10 Strategies to Stop Murdering Your Plants

Stop her before she kills again!

Hear that? Thats your jade plant whispering to your bamboo palm every time you approach the windowsill. If youre guilty of accidentally murdering your beloved houseplants, its not too late to stop the cycle! Whether you tend to neglect your greenery or drown it with too much water, the clever tips below will help you cultivate a thriving indoor garden in no time.

1. Dont Listen to the Internet

Not every site vets their advice as carefully as (ahem) others. Just say no to these popular internet ideas to water your plants:

• A damp sponge in the bottom of the pot.

• Melting ice cubes.

• An upside-down bottle filled with water.

No, no, and no.

Most houseplants die because theyre overwatered, says Judy Feldstein, author of Dont Feed Me to Your Cat! A Guide to Poisonous Houseplants and former owner of Foliage Unlimited, which designs, installs, and maintains houseplants.

The damp sponge and drip systems are bad ideas, Feldstein says, because if the soil stays moist all the time, no oxygen can get into the soil, the plant roots cant breathe, and then theyll rot, and the plant will die.

As for melting ice cubes, most plants have the same attitude toward water as Brits with their beer - room temperature, thank you very much.

2. Watch Your Water Content

You dont have to use bottled or distilled, but dont use water thats passed through a softener; its too salty, Feldstein says.

If youve been using softened water and your plants seem fine, it may be that youve chosen hardier plants -- or not enough time has gone by. Softened water has sodium in it, and over a long period of time can build up and be toxic to your plants. If softened is your only option, create a reservoir at the bottom of the pot with rocks where the salt can collect, or periodically leach out the sodium with an alternate water source, like rainwater.

Municipally added fluoride and chlorine can take their toll, too. If your water contains a lot of fluoride or chlorine, fill your watering can and allow it to sit out overnight, says Feldstein. The chemicals will dissipate, and you can use the water.

3. Be More Afraid of Overwatering Than Underwatering

You love your plants. But just like your grandma trying to hard-sell you a third serving of lasagna, sometimes too much love is just too much.

Overwater and youll kill your plants. Underwater, and your plants leaves may droop and yellow, but you can save the plant once you water it, Feldstein says.

How much is too much? If you pick up the pot and its lighter than it looks, chances are the soils dry. If youve got a large plant that you cant lift, just stick your finger in the soil about an inch. If its not damp, its watering time.

But dont go overboard. Some plants need more water than others. Succulents, for example, dont need much. Thin, delicate plants might need more water. Temperature, sunlight, even pot type (a clay pot will suck moisture away from your plant) all affect watering needs. Bottom line: Learn as much as you can about your plant.

Some signs you might be overwatering:

• Young and old leaves fall at the same time.

• Root rot: mushy, brown, possibly odorous roots are in pot bottom.

• Standing water hanging in container underliner.

• Flowers become moldy.

• Leaves develop brown soft rotten patches and fail to grow.

4. Feed Them Coffee and Egg Shells

Try mixing coffee grounds or egg shells into the soil. Yup. Garbage. Store-bought potting soil has all the nutrients your plants need, but about once a year, calcium-rich egg shells can give plants a great boost (do it too often and youll change the soils pH balance). Clean off the icky stuff, let them sit out to dry, and then crush them to a coarse powder. Pour that around the base of the plants, and water.

Coffee grounds have nitrogen -- yummy for plants. Different plants like a different amount of coffee, just like humans. To get a sense of how much to use, start with a teaspoon a week mixed into the soil, and then increase the amount until your plants stop showing signs of improvement. Then it should be good to go for a while.

5. Keep Em Separated (From Your Pets)

Cat got your mother-in-laws tongue? Hopefully not, because that plant can make your cat sick, and being eaten doesnt work out well for the plant, either. Feldstein recommends the following to keep cats away:

• Put orange or lemon rinds on the soil. (They dont like the smell.)

• Spray spicy cayenne pepper on the leaves.

• Place crumpled tin foil on the soil. (Cats arent fans.)

• Put camphor balls in the soil if youre brave enough to risk smelling like your grandmas closet.

You might also give your cat a grassy plant of his own to play with, Feldstein says. Yes, there are grasses you can grow just for your kitty. Typically a mix of oat, rye, barley, and wheat grasses, says the Humane Society. Introduce them to their own grass, and play with the leaves to pique their interest.

6. Easy on the Fertilizer

Dilute your plant food. Too much fertilizer is worse than no fertilizer at all. Fertilizers contain salts, which can build up in the soil, Feldstein says. It will burn the roots, and the tips of your plant leaves will go brown. Dilute the plant food one-half to one-quarter the recommended strength.

7. Give Plants a Haircut

You know that light, airy feeling you have after a haircut? Your plants love it, too. Just because your spider plant is long enough to ring the room doesnt mean its healthy. Pruning houseplants helps them grow stronger and more lush.

Prune away dead leaves, limbs and flowers at the beginning of the growing season or after the plant has flowered. While there are a few plants that dont need pruning, most are happier when theyre all spruced up.

8. Park Them in the Right Place

Location, location. All plants need some amount of light to grow -- whether sunlight or artificial light. But direct sunlight will burn their leaves, Feldstein says.

Before setting your plant in a spot, place an object there and check brightness by watching the objects shadow. Intense light means a more defined shadow.

The direction from which sunlight is coming from can make a difference, too. Even plants that thrive in lots of sunshine may not be so happy in a west-facing window come spring or summer when the sun is most intense.

And be aware that some plants, like ficus, can be so sensitive to cold air that placing it near the entry might aid its demise every time someone opens the door.

9. Know When to Repot

Sometimes your plants will get too big for their clay britches. When that happens, its time to repot.

To find out if your little one is ready to graduate, gently remove it from its pot. If the roots have taken on the shape of the pot, its time to move to a larger pot, Feldstein says. The new container should be about two inches wider and a couple of inches deeper than the old pot.

Then, dont feed the plant [with fertilizer] for at least six weeks after repotting so it has time to acclimate. And, remember that now that the pot is larger itll take longer for the soil to dry and you wont have to water as often.

10. Choose the Easiest Plants to Grow

If you truly believe youre the Norman Bates of plant owners, theres still a way to enjoy the beauty and benefits of plant life in your home. Try plants with thicker leaves and stems; theyll need less water. Think jade and aloe. Other easy-care plants include dracaena, pothos, and heart leaf philodendron.

And then there are air plants, tillandsia, which still need to be watered, but grow without soil, getting all their nutrients from the air. In general, says Feldstein, Buy plants that are so easy to care for that if you forget about them for three weeks, theyll be fine.