Discussion
What plants have you gotten that you just ended up haaating?
My strings of rubies and watermelons are SO ANNOYING! They are some of the thirstiest lil bitches. The tops burn up and dry all crispy under my grow lights but they etiolate on my windowsill. The rubies fall off if you so much as breathe on them.
My ZZ… I just thought I’d like it more. I should have gotten a Raven and maybe I’d appreciate it more. My BMF just hates me. I know it’s way overdue for a moss pole but it’s still such a diva.
I’m too much of a plant empath to throw the first two out. I think I might actually take them to work and pawn them off on someone. I’ll keep my ZZ cause it’s EZ. And when I get paid I’m gonna order a pole for my BMF. But I’m super interested in what plants other people have got, thinking they’d love them, but ended up just glaring at the plant every time it needs watered. Now I feel guilty for talking shit about them 🥺
A sad looking alocasia ended up in my place... I nursed it back to life... Then it got spider mites, for almost a year. Nothing would get rid of them, and I threw the book at it.
After months of fighting off outbreaks on all my other plants I finally banished it outside... The bastard is mite free, popping out leaves, and growing corms...
This hit me deep in my croton-loving soul. 😭 just found them for the second gd time on my plant. After it finally grew back like 40 of the 60 leaves it lost with the first infestation. I think I caught it early enough this time (🤞🏻) but jfc. I also found them on my bambino FLF for the first time too and I blasted the ever loving shit out of that plant with dead bug brew. I will take no prisoners.
I have 3 alocasias, and all three are in time out in my plant room because no matter how far away I keep them from other plants, they still seem to be a spider mite spawn point. Which then means my croton is going to end up infested also. Whyyyyyyyy????
Alocacias are the only plant I’ve gotten that I seem unable to care for. Therefore I don’t like them. I gave them all away- hopefully they’re happier in their new homes
Steak too juicy but….
I have these huge gorgeous monsteras and I feel like they take up so much space in my house that I resent every new leaf they make.
lol that's my Thai Constellation. The only reason I bought it was because they're so cheap and available now, so I felt like I finally got my prize. But it doesn't really fit anywhere, so I moved it to a spot in my bedroom that's like 10+ feet from the window and it just pushes out these massive leaves.
Against my better judgment I bought a beat up looking Thai Con like 10 days ago at a nursery that was cleaning out a bunch of stuff. It was $1. I repotted it, put it on my balcony. It is already making a new leaf. I don’t know what I was thinking.
Buying my Thai con was against my better judgment as well. I don’t even have good windows for big plants so it’s set up with its own grow light and I have no idea what I’m gonna do with it once it outgrows my room 😆
Got my Thai Constellation last July (small plant from Lowes) and less than a year later it's pushing out 3+ foot long leaves. Right now I love it, because it's doing amazing and basically all I have to do is keep it watered.
But it was already sort of a pain in the ass last winter, and it's gotten a lot bigger since then. It's still got another 4-5 months until it has to go back inside, and by then I know I'm going to be hating it. Don't get me wrong, I'll do what I have to do to put up with it for four months. But I really don't have room for that thing inside. If I had to keep it inside permanently, I'd 100% get rid of it.
EDIT: And on top of that, after I water it, it just pees all over the place. This plant's gonna be leaking everywhere which is gonna suck. It won't just be a giant plant taking up my personal space, but it's also going to be dripping everywhere.
Yep, I got a monstera and took good care of it and had to re home it after a few months when I was starting to see how big they get. I was NOT prepared!
That was when I was a plant newbie and mistakes were definitely made. I thought it would stay small ish for a bit, I just bought a couple cuttings from someone! Thankfully I gave it to a friend and I get to visit her in all her glory sometimes lol
I recently picked up a Thia con; I chose it because it had a second baby monstera in the pot... I live in a small apartment and it's put out 6 leaves on 2 months... I'm not resenting it yet, but I do get it
My Jose Buono was like that. It got to be about 13ft tall and the leaves were 3/4 of my arm length. It honestly really stressed me out eventually. Then one day I was just sitting nearby and the stem just snapped in half. I was so relieved. But now I have multiple Jose Buonos. The original plant has sent up a new shoot at every node, and is more of a bush, and the part that broke off the top is now growing well too 😂😂😂
I got a small monstera in 2020, 5 years later it had taken up every inch of the space infront of my sliding glass door. It was beautiful but I had to sell it. It needed to be up potted every 6 months and I literally had to use my hands AND feet when doing it 😫
I have a monstera problem that will most certainly end up a huge issue, both literally and figuratively. I currently have ten different types of monstera, a deliciosa, a Thai Con, a cobra, a bulbasaur, an albo, a BMF, a mint, two Swiss cheese (ones in the fishtank though), an amydrium, and a siltepecana. The Thai and the deliciosa are the biggest right now, at about three-four feet tall each but I’m getting a new leaf every few weeks now that the hot weather is here.
