help with house plants.

[milly143]

Can someone tell me how to stop killing my house plants. I don't really know what any of them are called. I think I have a ficus, cordyline and a lilly plant plus some others that I have no idea what the names are. I try really hard to water them and feed them baby bio every few weeks but they just wilt and die. The tree has been fine for the past few months but all the leaves are dropping off and the other just don't seem to have any life at all.

[ursula62]

Fig trees (ficus) lose leaves all the time, so unless your tree is going bald, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Overwatering is just as bad for houseplants as underwatering.

You might find the plants are potbound and need potting up - this can make a houseplant seem "sad".

[nfn]

Get a spiderplant - I've never managed to kill one yet, no matter how much I try!

[Lily]

Hello!

I tried to grow ficus but they don't like too much sun, draughts or gas - so I finally admitted defeat and don't have one any more.  Those you listed tend not to like too much sun, in my experience.  I just move plants around the house until they seem to thrive.  Then don't move them or buy two of the same type and then regularly interchange them to keep them happy.  I have a very sunny frontage to the house so tend to keep cactus and succulent gardens there along with 'Mother in Law's Tongue and they seem very happy despite minimal upkeep.  The others seem a lot happier on the rear windowsills where the sun only reaches them early in the day.  I am too busy these days to pander to their whims so I just go along with the flow and if they are happy, I just keep watering them and the occasional re-potting whent the roots start to show at the bottom of the pot! 

In addition, just check the roots for weevils as I once had a problem with them and whatever I did the plants were dying because the larvae were feeding off the roots.  Hope this is of some help as plants are like living ornaments and so much more satisfying and rewarding!