So here’s a weird one: I bought two lovely plants from Perfectplants.co.uk and they both died within 6 weeks. I followed the care instructions to the letter, and I’m pretty good at looking after plants.
I’ve emailed the merchant three times but no response.
I know plants are not like any other product, and the merchant can’t guarantee they’ll live. But am I being unreasonable in expecting they’ll survive at least 6 weeks with good care?
In my opinion plants are very much caveat emptor. Buy at own risk, follow the guides and hope for the best. 6 weeks is quick, but how do you prove it had the right light, temperature etc?
The garden centres are full of plants that have little hope of ever surviving. It’s a dodgy industry and buyers need to be very careful and expect the worst (especially non native species).
What was the weather like when they were delivered?
I’ve had a problem before when the plants were shipped overnight when the temp was below freezing, they were obviously left in the van overnight before delivery.
What plants were they? Did you accidentally overwater thinking you were doing them a favour?
Plants can survive a little neglect, but they can’t come back from root rot. It’s where most folk go wrong. Never follow rigid care instructions. They’re bad for your plants.
I’d recommend trying Planta, and follow their care advice if you’re a beginner.
From memory, mid-Jan, when we had that cold snap. But they did look ok when they arrived. Although the leaves on one started dropping almost immediately.
Ohhh nooo. Killing with kindness. They asked for 50ml a week and that’s what they got.
One was a ficus bejamina with a braided trunk and the other was an areca palm. Both are pretty hardy, just need light, small amounts of water and not too hot or too cold.
Ficus! These guys really like their soil to dry out between waterings! If you stuck that weekly schedule regardless of how moist the soil was, you probably drowned the poor guy!
RIP Ben!
Another note, I’m not sure why the care instructions would you give you a specific amount of water! As long as the grow pot has drainage holes, the amount doesn’t matter.
I have a kentia palm which I imagine has similar care requirements to an Areca palm, and mine thrives from having a good soak. I check Ken’s soil every week or so and if the top two inches are dry, he gets a drink.
Edit: attaching screenshots of Planta’s recommendations for future reference if you decide to grow these plants again!
See, this is where I think we get gardening wrong. We seem to gravitate towards the really high-maintenance plants, but consider certain resilient plants that are evolutionary successes “weeds”.