Guides
Plant problems, explained from the history
One page per problem: what it usually is, how to tell it from the thing it gets mistaken for, what to do, and what not to do. Written for British homes and British water, and each one ends with the plant's care facts and whether it is safe around cats and dogs.
Water and roots
Most houseplants that die are drowned, not starved. Start here if the compost stays wet or the base of the stem has gone soft.
- Overwatering · Autumn Have I overwatered my houseplant? The most common way houseplants decline, and it is usually mistaken for thirst. The signs, how to tell it from underwatering, what to do this week, and what to stop.
- Underwatering · Water and roots Is my houseplant underwatered? Crisp edges, curling leaves, compost pulling away from the pot, water running straight through. How to tell thirst from drowning, the 20-minute soak that fixes it, and why small sips never do.
- Root rot · Overwatering Does my houseplant have root rot? What overwatering becomes once the roots have died. The signs, what healthy and rotten roots look like, whether it can recover, and the treatment step by step — plant by plant.
- Self-watering pots · Water and roots Should my plant be in a self-watering pot? A reservoir under the compost suits a fern or a peace lily and rots a snake plant. Which plants thrive in one, how to water it, and why the interval is a different unit.
- Repotting shock · Roots My plant collapsed after I repotted it A week or two of sulking after a repot is normal — the mistake is helping. How to tell ordinary shock from a pot that is too big, checked at two weeks, and why not to water more.
What the leaves are telling you
A leaf changes colour or texture for a handful of reasons, and where on the plant it happens narrows them fast.
- Yellow leaves · Autumn Why are my plant’s leaves turning yellow? Where the yellow starts tells you why: old leaves from the bottom, pale new growth, or patches. Three causes, three fixes, and one that needs nothing at all.
- Brown tips Why are the tips of my plant’s leaves turning brown? The commonest houseplant complaint in a British home. Dry air, tap water, thirst or feeding — how to tell the four apart, what to do, and what to stop.
- Peace lily · Brown tips Why is my peace lily getting brown leaf tips? Almost always dry air once the heating comes on — or minerals in hard tap water. How to tell which, and what to do about each.
- Sick houseplant · Autumn My houseplant looks sick. What is wrong with it? Fourteen things a houseplant does when something is wrong, and what each one usually means. Three checks, a symptom-to-cause table, and what to do this week.
- Dying plant · Autumn Is my plant dying, or just sulking? Most are not. Two checks that tell you whether there is life left, the three things that actually kill houseplants, the rescue in order, and when to let go.
- Dropping leaves · Shock Why is my plant dropping its leaves? A plant that sheds leaves suddenly — green ones especially — is reacting to a change, not dying: a move, a repot, a draught, the heating. How to find the cause, and what to do.
- Drooping · Water My plant is drooping — is it thirsty or overwatered? Too little water and too much look identical — limp leaves either way. The soil, not the leaves, tells you which, and watering a plant that is already drowning is the mistake this page exists to prevent.
- Curling · Heating season Why are my plant’s leaves curling? The direction is the diagnostic: up and inwards is thirst or dry heat, down and outwards is the roots, and curling with speckling underneath is pests. Why it peaks the week the radiators come on.
- Brown spots Brown spots on my plant’s leaves — what kind? A spot is not a tip. Fungal spots spread and have a halo; scorch is dry and faces the window; soft dark patches are water; tiny stippled ones are pests. Four causes, told apart by where they sit and whether they move.
Light
The slowest problem to show and the easiest to miss: a plant short of light stretches and shrinks without ever wilting.
Pests
Small flies, webbing, sticky leaves, white powder — what each one is, and the categories of treatment that are actually approved for a British home.
- Fungus gnats · Autumn Why are there small flies around my houseplant? Fungus gnats, and they are there because the compost never dries out. How to tell them from fruit flies, what actually works, and what to stop doing.
- Spider mites · Pests Something is on my plant — what is it? Fine webbing, sticky leaves, white fluff or silver streaks: how to tell spider mites, aphids, mealybugs, scale and thrips apart, and what actually works indoors.
- White mould · Pests Why is there white powder or mould on my plant? White powder on the leaves is mildew; grey fuzz on the compost is a harmless mould; a white crust is lime from tap water. How to tell the three apart, and what to do.
Seasons
Indoor plants live by the heating and the light, not the calendar. What to change when the year turns.
Cats and dogs
Every species in the catalogue checked against the ASPCA, one by one, so the verdict on your windowsill is a record, not a rumour.
More pages are on the way, one problem at a time. If yours is not here yet, the app can usually work it out from what you have logged — Sabz on the App Store.