“Nobody is walking around the rainforest wiping leaves” 😂

Thank goodness someone is brave enough to say they rarely disinfect their scissors. Glad to know it is not just me. I appreciate the way you deliver advice and tips. I have learned over the years to take any ‘tips’ with a grain of salt. They can sometimes be helpful if trouble shooting an issue but generally I just pay attention to my plants. Like you have said all our conditions are different.

I repot (most) plants as soon as I get them, and I also don't follow most of what you're saying. And if these rules actually were 100% true, we'd all have gorgeous, huge, healthy plants. So much of the fun is the intuitive aspect.

This video ought to be required viewing for all these KZfaqrs and Instagrammers who are complaining about burnout with their 'collections.' Because they are rigourously following all these silly tips and tricks (shudder) and making more work for themselves. I've been gardening outdoors and in for much longer than you have been on earth, and I am pretty much on the same page as you for all of those so called advice. There are probably close to 300 houseplants, mostly hoyas and some aroids, in here and I work fulltime plus have a big outdoor garden of perennials, shrubs, trees etc. WHO HAS THE TIME to wipe leaves? LOL. This is a terrific video plus your cat and your fondness for each other is just awesome. Cheers from Canada (and my four indoor-only kitties).

I'm from Wisconsin in the USA.. I have been growing houseplants my entire life! I have over 200 amazingly large plants in my apartment and don't fuss over stuff. I have them for enjoyment not a job! At 70 yrs old... My life is good... It is a healthy clean jungle in here! I keep my home clean which keeps my plants clean! Love your honesty!

Guidelines and rules are meant to: 1. Be followed 2. Broken 3. Modified or adjusted as necessary To do that, you need to know the reasoning behind a rule. When you do, you can apply the rules (all, parts, or none) to your advantage. This video was so useful. You did not just spout rules you break, but explained the whys behind the rule and the considerations we need to be mindful of. Without this, a stated rule is merely an opinion. Thank you!😊

Just what I needed today ! i don't have the time/energy to do some chores today and as you just said: it's a hobby. i'm not a prisonner in my indoor garden, if i don't do it today, well, who cares ! Have a nice day and thak you very much

As a new collector just starting out I thank you. New people watch these videos and they make you crazy with all the dos and don’ts, telling you to buy these products and planting in a certain medium. Ugh it’s way overwhelming. I live in a small apt and cannot isolate so it’s not even possible but I feel like I’m doing things wrong when I don’t. I am learning to take advice and sort out what is working for me and go slowly with collecting high end designer plants. This hobby and fussing over my plants is escape from a stressful job, I don’t want it ruined.

This is a huge relief for me. So many do's and don'ts in the plant community. Make more sense now for me. It's all about how we treat our plants according to our enviroment conditions. Thank you for sharing this with us 🌿🥰💚🤩🌱

Hello Sir Bradley... I love that he is sitting beside you, very relaxed and napping ❤

Well put! I have done this for years. I've been growing all types of plants for 40 years. And I still have the ones I started when I was 5 years old. Between my inside and outside garden I am dealing with thousands of plants. Happy growing everyone!

I live in cold, cold Minnesota lol I fertilize all year! I also get way way better sun in my home during winter when the sun is lower and the trees' leaves are not blocking the light. For that reason, my plants without grow lights actually grow way faster/bigger in winter!! I both top and bottom water, mostly depending on what pot they are in and how fast they dry out. Great advice here, agree with all points 💚💯

I don't have the space to quarantine plants either, so what I do is put them in clear plastic bags, sometimes with predatory mites, for a month, and keep an eye out for mold that might develop due to lack of airflow. Some plants come with springtails, making mold a non-issue, at least for a month.

I enjoy the whole “growing season”. I have many fish tanks in my apartment and every water change I do is great for my plants! I think that’s another reason why my plants do well!

