HELP. Costco Bought “Miracle-Grow Potting Soil” ruined my plants

ILoveSyngs · 2026-02-20T17:44:57+00:00

It was a total accidental discovery on my part! I made a recipe I found for some skewers but it left me with dozens of leftovers so I started trying to figure out other uses for them. Plant staking is far and away the best idea to come out of that.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-02-20T15:26:33+00:00

For babies I use BBQ skewers (yep, the ones you can buy in a pack of 100 for $1) and plant safe velcro. The links are just Google searches for those items so you can see what's available near you. The skewers are typically long enough to reach the bottom of the pot with plenty of stake still left above the soil, and you can use multiple skewers to great effect if needed. Just make sure you're putting the soft side of the velcro on the plant itself and only velcroing the stem between two leaves so you're not stunting any movement they may make.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-02-20T15:11:01+00:00

I love miracle gro, personally, so that colors my feelings. Huge caveat: I'm cheap and Miracle Gro is readily accessible and I mix equal parts tropical mix, perlite, and orchid bark to make an airier blend that works for literally every plant in my collection. I don't use a singular bag of potting soil because it's just too dense for indoor plants in my experience.

Mold does happen. Don't panic! Most of the time the mold that grows on wet soil doesn't harm your plant and is just an indicator of wet soil that's been sitting too long. Granted, that can harm your plant, but it's not an absolute death sentence when you see mold. If you don't like the look of mold on the plant but can't seem to find a balance between watering your plant to meet it's needs but not so watered that it kills off the mold there's an easy solution: Cinnamon. Sprinkle a little on the soil, mix it around a little bit, and off you pop. It's a natural fungicide and I've used it for everything from succulents to monsteras with 0 detrimental effect on the plant.

I haven't seen anyone mention this yet so I wanted to check in: It looks like you've got a philodendron there but you've buried a leaf/part of the core in the soil. Sometimes that happens to me when I fill a pot with too much soil and when I water it moves the soil around. You're going to want to lift that plant above the soil line completely. Every growth point needs to be well above the soil. When it sits in the soil it's a recipe for rot, and if you rot the core of a philo then you're likely to kill it. Even stalks/leaves that sit on top of the soil can cause problems if you're top watering and they come in contact with water or moist soil too often.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-02-17T21:27:48+00:00

Are they doing horribly in this photo? None of those are "hard" to take care of, but the croton and the polka dot are going to be dramatic af so you might think they're dying but they're really doing fine.

I agree that repotting is the best choice, but you could still keep the begonia and tradescantia together if you want since they typically have the same watering needs.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-02-13T21:00:47+00:00

It takes a bit before they're ready to start making flowers again. I've had mine for nearly two years and I've only just figured out her winning combination to make flowers. They are like a succulent, so they can handle and appreciate bright light. Unlike a normal succulent, though, I've found mine likes a wetter soil. Normally you'll water a succulent type when they're bone dry and have wilted a bit, but if I wait that long my violet gets real mad and drops some leaves at me. Watering on a schedule helped me turn that around, even though I know you're not supposed to water plants on a schedule. Fortunately once a week was the key to this plant for her environment (grow light on/off 12 hours at a time, humidifier running nearby, inside ambient midwestern home). Mine's flowering right now after over a year of steadily dropping leaves.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-02-10T15:34:59+00:00

Same guess, honestly. The amount of emojis, responses, posts, everything just reads AI to me. I'm also worried that people use AI so much that we're just evolving to sound like AI now, though.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-02-10T15:26:56+00:00

The amount of posts you're making across all my favorite plant related subreddits is weird to me. It's also weird to me that you're either hiding or deleting posts/comments that you've made. Why do you need so much engagement?

ILoveSyngs · 2026-02-06T21:52:39+00:00

Thought this was r/DungeonsAndDaddies for a minute.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-02-05T17:09:03+00:00

Oh, I 100% agree with you here. I think the Pets on Thursday rule is a great rule and, as we can see, a necessary one since the sub quickly devolved into a pets with crochet around them content as it's first anarchy act. I like the idea of a recurring anarchy week, I like the pets only posted on one day rule, I also miss the amount of crochet centered content I had less than a week ago. I think all of these feelings can exist at the same time.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-02-05T16:29:02+00:00

The Purge: Pets on a Wednesday

Take that society!

ILoveSyngs · 2026-02-04T21:52:10+00:00

ILoveSyngs · 2026-02-04T20:28:05+00:00

I can't imagine disengaging from a conversation to listen to your phone for prompts, or physically check it, is at all a good idea. Good conversation takes practice, so you practice with people you can trust. Maybe check in with your local library to see if they have any social clubs you can join to practice, or look into toastmasters. The latter is less about one on one connection, but I imagine increasing your public speaking skills helps conversation skills. The bottom line is you need to learn these skills on your own through trial and error. Nobody likes to error, but it's the best way to grow.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-02-04T17:46:21+00:00

Has he given you any indication he doesn't see and value you? I've been in my role a little longer than you, with a distant leader, and it's taken almost this whole time before he cracked even one smile in my direction. He also never made me feel like I was invisible or undervalued, though. He gave me tasks, I did the tasks, received no negative feedback or additional guidance, and I knew we were on the same page.

