Using a daily plant care tracker will help you keep on schedule with your plants. Keeping track of your plants watering schedule can be tricky. With many plants and many different tasks like watering, fertilizing, or spraying for pests. If you use this daily plant care tracker, you can keep your plants happy and healthy. Plant care will be a breeze!
Download these free plant daily plant trackers to track your care schedule to make sure you’re not over or under watering your plants. These will help keep you on schedule for any of your plant care needs.
Using the monthly trackers can be perfect for tracking slow release fertilizer, or monthly applications of liquid fertilizer to ensure that your plants don’t burn from over fertilizing.
Most plant care trackers on Etsy do not suit the needs of plant parents. I needed to create my own. I love to test many different plant products on my indoor plants to test to see which work best. Everything from Humic and Fulvic Acid, soil enhancers, foliar sprays, and fertilizers. You need a great plant care tracker with a lot of options.
When I started using these care trackers consistently, my plants were much healthier than they’ve ever been. I particularly love the monthly trackers to help with long term fertilizing schedules. Enjoy!
Indoor plants can develop mold on your soil. However, indoor plants cannot cause mold on walls inside your home. Mold in houseplant soil can often be a good sign of soil health although it can be unsightly. This typical houseplant mold cannot spread to other areas of your house.
How to remove mold from indoor plants
To remove mold from indoor plant soil take a spoon to scrape off the top layer of soil. Consider using an antifungal powder or spray over the top layer of soil and reapplying when needed. Watering your plants less frequently will help mold to develop less quickly.
Where does mold on your walls come from?
Mold on the walls inside your home can be caused by a few different things. Mold can develop from high levels of humidity and poor ventilation. Inside your home airflow controls how quickly air cycles through your home. With high levels of humidity and poor airflow this gives mold more opportunities to grow and thrive on your walls. Mold needs time to grow, and cold wet, dark environments are the ideal spaces for mold to take hold inside your home.
Flooding and leaks in your home are another primary cause of mold on your walls. Standing water or wet walls allows bacteria and fungi to thrive. This will lead to mold growth on your walls and if left untreated can make you incredibly sick. Take note of basements and leaks behind your walls or roof. These spaces are the most likely areas to find leaks leading to mold in your home.
When watering your indoor plants, always remember to empty out any water trays or cachepots. Stay vigilant and ensure that all water spills are cleaned up, especially on hardwood surfaces.
These are the best practices to use when monitoring your home for mold. If you do find mold growing in your home please make sure to contact a mold removal service as soon as possible. Your health depends on it!
What indoor plants like coffee grounds added to their soil? None of them do. You may be doing a huge disservice to your plants by adding coffee grounds to your soil without a good understanding of how and why gardeners have been using them.
Why do gardeners use coffee grounds?
Gardeners use coffee grounds to increase the amount of beneficial bacteria and fungus in their soil. This bacteria and fungi are beneficial because they help in decomposing organic matter which acts as a fertilizer to your plants. These microorganisms need added nitrogen to provide energy for their reproduction. This means that gardeners always add coffee grounds in combination with a nitrogen heavy fertilizer for enhanced growth of their crops.
With more beneficial microorganisms in their soil compost and organic matter decomposes faster. With the help of insects and other decomposers outdoors which provides an amazing balance for healthy plants.
Why you shouldn’t use coffee grounds indoors?
You shouldn’t use coffee grounds indoors. Most indoor houseplant soils don’t have organic matter for you to break down. Unless you have an indoor worm compost that you add to your store bought potting soil, you do not have a complex organic soil like you may have in a garden. It’s best to avoid using them all together when wondering what indoor plants like coffee grounds.
Most indoor potting soils are peat based and do not contain organic materials. With no live organic materials, there is nothing to break down which leaves your coffee grounds. At best it’s doing nothing, and at worst, locking your plant out of absorbing other essential nutrients.
Save your coffee grounds for your outdoor compost. Focus on using a balanced fertilizer like a Miracle-Gro slow release fertilizer to effectively feed your plant. Outdoor plants like coffee grounds because they have complex soil environments. Indoor plants tend to have less complex soil environments because of their soil.
Whether you are just starting or are an expert in your semi hydro plant journey, you will want the best bang for your buck when buying liquid nutrients for your plants. Here are the 4 best inexpensive semi hydro nutrients for your indoor plants.
