. It’s not dying, but it’s not growing the roots yet out of the nodes and do I have to wait until Spring or Summer to do [...]
I swear I was going to bring it in… soon.
I just needed some time!
Oh, the carnage…
This is what happens when you leave your tropical house plants outside, and the weather turns. I had started bringing other plants in, in preparation for Winter. I supposed the Pothos would be sturdy enough to deal with the initial [...]
Dear Ivy,
I had 2 very healthy ZZ plants (several branches over 2 feet long), that I left outside for a few weeks in the Sydney winter. They were in a dry spot but when I brought them in side, most branches died off, lost their leaves and even fell off the plant; one has [...]
When the heat gets to be too much, set your plants in a few inches of water. This will allow them to fully absorb all the liquid they can hold, without you having to worry about over or under watering. You can spray or mist the top of the plant and get all the dust [...]
Dear Ivy,
How often do I water my hen and chick plant?
-Mothering Myrtle
Dear Myrtle,
In a few words… Not often! These plants, known as hens and chicks, because of the way they grow (the “mother hen” sends off little buds exactly like little versions of herself), or, also known as “Semper Vivum” (”always alive”), are a true [...]
Dear Ivy,
The leaves of my Zanzibar Gem are yellow, I think it has been over watered. What should I do?
-Karen
Dear Karen,
Although the ZZ can tolerate drought, they also will relish lots of water. The yellowing of the leaves could be due to poor water quality. Some municipalities put flouride and chlorine into their water systems, [...]
Dear Ivy,
Can I put my indoor plants outside for the Summer?
-Hesitant Harriet
Dear Harriet,
Don’t hesitate! Your indoor plants will love the fresh air, sunshine and rain water that mother nature can provide for them! I put as many plants outside as I can in the warm months.
The two potted plants are Dracaena and the hanging plant [...]
My birthday gardenia is blooming!
I was worried about it for a while, because several leaves turned yellow and fell off. Then, about a week ago, I noticed these:
The buds are pretty large in comparison to how big the plant is. They are about two inches long, and as big around as a sharpie [...]
Dear Ivy,
I have a Dracaena Warneckii and it has two stems…can they be separated or do they need to grow together?
-Lisa
Dear Lisa,
You can separate the two stems, and you can even take cuttings of offshoots and propagate them. Dracaenas are a hardy plant that will adapt to many different home environments, and levels of care [...]
