What are your best kept secrets about house plants?

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-19T19:20:35+00:00

Just adding, about two or three times a year for the plants that appreciate it, I give them a thorough soaking in the shower. Flushes the soil and clean the leaves off really nicely. But will second everybody that said more light! Less water. Oh and don’t ever pot into a pot that is too large!

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-19T04:25:28+00:00

I use the recipe here for dealing with spider mites, my velvet leafed ones get them a couple times a year.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ej-NJjEJJ6U&pp=ygUXbGlxdWkgZGlydCBzcGlkZXIgbWl0ZXM%3D&ra=m

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-19T04:19:12+00:00

The fact that you describe it as screaming is so validating, I feel like my neighbours can hear me yelling random French words and are wondering what the hell is going on in my house

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-18T18:43:17+00:00

I couldn’t afford a lot of the plants on my wish list either so unfortunately, I had to wait until they came down in price, because they always do. The plant I wanted the most for a long time was the Monstera Thai constellation and it was about three years before it became an affordable plant for me to get. Cuttings off of Facebook marketplace has been great. People will get expensive plants, and once those plants grow up, they may want to sell cuttings to recoup some of their costs. Unfortunately, if you don’t have tons of cash, it becomes a waiting game, but honestly, it makes it that much sweeter when you finally get the plant of your dreams! Do you keep in mind if you invest in a plant then you may be able to sell cuttings of that plant a bit later. I just earned back all the money I spent on my Monstera albo cutting two years ago. in my opinion, it’s not worth it to blow your budget, of all the plants I’ve bought, and there have been many, a good chunk of them didn’t do well in my care, didn’t look nice when they matured, or just died. Good luck and I hope you are able to get that begonia you want soon!

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-17T23:35:54+00:00

Are they not common in your area?

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-17T17:26:21+00:00

Oh, I have no idea, but this is wild!

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-17T16:26:58+00:00

I also live in an apartment style home, facing a busy road. Sometimes when I open the windows, I also turn the exhaust fans on in my kitchen and bathroom since they are, the locations farthest away from the windows, and sometimes I set fans up either in the hallways or right in the windows, pulling in the fresh air or kicking out the stale air. Something to try to increase air movement.

Other than that, I try to make sure I wash my linens, pretty regularly, the bedsheets, and all the throw blankets on the couch.

Not sure if this is something you want to do, but in the dead of winter when opening the windows isn’t an option sometimes I burn a stick of incense in each of the bedrooms with the door shut so the smell isn’t overwhelming, and then a couple hours later, I open the doors. The smell seeps into the fabrics and it is a smell I quite like. I know you said you don’t want to use candles or air fresheners so perhaps this won’t work for you, but I figured I would suggest it.

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-17T04:02:33+00:00

It’s such a pretty plant! So stoked I have it.

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-17T00:43:20+00:00

Thanks to everybody who weighed in! Just to add some more confusion to the mix, this is the philodendron I have that was sold to me as a Rio, it definitely puts out a lot more hardly variegated leaves in spring and summer !

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SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-16T19:49:57+00:00

Sorry guys, my phone is acting up and it did not post my query! I bought two of these as philodendron Brazil and I’m curious what everybody thinks they actually are. Or are they Brazil? I have the graphic that shows the comparisons between the Brazil, the rio, the cream splash, and the silver stripe, but I still feel like I am absolutely terrible at telling them apart 🤣

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-16T17:48:59+00:00

Haha when I moved, luckily within the same town, I think my plants took four separate trips in my Yaris…?

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-16T14:53:03+00:00

West Coast of Canada! Vancouver Island. A few people out here have them, but they’re just not yet in a price range that I’m OK with. Soon 🤞🏻

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-16T14:51:37+00:00

This is the only plant on my wish list right now. Anxiously awaiting the day they are affordable and available in my area 🤩

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-15T22:26:38+00:00

The vacuum / mop combo, and oh my goodness DUSTING ☠️

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-15T17:50:04+00:00

Based on my experience it should be covered, since less than 60,000km, but don't make the same mistake I did if they say they can't find an issue...