I break plant rules all the time and still have great success growing my plants. I’ve repotted in the winter, pruned roots and foliage without disinfecting scissors, fertilized in the winter, up-potted several pot sizes larger than the standard “1-2 inches bigger than the root ball” advice, I don’t use chunky “aerated” soil, and I often water in the evenings. I’m sure I’m forgetting to mention a few other things. So many plant influencers repeat the same old advice without providing a shred of evidence to support their claims.

Thank you for another great and informative video, Jan! So true with many of them!

I loved this video! Years ago I had a few Zz and amaryllis plants. They did fine. I recently wanted to get back into having houseplants since retiring. I went to Home Depot and bought two gorgeous Calatheas. They died a short time later and made me think perhaps I now have “bad hands” ☹️ I later found out that they are fussy, high maintenance plants and started researching a plant before getting it to determine if they are easy to care for and keep. I got a bunch of plants and decided to research and watch many KZfaq videos to learn how to properly care for my plants. It got so overwhelming! Lots of the advice often contradicted each other and made me nervous about whether I could manage having plants that thrived ☹️ (my calathea experience didn’t help either). And luckily I had Zz plants in the past and never had issues with them because many videos made them sound like they are so toxic you have to practically wear a Hazmat suit to handle them (okay I’m exaggerating a bit, but you get my point). I went back and forth to Home Depot buying things / returning things because I got the wrong item or found out I didn’t need an item. I too thought - this is supposed to be relaxing 😫 But I now finally feel like a new mom getting used to the routine of caring for her babies. But I wish I came across your video before watching any of the others 😩 I just subscribed! Thank you for sharing your experience ☺️ Btw I’m glad you explained about dormancy. I too live in a warm climate and never have to worry about frost and such. I kept coming across videos talking about care for my bulbs and such during dormancy and didn’t quite understand the necessity, later realizing it wouldn’t apply to my situation 🤦🏻‍♀️

Thank you for Sharing beautiful House Plants lovely collections beautiful video

I enjoy your common-sense approach. I agree that the logical principles are the key!

Good one 👍🏼 Totally agree with you on all counts. It's a matter of taking what works for you and your situation & leave the stuff that doesn't (except for misting, that's bad...period!)

Hi jan. You've convinced me regarding not isolating new plants, my 3 new plants have just been placed in ideal conditions. They and i will be very happy now 😊 ❤

You are adorable and I just love all the knowledge for plant care that I have thanks to you! I wish you well and hope your channel continues to grow and thrive just like your plants do. Best wishes, Aimee 😊

Thank you so much for mentioning the growing season especially when it’s winter. I live in Canada and my plants haven’t stopped growing all winter long because they all live under grow lights. As a new plant mum I didn’t understand that and just figured I’ll do it my way and hope for the best. I’m happy to report that they are all still here with me. ❤❤

Thanks for the humor and realistic chat! Loved it!

I disinfect my scissors very regularly. I fertilize at each watering, water weakly weekly kind of thing. I tend to use a moisture meter during “winter” just to make sure I don’t water a plant that doesn’t need it. I live in the U.S. central Texas so our winters aren’t typical. It could be 80°F one day and 30°F the next day. I wipe down some of my plants. My monsteras mainly…I’ll spray my soft cloth with neem oil and clean my plants leaves and I’m also preventing pests. I don’t really isolate new plants but I do spray them down, change their substrate and treat them with systemic granules for a short time then I go back to just spraying occasionally. I do pest check frequently. I think I have close to 200 plants…I work full time and I break up my watering chores into 2 day sections if that makes sense. Plant chores are helpful to destress from a hectic work week but I don’t want my plants to consume all my free time. Thank you for admitting to not always following the rules…I feel they are more of a guide line anyway. I am loving all the frequent content you’re putting up along with your vlog channel. Hello Brett!

Love love love this video! I tend towards doing what you do as well with these things. Thanks for the validation!

