While plenty of plant lovers will tell you about the easiest houseplants to grow, few will tell you which plants to completely avoid.
07.08.2024 - 23:06 / thespruce.com / Sarah Lyon
While common, terracotta pots are not a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to your green friends. According to gardening experts, many plants will actually struggle when placed in terracotta pots.
Below, we're sharing four plant types that you will want to pay special attention to when gardening.
Ferns will require moist soil to thrive and therefore will not do well in a terracotta pot, Madeline Hooper, creator, executive producer, and host of GardenFit Productions, LLC, explains.
«These pots are made from a porous material which allows water and air to pass through them, and this evaporation process dries out the soil quickly,» she says.
Opting for a terracotta pot will also create more work for you as a plant parent. Paul Thompson, the educator and plant aficionado behind Plant Me Paul, explains how your fern will suffer in a terracotta pot if you don't plan on watering it frequently or keeping it in a well-humidified area.
Hooper adds that starting seedlings will also not do well in terracotta pots for this same reason.
A nice alternative is to select a ceramic pot, which Hooper notes also comes in a variety of fun patterns and styles.
Feifei Cui-Paoluzzo / Getty Images
Want more gardening tips? Sign up for our free gardening newsletter for our best-growing tips, troubleshooting hacks, and more!
The venus flytrap, spiky-looking flower, is partial to wet soils, and is going to do best in another type of pot.
«Since the terracotta pot is porous, the clay can potentially absorb harmful salts that may accumulate in the soil and harm the plant,» Thompson says.
Paul Starosta / Getty Images
Peace lilies will be fine in a terracotta pot, Thompson says, but will dry out faster and require more frequent
While plenty of plant lovers will tell you about the easiest houseplants to grow, few will tell you which plants to completely avoid.
Overfeeding your herbs with fertilizers has many drawbacks, so it is important to reduce fertilizing. If you ask why—we’ve explained everything below. Read on to learn why it’s better not to feed herbs very often and what you should do instead!
Does location still matter most? Should you remodel your home to suit your tastes, or for resale value? Are starter homes still a thing? We all have plenty of questions about the ever-changing world of real estate. In our Ask an Agentseries, we’re partnering with experts at Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate to answer your biggest questions about finding, buying, and selling a home.
After a long winter, it's exciting to look forward to pulling out summer furniture when the weather warms up. But it can be disappointing when you pull out your outdoor items and they've been ruined by a rough winter and poor storage.
Got pests? Encourage native ladybugs to inhabit your garden instead of buying wild-harvested ladybugs to manage unwanted insects. Purchased ladybugs are expensive and potentially disease-carrying, threatening native bug species already living in your garden and the surrounding area. Your best bet is to attract and encourage native ladybugs to thrive and flourish, which will responsibly deter unwanted pests.
Mowing may be time consuming but is a critical part of maintaining a vigorous lawn. Healthy, well-managed grass not only looks better, but is more resilient to drought and other stresses. Proper mowing practices promote lush, dense turf by stimulating shoot and root growth. Lawn mowing encourages lateral shoot growth, resulting in a thicker lawn that is better able to combat weeds. These benefits are impacted by how often you mow the lawn. Mowing at regular intervals based on plant growth makes your ongoing maintenance faster and easier and ensures your lawn remains healthy and vibrant.
A well-designed living room layout will help enhance the space by making it more functional for everyday use. To find out what types of elements constitute a top-notch living room layout, we polled three interior designers and asked them to weigh in.
If you have a large load of laundry you've been procrastinating on, I get it and let's be honest: we've all been there. But before you jump in, you may not realize some items that you should actually wash with cold water instead of hot water.
Imagine sleeping on a bed that is too small or large for you to feel cozy and just perfect. It’s the same for bulbs. Planting them at the right depth is like giving them a cozy bed, just like Goldilocks! We show you the right way to do it and why you should follow it!
It might seem like a no-brainer what you can pour down a drain, but not every liquid or viscous substance is suitable for household plumbing for a variety of reasons. Some can congeal in and clog up drains while others can damage the pipes, resulting in costly plumbing repairs and replacements.
If you have a fully operational garbage disposal in your kitchen sink, you’re likely in one of two groups. The first is comprised of conscientious individuals who know exactly what they should and should not toss down to prevent those blades from grinding to a halt.
Ready to tackle that big pile of laundry? Depending on what you're washing, you may want to think about running a hot water load. Many garments can be washed in hot water, laundry pros say, and below, Hyacinth Tucker, owner of The Laundry Basket LLC, highlights five types of items in particular that will benefit from this type of care.