#1 General Hydroponics FLORA series
946ml (1 QUART)
This 3 part series is reliable and well loved with over 7000 reviews on Amazon. It comes pH adjusted and includes clear instructions with how much nutrients to add depending on what types of plants you have and what stages they are in in their lifecycle.
General Hydroponics has detailed information on their website if you’re looking to take a deep dive into perfecting your plant.
#2 Dyna grow Liquid Grow & Liquid Bloom
8fl
This 2 part series, at its smallest, comes in 8 fluid oz bottles. If you’re a plant parent who wants to get into semi hydro with only a few plants this may be the best option for you. These nutrients can last an incredibly long time. Youre using around 1 tsp to mix a 1 Gallon jug of nutrient mix. If you only have a few plants in semi hydro this bottle size could end up lasting you well over a year.
With over 250 5 star reviews, this is likely the best way to start.
#3 Fox farm
946ml (1 Quart)
With a focus on flowers and fruit, this series works best if you’re growing late season fruit and vegetables. This series has over 300 5 star reviews. Whether you’re growing zucchini, persimmons, or pomegranates. This nutrient series is a hit with gardening fanatics.
#4 Advanced Nutrients
This 3 panel nutrient series, “bloom, micro, and grow” is well loved. With over 3000 reviews, this series is pH adjusted and many users say they have never had to adjust their pH levels! This will save you a ton of time checking and pH adjusting your water.
Advanced Nutrients even has their own nutrients calculator so you can schedule and print your own feeding charts so you can have perfect plants every time.
This is the scindapsus pictus argyraeus, more commonly called the Satin Pothos.
When you’re looking to propagate and make more of this plant, you should not be simply treating it like a pothos. If you want to get healthier roots, faster, try this method.
Similar to other pothos plants, this is an easy to care for vining plant that sends off small aerial roots for the vine to grab onto. Once it starts to climb it’ll produce larger roots. Unlike a pothos, taking one leave and one node cutting, consider using the double leaf method. Take two leaves from each segment, and cut off the lower leaf before sticking it in water.
Make sure that you use clean tools when cutting your plant. Disinfect your clippers with rubbing alcohol so you don’t spread bacteria between plants which could cause your cuttings to rot.
Like all my water propagations I’m going to put it in a spot with bright indirect light with some help from a nearby humidifier and change my water as frequently as possible. I am using tap water that I’ve let sit out for a few days to help any harmful chemicals evaporate.
With this one month update, you can see the two leaf cutting has produced roots from multiple nodes. While the roots are small, they are thicker and generally look more healthy.
The single leaf cuttings are producing roots except for one cutting.
While both methods are possible, it is much faster if you use the double leaf method for your Satin Pothos propagations.
There are three things that have made this plant so successful as an indoor plant. The first is sunlight. If you want your Monstera to have these fenestrations, you need lots of sunlight. Most care guides will tell you these plants need bright indirect sunlight. Here’s where I disagree. In the time I had this plant I’ve trained it to live with exposure to direct sunlight for a large part of the day. That includes spring and summer.
I have floor to ceiling south facing windows. They are unobstructed and receive several hours of direct sunlight. Over a few months I slowly pushed my Monstera closer and closer to my window. I’ve found the sweet spot for me to be about 3 feet away from my window.
Here’s how you can reproduce these results in your space.
Assuming your monstera is doing well in its current spot, create a plan to move your monstera about 4”- 6” closer to your brightest window every 2 weeks. During these two weeks, monitor your monstera for any changes. Especially check the tips and edges of the leaves for discoloration. You’re looking for signs of sunburn.
A sunburned Monstera will turn yellow and then black. Be extra vigilant because the leaves won’t heal once they are burned.
If you don’t see any signs of stress on the leaves, you’re free to keep doing this every 2 weeks until you’ve found the perfect spot. Monsteras are excellent at adapting although I’d suggest smaller increments if you have a small unfenestrated Monstera.
The more light this plant gets, the more fenestrations you’ll see. Also the spacing between the nodes will be smaller which will produce leaves closer together for a better looking plant.
The second way I’ve gotten more fenestrations on this plant is to give it something to climb. I have made my own moss poles in the past, but a giant stake, or tree branch, or PVC pipe will work just as well. As long as you’re using plant ties to help secure it your leaves will continue to get bigger. It depends on what look you want to go for.