People will always do what works for them. Thanks for the honesty

Thanks for this video! I agree with a lot of what you’ve said. I live in a colder climate but my indoor plants are still growing in winter. So I keep feeding them throughout. Some of my plants have grown better in winter (with the more direct light coming through north facing windows. I also move my plants around to take account of the changes in sunlight with the season changes. I’ve found my rubber trees and fiddle leaf figs do so much better when I water from above and below. My monstera deliciosa also seems to like it and take up more water from below.

I love you because you think about conditions because we have plants in an artificial environment as close to their natural environment as possible so I have always fed my plants year round because the seasons doesn’t really affect them

I fertilize all year at a weaker solution. I too move plants around depending on light conditions 👍 The one plant I moved that had a melt down was my Maranta ☹️🇨🇦

The moss pole watering technique I learned from you is a game changer. Currently experimenting with having small moss poles for plants that require higher humidity..

I have been watching you for years and i just realised i wasn’t actually subscribed to your channel, I’m shocked. I absolutely love your channel, my philodendrons are thriving thanks to you! Keep up with the great work!!

Excellent I agree no cleaning scissors or leaves or isolate or bottom water I move plants all the time also fertilize all year soo enjoyed this

This is such a great lesson to aquire as one needs to know the rules and then know where and when to break them haha!

I love that your cat is always around you when you film! its so cute!

love this video that´s why it´s important to know why and then you can make your own decision. That´s one of the things you do in your videos that I really appreciate and also try to do when I give advice. I do try to isolate plant´s with pests though, don´t always can with 100+ plants, but mine are smaller than yours so I often can isolate, cover or group them or I just know I have to check the others as well or maybe even treat them as well :D With roots growing out the bottom I sometimes lift the plant out, put a little bit of new soil in and plop the plant back into the same pot. this way the root is back in the medium and won´t break when moving the pot around. I do mist, BUT only in certain situation and only with a very fine mist, I find it sometimes helps with stuck leaves or leaves that have troubles unfurling and are getting creases. Or sometimes when I want to :D plant care is supposed to be fun after all I bought a automatic watering system and set it up for my mosspoles, gonna try it this week and if it looks good I let it run while on vacation. I´m so hoping it works as I want to get more plants on poles but I am traveling multiple times a year and don´t have a planty friend close by. So far I always covered the whole plant and pole with clear plastic, but the watering system would be better I think.

Finally got someone who shares the same theories as me! The one about disinfecting the scissors... I mean I only do that if I know it's time to or I just cut a plant that has pests. Moving my plants around - big guilty of that to "catch the direct light/sun/rain" XD Literally, a lot of people sharing "tips" are from countries with completely different seasons than here in Australia. Conditions at home too, many tips I don't see the benefits/working for me. E.g I have a south-facing window but have a partially shaded outdoor courtyard, and indoors I avoid using a humidifier (even have an air dryer for wet days). Lots of the advice I tested & didn't work for my home, so I just have my own ways that work perfectly, easy for me & my plants all growing happily.

I like your advise... very practical and so honest! ❤

Thanks for your honesty. Started thinking that I had to have the biggest leaves, that I wouldn't be able to grow certain plants well enough. I almost thought of giving up on my plants, I have over 120 indoor plants but then I remember the process and to me that's just as exciting as the so called end result. I love to propagate and have found that I'm pretty good at it. So again thanks and thank you for your encouragement.

Fabulous and informative, thanks Jan and Bradpussa

Very logical and practical. Excellent!

Thanks for being open.. my plants don't get alot of the "rules" that get drilled into how to videos.. I have to be honest today Jan.. I kinda tuned you out because I was just watching Brad 😂😂🐱 I watched the video twice but he's just so lovely.. have a super day 👍🌻

Agree with all your points! However I live by my moisture meter, but I mostly use soil mixes that it works with.