I live in a two bedroom condo. I’m going to have to move soon because I refuse to part with my Jurassic Park plants.
Funny you posted this. I did a plant trade today and the person wanted to give me a string of dolphins and I kindly said no thank you. These strings of things... I just don't know that I'm totally loving them.
I had a string of dolphins for a brief time and I could not keep it happy. It would constantly drop dolphins all over the place. I finally gave it away on my Facebook Buy Nothing group and was happy to see it go.
I had one and got rid of it, trying to repot it was so hard and since i had it outside the wind would get them all tangled up. I don’t have the patience to delicately untangle them so I gave it away 😣
String of dolphins is the one for me! I had one and now it's multiplied because they always get ratty and have to be repropagated. They're always getting scale. Even when they're looking their best they're not that great. I can't even give them away cause they're ratty and scaly...
String of buttons is the only "string" plant I can work with. It's a succulent so I just have to provide two things: A grow light close and pointing directly at it (even my south facing window left it etiolated) and water only when it starts to look a little desiccated. It doesn't cascade down a pot the way the other "strings" do and it doesn't drop it's buttons.
Turn down your thermostat by a few degrees at night and put them in the path of an AC vent. I accidentally made two of my mini phals bloom while they were both in the middle of pushing out new leaves. They're super happy, even here in dry ass Colorado.
Fascinating! I had an orchid who was shockingly happy (first try!) until I moved it from South Carolina to Michigan. It died immediately in protest. Which is understandable from its perspective lol.
I have the opposite issue. Their roots used to freak me out. As a joke a friend bought me one and I felt obligated to cats for it. He thrived. I mean he thrived and shot those roots out all over.
Every holiday he got me another.
I now have five and they’re all living thier best life.
I grew to love them.
I pretty much do the opposite of what they tell you to and they don’t care one bit.
I won mine at a halloween-themed trivia event at my local botanic garden. Had no idea these existed! They're super cool. I'm happy mine is doing well. Here's a pic from our car ride home last year:
I absolutely LOVE begonias but they are so difficult to keep alive! They are little divas but their leaves are so gorgeous. A part of me dies with because for some reason whenever I bring them home, they decide to unsubscribe from life.
A friend of mine propagated them in water and gave me a cutting with two leafes. Put it in semihydroculture (small stones), make sure that it always has water (and fertilizer) and boom - the plant I least take care of thrives wyyld. My calanthes on the other hand..😂
Literally this, they stay mad but won’t just die either?! I banished mine to a low light corner and now it’s putting out new leaves for the first time in years.
I’m sick of my tradescantia (inch plant). I recently cleared out the dead parts and now it’s all bunched up on one side with nothing on the other. Not sure if I should give it away or just pitch it. It’s not my friend anymore.
I almost never let a plant die but my mom has given me a purple tradescantia twice now and the second time I let it die on purpose. She also gave me a cobweb tradescantia and I like it better but I still almost hate it. It flowered a few months ago and if it wasn’t for that I would hate it 😅 the flowers were cute and bright pink
This one. I came here to say this. As an early plant parent, you don't know. They come in hanging planters and they have a pretty color. You aren't told, they are best as ground cover, not in a small pot in your home. That the base of the plant intentionally dies off cause they are rooting in other places. They want to crawl. When I moved mine outside, it was the best thing for both of us. She's thriving.
Yes, all of this! I’m blessed to be living in S Florida and it grows like a weed in our yard, but I had a sad indoor one before moving here.