On a side note, if you have a seedling monstera, please don’t bother with a moss pole. Any stick is fine and it really doesn’t need anything to climb until the leaves become too large to support itself. Eventually you will want to cut and propagate the top part of your plant anyway, putting a moss pole in something this small will be such a hassle. Especially if the aerial root burrows into your moss pole.
Do you ever noticed there are roots coming from the bottom of your pot? That doesn’t always mean its time to repot your Monstera. Let’s investigate when you should repot your Monstera Deliciosa.
When repotting a monstera it’s much easier to wait until the soil has dried out, I always wait until it’s a typical watering day for my plant.
Once your workstation is set up you can tilt your plant to the side. If it’s in a plastic pot you should gently squeeze the pot all around to help loosen the soil and roots. If its in a terra cotta pot, you may need to flip it completely upside down and use a tool like a wooden stake or chopsticks to help push it from the bottom.
Depending on how many roots are coming from the bottom of the pot, you might have to take extra care to guide them through the holes so you don’t damage the plant.
These roots are looking incredibly healthy, more than likely it’s going to be time for a repot.
The next step is to loosen as much soil from the roots as possible. The reason why we do this is to make sure that the roots have gone through the entire pot. Often times with Monstera Deliciosas and other plants that have thick roots, the roots swirl around the edges and through the bottom of the pot first, leaving lots of untouched soil in the middle.
A great soil mixture is what kept these roots so healthy and avoided root rot. You can always check out this video on how to make the perfect soil for your Monstera.
Once you have your soil mixture ready you can start filling your new pot with soil, about 2” deep. I recommend going up a pot size by 1 or 2 inches. Any larger and you start to risk getting root rot. When you’re filling in your pot, make sure to fill in the sides. Press down lightly to avoid air pockets in the soil.
Water thoroughly until water seeps comes through the bottom of the pot. You may need to water this more than once. This helps get rid of air pockets in the soil as well as kick start new root development in the plant.
You’ve got a lot of tropical plants and are looking for ways to increase humidity in your home. You already know that misting doesn’t work. And making humidity trays isn’t the most practical option on a larger scale.
The first best humidifier for indoor plants you should be looking into is the Levoit 6L humidifier.
This humidifier is a great option if you are looking to take more of a hands off approach. This humidifier has a built in humidity reader and the setting you’ll likely use the most is its auto mode. You set the specific humidity level you want to maintain in your space and the Levoit will work towards that. It will automatically shut off once it reaches your desired humidity level.
The Levoit has a remote control, which to be honest I’ve used only 3 times in the last year, so you can change the settings from anywhere. Thankfully the Levoit retains its preset when you need to refill it, so there’s no need to go and fiddle with your settings when the tank runs out.
The large size, the affordable price, the auto settings are the main reasons why you might be looking into this humidifier. But the best reason is this nozzle.
Because this nozzle is dual direction this makes it the perfect humidifier to have plants on both sides. Ideally, you can put this on your plant shelf near your more humidity loving plants.
Filling from the top makes it relatively easy to fill, remove the nozzle and lift. With this being 6L, I find myself refilling this every 4-5 days if I keep my humidity levels around 60% But depending on your location this will vary.
Cleaning is made easy with very few removable parts, that you can soak in vinegar. Wash a the filter pad, nozzle, and mist chamber. Pour some vinegar in the inner chamber to let this area soak for an easier clean. Then use a cloth, old toothbrush, sponge or Q-tip.
With all its settings, large capacity, dual nozzle, and ease of use, this humidifier is great value.
My second recommendation is the Homech Cool Mist 6L humidifier. Let me show you why this might be the right one for you.
Like the Levoit humidifier this is also 6L but it has no additional settings. It’s just an on and off knob with settings from high to low. But here’s the thing that makes this my favorite humidifier. This little nozzle. Its narrow!
Because of the narrow nozzle, the steam reaches much higher. Which is ideal for me because I can have it placed on the floor for it to reach up onto a desk to blast those plants with much higher humidity.
And If you’re willing to shell out a bit of extra money. You can upgrade to the model that has a similar auto setting and humidity meter like the Levoit. For some reason the brand changes TaoTronics. This humidifier is similarly easy to clean.
These options are my go to for the best humidifiers for indoor plants.