Jan, what a great video! I love how structured your videos are. I have learned a lot from you! It’s great to hear all the rules to be broken. I never disinfect my scissors. I look also at my parents and grandma what they do with their indoor plants and in their gardens. I have never seen them disinfecting scissors and the plants are thriving. So from time to time when I see that my scissors are dirty I just clean them with the dish soap. Wiping leaves really who has time for that? Maybe if someone has like five small plants. Growing up we had quite a lot of plants. My mum would take them into the shower from time to time. For my collection I try to do the same. Moisture meter is maybe nice for beginners but i just stick my finger into the potting mix. In general I just look at the plant what she needs and I act accordingly. I never isolate new plants. I don’t see a point if the plant is new and healthy. I guess it’s time to try keeping plants with pests among the collection. Thank you for the video. I love that you it should stay a hobby and passion.

YOU HAVE NOOO IDEA HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE YOU!!! It is really hard having so many plants and following all the “rules”. I just wanted to say THANK YOU 😎🙌🏼 for reminding us that IT’S OKAY not to be “perfect” plant parents! Your pest video was on my feed at the PERFECT TIME- while I was dealing with a spider mite outbreak after getting back from vacation! I was really irritated and annoyed that it even happened, but after watching your video- you put my mind at ease and reminded me- that it’s all good!!! I was super overwhelmed at first, but slowly but surely, I’ve been going through my plant collection- section by section! You’re awesome! Thank youuu!

Great video. Most people don't have enough time in the day to even relax and enjoy their plants let alone wash every leaf on them. Thank you for being realistic with plant care.

I am in South Africa on the East Coast. We have similar conditions and ideas 😂 You speak my language. I talk to my plants. I read their energy. We have full on conversations. Some even have accents. My point is, one should have a personal relationship with each plant and then hardly anything will go wrong. It is natural magic. Good wishes to you ❤

Every single one of your words describes my own experiences. So many people overprotect their plants and tell each other nonsense about them over and over again. They should definitely listen to your valuable advice!

Once again, great advice. Thanks 🤓

I would just like to add one correction, regarding the moisture meter. It is actually very useful in aroid mixes, but not in the way of meter reading. You use it to assess the "dirtiness" of the probe you pull out of the substrate. If you pull out a completely clean probe, then it is time to water. Trust me, you will know when there is still enough moisture in the substrate. Even more noticeable than with chopsticks.

Yes, thank you! I do not sterilize or clean my plant scissors either. Thank you for your posts, we love them!

I have been watching KZfaq videos for nine months on plant care and you are the first person besides one other video; I saw last month to mention that moisture meters do not work in chunky soil. It took me too long to learn this, and it killed too many plants. I wish it was mentioned more.

You are such a real one to the plant community. Some are very nit picky with their plants, but like you always say.. we are mimicking their NATURAL HABITAT!! My plants became so much happier when I just gave them the right environment and conditions and now I just let them do their thang 😍

Agree ! Listen to everything do what you choose

I just love a Plant Rebel!! Thank you for debunking some of the well-meaning advice, but I agree, they are just not tailored for every plant parent's growing situation.

Makes good sense to me and is very empowering. Thank you😅🎉

Hi there from Mumbai, India. Have been a plant-cat-fish parent since 1995. I am so glad there are people who think like me. New subscriber here. God bless you mate. Common sense is the biggest rule, I feel 😊

This hobby wouldn’t be enjoyable if I couldn’t do what I want, when I want, including dumping the ones that cause me stress. Thanks for admitting what most ppl do anyway.

You explain things so well!

Love the video and the concept! I have just shy of 200 plants, from giants to miniatures, with leaves that are the size of my torso to leaves composed of leaflets the size of a needle's ear. Everyone who comes over assumes I wipe the leaves which 😂 who has time for that? One note on disinfecting scissors, I think it's more important when you're fighting an issue. Root rot is the most common. I spray my scissors before and after a root rot cleaning session. Same thing for the rare occasion I've had to cut off part of a leaf with a bacterial infection.

