I think I meant healthy!

I learned the hard way the importance of letting the soil dry before watering....Now I know I understimated this advice everytime people gave it to me, and it was a big mistake.
Happy Holidays!!
Rocio

Along the lines of watering I think the thing that has helped me to learn when to water is picking up my plants. Give your plant a good watering and then lift it with your hand(s) make a mental note of how heavy the pot is when fully watered. If you're wondering if your plant needs water pick it up and note how much lighter it is. I find it works best than the finger method or a water meter and can tell if it needs watering just by the weight.

Plus by picking them up once in a while I can spot problems like bugs before they get too severe.

Like MBT, I, too, lift pots to see how heavy they are. If it's light, then I stick my finger in the soil just to make certain it really IS dry. I've been fooled a couple of times, so now, if it still feels moist, I wait a day or two before drenching the soil again. There are a few plants that have peaty mixes, like AVs, where I have to actually touch and feel the soil to determine if it needs water. Anyways, I am amazed at how well the pot lifting method works. After growing the plants for some time, you really do get a feel for "plant weight lifting". LOL

My other tip is: when growing plants that prefer extra humidity, such as Anthurium, you can place damp spaghum moss around the top of the soil. I've had tremendous growth with one Anthurium that I tried this with. Of course, you have other methods for providing extra humidity. You can moisten some pebbles in a tray(saucer) and then sit the plant on top of them. Make sure, though, that the bottom of the pot is not sitting in the water. Otherwise, you've whipped up a recipe for rot.

Another, for struggling plants, is to place the potted plant in one of the large glass cookie jars and place a lid on it. It still has to have very good light, but this added humidity will keep it happy and encourage new growth. I learned this from a DF, Foxykitten, who used to post on GW. She affectionately refers to it as the "plant hospital". LOL I have two Philo cuttings in the ICU unit right now.:)

And I can't say enough about having light, well-drained soil. If you don't have that, not much else matters.

If I think of any other things that work for me, I'll post them. Toots, this was a good thread.

Thought of something else--

Check the soil and roots of newly purchased plants. There could root mealy bugs lurking about down there. If not, you could be witness to a decling plant for what seems no apparent reason! Leaves wilting, but you know you haven't either under or over watered the plant. New growth is minimal or just stops all together. The bugs can lurk for a long time before being noticed. The truth is, most folks don't check the roots/soil of new plants. I know I didn't until this happened to me. I was kinda upset too because I really liked this Hoya Bella. Dang it! This is the 2nd one I've killed.

I may as well mention that you should also isolate new purchases for at least one month before placing them in your collection. And, inspect, inspect, inspect the foliage/flowers for bugs!!!!

I have another one.

Houseplants really thrive outside during the summer. So you could turn your wisconsin backyard into a tropical paradise or an arizona(mini)desert. Plus you can use your landscaping dollars for houseplants or even better, make incredible baskets of greenery that cost nothing and they can be watered with a hose.

I think one of the most useful things I learned, along with many of the things already mentioned, was to wick-water. Of course, when doing wick-watering it is even more important to be sure your potting mix is very well-draining. When I fist started I used things like cottage cheese cartons with holes made in the lids, but I particularly like the Volckman Brothers saucers. I'm not sure they're even made anymore, like so many things I find useful. But they're open saucers with partitions that hold the plant out of the water, and my theory is they add a good bit of humidity. It's also easy to let them go dry between waterings for those plants that prefer it. (Too easy, sometimes!) I water many more plants than the AVs I started using it for too.

I do wick-watering for my AVs and florist gloxinias. I use empty drinking bottles as reservoirs. I chose the bottles that can snuggishly (correct spelling?) hold the AV pot, then cut the upper part off, filled with AV water (water mixed with soluble fertilizer), set the AV pot on top, taking care not letting the bottom of the pot touches the water. And that's it, no $$$ spent for catchpots and the plastic reservoir is clear so it's easy to follow-up on refills. When it comes time for decoration, I drop the reservoir into a decorative ceramic pot and my AV looks fabulous!

Xuan

When you say wick watering, do you mean watering from the bottom or is there an actual wick

Best cleaning tool for furry plants, and especially AV's, is a wide artist's paintbrush, with semisoft bristles. It's very gentle and does the job , for those leaves that can get so dusty looking over time.

Best cleaning tool for furry plants, and especially AV's, is a wide artist's paintbrush

That's a good one that I do too.

Last year I noticed that some of my plants were growing towards the window reaching for more light. So I got the idea to put something reflective at the back of the shelf and bounce more light towards the window. I used those shiny things you put in your windshield to block the sun on hot days. It worked good enough to get the plants to grow more up than sideways.

In the winter months when plants arent receiving as much light as they would in summer, its important to relocate them temporarily to more sun. Plants weaken themselves trying to stretch for light and growth wont be as strong. Place them closer to the window, but watch for drafts too.

Jen

I also use soft paint brushes to dust wider leafed houseplant foliage. Makes the chore go quickly!

Happy holidays!

Tom

I actually insert a wick up from the bottom of my AV pot. And I can leave my AVs for extended periods of time, say as much as 2-3 weeks. If you want it to be longer, use a bigger reservoir. It's great for someone going on vacation. But you must make sure the soil you use is porous enough, though. In my case, my soil is 1-1-2, being 1 part of violet mix, 1 part of vemiculite, and 2 parts of perlite.
Here're the pix to help.

The wick at the bottom of the pot

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The pot & the reservoir

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The whole thing

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Happy holidays

Xuan

BTW: My camera has the date of Vietnam...so it's one day ahead of yours in the US.

Exactly my learning style Xuan. Thank you for the pictures. Your violets are always sitting in this reservoir and all you need to do is make sure there is water in it?

BTW, my friend just returned from your country and brought me back the most beautiful scarf I have ever seen. She is a travel writer and writes about spas. She is paid to visit spas all over the world-what a job! So she gave me a mini pictorial tour-I am ready to come for a visit-too bad air fares are outrageous

Again, thanks for the pitures

Diane

Hi tootswisc, nice to know you want to visit my country. If you ever will, drop me a line and I'll see you around town.
Air fares are not that bad if you don't try to travel around Lunar New Year :-). Once you're in country, you can take the coach (in fact many foreigners do this,they see more of the country that way). Vietnam has the most beautiful beaches if you care! And it's sunny all the year round (except on hurricane days!)
With regard the violets, I just leave them in their reservoir all the time like that, making sure they're never out of water. To make the AVs healthy and produce flowers, I add fertilizers to the water though. Should you want more info re AV culture, check the AV forum. It's real fun.

Xuan

I'm glad you answered and illustrated the question about wick-watering, Xuan--wish I could have seen the pictures! (Got the notorious red X) I loved your country when I got a chance to visit a few years ago--much too short a visit! Would highly recommend it! On another forum someone from there posted pictures of Adeniums from a flower show in Bangkok--lots of amazed people responded. We think we're doing well when we get an adenium to a foot or so tall with three or four flowers. Seeing those would be worth the trip all by themselves!

Using a chop stick to measure how damp your soil is, and not letting them completly dry out, because that is what the soil mealies love.
Humidity for Hoya
Don't over water
Don't use peat moss
and many many more. Norma