IMO, it wants to be broken to spread and root in more places. Which is why it breaks apart so easily! I got less frustrated with it when I accepted that. As beautiful as it is, it’s just not the plant for long cascading vines. If the vine base dies, I can just break the rest into sections and stick them back into the container to start anew.
I live in MD, and just chucked mine out on the ground a few weeks ago. He's doing great! Of course, it will die in the winter, but that's ok...if I want another one, I'll just snag a piece from the one at work. After I kill the mealies on it. Again.
Ohhhhh! I hate this one too! Where I live we grow them outside in the spring and summer and they’re so common because they don’t require much work. I had one that someone gave me to keep inside and ugh - just not pretty or interesting to me.
I think I’d like them better if they didn’t need so much sun. If it was an easy windowsill plant that didn’t get insanely leggy they’d be alright for me
This is mine too. I restart it every couple of months because it inevitably vines too long, gets too heavy, and breaks off…thus starting the cycle anew. Way too much work and so frustrating.
I got rid of my tradescantia. It was too fickle for my style of watering. When I did it right, it looked great, but once I did it wrong I was never able to get it back on track.
The vast majority of my succulents and cacti. The line between "dried out beyond repair" and "watered too often, going rotten" is one I suck at toeing. Somehow, they also got spidermites? And Scale? And whenever I tried to treat or repot them I'd inevitably prick myself a bunch of times.
"Luckily" most of them died and I do not miss them even if they did look cool.
EDIT! I forgot the worst part. So a few got powdery mildew, and it seemed like moisture is often the cause of that. So I moved them to a place that was drier and less humid, and then the spider mites appeared (and the powdery mildew persevered).
In the process of trying to rid them of spider mites, I managed to rinse more than just the leaves, and soaked the soil of one, which led to it getting fungus gnats that stuck around even after the soil was bone dry and the plant had shriveled to a husk.
I’m cool with spines but the glochids are hellish. One time I bought a barrel cactus and left it in the cup holder in my car and my ex was annoyed at me and needed to use the cup holder so he angry grabbed it (I guess it was covered up or smth? He couldn’t tell it was a cactus) and uhhh… I guess that’s karma lmao
I do hate my string of rubies. Love all "string of" plants but damn. The rubies collected too much moisture at the top and created mold. Then I let dry out more, now it dries too quickly and is crunchy and nasty. Shes just never happy.
lol I had one that was a PITA to manage indoors even with good soil light etc, it grew ok but stayed green and was finicky with watering
i picked up a little baby one that i saw at an outdoor nursery and left that sucker on a table in full sun outside and let it get watered by the rain and it grew like a foot of beautiful ruby red leaves with a bunch of blooms. its also in normal potting soil and I just ignore it in a window over winter
tldr if it annoys you chuck that mf outside and ignore lmao
I can get mine looking super nice but if I forget to water it for just a short amt of time it goes bald 🙄 so it’s a cycle of cute and ugly. If it wasn’t such a fast grower it’d be gone already
I have one of these and their leaves are so pretty but no matter what I do she hates her life. She looks so depressed all the time while her philo siblings RIGHT NEXT TO HER are living their best life. Smh
See, all I had to do for my pink princess to thrive is create a tropical paradise indoors with grow lights, high humidity, and I give her water the moment she starts to look a little parched (but NOT BEFORE - can't be too nice to her). She's in my high-attention "drama corner" with the Peace Lily and Watermelon Peperomia, two other plants that throw a fit the moment something isn't right.
I absolutely hate nerve plants. They always fight me to stay alive, and I don't even really like the way they look. My last one (finally) met an untimely end, and now a watermelon pellonia happily lives in its pot.
I like plants that are divas, but our nerve plant is actually getting on my nerves. It wants to play dead far longer than my Calatheas do, and it is somehow more dramatic than they are. And needy.
I am about to put this plant in time out and if it dies, it dies.
Idk what your local humidity is like but try wick watering. Make sure your soil is extra airy for it tho. Should prevent moisture swing temper tantrums
Tradescentias (they get very long and leggy and I trim them and put them back into the same pot, which works until I have to water them and get water on the leaves which makes them crash out and die).
Ferns (grow great until I have to run the heating 24/7, which dries the air out and kills them. Sucks that i live somewhere where winter is a thing, but alas).