A few important things to remember, if your plant is close enough to the humidifier that the leaves have water build up, your plant is too close. You can also consider getting a small fan to help with air flow. And clean your humidifier frequently to make it last longer.
Those 3 numbers on the front of your fertilizer are the ratios of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. 3 things your houseplants need to thrive. Most houseplants are ok with balanced numbers like 10-15-10 on Schultz All purpose plant food but some plants need much more of one element.
The most important thing to remember is to fertilize your plants during the growing season. Start in the Spring, and stop around early to mid fall. With a few exceptions it doesn’t even matter what type of fertilizer you use, as long as you do it.
If you’ve never fertilized before and you don’t want to spend a lot of time fussing over your plants, I recommend one of these styles.
If you’re new to houseplants or just fertilizing I have a few recommendations. These slow release granules might be a great choice for two reasons. The instructions of how much to put around your plants are pretty clear on the container and this feeds for 3 months. So if you are able to start in the spring you could use this 3 times before the fertilizer naturally runs out as winter approaches.
Do not let these granules come close to the stem of your plant as it might cause it to burn. Plants in 6” pots only require 1 ¼ tsp so these bottles should last quite a long time. Work these into the soil slightly and water to begin feeding.
I also recommend liquid fertilizers. They come with droppers that instruct you to add a certain amount of drops if you want to fertilize every time you water or if you want to fertilize once or twice a month.
This may lead you to explore other fertilizer types that cater to specific plants. You can find fertilizer tailored for Cactus, succulents, and aloe. Fertilizers for orchids, or fertilizers for African violets.
If you want something quick and easy you could use this pump style fertilizer. Pots under 6” get one squirt, and over 6” get 2 squirts.
You should use this pump right before watering directly onto the soil. Or you can squirt 4 pumps into a 1L watering can. Instructions are to use this every watering, but I usually opt for every 2nd or 3rd depending on the plant.
If you want to start messing around with organic fertilizers I suggest a Fish related fertilizer. There are lots of choices from Seaweed and kelp to fish emulsion. That’s basically ground up fish.
Mix 1 tablespoon into 1 gallon of water and use it to water every 2-3 weeks. This will make your home smell like a bootleg seaworld, so use with caution. This works wonders on making Monstera’s root faster in water propagations. You can check out the propagation video I made on that.
Whatever you style you choose, remember to follow the instructions on the container. Its best practice to fertilize
Trying to propagate your monstera in water? Root root is one of the things many plant parents worry about. These are the 5 steps you can take to avoid getting root rot before it happens.
When making a cutting, make sure you cut below the aerial root. You’ll want at least one leaf, part of the stem, and the aerial root attached. Try to leave some extra space below the aerial root.
Let your cut callous
Let your cut callous. When the end of the stem dries out it helps prevent water from getting into the stem which will cause rot. If you take your cutting at night, and let it dry all night you’ll be in a better position to avoid root rot, and you can stick it in water in the morning.
Distilled water
“The first line of defense against preventing root rot is water. Distilled water is best, and change it as frequently as possible. Keeping your water oxygenated by using new water, and avoiding tap water is one of the simplest ways of avoiding root rot. Distilled water is not an option; you can use tap water if you let it sit out for at least 24 hours. This is to let any chemicals harmful to your plant evaporate.
Bright indirect light and humidity.
This will help your cutting thrive and absorb water through its roots. With lower light and lower humidity your cutting will not absorb water as quickly. This could lead your cutting to rot if it is not properly utilizing the nutrients in the water to put out more roots.
Use an antifungal
Use an antifungal. Treat the end of the stem that will prevent bacteria and fungus from getting into your plant. I use rooting hormone but other popular choices are cinnamon, or unpasteurized honey. Coat all exposed stems and use rooting hormone to coat the areial root of your plant. This will help your plant put out roots faster.
Seal The Stem
“After all that protection, if you truly want to go overboard, you can use candle wax to seal off the ends of the stem. Take an extra large, unscented, tealight and leave it on long enough to see the wax start to pool. Blow it out and dip the stem in the wax enough times to coat the stem. In my experience, if you’re rooting in water, the wax could eventually fall off. Monitor your plant and repeat this when necessary.
Those are the 4 simple steps you can take to prevent root rot when propagating in water. These steps will also work with variegated monsteras. They are more sensitive, so remember to take extra care.
