Live plants dying within a month :( 30$+ on live plants, NEED HELP!!

[mattlopez328]

I have been buying Schefflera(umbrella plant) but they are dying way to fast and costing me to much $$$$$. Any advice on another breed of plants that lives longer or tips on keeping plants alive longer.
Thanks

 

[pssh]

Don't over water them! That is a huge problem with misting heavily!. Also use really well draining soil if you do mist a lot. Try pothos, I have a very hard time killing them except when I don't water them.

 

[maxttu]

P-O-T-H-O-S-!-!-! That is all ...

 

[Rottsko]

drainage is important like pssh said. for my plants, i have about 1/2 inch of rocks at the bottom of the pot and then put soil in there. i also drill the bottom of the pot for drainage. do you have a grow light? a 6500k flourescent light will help as well. good luck

 

[mcleodschams]

drainage is important like pssh said. for my plants, i have about 1/2 inch of rocks at the bottom of the pot and then put soil in there. i also drill the bottom of the pot for drainage. do you have a grow light? a 6500k flourescent light will help as well. good luck

also pothos can handle beeing over watered they do amazing in my chams cages
the sheffierra i keep in the front corner of the cage away from the dripper and donot mist i dirrectly

 

[lslcronk]

The easiest thing I have found with schefflera is to mix A LOT of play sand into the organic topsoil. Topsoil alone holds WAY TOO MUCH water, it literally will drown your plants. The mix I have luck with is about 50/50 topsoil to playsand (I actually lean heavier to the playsand) and my schefflera are doing GREAT. I have pots that have a drain area on the bottom so I dont have rocks except on the top to keep chams from eating the soil. I actually am planting all my plants this way and seem to be having great success. And on an side note, the cham room smells like the beach! lol Good luck!

 

[EvilLost]

I lost many plants when I first started too; proper plant growth is all about air:water ratios.

Plants in our cham enclosures get a lot of water because of regular misting/etc. As a result, the soil tends to get overwet and soggy preventing good aeration to the roots. To combat this, I use the following techniques:

1) As suggested, mixing in sand helps to increase drainage. An alternative that I personally prefer is using LECA (hydroton, expanded clay, all same thing). Gravel can also be used if you have that handy.

2) Similarly, I always place a 1" layer of hydroton on the bottom of all my planters before placing soil on top. This way when you overwater via misting, the excess water doesn't sit in the soil (and since soil wicks it up....this water gets wicked up into the entire planter, causing sogginess). Instead, with a little bit of hydroton, the water drains through the soil and sits in the 1" hydroton layer and does not get wicked up....eventually draining away. This leads to much happier plants in high water areas ime

 

[Whatcamo]

I've found I like use the stuff in the picture it's from the good ol' Wally world and it's cheap under $2 it's about a 50/50 mix of topsoil and sand drains very well

 

[mattlopez328]

Thanks for the replies, really appreciate it!!! going to try these suggestions and see how they go

 

[ponders]

If you buy them at Lowes or Home Depot, they come with a 1 year guarantee. I have taken a few back without any problems.

 

[BonnieLorraine]

Don't use gravel at the bottom of the pots, it makes the soil reach a super saturated level before it will move into the macropores of the gravel. If you just leave the soil alone, it only has to reach a saturated level to drain, so with gravel in the bottom of your pot it will actually need the soil to reach bog like conditions before starting to drain. If you want to up the drainage, as stated above just mix the sand or the gravel into the actual soil, thereby eliminating a layer of macropores slowing down the drainage. Ah, the fun things you learn in Soils class