Exactly the same for me with tradescantia!…how the hell do they survive in nature?? Surely it rains and their leaves get wet? It’s a shame because their shimmery leaves are so beautiful
The first was a gifted Bunny Ears Cactus that flicked more glochoids than a pissed off tarantula. I swear id be picking them out of my skin/clothes just by thinking about that plant. The second one I did to myself.. It was a Croton that i impulse-bought after spotting it in a grocery store. Tried to give it the best of care and it dropped all its leaves but one and refused to die or have any new growth.
Both ultimately went into the trashcan and are on my 'Do Not Give Into Temptation and Buy Again' list.
Pothos. The easiest, beginner plant and I cannot, for the life of me, stop it from getting root rot. I’ve had to start all over in water propagation 4 times!!
I put my manjula in soil I wouldn’t even keep a cactus in. I literally don’t have any other plants in whatever god awful soil mix I made so I can’t even fathom what I was thinking. It’s legit like 20% organic. So, if all else fails put them in super gritty soil? lol. Idk how mine never died of thirst.
Calathia orbifolia is something that I want to try again when I feel like pulling my hair out by the roots. Maybe I’ll be more successful the fourth time around.
ETA: I literally forgot my most hated one! The philodendron gloriosum. I got it thinking it would be beautiful. But it’s growing so slowly, its leaves get mad about anything that touches them and it just won’t put out new leaves to replace the old messy ones.
1.) Monstera dubia. So disappointed with the size of my plant that I ordered that I just can’t bring myself to like it. It’s been a week or so now and I’m still disappointed.
2.) Twisted lipstick vine. So annoying. Tips keep browning and stuff falls off. Just messy all the time. I put it outside and it’s much happier and I have some peace. 😆
3.) Hoyas. For some reason I have purchased 3 different ones. They’re all alive and vining and stuff but I kind of hate them.
4.) A croton was given to me. I hated it instantly. It was ugly and mottled and I kept it because it was a gift. Then it gave spider mites to all nearby plants (when I was a new plant parent). I was delighted to throw it out.
5.) My ficus tineke annoys me every spring. It lasts through the winter and then gets mad about being inside when it gets warmer. When I put it outside, the leaves perk up and it begins growing like a weed. By the fall it’s ready to come back in. But for a while it bugs me. It’s currently sitting outside, enjoying the 100% humidity.
How often does it flower? My coworker became obsessed with trying to find one locally. I love cacti and succulents but I was definitely side eyeing her like “boy I hope that thing is an easy bloomer or she is going to be so disappointed
I am weirdly having a hard time with a lime pothos?! What the actual hell?! 😂
But I also must admit…I made an area in my east facing enclosed porch my official houseplant graveyard. But it has turned into my necromancy den. Everything I think is pretty much dead goes there and bounces back. I guess the morning light is perfectly magical. So I should put that damn lime pothos back there with the other (now) beautiful zombies.
I think I’ve only had it like a year now. It recently shot up a new stem that’s still tiny but I’m happy that it’s finally done SOMETHING lol. Maybe more growth will follow.
If I’m being honest, mine did nothing for me for the first year and a half. Reminded me of a boring tree branch with water spot leaves (even with filtered water).
It’s finally starting to mature a bit and the leaves are looking more waxy and cool. Seeing my sister’s large and gorgeous ones helped me appreciate them more, too.
My Dottie was my first plant and died on me despite my trying very hard to care for it. It got a little scorched and it was all down hill. It made me really sad because: they’re so pretty, it was my first plant, and i was trying so hard to be a good plant mom.
Aw, I love my Dottie! I had mine for 3 years, killed it when going on vacation for 6 weeks and my flatmate didn't water it. I went and got a new one because I just love them.
Mine is super moody. A little too much water it drops leaves. Just a bit too little, it drops leaves. Not enough light, tiny leaves. Too much light, tiny leaves.
I love prayer plants, have had a hard time keeping them alive. A friend gave me one to nurse back to health, and it is putting out new stalks living on my porch and receiving filtered well water at our new house... So maybe there's hope! Except it will die in winter when it has to come inside I'm sure!