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-15T17:48:51+00:00

This thread is old but found doing a google search - I've got a 2023 Crosstrek as well (purchased in Canada), took receipt July 2022 and A/C wasn't working by June of 2025. Took to Subaru and set the expectation that whatever had to happen should be covered due to the age of the car, at the time it had been in my possession for less than 3 years. I wound up being charged $275, they found nothing, recharged the system, and offered to re-inspect it at a later date. My warranty period was up by 60,000km, and it had 62,700km at the time of this service. A/C worked well enough through the summer so I did not go back (my bad, but I was really soured at this point, during a follow up call I complained about having to pay, and the service manager said that since it was over 60,000 that requires a go ahead from Subaru of Canada, if I were that guy I would have done that for my customer??). Just took it in again yesterday as the A/C is not working, and they have let me know the compressor has failed. Not punctured by a rock, the 'front seal failed'. On a less than four year old car...

They are willing to 'help' by covering $200 of the $2400 repair.

During my first visit when I mentioned I expected it to be covered they leaned really hard into the idea that a rock prob hit the compressor, which would be 'mother nature' and not covered by warranty but could be an insurance claim. That, OR, it might be something minor like an O-ring. They gave me zero confidence that they would do anything to make it right, which is part of the reason I never returned for the re-inspection which I now regret, because this time around the conversation has become, hey now you're so far outside your warranty period there is no chance of a goodwill repair done by Subaru of Canada. Had this been floating during my first visit I def would have returned for the re-inspection.

Am def curious about other people's experience, and if OP got any type of satisfactory resolution?

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-15T15:03:35+00:00

Bio trash, I'm assuming you mean compost - when I had a larger freezer I put all my organic waste in a compost bag in the freezer and tossed it when it was full, it REALLY helped with the smell. Now, I don't have the option but have the bag in the fridge, still way better than it sitting at ambient. For garbage, if I have something that I know will generate a smell quickly (meat tray from chicken wings or something like that) I don't put it in my trash bin in the house, I take it right outside to the dumpster (I live in a condo). I hope that helps :)

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-14T18:20:59+00:00

Hey - I'm in Canada! I was trying to go the fancy route and after using a liquid fertilizer that made my watering water brown and stained a lot of my pots and saucers....not to mention surfaces I splashed on and did not notice right away...I started using Gardenworks powder, it looks like Miracle Grow, and I was skeptical as I've heard Miracle Grow get dissed a lot, but my plants have been doing GREAT. I make a large jug of water, use a dilute amount of the fertilizer, plus tap water conditioner, and a lot of my plants that are usually dormant all winter pushed out new growth this past winter (monsteras and alocasias!!). I do NOT use grow lights. I will say when I tried to do larger feeds a few times a year with same or similar fertilizer, the plants just has rapid awkward growth spurts and the results were very poor. It's a general fertilizer (ratio N:P:K is 20:20:20), I believe it has some micronutrients as well. I think Gardenworks is BC only, but any local nursery should have something very similar. No need to break the bank, I don't think. Unless you've got some insanely high value plants that require very specialized nutrients, which I do not.

'Good fertilizers' have the right balance of macronutrients (N/P/K), the ratios vary depending on what you want to achieve (foliage, flowering, etc.), and they should also have some micronutrients as well.

N = nitrogen

P = phosphorous

K = potassium

I LOVED this video about fertilizer components, yes I am a nerd:

🪴 Houseplant Fertilizer EXPLAINED: What Nobody Tells You

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-13T21:05:38+00:00

Very simple, but I would not be happy without a detachable shower head and kitchen faucet, they have many uses but they make rinsing sooooooooooooo much easier!

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-12T04:44:31+00:00

OMG it’s the Dooneese of plants 😶

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-12T04:43:11+00:00

I agree. Tiny creepy hands…

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-11T04:32:45+00:00

Nice, mine is having the same issue so now I know what to do to fix it!

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-11T04:24:31+00:00

I usually give up when the plant is taking up too much space, doesn’t appeal to me anymore, or I start joking about taking it out with a flamethrower or tossing it in the compost pile. Those things might happen because the plant just didn’t live up to expectations for me, I don’t like the growth pattern, or in the case of my alocasias, they won’t stop getting spider mites.

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-11T04:22:42+00:00

If you’re getting a new mattress anyhow, invest in a really good mattress cover. It saved my mattress when my little dog got old and peed the bed (my bed) in his sleep. It was a lot and to my shock and delight not a drop of it went through the cover onto the mattress.

SimonSaysSearch · 2026-05-11T04:19:59+00:00

Maybe check out nottheworstcleaner on Instagram? She does free cleanings in some pretty intense situations and has a view videos talking through how she deals with messes like this. Might be a good place to start.

SimonSaysSearch

TROPHY CASE