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 [...]
I found this stock photo, an old engraving. It’s my first lead in The Case of the Mystery Plant. This picture most closely resembles what I bought at the garden center a few days ago. It’s called:
Hoya Carnosa, also known as the wax plant. This is a pretty common house plant, but I still have [...]
I like to frequent the “distressed plant shelf” at my local home and garden center. This is where all the wilted, neglected plants are put when they no longer appear well enough to sell at full price. House plants can be expensive. I usually try to clone mine in order to propagate them, but sometimes [...]
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 [...]
Time to start bringing your patio plants inside! The first frost is just around the corner in my neck of the woods, and some of you may have already been hit. If you have a porch or patio full of plants that have been outside since the Spring, there are a few things you need [...]
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 [...]
Dear Ivy,
How often should I water my Christmas cactus?
-Christmas Chris
Dear Chris,
Let’s explore some things about this interesting little exotic! First off, let’s get one thing out of the way… The “Christmas Cactus” Is not actually a cactus. In fact, it’s an epiphyte, like an orchid. CC’s and orchids share the same habitat in the wild. [...]
I’ve finally cracked the orchid code! My orchid re-bloomed last month, and it’s the first time I’ve ever gotten an orchid to re-bloom successfully. I know, I know. I’m as embarrassed as you are shocked. Here I sit, with the greenest of thumbs, and I have trouble with orchids. Well, I’ll tell you what it [...]
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 [...]