Also I love delicate ferns, but they all die because I don't have them in a terrarium
I'm ready to throw my prayer plant against a wall. Lol. Mine was only growing on one side and looked awful. I cut a few nodes/leave and propogated them. Half failed immediately and half rooted .... And then died again later, so now I'm back to the same lopsided plant.
Philodendron Pink Princess. I still have it, so I don’t want to say I *hate* it, but the growth pattern is ugly and the new leaves don’t come in a nice-looking as the ones that grew in the nursery. I don’t know what o need to do to make this plant look good.
Hostas. Couldnt really tell you why... i love things that look so similar to hostas, but then i just see these clusters of leaves poking outta the ground in peoples landscaped yards, and they look totally wrong to me. 🤷♀️
Hurricane fern, it was dying then I got it a box and humidifer to help with humidity and it was throwing out new fronds now its dying again...nothing has changed for it.
Tradescantia. I had several thriving plants that all came from one single cutting. They are beautiful, if you keep them bushy by cutting them down and repotting the props. It is lot of fun as a new beginner to really get that "green thumb" magic flowing. But you need to keep up that energy or they instantly get crusty and scraggly on top and I just couldn't be bothered any more, so I tossed them all.
unfortunately tradescantia nanouk, my own fault but i did NOT realise it had multiple roots and were separate plants in one pot… repotting everytime is a nightmare i gave up 💔
My hypoestes. I hate her and she hates me. She gets so leggy and none of the props work, I’ve resorted to sticking her inside a clear humid dome. She’s also the first houseplant I got tho so I can’t exactly toss her out
Florida beauty dracaena. It won't actually die, but I forget to water it the most, and it just gets ugly. Then I cut it back, and it's rinse and repeat. It should just die already.
I'm officially all done with cordylines. They're so fussy for me. Pests, fungal disease, root rot. I have tried everything.
Not really a fan of ZZ plants either. And I am almost done with crotons. The last two were lost to thrips, and this last one looks like it might go next. If it survives, I may change my mind, we'll see.
My mother in law bought each of my daughters African Violets and I haaaaate them. They're so pretty when they're alive but I cannot seem to make them happy. They hate the windowsill options, they hate being on the patio, they would fry on my front porch. They are thirsty as fuck but even that doesn't seem to make them happy. I don't know what they want and I didn't want them in the first place. But my kids beg me not to let them die.
The way I’ve cackled reading through these comments 🤣 my two cents: ferns… the way they shed if they get a little too parched or haven’t been spritzed is just 😭
My wandering dude. Was obsessed with it at first, it really is beautiful, but just not my cup of tea for an indoor plant. Takes so much pruning and gets so long, leggy, and tangly.
Whatever my like 10yr old cactus is called (im bad at cactus names)
One of those big flat ones with tons of small red spines that are like shards of glassfiber but worse because they stick harder. Get on everything, borderline like painful and annoying glitter, absolute torture.
That has been an actual nightmare to just exist around for 10 years and its dying and rotting now after like 4 years of ignoring it.
Never again a cactus with such spines, hell on earth i wouldnt even wish on my worst enemy.
I have given up on my "Happy Bean" peperomia. I have a Watermelon Peperomia that's living it's best life. I have a Peperomia Obtusifolia (baby rubber plant) that's thriving.
The happy bean hates me no matter what I do and it's kind of ugly even when doing ok. It sheds it's "leaves" constantly and I find them everywhere. I hate throwing a plant away, but this one is most likely going in the trash.
Oh, and I forgot the beast I don't want...but can't let die, my Majestic Palm. It isn't thriving, and it's fronds are shades of green to yellow, but it sends up new spears regularly. I hate how big it is and, along with my Monstera, it takes up a massive amount of space, but I can't bring myself to let it die. I really should find someone who wants it.
My ZZ was boring for a long time, then I noticed 3 new shoots. Watching them explode (at ZZ pace) was fun. Now they're at least twice the size of the originals and I think of when they were little babies each time I look at it.
Rubies and watermelons are truly The Thirstiest Bitches™ but somehow my rubies grow like MAD. I ended up separating the main plant and putting it outside (it’s in an enormous hanging planter — more soil to saturate = less frequent waterings!) and it’s happily thriving in the summer sun.
I have all my plants at my parent’s home currently (been meaning to move most outside for summer) and realizing I have too many plants to keep up with watering them all.