Thank you for all your wonderfulness, moss poles are a game changer. Yes, weening and waining with our plants and their individual needs is key. I don’t disinfect my scissors, but do wash them in dawn dishwashing liquid from time to time. I also use growth hormone anytime I cut a leaf or stem. Also, I decided to add some tree fern fiber to my sphagnum and it’s working out great. Can you tell me what kind, and where you get your large garden stakes for moss pole support? Thanks for providing us with consistent and very educational videos. You are such an inspiration!

Thank goodness someone that does not follow the same textbook, been watching tons of plantie videos and it's tiring hearing the same nonsense all the time. Quickly learned through experience that most of these tips doesn't work, so thank you for saying it out loud

Wonderful advice!!

This was an awesome video. Yeah, I think there are far too many expectations we put on ourselves, or feel we "should" be doing regarding plants. I've moved ours so many times, I've made them dizzy! And wiping them down? Umm..well, when we can get them into the shower to do so. Also, I loved your point on fertilizing during winter. They're inside plants, with growing conditions that are keeping them growing. (Not every plant ), but for the most part, especially our orchids go into bloom during winter.

Good advice and tips,for the ones that live by the book!! 😅…I used to,but no longer.. 💚🍀🌿🌵💚

Instead of isolating new plants I treat them right away. I have grow lights so I fertilize in winter. I also have to water more frequently because my heat is on, when the air conditioner is on in summer, the water doesn’t evaporate as quickly. Etc etc. I do what’s good for my plants, me and my conditions. I do have to wipe leaves in winter, I can’t take them outside to spray off, and my large of a collection I don’t want to take them all one by one to the shower lol Jan, you’re an excellent master debater!

I don’t follow a lot of plant “rules.” I do me and I’m glad that most here (by reading comments) do YOU. Thanks for another great video!!!

16:35 Mimicking nature is good advice for something we're unfamiliar with, but just as a reminder, there's a whole host of documented cases where plants and animals live substantially longer in captivity than they do in the wild. Nature is all about survival-the plant has evolved traits that will give it the best chance to survive and reproduce in nature. It _is_ possible to improve on natural conditions and invasive species are a great example of this-plants thrive better in an environment they are not originally adapted to. That is to say, I don't think, "That would never happen in nature, so we shouldn't do it" is the end-all be-all argument it's often made out to be. Plants have a slow and steady process for shedding leaves that are dying for a number of reasons (such as the attraction of pests you've identified); let's assist that process if we can so the plant can focus more on growing. Any energy that plant would have pulled from that leaf, I guarantee you are providing in abundance if you're already providing great care for the plant; it doesn't need it.

Well said, Handsome! I like what I hear!❤

My personal experience 100 % confirms everything you said here. Moister meter: I love using, but it doesn´t read correctly very airy mixes (philodendron, anthurium etc.) and cacti mix - but for other kind of substrates, it´s perfect (ficus, calathea, tradescantia etc.). I still use it regularly and bought it for my plant-beginner friends to have at least some reference point to start with. It saved many plant lifes 🙂 Winter fertilising: I´m in central Europe and this winter I used 50% more diluted gentle organic fertiliser on all my growing plants with every watering. They never looked healthier after winter. So from now on I´ll keep gently fertilising non-dormant plants every winter.

Good common sense info coming from your own experience!

I always wondered why people said don’t fertilize in “winter” and I still do and my plants appreciate it as well. I also don’t disinfect my tools even my outdoor garden ones and they survive. I clean them once in a while to prevent rust.

Thank for this advice🌱

Solid advice. I also never sanitize my cutting devices.

Thanks for the tips 😊

I find a wooden skewer works pretty well as a moisture meter in aroid mix

The only time i mist is when im giving the leaves nutrients. I use worm tea (every watering to the roots) and give the leaves some of it about once a month.

I've BEEN threw away my moisture meter. Waiting on that thing to tell me when to water, I'd still be waiting. Now that you mention these don't work well with a chunkier aerated mix, this is me and that makes sense.

Love the list!