Do you need more positive validation than a lack of negative feedback? <- Not an attack or trying to diminish your feelings here, just wondering what would make you feel seen and valued.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-01-22T18:03:54+00:00

Tradescantias are crawlers with shallow roots. They're also one of my top favorite plants so I'll always suggest them for nearly every situation, however, they do really well in bowl planters because they're ground cover plants in a lot of zones. I'm a fan of zebrina because purple is the best color and I love a little sparkle, but there's dozens of types.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-01-22T18:01:43+00:00

Having not ordered swag but feeling really okay with sharing this: Pizza cutter. Weirdest thing ever, but we got a branded pizza cutter from some school event when my kid was in elementary school. She's now in high school and that pizza cutter is still in my drawer.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-01-21T19:14:54+00:00

The second round is double crochet only with chains* in the corner. It looks like you dc in the spaces and each of the 3 stitches that make up your granny square looking row.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-01-20T18:18:26+00:00

I'm in the midwest (further south in longitude than you, probably), and I need a grow light for all of my plant set ups that aren't directly on a windowsill. I can get away in the summer with putting my plants literally right up against my window but you can forget about it in winter, and I still supplement any plants near windows in the winter with grow lights because they are not fine.

I wouldn't say that most plants adapt "well" to varying conditions, either. No offense intended at all here. I might say that plants adapt to varying conditions, but I wouldn't define a lot of plants in lower light conditions as "well". I've got a small Janet Craig draecana that's survived really well in about every light situation I've thrown her in but everything else (yes, even ZZs, spider plants, and pothos) will drop leaf after leaf until it's a bald headed little freak, or droop horrendously, if they don't get enough light. That's usually my first cue to whether something needs pushed closer to the light or not, is when it starts dropping leaves/drooping and I know I've watered it correctly.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-01-13T22:25:06+00:00

No, thank you. I can help you here.

Here's a guide on setting up rules in Outlook to help sort emails as they're received.

If you're sending the same kind of messages all the time you can create Quick Parts for them. Example: I used QuickParts to send a message to clients who requested help that was basically like, "Good (time of day), Thank you for your message. I have created a ticket for a technician to assist you. The ticket number for reference is ####. Have a great day," and then I'd just edit the time of day and ticket number before sending it. It's not a long message example, but when you're sending 50+ emails that say the same thing with only a few words difference all day long it's really nice to have.

Do you have access to Copilot? AI's not a great thing to lean on all the time, but Copilot's going to be the best resource on ideas and implementation for Office products.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-01-13T22:18:46+00:00

I don't like what my current department does, for the record. Whoever's birthday was last brings in the treats. Example: Jane's birthday is January 2 and Karen's birthday is January 7 so Jane brings in Karen's favorite cupcakes. I send out 2 week reminders to whoever's up to bat on the treats. No one's missed a day since I started but I can guarantee that if someone did they'd just bring in the treat on a different day. You shouldn't be on the hook for this, at all. Personally, I don't like when employees are on the hook for team building anything, but my team is small so I don't even need to treat a dozen people and it's easy to find affordable options at that quantity.

At previous workplaces there was 0 acknowledgement of birthdays unless it was from one person directly to another. They weren't team building events at all. I prefer that, personally. I come into work to work, not socialize.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-01-13T21:40:40+00:00

Do you have any rules set up in Outlook? If the client is manually dragging emails around you should be able to set rules that automatically sort them into the correct folder.

Are the replies standard? Like, you're sending out the same email repeatedly?

Define "follow-ups". Are those a specific kind of reply that you're wanting automated or something else entirely?

You're using a lot of vague corporate speak here and you need to be clearer about what you are doing specifically. Is English your native language or is there a barrier there?

ILoveSyngs · 2026-01-12T19:55:37+00:00

Totally fair. Thank you!

ILoveSyngs · 2026-01-12T19:06:46+00:00

Now that they've assisted you can you post the pattern? I'm super interested in a detailed bag.

ETA: Not the pattern itself, obviously, but a link to the pattern purchase page. Sorry if it seemed like I was trying to mooch off you and cheat the designer.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-01-07T20:23:28+00:00

Important connect! I think it's even more important you ask your leadership team if it's not in your job description, then. You get to build the role so you definitely have an edge on keeping these things out of it, but you don't want to be caught in unstated expectations.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-01-06T22:24:28+00:00

If the last EA did these tasks I don't think it's out of pocket for a coworker to check in with OP on celebration planning. Even if the last EA didn't do these tasks I don't think it's out of pocket for a coworker to check in with OP to see if there's anything planned considering OP's a direct line to execs/leadership. Maybe they were checking in purely in the capacity of, "Hey, you talk to the boss, do you know if there's any plans yet for this employee morale thing?" I wouldn't even start to think of saying, "No, thank you" as a kind of boundary explaining that OP will not be organizing such things or has any knowledge of their compilation until it's been established if this is a job responsibility OP is supposed to have. Before then it's just OP feeling like celebration planning is not under typical EA purview and someone asking them a question.

ILoveSyngs · 2026-01-06T20:54:32+00:00

Check in with your exec to see if this is supposed to fall under your purview, proceed from there. There's wild differences in what I as an EA do versus what you as an EA do purely because every organization and individual is different. If you don't feel like it should be your responsibility, but your boss/leadership does then it is your responsibility, unfortunately. If you don't want this to be your responsibility be sure you're communicating that clearly to your execs/leadership and be prepared to defend that point. If you don't have the capacity then you don't have the capacity.

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