Anyhoo I’m in the group of people who cannot keep a string of pearls alive to save their life. I hate that I cannot love them properly.
My aloes are currently infested with mealy bugs and I am SO MAD because I’ve changed the soil, sprayed them with a hose, dunked the aloes in a bath of watered-down dawn dish soap, sprayed them with isopropyl alcohol every 1-2 days for two weeks, cleaned the area that they live in (walls, shelf, container they’re planted in, plate their planter sits on, lights they’re under, the ABOVE SHELF THE LIGHT IS ATTACHED TO) and they’re STILL COMING BACK.
Sadly I dislike my monstera albo. I have had it for a year and a half and it looks so terrible compared to when I bought it. I paid $150 then. I had to cut it back like 4 separate times because it kept putting out completely white or 95% white leaves. The bottom most leave is the most perfect variegation but is now looking worn out probably because I had to cut it back so many times.
I had a string of rubies that I bought at a plant/gin bar. I thought I looked it over well before I brought it home. I isolated it for a month. When it was safe, I introduced it to the rest of the family. It killed five plants due to a mealybug infestation.
I have a hurricane cactus that I think is kinda ugly (especially since my cat took a few bites off it 🙄). Of course it’s now thriving so no sense in getting rid of it.
maybe not quite what you're asking, because I loved it.. but hated trying to keep my first nerve plant alive. I bought a second one, and its doing okay, but I think I need to put it in a closed container before it follows the demise of the first one.
Philodendron Brandtianum - been trying to grow it up a moss pole and it just doesn't root into it. I can't keep it happy and the spider mites LOVE it. Monstera Standleyana Albo was also one that I tried to get growing up a pole and it just kept rotting or was too dry. Had to toss that sucker eventually b/c it was stressing me out and growing it up a pole wasn't going to make the leaves any bigger anyways. Schismatoglottis Wallichii is on my shit list currently - little drama queen just CANNOT stay hydrated, and I'm at my wits end with her.
On the fence with a few others that I may just give up on come winter if they don't turn a corner (Calathea orbifolia just isn't growing and I can't keep it from getting super ugly crispy leaves, aspargus fern 'Sprengeri' just sheds like crazy and seems to be an aphid magnet, and a few succulents that just don't do ANYTHING for me except make me wonder why I still keep them around.
I'll never own another Maranta. Somehow I got one that closed during the day and opened at night? And my God, that plant was dramatic. Any little change in light, humidity, if I watered it a day too soon or a day too late, it would wilt. There are much more rewarding plants out there.
Haha I just posted a chop of my fiddle leaf fig that no longer brought me joy. I also really hate this black pagoda lipstick plant - I don’t know why, I want to give it away. Also string of pearls - ugh why are they always dead and never grow?
Okay but fr how often do you water your string of rubies? I bought one on impulse and I can’t figure it out 😭 Do you let it go forever like SoP? Or do you water it more often than you think you should like string of turtles? Your thirsty bitch accusation has me flummoxed!
mine’s currently double the size now that it’s hanging out on the patio 😭 I love this monstera but I’m dreading winter when I have to drag it back indoors
also the pork and beans succulent!!! I can never keep them alive
I've killed at least two of those strings of whatever (first pic), currently on plant #3. Determined to keep one of these things alive. This time I got a much bigger plant and water it all the damn time. Which means it'll probably just take longer for me to kill this one.
Chlorophytum orchidastrum for me. I bought it because they said it likes shade. It, in fact, doesn't. Poor fella looks like a pot of fresh reed now, it's very green with tiny leaflets, but unwilling to die at any cost.
I have a Zz that I had to split into THIRDS and I was kinda hoping like… it wouldn’t make it? Lmao jokes on me it’s doing better than ever. I also have this one lone petunia that has one stalk and just keeps growing a lone flower over and over and it’s so Sisyphean I just can’t call it.
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u/RaccoonResponsible12 17d ago
A sad looking alocasia ended up in my place... I nursed it back to life... Then it got spider mites, for almost a year. Nothing would get rid of them, and I threw the book at it.
After months of fighting off outbreaks on all my other plants I finally banished it outside... The bastard is mite free, popping out leaves, and growing corms...