We had to do surgery on one of our saguaros a few days ago! It had cactus moths which resulted in a fungal infection. One side of the cactus is growing close to a palo verde which results in a lot of shade and moisture, so the moths were thriving. Cleaning the knife super well between cuts was so important for this specific job. It’s so big, about 40 feet tall! losing it would be devastating. It’s weird to apply a bunch of alcohol and sulfur to a plant haha! But it’s healing well.

I was never successful at growing maidenhair ferns. However I seem to have stumbled my way to success at finally growing one. I have found that by bottom watering it is the trick. I also only water it occasionally. This past summer I was lucky if I watered it once a month. It’s outdoors in the shade but gets plenty of light. Also this past summer was extremely humid so it seems to have thrived almost on neglect. Not too sure how it will go in its current position over winter but here’s hoping it will be ok.

I only mist/spray newly emerging leaves to help facilitate lubrication so they can unfurl without ripping. I live in a fairly dry climate. But otherwise feel misting plants in general is a waste of time.

I don’t isolate new plants and totally messed up. Now I have spider mites and thrips. Big mistake on my part. “ nobody’s walking around the rainforest wiping leaves”.😂😂😂 I move my plants around all the time. Especially when they start to get big. I have a small apartment so I have to move them around. This was a great and informative video. 😊

I mist the Anthurium Queen and Paliidiform leaves every day. They soak up the water I feel like they love it. I feel like it helps to make sure no bugs are on their leaves. I have enough humidity in my home that I don’t do it for that I also keep a fan on all the time with the high humidity, but when you said it can cause “mold” or some kind of disease that scares me. I’ll have to read up on what to look for on my leaves.

A good reason to wipe the leaves is to wipe with a dyi pest solution, castille soap, water, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, as a pest preventative. Bonus is it cleans the dust off the leaves so the plant can breathe. It's a pain but the plant may be better off for it. Love your channel!

On the road to 200k subs! Woohoo!

I had a spidermite infestation some time ago that affected every area that I had plants, but not every plant. I learned that stressed plants give off pheromones that attract pests and are more susceptible to infestation. This is also why plants like alocasias are known as spidermite magnets-the conditions to keep these happy and healthy (visual cue: a full plant that doesn't lose a leaf every time a new one grows) are not practical for our indoor environments, and so they are typically under constant stress. My mother's alocasia low-rider was thriving in a chameleon enclosure maintaining consistent high humidity and reverted to the well-known 2-3 leaf form once it was taken out of the enclosure. I won't be surprised to see spidermites on these plants in due time.

Excellent!

Yessss bad boys of keeping plants ❤

Thank for this advice❤

I love it, I am the same I even have it on my newest videos stating “I break the rules” to warn folks. LOL

I just listen to my plants. They never lie

same same here, 9 out of 10 I don’t follow too, and all greens grow well

The only plant that doesn't move is the monstera aurea. It's variegation has never once browned in it's east facing window spot, while it does under grow lights and in the west facing window, so it's never leaving there if I can help it.

I’ve changed things so many times on my plant journey. Started with the ‘rule book’ then I threw that piece of crap out of the window and started figuring out what the plant actually needed.

Another big debate is about keeping or removing inflorescences from aroids.. It is advised to keep them because the plant can reuse the energy (like in the case of yellow leaves) and they are also necessary for the plant hormones to do their job correctly. But as I see those inflorescences just suck up all the energy from my alocasias and they look totally exhausted after flowering, so I always cut the flowers (with guilty conscience).

Love this❤️

Great video! 😂😂👌 Lot's of love from Germany. 🫶

OmG I am laughing here over the water meter I let go after a week and mostly over the yellow leaf hanging on for dear life😂😂cut the thing!! Sending love to Brad♥️

Sometimes I do wipe down my leaves, depends on the plant even with some oil-soap mixture as leafshine, it can be quite therapeutic while listening to a podcast or something like that. But you have to be really careful when doing this with several plants in a row because this can spread pests much better than your scissors 😅